Should you pay or attack Ian Mason in Broken Roads?

One of your first side missions in Broken Roads involved you deciding whether you should pay or attack Ian Mason. He’s causing a lot of trouble for Tina and she asked you to deal with him, but which way is better?

Broken Roads: Should you pay or attack Ian Mason?

In the side quest “The Right of the Strongest,” Tina asks you to get rid of Ian Mason. Although he has a contract and wants to complete it with them, he has become a bother to Tina and everyone else. In my opinion, it’s best to attack Ian Mason instead of paying him in Broken Roads. Let me explain how each decision impacts you and why I think you should keep your money in your wallet.

Paying Ian off

If you decide to pay Ian, either $100 or $50 after attempting to bargain, this will get him to leave. Unfortunately, this seems to be the only peaceful way to get Ian to leave, but it leaves you with emptier pockets. Luckily, when you return to Tina, she’ll know that you probably gave him money and will ask how much.

If you admit that you paid him, she’ll give you money back, leaving you with the same amount of money as you had before. You get some XP for completing the quest, but it doesn’t leave you with any other good rewards.

Attacking Ian

If you decide to immediately attack Ian, two of his buddies will also join in on the fight. Depending on your upgraded skills, you’ll probably fare well in this fight. The good thing is that it’s three against three, so you should be able to easily take them down. Unfortunately, you now have blood on your hands, as Ian is dead as well as the others (except for one of the enemies who ran off after Ian died).

Although I thought that Tina would be angry at me for killing Ian, she was surprisingly glad I killed him due to how annoying he was. I think that this is the best decision mainly because you can then loot Ian’s body after defeating him, leaving you with some nice loot and even a key to his secret stash. This leaves you with more rewards than if you paid him, and leaving him alive may force you to run into him again in the future.

No matter which decision you make, you’ll end up pleasing Tina and you can earn some party XP. If you’re enjoying playing Broken Roads, you may be interested to know that this game was featured in the Triple-i Initiative showcase on April 10 alongside a game called Dinolords.