TL;DR
- Main story completion takes 20-25 hours with minimal exploration
- Full side quest completion adds 15-25 additional hours to your playthrough
- Treasure maps and bounties contribute 3-5 extra hours of content
- Difficulty settings significantly impact combat duration and exploration pace
- Strategic fast travel usage can reduce backtracking by 30-40%
Avowed presents players with an expansive RPG experience packed with narrative depth, memorable characters, and diverse environments, but many wonder about the time investment required to navigate the Living Lands fully.
Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the acclaimed studio responsible for The Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity, and Fallout: New Vegas, Avowed transports you to a fantasy realm where magic and supernatural threats abound. You assume the role of a Godlike character tasked with halting a devastating plague from consuming an entire continent. Simultaneously, you must navigate complex political dynamics as an imperial envoy, facing dissidents, assassins, and conflicting settlements throughout your diplomatic mission.
Throughout your adventure in Avowed, you’ll undertake numerous quests, assemble a team of companions, and journey through dramatically different landscapes. Understanding the time commitment for various play approaches helps you plan your gaming sessions effectively.
If your primary goal is completing Avowed’s central narrative, expect to invest approximately 25 hours when focusing exclusively on primary objectives. However, this streamlined approach means bypassing substantial portions of each map region. The main storyline guides you through specific locations within the four major maps, leaving extensive areas undiscovered if you don’t venture beyond the critical path.
Avowed’s principal narrative unfolds across four distinct open-world maps, each progressively unlocked as you advance through the story. These environments feature true open-world design, allowing comprehensive exploration immediately upon access. As you traverse these territories—revealed through a fog-of-war system—you’ll discover waypoints, fast travel markers, companion rest spots, and hidden dungeons. Utilizing fast travel networks can dramatically reduce traversal time during the main campaign, though initially you must invest effort to activate these transportation nodes.
Avowed’s diverse environments offer both visual splendor and substantial exploration opportunities beyond the main storyline.
For players who prefer narrative-focused experiences and might reduce combat difficulty to Easy or Story mode, completing Avowed typically requires 20-25 hours. But what about gamers interested in experiencing the game’s broader content?
- Avowed features an abundance of both brief and extensive side missions that can substantially extend your total gameplay duration
- Most secondary quests are conveniently accessible, typically found in central hub settlements on each map. Undertaking the majority or entirety of these optional missions typically adds 15-25 hours to your overall playtime.
- The majority of side missions are easily discoverable, generally located in central towns throughout each region. Completing most or all optional quests generally extends your gameplay by 15-25 additional hours.
- Beyond side missions, players can acquire treasure maps that function as dedicated quests, along with bounty hunting objectives scattered across all maps. Finishing these additional challenges typically contributes several hours to your total play duration.
- Complete main story objectives first for 20-25 hour playthrough
- Group side quests by region to minimize travel time between objectives
- Activate fast travel points immediately upon discovering new areas
- Balance difficulty settings based on available time and desired challenge
- Reference our Complete Guide for advanced strategies
For completionist players aiming to experience everything Avowed offers, total playtime typically ranges between 45-55 hours. This includes thorough exploration of all four maps, completing every side quest, discovering all treasure maps and bounties, and fully upgrading your character and equipment. The extensive endgame content and hidden collectibles provide substantial additional gameplay beyond the main narrative.
Combat difficulty significantly influences your pacing through Avowed. Playing on higher difficulty settings not only extends combat encounters but also encourages more cautious exploration and thorough preparation. Veteran RPG players should anticipate their playtime increasing by 15-20% when opting for challenging difficulty levels.
Companion interactions and their personal questlines represent another substantial time investment. Developing relationships with your party members through dialogue choices and companion-specific missions can add 5-8 hours of meaningful content that deepens character development and narrative immersion.
Efficient quest management can dramatically reduce unnecessary backtracking. We recommend grouping quests by geographical region and completing them in logical sequences rather than pursuing objectives haphazardly. This systematic approach can save 4-6 hours in a typical playthrough compared to disorganized quest completion.
Resource collection and crafting systems, while optional, provide significant gameplay benefits. However, fully engaging with these mechanics adds approximately 3-5 hours to your total playtime. Strategic players should focus on gathering essential resources rather than attempting comprehensive collection of every available material.
Character build optimization represents another factor influencing play duration. Experimenting with different skill combinations and weapon loadouts can extend gameplay by 2-4 hours as you test various playstyles. Consulting our Class Guide can help you make informed decisions about character development without excessive trial and error.
New players often underestimate the time required for environmental navigation. The Living Lands feature complex terrain with vertical elements, hidden passages, and weather effects that can slow progression. Allocating extra time for exploration prevents frustration and ensures you don’t miss crucial content.
For those interested in mastering combat mechanics, our Weapons Unlock guide provides insights that can reduce time spent on difficult encounters by improving your tactical approach and equipment selection.
Progression planning becomes especially important for players with limited gaming time. We suggest focusing on main story advancement during shorter sessions and reserving side content for longer play periods. This approach maintains narrative momentum while still allowing comprehensive world exploration.
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