What has to happen for Raphael's first appearance to trigger?

[Tresh]

I've completed 7 playthroughs and am pretty sure that I've found most places he can show up at at this point, but I'm still not sure about what things absolutely have to happen for my least favorite Cambion to rear his perfumed head.
Do you have to encounter and talk to all origin characters first and then he'll show up at the next potential point he can be? Or do you need to trigger certain story events first?

I'm honestly just confused, because one time he showed up in the grove the first time I was there and in my second playthrough, he left me waiting until after I was done with the goblin camp leaders. Is it just random where and when he'll show up?

[Metallicus]

I believe he can appear once you have met with Nettie and not before.

[jonnin]

Best as I can tell its scripted at 3 or 4 locations in act 1 tied to your level (3+). If you leave the grove towards the harpies, or get to the broken bridge before waukeens, and a couple of other places like that (just yea far out of the grove) it will trigger but those 2 for sure. It will not trigger at level 2, but if you backtrack there it will once you ding.

[Gob]

I'm pretty sure its random.
I've had him appear several times on the sandy hill with the ladder to the left of the path just as you head away from the nautiloid area, once up one of the ladders in the shattered sanctum, several times near the broken bridge north of the blighted village, as well as near the grove on the way to the harpies.
There may be some pattern or trigger for his appearance but, if so, I've not figured it out.

[Annie Other]

The condition for him to appear is that you have talked to Nettie and learned that she cannot cure you.
After that, there are several spots where he can appear, and he'll appear where you go first.
The ones I know of are:
- Emerald Grove, at the path that leads to the Harpies in one direction and to Alfira in the other.
- On the way to the stash in the Forest where you find the Silver Pendant
- The Blighted Village
I heard that he will appear in the Mountain Pass if you somehow managed to skip all other spots, but no idea.

[Mike Garrison]

Talking to Nettie is optional, and meeting Raphael is not, so I am fairly certain that "talking to Nettie" is not actually a requirement for meeting Raphael. (It still may be one way to trigger it.)

[MystShade]

I always assumed it is counting footsteps because given the same path you will find him at the same place. Once he literally appeared inside the goblin outpost while i was sneaking in >>

[Annie Other]

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

Talking to Nettie is optional, and meeting Raphael is not, so I am fairly certain that "talking to Nettie" is not actually a requirement for meeting Raphael. (It still may be one way to trigger it.)

You're right, of course.
Talking to either Nettie or Priestess Gut should be a trigger.
And if you talk to neither, he'll appear when you enter or are about to enter a point of no return.

[GrandMajora]

Meet with Nettie, then take a Long Rest.

That's what I managed to find by looking up how to spawn him.

There are a few areas he will appear if he doesn't show up in camp

1 - Selunite Outpost waypoint.

2 - The broken bridge near the Blighted Village

3 - Up in the rafters of the Selunite Temple, in the room where Priestess Gut is located.

[ihoujin.]

Learning from Auntie Ethel that she can't remove it is also a trigger I believe. So probably any failed attemt to remove it is a trigger.

[GrandNagusNemo]

Originally posted by Annie Other:

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

Talking to Nettie is optional, and meeting Raphael is not, so I am fairly certain that "talking to Nettie" is not actually a requirement for meeting Raphael. (It still may be one way to trigger it.)

You're right, of course.
Talking to either Nettie or Priestess Gut should be a trigger.
And if you talk to neither, he'll appear when you enter or are about to enter a point of no return.

Neither are required. I just encountered Raphael having done neither.

[ChaoticDragox]

I think asking anyone for Help with Tadpole is requirement for 1st Raphael Trigger.

Talking to Nettie is probably the fastest way to trigger him. Don't remember what I did on my first play-through, but remember, that I never talked to Nettie & Raphael was triggered inside Goblin Camp. Probably talking to Priestess Gutt was the trigger.

[Raz]

Originally posted by Dragox:

I think asking anyone for Help with Tadpole is requirement for 1st Raphael Trigger.

Talking to Nettie is probably the fastest way to trigger him. Don't remember what I did on my first play-through, but remember, that I never talked to Nettie & Raphael was triggered inside Goblin Camp. Probably talking to Priestess Gutt was the trigger.

It is not.

I have gone to get the Guidance necklace after the Grove battle and Raphael appeared once I hit the top of the ladder. Hadn't spoke to Zevlor let alone Nettie.

I have spoken to Nettie, Gut, and Halsin and Raphael hadn't appeared yet until I went up to the rafters in the Selune Temple. I had multiple long rests at that point, already killed the Bard in my sleep, cleared the Blighted Village, killed the Gnolls, gotten the Caravan shipment, and gotten Karlach with the Paladins of Tyr merc'd.

[superslayer]

I literally in my first play through met him randomly in camp in the mountain building post blowing up the Gith monastery. But this restarted play through I met him whilst nabbing the silver pendant.

The only major difference was Nettie I think.

[jonnin]

I like the theory that you have to have failed a removal. But has anyone tripped over him at level 2? I haven't every managed before 3rd even when sneak-beelining something before fighting stuff.

[hornsounder97]

Originally posted by Raz:

Originally posted by Dragox:

I think asking anyone for Help with Tadpole is requirement for 1st Raphael Trigger.

Talking to Nettie is probably the fastest way to trigger him. Don't remember what I did on my first play-through, but remember, that I never talked to Nettie & Raphael was triggered inside Goblin Camp. Probably talking to Priestess Gutt was the trigger.

It is not.

I have gone to get the Guidance necklace after the Grove battle and Raphael appeared once I hit the top of the ladder. Hadn't spoke to Zevlor let alone Nettie.

I have spoken to Nettie, Gut, and Halsin and Raphael hadn't appeared yet until I went up to the rafters in the Selune Temple. I had multiple long rests at that point, already killed the Bard in my sleep, cleared the Blighted Village, killed the Gnolls, gotten the Caravan shipment, and gotten Karlach with the Paladins of Tyr merc'd.

I've went for that necklace in multiple playthroughs, and never saw Raphael there without first having talked to one of the three healers. I know he spawns there, in the grove by alfira, and supposedly outside the blighted village by the ogre bonin' shack. The only times I have reliably been able to spawn him was after I spoke with one of Nettie, Glut, or Ethel about the tadpole, and not having success. I mean it makes sense that those would be the triggers. The more desperate you are, the more appealing Raphael becomes.

In one of my previous playthroughs, I visited all of the sites I listed organically before talking to one of the healers, and never had Raphael spawn for me. I believe if you visit those sites before dealing with the parasite healers, you will have Raphael spawn in your camp as a fail safe, and miss out on the original two cut scenes at the hill, and by Alfira.

But I mean, there's so much conflicting information out there. We all seem to be having different experiences, it's hard to really pin this down.