I see four different pre-order download packs but none of them define how they differ. Could someone please explain the details and ups and downs of these packs for me?

Depends on the store you pre-order from. From GameStop you'll get the Arcane Assassin which gives a set of small passive bonuses (just like all the rest do) and a 78 fully re-invented Tarot Deck.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8007/7315160086_8d8d3af9f0_o.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7077/7315159714_a6f36cf326_o.jpg

Best Buy-Shadow Rat Downloadable Upgrade Pack & Whale Oil USB Lamp

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7230/7315159654_935893d1af_o.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8012/7315159844_2b6fa2c820_o.jpg

Amazon-Backstreet Butcher Downloadable Upgrade Pack http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7078/7315159946_1e62150916_o.jpg

Walmart-Acrobatic Killer Downloadable Upgrade Pack http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8142/7315159530_8ef65d2402_o.jpg

Target-Smart Phone Dishonored Decal http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8159/7315159448_a5f317f18f_o.jpg

The fundamental difference between the packs are the whale-bone charms. Every other thing included is equivalent to each other. The in-game books provide different information, but that can't be measured. It's also somewhat noteworthy that Corvo, your character, starts with 3 bone charm slots in a vanilla game. When you load in one DLC, you gain a fourth bone charm slot with the in-game statue included with each pack. There are a total of ten slots. That statue could be an early un-lock from what you'd normally buy from the Hound Pit Pub where you'll spend any money (like the 500 coins) to upgrade or restock on weapons and other items.

You can make an argument for the most effectively organized pack of whale-bone charms though even though their effects have been described as minor. The first two I'll talk about make sense thematically to me and are organized well. The next two are a bit of a hodge-podge.

Gamestop: Arcane Assassin Pack- This is the closest to a Mage set-up in Dishonored. These charms give your character the ability to regenerate spiritual essence (magic points) beyond the automatic regeneration of about a fifth or fourth of your blue bar. The white rats don't become alerted to your presence and you can eat them to renew your energy. Probably not by much, but it may allow for slightly more liberal use of your powers which is where the third bone charm in this pack comes in. Your powers work longer and work better. To make that less abstract, say you're using Possession on a guard. Possessing a human takes a lot of energy and doesn't last very long. Let's underestimate its efficacy and say it only lasts six seconds normally. With this charm, it will last seven seconds. Now those aren't official numbers but you probably know what I mean now if you didn't already.

Best Buy: Shadow Rat Pack- You can already say you are a thief but this pack of charms suggests being a thief to me more than the next pack I'll mention. The differences may seem arbitrary but I'll explain my rationale for everything. The breather charm builds on your lung capacity under water, making ingress and egress via the river covertly more practical. The keyhole charm (most likely) lets you see further into the room and possibly widens your sightline, which would help to scout for people behind the door that may otherwise have eluded your sight or alternately you'll see loot to steal. Need to get away afterwards and you don't want to alert anyone? The delicate touch charm will make the glass break with less attention grabbing noise, making egress or ingress (exiting or entering) a safer proposition.

Amazon: Backstreet Butcher Pack- You could say this one is more transparent. Your warrior pack. I think the reason this felt more arbitrarily put together than the one preceding this is I'm planning on non-lethal first. In any event, these charms are meant for direct confrontation. The fencer charm might increase your countering chances or the amount of damage a sword strike inflicts or your parrying reaction is quicker. Perhaps all of the above. Despite its description, there's a lot of room for interpretation of how it will work. The other two work together. You throw whiskey bombs and they'll either cause more damage, have an increased area of effect or other possible amplifying effects. The other charm mitigates any blowback from the bomb you threw. I get the impression that a whiskey bomb is not a precision explosive device.

Walmart: Acrobatic Killer Pack- This one really just seems like a dartboard collection. Whoever packaged these, for this particular pack, hit these three charms on the drawing board and decided to stick them together. Their descriptions all work under the associated title, but I can't connect them to any particular archetype. It's sort of thief-like while being warrior related also. Despite the lack of a thematic unity though, there is arguably one of the more useful charms on offer here. The Raven charm lets you regenerate health anytime you drop down to kill someone. A good example of a kill that falls under this criteria is in the Debut Trailer, the CGI one. That roof kill when he drops and kills the guard is how this charm works. When you kill a guard like that, you regen health. There is no health regen without using a potion or having the appropriate passive enhancement (which is a power called Vitality---different than bone charms). The next charm confuses me too frankly. Quick Dodge seems self-evident in the description, but I couldn't point to any example in-game or draw any hypothetical scenarios where you dodge an arrow shot at you. If anyone has seen this and can link to a video, that would be great. Let's make a little story though for the heck of it. You've jumped down and killed a guard on the sly. There was a guard just in the next room though that you didn't anticipate. He shoots an arrow at you and you dodge it thanks to your improved speed. Making a hasty retreat, you jump from the balcony into the water. He tries to shoot you again, but you're already swimming away thanks to the increased swim charm (unlikely scenario---all of that). As I said, it blends the least well for me.


And that's the charms as I understand them. They all lend themselves to a particular play-style. There are still variables regarding these charms though, but I don't want to needlessly complicate this with my speculation. I can say this though:

There are around 45 charms total and only 15 or so show up in one play-through. They are always random. You can never have more than 15.

These DLC packs allow you a degree of certainty with this random element. That may be good or bad depending on your take. The variables I'm not bringing up (as there hasn't been an answer and never will be since it is a minor quibble not worth nailing down) expand on whether their presence is good or bad. I'll only elaborate if you care for it.

I hope this was helpful, and I'm sorry for the bulky text. I'm in some pain and I couldn't make it more concise. Please ask if you're still unclear about anything.

Thank you, Calrabjohns. I was wondering the same thing the OP was and you answered it better than I expected. I'll likely reserve this at Gamestop just because that's my go-to store for pre-orders but the Best Buy bonus sounds pretty good as well. I'm sure these bonuses won't matter much later on in the game but I may as well give in as I usually do.

Awesome. I froze.

What I tried to say was: The card game from Arkane sold me on Gamestop as well as the DLC. Glad I could help.

Broken connection to match broken legs.

The dodge one is odd. It says it improves the chance of you dodging a bullet or an arrow. Let's say that bullets and arrows fly near where your body is. If you juke around you may be able to dodge them even at a closer range. What if the dodge rune makes it so the projectile strays away just a little from your body. I guess might be the case but it's effectiveness is probably like the rest. You get a small passive bonus which is good enough that they have them to begin with.

I think it's going to work in the second way you listed because they could just program it around the guard's accuracy. Same effect but completely different semantics, and if that's how it works that would be impossible to word in an advertisemant. Otherwise it's a whole other mechanic and that would be a very obscure/humble way to introduce it.

True. I'm very grateful to have these in any capacity since they'll let me tweak Corvo even more.

Had to stop myself from blowing up about the stupid RPS article. Meant to post the above earlier but I'm glad I can defuse in here.

I actually facepalmed at that article. There is a point to it but not in Dishonored's case because you can pre-order it without the bonuses and you can choose not to use the runes. You can turn them off even in a mission so I don't see what the problem is. But the guys over at RPS really liked Dishonored and this topic had to show how marketing is hurting great games. It's the thought that counts but there isn't much basis on which to argue in this case.

After the previous few weeks I am certain that Dishonored will be a good game. Solid and enjoyable. I still have my doubts about some things but it's not the marketing and it's not the game itself. And at this point we can't do anything else but nit pick because this is the most promising title I've see so far. Good job Arkane!

Couldn't agree more unless I was ambidextrous. I'll be back later. Keep the faith, Arkane!