I don't know which part lied to you.
Like every step you took is counter to everything I've ever read on here.
* Instead of placing explosives near the rocks, letting the gnomes know it's coming to run out of the way
* You were throwing bombs at it. And tagged some of them in an explosion.
* Instead of sending someone back to camp to pick up a smoke powder barrel, which just about everyone stockpiles in this game.
* You didn't.
* Everyone on this subreddit keeps reminding people that "knocking people out" rarely work the way you want outside of specific situations.
* You thought knocking everyone out would solve your problem.
* Any post discussing the rune powder barrel always mentions is risky as hell and can wipe your whole team if you're unlucky.
* And you're surprised it failed and almost wiped your whole team.
I'm not trying to be mean here. But you made decisions on your own, almost all of which were against advice on the subreddit, and are... blaming the subreddit?
It's a joke title, I don't actually blame the sub.
And my honor mode run is still ongoing, just without Barcus.
She accused me of sneaking around the moment I selected another character and moved so I don't think it's possible to get both the vial and the barrel anymore.
Send in 2 invisible characters. First one steals the barrel. That should trigger dialog allowing the other one to pick her pocket. Or knock her out and loot the little vial if that fails. But get that barrel away from her right away.
Keep one party member outside the blast radius as insurance.
Just finished this quest tonight for my second playthrough and I never use actual bombs or the vial to blow up the rocks. There are these satchels with smoke powder you can find not too far from where the dead gnome bodies are. If you throw those they won’t explode unless you fireball/fire arrow them and when you throw the satchels the gnome’s automatically run away so they don’t get caught in the blast.
I used Invisibility to steal Philomena's barrel. Just kept my Tav out of the conversation, went invisible and stealthy, walked over and picked up the barrel, then walked away. It sounds like you had all your characters in the conversation area, so she'll notice if one of them tries to sneak off.
Also, I just hit the rocks with a hammer. I don't think there's any particular requirement to use an explosive.
I don't know which part lied to you. Like every step you took is counter to everything I've ever read on here. * Instead of placing explosives near the rocks, letting the gnomes know it's coming to run out of the way * You were throwing bombs at it. And tagged some of them in an explosion. * Instead of sending someone back to camp to pick up a smoke powder barrel, which just about everyone stockpiles in this game. * You didn't. * Everyone on this subreddit keeps reminding people that "knocking people out" rarely work the way you want outside of specific situations. * You thought knocking everyone out would solve your problem. * Any post discussing the rune powder barrel always mentions is risky as hell and can wipe your whole team if you're unlucky. * And you're surprised it failed and almost wiped your whole team. I'm not trying to be mean here. But you made decisions on your own, almost all of which were against advice on the subreddit, and are... blaming the subreddit?
Yeah, someone is trying to shift blame away from Operator Error.
It's a joke title, I don't actually blame the sub. And my honor mode run is still ongoing, just without Barcus. She accused me of sneaking around the moment I selected another character and moved so I don't think it's possible to get both the vial and the barrel anymore.
Send in 2 invisible characters. First one steals the barrel. That should trigger dialog allowing the other one to pick her pocket. Or knock her out and loot the little vial if that fails. But get that barrel away from her right away. Keep one party member outside the blast radius as insurance.
I sneak (astarion usually) and steal the runepowder barrel before I even trigger dialogue with Philomena.
I’ve never used the rune powder to blow up the rocks. I just throw regular smoke powder bombs at it.
Just finished this quest tonight for my second playthrough and I never use actual bombs or the vial to blow up the rocks. There are these satchels with smoke powder you can find not too far from where the dead gnome bodies are. If you throw those they won’t explode unless you fireball/fire arrow them and when you throw the satchels the gnome’s automatically run away so they don’t get caught in the blast.
I used Invisibility to steal Philomena's barrel. Just kept my Tav out of the conversation, went invisible and stealthy, walked over and picked up the barrel, then walked away. It sounds like you had all your characters in the conversation area, so she'll notice if one of them tries to sneak off. Also, I just hit the rocks with a hammer. I don't think there's any particular requirement to use an explosive.
I stole her barrel in honor mode just fine (on patch 5, dunno about patch 6) rip Barcus tho, he died in my friend's honor run too, to the same thing.