Can't find Valerie

[Bilbo Swaggins]

I just finished the quest under the Old Sycamore, and talked with the Kobold chief. We freed Valerie and Jaethal, who said that they would return to the trade post and be available as companions. I went to the trade post after this, and Valerie was not there. Jaethal was, but she won't talk to me.

Is this a bug, or is there something else I am missing? It's unfortunate because my party dies a lot, so I was hoping to add a tankier character to the roster. Thanks!

[Rhinestone Cowboy]

I had a similar thing happen. Finished the same quest, I already had Jaethal, but when I get to the trade post, Valerie is not there.

[Catilanga]

some ppl said this happened to them as good char, they fixed it, now im hearing it also happens when they chose an evil party. well i think we should w8 a fix.

[Carradon]

mine was the opposite... completed sycamore rescuing Jaethal (had gained Harrim in ancient tomb, Octivia & the half-orc from the technic league encounters and Tristan from temple.) Went in with Amiri, Val, Linzi, Harrim & Octavia, so full party. Jaethal in prison, gives the 'need to recover, I'll return later in all my glory' speech, and then a few hours of gaming later after the under portion of sycamore is complete & I return to Oleg she's mia. Not just not willing to join... completely missing.

[Rhinestone Cowboy]

Update:
After you finish the first Act, she shows up and is available. Not the best solution, but it will do for the time being.

[Carradon]

cute... let's hope so...
I'm seriously starting to think I should just set the game aside for about a month and let them work out the kinks. Seems more like an ongoing beta... I hear folks claiming they were beta testers, typically in the "why the game is just fine as it is" responses to the "why is every kobold a min/maxed mega raptor w/ a dex of 24 and an AC 20+ :) doesn't sound like they did a very good job beta-testing :)

[Psimancz]

If you are still looking for her - I found hr in the SW tower, inside the trading post.

[Autocthon]

Originally posted by Dime Theory Michael:

Update:
After you finish the first Act, she shows up and is available. Not the best solution, but it will do for the time being.

Working as intended. If you get Tristain before doing Old Sycamore whoever was imprisoned is unavailable until chapter end.

Basically whoever you get last is unavailable for use against the Stag Lord. It's your first "choices matter" nudge toward actually picking what is important for you to do first.

[Teao]

Tristain and the two companions that go with tartuccio whoever you get third is in bed (upstairs in olegs) until the end of the act.

[Gravedancer]

Originally posted by Teao:

Tristain and the two companions that go with tartuccio whoever you get third is in bed (upstairs in olegs) until the end of the act.

I dont remember it being that way at launch, but its definitely that way now. That being said, if you really want to have a particular companion available for the stag lord fight, then make the correct choices earlier on to avoid them being the last companion you pick up. You have a couple of options for this:

1) in the ancient tomb, make sure that you choose them as the companion you want to convince to leave tartuccio (as the one you dont choose leaves with him).

2) failing step 1, you can always go to old sycamore and free them first before going to the temple of the elk and acquiring Tristian.

You could also take the right dialogue options way back at the aldori mansion so that they go with you from the beginning.

[talemore]

If only old scyamore wasn't a torment tour cutting through 3 maps killing ;

dragons,mites, kobolds, spiders, undead, magical beasts, tigers, fey, wisps, rodents and bandits all in one go.

Tristan's quest is easier. Old scyamore is the mini boss who is harder than the boss.

[granada777]

I'm about to finish chapter 3 and Old Sycamore is still the longest dungeon so far.

[forkofspite]

Old Sycamore is essentially a three-map dungeon. I think that's the largest until the final dungeon of the game . (However, depending on your play style, others might certainly feel larger.)

edit:
Of course, the Sycamore Depths are completely optional.

[alanc9]

I wonder if anyone realized that the Depths are optional the first time through.

[talemore]

Considering how conservative D&D is on exp and how hard it's to survive without exp because of the game design skipping any attempt to gain a new level is almost the same as giving up on the game.

There are optional quests, example you gain an extra quest by allying with the mites. You gain loot which is converted into gold who is used to buy items in store when you reach a new power spike.

Skipping any attempt to level up makes the game hard. In most cases it's jaethal saving the party by being immortal she can't die which means once everyone is at death's door she will reset the battle.

The order in which each party gains its turn is randomized and the dices rolled are very random that no increase of accuracy seem to make any major impact in early game.

Once you make a super build or hire mercenaries you start to realize that your novel companions are very weak compared to the main character. Their stats are out of place that your main character becomes a mower.

Pathfinder should do what shadowrun did. You don't gain exp based on killing. You gain by doing the quest. This way being stealthy won't mean you are missing opportunities to level up.

It maybe noble to give up exp for morality but the game is black and white that failure is game over and it's based on how many levels you have versus your opponent.

[99Random]

Originally posted by talemore:

Once you make a super build or hire mercenaries you start to realize that your novel companions are very weak compared to the main character. Their stats are out of place that your main character becomes a mower.

I love responses that are off topic and incorrect. Are you saying that you struggle with the game because your TANK has 16 strength instead of 18 strength (hint: tanks are about taking damage)? You have issues with Ekun's damage? How about Jubilost bomb mania? Reg is an awesome PJ tank or deadly two handed damage dealer. I could list them all. This is just a weak sauce excuse with the "un-optimized companions".

The companions are using standard Pathfinder stat values (high) as opposed to the hero of the story (you) that gets the epic.