"Track down bandits"

[e11]

I took this quest from a guild master in the Nord capital, and... where are those damn bandits? I've run back and forth and there's no sign of them. They're sea raiders, and I'm supposed to get information on their leader, if it makes a difference.

[Redmacinton]

never thake those quests those bandits can already be in the Swadia right now or further if you dont thake them out fast.

[Hayter]

never take this quest its stupid and broken
also you will make more money if u did something else instead of wasting time chasing them
trust me its not worth the effort

[Akboris]

Most the quests in this game are stupid and broken. Save before you do it and spend about 1m looking for them, if you cant find them, save scum and dont bother they are long gone by then.

[ULTRA]

Don't take any of the town quests unless your party is level 7+ in scout skills (spotting, path-finding, tracking) and/or level 7+ in patience. Don't do the spy quest except under these circumstances either.

[Omen]

Speak to farmers and other parties roaming around and ask them if they've seen the bandits.

[Voltronjeremy]

Originally posted by Redmacinton:

never thake those quests those bandits can already be in the Swadia right now or further if you dont thake them out fast.

This. The bandits move around the entire game-map, so it can be borderline impossible to catch them.

Best to just fail the quest and know not to take it in the future. There are a few other quests like this, that aren't really worth the effort or the danger of failing them.

[White Knight]

The quest is neither broken, nor stupid.

The bandits you are searching for behave as bandits are coded to. There is a bandit camp near the city where you got the quest. That tends to be where I find them, more often than not. I go to the local camp and wait nearby until the blue coloured bandits show up. It's not that difficult.

Occassionally, if I'm distracted or unlucky, etc. I might miss them and then I have to go and search. Talking to npcs is how that is done. Ask everyone you can catch up to and see what they have to say. It's only a matter of time before you zero-in on your target.

For example, a passing Farmer says "bandits matching that description were spotted near [wherever] twenty hours ago". You know there's almost no chance they'll still be in that area but there will also be people with more recent and relevant information. Then it's "six hours ago by this village", and eventually "I just saw them one hour ago".

Mountain passes and bridges form bottlenecks that all units need to go through. If you have a terrain feature like that in the vicinity, camping there can sometimes cut your searching time down considerably (or make it worse?).

The bandits will move around the map and the quest will stay open until it times out or your quarry gets taken out by some other AI unit. At night, they will tend to go to the nearest bandit camp for shelter, trade, etc. If you have already scouted some of the bandit camps on your map, a quest like this can be rather simple.

All of these quests vary in difficulty but have a method to their "madness". They all make sense when you know what's going on. The one I can't stand is the "Track down the looters" one. I can't do it, I don't like it, but there are people in here who can tell you exactly how it can be done. The same is true for everything...even cattle quests.

[RandomDude]

Haha yeah as most people have already said, this is one of the more annoying quests.

It helps to talk to lords/village elders and ask about any warbands that they've recently seen.

Try and avoid taking the quest though, in all honesty as it's more trouble than it's worth.

[lionhart]

Originally posted by White Knight:

The one I can't stand is the "Track down the looters" one. I can't do it, I don't like it, but there are people in here who can tell you exactly how it can be done.

This really is the worst quest. There can be up to six different groups of looters and they all scatter in different directions so it can be really difficult to track them all down. Not only that, but the quest is bugged because if one of the looter groups gets defeated by another party, the game does not recognize it, so the quest becomes impossible to complete even if you destroy all the other groups.

I'd much rather drive cattle. It's not that hard once you get the hang of it.

[Omen]

Originally posted by lionhart:

Originally posted by White Knight:

The one I can't stand is the "Track down the looters" one. I can't do it, I don't like it, but there are people in here who can tell you exactly how it can be done.

This really is the worst quest. There can be up to six different groups of looters and they all scatter in different directions so it can be really difficult to track them all down. Not only that, but the quest is bugged because if one of the looter groups gets defeated by another party, the game does not recognize it, so the quest becomes impossible to complete even if you destroy all the other groups.

I'd much rather drive cattle. It's not that hard once you get the hang of it.

Are you sure? There's only ever one group for me and it always finishes when the bandits are killed.

[White Knight]

Originally posted by Frodzero:

Are you sure? There's only ever one group for me and it always finishes when the bandits are killed.

I can't speak for lionhart but I am sure, yes. "Track down the Looters" is one of the quests you get from cities. Once you accept it and return to the campaign map, the game is stalled momentarily while you watch several groups of "Looters" scatter in different directions.

They are fast and they disappear, making it next to impossible for anyone to actually catch them.

The trick, so I've heard, is not to freak out about the initial "Looters" that spawned and ran off but to track down any other groups of "Looters" anywhere on the map. Once you've killed enough looters, the quest is resolved. I've never done it, I have only failed miserably at trying to catch those initial groups.

"Track down the bandits" is an entirely different style of quest. Just like dealing with "Troublesome bandits" would be another.

[lionhart]

Originally posted by White Knight:

The trick, so I've heard, is not to freak out about the initial "Looters" that spawned and ran off but to track down any other groups of "Looters" anywhere on the map. Once you've killed enough looters, the quest is resolved.

Interesting. I've never heard that before and I've never tried it. I will definitely give it a try the next time I get that quest.

[White Knight]

Originally posted by lionhart:

Originally posted by White Knight:

The trick, so I've heard, is not to freak out about the initial "Looters" that spawned and ran off but to track down any other groups of "Looters" anywhere on the map. Once you've killed enough looters, the quest is resolved.

Interesting. I've never heard that before and I've never tried it. I will definitely give it a try the next time I get that quest.

Well, just so you know, I'm only blathering on about things I think I remember reading in these forums. I hope it works out for you!

[RandomDude]

You'll need to destroy the correct groups of looters/bandits to get a reward. If it's a quest with multiple looters then you will get a reward for each party destroyed by you. Other parties can destroy them too and you won't get a reward for it. As long as there is still a quest looter party on the map, the guild master won't allow you to complete the quest.

I don't think destroying normal bands of looters will get you a quest reward or count towards the quest being completed, only the looters with a coloured name will count.

[Omen]

Originally posted by White Knight:

Originally posted by Frodzero:

Are you sure? There's only ever one group for me and it always finishes when the bandits are killed.

I can't speak for lionhart but I am sure, yes. "Track down the Looters" is one of the quests you get from cities. Once you accept it and return to the campaign map, the game is stalled momentarily while you watch several groups of "Looters" scatter in different directions.

They are fast and they disappear, making it next to impossible for anyone to actually catch them.

The trick, so I've heard, is not to freak out about the initial "Looters" that spawned and ran off but to track down any other groups of "Looters" anywhere on the map. Once you've killed enough looters, the quest is resolved. I've never done it, I have only failed miserably at trying to catch those initial groups.

"Track down the bandits" is an entirely different style of quest. Just like dealing with "Troublesome bandits" would be another.

Yeah, I got them mixed up for a second then. I've only done this type of quest a couple of times but the looters stayed sort of close to the town for both of them.