Auntie Cleo's reputation (Spoiler alert)

[GammaReagan]

I'm on my 6th playthrough of TOW and still haven't managed to get more than a 72% positive reputation with Auntie Cleo's even though I have completed all of their quests with what I define as the "best outcome". I suspect that one must either kill the outlaws instead of compromising with Cass, and/or save the raptidon matriarch. If the latter, what level of sneak is really required to sneak past the spitter hanging around the gas tube slots, because once you get its attention it's impossible to activate the terminal on the other side of the hall.

Thanks to anyone who can help me out here. 

 

 

[Jackalgirl]

I will tell you that I've successfully saved the matriarch, but not without having to kill at least one or three of the lesser raptidons.  I've been able to successfully sneak over to the tubes (just wait for the raptidons to move to their farthest "pace orbit" away from them), but getting to the terminal without having at least one or three of the little ones aggro on me is impossible.  Could be I'm just impatient, but I have to kill quickly and then leap onto the terminal before mama enters the fray.   I've been able to do it twice (but had to lock the companions to stand outside the chamber, of course).

[GammaReagan]

Did that in anyway increase your reputation with Auntie Cleo's? Or, I should rather ask, what's been your maximum reputation with this faction? 

I must confess I've never actually tried to save the matriarch because I 1) think that Anton Crane is a superficial moron who meddles with things he can't control just to make something like diet toothpaste to get to Byzantium and 2) perhaps enjoy shooting raptidons a little too much.  Sooner or later I ought to make a serious try, though. 

[Jackalgirl]

3 hours ago, GammaReagan said:

Did that in anyway increase your reputation with Auntie Cleo's? Or, I should rather ask, what's been your maximum reputation with this faction? 

Well, Aelthel's reputation with them right now is "Friendly" (53%), if that helps.  Without totally spoiling things, completing the quest does have some amusing by-products and how you complete the quest affects those changes (for example, you can give the research you retrieve to Anton, or sell it to Gladys, or there's a third option I'll let you find on your own if you want to).

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I must confess I've never actually tried to save the matriarch because I 1) think that Anton Crane is a superficial moron who meddles with things he can't control just to make something like diet toothpaste to get to Byzantium and 2) perhaps enjoy shooting raptidons a little too much.  Sooner or later I ought to make a serious try, though. 

There's at least one conversational option that wakes him up a little.  But his actions have consequences for him, too, later on down the road...

[GammaReagan]

1 minute ago, Jackalgirl said:

Well, Aelthel's reputation with them right now is "Friendly" (53%), if that helps.  Without totally spoiling things, completing the quest does have some amusing by-products and how you complete the quest affects those changes (for example, you can give the research you retrieve to Anton, or sell it to Gladys, or there's a third option I'll let you find on your own if you want to).

There's at least one conversational option that wakes him up a little.  But his actions have consequences for him, too, later on down the road...

I've never gotten past 72% so it's really the last 28% I'm curious about. Even after having completed all of their quests in the nicest ways possible (except for that I keep killing the matriarch)  I just can't seem to get past that. And yes, I know what you're talking about. Slag him off completely and he will take that _very_ personal. 

[Jackalgirl]

6 minutes ago, GammaReagan said:

I've never gotten past 72% so it's really the last 28% I'm curious about. 

Now I need to go back and find those other quests, because I don't think I've ever gotten about 53%.  Hm!  

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And yes, I know what you're talking about. Slag him off completely and he will take that _very_ personal. 

I've worked it Anton's way both times, so I'm not sure about the storyline you're talking about here -- but if you don't kill him (and I think if you give him his research), you do run into him again later, as a part of a different quest/storyline involving the "early retirees" in Byzantium.

[GammaReagan]

17 minutes ago, Jackalgirl said:

Now I need to go back and find those other quests, because I don't think I've ever gotten about 53%.  Hm!  

The first time I didn't get more than those 53% but for the second time and forth I found another quest that just might have boosted it, but seriously I can't remember whether Journey Into Smoke really has anything to do with it or not. I'll check it up and get back to you as soon as I have, unless you prefer to find out by yourself.

 

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I've worked it Anton's way both times, so I'm not sure about the storyline you're talking about here -- but if you don't kill him (and I think if you give him his research), you do run into him again later, as a part of a different quest/storyline involving the "early retirees" in Byzantium.

Yep, found him in Byzantium. I've never killed him because even though I think he is a moron I kind of feel sorry for him. However, there is an option to make him kill himself whilst still in Roseway. Never done that either. Can't act as the bad guy, remember?;) 

[Jackalgirl]

26 minutes ago, GammaReagan said:

The first time I didn't get more than those 53% but for the second time and forth I found another quest that just might have boosted it, but seriously I can't remember whether Journey Into Smoke really has anything to do with it or not. I'll check it up and get back to you as soon as I have, unless you prefer to find out by yourself.

I think it's the "Vulcan's Hammer" quest.  I'm not sure if I already auto-botched this for Auntie Cleo, because I don't think I acquired the quest on this play-through but I think I did get the schematics.  I'll have to go through and figure out if I can salvage this quest.  I'm going to be out for a week working on other projects that will preclude me from checking, but I'm definitely thinking that next play-through I'm going to have both a checklist and a notebook, LOL.  Thank you for reminding me about Journey into Smoke, also -- I usually approach quests from the most offset position I can, so I completely missed Lillian this time around, too.

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Yep, found him in Byzantium. I've never killed him because even though I think he is a moron I kind of feel sorry for him. However, there is an option to make him kill himself whilst still in Roseway. Never done that either. Can't act as the bad guy, remember?;) 

Huh!  Yeah, that's not something I could do, either.  I'm sure it's available on YouTube!  Sheesh, for a game that supposedly was low-budget, there are a LOT of detail and options here.  I am really looking forward to the DLC, which I hope opens up the other planets in the system.

[GammaReagan]

6 hours ago, Jackalgirl said:

I think it's the "Vulcan's Hammer" quest.  I'm not sure if I already auto-botched this for Auntie Cleo, because I don't think I acquired the quest on this play-through but I think I did get the schematics.  I'll have to go through and figure out if I can salvage this quest.  I'm going to be out for a week working on other projects that will preclude me from checking, but I'm definitely thinking that next play-through I'm going to have both a checklist and a notebook, LOL.  Thank you for reminding me about Journey into Smoke, also -- I usually approach quests from the most offset position I can, so I completely missed Lillian this time around, too.

That's Orson's quest... Have you tried going back to him and return the schematics? Orson is, in my opinion, the only one of the three scientists in Roseway who is actually working on something important although he's probably the only one of them working on something not along the lines of Auntie Cleo's.

 

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Huh!  Yeah, that's not something I could do, either.  I'm sure it's available on YouTube!  Sheesh, for a game that supposedly was low-budget, there are a LOT of detail and options here.  I am really looking forward to the DLC, which I hope opens up the other planets in the system.

In one of my early playthroughs I slagged him off for mistreating his staff and even though I don't remember what led to that, I ended up with the option to make him kill himself but of course I didn't do it. 

Better than finding Crane in Byzantium is however finding him on the Groundbreaker!

I (like you, I presume) don't care if some people consider TOW being low budget - not everything is about the latest top notch graphics. TOW is definitely one of the best elaborated RPGs I've ever had the pleasure to play and the DLCs can't come soon enough (I expect Hephaestus and Typhon to be unlocked and would be very happy if there showed to be a moon orbiting Eridanos as well)!

Edited December 27, 2019 by GammaReagan

[Jackalgirl]

22 hours ago, GammaReagan said:

That's Orson's quest... Have you tried going back to him and return the schematics? Orson is, in my opinion, the only one of the three scientists in Roseway who is actually working on something important although he's probably the only one of them working on something not along the lines of Auntie Cleo's.

No, I totally forgot.  And now I can't remember what I did with that.  I'm on the road so it'll be a while before I can check, but that's on my new & improved checklist now. : )

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In one of my early playthroughs I slagged him off for mistreating his staff and even though I don't remember what led to that, I ended up with the option to make him kill himself but of course I didn't do it. 

Better than finding Crane in Byzantium is however finding him on the Groundbreaker!

How'd that happen?  I'd love to hear the story!

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I (like you, I presume) don't care if some people consider TOW being low budget - not everything is about the latest top notch graphics. TOW is definitely one of the best elaborated RPGs I've ever had the pleasure to play and the DLCs can't come soon enough (I expect Hephaestus and Typhon to be unlocked and would be very happy if there showed to be a moon orbiting Eridanos as well)!

Indeed.  I'm thinking that most of the comments I've heard in the "low-budget" range have been complaints about the shortness of the game.  But then other people are very happy that it's possible to get through the game in a reasonable amount of time (where "reasonable" means "not ground down by so many main-arc-related fetch quests that one loses all interest in the game").  You can't please everyone.  

But I love it for the stories, like you.  The depth of the characters, and how they change, is really awesome.  I'm hoping for more places to explore also, and maybe ways to explore the companions' backgrounds and motivations even more.  It would not surprise me if Obsidian/Private Division did that; they clearly put a lot of thought and work into them.

I think of all of the stories, though, "Slaughterhouse Clive" was the most disappointing.  You really don't have a long-term productive choice there.   On the first run-through, I skipped it entirely. On the second run-through, I did the option that lets you let SubLight and Clive team up, and boy do I regret it.   I wish I could just have Aethel kill Clive, ghost SubLight, and then go fetch Tobson and say, "hey, I've got a management job for you on Monarch..."

[Jackalgirl]

On 12/24/2019 at 3:34 PM, GammaReagan said:

I'm on my 6th playthrough of TOW and still haven't managed to get more than a 72% positive reputation with Auntie Cleo's even though I have completed all of their quests with what I define as the "best outcome". I suspect that one must either kill the outlaws instead of compromising with Cass, and/or save the raptidon matriarch. If the latter, what level of sneak is really required to sneak past the spitter hanging around the gas tube slots, because once you get its attention it's impossible to activate the terminal on the other side of the hall.

Thanks to anyone who can help me out here. 

 

 

By the by, I went to the Outer Worlds Wiki and according to it, you're correct: you do have to kill all the outlaws (either without or after you've cooperated with Cass), including Lillian (presumably after you've given her back her cigarette case).  I'm not sure I'll be doing that -- as fond as Aethel is of her adreno, I'm not sure she wants to murder a bunch of people (even though they're mercenaries) just to get on their good side.  She thinks people (where "people" are defined as "not Clive"*) are more important than stuff.

* Man, that quest really got under my skin. : (

[GammaReagan]

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How'd that happen?  I'd love to hear the story!

First of all you need to compromise and have Cass give you Anton's research without killing her, or this will not be an option. When you return to hand over the research to Anton, choose the dialogue options suggesting that he should take better care of his staff; give him something to think about (of course _without_ having him kill himself, duh ). Some time after the quest is completed (I'm not sure of how long it'll take in game as I just happened to return to the Groundbreaker only days later) you will find him sitting at a table at the Lost Hope and engaging him in conversation he will tell you why he chose not to go to Byzantium. 

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But I love it for the stories, like you.  The depth of the characters, and how they change, is really awesome.  I'm hoping for more places to explore also, and maybe ways to explore the companions' backgrounds and motivations even more.  It would not surprise me if Obsidian/Private Division did that; they clearly put a lot of thought and work into them.

I can only concur! They're not only companions with skills and abilities but there's some real substance to them as well.

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I  think of all of the stories, though, "Slaughterhouse Clive" was the most disappointing.  You really don't have a long-term productive choice there.   On the first run-through, I skipped it entirely. On the second run-through, I did the option that lets you let SubLight and Clive team up, and boy do I regret it.   I wish I could just have Aethel kill Clive, ghost SubLight, and then go fetch Tobson and say, "hey, I've got a management job for you on Monarch..."

Well, no, it's not the most exciting story/quest of TOW, but I kind of like SubLight so I always go through with it anyway. But for your alternate story, there.. ghosting SubLight might, looking at their overall reputation, not be a wise thing. They'd probably just take over the C&P factory anyway, killing Reed Tobson and whatnot, but perhaps having Reed work for them as the factory's manager? I don't like Reed's attitude regarding his workers, or for that matter the deserters, but forcing him to leave Edgewater and suffer death by marauders is a bit too harsh. 

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By the by, I went to the Outer Worlds Wiki and according to it, you're correct: you do have to kill all the outlaws (either without or after you've cooperated with Cass), including Lillian (presumably after you've given her back her cigarette case).  I'm not sure I'll be doing that -- as fond as Aethel is of her adreno, I'm not sure she wants to murder a bunch of people (even though they're mercenaries) just to get on their good side. 

That's got that sorted out. I only killed Cass during my first playthrough (when I completely missed out on Lillian), but as I also missed out  on something else in Roseway, my reputation with Auntie Cleo's didn't reach over 65% (not 53% as I believe I previously wrote). However, due to the good ending that will come to Cass as well as Anton Crane if you choose not to kill her, I've never done that again. 

By the way - you can always kill Clive! ;))

[Jackalgirl]

3 hours ago, GammaReagan said:

First of all you need to compromise and have Cass give you Anton's research without killing her, or this will not be an option. When you return to hand over the research to Anton, choose the dialogue options suggesting that he should take better care of his staff; give him something to think about (of course _without_ having him kill himself, duh ). Some time after the quest is completed (I'm not sure of how long it'll take in game as I just happened to return to the Groundbreaker only days later) you will find him sitting at a table at the Lost Hope and engaging him in conversation he will tell you why he chose not to go to Byzantium. 

Huh!  I haven't picked up Ellie and gotten to Byzantium yet; when I get home I'll have to pop on over to the Groundbreaker and see if he's there.  I'm not sure that I followed the right dialogue tree, though -- something to remember for the next run through.  Thanks!

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Well, no, it's not the most exciting story/quest of TOW, but I kind of like SubLight so I always go through with it anyway. But for your alternate story, there.. ghosting SubLight might, looking at their overall reputation, not be a wise thing. They'd probably just take over the C&P factory anyway, killing Reed Tobson and whatnot, but perhaps having Reed work for them as the factory's manager? I don't like Reed's attitude regarding his workers, or for that matter the deserters, but forcing him to leave Edgewater and suffer death by marauders is a bit too harsh. 

Agreed that it's too harsh.  I always got the sense from Reed that he was doing his best (though he could have done better) with a really terrible situation; his desire to do the best for his people is what makes him agree to essentially commit suicide -- I mean, he did agree to give over to Adelaide.  So there's something there.  I wonder if he'd be willing to work for SubLight, if it was framed to him that the communities of Monarch really need that factory?  I'd like to think so, because he'd be putting people (the more people the better) ahead of his own pride, which is exactly what he did in Edgewater.

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That's got that sorted out. I only killed Cass during my first playthrough (when I completely missed out on Lillian), but as I also missed out  on something else in Roseway, my reputation with Auntie Cleo's didn't reach over 65% (not 53% as I believe I previously wrote). However, due to the good ending that will come to Cass as well as Anton Crane if you choose not to kill her, I've never done that again. 

Aethel's (my character's) general philosophy is to get good ties with as many people and corporations as possible, so that when it comes time to completely rework the system, she's got some good will banked up. : )

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By the way - you can always kill Clive! ;))

Yes.  I think I may just go back and to that just for funsies.  I think it might make me feel better!

[GammaReagan]

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Agreed that it's too harsh.  I always got the sense from Reed that he was doing his best (though he could have done better) with a really terrible situation; his desire to do the best for his people is what makes him agree to essentially commit suicide -- I mean, he did agree to give over to Adelaide.  So there's something there.  I wonder if he'd be willing to work for SubLight, if it was framed to him that the communities of Monarch really need that factory?  I'd like to think so, because he'd be putting people (the more people the better) ahead of his own pride, which is exactly what he did in Edgewater.

Well, Reed Tobson is a corporation man, so working for another corporation should perhaps not be a problem for him as he would in the long run not have to answer to the Board anymore. SubLight are more interested in getting the job done than filling quotas. 
 

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Aethel's (my character's) general philosophy is to get good ties with as many people and corporations as possible, so that when it comes time to completely rework the system, she's got some good will banked up. : )

When it comes to pissing off factions (no matter what character, as I'm not gonna play evil) I'm really only interested in annoying the Board
If you've finished the SubLight questline and killed Eva Chartrand, you'll have an extra treat from SubLight coming up at Tartarus!

[Jackalgirl]

5 hours ago, GammaReagan said:

When it comes to pissing off factions (no matter what character, as I'm not gonna play evil) I'm really only interested in annoying the Board
If you've finished the SubLight questline and killed Eva Chartrand, you'll have an extra treat from SubLight coming up at Tartarus!

Bwah hah hah hah -- yes, I should have said "banked up good with with everyone BUT the Board".  In total agreement!  As for Eva, I can't kill her.  What she wants to do is just too interesting & compelling.  But Tartarus came with all kinds of surprises, especially for the Better Half, who basically just killed everyone and was totally on his own.  He was surprised by how my version of the story went.  I, of course, was absolutely delighted.  "Grimmy!!!"

[GammaReagan]

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Bwah hah hah hah -- yes, I should have said "banked up good with with everyone BUT the Board".  In total agreement!  As for Eva, I can't kill her.  What she wants to do is just too interesting & compelling.  But Tartarus came with all kinds of surprises, especially for the Better Half, who basically just killed everyone and was totally on his own.  He was surprised by how my version of the story went.  I, of course, was absolutely delighted.  "Grimmy!!!"

Eva - now that's a lady I _can_ kill. "Yeah people can't eat this and nothing seems to grow the way we want it to so we'd better alter people's very DNA instead..." That's not quite how to do it.  Adelaide obviously has another method working. 

Edited December 31, 2019 by GammaReagan

[Jackalgirl]

25 minutes ago, GammaReagan said:

Eva - now that's a lady I _can_ kill. "Yeah people can't eat this and nothing seems to grow the way we want it to so we'd better alter people's very DNA instead..." That's not quite how to do it.  Adelaide obviously has another method working. 

It does seem to be working on the small scale, but the availability of the organic materials only works for now, with a colony in severe decline.  If things were to turn around (as the "be good!" branch of the story seems to want) and the colony were to thrive, I'm thinking that in the long run there would likely be more people than resources (unless you somehow convinced people to limit their breeding, which could be difficult for a given value of culture).  

It seems to me that an integrated approach would be best for the long-term, combining Adelaide's technique, some accelerated adaptation, as well as trying to build up a culture that values minimum use of resources, maximum return to the environment, and maximum local self-sufficiency (if you've ever read "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn, I'm talking about a Leaver society, vs. a Taker society).

[GammaReagan]

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It seems to me that an integrated approach would be best for the long-term, combining Adelaide's technique, some accelerated adaptation, as well as trying to build up a culture that values minimum use of resources, maximum return to the environment, and maximum local self-sufficiency (if you've ever read "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn, I'm talking about a Leaver society, vs. a Taker society).

But as always the people would not have any saying in it and perhaps not even any awareness of it all, which is quite disturbing. The problem of feeding the colony seems however to be fixed once the colonists aboard the Hope are revived. 

Haven't read that book, but I think I get the idea of what you mean. 

[Jackalgirl]

12 hours ago, GammaReagan said:

But as always the people would not have any saying in it and perhaps not even any awareness of it all, which is quite disturbing. The problem of feeding the colony seems however to be fixed once the colonists aboard the Hope are revived. 

I totally forgot to mention that, although it did cross my mind: you're absolutely right: Adelaide's solution is even shorter-term if you start requiring that she and hers only make use of volunteers.  Not everyone is Parvati. ; )

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Haven't read that book, but I think I get the idea of what you mean. 

It's a good book, but dang is it kind of overwhelming (in a depressing sort of way).

[GammaReagan]

On 1/1/2020 at 3:03 AM, Jackalgirl said:

I totally forgot to mention that, although it did cross my mind: you're absolutely right: Adelaide's solution is even shorter-term if you start requiring that she and hers only make use of volunteers.  Not everyone is Parvati. ; )

Well, the backside of Adelaide's solution is that her crops will make the inhabitants of Edgewater healthier and that fewer, as a natural consequence of that, will die from malnutrition and as a natural result of that, the amount of fertiliser will gradually decrease. Using volunteers wouldn't be a good solution either, as that might increase the production but decimate the population in the process. For a while an increased hunt on marauders would solve the problem but eventually Edgewater would run out of them as well so indeed it's a short-term solution. Perhaps the inhabitant could learn to actually fish (rather than collecting fish that's already dead) and prepare it in more...traditional ways than shoving it in cans along with who knows what kind of chemicals.
 

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It's a good book, but dang is it kind of overwhelming (in a depressing sort of way).

I read up about it on Wikipedia and it seems interesting enough. Thanks for the tip!

[Rodayan]

On 12/26/2019 at 3:12 AM, Jackalgirl said:

I will tell you that I've successfully saved the matriarch, but not without having to kill at least one or three of the lesser raptidons.  I've been able to successfully sneak over to the tubes (just wait for the raptidons to move to their farthest "pace orbit" away from them), but getting to the terminal without having at least one or three of the little ones aggro on me is impossible.  Could be I'm just impatient, but I have to kill quickly and then leap onto the terminal before mama enters the fray.   I've been able to do it twice (but had to lock the companions to stand outside the chamber, of course).

You can do it in two tries. Sneak (I had 40) to the right hand corner, wait till rapt walking away, sneak to tubes and pop all three canisters in, then run like heck back to the door and leap through and shut it. Crouch and wait for them to calm down, then open door and sneak back to left hand corner, wait till rapt walking away, sneak to terminal and gas the suckers. All good. There's a bin with Level 50 lockpick needed, and also a door way over on the right side of the complex also 50 Lockpick needed. Good stuff behind both.