What should I do if a diplomatic choice blocks the blacksmith quest?

[EleanorM]

I just finished my first playthrough of the new RPG and I'm stuck on a choice I made hours ago. I picked the dialogue option that seemed diplomatic, but it completely locked me out of the blacksmith's questline and his unique inventory. Now I'm wondering if I should reload a save from before that conversation, even though it means losing a ton of progress.

[EdwardKW]

Yep, I did the same thing. diplomatic line and suddenly the blacksmith quest was gone from the menu. I grabbed a save from a bit earlier, swallowed the lost progress, and tried to keep going with the other routes.

[Oliver_W]

I kept playing without reloads for a while, did a couple of quick side quests, and later checked back. It felt like I was sprinting in circles, but I saw new options open up somewhere else.

[AlexanderB]

Maybe the problem isn’t the dialogue as such, maybe I misread how the branches fit together. There could be a later task or condition that lets you loop back, or the trigger is tied to something else.

[PatrickM]

One more thought I forgot last night: I once chased a single branching path for ages and it turned out the game offered a different reward anyway. Not saying that’s your case, but the heartache is real.