Excavated Ruins - Keep Losing My Companion

[Legacy_Leematon]

               I'm currently venturing through the excavated ruins at the end of the Interlude with my companion Xanos, but at the end of some battles he suddenly disappears from the companion list on the right of the screen, even though he is still alive. I've tried talking to him but nothing happens, and if you use a potion or a healing kit on him the game replies 'Xanos cannot be bartered with'.

This first happened about two thirds into the ruins. I tried reloading from an earlier save but the same thing happened again at an earlier stage in the ruins.

Is this something that is supposed to happen in the ruins or is my game corrupt. Please help.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MingWolf]

               There is supposed to be some basilisks in those ruins.  If he becomes petrified, he will turn into a statue and disappear from the screen.  There are ways to unpetrify him, and believe there is an item somewhere in the ruins that will allow you to do so.  Alas, I cannot remember where exactly.  What you can do, however, is load up an old save, grab ranged weapons, and try and take the basilisks on from a distance.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               

MingWolf wrote...
There are ways to unpetrify him, and believe there is an item somewhere in the ruins that will allow you to do so.  Alas, I cannot rememberwhere exactly.

There's a bottle of Stone to Flesh on the skeleton corpse that the shield guardian is protecting (slaads are fighting there with him), if it's only the one battle where this happens.

Leematon wrote...
I'm currently venturing through the excavated ruins at the end of the Interlude with my companion Xanos, but at the end of some battles he suddenly disappears from the companion list on the right of the screen, even though he is still alive. I've tried talking to him but nothing happens, and if you use a potion or a healing kit on him the game replies 'Xanos cannot be bartered with'.

This first happened about two thirds into the ruins. I tried reloading from an earlier save but the same thing happened again at an earlier stage in the ruins.

Is this something that is supposed to happen in the ruins or is my game corrupt. Please help.

If it happens in battles OTHER than where petrification can occur, it seems like you somehow had a henchman variable set improperly during your gaming.

Some questions 4U first:

Since he is no longer listed in your party, is Xanos now a neutral (blue) character on the screen?

Are you patched to v1.69?

Have you ever dismissed Xanos from your party voluntarily?  If so, did you use the dialogue to do that or did you use the radial interface?

Are you able to hire any of the other henchmen at the camp without this problem occurring?

Without knowing the answers to the above questions, and without knowing what class you are playing,  it may still be possible to correct the situation without resetting any variables if you can kill Xanos and then use a Raise Dead or Resurrect scroll on his corpse... that is if he leaves a corpse when he dies and if your class can use the scroll.  Otherwise with a fighter-type class, you will need to spawn a Resurrect Rod with the DM console.

If you are somehow able to finish the Interlude without his help, I believe when the Chapter 2 module loads it SHOULD rest the variables correctly. 
               
               

               

                     Modifié par HipMaestro, 04 août 2010 - 03:35 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Leematon]

               HipMaestro, the answers to your questions:

1. Since he is no longer listed in your party, is Xanos now a neutral (blue) character on the screen? No, he is still showing as green and in a 'Near Death' state.

2. Are you patched to v1.69? Yes

3. Have you ever dismissed Xanos from your party voluntarily?  Not that I'm aware of, although I've returned to SOU after a long hiatus and may have accidentally done so in the past, but I'm not sure.

4. Are you able to hire any of the other henchmen at the camp without this problem occurring? That I haven't tried.

My character is a level 8 fighter. The first time I encountered this problem was when fighting basilisks in the secret room in the south of the ruins. But when I reloaded from an earlier save the problem occurred in the Orb Room in the northeast. As far as I know there are no basilisks in that area, which seems to ditch the petrification theory, unless slaads can petrify.

Staying on the subject of petrification, I'm playing this game on normal DS, which means that petrification shouldn't be permanent, increasing my worry that something has got screwed.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Leematon]

               I have further info. The problem seems to be happening intermittently after Xanos gets killed. On one occasion fighting slaads he will scream 'I need healing, damn you', then gets killed and a few seconds later his icon will disappear from the right of the screen, although he's still visible in the game. Despite healing him I couldn't get him to talk or rejoin the party.

However on a further attempt of the same battle Xanos again gets killed after saying the same line but this time his icon remained on screen and was able to heal him with him still in the party.

Looks to me like something is screwed. I did discover a temporary workaround whereby I retreated to a safe area, rested and then returned to Xanos and I was able to speak to him again, but this doesn't always work.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               Okay, it seems more and more like a recurring faction bug on Xanos so here is what I would try to determine whether it  1) can be manually reset and 2) if it likely to persist throughout the game.

First, try hiring and playing with either one of the other henchmen for a short time just to form a baseline.  You have all the time you need until you meet Drogan and solve the transport puzzle at which point whichever henchman you have in your party will be the only one to show up in the next chapter.  (I hope this particular info doesn't spoil your adventuring but it would be nice to understand what is happening to the henchmen in your installation.)

Next, if Xanos is the ONLY ONE that leaves arbitrarily, try killing him and resurrecting the corpse with a rod.  I am not sure how SoU will treat this kind of death so this is strictly experimental.  As a fighter, you will need a Rod of Resurrection which unfortunately isn't available in the Interlude.  The following commands will furnish one for you to try this method:

note: all commands are case-sensitive with input action described within .

In the chat bar :
type: ## DebugMode 1

type: ## dm_spawnitem nw_wmgmrd002
type: ## DebugMode 0

The last command is VERY important.  (I usually type it twice just in case I miskeyed the first time.)
You may need to ID the rod, never spawned one myself. 

This thread may help others if your gliche is not unique so post what you have tried and effect(s).  (I will poke around to try to locate anything similar to your problem, but don't hold your breath;) )

edit:  Just read that some folks try to heal their henchman with a potion which won't work.  It must be a healer's kit, but perhaps you already knew that.

BTW, you are quite correct about the petrification effect on normal diff, it does wear off so should not be inflicting a death-like state to either your PC or henchman.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par HipMaestro, 04 août 2010 - 07:07 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               

Leematon wrote..

However on a further attempt of the same battle Xanos again gets killed after saying the same line but this time his icon remained on screen and was able to heal him with him still in the party.

Looks to me like something is screwed. I did discover a temporary workaround whereby I retreated to a safe area, rested and then returned to Xanos and I was able to speak to him again, but this doesn't always work.

Have you tried saving and reloading immediately after the battle is over when Xanos cannot be healed and recalled?

What happens when you do this?  Same as before the reload?