Caves of Qud is packed with extensive lore and history, with each settlement having its own complex background. What’s more, you can find people around the map who have relationships with each other, as well as factions that have their own bonds.
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While traveling around, you will get the chance to form your own relationships, both by completing quests and performing Water Rituals. What is this sacred ritual, you ask? We’ve got you covered! In this guide, we are going to go over all that you need to know about a Water Ritual, as well as what the effects are.
What Is The Water Ritual?
The Water Ritual isn’t described to us, but it involves sharing one dram of water with a Legendary creature. These are characters in the world with purple names; if you aren’t quite sure if a non-hostile NPC is Legendary and can do a Water Ritual you, simply talk to them. If the Water Ritual option is available, you can perform it!
During the Water Ritual, you can exchange information to gain or lose favor with the faction, as well as factions that have relations with the person that you are doing the ritual with.
Water Alternatives
To do the Water Ritual, you’ll need at least one dram of water. There are a few exceptions to this, such as cannibals, who require one dram of blood. Below, you can check out the alternatives, as well as who uses them.
|
Water Alternative |
Which Faction Uses This? |
|---|---|
|
Blood |
Cannibals Children of Mamon Glow-Wights |
|
Cloning Draught |
Girsh |
|
Oil |
Robots |
|
Slime |
Mollusks |
|
Warm Static |
Highly Entropic Beings |
Water Ritual Effects On Relationships
Right after performing the start of the Water Ritual, you’ll gain favor with other factions in the world depending on whether they like the person you’re doing the ritual with or not. These are standard favor portions, which you can find below.
|
Relationship To Water Ritual Partner |
Reputation Effect |
|---|---|
|
Admired or Loved |
+100 |
|
Liked |
+50 |
|
Disliked |
-50 |
|
Hated |
-100 |
Water Ritual Interactions
During a Water Ritual, you will have a variety of options to choose from that have a cost in favor. Some options will earn you favor, such as sharing a secret, but others will decrease favor, such as asking for a recipe.
While it’s good to stay in good graces with a faction, it’s also necessary at times to choose options that cost favor. For example, this is the best way to gain recipes from settlements. When doing the Water Ritual, you’ll have some main choices that usually appear, which you can find below.
|
Option |
Favor Gained/Lost |
|---|---|
|
Share a secret |
+50 |
|
Share some gossip |
+100 |
|
Ask for a secret |
-50 |
|
Ask for the NPC to join you |
Dependent on the level of NPC |
Depending on the NPC, they may have some unique interactions. You can find these below, as well as when they appear.
|
Option |
Favor Gained/Lost |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Teach you their ways (which is one skill) |
Lose favor that corresponds to the skill points |
Only NPCs that teach skills can do this (there are not a lot of NPCs that do this) |
|
Share dish of their people/teach signature dish |
-50 |
Only NPCs from settlements teach the dish of their people Only Legendary Chefs can teach their signature dish |
|
Give an item |
Dependent on Commerce |
Only NPCs from the following: Merchants’ Guild Consortium of Phyta Putus Templar Robots (including in Naphtaali Tribe) |
|
Teach a secret of aggregate mind (which is a mental mutation) |
Dependent on Mutation Cost |
Only NPCs from Seekers of the Sightless Ways can do this |
|
Teach you how to craft an item |
Dependent on Recipe Tier |
Only NPCs from Daughters of Exile and Barathrumites can do this |
|
Colonize fungi on you (this will give you a fungal infection) |
-30 |
Only Fungi NPCs can do this |
|
Teach you to think like a child (gain 200 skill points) |
-200 |
Only Newly Sentient Beings can do this |
|
Promise not to bother them |
+100 |
Only Hermit NPCs have this interaction |
Can You Perform The Ritual Again?
The Water Ritual can be done again, but you won’t gain or lose favor from initiating it a second time. If there are still interactions left for you to complete, you’ll be able to choose those. For example, if you do the ritual, leave, learn a secret, and then come back, then you may be able to share it with the NPC.
Those with whom you’ve already done the Water Ritual will be water-bonded. By inspecting the NPC in question, you’ll be able to see a summary of them, with the phrase “You are water-bonded with him/her”.
If you happen to have the Tactful mutation, you can go back to NPCs that you’ve done the Water Ritual with and initiate it a second time to gain 25 favor. This mutation can be taught by randomly generated factions, so keep your eyes peeled!
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