Meeting Sym

[AliceGold]

Anyone know how to meet him?

I accidentally did it on my first playrun but now am struggling to repeat it.

[dengeist]

I met him in the forage area outside. He was the "Boss"

[WinterSachi]

You can meet him in earlier areas but without talking to him during your childhood (it's one of those common events). He's shown as a shadow who helps you. Your first official dialogue happens in the forage area once there's a food crisis (an event with a "Boss" marker, if I'm not mistaken).

[agu10play]

How do you level Sym relationship?

[WinterSachi]

Originally posted by agu10play:

How do you level Sym relationship?

He doesn't accept gifts (well, he likes birthday cakes though, so give him one to read a funny dialogue, don't worry he'll return it to you right after), and they don't usually change relationship with him. You need to proceed with Gardeners' plotline in order to raise his affection. Also bring him a memory stick with movies, clips etc. when he asks about it.
Just explore all avaliable zones outside of the colony, do all yellow (boss) missions and talk to Sym often (Sym can be found in every zone once you meet him in the forage (pink) area, because he often watches over you from a distance).

[Jowisz]

Originally posted by WinterSachi:

explore all avaliable zones outside of the colony

Do I also have to explore the swamps? I don't see Sym there and to be honest wiping out the animals with Vace it's not something that I want for my character in this playthrough.

[Igneous]

I finished his plotline without doing so. I think Sym is available for a new event roughly every 3 months or so, and he can be found on any exploration map once you've met him

[Danie Tei]

So there are 2 conditions for meeting Sym, first you need to be old enough to actually be allowed to explore, I think that means after your 13th birthday.

Second is you need to either get 3 'mysterious stranger' cards, these are mostly from failing events and then Sym will save you. Alternatively if you have at least 1 'mysterious stranger' and have explored at least 15 times he will show up. (To be clear it's not the cards themselves but the event that matters, removing the cards while relaxing won't affect meeting him).