Diplomacy is what really has me interested in this game. I can Kill Stuff in just about every game, ever. I can Craft Stuff in a great many games, though to be honest not typically to the level of Vanguard's. Where else can I Diplomacy Stuff, though? That's Vanguard's, and that's what I've been trying to do a lot of. I'm not having the greatest luck at it, however. Not because I'm failing my parleys, but because of bugs. I started off on the mainland, in the Human starter area outside Tursh, which was fine, but when I stumbled across a Voice who pointed me in the direction of my race's Diplomacy Trainer and I discovered Rindol Field, the world blossomed. Halflings are GREAT! I did a few Adventuring & Crafting quests, but it was the Diplomacy I am really interested in. Then I slammed into a few brick walls. This is going to be long, and details quests & problems I ran into, so if you're not interested in quest minutae but want to possily help, drop to the very end! Quest: Doubleback (Lord Thannis Heartsworn) (Diplomacy level 1) Put in a good word for Thannis with Trenkle (completed successfully) Talk to Carron about Thannis (cannot even begin, there is no such option, only level 15 Civic Diplomacy options are available and they have nothing do with the quest) Drop nice facts about Thannis to Harelk (same as Carron) Help Meriet understand Thannis (same as Carron) Distract Semual (same as Carron) Quest: Not a Thief, Just a Killer (Lord Thannis Heartsworn) (Diplomacy level 1) Convince Innkeeper Murmont you are not a thief (completed successfully) Retrieve Marion's belongings (cannot complete, Marion's rooms are noted as being upstairs in the Tavern, the room the tracker marks as hers has nothing inside it save for a highlightable-upon-mouseover chest that is not actually interactable, no other rooms contain anything, no other NPCs speak of her, no belongings are found elsewhere in Tursh, and checking the room over a period of 2 days as well as waiting within the room for 30+ minutes does not result in the chest becoming interactable or anything else happening but other players asking me if I'd found her belongings yet because they were looking, too) Deliver Marion's belongings to Guard Alanark (obviously not possible due to the above) Those are two from the same NPC, but I also have an actual Diplomacy questline I'm working on, so off to do that one! But first, hey look, there's a Diplomacy quest right here by Thannis... Quest: Moonstruck Fool (Daniel Rusten) (Diplomacy level 6) Talk sense into Samantha (completed successfully) Resolve Samantha's 'situation' (which winds up being talking to Lord Thannis, and requires 25 Noble Presence, which I have absolutely zero way of raising as I have yet to find a single Noble to engage in Civic Diplomacy with- the Baron/Baroness in Tursh and Lord Thannis Heartsworn himself do not have Civic Diplomacy as an option. Ok then, forget that, onto the actual questline! Quest: Bad Juju (Investigator Trenkle) (Diplomacy level 4) Bury the fresh body (completed successfully) Interrogate the Necromancer (completed successfully, BUT I didn't realize I would need 10 Academic Presence until I attempted to engage in parley... and at this point I had only +1 Academic from an item of clothing. I had to find Academics and grind out Presence via Civic Diplomacy. Not that much of a problem, but it would have been nice to know before I attempted to parley the Necromancer, because grinding out Presence takes a while. Or it would have been nice to purchase Diplomacy clothing, but I have yet to find a Clothier anywhere. Quest: By the Trail of the Dead (Investigator Trenkle) (Diplomacy level 4) Speak to Gadin Edson (requires 15 Academic & 15 Domestic Presence, and again- it would have been nice to know I would need these first. I'm working on raising those now via Civic Diplomacy, and hopefully THIS quest will allow me to finish!) I've also stumbled across various Clergy with low (level 5) Civic Diplomacy options, but they require 1 Clergy Presence, of which I have 0 and no way to raise. So - are the above quests known to be bugged, or did I mess something up? Is there anything I should really know about or really do with regards to Diplomacy? I don't mind figuring things out myself, and I like working at it! I just feel like I'm slamming into barriers, whether they're intentional because I missed something or unintentional because they're bugs, I don't know. And do Diplomacy Clothiers exists outside the Isle? I would prefer to start all my characters on the mainland, but if I have to restart, I may go to the Isle since it seems Diplomacy is more functional there (or it's just my bad luck). Thanks for any help or ideas you can give!
'Not a Thief, Just a Killer' & 'Doubleback' are issues that I reported about 2 weeks ago through use of the /bug system. I reported them as critical, as they very effectively prevent users from completing the initial introduction to diplomacy questlines that are so very important to getting started and learning to enjoy diplomacy. I got stuck on exactly the same steps as you did, so it is definitely a bug. which winds up being talking to Lord Thannis, and requires 25 Noble Presence, which I have absolutely zero way of raising as I have yet to find a single Noble to engage in Civic Diplomacy This is exactly why the initial questline is so important. They give you some clothing to raise presence enough that you can get started on the surrounding quests.
I completed those quests, with no issue at all just a few days on my human ranger, so they must be gated in a particularly way to cause that bug for some folks but not others. I *did* have an issue with the presence requirement in the Moonstruck quest. Even after completing the entire diplomacy quest line in Thrush and many of the smaller diplo quests in the area through Three Rivers as far as Themnwar, I'm still just short of 25 Noble Presence.
Immaculate, Vhani, thank you both for responding. Are either/both of you F2P? Just trying to whittle down the possibilities, since I'm uncertain if this will see a dev response or not. Immaculate- I also /bugged these quests. I am F2P for the moment, but I really wanted to subscribe (and had intended to within the next couple of weeks), but if the one thing about this game that I am really interested in is also something that doesn't work well, then I should probably save myself the aggravation and hold off (for now at least, until I see if anything improves). It's just incredibly disheartening, because I was enjoying myself so much. Vhani- These bugged out for me about 3? maybe 4, days ago. I don't know if it's because I side-stepped into discovering my race's Diplomacy Instructor (I'm a Halfling) and that's something I shouldn't have done (as I really don't know if it is or isn't), or if the bug hit me because I'm not a subscriber and thus am somehow not triggering something in the code somehow. Regarding Noble Presence: I did receive a staff that grants me +21 Noble, but that's all the Noble I have access to. Probably the same for you? It stinks to be so close and yet unable to continue. If only I could find a Noble I could parley with! To anyone : Has anyone started recently, on or off the Isle of Dawn, and found Diplomacy to be working? If so, please tell me race/starter location, because I'm definitely willing to try again elsewhere. Or a location I can reach around Tursh that has a Noble I could parley with, that requires Diplo 10 or less and Noble Presence 20 or less? (That would at least let me finish ONE quest.) Any advice, tips, or the location of a Diplomacy Clothier on the mainland, or advice on how to get recipes to craft my own (if that's possible), would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading.
I have had to buy some diplo clothes to get past the required precense thing. That being said, I skipped down to 3 Rivers and there seems to be quite the number of quests to do there (like 10+).
Letsinod: Where did you find the clothes? Off the AH, or off a vendor? I haven't found a vendor, nor any clothing on the AH (at least not in my 'dirt poor' price range). Thanks for the recommendation of 3 Rivers, I'll head there and check! Silius: Thank you, it's good to know it will be looked into- it would be greatly appreciated!
if you like diplomacy you should start on Isle of Dawn. The quest line there is great and you end up with some decent gear before leaving the island.
Shazzie wrote: Hmm. I am a subscriber, but I don't think that should change anything for you. I bet you're right, and the issue is racial. Yes, I have that staff and can get my noble presence up to 21, but that's it! Compared to IoD, there's a significant lack of diplo item quest rewards in the Tursh chain. Just having done those quests, most of my jewelry slots are empty, as is my belt, shoulder and head slots.
I think I know what your problem is, well, at least one of them. You're probably going to the wrong Inn in Tursh. I just did the quests you claimed were broken without any problem. I haven't completed all of them, mind you, but I did just finish the one to collect the Lady's belongings. Also, I created my character on the Island of Dawn and started there and since then haven't had much trouble with having the required presence to initiate the Diplomacy Encounters. I am a Thestran.
Baratan wrote: I doubt I'm going to the wrong inn. It's the same one Marion herself is in, it's the same one where you have to convince the Innkeeper that you're not a thief and that it's thereby ok "to go upstairs and get her belongings" as the first quest step, as well as the only room the quest tracker itself specifically points to. Even though those three things should absolutely guarantee it's the correct inn, I have checked the entirety of every single building in and around Tursh in case for some freaky reason they put the belongings in a totally different place they never mentioned. No luck. The only thing in the entire town of Tursh that I could find was a chest in the room that's marked as Marion's that highlights on mouseover like it should be able to be used, and yet it is never useable. I think my problem may be that I'm a Halfling (and thus not a Thestran even though I started with them), or that I side-stepped and went to my racial Diplo trainer because a Voice pointed her out to me. I started my first character on the Isle, but it was so laggy that I started a new one, the Halfling I'm playing now, and I enjoyed the story much more than I enjoyed the Isle. I'd say I'd just start a new Halfling on the Isle, but if the issue is racial, I'm likely going to hit the bug all over again after I get off the Isle. We'll see!
Shazzie - I think your problem is racial. I learned tonight that everyone starts in 1 of 4 places in the game. I also had the same problem as you in Tursh with the diplo quests. So I started a Varanthari race. The game placed me outside of Khal and when I initiated the diplo quests, I started to have the same problem I had in Tursh. After talking with someone in chat, I found out that I needed to go to my actual home area for my Varanthari to 'get things going' in diplo. I ran all the way to my homeland and everything is going smooth. I don't have any issues with diplo. I'm thinking this may be the cause of your issues. It seemed to help me. Good luck!
I did go to my racial area, almost right after I made my character (I stumbled across a Voice, who pointed me to my racial Diplo trainer, and I got excited because Diplo was afterall what I wanted to do). I did the entire Halfling Diplo line, which sent me to a group of Dwarves... the quest seemed to hint that something would happen to progress me at the Dwarves, but as soon as I clicked on one and ended the quest, it also ended the quest line. Dead end. Nothing further. That's when I went back and started things from the beginning (the spawn point where I actually loaded into the game), and eventually picked up the Thestran Diplo line. I figured that's what I was supposed to be doing, anyway, since that's where I started... but then I ran into the bugs that were yet another dead end. It seems the Halfling Diplo line ends as soon as they send you out of Rindol Field (or I ran into another bug). I really hate to just give up! But I might start over and see if I have better luck elsewhere. Maybe do some research into the races who actually START at their racial start point, and pick one of those.
people think: if its a parley of my lvl of diplomacy, i should be able to do it. it was not like that at launch. you had to do other diplo quests to even be able to talk to low lvl parley npc. the "presence" requirement is there for a reason. being lvl 50 or 55 diplomat does NOT mean you can parley with any npc in the game.. +presence diplomacy items from quests or bought from npc are needed as well. but i have to agree with the OP here; some low lvl diplo questlines seem bugged.. although some stuff that is not obvious is still intended. i'll give example. over the past few f2p days, i saw a couple of people asking why they could not talk to a lvl 1 npc with 1 domestic presence req. A BUG you'd think then. but no ( i had same issue 5 years ago), it was an equipped quest reward that had +noble presence and MINUS domestic presence that lowered their domestic presence to negative.. hence they could not talk to a lvl 1 npc with 1 domestic presence req. quite confusing for new players....
Shazzie wrote: Shazzie, I completely understand. I started my High Elf in Turh and ran into the exact same issues. I petitioned, got passed through some of the problems you have, then broke again on the next step. I strongly believe the issue is that as a High Elf, I was never meant to do that Human questline. Since you're a Halfling, you will be broken as well. I've seen many people with similar issues on every continent. Every time I tell them to head to their own home and start their racial line, they have no issues. These quests are Human quests and you should just drop them. In my opinion, you should have been flagged to not have access to them so they wouldn't screw you up. The other quests require presence and I know that's frustrating but it's just what diplomacy is about. Start gathering information to turn in for gear!
I got stuck at the same points in Not a Thief, Just a Killer and Doubleback and I'm a Halfling. I assume it's a race thing. Sad they didn't think of this when combining starting areas. At Thannis I could scrape up 24 Noble, one shy of being able to complete the darned thing. For extra Noble Presence there is a quest in a small outpost called Raia in the southeastern part of the Khal chunk, it's right where the mountain ridge turns from south to east on road out to Qa Riverbank.. The diplo quest says you have to travel west and talk some guy into not going to Ahgram and you get a +20 Noble shirt. With items collected from Tursh and Three Rivers areas that is more than enough to let you complete Moonstruck Fools with Thannis. I'm only a level 7 diplomat and was a level 12 or 13 adventurer and had no issues accepting or completing the Raia Outpost diplo quest for the shirt. Good luck!
I did all the Diplomacy quests in Rindol Field. The final one sent me to some Dwarves by Themnwar's Shield, and though the quest was all over mentioning that this group of Dwarves would send me on my next step, nothing happened. The quest simply ended. (I wish I could remember the name of it!) That's when I went back and started in the Human area, because it seemed I'd reached the end of the Halfling quest line. And regarding needing the Noble Presence- yes, I knew I had to raise it. I just couldn't find any Nobles anywhere around to parley with, and I must admit to not even thinking that I'd need to run halfway across the continent to find any (or farther, as I've still yet to find any more), and I have yet to find any Diplomacy Clothiers or get any gear upgrades from turning in hearsays/evidence/rumors. I might not have found any Nobles, but I did find a quest that got me another item that raised a few groups, including Nobles, so I was able to go back and finish that particular quest, since Noble Presence was all I was stuck on. So I finished Moonstruck Fool after Diploing my way from Themnwar's Shield and Three Rivers all the way to Veskal's Exchange. So, Not a Thief, Just a Killer and Doubleback might be a no-go for me, and I'm still confused about the Halfling questline seemingly dead-ending at that group of Dwarves... but I'm doing pretty good otherwise. I just wish my Diplo gear wasn't taking up darn near half of my bag space! I'm just too afraid to drop any of it, and find myself in the same situation I was in before. Plus, I'm a packrat. Oof. (If I just knew where the heck the Dusk Charm quest is, because the other pieces have been taking up their own space in my bag for way too long now!) Thanks for the responses, everyone.
I had the same issue as you when I did it and when I petitioned about the Dwarves, I was told they offer a continuation diplomacy quest. But only to dwarves. Fun, huh? Blocked for not being a Thestran human, blocked for not being a Dwarf. After you get out of the starter areas this issue disappears for the most part.
