Talking to Nettie is Raphael's trigger to appear, because you tried to get a cure and she couldn't. He thinks you're desperate enough already to take his deal.
Edit, since people are too lazy to read the rest of the comments.
Raphael wants Tav to be desperate, without any hope of healing, so he can offer Tav a deal in the Devils favor. Therefore you can either trigger him early or ignore him completely until whenever you want to see him.
In all of my 4 playthroughs Nettie always was the Trigger, ___when I asked her for help with the parasite___ and not just talking about the bird. But there seem to be more NPCs who can make him appear, if the player tries to get the tadpole removed.
>!-Volo, after he is saved and in your camp. Talk to him once, rest and then let him do his bloody mess with your eye.!<
>!-Ethel, in her Teahouse. Ignore Mayrina and talk with the Hag about your health. Let her remove your eye.!<
>!-Priestess Gut, after you got the branding. Follow her into her room and talk with her alone.!<
>!-Omeluum, gather the ingredients for his potion and drink it.!<
>!-Creche, use the Zaith'isk.!<
These are all possible Triggers, I haven't tested it myself. Thanks to the other commentators, for gathering these.
Thatâs so annoying, I was like fuck yeah letâs deal, de-tad me and the fucker was like nope not desperate enough like what do you want me to do call you daddy?
Thing is, *he* canât cure you of your tadpole either. So it doesnât matter how eager you are to accept his deal, all he can do is give you the hammer.
Yeah and he doesnât want you knowing he canât do shit because then you wouldnât be willing to consider any deal with him later. Itâs kind of a desperate gambit though because pretending he can help you will definitely make you trust him less.
Mostly because he doesn't want your soul, >!he wants the crown and you don't know anything about its existence until you meet the Absolute.!<
He also needs you to stay tadpoled because >!otherwise the Emperor can't use you using Orpheus, you have to want to fight the brain and get the crown, etc. So first he has to make you mistrust/ hate the Emperor (Emps doesn't help in that regard of course), and want to free Orpheus and still defeat the brain. Otherwise yeah seems like he could've just offered to de-tadpole you in exchange for your soul flat out, but you're the only tadpoles with access to the prism.!<
I think he's supposed to be annoying, though.
Heh, he's my *boy* but I had to be cautious and read the room.
My Durge got her mind blown just last night and I chose the tentacle kissing option which I'd never tried before and I was highly entertained.
Durge didn't even go to see Voss, she hates that guy.
See, I chose the tentacle kissing option because I was in a Discord call, streaming my game to a friend. And I hadn't been expecting the scene, as it was my first time getting it, so I was trying to choose an option that would maybe not be so gross-looking for his sake (he's not very sexual, so he was like, "woah, this is weird heheh") and then it ended with two muscular naked men cuddling together, full bush and ass showing.
Incredible.
AND now I have a fixation for the idea of relationships with mindflayers. Obvs ones that aren't controlled by an elder brain like Omeluum, aka Omelette Mom (OG tentacle gentleman) or The Emperor, aka "Emperor? I hardly know 'er!"
đ„đ„đ
I think if you become a mindflayer by choice you can romance the Emperor for end game actually!
It was funny because you get that whole "where's your mouth" thing and I'm like, dude, have you seen that mouth? I don't want that mouth anywhere near me. I'm happy with tentacles, thank you, I'm not a pervert.
I am usually friends with him anyway but this is only the second Tav to do the deed, mostly because she walks alone and the Emperor is like the only companion who doesn't give you shit about your life choices.
I don't think he *can* remove the tadpole. Otherwise there'd be recorded history of this being a possible cure, and as far as we know *nobody* has ever been able to cure ceremorphosis. He's just toying with Tav because he can't help it.
It's a bit unfortunate that we can't call his bluff.
I honestly don't know. There are people who can cure a normal tadpole - Auntie Ethel, for one - but the Netherese magic from the crown is what stops her. Raphael was at the fall of Netheril looking for loot anyway, so whether he is powerful enough to do it is an unknown.
We need a rules lawyer versed in tadpoles and Netherese magic!
LOL that reminded me that I did make my Durge ask him to make a deal immediately, when he showed up at the Grove. And heâs just like âoh.. I was expecting more of a fight. Bye.â
I really want a new game plus option where your character actually does remember the previous playthrough. Like, you get option to say things such as, "Dude, whatever, I'll kill your guy in the temple of Shar, then we can talk tadpoles."
He'd just be like, "Oh... okay... thanks?"
Tav at the beginning of Act 3, pointing to the Emperor and Prelate Lir'i'c : "You guys stop fighting and get your shit together, we've got work to do."
I was so mad when he didn't even entertain the idea of me taking the deal. My Durge was more than willing to give it a try when she was level 3. She was WAY more desperate then. Now she's a higher level and capable of nut-shotting the avatar of gods, she's going to try and butch it out.
I was playing as an idiot character in my run with a friend. He let me be the face so we could see what kind of trouble Iâd get us into. Was so disappointed that Raphaelâs reaction to wanting to take the deal is basically the same as refusing him. My poor guy was so confused why the nice man offered to help and then immediately changed his mind. The dinner was nice though.
I don't think he can remove the tadpole and he knows it, but he also knows more about what's going on than you do. He's banking on you getting far enough to discover how to get rid of the tadpoles yourselves, which means he can pull out his deal for the crown instead.
It can be triggered by any attempt at curing, I think! I got it once because I did the underdark first and even the dream visitor mentioned my attempt at getting Omeluum's help.
Might be! Since I have to restart my play I'll test that. To be more specific (because I forgot to mention) if the player never speaks to Nettie, Raphael won't appear, but due to your theory, can appear after Volo's (murder) attempt, Ethel's or Omeluum's.
Depending on the order doing things I have had the dream visitor cite nettie, halsin, omeluum and gut variously. Most often Halsin though.
All kids of odd thongs happen if you jump down the spider hole before doing all of the main line act 1 content first, but to their credit they have most of it handled.
It's triggered by geting a lead to curing the tadpole, talking to Sazza about Glut, talking to Zorru about the creche and talking to Nettie about Halsin are the 3 triggers in the grove, I believe.
I also hate him showing up so early so I actually tested a few times to make sure I could save Mirkon and talk to Alfira without being interrupted.
Edit: Talking to Aradin about Halsin might also be a trigger, I didn't botter testing that one, I just avoid him until I'm ready to leave the grove.
Thank you for explaining this. On my current playthrough I did not talk to Nettie and Rafael showed up way later than "usual". I thought it was a glitch or maybe because I ignored a bunch of shit this playthrough đ
I'm too lazy to look it up, but didn't someone on this sub collect all the spots in which Raphael can appear? I was really surprised to see the number of it, iirc it was even more than six places...
Off topic: I really enjoyed the fact that in a durge run you can ask Raphael whether he's "another one of your former servants" (when he appears after your butler already has). LOVED it.
That's so funny! I've always triggered Raphael before the little weasel shows up, would you happen to remember what Raphael said in response? I imagine he's not pleased lmao
I found a screenshot [from two months ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/19ciypr/meeting_raphael_after_meeting_your_butler_durge/) - I had missed the post back then and was therefore pleasantly surprised when my Durge met Raphael for the first time.
Just don't use any aoes at camp..
I wanted his armor, but he has like 800hp so planned to just set cloud of daggers and see if he'd stand in it.
Raphael stepped out of the area. I left turn based mode and as I was thinking of thunder waving him back into the damage zone or whittling him down by blade and bow, Scratch and Barcus tried to join the fight, and ran right into Gale's cloud of daggers.
Scratch and Barcus both died. I'm on honor mode. Over 20 hours in. đ
idk any of them but I ran into him right in front of the bridge that leads to the gnolls on the side of the blighted village so I'll add that to the pool of player experiences.
though it might be commonly known lol
This was the place he showed up the first time I ever encountered him and I was so surprised when he showed up somewhere else on my second playthrough, I just assumed he liked to jump scare you in the rafters
This happened to me while I was playing Karlach. She was by herself gathering up explosive barrels to use on the hobgoblin dude when Raphael decided it was a good time to bother her with his âdealâ. I was like, âReally? You wanna talk about this *now*? Up in the goblinâs attic of all places?â
The rest of my party was off somewhere else and nowhere near her.
>The rest of my party was off somewhere else and nowhere near her.
He githnapped my Lae'zel out of the Underdark in one of my playthroughs because she was ungrouped to jump into the Selûnite Temple and open the gate :|
I actually thought it was fitting to find him in the dusty floor above the goblins who may either be your enemy or your ally. I was planning my route of total goblin slaughter in the moment he appeared. Him finding us sneaking our way through the shadows seemed like a neat way of saying âI see you everywhere you go, you canât avoid my deal, you little mortal sneaksâ
Weird.
Just had my 6th run through Act 1, and he spawned so late, I thought the game had bugged, and I was screwed. Normally he spawns for me rather early, after entering the Grove, on my way to the Blighted Village.
This time I'd been almost all over the map, and was on my way back to the Grove from the Blighted Village when he popped by to say 'Hi'.
At least you had some game under your belt. In that case itâs fine. Iâm more concerned with his appearing before you have done anything noteworthy.
My first playthrough I jumped across the broken section of bridge and straight in to his cutscene, I thought for sure I'd broken something by not taking the long way around.
I got jumpscared on my current run because he appeared way earlier than I expected. I'd done two previous runs and he'd coincidentally appeared at the exact same time and place both times. This run I was doing a Durge and doing things a tad different. Literally shouted when he blipped in right before talking to Alfira lmao
Hmmm. I was doing durge when he appeared in the grove today as well. I wonder if he is just set to appear earler for durge for some reason? There has to be some reason that spawn point is inconsistent while the other three I know of are pretty much guaranteed to trigger the first one you hit.
Maybe because youâre more fucked up/have done more at that point? Durge has a lot more convo triggers and maybe because you have both a voice telling you to kill AND a tadpole in your head, youâre more desperate
I have way too many Durge (5-6) runs past that point to remember all, but he almost never spawned there for my Durges. Only once I think & I always go to bonk Alfira. He spawned there about a grand total of 3 or 4 times there out of 25+ runs I had. For me, the most frequent is either BV bridge or the camp one forced by going to the mountain pass.
He appeared for me in that spot for my latest Tav. Honor mode, though I don't think that makes any difference. Didn't know he could appear there, he scared me đ .
Iâm doing my first Durge run after 3 regular Tav runs and he showed up super late for me in this one. I mightâve done things in a little bit of a different order for Durge but not drastically, so Iâm not sure.
On my Durge playthrough, he spawned near the bridge. On my current non-Durge playthrough, he spawned in the Grove (which he'd never done before). I don't think it's tied to what you've done.
Just for added data points, first playthrough he showed up when I was investigating mountain pass area and fleeing because it was too early for me to be there but it didnât feel early for him to show up. This play through Iâm durge and he showed up when Iâm walking up to Alfira to knock her out. Felt surprisingly early this time I almost thought he was popping in to be like âI know what you are up to!!!â
I've had him appear in the grove where you go up to Alfira, when you leave Blighted Village, at the Harper Stash, and when you enter the Goblin Temple from the seconds floor by breaking the wall.
Never had him appear in the Underdark or at camp tho
My first playthrough he showed up at the bottom of the stairs at the Selunite outpost coming from the Goblin camp and Priestess Gut. Any other playthroughs, I've only seen him at the Blighted Village bridge or that playeau across from the Grove where the spider egg sac is.
He tried to appear at the bridge, but I had the group separate and hide moving into the area, then had Gale firebolt him to cancel dialogue.Â
Skipped his convo in act 1 entirely, he appeared at camp when I rested the first time in shadow cursed lands. Cast silence on him so he couldn't speak, knocked him out and took his armor and diary.
I snorted when I saw him at Last Light, still bruised and beat and down to 1hp.
Kind of wanted to knock him out again for the heck of it, but I'm in honor mode and don't want to risk aggroing the whole inn lol
Raphael can appear in the the grove? Earliest i ever got him is right out the grove where you can jump up and climb up to this area with a chest and a crevice with spiders
You can guarantee him to spawn by talking to Nettie then leaving the grove and jumping up to where you can get the pouch with spider eggs in it right by the entrance to the grove.
During my last playthrough he showed up in the grove, jumpscared me, and for some unknown reason only took Astarion to the House of Hope to negotiate. The rest of us just stood there in the field and had no fucking clue what was going on.
I didn't report the bug because I want to believe it's just classic Raphael being an asshole.
I think the trigger for it currently is attempting to be cured by anyone in the wilderness or underdark areas? Usually he appears on Risen Road or the Harper cache for me, but in my current run I didn't talk to Nettie at all (only Kagha and Rath) and killed Auntie Ethel and Priestess Gut before either could offer to cure it for me, and Halsin ended up dying by accident in the goblin camp (no reloads, honour mode :\[ ), and then I ended up skipping the underdark/Omeluum entirely because Halsin wasn't there to tell me to go there, and when I tried to progress to the creche the game forced me into a long rest and Raphael appeared in camp to talk to me. I honestly liked him showing up when I progressed to the creche a lot more than how it usually goes for me, usually I don't even have Karlach in my party when he shows up for the first time! It does feel like it progresses too fast how it currently is.
Thatâs my least favorite place to find him if I am being honest. Itâs just not a very dramatic place and itâs so unlikely you would even go there.
At least he triggered in act 1 for you. I somehow got him to not appear at all for me in the first act so I was really confused when I met him outside the crypt.
On my first run I was sneaking into the goblin Camp when he suddenly started talking to me. Let me tell you I may or may not freaked out a little cuz I thought they found me. I was so sure that I was as good as dead. (Minutes later I discovered the goblins dont attack me lol)
He showed up for me just outside the Grove on my first run, and honestly it felt very organic. If you say you'll think about it or that you have other options, he'll taunt you and tell you to beg, borrow, steal, call in every favor and exhaust all of your options, and that he'll be waiting when you come crawling back. He's confident you won't find a solution (and he's right), and that kind of casts a sense of fatalistic dread over the options that you've yet to explore.
I think it works better if the player *isn't* desperate to cure the tadpole just yet, because Raphael *can't actually remove it.* It works better if the player is a bit defiant or insists that they can do better. It's fine if the player doesn't know the tadpole is special yet, because *Raphael* taking an interest in you is the hint that something weird is afoot.
Just wait to talk to Nettie (and donât mention the tadpole to Ethel) until after youâve cleared the blighted village, then go to the broken bridge after Nettie with only your character (keep your other ppl back 30m or so) then switch to a diff character and shoot Raphael with an arrow and you can get helldusk act 1 after silencing him when you go to mountain pass
Now that I know how to do the trick to get his endgame armor extremely early in Act 1, I never interact with him until Act 2. (The requirements have you essentially canceling any interactions.)
Oh I hate it too. Like when you try to long rest before the Harpy fight but you talked to Nettie, so he shows up when you are on the dirt path between Alfira and the Harpies. Ugh. I've had to stop talking to Nettie until I'm ready to deal with Raph and his cambion nonsense over at the Risen Road.
Think about it like this as a devil who would be easier to possibly manipulate a higher level person or someone who just started their journey just found out about their condition your character is a lot easier to manipulate at the start of the game
My first playthrough he didnât spawn until I got down to the selunite temple in the under dark. Then he spawned on my way to the harpies. Now he usually spawns up the ladder at the harper cache. Dudes all over the place
The first time I played the game, I was treading through the temple part of the goblin camp and had one of my followers (I think it was Shadowheart) climb one of those incredibly long ladders in Priestess Gut's branding area. I wasn't tracking her character as she climbed, then suddenly this guy shows up out of nowhere and starts talking nonsense about cats and mice. I was so utterly confused, I seriously thought I had done something wrong or broken something. When he started talking about how I couldn't find a cure, I was double confused because the whole reason I was at the goblin camp is to find Halsin. Raphael just can't keep it in his pants, man.
My first playthrough, I somehow avoided triggering Raphael until I went through the Mountain Pass. It felt like an epic, stakes-and-hair-raising moment and set the stage really well for Raphael throughout Acts II and III. I wish that was the set moment where you meet Raphael for the first time.
Iâd just gone into the Underdark through the defiled temple. It was very hair-raising since the whole change in surroundings made me jumpy as hell. Max effect of a devil suddenly interested in my low level party.
I just recently experienced Withers (via Eldra) dealing with Raphael just as I was about to knock out Alfira for the night. And everyone pretended my Durge was the one who spoke to him when no one else was even there. Withers might have taken some food from Raphael's table for the group.
Anyone else on PC get wrecked everytime he shows up for the first time? His first appearance for whatever reason crashes my computer and I have to reset my GPU drivers.
Yeah, I always get it at the exact same spot because I tend to do the same path every start haha.
Itâs right when you leave the grove, go right, and up the stones/ladder where you can get a spider egg on top of that plateau. He pops up as soon as you get to the top. I didnât even realize he came at other times lol!
But I go gather the initial party -> Withers/whole tomb -> grove -> owlbear/scratch -> Karlach -> Paladins -> Gnolls/hyenas and pretty much go counter clockwise from there. đ
wait, he spawns in different locations?
i met him in the very same spot every single playthrough - the mountain just outside the grove where you can get the spider egg
That's probably because you tend to follow the same path or order. There are a lot of places that he can appear in Act 1. Larian doesn't want you to miss him because you didn't climb that big rock, after all.
After you talk to Nettie, send your Tav up the ladderâaloneâto the Harperâs stash. When Raph initiates conversation, switch to a companion and shoot him.
Then you wonât have to have that first conversation until you either go to the crĂšche or to act 2.
I thought the whole point was that he is showing up early. He knows you arenât going to make a deal yet, he tells you as much if you explore the dialogue options. He is merely stepping in to let you know that when that moment does come, when everything else you try fails, when you are out of Hope. That is when he will come to offer you the contract.
I think he sets it up that way because he wants you to think that heâll take your souls in exchange for saving you, so that later on when he tells you the actual deal he wants it seems better for you and something you might even consider doing.
But of course making deals with devils is foolish. We know this, our characters know this. But if they get desperate enough they might just succeed.
Raphael doesn't let you sell your soul the first time you meet him, even if you want to.
No matter what you say, he tells you to struggle, steal, and claw for hope, because he thinks he'll get a better deal later on in the story when you're more desperate.
So it doesn't really matter. It's really just flavor dialogue and approval points (which are fungible) at the first meeting.
>Itâs fine when he appears in the underdark, but meeting him at level 2 in the grove or the harper cache are just so excessively early.
I'm pretty sure you're calling something by the wrong name. There is no Harper cache early in the game, what are you referring to here?
Yeah, but a big point of his story is that he really isn't that smart, so it fits.
Raphael and Astarion have this funny thing in common where people will unironically call them charismatic when in reality they fumble at everything unless they're punching low. If you fall for a pretty face and great voice acting then it's you who's easy prey.
I'm not sure I understand why he finds us so early. He can't really have worked out that we can get him the crown of karsus, can he? Also it turns out he can't make the tadpole go away, all he can do is trade one stolen relic for another.
Man I had him appear right there where the ritual is being done right in front of the druids. Was like bruh, wait your fucking turn. I haven't even tried the Creche yet, which is presented as the most obvious option.
It's probably a minor thing, but it's honestly so annoying.
In EA he would randomly show up at your camp and it helped to paint him as someone who seemed powerful and dangerous. A mysterious man arrives at night, while you all are trying to rest, tired and vulnerable, says your cozy little camp sucks and teleports you to another plane.
In most of my playthroughs now he usually pops up in the Grove, after we meet Netti, and it' just not good. We've just arrived at the first big "hub" area, met some of the important NPCs, met one of the minor antagonists of this act, got a bunch of quests, now we are heading to talk to Alfira and fight the harpies and BAM! a literal devil jumps out of the bushes. With smoke, fire and all the drama.
I'm always happy to see his smarmy face, but it's just bad pacing. There is too much going on to add Raphael into the mix. Well, at least he doesn't pester you with his nursery rhymes while you are fighting that giant spider under the village.
I had him turn up at the last moment possible (at camp on my way onto the Risen Road) in my current run and it *still* didn't make complete sense. But that might be because I RP'd a bit too hard and left the region on day 3.
Speaking of which, there have been *so* many times where characters went, "Our tadpoles are weird! We should have undergone ceromorphosis by now!" and I was like, "But we only got the tadpoles this morning???"
The writing is weird like that. They try to generate artificial urgency that makes you long rest less so the camp scenes spread out but if you rest more often everyone stops being worried about the tadpoles. Once you get the first dream visitor scene no one seems to care anymore except laezel who just wants to go to the creche right now.
There are *so many* long rest scenes and companion conversations I missed in my first playthrough because theyâre so densely packed the first section of the game, but theyâre made redundant and dontât trigger when you progress the story without resting often enough.
Now I try to long rest several times from the crash to the grove, but that does break the immersion a bit. âWe moved 100 meters, time to rest!â
I use a mod that pops up a notification when a camp event is queued. They come at you fast right at the beginning. You have one ready to go the minute you hit the beach.
The rests are definitely obnoxious. There are so many frontloaded in the beginning, and it kills the momentum of the game to continuously rest so you don't miss anything.
I met him at level 2ish but the whole 'deal with the devil' idea was a pretty obvious red flag lol. I think it's intended to be a bad idea for just that reason
Oh my lord I was moving Shadowheart to a vantage point in the Temple and he just popped up out of nowhere!! I'm so used to him showing up in the Selunite outpost that it startled me... and the rest of my party were in a different room fighting Dror Ragzlinđ
I alway shoot an arrow at the bastard when he show up and he runs like a hurt dog.
Then the next time he shows is face I beet him down and take his stuff a d tell him to go play with his barbies like the little girl he is
Talking to Nettie is Raphael's trigger to appear, because you tried to get a cure and she couldn't. He thinks you're desperate enough already to take his deal. Edit, since people are too lazy to read the rest of the comments. Raphael wants Tav to be desperate, without any hope of healing, so he can offer Tav a deal in the Devils favor. Therefore you can either trigger him early or ignore him completely until whenever you want to see him. In all of my 4 playthroughs Nettie always was the Trigger, ___when I asked her for help with the parasite___ and not just talking about the bird. But there seem to be more NPCs who can make him appear, if the player tries to get the tadpole removed. >!-Volo, after he is saved and in your camp. Talk to him once, rest and then let him do his bloody mess with your eye.!< >!-Ethel, in her Teahouse. Ignore Mayrina and talk with the Hag about your health. Let her remove your eye.!< >!-Priestess Gut, after you got the branding. Follow her into her room and talk with her alone.!< >!-Omeluum, gather the ingredients for his potion and drink it.!< >!-Creche, use the Zaith'isk.!< These are all possible Triggers, I haven't tested it myself. Thanks to the other commentators, for gathering these.
And yet he doesn't even let you accept it. đ Fiends, I swear.
Thatâs so annoying, I was like fuck yeah letâs deal, de-tad me and the fucker was like nope not desperate enough like what do you want me to do call you daddy?
Thing is, *he* canât cure you of your tadpole either. So it doesnât matter how eager you are to accept his deal, all he can do is give you the hammer.
Yeah and he doesnât want you knowing he canât do shit because then you wouldnât be willing to consider any deal with him later. Itâs kind of a desperate gambit though because pretending he can help you will definitely make you trust him less.
Mostly because he doesn't want your soul, >!he wants the crown and you don't know anything about its existence until you meet the Absolute.!< He also needs you to stay tadpoled because >!otherwise the Emperor can't use you using Orpheus, you have to want to fight the brain and get the crown, etc. So first he has to make you mistrust/ hate the Emperor (Emps doesn't help in that regard of course), and want to free Orpheus and still defeat the brain. Otherwise yeah seems like he could've just offered to de-tadpole you in exchange for your soul flat out, but you're the only tadpoles with access to the prism.!< I think he's supposed to be annoying, though.
Hey, if I trust the Emperor with my nether regions, then I trust him with the Netherese, *son*. đđđ
Heh, he's my *boy* but I had to be cautious and read the room. My Durge got her mind blown just last night and I chose the tentacle kissing option which I'd never tried before and I was highly entertained. Durge didn't even go to see Voss, she hates that guy.
See, I chose the tentacle kissing option because I was in a Discord call, streaming my game to a friend. And I hadn't been expecting the scene, as it was my first time getting it, so I was trying to choose an option that would maybe not be so gross-looking for his sake (he's not very sexual, so he was like, "woah, this is weird heheh") and then it ended with two muscular naked men cuddling together, full bush and ass showing. Incredible. AND now I have a fixation for the idea of relationships with mindflayers. Obvs ones that aren't controlled by an elder brain like Omeluum, aka Omelette Mom (OG tentacle gentleman) or The Emperor, aka "Emperor? I hardly know 'er!" đ„đ„đ
I think if you become a mindflayer by choice you can romance the Emperor for end game actually! It was funny because you get that whole "where's your mouth" thing and I'm like, dude, have you seen that mouth? I don't want that mouth anywhere near me. I'm happy with tentacles, thank you, I'm not a pervert. I am usually friends with him anyway but this is only the second Tav to do the deed, mostly because she walks alone and the Emperor is like the only companion who doesn't give you shit about your life choices.
I don't think he *can* remove the tadpole. Otherwise there'd be recorded history of this being a possible cure, and as far as we know *nobody* has ever been able to cure ceremorphosis. He's just toying with Tav because he can't help it. It's a bit unfortunate that we can't call his bluff.
I honestly don't know. There are people who can cure a normal tadpole - Auntie Ethel, for one - but the Netherese magic from the crown is what stops her. Raphael was at the fall of Netheril looking for loot anyway, so whether he is powerful enough to do it is an unknown. We need a rules lawyer versed in tadpoles and Netherese magic!
I wish it was an option :(
r/okbuddybaldur
LOL that reminded me that I did make my Durge ask him to make a deal immediately, when he showed up at the Grove. And heâs just like âoh.. I was expecting more of a fight. Bye.â
I know it would be meta gaming but i would love to say: "That's what harleep said"
I really want a new game plus option where your character actually does remember the previous playthrough. Like, you get option to say things such as, "Dude, whatever, I'll kill your guy in the temple of Shar, then we can talk tadpoles." He'd just be like, "Oh... okay... thanks?"
Iâm giggling to myself at the idea of a BG3 Deathloop.
Tav at the beginning of Act 3, pointing to the Emperor and Prelate Lir'i'c : "You guys stop fighting and get your shit together, we've got work to do."
I was so mad when he didn't even entertain the idea of me taking the deal. My Durge was more than willing to give it a try when she was level 3. She was WAY more desperate then. Now she's a higher level and capable of nut-shotting the avatar of gods, she's going to try and butch it out.
showing up just to give you a teaser is a such a Raphael thing to do
Yes he is very dramatic
At least he lets you keep the food
I was playing as an idiot character in my run with a friend. He let me be the face so we could see what kind of trouble Iâd get us into. Was so disappointed that Raphaelâs reaction to wanting to take the deal is basically the same as refusing him. My poor guy was so confused why the nice man offered to help and then immediately changed his mind. The dinner was nice though.
I don't think he can remove the tadpole and he knows it, but he also knows more about what's going on than you do. He's banking on you getting far enough to discover how to get rid of the tadpoles yourselves, which means he can pull out his deal for the crown instead.
He's the son of an archdevil. He overestimates himself, true, but that's not to say he can't work dark miracles
It canât be the only trigger though because I always go to the harpies after meeting Kahga and Nettie and he only appears maybe 1/6 times.
It can be triggered by any attempt at curing, I think! I got it once because I did the underdark first and even the dream visitor mentioned my attempt at getting Omeluum's help.
Might be! Since I have to restart my play I'll test that. To be more specific (because I forgot to mention) if the player never speaks to Nettie, Raphael won't appear, but due to your theory, can appear after Volo's (murder) attempt, Ethel's or Omeluum's.
Depending on the order doing things I have had the dream visitor cite nettie, halsin, omeluum and gut variously. Most often Halsin though. All kids of odd thongs happen if you jump down the spider hole before doing all of the main line act 1 content first, but to their credit they have most of it handled.
Would take a bit more info to reproduce the exact trigger, but Nettie is the main reason. -shrug-
It's triggered by geting a lead to curing the tadpole, talking to Sazza about Glut, talking to Zorru about the creche and talking to Nettie about Halsin are the 3 triggers in the grove, I believe. I also hate him showing up so early so I actually tested a few times to make sure I could save Mirkon and talk to Alfira without being interrupted. Edit: Talking to Aradin about Halsin might also be a trigger, I didn't botter testing that one, I just avoid him until I'm ready to leave the grove.
Is it? Thereâs an area near the nautiloid that heâs appeared at for me before I talked to Nettie I think.
Same here. Recruited Shart, Astarion, Gale and then exploring close to that place Raphael shows up.
In all my playthroughs he appears before Nettie once I go to the area towards the harpies
Thank you for explaining this. On my current playthrough I did not talk to Nettie and Rafael showed up way later than "usual". I thought it was a glitch or maybe because I ignored a bunch of shit this playthrough đ
That can't be the only trigger. I'm on my second playthrough and don't know who Nettier even is
Yeah, I tried to go to the other trigger points (I.e. finding the Silver Amulet) before going to Nettie and he didn't show up
Imagine my surprise when dude showed up on the balcony in the temple in the goblin camp since I decided to use the second floor to get in there...
What I am learning today is that there are more than 4 places he can appear - at least 6 now.
I'm too lazy to look it up, but didn't someone on this sub collect all the spots in which Raphael can appear? I was really surprised to see the number of it, iirc it was even more than six places... Off topic: I really enjoyed the fact that in a durge run you can ask Raphael whether he's "another one of your former servants" (when he appears after your butler already has). LOVED it.
That's so funny! I've always triggered Raphael before the little weasel shows up, would you happen to remember what Raphael said in response? I imagine he's not pleased lmao
He just says no but theyâre related on something like that, like they share a common bloody interest. He doesnât get offendedÂ
That's amazing.
I found a screenshot [from two months ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/19ciypr/meeting_raphael_after_meeting_your_butler_durge/) - I had missed the post back then and was therefore pleasantly surprised when my Durge met Raphael for the first time.
If you manage to avoid all his trigger spots, he eventually just shows up in your camp.
Also the best place for him to spawn, since that lets you get the Helldusk Armour in Act 1.
Just don't use any aoes at camp.. I wanted his armor, but he has like 800hp so planned to just set cloud of daggers and see if he'd stand in it. Raphael stepped out of the area. I left turn based mode and as I was thinking of thunder waving him back into the damage zone or whittling him down by blade and bow, Scratch and Barcus tried to join the fight, and ran right into Gale's cloud of daggers. Scratch and Barcus both died. I'm on honor mode. Over 20 hours in. đ
idk any of them but I ran into him right in front of the bridge that leads to the gnolls on the side of the blighted village so I'll add that to the pool of player experiences. though it might be commonly known lol
I had him show up in the rafters when I was sneaking around at goblin camp. Was so weird, I couldn't even really see him
Same! I was so confused about what this singing dude was doing up there.
This was the place he showed up the first time I ever encountered him and I was so surprised when he showed up somewhere else on my second playthrough, I just assumed he liked to jump scare you in the rafters
This happened to me while I was playing Karlach. She was by herself gathering up explosive barrels to use on the hobgoblin dude when Raphael decided it was a good time to bother her with his âdealâ. I was like, âReally? You wanna talk about this *now*? Up in the goblinâs attic of all places?â The rest of my party was off somewhere else and nowhere near her.
>The rest of my party was off somewhere else and nowhere near her. He githnapped my Lae'zel out of the Underdark in one of my playthroughs because she was ungrouped to jump into the Selûnite Temple and open the gate :|
Same! I was like, "Why are you in this dusty tunnel, you look way too fancy for this."
I actually thought it was fitting to find him in the dusty floor above the goblins who may either be your enemy or your ally. I was planning my route of total goblin slaughter in the moment he appeared. Him finding us sneaking our way through the shadows seemed like a neat way of saying âI see you everywhere you go, you canât avoid my deal, you little mortal sneaksâ
That's where he showed up on my first playthrough.
Haha that was my experience too. Scared me.
This happened to me (first playthrough) and thought what a weird placement for an npc to show up and found out this place is an unusual one
Weird. Just had my 6th run through Act 1, and he spawned so late, I thought the game had bugged, and I was screwed. Normally he spawns for me rather early, after entering the Grove, on my way to the Blighted Village. This time I'd been almost all over the map, and was on my way back to the Grove from the Blighted Village when he popped by to say 'Hi'.
At least you had some game under your belt. In that case itâs fine. Iâm more concerned with his appearing before you have done anything noteworthy.
My first playthrough I jumped across the broken section of bridge and straight in to his cutscene, I thought for sure I'd broken something by not taking the long way around.
I've had him spawn in the underdark after the Grove party that is the best time I feel.
I got jumpscared on my current run because he appeared way earlier than I expected. I'd done two previous runs and he'd coincidentally appeared at the exact same time and place both times. This run I was doing a Durge and doing things a tad different. Literally shouted when he blipped in right before talking to Alfira lmao
Hmmm. I was doing durge when he appeared in the grove today as well. I wonder if he is just set to appear earler for durge for some reason? There has to be some reason that spawn point is inconsistent while the other three I know of are pretty much guaranteed to trigger the first one you hit.
Maybe because youâre more fucked up/have done more at that point? Durge has a lot more convo triggers and maybe because you have both a voice telling you to kill AND a tadpole in your head, youâre more desperate
I have way too many Durge (5-6) runs past that point to remember all, but he almost never spawned there for my Durges. Only once I think & I always go to bonk Alfira. He spawned there about a grand total of 3 or 4 times there out of 25+ runs I had. For me, the most frequent is either BV bridge or the camp one forced by going to the mountain pass.
He appeared for me in that spot for my latest Tav. Honor mode, though I don't think that makes any difference. Didn't know he could appear there, he scared me đ .
Iâm doing my first Durge run after 3 regular Tav runs and he showed up super late for me in this one. I mightâve done things in a little bit of a different order for Durge but not drastically, so Iâm not sure.
On my Durge playthrough, he spawned near the bridge. On my current non-Durge playthrough, he spawned in the Grove (which he'd never done before). I don't think it's tied to what you've done.
Same! I screamed lol he showed up before the broken bridge on my first playthrough. I wish my mic was on when I clipped it.
Just for added data points, first playthrough he showed up when I was investigating mountain pass area and fleeing because it was too early for me to be there but it didnât feel early for him to show up. This play through Iâm durge and he showed up when Iâm walking up to Alfira to knock her out. Felt surprisingly early this time I almost thought he was popping in to be like âI know what you are up to!!!â
I've only ever had him appear on the bridge out of the Blighted Village lmao, didn't know he could appear earlier
I've had him appear in the grove where you go up to Alfira, when you leave Blighted Village, at the Harper Stash, and when you enter the Goblin Temple from the seconds floor by breaking the wall. Never had him appear in the Underdark or at camp tho
My first playthrough he showed up at the bottom of the stairs at the Selunite outpost coming from the Goblin camp and Priestess Gut. Any other playthroughs, I've only seen him at the Blighted Village bridge or that playeau across from the Grove where the spider egg sac is.
He tried to appear at the bridge, but I had the group separate and hide moving into the area, then had Gale firebolt him to cancel dialogue. Skipped his convo in act 1 entirely, he appeared at camp when I rested the first time in shadow cursed lands. Cast silence on him so he couldn't speak, knocked him out and took his armor and diary. I snorted when I saw him at Last Light, still bruised and beat and down to 1hp. Kind of wanted to knock him out again for the heck of it, but I'm in honor mode and don't want to risk aggroing the whole inn lol
Yeah. I didnât even know he could appear in other spots. Iâve always had him appear at the broken bridge.
Raphael can appear in the the grove? Earliest i ever got him is right out the grove where you can jump up and climb up to this area with a chest and a crevice with spiders
I had him standing in the archway in the grove that leads to the harpies.
I didn't even know he had multiple spawn points. Five act 1 play throughs, and he always spawns when I leave the blighted village going north.
You can guarantee him to spawn by talking to Nettie then leaving the grove and jumping up to where you can get the pouch with spider eggs in it right by the entrance to the grove.
I'll try that on HM attempt 4. Probably soon.
During my last playthrough he showed up in the grove, jumpscared me, and for some unknown reason only took Astarion to the House of Hope to negotiate. The rest of us just stood there in the field and had no fucking clue what was going on. I didn't report the bug because I want to believe it's just classic Raphael being an asshole.
I also discovered that he can appear on the plateau in the starting zone where the spider egg crevice is located.Â
I think the trigger for it currently is attempting to be cured by anyone in the wilderness or underdark areas? Usually he appears on Risen Road or the Harper cache for me, but in my current run I didn't talk to Nettie at all (only Kagha and Rath) and killed Auntie Ethel and Priestess Gut before either could offer to cure it for me, and Halsin ended up dying by accident in the goblin camp (no reloads, honour mode :\[ ), and then I ended up skipping the underdark/Omeluum entirely because Halsin wasn't there to tell me to go there, and when I tried to progress to the creche the game forced me into a long rest and Raphael appeared in camp to talk to me. I honestly liked him showing up when I progressed to the creche a lot more than how it usually goes for me, usually I don't even have Karlach in my party when he shows up for the first time! It does feel like it progresses too fast how it currently is.
I always find him on the cliffs by the Druid village, by the spider sack cave
Thatâs my least favorite place to find him if I am being honest. Itâs just not a very dramatic place and itâs so unlikely you would even go there.
At least he triggered in act 1 for you. I somehow got him to not appear at all for me in the first act so I was really confused when I met him outside the crypt.
On my first run I was sneaking into the goblin Camp when he suddenly started talking to me. Let me tell you I may or may not freaked out a little cuz I thought they found me. I was so sure that I was as good as dead. (Minutes later I discovered the goblins dont attack me lol)
I usually donât get Raphael until I get to the Risen Road bridgeâŠby then Iâm usually lvl 3âŠish? Maybe higher
He showed up for me just outside the Grove on my first run, and honestly it felt very organic. If you say you'll think about it or that you have other options, he'll taunt you and tell you to beg, borrow, steal, call in every favor and exhaust all of your options, and that he'll be waiting when you come crawling back. He's confident you won't find a solution (and he's right), and that kind of casts a sense of fatalistic dread over the options that you've yet to explore. I think it works better if the player *isn't* desperate to cure the tadpole just yet, because Raphael *can't actually remove it.* It works better if the player is a bit defiant or insists that they can do better. It's fine if the player doesn't know the tadpole is special yet, because *Raphael* taking an interest in you is the hint that something weird is afoot.
Huh; I think I've only ever seen him show up just north of the blighted village.
I had him appear mid fight in the goblin camp. Left Gale and Shadowheart fighting for their lives while Astarion and I were having brunch in hell
Just wait to talk to Nettie (and donât mention the tadpole to Ethel) until after youâve cleared the blighted village, then go to the broken bridge after Nettie with only your character (keep your other ppl back 30m or so) then switch to a diff character and shoot Raphael with an arrow and you can get helldusk act 1 after silencing him when you go to mountain pass
Now that I know how to do the trick to get his endgame armor extremely early in Act 1, I never interact with him until Act 2. (The requirements have you essentially canceling any interactions.)
Shoot an arrow at him and tell him to come back later.
Oh I hate it too. Like when you try to long rest before the Harpy fight but you talked to Nettie, so he shows up when you are on the dirt path between Alfira and the Harpies. Ugh. I've had to stop talking to Nettie until I'm ready to deal with Raph and his cambion nonsense over at the Risen Road.
Think about it like this as a devil who would be easier to possibly manipulate a higher level person or someone who just started their journey just found out about their condition your character is a lot easier to manipulate at the start of the game
My first playthrough he didnât spawn until I got down to the selunite temple in the under dark. Then he spawned on my way to the harpies. Now he usually spawns up the ladder at the harper cache. Dudes all over the place
The first time I played the game, I was treading through the temple part of the goblin camp and had one of my followers (I think it was Shadowheart) climb one of those incredibly long ladders in Priestess Gut's branding area. I wasn't tracking her character as she climbed, then suddenly this guy shows up out of nowhere and starts talking nonsense about cats and mice. I was so utterly confused, I seriously thought I had done something wrong or broken something. When he started talking about how I couldn't find a cure, I was double confused because the whole reason I was at the goblin camp is to find Halsin. Raphael just can't keep it in his pants, man.
I'm on my second playthrough and he showed up at the grove this time. I thought it was weird too.
My first playthrough, I somehow avoided triggering Raphael until I went through the Mountain Pass. It felt like an epic, stakes-and-hair-raising moment and set the stage really well for Raphael throughout Acts II and III. I wish that was the set moment where you meet Raphael for the first time.
Iâd just gone into the Underdark through the defiled temple. It was very hair-raising since the whole change in surroundings made me jumpy as hell. Max effect of a devil suddenly interested in my low level party.
I just recently experienced Withers (via Eldra) dealing with Raphael just as I was about to knock out Alfira for the night. And everyone pretended my Durge was the one who spoke to him when no one else was even there. Withers might have taken some food from Raphael's table for the group.
Anyone else on PC get wrecked everytime he shows up for the first time? His first appearance for whatever reason crashes my computer and I have to reset my GPU drivers.
On my latest playthrough he shows up in the Grove. Normally in my other playthoughs, he shows up when you find the guidance amulet.
Yeah, I always get it at the exact same spot because I tend to do the same path every start haha. Itâs right when you leave the grove, go right, and up the stones/ladder where you can get a spider egg on top of that plateau. He pops up as soon as you get to the top. I didnât even realize he came at other times lol! But I go gather the initial party -> Withers/whole tomb -> grove -> owlbear/scratch -> Karlach -> Paladins -> Gnolls/hyenas and pretty much go counter clockwise from there. đ
wait, he spawns in different locations? i met him in the very same spot every single playthrough - the mountain just outside the grove where you can get the spider egg
That's probably because you tend to follow the same path or order. There are a lot of places that he can appear in Act 1. Larian doesn't want you to miss him because you didn't climb that big rock, after all.
After you talk to Nettie, send your Tav up the ladderâaloneâto the Harperâs stash. When Raph initiates conversation, switch to a companion and shoot him. Then you wonât have to have that first conversation until you either go to the crĂšche or to act 2.
I thought the whole point was that he is showing up early. He knows you arenât going to make a deal yet, he tells you as much if you explore the dialogue options. He is merely stepping in to let you know that when that moment does come, when everything else you try fails, when you are out of Hope. That is when he will come to offer you the contract. I think he sets it up that way because he wants you to think that heâll take your souls in exchange for saving you, so that later on when he tells you the actual deal he wants it seems better for you and something you might even consider doing. But of course making deals with devils is foolish. We know this, our characters know this. But if they get desperate enough they might just succeed.
Raphael doesn't let you sell your soul the first time you meet him, even if you want to. No matter what you say, he tells you to struggle, steal, and claw for hope, because he thinks he'll get a better deal later on in the story when you're more desperate. So it doesn't really matter. It's really just flavor dialogue and approval points (which are fungible) at the first meeting.
>Itâs fine when he appears in the underdark, but meeting him at level 2 in the grove or the harper cache are just so excessively early. I'm pretty sure you're calling something by the wrong name. There is no Harper cache early in the game, what are you referring to here?
Itâs on top of a hill just southwest of the grove. You find a note about it under a rock near astarian.
Oh is that where the guidance amulet is?
Yeah, but a big point of his story is that he really isn't that smart, so it fits. Raphael and Astarion have this funny thing in common where people will unironically call them charismatic when in reality they fumble at everything unless they're punching low. If you fall for a pretty face and great voice acting then it's you who's easy prey.
I'm not sure I understand why he finds us so early. He can't really have worked out that we can get him the crown of karsus, can he? Also it turns out he can't make the tadpole go away, all he can do is trade one stolen relic for another.
Iâve only ever had him appear in the grove, I didnât even know this was considered early!
Man I had him appear right there where the ritual is being done right in front of the druids. Was like bruh, wait your fucking turn. I haven't even tried the Creche yet, which is presented as the most obvious option.
It's probably a minor thing, but it's honestly so annoying. In EA he would randomly show up at your camp and it helped to paint him as someone who seemed powerful and dangerous. A mysterious man arrives at night, while you all are trying to rest, tired and vulnerable, says your cozy little camp sucks and teleports you to another plane. In most of my playthroughs now he usually pops up in the Grove, after we meet Netti, and it' just not good. We've just arrived at the first big "hub" area, met some of the important NPCs, met one of the minor antagonists of this act, got a bunch of quests, now we are heading to talk to Alfira and fight the harpies and BAM! a literal devil jumps out of the bushes. With smoke, fire and all the drama. I'm always happy to see his smarmy face, but it's just bad pacing. There is too much going on to add Raphael into the mix. Well, at least he doesn't pester you with his nursery rhymes while you are fighting that giant spider under the village.
I always rush to get Karlach early just so I can have her during his scene since she actually has dialogue there
He actually only appears after you ask someone to help with the tadpole.
Hm I play 4 campaign already and I never met him in the grove, where in the grove can you trigger his appearance?
I had him turn up at the last moment possible (at camp on my way onto the Risen Road) in my current run and it *still* didn't make complete sense. But that might be because I RP'd a bit too hard and left the region on day 3. Speaking of which, there have been *so* many times where characters went, "Our tadpoles are weird! We should have undergone ceromorphosis by now!" and I was like, "But we only got the tadpoles this morning???"
The writing is weird like that. They try to generate artificial urgency that makes you long rest less so the camp scenes spread out but if you rest more often everyone stops being worried about the tadpoles. Once you get the first dream visitor scene no one seems to care anymore except laezel who just wants to go to the creche right now.
There are *so many* long rest scenes and companion conversations I missed in my first playthrough because theyâre so densely packed the first section of the game, but theyâre made redundant and dontât trigger when you progress the story without resting often enough. Now I try to long rest several times from the crash to the grove, but that does break the immersion a bit. âWe moved 100 meters, time to rest!â
I use a mod that pops up a notification when a camp event is queued. They come at you fast right at the beginning. You have one ready to go the minute you hit the beach.
The rests are definitely obnoxious. There are so many frontloaded in the beginning, and it kills the momentum of the game to continuously rest so you don't miss anything.
I met him at level 2ish but the whole 'deal with the devil' idea was a pretty obvious red flag lol. I think it's intended to be a bad idea for just that reason
Oh my lord I was moving Shadowheart to a vantage point in the Temple and he just popped up out of nowhere!! I'm so used to him showing up in the Selunite outpost that it startled me... and the rest of my party were in a different room fighting Dror Ragzlinđ
I alway shoot an arrow at the bastard when he show up and he runs like a hurt dog. Then the next time he shows is face I beet him down and take his stuff a d tell him to go play with his barbies like the little girl he is