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Joined: Feb 2022
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you can still get Gale's romance and personal quest even if you don't spam long rests and his attitude soars in the early game. This sounds to be like you were simply lucky.  Well, perhaps. I thought I’d just done the same things that in previous patches that resulted in zero Gale romance or personal quest progression, but you’re right that I may just have come across a slightly different permutation and nothing has actually changed. Okay, an update based on my new playthrough. Putting in spoiler tags as it's long and only tangentially related to the topic, but thought some of you might be interested in the weird and wonderful permutations of Gale's wonky conversation logic that I've been trying out. TL;DR It is now possible to get Gale's quest and romance if his approval jumps too quickly in the grove, but not always and not always in a sensible order. Context- Gale 's approval jumped to High while I was in the grove
- I didn't spam resting so hadn't got his camp scenes like the weave one or the deer stew one in which he tells you he needs magic items
- I'm not even sure I had his mirror image scene, but stupidly didn't note that
- Gale hadn't died so I hadn't got his resurrection scene
- He hadn't told me about his "condition" and I'd seen no evidence of it
I then tried a few alternatives: Path 1: Gale reads the Necromancy of Thay- I had him insert the gem and read it, rather than me handing it to him, so it was in his inventory and he never absorbed it.
- I then finished wiping out the goblin leaders at level 4 and got the Amulet of Selune, having already picked up the Sword of Justice and Staff of Crones.
- Gale still hadn't mentioned his condition, and I'd had no Wizard of Waterdeep quest updates
We then have two sub-branches: Path 1a: Immediately return to the grove and trigger the party- Gale thanked me at the party for having given him an artefact, though I hadn't (except for the Necromancy of Thay that was in the inventory) seeming to assume I knew what he was on about, and promised me a bedtime story tomorrow but wasn't interested in sleeping with me. I go to bed alone.
- The next night he told me about Mystra.
- I rested a few times, during which I think I got Astarion's mirror scene and mentioned he wasn't as handsome as Gale
- I continued long resting and suddenly Gale starts talking about deer stew and tells me he needs artefacts and his quest updates, but there was zero acknowledgement that he'd already told me about Mystra and his condition.
- I gave him two artefacts (in addition to the NoT which just stayed in his inventory) and the quest updated to say that's enough for now.
At that point I gave up that path, unromanced, and reloaded the save before I went back to the grove and tried the following ... Path 1b: Continue playing without returning to the grove- I carried on playing until I hit level 5
- At the very next rest, Gale did his deer stew spiel and asked for artefacts, the quest updated
- I gave him two artefacts and got confirmation that was enough for now
- I tried resting a few times, and at some point got Astarion's mirror scene, but nothing else
Then another branching ... Path 1b(i): Party!- I went back to the grove and triggered the party
- Still Gale wasn't interested in sleeping with me, only booking time the next night to tell me his story
So I reloaded to before the return to the grove, and tried ... Path 1b(ii): Gale dies before the party- Before I returned to the grove, there was an unfortunate accident with Astarion's sword and Gale died
 - I resurrected him and spoke to him (both persuading him to tell you a bit more and letting him keep his secret work here)
- I rested - at this point in my game the Owlbear cub turned up in my camp so that dominated the next few nights
- But on the same night as the Owlbear cub and Scratch cuddled up, Gale had an ! above his head
- Talking to Gale triggered the Weave scene in which I flirted with Gale
- I returned to the grove, convened the party, and Gale wanted to spend the night with me. I'd forgotten how awkward his chat-up lines were
 . EDIT: And I’ve just gone back to this save and spent some quality time with Gale … and Astarion and Zevlor, who were both clearly nearby and visible throughout my intimate tête-à-tête with Gale. At least it was kissing only then cut to “Under Construction”. But while Astarion was meditating with his back to us, Zevlor was looking right at us which did kill the mood rather!
As I had a save from just before I gave Gale the NoT, I then thought I'd quickly try the following Path 2: Give Gale the Necromancy of Thay in dialogue- I read the NoT with my PC, and once I had inserted the amethyst used the available dialogue option to give it to Gale (at this point he'd still not asked me for any artefacts, just suggested that he could take the book off my hands as a more qualified individual when I'd first found it)
- He thanked me, said he'd read it later and it vanished from the party inventory
- That night in camp, I spoke to him and he absorbed the book, thanking me and saying he'd need another artefact, speaking as though my character had any idea what he was going on about despite the fact this was the first he'd said. But at this point the Wizard of Waterdeep quest updated to say I'd given him an artefact and he wanted more
- I found the Sword of Justice and gave it to him, quest updated to say that was all he needed for now
- The next long rest I got Astarion's mirror scene and mentioned he wasn't as handsome as Gale
- Rested a couple of times, nothing happened
- Gale met another unfortunate accident and again I resurrected him
- A rest or two later I got the weave scene and had the option to imagine a kiss
- I assume that would have activated the romance again if I'd continued from that point, but I'd had enough!
Conclusion/hypotheses- It looks as though Gale's personal quest may now progress at level 5 if it hasn't already.
- It also looks as though it will progress a few days after the party, if he tells you his bedtime story (though possibly letting him read the Necromancy of Thay was a factor).
- And it also looks as though it will progress if you give him the Necromancy of Thay in dialogue.
- The weave scene only seems to trigger if Gale dies and is resurrected, once his approval is already high, and I only got it after giving him two artefacts. I never got the option to romance Gale at the party without the Weave scene.
- The Astarion mirror scene may or may not be significant - it did occur (and I mentioned thinking Gale was more handsome) before the weave scene each time, but this could have been coincidence.
- I was as nice as possible to Gale and didn't pry into his mind, but it's possible that even following the paths I've outlined here would have different results if different lines were chosen!
- In conclusion, it looks as though it should be possible to get a romance with Gale without spamming rest, as long as he dies and is resurrected some time before the party. But I did do some rest spamming later in the game to test out these options, so I've not quite cracked it yet. A task for another playthrough!
- But while this gives an interim workaround for those of us who want to progress Gale's quest or romance him without spamming rest, it really should be fixed properly!
Last edited by The_Red_Queen; 31/12/22 04:49 AM.
"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"
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