I turned down his offer of protecting Silke because it sounded like too much of a divergence from what I'm supposed to be doing, but then I read that this is completed rather quickly and, afterwards, you can have Garrick join your party. I'd like to do this now, and get him helping us out with a composite long bow, but I can't get him to offer me the job again. Can't even get into chat mode with the T key. Is there any way to get his offer again, or do I have to just forego it? And, if I can ask a follow-up question, the assassin Karlat wasn't in the Jovial Juggler Inn. Will he be there later in the game, or not?

I seem to remember having the same thing happen to me - have you tried resting or leaving the area before re-approaching him? This can work sometimes.

Its not too much of a major deal though as you should be able to just go and talk to Silke anyway, missing out Garrick (I think - its a while since I played in Beregost).
SPOILER ALERT
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she's hanging out by one of the inns (x3455 y2130) - just talk to her directly and you should be able to complete this little sub-quest. Then try talking to Garrick afterwards and you might be able to engage him in reasonable conversation again.

Hope this helps - as I said its been a while (currently on IWD).

Why on earth would you want Garrick when there are so many other fabulous archers in the game? Coran and the ranger dude just to name two???? Garrick sucks.

"I turned down his offer of protecting Silke because it sounded like too much of a divergence from what I'm supposed to be doing, but then I read that this is completed rather quickly and, afterwards, you can have Garrick join your party. I'd like to do this now, and get him helping us out with a composite long bow, but I can't get him to offer me the job again. Can't even get into chat mode with the T key. Is there any way to get his offer again, or do I have to just forego it?"

If you turn Garrick down, not only will you not get the quest, but you won't get Garrick either. Might as well reload from a save.

"And, if I can ask a follow-up question, the assassin Karlat wasn't in the Jovial Juggler Inn. Will he be there later in the game, or not?"

Karlat is not in the Jovial Juggler. Try searching other establishments in Beregost. You'll know he's there right when you enter the building.

(NOTE: Please, for the love of God, don't clarify that! The reason I don't post often on this board is because somebody will ask a question, not specify if they want to be spoiled or not, somebody like SixofSpades gives him/her a hint or clue about the answer to the question, then somebody else, thinking SixofSpades doesn't know the answer, posts the entire solution, and sometimes without a spoiler warning. This is irritating, to say the least. So stop and think about this before you decide to post a reply stating Karlat's exact whereabouts, how to kill him, what stuff he drops, etc.)

Lecture over, let's continue.

"(Duke Hereward's spoiler)"

Nope. Doesn't work. Silke is still waiting. Only Garrick can set the subquest in motion.

"Why on earth would you want Garrick when there are so many other fabulous archers in the game? Coran and the ranger dude just to name two???? Garrick sucks."

Well, maybe if you were playing BG from a roleplayer's standpoint, Garrick might be a good idea. Sure, there are many other good archers in the game. Heck, there's even another bard. Yes, his stats stink. He isn't even proficient in bow--he starts out proficient in small swords and missile weapons. Thanks to mediocre strength (14) and even worse constitution (9), you wouldn't want to put Garrick at the front lines unless you wanted chunky salsa for some reason.

When I include Garrick in my party (a must for all the neutral parties I create), I usually give him a +1 sling and bullets, +2 chainmail, and either a Ring of Energy or Necklace of Missiles. He has a low chance to learn spells, but I try to get him to learn area spells like Grease and Web. In battle, Garrick stands towards the rear with my other ranged fighters, tossing his stones, firing his entrapment spells when necessary, and most importantly, Bard Songing his little heart out. What a neglected effect! IIRC, it improves party defense and saving throws, every bard comes with Song, and can be used multiple times per day (but it doesn't stack, understandibly).

The neat thing about BG is that every NPC serves a purpose if you take the time to figure it out. Another good reason to have Garrick in your party is that he plays off many NPCs, including Xzar, Xan, Alora, Quayle, and Tiax. If you want soap opera romance in your party, there's an NPC couple in BG that Garrick is involved with.

who's the other bard? ( I don't tend to pick up characters after I'm 4th lvl, as it's a hassle to try and work around their weapon proficiencies that the game gives them as well as HP's (I tend to try and maximise hp rolls, so I've never tried Tiax, Yeslik, Quale, etc.)

SPOILER LINK:

http://geocities.com/lemmingofglory/bgnpcs.html#el

I heard from my mates...he sometimes turns on you eventually.

Yeah, I figured I might've blown my one chance with that. Maybe I can get my main character into archery. Thanks for the feedback.

okay

1) garrick really is poor and does turn on you later in the game anyway so hes a waste of time

2) karlat is in the inn JUST next to silke NOT the jovial juggler which is where garrick stands outside, the inn you walk up the steps next to silke and there it is, it pans the camera round for some reason to the right even though you enter from the south but thats the inn where you meet karlat.

3) the silke thing you get the most exp by agreeing to help her then by refusing to kill them and slaughtering her, plus she has some nice equipment on her if i remember rightly, dont kill the other guys cos they are pretty worthless.

Thanks, Pirengle! [img]smile.gif[/img]

About Garrick: Yes, he sucks at most things. He can actually be a decent Tank, but only for a few seconds, by casting Blur & Mirror Image and stuff before puttin ghis armor back on. Lousy in general, though. Still, if you want some kind of magic-user and you didn't like the look of Xzar, Garrick might be the way to go, especially for his Lore. You also aren't going to meet another Bard for a long time.
If he says he doesn't want your services anymore, his attitude will not change. The only way to fix that is to go back in time (Reload).
No, he will NOT turn on you. He'll abandon the party if you let your Reputation sink to abysmal levels, but I actually had him in the party all the way through the end of my last game.

About Silke: Don't follow the loot/EXP, follow your roleplay.

About Karlat: True, he's not in the Jovial Juggler. As Pirengle said, he's somewhere else. (Off-topic: I always stay in the Jovial Juggler, for some reason. I sleep there, I stash my loot there, etc., on every single game. I wonder why.)