Rested in the grove, and this now triggered the "I Trust You" scene with Gale - every time previously, I've only had this scene trigger when I got an artifact he could eat, so it was in fact a novelty to me to get this scene before I had anything to feed him! I agreed to help him, and was a good sport about it - my new character for this run is not really a material kind of person anyway, and she's not the very bright either - just good-natured, helpful and optimistic. Gale was Neutral before the trust scene, but was at Medium after it.
[snip]
I chatted to Gale here and now and fed him the flask, then rested. This triggered the "Weave" scene. Before the scene, Gale was on Medium approval, but was on High approval after it. I suggested romance in the scene, and he was receptive, and I think that's all the boxes marked for romance at the camp once the grove is saved.
It makes me wonder if having certain conversations with the characters is more important than the unseen approval number. For example, in this playthrough I was lightly flirting with Shadowheart at Neutral Approval (she's usually only cordial with my characters till later), but I had opened up more dialogue with her than I usually do in this run.
That being said, I've also had "cusp" moments with approval. First playthrough, I had just finished the Gith Patrol quest and met Medium Approval with Lae'zel, but was still turned down. For Gale, was it certain moments that unlocked the Weave scene for you before getting High Approval, or because it was on the cusp - that I wonder.
In my game, I was planning on recruiting the boys, so Lae'zel got it into her head that she was going to complete her trial and kill that darned mindflayer if it was the last thing she did. As it turned out, it WAS the last thing she did. She killed the mindflayer after we defeated the commander (so, congrats to her, she's can go home to the astral plane now?), and then the cambions promptly killed her while I took care of the transponder.
Can't believe you let future Queen Lae'zel die. Meet me in the pit.
Having less party members does seem to make getting Gale's scenes easier. Lae'zel, Shadowheard, and Wyll each had a conversation when no one else in the camp had anything to say - and this seemed to push Gale's scene an additional 3 camps away. As mentioned in previous posts here, it's like - if we think Gale's scenes are complicated to get, adding the rest of the party member and tadpole scenes must certainly ramp up the complexity. Which would explain why it's so finicky. Feels like everyone is standing in line to speak when we camp. I hope they can iron out the kinks so these conversations can occur simultaneously at camp. No reason that a party member at High Approval has to wait for one party member at Neutral to have their spiel.