Pathfinder WotR: Mythic paths

What are mythic paths

Each playthrough of WotR will have the player character chosing one single mythic path between the 10 available. More specifically, you get to chose one mythic path between 6 at the end of Act 2, and up to 4 more may be switched to at the conclusion of Act 4.

All of them have specific unlock criteria, dedicated stories (impacting both lore & encounters) and most importantly bring exclusive character features. Generally speaking, those features are stronger than the generic ones, making the choice of mythic critical to hardcore playthroughs.

Word of caution

Generally speaking, the game is best enjoyed by picking the path you like most, for whatever reason. First time players in particular are encouraged to avoid such spoilers and considerations.

All mythic paths require staying close to their typical alignment (no more than one "box" away)

Mythic paths for hardcore

There is little point to describing every little detail of every mythic path. Let's instead focus on the main impact each might have on a hardcore playthrough.

Mythic path	Align.	Unlock	Mechanical power	Class synergies	Other considerations
Angel	LG	Trivial	Pro One of the strongest Mythic. Provides long-term buffs that essentially provides group-wide immunities to most things Features extremely reliable lategame offensive options Cons Mythic 4 unlock takes more work than most others	Cleric & Oracle. Merged spellbook is a huge power increase	Very Lawful and/or Good story Suitably epic content
Lich	E	Easy	Pros Best spells in the game. Only contender is Angel. Very strong in just about every aspect. Cons Crusade mode can become very difficult	Arcane casters, especially spontaneous ones Almost a requirement.	Evil. Very, very evil. Not everyone can stomach the story
Trickster	CN	HARD	Pros Turns every natural 1 into a natural 20, for the entire group Many other perks can be made into completely-broken level of power Shortest story + easiest mythic-specific encounters Easiest access to the secret ending and its better flavours Cons Many feats happily toe the line between strong & cheese	The most flexible mythic, everyone can benefit.	Unlocking requires multiple non trivial, no-retry skill checks. This can easily be a run killer.
Azata	CG	Easy	Pros Much easier act 3 (early Mythic 4, trivialized final dungeon) Huge XP bump shortly after reaching act 5 (over a full level) Cons One of the weakest mythic overall	Spellcasters, especially CHA-based. Best mythic for skill monkey purposes.	Aivu <3 Generally the best feel-good choices
Aeon	LG	Trivial	Pros ? Cons Arguably the weakest mythic.		(subjective) Unsufferable RP
Demon	CE	Trivial	?	?	?
Act 4+ options
Devil	LE	Easy but limiting			Unlock requires Azata or Aeon choice earlier
Golden Dragon	NG	Trivial
Swarm	E	Very hard	Very unique gameplay, changes things up considerably		And you thought Lich was evil ?
Legend	/	Easy	Pros Opens up a plethora of builds, pushing the power ceiling to the sky. Cons Requires the most planning to get the most juice Foregoes previously acquired abilities	Generally used for martial purposes	Possibly the canon path Impossible to tell where the cheese begins

Short version

Most powerful

Generally speaking, Azata and Lich are the safest option for regular hardcore playthrough, bringing in both highly damaging abilities and tremendous survivability.

Most reliable

Players looking for a completionist playthrough must be aware that some content is locked behind non-retryable skill checks. The Trickster's abilities to avoid natural 1s (Knowledge: World rank 2, obtainable early Act 3) or guarantee a 20 for the next rolls (Trick Fate level 7 spell) offer an unparalleled guarantee of predictability.

For comparatively low difficulties, this safety extends to combat situations, as high-enough saves can be a 100% guarantee of immunity to save-or-suck spells instead of only 95%, as would a high attack bonus guarantee a hit.

High difficulties ACs and DCs however will simply be too high to fail on only natural 1s, and the Angel or Lich's blankets immunities and no-save spells will vastly overperform in virtually every situation.

Most skilled

Quick shoutout to Azata's "All-skilled" superpower, that lets her use any item, add her mythic rank to every skill, and have advantage (roll twice, pick best) on every skill check. While only a small power increase, this frees up a lot of requirements for group building, as it lets a single (main) character handle most if not all non-combat duties.

It is one of the very few reliable options to pass difficult endgame skill checks, and quite trivially so, up to and including putting the Lexicon back together without drudging through Enigma.