20 Video Game NPCs You CAN'T Afford To Lose

Unlike its flop sequel, the original Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is a fully fledged RPG that allows the player to make genuinely impactful choices at every stage of the game.

Sometimes, however, the full consequences of your actions don’t appear right away. In fact, one of the earliest choices you can make, saving Mercurio from death, awards you for it at the end of the game.

Mercurio is the Camarilla Prince's servant who helps you get the explosives for your first-ever mission as the newly embraced vampire fledgling. When you visit him in his apartment, the man is on the brink of death, bleeding out on a sofa after being assaulted by the gangsters who offered him the bomb.

At this point you can either ignore Mercurio and go get the bomb yourself, or you can try to help him first by giving him some painkillers.

Your act of mercy doesn’t seem to have any effects at first, but if Mercurio survives up until the end of the game, in the epilogue he will give you access to his special stock of weapons, allowing you to buy the best gear in Bloodlines.

The painkillers you give Mercurio are both for him and for the boss fights in the final act.