Egypt Arena

[Coldfire]

So I've reached the final quest stage in Egypt, and all I have to do is launch the final mission. But I realized that I had never seen the arena. After searching around (in game and the out), I find that apparently for it to show up I have to talk to Bestia. But he's now standing around the table in the Legatus tent along with everyone else, and I can't interact with him.

Am I just SOL? It seems like I've soft-locked myself out of 33% of the DLC content.

[asarokk]

The final quest stage, you mean where you finally take on Ptolemy in Alexandria at the very end of the African conquest? So you're saying you've already spent all that time on the African campaign and never once spoken to Bestia? He's open for that discussion about the arena pretty much from the beginning of Act II. The first opportunity presents itself right after you rescue Cleopatra from the caravan transport. The Arena is situated in the Nasamones, not Egypt though. If you've already told your Primus Pilus that you're ready for the conquest, then yes it will be too late to finish any side quests you may have left.

If you want to finish the challenges in the Arena, then you'll have to load an earlier save.

[Coldfire]

I guess so, yea. I don't have a log of who I've talked to when, but I don't spend a ton of time wandering around the camp talking to people. Since the arena in Asia Minor appeared from a campaign-map event, I just assumed the same would happen here. Sounds like I'm just going to miss it though, which is really annoying.

And I'm on hardcore. There are no earlier saves to go to.

[asarokk]

You should make a habit of speaking regularly to your praetorians between missions at your outpost and that also includes NPCs on-map locations because most side-quests you have to discover for yourself. The difference between the arena in Act I and Act III is that people have heard about Bestia and of your own exploits so they seek you out, while in Act II, it's Bestia's wish to challenge the champion of Nasamones because while Bestia was still a gladiator in Rome, he had heard of that champion and has always wished to fight him.

But you could double check your quest log and see if you have spoken to him before and just don't remember it, if you have and it's in the quest log, and if you haven't already spoken to your Primus Pilus, then you can still go to the arena. It's also possible to deny Bestia's wish and in that case, the quest never becomes available.

Worst case scenario, you'll have to wait until your next playthrough.

[Coldfire]

I wont lie, it's a little frustrating that you get locked out of the content this way. It's one thing if like you forgot to do it before leaving Egypt. Or if there was some time limit that you let pass. Or if Bastia left your party at a certain for some reason.

But he's literally standing right there, and the game makes a point of not forcing you to stop exploring just to push the main quest along. And again, the introduction to the arenas in Asia Minor happens in a totally different way. But in this one specific scenario, you can suddenly really miss out for silly reasons. It's not that big a deal in the end, it's just a side quest. But I was really looking forward to the arenas.

[asarokk]

In every act, you have to finish everything you want to before the last quest, because as soon as you achieve your final victory that marks the end of the conquest and you return to Rome. In all fairness the game does warn you about proceeding in case you're not done. Still you're right, it is frustrating but unfortunately it was made deliberately.

My guess is that it may have something to do with how strenuous the final battle can be, there are only three open spots in the hospital at your outpost and you could be left with so many injured praetorians, even greater risk if you have permadeath enabled. Not to mention you've already taken over all of the outposts so that restricts the flow of resources and spending them while finishing up any unfinished tasks, well that would ultimately put you in not only a much worse position in the next act but also while you're in Rome.

[Coldfire]

Oh yea, having the point of no return is fine. Because the game explicitly warns you that you must complete everything else in the area before continuing. I have no problem there. The thing that is odd to me is that they actually lock anything involving talking to companions one step *before* the warning. Because after that, you can't talk to any of them any more, even though you have infinite time in the region and they're all just standing in the camp.

[asarokk]

I'm always finished with everything else before it comes to that so wasn't aware of the total freeze-out. If you haven't gone further, maybe you could try going to the Court of heaven and speak to Bestia there. I've never received the arena quest from him there but it's worth a try since you can receive the quest about his lost sister there too.

[Fuzzyballs01 ꦙ]

Originally posted by asarokk:

You should make a habit of speaking regularly to your praetorians between missions.

only between main missions, and even if you don't the dialogue option is there up until you finish the chapter so it doesn't really matter when
they mostly just add filler dialogue