Credit for the original guide goes to RumeZucabr on Reddit, and Svecka on Steam for reposting it.

1. Start a new game in Banner Saga 3. Whether you import a save from Banner Saga 2 or not doesn't matter. After the intro, you get to the city and gain control of the mouse cursor. Quit the game at that point.

2. Locate your save folder. On Windows, start File Explorer and paste the following into the address bar:
%AppData%\TheBannerSaga3\Local Store\save\saga3\
In there, you'll find folders named 0 through 4 that correspond with the 5 save profiles in-game. Open the latest one.

3. Open the file sav_chapter_16.save.json in a text editor. I use Notepad++ but the basic Notepad from Windows should suffice.

4. Search for the string survival_reload_required. Note that there are two instances in the file; you're looking for the first one, which should be on line 1729 or thereabout.

5. Replace the lines (in my case, there was just one) starting with "unlock_ that appear between the "survival_reload_required": "false", line and the "varl_added": "1" line with the following. The end result should look like the attached image.

"unlock_505_exclusive": "1",
"unlock_hyperrpg_a": "1",
"unlock_ks_banner_bearer": "1",
"unlock_ks_banner_folk": "1",
"unlock_ks_community_reward": "1",
"unlock_ks_dredge_loot": "1",
"unlock_ks_human_loot": "1",
"unlock_ks_sweetener": "1",
"unlock_ks_varl_loot": "1",
"unlock_kivi": "1",
"unlock_petrie_clan_ring": "1",
"unlock_saga3_deluxe": "1",
"unlock_sculptors_tools": "1",
"unlock_shadow_walker": "1",
"unlock_shield_cleaver": "1",

6. Save and close the file.

7. Start the game and click Resume.

8. Bring up the menu and choose Load. This differs from the same option in the main menu before you resume.

9. Pick the middle option: Chapter 16, Day 0. That's the file you fixed above.

10. Double-check that things are in order:
• Items: click the Heroes tent and look at your party inventory. Check that the Petrie Clan Ring and Sculptor's Tools are there. The Gold Wasp should also be there, but that item appears even without this fix.
• Heroic titles: level up a character to rank 11 and the Heroic Title button will be revealed. Check that Shadow Walker and Shield Cleaver are there.
• New hero: the game begins at chapter 16. You get to chapter 17 fairly quickly, and you'll run into a battle. On the character selection screen, you'll see 2 new characters automatically added to your selected party members. After the battle starts, you'll find the DLC character named Kivi standing behind them.

As for the other things, I'm not sure we're supposed to have access to them. Use your own judgement and don't insert some of the above lines if you feel like you shouldn't have Kickstarter rewards or whatever. I personally can't be bothered to sift through all this stuff when the things that are supposed to be there are missing.

Hello,

I know that this issue was reported by Alexim some time ago. Does the above make it more likely there will be a fix at some point? I can't imagine it's that much more challenging to have the game write the correct values to begin with.

I'm also puzzled why the latest version is a downgrade, 2.60.22, over version 2.60.82 a week prior.

Alexim also reported there's no way to access the leaderboards -- and therefore probably no way to unlock the Eternal Arena Champion achievement -- but I'm nowhere near done with the story campaign yet.

In any case, The Banner Saga trilogy are some of the most beautiful games I've ever played. I like to think I'm fairly picky about what games I allow into my library, and they definitely stand out as unique gems among the rest. Everyone involved deserves heaps of praise.