Aloth's Approval

[Aldaroshka]

So I've been playing for 22 hours (yes, I've got no life) and so far Aloth hasn't reacted to anything in terms of approval. Yeah, he likes dutiful and whatever. Which apparently means he likes Xoti and Pallegina. He reacts to their dialogue and gains progress with them, like he's at level 2 with Xoti atm. Not with me. I feel like I'm being very dumb and the solution should be easy, but no matter what I say or how many times I replay various conversations Aloth's approval level is always at 0 for me. It's driving me crazy.

Also he doesn't even approve completing his personal quest. I didn't know where to go (neither did Aloth) and I've literally mapped the whole archipelago just to find whatever he asked for. So maybe - just maybe - he should've approved me a little bit. But no. Aloth is that hard to impress :/

So what's up with this?

[Sedrefilos]

Well, I guess Aloth's just that hard to impress?

[Wormerine]

Aloth doesn’t appreciate trying too hard.

[Skazz]

Well, I guess Aloth's just that hard to impress?

 

You could even say that he takes Aloth of time to befriend.

[Aldaroshka]

You could even say that he takes Aloth of time to befriend.

 

Oh my god, why haven't I thought of that    Top puns

Edited May 10, 2018 by Aldaroshka

[CaptainBiscuit]

Same here. And I've seen couple of people having a similar problem as well. I wonder if his approval gain is bugged somehow. 

[Deathscythe419]

His approval is currently at 2 for my Watcher, so I'm not sure if you've run into a bug, or you've just been really unlucky with your choices. I've been making a lot of benevolent and honest choices and he seems to like those. He really likes dutiful responses.

[CaptainBiscuit]

His approval is currently at 2 for my Watcher, so I'm not sure if you've run into a bug, or you've just been really unlucky with your choices. I've been making a lot of benevolent and honest choices and he seems to like those. He really likes dutiful responses.

Well, my character is too mostly honest/diplomatic/benevolent, but I'm sitting at 0 approval, so at this point I have actually no idea what am I doing wrong

[Yria]

I'm in the same boat. I pick a lot of honest options, and quite a few benevolent ones, too, but I haven't seen a single line of approval from him so far. Well, I did - for Xoti. He approves Xoti, sighs at Serafen and Tekehu every time they open their mouths, and that's it. I'm seriously considering giving him the boot because at this rate he will probably end up hating half of my party, and since I'm not progressing with him, why bother settling his differences with everyone else. But I keep hoping this is some sort of bug. 

[Voss]

His approval is currently at 2 for my Watcher, so I'm not sure if you've run into a bug, or you've just been really unlucky with your choices. I've been making a lot of benevolent and honest choices and he seems to like those. He really likes dutiful responses.

Ah. I prioritize diplomatic and rational, and he generally doesn't care.

 

He is very angry because of the approach I took at Deadlight. He seemed to feel it was irresponsible, but to me it was simply the most efficient way of dealing with the situation. And not murdering lots of people.

 

It isn't like *we* got blitzed- we just watched until the final key. But at this point, the only one he likes less is Serafen.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Voss

[CaptainBiscuit]

 

He is very angry because of the approach I took at Deadlight. He seemed to feel it was irresponsible, but to me it was simply the most efficient way of dealing with the situation. And not murdering lots of people.

 

I am curious, which approach was that? For the record, I tried

 

throwing a party and rigging the piano (or whatever that instrument was), and luring Ben out by letting other pirates steal his ship. Aloth didn't care either way (although there were some pained looks cast towards Serafen, as usual).

 

Edited May 10, 2018 by CaptainBiscuit

[Voss]

 

He is very angry because of the approach I took at Deadlight. He seemed to feel it was irresponsible, but to me it was simply the most efficient way of dealing with the situation. And not murdering lots of people.

I am curious, which approach was that? For the record, I tried

 

throwing a party and rigging the piano (or whatever that instrument was), and luring Ben out by letting other pirates steal his ship. Aloth didn't care either way (althoug there were some pained looks cast towards Serafen, as usual).

It was the former. I got an 'irresponsible' penalty at each stage of that solution. (Except rigging the device, which seemed completely irresponsible)

 

 

Serafen also got it pretty much every time he had something to say, but that approach had several thrown my way.

[CaptainBiscuit]

It was the former. I got an 'irresponsible' penalty at each stage of that solution. (Except rigging the device, which seemed completely irresponsible)

Okay, now I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing some sort of bug, because this did not happen in my playthrough. 

Edited May 10, 2018 by CaptainBiscuit

[Celbess]

After 15 hours of playing, Aloth's approval is still stuck at zero for me as well despite me trying everything to charm him. At this point, I'm reluctant to continue playing since I don't know whether it's a bug or if he just takes longer to warm to you than the others. I don't want to find out late in the game hat all my efforts have been in vain due to a bug and I need to start over.  

[Deathscythe419]

Just out of curiosity, did you guys import a save history, or did you use the editor? Also, which version of Aloth is in your current playthrough - Grandmaster Aloth or Anti-Leaden Key Aloth? I was going for the latter, but I screwed up a dialogue option after killing Thaos in PoE1, and ended up with Grandmaster Aloth trying to keep the truth of the gods secret. I'm wondering if his state has anything to do with the problems you guys are having?

[naughtbutanillusion]

I think my game is bugged, I've tried both kinds of saves, imported and made in the options and both have resulted in not netting any approval from him EVEN THOUGH he's shown approval/disapproval for my actions. Put a post in the bugs thread but no response so far. I'm totally bummed out, Aloth and Eder are my favourite characters from the first game.... and the one I can allegedly romance is untouchable. I cry everytime.

[Yosharian]

I wonder how Aloth will feel when I ditch him for the first stranger I meet

[Strange_Trees]

Yeah, he seems really crabby in my game :/ It seems like a lot of his disapproval on stuff that looks like reactions to what the other companions are doing, is actually applying to the Watcher?

 

Like Xoti will say something pro-Gods, Aloth has a little popup, and afterwards we have a curt talk :<

[CaptainBiscuit]

Just out of curiosity, did you guys import a save history, or did you use the editor? Also, which version of Aloth is in your current playthrough - Grandmaster Aloth or Anti-Leaden Key Aloth? I was going for the latter, but I screwed up a dialogue option after killing Thaos in PoE1, and ended up with Grandmaster Aloth trying to keep the truth of the gods secret. I'm wondering if his state has anything to do with the problems you guys are having?

Imported saves, Aloth in my game is anti-Leaden Key, suppressed Iselmyr, so here's that.

[Knoebroesel]

For all who are worried their game might be bugged:

 

It also took me forever to gain reputation with Aloth, but in the end I DID get him to Rep 1!

 

I started playing on TUE and was also afraid he might be bugged, considering how everyone else was at Rep 1 already, but eventually enough Rep was earned and more dialogue with him appeared. I'm also in the honest/diplomatic/benevolent boat, and my Aloth is an Anti-Leaden Key, co-hosting Iselmyr save import.

 

So don't dispair - there might still be some kind of bug, but his Rep might still progress with more time nonetheless!

 

It's also worth noting that I took my time exploring and while playing a lot of side locations and quests, I haven't scouted all of Neketaka yet or advanced the main quest past the first step in Neketaka. So it is also possible that his Rep and dialogue might be gated to certain quest completions or time-spent mechanics that we cannot see.

[StardustBunny]

If anyone doesn't want to wait for the patch to fix this. On Nexus there is a "mod" where one of the options is to change companion dispositions. I tried it with Aloth and got my romance!  

[Maur]

Having some issues with this, as well. Aloth is dropping to negative approval with me after specific quests are accepted or incremented. Avoiding accepting or incrementing those quests results in no approval drop. The approval drop is coming with a talk from him about how I'm being "too traditional." For reference, my PC's highest personality traits are Clever (full wheel), followed by equal scores in Stoic, Rational, Passionate, and Benevolent (three quarters of a wheel). I do not have traditional anywhere in my personality traits (I don't have any points in any of the personality types he dislikes).

 

Aloth gives me the "you're being too traditional" talk and I lose approval with him if I talk to Aenalys about Oswald for the quest "Lost Dues in Good Faith" in such a way as to progress the chain. If I don't talk to her, or do not progress that quest, no talk and no approval loss.

 

A couple hours of gameplay later, it's happening when I accept the Prince Aruhui's quest "Trade Secrets." I've tried answering the Prince in various ways, doesn't seem to make a difference. Neither does Aloth react to anything I say during these conversations -- he does, however, react to what others say.

 

I don't mind him being difficult to please, but his reason for approval loss isn't making any sense at this moment. I'm really not playing a traditionalist as far as I can see.

[Aramintai]

If anyone doesn't want to wait for the patch to fix this. On Nexus there is a "mod" where one of the options is to change companion dispositions. I tried it with Aloth and got my romance!

Thanks, I tried it and it worked. Hopefully devs will fix it. Here's a link to the mod:

https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/2?tab=description

[IsmAsm]

I’m not that far yet, since work keeps getting in the way, but I wanted some clarification: is the issue that Aloth doesn’t react at all to your choices/dialogue, or that the dialogue box says that he likes something you did but his character page stays firmly at zero? Cause I could have sworn that he approved of something in the first conversation I had with him. He’s still a zero, but again, I’m like eight hours into the game. I just wanted to know what to look out for

[Slotharingia]

I have 0 approval from Aloth and Eder, while Tekehu and Serafen are at 1. My character is a kindly but chaotic rogue, and I tend to play games blindly bumbling my first time, so I put it down to that. It's a bit sad considering the Watcher knew the other two already. And you can romance Aloth? I'm a bit irritated at his judgemental attitude too. He was my favourite character in 1 and considering his past, he needs ta chill