Dragon Dean tests won't advance to final exam (!!!)

[Eightfold Path]

This has been the most frustrating part of the game for me. I have done this in every playthrough I've done (this is the 4th, 200+ HRS in) and every time it gets screwed up somehow. It is tied to two powerful achievement reward and its one of the last few achievements I want to unlock. I finally feel like I have a good understanding of it all now and am going for it BEFORE rescuing the Emperor.

I did the Chuxiang final exam recently and the last question does not have a definitive answer in the steam guide, so I guessed and the result came up as the talent "Scholar." I put this result on a separate save because I assumed this was a weak result (Should say top examiner and have a buff, right?) So going back to a previous save a half hour earlier, I did the test five times, and Dragon Dean keeps saying come back tomorrow... I've done it TEN TIMES. I've been checking to make sure I dont auto load instead of auto save, but the days are advancing, its been ten days. I qualified at Daliang, but Chuxiang looks bugged.

As I said I did this 2-3 times in previous playthroughs and it always went off as designed, 5 tests per city. Losing my mind here. Anyone else encountered this? With the many multiple hours I put into this Im ready to just mod the game.

[devilishpenguin]

You're supposed to do chuxiang first. You do the five days of answering questions. Then you get the test. Save before hand and take the test. There's three final questions and only one of them is the guide unsure off.

Wait three days and see if you passed or not. It does not matter if you got a buff or not from this one. But it does on the second and third one.

Next you go to daliang. You don't have to do questions you can do it right after getting results. Pass this one and if you got them all right you should get the provincial top examiner trait.

Next go to confusius temple and take the last exam. Wait three days and if you passed youll get the county top examiner trait.

Lastly you "rescue" the emperor. It's imported you trigger every fight because there's four dialogue options you have to say after them. Two of them often lump together that's fine. Basically just make sure all the generals outside get killed and you're good.

You'll walk out with the emperor and you'll get the top achiever trait and achievement.

[Eightfold Path]

First off, thanks. You're talking me off a ledge. To nitpick, I have finished Daliangs 5 first in a couple playthroughs, he admits defeat and invites you to try the final, you just cant take it until taking Chuxiangs final but I dont think you were disputing that. It's like they're holding your spot.

If I'm reading this right, the almost worthless "Scholar" trait is just a precursor to the the 3 shown in the achievement text. Meaning there are actually 4, Scholar first, then Provincial Top Examiner, Country Top Examiner and Top Achiever? I was worried "Scholar" was like a consolation prize for not getting a perfect score and would bork the achievement. I wouldnt put it past this game.

Based on this I went into that older save that started this mess and it mustve been from when I saved right after the 5th test. Because I then went to the Government office and my character asked to take the exam -_- I need to stop marathoning this game. They let you keep matching couplets after qualifying, I'm assuming as a method to potentially fix your wisdom score in the future.

So, if this is all true and I go back to my save with Scholar trait, where I already qualified for Daliangs final, I should have this wrapped up in about 10 minutes. I'll let you know when I tomorrow :)

[kingexl123]

FYI, this is based on the real education system in ancient China. Scholar is equal to graduating from High School. You can get it by taking a local test after 10 years of study (this is the Xuchiang Test in the game). Once you become a scholar, you can take the 2nd round of the test (this is translated to Provincial Top Examiner in the game). Then the final round is held in the capital city, the Emperor will issue a topic for the test himself. The Top Achiever in this game is loosely translated from the Chinese word. In the Chinese version, the title for this means you are good at both literature and martial. In real life, along with the literature test, sometimes the government also held martial tests to find good candidates to become generals in the army. It is very rare for a person to be the top of both tests.

[Eightfold Path]

I had a feeling. People have mentioned the authenticity in other aspects of the game, such as marriage/fated and how marrying Royal negatively effects marrying others. The couplets seem impossible most time, but I imagine if you were native Chinese, you could answer many of these couplets by memory. Like if in an American game it said "A bird in the hand is worth [Two in the bush.]" Stuff everyone here heard growing up.

I've done all the way through Confucius Temples 3rd exam twice. The first time I didnt notice it didnt give me an achievement, the 2nd time I didnt notice until I had already done everything again, so I was pretty upset to know I'd be doing it a 3rd time :( Then I tried Stargazing in my 3rd playthrough and found out that is tied to this achievement as well, lol... this game. I've learned a great many truths of this game the hard way. But I love it.

[Eightfold Path]

I'm happy to report I was able to get Top Achiever, with Han Hongyu in the party. Eluded me so long and is finally done.

Besides the incredible status it provides, the extra dialogue was interesting and worth the effort. I was not expecting the 5000 Sect Contribution reward, so I will reload and conclude my business in Swallow's Nest, as Ive already bought out their store... Seeing as this triggers Chuxiang raid I may tie up other things as well. Thanks again.

Then I should probably join Taoist? Idk if it's even necessary, but I never finished their Sect legitimately (forced way into Pavilion) and should make Stargazer easier. You get auto recommended for Confucius so that probably makes more sense. I still need Confucius Saint as well, and I could use the 5000 SC to buy the Merit Plaque straight away. Assuming it doesnt interfere with Stargazing. Will have to research and double check. Could always do one then the other I suppose :)

[kingexl123]

You should join the Taoist sect. They give you the Stargazing and Enlightenment ending and the Trait Way of Nature. It is one of the best traits in the game. Moreover, you can learn to make medicine from them. Nine-times refined pill is very helpful in some case.

[Eightfold Path]

Well aware how powerful it is, lol... I was pretty sad I missed it last time.

I figured out why I couldn't do Stargazing last playthrough. A discussion I read on here someone mentioned Stargazing and Top Achiever in the same post, but they weren't related. The reason why Stargazing wouldn't trigger was because (I'm assuming) it was late in the game and Nine Factions had been destroyed, which locks you out of legitimately entering Starchaser Pavilion.

I'm successfully meditating at Star Observatory now. I'm on a roll! Achievement points about to reach 312, and I feel like I have a good handle on doing Melody House and Fire Sect properly this game. I've been using 5 save files because I don't trust this game :P Taoist has a fun loop that takes the entire day, so I'm enjoying playing it again. they have powerful skills, so I might even shoot for Sky Breaker 1200 achievo later.

This playthrough was just supposed to be a quick sweep of some 1 point achievements but Swallow's Nest was very fun. I usually don't enjoy playing sneak/steal in RPGs but they framed it in a really cool way. If you adhere to the robbing from rich and giving to poor, your Benevolence remains 100. It clicked when I gave money to beggars blocking doors, I feel they even intended this interaction to be thematic. Was even able to recruit Bu Juenchen, a pretty cool dude, despite leaving the Sect.

Also, starting with Fake Newcomer changed the game feel in an engaging way, it became all about tasks and could mostly ignore leveling up character/martial arts. Also using True Ring of the Goat, having access to double Jianghu Knowledge makes the targeted leveling more of a constant thing rather than letting it pile up.Still a blast at 250 hours! Can't believe the low price of this game for all the content it has.

I still haven't triggered save Emperor, why rush it at this point.

[kingexl123]

This game is so complex that you need many playthroughs to see various consequences of your choice. For instance, I just try to get the Heart of Benevolence trait and both Luo Xianque and Hua Qingqing in the same playthrough. It turns out that you can just ignore the quest from CIB, which asks you to attack the mountain cave. And when I join the Swallow Nest later, I can complete the mountain cave. If you bring Luo Xianque to meet with Hua Qingqing, you could see some interesting conversations between them.

[Eightfold Path]

Well, ♥♥♥♥. I already borked that this run. I did the assault because you cant marry both, I said screw it. That gives me something to shoot for next time. I just got Way of Nature and it was really thrilling that it finally worked, the achievements in this game are so satisfying! So I guess I'm on to the tricky business in SW territory and desert.

Best thing so far this run is having Zhang Lata with AoE fist skills and using balanced vehicle and my invisibility cape. Transforms his role.

[Eightfold Path]

I was able to get several more achievements in this "dummy run", including Beauties like Clouds, Confucianist Saint and Sky Breaker 1200, so I guess I'm figuring this game out.