Quest Progress Bug

[Idk675]

I have some problems with quest progression with two side quests. The first quest is the Nithing where when I talk to the herbalist I do not get the option to talk about the curse. The second is in the quest hard times where when I talk to the smith at Kaer Trold I can't deliver the letter.
Another bug I have is with the abandoned tavern in southern Ard Skellig. I can't seem to get the liberate cutseen or liberate the place even when I destroyed the monster nest, Killed all of the sirens and killed all of the wraiths. Is there any solution to any of these bugs?

 

[SigilFey]

Hello, @Idk675!

Firstly, please post about different issues in different threads. Lists of separate issues like this can make the discussion that follows very difficult to make sense of.

In general, whenever a quest glitches out, the first thing to try is reloading the game to a point before the quest appears in your journal and playing through it again. If the problem persists, restarting the console and rebooting the game fresh is a good idea at that point. If the problem still persists, then it's like something with your save-state, and it's unlikely to be fixable. The game is huge. It's still possible for the player to do things in a certain order...or have a certain combination of quests active at the same time...that it can put the game into a situation where certain quests become permanently glitched for that playthrough.

1.) I've never heard of the Nithing quest borking out like that. That will likely be fixable with a reload / retry.

2.) The burnt-out inn in Ard Skellig is a very common issue. I'd start with a reload / retry. If not, manually leave the area until you're sure it has been unloaded from the game. (Ride faaar away from it on Roach.) Meditate for 24 hours, then meditate for another "quarter" (e.g. if it's 12:00 noon after the first rest, rest another 3 hours until 3:00 pm.) Ride back and see if another siren has spawned somewhere. Also, be sure you've cleaned out the wraiths in the basement of the burned building. If that has no effect, go do a few more quests elsewhere and come back later on. Sometimes, I've simply walked into the area later on, and the quest auto-succeeds for no apparent reason. (Doesn't really matter if you can't finish it. It's not critical, and the rewards are very minor.)

3.) The Kaer Trolde blacksmith is a bug with a very weird fix. I think it happens because there are too many different "modes" attached to the one character (merchant menu, the Bad News quest, the tell me a story about a weapon of lore stuff, etc.) Follow these directions carefully, and it should work. First, look to see if the other smith in the area is missing. If so, that's a good sign! (Means the "bug" is working correctly. )

1. Save your game standing near the blacksmith. Exit the game to the Main Menu, then reload that save.
2. Upon reloading, if the other smith or the apprentice was missing, you should see them again. Talk to the Blacksmith. If you still don't have the option to talk to him about the letter, turn around and walk inside the castle. Keep going until Geralt automatically slows from a "jog" to a "walk". Then, turn around and go back outside. Try talking to the Blacksmith again.
3. If he still doesn't have the dialogue option for the letter, save your game, exit to the Main Menu, and reload the save again. It should appear.

It's possible that the option may appear at any point in that chain. All depends on how the area was loaded when you begin the sequence.

 

[Idk675]

Hello, I was able to resolve the hard times quest and the Nithing quest. However, I am still having issues with the burnt out inn. I tried to fix this twice The first time I reloaded and went about 600 feet away to a cave meditated and than came back. When I returned the issue still occurred. The second time I came back and the wraiths had respawned but nothing else changed. I went up to the palisade where bandits try to rob you and meditated when I came back nothing changed.
Thank you for your help with the First two issues. But, is there any other to resolve this issue?

 

[SigilFey]

Hello, I was able to resolve the hard times quest and the Nithing quest. However, I am still having issues with the burnt out inn. I tried to fix this twice The first time I reloaded and went about 600 feet away to a cave meditated and than came back. When I returned the issue still occurred. The second time I came back and the wraiths had respawned but nothing else changed. I went up to the palisade where bandits try to rob you and meditated when I came back nothing changed.
Thank you for your help with the First two issues. But, is there any other to resolve this issue?

Not that I've ever found or heard of. At least, nothing that worked universally. If it just won't cooperate, go on with the rest of the game and check back later on. I've only had it glitch out completely and refuse to finish once in 5 playthroughs. It's a really random bug. (I've had the same thing happen with the ghouls around the abandoned shrine site in White Orchard much more often.)

My guess is that the game simply fails to spawn the correct number of enemies when it loads in, for whatever reason. Usually, when the situation resolves, I'll come back and there will be only one enemy somewhere (a single harpy flying around or a single ghoul near the road). If you happen to see that one day, it's probably a good sign. If not, meh. You don't lose anything by leaving it unfinished.