(Spoiler?) Reducing Princess Char'S influence to zero

[Geordy]

During the 6-year-period before the trial between the Faens and the Chars I managed to bring down princess Char's influence to a whooping -10. Here a screenshot from one of the mission debriefs:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2075163954

I got there by flying many, many crusader missions for Calagan Faen and helping other factions in their conflicts against Char. Now does that mean anything? I assume so since it is being displayed after every mission. But it doesnt seem to change Calagan's story (one and a half year left before the trial)? Does the princess' influence matter for the other Court storylines and not the prince's?

[Trese Brothers]

No, you cannot change the result of the trial by stripping Char of her Influence. The evidence is stacked strongly against Val and politics can't save her.

[Gilmoy]

Aetaan's influence probably doesn't mean anything, because she's scripted into narratives (and cutscenes are not procedurally generated). She almost surely has immunity to the usual post-Conflict actions that kill or harm enemy contacts. (Corollary: I suspect that all of the High Prince-tier contacts for each faction are similarly immune.) So she won't die, won't vanish, and won't change her mind.

Eventually, you'll uncover Aetaan Char as a normal Contact. Your p.rep with her might be amusing. Every time you hurt her influence, you also lose p.rep with her, roughly at the same pace as your f.rep with the Char faction. Influence is floored at -10, but p.rep apparently has no floor, so her p.rep could be -300 or worse. And you can't buy a pardon for p.rep.

For true ST:F mastery, run enough missions for Aetaan Char to drag her p.rep to +100

Almost assuredly, in Era II or so she'll sic a Legendary Bounty Hunter on your tail. You could then beeline to her and buy out that bounty hunter's contract, but I don't think that fixes your p.rep deficit.

[Geordy]

If the story has to go in one direction I am totally fine with it. But I have to ask: why are you making such a big deal out of Aetaan's influence (displayed after every crusader mission) if it doesnt matter at all?

[Trese Brothers]

Originally posted by Geordy:

If the story has to go in one direction I am totally fine with it. But I have to ask: why are you making such a big deal out of Aetaan's influence (displayed after every crusader mission) if it doesnt matter at all?

Aetaan Char is a Contact. Every Contact's Influence is displayed in that way when you run a mission against them. It's the 100% normal display, not a special display or "big deal."

Sorry you feel that the story is headed in only one direction. There are multiple branches to how it can play out, but for sure -- there is one direction in the case. It's a legal case with evidence and you can't change the court ruling as a Star Trader no matter what you do.

[Koro]

Originally posted by Trese Brothers:

Originally posted by Geordy:

If the story has to go in one direction I am totally fine with it. But I have to ask: why are you making such a big deal out of Aetaan's influence (displayed after every crusader mission) if it doesnt matter at all?

Aetaan Char is a Contact. Every Contact's Influence is displayed in that way when you run a mission against them. It's the 100% normal display, not a special display or "big deal."

Sorry you feel that the story is headed in only one direction. There are multiple branches to how it can play out, but for sure -- there is one direction in the case. It's a legal case with evidence and you can't change the court ruling as a Star Trader no matter what you do.

On my first playthroughs I also thought I could influence the outcome of the trial. After many, many attempts I noticed that indeed, there's no political way out of this one (can't say much because of spoilers). No effort is enough to change it... But... It was frustrating.

I think the problem is not that the game is going "in one direction", but that the players mistakenly assume it's not based solely on what Calagan says. A good solution would be to have someone in your crew make an acid comment like "What? Are we the patron saints of lost causes now?" after you accept the second or third quest and then maybe make that same character say "Told you so" after certain events are discovered.

[Trese Brothers]

Every character in the entire story tells you that you can't. Sometimes you have to listen to those NPCs ;)

[Koro]

Skip skip skip. What? hahaha.

I know, I eventually read what they said, haha. But I don't know. I think it's the way Calagan is introduced. He's so well-written I thought he was right and EVERYONE ELSE was trying to sabotage him. Also, since he's pretty much yout first contact, I assumed he was kind of a guide to the galaxy or something during my first few runs. But yeah, after doing the other Faens quest's it's evident he's yet another politician. :p

Either way, I enjoyed the game just as it is, so I don't care much. :)

[JimmysTheBestCop]

Originally posted by R'hllor of Ind:

Skip skip skip. What? hahaha.

I know, I eventually read what they said, haha. But I don't know. I think it's the way Calagan is introduced. He's so well-written I thought he was right and EVERYONE ELSE was trying to sabotage him. Also, since he's pretty much yout first contact, I assumed he was kind of a guide to the galaxy or something during my first few runs. But yeah, after doing the other Faens quest's it's evident he's yet another politician. :p

Either way, I enjoyed the game just as it is, so I don't care much. :)

But you pick up Estelle first! She is the first how dare you.

[Tuidjy]

I also stuck by Calagan in my first play-through. I reduced Char's influence down to nothing, flew multiple times across the map to advance his cause, made friends with his high prince... for nothing. I saved Valerie, though, so I feel I did right by him.

The really sad thing is that if you diligently destroy Char's influence, she does not have the power to send the feared bounty-hunter after you, which deprives you of the best melee weapon in the game. So now I go gently on her, and only drive her influence into the ground after I get the sword.

[Trese Brothers]

Originally posted by Tuidjy:

The really sad thing is that if you diligently destroy Char's influence, she does not have the power to send the feared bounty-hunter after you, which deprives you of the best melee weapon in the game. So now I go gently on her, and only drive her influence into the ground after I get the sword.

To be clear, any powerful contact in the game who hates you can send the feared bounty-hunter of whom you speak.

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by Trese Brothers:

Originally posted by Tuidjy:

The really sad thing is that if you diligently destroy Char's influence, she does not have the power to send the feared bounty-hunter after you, which deprives you of the best melee weapon in the game. So now I go gently on her, and only drive her influence into the ground after I get the sword.

To be clear, any powerful contact in the game who hates you can send the feared bounty-hunter of whom you speak.

Sure, but I go out of my way not to antagonize humans, picking missions so that I make as few enemies as possible. So it is extremely unlikely that I will upset anyone but Char to the point of sending someone after me.