I recommend siding with Galahad. You get access to more unique loot and only miss out on Galahads gear, which is fairly lame buffwise.
Ill start with the mechanical differences like loot and merchant availability, with story spoilers towards the end.
Mechanical differences
Loot for siding with Galahad
Siding with Galahad nets you the following notable loot. Make sure you loot the corpses of named characters and berserkers. These are the base bonuses listed on the wiki; upgrades can change some of them.
- Ulfr’s Stormforged Cape: +5% maximum HP.
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Ulfr%27s_Stormforged_Cape - Volker Berserker’s Totem: +15% crit chance, but +25% damage taken.
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Volker_Berserker%27s_Set - Breandan’s Gauntlets: +2 maximum stamina.
- Breandan’s Cape: +20 maximum HP.
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Breandan%27s_Set - Raider’s Skirt: +20% physical damage.
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Raider%27s_Skirt
These aren’t all exclusive to this route. You can get the Volker Berserker’s Totem from berserkers in other encounters too. This fight just gives you a good opportunity to collect several useful items.
The temple fight
I found the fight reasonably easy, though that will depend on your build and equipment. Berserkers defend the temple, but you have the help of Galahad’s soldiers. They can die quickly, so don’t rely on them to do all the work. You can also loot their bodies afterward to get pieces of the Knight set and some other valuable loot to sell.
You can lure the berserkers down the stairs and fight them one or two at a time. This makes the fight much more manageable.
Loot for siding with the Captain and One-Eye
- Galahad’s Mace: Two-handed mace with 49-52 base damage and 70 Burn on hit. That’s status buildup, not 70 immediate damage.
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Weapon_%28Statistics%29 - Royal Butcher’s Set: Galahad’s helmet, armour, gauntlets, pants, and greaves. Requires 5 Strength and 15 Endurance.
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Royal_Butcher%27s_Set
I prefer the bonuses on the equipment available through Galahad’s route. But if you want his mace or like the look of his armour, the Captain’s route gives you those instead. Don’t forget the game has a transmog system, so you can use the appearence on better armor.
For an explanation of Burn buildup:
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Active_Effects
Other useful equipment
Knight’s Breastplate: Recover stamina 33% faster after overexerting yourself. It can also be crafted, so it isn’t exclusive to either route.
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Knight%27s_Set
Great Beast’s Bone: +5% maximum HP. This comes from accepting Gro’derr’s gift during Altars of Madness, so don’t count it as a direct reward for siding with the Captain.
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Great_Beast%27s_Bone
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Jewelry
Story differences: spoilers below
If you only wanted the loot comparison, stop here. The rest covers what happens to the keep and why I prefer Galahad’s route.
Siding with Galahad
If you side with Galahad, Captain Breandán and One-Eye are killed. Fearghas, our favourite level-headed Quartermaster, becomes Interim Captain of the Horns of the South. Cillian, our not-so-favourite psychopathic Bounty Overseer, becomes the new Quartermaster.
The appointments are recorded in Galahad’s Directive:
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Galahad%27s_Directive
I consider this the better outcome. If you’ve done the quests around the keep, then you know Fearghas is a good leader. He’s kind and practical, while also being strict when needed. He takes responsibility for the keep’s problems and wants to keep his people alive and happy. I’d much rather have him in charge.
Galahad is far more brutal and strict. I don’t agree with his methods, but I found his argument more convincing than Breandán’s. Leaving Fearghas in charge with Kamelot’s support seems like the better future for the keep. For me, it’s the lesser of two evils. Galahad and the Captain both revel in unecassary bloodshed and suffering, with the captain funding the bandit invasion you’ve spent most of the act dealing with and devastating the region and his so called Keeper Brothers.
Siding with the Captain and One-Eye
Breandán wants to establish the Horns of the South as independent of Kamelot, with the Keepers and Dál Riata working together. His reasons include protecting the region from Galahad and putting its people ahead of distant rulers. But who is gonna protect the region from him?
Those are reasons to support him, but I still wasn’t convinced by his plan. I preferred Fearghas as a leader, and the promise of independence wasn’t enough to make me side with Breandán and One-Eye and rang hollow.
Breandán’s journal entries cover his motivations:
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Breand%C3%A1n
This route does give you a reason to choose it beyond the loot. After killing Galahad, you can hear the Captain’s secret and gain access to Sewal’s Crypt, where you learn more about Arthur and the original knights. Make sure you agree to hear him out when you report back. But IMO the implication secret reveals is something youve probably already figured out. Secret itself is interesting, but not worth sacrificing the region for.
Don’t assume that reaching Excalibur through Galahad’s route gives you the same revelation. If seeing that part of the story matters to you, it’s a reason to support the Captain.
Quest walkthrough:
https://taintedgrail.wiki.gg/wiki/Shadow_Of_The_Horns
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