Madness

Madness is one of the twelve visible stats in the Compendium. The 'Madness Scale' is the fourth purple bar in the second row and is captioned as 'Rest' in the beginning.

Madness describes your affinity for the Cuthintal, its name a reference to the rumours of the Cuthintals of yore causing their bearers to go mad. As a rule of thumb, the stat is raised when you are successful at deliberately harnessing the Cuthintal's power. Like other stats, it influences the outcomes of certain actions, adds a few lines of dialogue and sometimes determines the availability of a specific choice.

Warning: the table of contents contains minor spoilers.

Madness Value
The Madness stat is a tricky one to raise, as there are comparably very little opportunities to do so. Having a high Madness stat can, however, prove to be fatal in certain instances, and to access Madness dependent content, one does not need to have the stat all that high to begin with.

Amongst the other stats – the dichotomous minor stats, which can acquire both positive (purple) and negative (orange) values, and the major stats, the 'Disposition Values', that appear white and are always positive – the Madness stat is a bit of an outlier, as its scale's appearance corresponds with that of the minor values, but like the Disposition Values can only ever remain positive, creating a category of its own: the Madness Value.

Unlike the other stats, the Madness Value moves on a much smaller scale (though it is theoretically possible to go a few points beyond in either direction) and never rises by more than two points at a time.

While it is not possible to display the exact value of your Madness stat without tinkering inside the files, the value itself is divided into four named states that give us an additional hint on how high our current Madness Value is: The following sections are detailed guides and are therefore full of spoilers:
 * Rest: 0 Madness Points
 * Grip: 1-4 Madness Points
 * Haunt: 5+ Madness Points
 * Consumed

Stat Raiser Overview
This section is heavy on spoilers.

Below is a brief overview for all the opportunities, without details. You cannot encounter all of them in a single playthrough:
 * 1) Fighting the guard in Duliae's House:  +2 Madness Points 
 * 2) Try to speed things up when talking in the Cabin:  +1 Madness Point 
 * 3) Fight the Soldier during the Fracture in the Forces:  +2 Madness Points 
 * 4) When rallying the Gha'alian people with Lacey, go into the Circle:  +1 Madness Point 
 * 5) When rallying the Gha'alian people with Lacey, seethe during the fight:  +1 Madness Point 
 * 6) When rallying the Gha'alian people with Lacey, 'Do something' during the fight:  +2 Madness Points 
 * 7) You were able to consistently summon the Cuthintal:  +1 Madness Point 
 * 8) When training, try to force the Cuthintal out:  +1 Madness Point 
 * 9) When the Cuthintal taunts you the night before the Sea Creature's attack, stay silent:  -1 Madness Point 
 * 10) Focus intensely on the Sea Creature:  +1 Madness Point 
 * 11) Give Lacey violence with the Cuthintal:  +1 Madness Point 
 * 12) Choose to fight when confronting the grandparents in the dungeons:  +2 Madness Points 

Guide
This section is heavy on spoilers.

Duliae's House

 * When the guard comes into Duliae's House: " Stay. "
 * Manoeuvre yourself into position to fight the guard.
 * " Stay put in silence. "
 * " Try to talk to the guard. " (If you have 20+ Charm)
 * Pass the invisible stat check with 30+ Brave, or 70+ Diplomatic, or 40+ Might
 * " Stand up and prepare for a fight! "


 * " Fight! "
 * " Embrace it. "  → [+2 Madness]

The Cabin
In the Cabin after you ask what the next course of action is:
 * " Aren't you in trouble? "
 * " Seems very risky. "
 * " Hey, I'll try to speed things up. "
 * " I don't know, I could try... " → [+1 Madness]

Fracture in the Forces
This is mutually exclusive with rallying the people with Lacey.
 * When choosing the Plan: " I'm going to take advantage of the fracture in the Forces. "
 * Accept Keles' proposition to fight:
 * " Let's do it. "
 * " Aren't you afraid of the Cuthintal? "
 * " Let's go. "


 * " I'm going to spar with him. "


 * Once Keles starts mocking you: " I'm not done. "
 * " Yes, I do. " (you need 31+ Might) → [+2 Madness]

Rallying the People
This is mutually exclusive with exploiting the fracture in the Forces. At Vissadand Na'alaval, the Battle Circle: When you are fighting Lacey: After Lacey hesitates:
 * When choosing the Plan: " I want to go to the people. "
 * When you see Sorran about to kill the woman: " (Do something.) "
 * " Help the injured elf! "
 * " (Go in the circle.) " → [+1 Madness]
 * Have 20+ Brave  or  30+ Might to survive the altercation.
 * When you are fighting Lacey: " Stand your ground! "
 * " (Seethe.) " → [+1 Madness]
 * " (Do something!) " → [+2 Madness]

Cuthintal Control

 * After Duliae's house party: " I was able to summon the Cuthintal. " → [+1 Madness]

Cuthintal Training

 * When Saffron tells you to force the Cuthintal: " (Try.) " → [+1 Madness]

Cuthintal's Mocking
Note: this is the only opportunity to lower your Madness stat.
 * Cuthintal asks you if you worry about the elves: " Be silent. " → [-1 Madness]

Sea Creature

 * When you stand before the Ship-Eater: " (Focus Intensely) " → [+1 Madness]
 * You need +3 Madness to access the option.
 * If you have +6 Madness, it kills you.

Ecarae
After you talk to your Cuthintal Dream Team about going back to Gha'alia.
 * Have a love interest and finish talking to him.
 * Have 32+ Brave  or  35+ Trusting
 * Have max 80 Cunning (so 80 or less)
 * After Ecarae wants to escort you to your cabin: " (Use Cuthintal.) " → [+1 Madness]
 * Have at 4+ Madness to unlock this option.

Lacey Brought It Upon Himself
After Gawloyes leaves Duliae's house.
 * Do NOT have Lacey as a love interest.
 * After Ernol and Duliae stop arguing: " I'll give you violence, [Lacey]. "
 * " (Cuthintal him!) " → [+1 Madness]

Fighting Grandparents
When you go confront Mietwen and Gawloyes:
 * Don't meddle with Gawloyes's attack if Cuthintal tells you.
 * After Mietwen's assassins jump into the fray: " (Fight!) " → [+2 Madness]

Madness Requirement
This section is heavy on spoilers.

What exactly do you need Madness for? And when?
 * 1) If you go on a date with Ernol, there is alternate dialogue if Madness < 0, though this might be bugged.
 * 2) " (Focus Intensely) " on the Sea Creature: requires +3 Madness to unlock, and less than 5 to survive the option.
 * 3) If you face the Sea Creature with Imre, you need 4+ to save him (" Let go of the railing and grab him. ") and survive.
 * 4) +4 Madness  or  +120 Cunning for Cuthintal to share an observation about the Sea Creature
 * 5) " (Use Cuthintal.) " on Ecarae requires +4 Madness.
 * 6) Having +3 Madness can save you if Mietwen does not believe your lie, you do not have 140+ Cunning but have 40+ Might.
 * 7) When you are leaving and Sorran crosses your path, " (Push him with Cuthintal.) " requires +4 Madness.
 * 8) To save Mietwen, you need 6+ Madness for Cuthintal to warn you.
 * 9) You need 5+ Madness to ask Cuthintal " Why would you do this?! " in the cave.
 * 10) You need 5+ Madness to get extra information about your Cuthintal in the epilogue.

Mietwen
This section is heavy on spoilers.

How can you save Mietwen? During the final confrontation:
 * Have 6+ Madness.
 * When asked who goes to the confrontation, choose " Just a few of us. "
 * Have 5+ Kindness  or  60+ Diplomatic.
 * Have 15+ Brave  and  30+ Might
 * Once Cuthintal warns you: " (Help her!) "
 * Have a love interest to survive.