I’m curious how to get Lady Argent at the auction as well I seem to be dodging those scenes. I keep thinking there’s a secret beta with people talking about it.
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@DarthRevantheGreat @Jeruspi What do your auction runs look like? A surefire way to get Lady Argent as your unofficial “date” is to infiltrate the auction as your villain persona and then talk to Oryx. I’m sure there are more paths that spark a conflict with her over the Regenerator–one of them is if you trigger the Shroud/Argent fight and choose to help her take down Shroud. I’ve gotten this every time I’ve infiltrated the auction stealthily.
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Oooh i may have just stormed the gate. Perhaps i should try stealth.
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Go in as Overlord(my old villain persoana),look at the displays,interact with Oryx,invite her(impressed relationship status),follow her after getting mortums gun,talk instead of fight,take off your mask,get a scar from her, share the regenerator…
A question is if the complex relationship dosent let you work with her during the auction…
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Oh! My bad, I misunderstood your question. My villain personas usually have Argent at 30-40% interest. They’re also agentkill (or no kill/won’t harm civilians), so I can’t say how she responds to a villain she isn’t interested in. Perhaps someone else has the answer to that.
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I finally got the romance and it is neat. Looking forward to how that plays out. Also can’t wait to pay a visit to HG after Ortega/Herald saves us ( i forgot who is the lightning one)
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I see…
Mine usually have between 50-60%
And have agentkill active, despite never killing anyone
That would be Ortega, The One and Only
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Well after Ortega gives Jake a thrashing I look forward to destroying HG’s base and showing them what sidestep really is.
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Just out of curiosity, do you know how you get Argent that high? I know I play my Steps in the same general realm, so I may be missing out on some fun Argent reactions
I think agentkill is set true if your MC says they’re willing to kill the “bad” guys. Argent isn’t a killer, but she sure as hell is against civvie murder. Makes me curious about interacting with her at the auction if you’re kill. I’m so Soft, but one day I’ll try it. 
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Said I think I might be enjoying it a bit too much +20%
Told her that"Are you saying that I won or that I have a point" or something like that on the bridge after pulverizing the handyman+10%
Fought her fairly on the bridge with speed and strength
Said she studied me +10%( if you say I am having fun you can get a +15% increase)
Talked with her :+15%
After the auction if you have a realtionship of respectful or above (and revealed who you are) talk with argent for a +20% increase)
I also found out a couple other things you can do:
When you visit the rangers and talk to argent, say shes part of a team then let her grab you,then you can say:
-This is why you don’t have any friends +10%
-Sorry, didnt know it was a sore point +5%
-Smile while she chockes you +20%(and 10 clue)
When talking to Ortega,say argent attacked you and then afirm that youre gonna come out of retirement to kick her silvery butt +10%
As for your second point:
I see…then that means that my Sidestep says they’re willing to kill bad guys while having never killed anyone, huh?
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Wait wait wait, this affects her interest in the villain or her relationship with the MC? I avoid looking at the code if I can, so I just assumed you can only increase her interest in the villain while you’re interacting with her in armor;;
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Ok lemme break it down
What affects argent relationship with the villain:
I might be enjoying it a bit much
Fighting her fairly at the bridge
Talking with her beforehand and saying the option(though I dont think its the only one)
Saying she studied me or the other option
Talk with her after instead of running away or attacking her imediatly
What affects argent relationship with the mc:
Everything that is not listed above
So the question still remains:
Is having a complex relationship with Argent going to stop me from inviting her to the auction?
I don’t believe you can invite her (you may be thinking about Mortum). She is always there masquerading as Orynx (or whatever the name is). Whether you interact with her or not is up to you.
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Have you noticed that during the beggining of the second book sidestep depending on the villany meter relates to the villain persoana either as a dark shadow, a new face ,or the face that they were always meant to be…gives some perspective on what it means to be a villain for them huh…
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There’s a lot about identity in this game, especially that relating to our protagonist. In the first book, you can even refer to your first night as a villain as “unveiling” yourself.
As you pointed out, they can see their villain persona as their real identity (some reverso-Batman/Rorschach stuff going on here lol) and begin to conflate their Puppet with themselves. Adding Hollow Ground as their… clone? Previous version? Failed experiment to be replaced? Only blurs the lines further. I’m guessing this book or the next will be about determining whether your past defines you or if you can break the shackles and carve your own path.
It sures fits a trans/non-binary character, though. 
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You’re absolutely right! This series is super queer friendly and its themes definitely reflect that.
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I have just noticed something very interesting…
The gates variable was not new, it was mentioned all the way in chapter 4 of Fallen hero:Rebirth ,during the heartbreak flashback.
There it was said"Activating gates one through five" to posibly save heartbreak itself…
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I have also found this:
“Activating gates six through eight”
And then
“Activating the ninth gate”
After that it was said her brain was breached by harmonic tremors(Can someone tell me what they are…)and that the psychic depth was exceeded…
from Wikipedia: “A harmonic tremor is a sustained release of seismic and infrasonic energy typically associated with the underground movement of magma, the venting of volcanic gases from magma, or both. It is a long-duration release of seismic energy, with distinct spectral lines, that often precedes or accompanies a volcanic eruption.”
Also, yeahhh… Malin is definitely an architect with their writing! They seed things really early on—just consider the Regene reveal. They’re doing something with the gates, and we just don’t know what it is yet. But I think we can assume activating the ninth gate… is not good and that I’m very afraid for the Sidesteps who aren’t doing too good.
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