Best choice in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2: Houndmaster, Stealth, Survival, Scholarship

During the tutorial sequence at the start of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, you’re given various dialogue choices for Henry that can increase one of his many skills. Picking one of these choices gives you extra points in that skill, which can help later in the game.

One of the first instances of Henry needing to pick a specific dialogue option is around the campfire outside of Trosky Castle. Here, Henry, Lord Hans Capon, Oats, and your other comrades are swapping stories and getting some digs in while waiting for the sun to go down. During the middle of the dialogue, you can pick between one of four dialogue choices for Henry: Houndmaster, Stealth, Survival, or Scholarship.

So, the question is, which is the best one to pick for the long run in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2?

The differences between Houndmaster, Stealth, Survival, and Scholarship

The four dialogue choices you can pick between all relate to specific skills that Henry possesses. These skills can be leveled up just like your standard Strength, Vitality, and other stats, and the more points that go into them, the more abilities you unlock for Henry.

If you head into your inventory, navigate to the “Player” tab at the top of the screen and view Henry’s skills. In the Player tab, go to the “Skills” section to see your current level for all the available skills, how to level them up, and what each one offers.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the Houndmaster, Stealth, Survival, and Scholarship skills:

• Houndmaster: Allows for better control over Mutt, your dog. Leveling up Houndmaster gives Mutt new perks and gives him the ability to find items, grow stronger and more obedient, and makes him tire out less easily.
• Stealth: Improves the overall stealth of Henry. You are harder to spot when crouching, which comes in handy if you don’t want to engage in combat with an enemy or you need to sneak into a building without someone noticing.
• Survival: Makes it easier to hunt game and get more meat from the animals you kill. You can also gather herbs quicker and use the fast travel system more effectively.
• Scholarship: Increases your literacy level, allowing Henry to comprehend written text in books, letters, etc. The skill also makes it faster to read, which can give you an edge in certain situations during Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

The Houndmaster skill in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Screenshot by Destructoid

You’ll also get to level up more skills through dialogue options in the future. However, the first time you can do so requires you to pick between Houndmaster, Stealth, Survival, and Scholarship.

What’s the best option to pick in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2?

Now that you have a better idea of what each skill does, what’s the best one to pick during the opening of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2? Well, it doesn’t truly matter. Without giving too much of the story away, you’ll soon find yourself in a pickle, which will result in Henry losing a majority of his skill points. That means the points you get from using any of the dialogue options go away after this happens.

The choice between all four dialogue options. Screenshot by Destructoid

However, if you have to make another choice in the future or simply want some advice on what skill to target, my recommendation would be either Houndmaster or Stealth. While Survival and Scholarship are important, you won’t get much use out of them if you don’t explicitly seek out ways to utilize those skills.

On the other hand, Mutt is quite the useful companion in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, especially in combat, so having a high Houndmaster skill is extremely beneficial. Also, you’ll always want to have a high Stealth level, as the RPG calls for Henry to sneak around numerous times. Getting caught by barkeeps or enemies while crouching is never pleasant, as you either need to reload a save or try to find another way to continue with your objective without sneaking.

And there you have it. While the dialogue choice isn’t as impactful as others in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, it’s still something to lean on for future reference.

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