The needle in a haystack quest is super confusing

[bb 80]

Ok, so the first time I did this I just blurted it out in front of Antonius because I found the option amusingly stupid and by that got to the end of the quest. That's how I did it in all other playthroughs because while the monstary quest is a great idea it gets boring quickly.

This time I told myself, Sherlock, let's do this right. I helped Lucas who told me about Antonius not being from Vlashim, I also broke into the Prior's rooms to read that book about the novices in which it is revealed that the Abott was making inquiries into Antonius' past. I confronted Antonius and he said what boils down to "whatever". I asked the Circators, nothing, Nevlas nothing, the Prior, also nothing. I even knocked out Antonius to search him. Eventually I broke down and looked it up in the wiki and there it states that I have to break into the chest of Antonius to find a dagger. Why does he even have a personal chest?? and how the hell was I supposed to find out about it??? I broke into the chest and confronted him about it but still nothing.

Is there any way to actually find out about Antonius without straight up telling him and getting poisoned?

[BaconHer0]

Hmm... in my playthrough I confronted him AFTER I found the dagger, read the book and helped Lucas out. When I did so Antonius confessed and asked me to help him escape.

I helped him escape but then sent him to prison

You can find all these clues yourself but the quest puts the onus of action upon you to either help him escape or kill him... I know that the other novices suggest you tell someone in authority about it but this doesn't appear to be something Henry can do. You have to take matters into your own hands

[bb 80]

Originally posted by BaconHer0:

Hmm... in my playthrough I confronted him AFTER I found the dagger, read the book and helped Lucas out. When I did so Antonius confessed and asked me to help him escape.

I helped him escape but then sent him to prison

You can find all these clues yourself but the quest puts the onus of action upon you to either help him escape or kill him... I know that the other novices suggest you tell someone in authority about it but this doesn't appear to be something Henry can do. You have to take matters into your own hands

hmm he didn't confess when I did all that. Even after finding the dagger. Maybe I did it in the wrong order or I did ask the wrong questions.

[BaconHer0]

Yeah, I basically avoided talking to him until I had all the evidence. This quest seems to be set up to be done in a very specific order... if you go out of order you can no longer access the alternate outcome even though you have all the same pieces

Like, after I murdered Circator Stibor I could not give the cask of wine to Circator John... but I could still drink and play dice with John. I think if I murdered John instead of Stibor first, I could have finish the wine quest

It's very specific like that

[bb 80]

Originally posted by BaconHer0:

Yeah, I basically avoided talking to him until I had all the evidence. This quest seems to be set up to be done in a very specific order... if you go out of order you can no longer access the alternate outcome even though you have all the same pieces

Like, after I murdered Circator Stibor I could not give the cask of wine to Circator John... but I could still drink and play dice with John. I think if I murdered John instead of Stibor first, I could have finish the wine quest

It's very specific like that

oh well. Thanks.

[MF]

Originally posted by bb 80:

Originally posted by BaconHer0:

Yeah, I basically avoided talking to him until I had all the evidence. This quest seems to be set up to be done in a very specific order... if you go out of order you can no longer access the alternate outcome even though you have all the same pieces

Like, after I murdered Circator Stibor I could not give the cask of wine to Circator John... but I could still drink and play dice with John. I think if I murdered John instead of Stibor first, I could have finish the wine quest

It's very specific like that

oh well. Thanks.

I can't remember what I did first time thru, but on subsequent playthru's I either hid a dagger and lockpick in a trunk in the basement before 'joining', or just broke in at night. Either way, I just murdered him as he basically deserved it.

[bb 80]

Originally posted by MF:

Originally posted by bb 80:

oh well. Thanks.

I can't remember what I did first time thru, but on subsequent playthru's I either hid a dagger and lockpick in a trunk in the basement before 'joining', or just broke in at night. Either way, I just murdered him as he basically deserved it.

I hid lockpicks but forgot that you could trade potions for lockpicks with brother cellarius. I normally send him to prison.

[BaconHer0]

I think in future playthroughs I too will just immediately kill Pious and speed out of the quest. The monastery section doesn't seem to be worth the time investment unless you like to roleplay as a monk and do the same things everyday

I spent maybe 4 hours trying to find out more about who is counterfeiting inside the monastery but that plot line seems to have disappeared completely or was forgotten about.

Imprisoning Pious did not reflect any changes in the world or inside the monastery. Even Radzig doesn't care that you've captured him

The side-quests don't "show" or even "tell" of any changes. You can help one candidate over the other, or report your fellow brothers, but nothing actually changes in the monastery, even the monks' remarks remain the same.

You can do the lost pages quest but the reward is a key to the forbidden cabinet... but I already have a key to that! Now I have 2 keys! I l wanted to read the book I fixed but it doesn't seem to exist

I ended up killing everyone except the novices and the prior (he's immortal) to see what would happen but nothing happens. No one acknowledges that anything is different at all... it makes the quest feel like an anamatronic themepark with robots monks

[jeff1963]

Originally posted by BaconHer0:

I think in future playthroughs I too will just immediately kill Pious and speed out of the quest. The monastery section doesn't seem to be worth the time investment unless you like to roleplay as a monk and do the same things everyday

I tried this quest straight up a couple of times, now I just look at it as "I need that ring Pius has" and go the stealth Kill , get the ring and get out method.

[DargonBlak]

Originally posted by BaconHer0:

I think in future playthroughs I too will just immediately kill Pious and speed out of the quest.

To support this endeavor, once the quest is assigned, before even talking to the person at the Inn and taking his invitation, you can sneak into the monastery and outright kill Pious (i use the basement door on the Mill side).

You get lots of "failed (this)" and "failed (that)", but the Quest Does Complete Correctly so you can simply go to the campsite and light the fire for the next step.

When you kill Pious in this way, you do need to be careful about being seen, since there are apparently 20 or so guards waiting in the rafters (i.e. that appear almost instantly).

Certainly nothing some caution and a high stealth and/or Padfoot potion can't help with :)

[BaconHer0]

Originally posted by DargonBlak:

Originally posted by BaconHer0:

I think in future playthroughs I too will just immediately kill Pious and speed out of the quest.

When you kill Pious in this way, you do need to be careful about being seen, since there are apparently 20 or so guards waiting in the rafters (i.e. that appear almost instantly).

Oh yeah, those guards... when I got bored and started random fist fights or random murders they appear. But wait a few hours and they'll walk alone in dark corridors or stand around looking at nothing, perfect time for a knife in the back

They seem to have 2 respawn cycles.... so you kill one platoon, another will the next day, then another but after that they stop respawning for a LONG TIME