how to avoid losing Kivan?

Jatopian

Hello. I picked up the NPC Kivan in the High Hedge, with the understanding that he wanted some bandits killed. That's fine, of course, but I didn't know where the bandits were any more than he did so I just sort of wandered around the area. Now my friend tells me I'm going to lose Kivan permanently before I have a chance to get to the bandits, which are two chapters away!

A few hours ago in-game Kivan made a Minsc-style complaint about how we're taking too long. I don't remember the exact words, but they included the phrase "quicken your step". I'm currently in Beregost, and haven't done the Nashkel mines yet.

How long do I have, how long do I need, and what are my options? I'm open to cheating solutions if necessary since this seems pretty unfair.

Heindrich

The length of the (Kivan's) timer depends on when you first recruited him (20 days if you recruited him in Chapter 1, 14 days in Chapter 2, and 3 days in Chapter 3.

The day counter starts from the day you recruited him, not the beginning of the game, just to be clear.

I believe he gives you 2 warnings, but I can't remember on which exact days. If you only just got the first warning, you probably do have enough time to complete his quest 'legitimately'.

I don't know how easy it is to cheat Kivan's timer. If it can be done, your best bet is EE Keeper, but somebody more experienced can advise you on that.

You can kinda cheat the system via an exploit. Namely you when Kivan is about to leave, get him killed somehow (but not chunked). A dead Kivan will not leave the party, which will give you more time to satisfy his requirements before you raise him. Of course this is a bit pointless if it means dragging a dead Kivan around for a long time, since a dead Kivan is also not going to be gaining xp.

Jatopian

Hm, thanks for the reply, but something's off. I just looked in Kivan's information sheet, and it says he's spent 20 days and 11 hours with the party. So he should have run off by now even if I recruited him in chapter 1, right? Is the timer lengthened in EE?

I might have recruited him in chapter 2. Chapter 2 starts when you enter Beregost, right?

elminster

Chapter 2 starts when you enter Nashkel.

Jatopian

I've looked into using EEkeeper as a backup plan. I've found two likely looking candidates for getting around the timer, but I'm not sure how to modify them. One is the FINDBANDITS variable, which is clearly the quest for finding the bandit camp. However, if I set it from 1 to 2 (which I think is the "done" setting) I'm worried I'll render the quest line unwinnable. There's also the KIVAN variable, which looks like a time value and is currently 4345329 - but I don't know whether it counts up or down.

I'll figure it out myself if I have to, and post my findings. But it would be nice not to duplicate effort if someone else already knows.

Jalily

Setting FindBandits to 2 will prevent Kivan from leaving. Setting it back to 1 after you clear the camp (i.e. reach Chapter 4+) will close the journal entry as if you had completed the quest.

Jatopian

Thank you, Jalily.

reedmilfam

Kivan bailed on me when I played, which was frustrating because we were just outisde the Bandit Camp at the time. In a way, it's probably because the only urgency the game can apply is that. Most of the game is traipsing about the countryside, killing everything worth enough XP and looting everything that can be looted, even though such action doesn't deal with the assasinating megalomaniac that murdered Gorion... If I'd have known, I would have waited to bring him aboard.

mjs

treat him mean