Key Points
- Killing Visken is not an option in the game, but you can still challenge him to a duel.
- The fight will end with the cleric badly injured and near death.
- It is best to make peace with Visken and choose the dialog options carefully.
Esoteric Ebb offers some complex dialogue choices while dealing with the various NPCs in the game. You need to find answers about the tea shop, so sometimes you might need to use brute force to bring out the truth. Very early on, you get to fight Visken one-on-one, but the chances of a win are quite slim.
Read More: Esoteric Ebb – Sphinx Riddle Correct Answer
Esoteric Ebb – Visken, Local Mortician Overview
| Location | Tolstad South |
| Encounter | During Day 1 onwards |
| Fight requirements | Barkskin, Turn Undead |
Where to Find Visken, Local Mortician
Visken would probably be the first person you would speak to if you took the stairs up from the shrine. He is always located at Visken’s Lair in Tolstad South, and you won’t find him anywhere else. My conversations with him were quite enlightening, so I found myself spending a couple of hours trying to learn more about the town and the destroyed tea shop.
Of course, you don’t have to spend time with him, and the game will still progress even if you choose to ignore his dialogue and only deal with his quests. Or you could go through the dialog choices until Cleric becomes a bit enraged with Visken’s attitude and decides to deal with him using his fists instead.
Can You Kill Visken
It’s currently not possible to kill Visken, as the game demands you to lose to him. The point of the fight is to grapple him until you get the option to either die trying to fight him or call a truce. There are a few ways to minimize the damage he deals to the Cleric instead. Before I advanced into the fight, I found using the Barkskin spell with high Dexterity helped immensely when Visken tried to pry my arm off.
If you haven’t unlocked the Barkskin spell yet, you will find it in the lower levels of the Goblin Garden. It is hidden behind some roots on the right side of the area, but you will require a high Constitution if you have the Druid skill unlocked. Otherwise, you need high Strength to break the roots and get the spell if you haven’t spoken to Nessan yet about becoming a Druid.
Once you have this spell, use it during the fight, but you can advance through the fight without it, too. Then, I also used Turn Undead to lure the corpses around Visken. The Turn Undead spell’s location is hinted at after speaking to Drummer. Using this move surprised Visken, but he remained unbothered by it. Either way, Cleric still lost the fight, so I called a truce before Visken had a chance to kill me.
Should You Fight Visken
Since the outcome of the fight is the same, I recommend not to fight Visken unless you have completed the game the first time. Fighting Visken will unlock new dialogue options and give you a better insight into how he works in the game. Plus, you get to practice your skills and roll preferences based on this fight, too. But it would still waste a bit of time that you could have rather spent on finding the culprit behind the destroyed tea shop.
FAQs
Visken does not appear for me. What do I do?
If you plan to visit Visken after midnight, you need to arrange a meeting with him beforehand. Otherwise, restart your game, as it could be a bug.
How do I locate the Illusory Wall in Visken’s Lair?
Use the Detect Secrets spell to find out any hidden areas while exploring Visken’s Lair. You can get this spell after completing Akzel’s quest.
What happens if I choose to die during the fight?
If you willingly lose the fight against Visken and choose death, you will have to restart the game from scratch.
