Raphael is a very dead end in Act1. Mostly because he doesn't give you a path forward. He just comes along, and goes away.
It's not like he offers where we should go to meet him later. And he is "continued" by you thinking about him on the boat.
Swen kept saying you can meet him out in the wild, and if you miss him he comes to your camp. I have 100+ hours in the game, and hasn't met him out in the wild once I think.
All in all he's a dead end in EA, and should have been left out until we can actually progress one step with his story.
Consider our other "options for the Tadpole":
1. Lae'zels option. We can't finish it in EA, but we get the option from Lae'zel, and seek out the Gith. Progress is made in EA.
2. "we NEED to FIND! a HEALER!" Netty, Gut, Haelsin etc. This progresses the story, it gives us the mountain path option or the underdark option. We work on it, and we get progress.
3. Raphael. He comes, he talks, no one believes him, and we never see him again. No progress.
He has a bit of the same issue I have with the evil path. His offer isn't given at a time where we the player is desperate. We aren't afraid of the tadpole, so we wouldn't make a deal with a devil. The character might be afraid, but it doesn't show for us.
Especially when we realize that we won't turn into a Mind Flayer any time soon.
The offer he gives isn't an offer at all.
So yeah Raphael shows up too early, and has nothing to offer.
