The second time throught the game I encountered a bug. I choose to do both the trang and umpani quests. I went to Arnika and paid of He'li's with a bribe and saved soon after. But then when I went to Z'ant he got angry and attacked me. Is there a solution to this bug? I just hate that I saved after bribing He'li.

I don't know the solution once you make the T'Rang mad at you. I have had this happen, too, for reasons I am not sure about. In Z'Ant's first quest he does tell you not to engage the Umpani, and if you try to go directly to the T'Rang tranporter you take about a one-in-three chance of permanently angering them when you fight the Overmind (or whatever).

I do the T'Rang quests up to their alliance with the Mook before I do the Umpani ones for this very reason. I did finish a game without the T'Rang, but you lose some XP opportunities.

[ 06-22-2003, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: Ziggurat ]

There's no need to go through the "restricted area" to get to the T'Rang teleporter; you can go "up and over" to get there. If that doesn't compute, you haven't finished exploring all of Marten's Bluff.

To avoid being caught by Z'Ant, always initiate conversation with him by clicking the desired item on him. Since all of Z'Ant's quests (except the final one, which you won't do anyway) are of the "go get this and bring it back to me" variety, you'll always have something to use to start the talking.

Does this mean you can give Z'Ant items when he is in the red?? My experience is they all attack.

I avoid the restricted area by going thru the mine tunnel. It actually works out OK, the pacing is right.

A good question is how you can make good with the T'Rang when you mistakenly ally with the Umpani first.

I always avoided He'li once I started on the T'rang/Umpani quests.

Do be aware that there is a traitor among the Umpani; some people have mentioned he could turn you in to Z'Ant. Dunno about that. Generally, I blew his cover and had him arrested. That seemed to ensure smooth sailing for everything else.

<center>Nightowl2</center>

No; I meant that you can avoid fighting the T'Rang guarding the "restricted area", thus avoiding turning Z'Ant hostile. Once he's hostile, I think that's it for T'Rang-related questing.

I think that's the more typical sequence; fortunately, it's not the only option.

It isn't a "mistake" to sign up with the Umpani first; I have done that all but 1 time, I think. Z'Ant won't bust you as a double agent until after you've completed his first two missions, even if you're an Umpani recruit the first time you see him. He'll definitely blow the whistle on you when you come back from the Mook-letter mission.

I just (like, 2 minutes ago) brought my Rangerettes party into the Bluff. Their history is as follows:
Monestary
Arnika
Umpani Base Camp; joined up with Umpani
Marten's Bluff via Mountain Wilderness, SE Wilderness, Swamp. IOW, We haven't seen He'Li since we signed up with the Umpani

I clicked on Z'Ant (empty-handed) for the initial contact; got the "get flag" mission. Clicked on him again, empty-handed. He said "I hope you have the flag". Gave him the flag; got Rapax assassin mission; exited conversation. Clicked on him again, empty-handed. He said "I hope you have killed the Rapax". Gave him the head; got Mook-letter mission; exited conversation. Clicked on him again, still empty-handed. He said "How strange; my watcherss report that the device is still there".

So, as nearly as I can tell, Z'ant won't bust you as a double agent until you return after completing the business with the Mook. From that point on, you have to initiate the conversation by clicking the appropriate object on him. And it must be the appropriate object; specifically, I once clicked the wrong shiny globe on him, and got the "Kill them!" speech.

I think i played about 20 games. I do about the same sequence of Umpani/T'rang missions eacht time. It happened twice to me that z'ant attacked me, although i don't think i did anything different. I bribed He'Li each time.

What item do you use when you bring him the coordinates of savants ship? Thats the point where z'ant caught me.

I stay away from He'Li too. Even though in the last game nobody became hostile toward me even though I spoke to her regularly (and payed her off).

I did take out a hit on her though; she's still alive; for now.

I did get a surprise from "The Don's" boys. I had to pay them to keep quiet about the switched Chaos Molari.

[ 06-25-2003, 06:50 AM: Message edited by: Variol (Farseer) Elmwood ]

I think there's a small chance that Z'ant discovers the double agent status, no matter what you do. In various games, I bribed He'li, avoided He'li, turned Kunat in, avoided Kunat etc. Possibly missed some permutations. Avoiding He'li & turning Kunat in isn't fire-proof.

Chaos Molieri. He says something like: 'I want you to keep it'.

Interesting... I've always initiated the dialogue with Z'Ant without any items. I've completed now all T'Rang/Umpani Quests up to Black Ship coordinates / rescue of the missed soldiers and Z'Ant seems to love my party.

After the first Quests I paid He'Li and she never complained again.