Raedric quest question

[Jhelzei]

OK, so I've arrived at Raedric's throne room with the intent of slagging off his sorry butt. However, looking at his retinue, I've realized that I'm seriously outgunned. Is it possible to agree to go kill his cousin, but come back later to waste Raedric?

 

I could just walk away from the throne room, power up, and come back later to kill him. But that seems so...unrealistic. It seems better from a story telling perspective to agree to kill Kolsc (sp?), instead of wandering into the throne room and saying "Oops, sorry guys, I'll just let myself out the front door."

 

So is it possible to do this, or will I be irrevocably locked in to killing Kolsc?

Edited August 14, 2015 by Jhelzei

[MathieuG89]

How about doing some side-quests and coming back at a later time when your character/party has leveled up and is/are stronger? I play a solo fighter character and when I first met Raedric and his retinue my character didn't stand a chance. I came back a few levels later with a stronger and better equiped character and slaughtered everyone quite easily afterward!

[Doppelschwert]

As far as I remember, you are not locked into killing any of them. Might even kill both if you feel like it, so you can say you'll kill kolsc and come back anytime to finish the job. Just make a save and try it out.

[Varana]

How about doing some side-quests and coming back at a later time when your character/party has leveled up and is/are stronger? I play a solo fighter character and when I first met Raedric and his retinue my character didn't stand a chance. I came back a few levels later with a stronger and better equiped character and slaughtered everyone quite easily afterward!

That's what he meant by "unrealistic": The hero(es) stealthily infiltrate the enemy's castle, disguise themselves as priests, sneak around, until they finally reach the throne room ... and then simply walk away and do the same thing weeks later again, and no one even notices that there's people missing and stuff?

The heroes are there, they have to deal with it now.

 

You can come back later and kill Raedric, as well, but I think you have to kill both (first Kolsc, then Raedric) in order to complete the quest that way.

I think.

Edited August 14, 2015 by Varana

[jsaving]

I think of Raedric's castle as more of a wake-up call than anything else.  Low-level parties can beat him and his retinue, but not by just running up to them and using the tactics that work on a randomly encountered wolf or bear.  That encounter forces people to "up their game" and improve their tactics if they're to have a shot, which some people find interesting and others find quite frustrating! 

 

If you arrive there but don't feel you are ready to defeat him yet, you have a number of options.  One is to leave.  Another is to embrace Raedric's cause and go after Kolsc.  Another is to lie about embracing Raedric's cause and pretend you will go after Kolsc, only to return later for a confrontation with Raedric.  But when you stop and consider that Raedric has eyes and ears all over the Dyrwood, I don't know why it would be better from a role-playing perspective to claim to be on Raedric's side, demonstrate repeatedly over the next few weeks of game time that you are not, and then eventually wander back into his castle without incident.  To me, it would be less immersion-breaking to just leave his castle now and hope that Raedric won't have the funds to improve his defenses while you are gone. 

[gkathellar]

To actually answer the OP's question: yes, you can talk to Raedric, agree to kill Kolsc, talk to Kolsc, decide not to kill him, and go back to kill Raedric later.

[PermTrouble]

I pulled some a few at a time to a small side room by the stairs.  You can block off the doorway to only have 1-2 in melee at a time.

 

Sorry that doesn't quite answer the question, just thought you might want to try your original intention.

[PermTrouble]

sorry double post

Edited August 26, 2015 by PermTrouble

[Jhelzei]

I pulled some a few at a time to a small side room by the stairs.  You can block off the doorway to only have 1-2 in melee at a time.

 

Sorry that doesn't quite answer the question, just thought you might want to try your original intention.

The problem is, I'm trying to avoid exploiting the AI with cheesy tactics. So, yes, I could do that, but it would ruin my immersion, such as it is.

[the_dog_days]

What type of party makeup do you have? If you have a stealthy rogue-like character with Escape you can use ambush tactics by leaving the rest of your party behind in the room off to the side and approach with the stealth character. After the exchange is over use Escape to fall back to the room. Raedric and his team will follow right into the room where your mage can set off some AOE spells. If I recall correctly, he has two casters with him so you have to be careful they don't use the enclosed space against you.

 

Setting a trap in the doorway is a good way to soften up the first line of mobs through, but you have to keep your character a good distance ahead of them so he doesn't get caught in the blast.

[daver]

This was the first quest that I acquired that was difficult to make a decision, as there isn't a true "good" or "evil" choice as you would find in the older D&D universe.  My first character sided with Raedric and went & killed Kolsic, returned and let Radric remain on the throne, justifying that this region needed stability.  But that bothered me that whole play through because of Raedric's cruelty to the people in his kingdom.

 

So on my 2nd character (started new game with the White March dlc), I really wanted to destroy this bastard.  Once I got to the throne room, I know for a fact that I will die if I attack, I was out numbered more that 2-1.  I'm a level 4 ranger with only 3 companions (at this time):  Eder, Aloth, and Durrance, plus my animal companion.  I conversed with Raedric and agreed to "investigate" Kolsic, as opposed to "killing" Kolsic.  Which seems reasonable, since I have a chance to hear both sides of the story.

 

Approaching Kolsic in his hideout, I was again out numbered more that 2-1, and insta-death was certain if I attacked (it was, I tried it) at level 4 with only 3 companions.  (A side note on this:  I think this encounter has increased in difficulty since the 2.0/2.1 update, as I don't remember this encounter being that difficult with my first character.  But I like the increased difficulty as it makes me think more about tactics before I attack, or if I should attack).

 

So anyway, I reloaded a save before Kolsic's hideout and decided to move on to Caed Nua.  My reasoning is to have a stronger party, then go back and make that decision whether to side with Kolsic or Raedric.  I'm still, at this point, leaning towards Kolsic, because I don't like what Raedric's done to his town.  Also, there is a member of Kolsic's party(can't remember his name) that I freed from Raedric's dungeons, and I don't really want to kill him after I had saved him from torture.

 

Story-wise, I think it is logical to talk to both Raedric and Kolsic, and then decide who you'll side with.