This guide explains how to save the Herbalist in A Plague Tale: Requiem.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is the much-anticipated sequel to 2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence. The game is available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It continues the tragic but inspiring tale of Amicia and Hugo de Rune.
A Plague Tale: Requiem picks up six months after the first game and follows the siblings’ battle against the Inquisition and black plague infected rats.
At the start of the game, things seem to be much improved for Amicia, Hugo, their mother Beatrice, and friend Luca. Before long, the brother and sister duo encounter a group of mysterious and murderous men on a farm. This sets off a brutal chain of events.
Requiem improves on the first game in a few important ways. Not only does it look better, but it also has expanded combat options, improved stealth, an intuitive automatic progression system, and larger areas.
As with the first game, Requiem is packed full of puzzles to solve – often in tense life or death situations.
As a result, the game requires you to engage your brain every step of the way. It is crucial to think your way around most situations in the game.
One thing players are really struggling with is how to save the Herbalist in A Plague Tale: Requiem. In fact, it is so difficult, many are questioning if it is even possible at all.
The Herbalist appears in Chapter 3 “A Burden of the Blood”. Amicia and Luca are looking for him to get Nightshade which should help Hugo’s condition.
However, he is escorted by two guards and surrounded by rats making saving him incredibly hard.
Let’s go over how to save the Herbalist in A Plague Tale: Requiem…
How To Save The Herbalist in A Plague Tale: Requiem
After you have progressed through the church and taken out the two guards, the Herbalist will emerge.
He is being escorted by two guards carrying torches. The trick here is to divert the rats away from him by forcing them to attack the guards.
It is worth mentioning that it is basically impossible to do this on your first attempt. Saving the Herbalist requires precise timing to avoid him being eaten alive.
This is how to save the Herbalist in A Plague Tale: Requiem:
To save him, ensure you have two Extinguis in your inventory. Before you leave the church, look to the right just before the statue. There is a crate containing crafting materials you can use if you do not have enough.
Go out of the door, look right, and use your sling to shoot the guard. Next, look left to the other wall that has a guard stood behind it next to a torch. Shoot the sack of saltpeter to his side. This will cause the rats to kill him.
Next, look back to where you killed the first guard. Just over the wall is a fire with another bag of saltpeter next to it. Shoot that to extinguish the fire. Now light the torch just ahead of you to make a path.
As you move forward, the Herbalist will emerge with the two guards.
Hide in the tall grass. As the guard on the left wanders off, use Extinguis to put out his torch. The other guard will move to investigate – do the same to him. Rats will eat both guards alive and should leave the Herbalist alone.
Unable to save the Herbalist
At this point, it’s important to note that many players are saying it is impossible to save the Herbalist.
That is not the case – you can save him. But it is pointless. And it does not seem to have been the developers’ intention.
Saving him is so difficult it can require many, many attempts to do correctly. Even then, some players cannot do it at all. He always end up being eaten by rats.
We know he is supposed to die because saving him results in no dialogue, no rewards, and has no impact on the story. If he dies, you continue on regardless.
With it being extremely difficult and there being no benefit to doing so, I would recommend not bothering to save the Herbalist. It makes no difference whatsoever.
It looks like the Herbalist surviving is a bug… So, I’m not sure why the game instructs you to save him at all. Hopefully it is patched out to end the confusion.
How many hours did you waste trying to save his life?
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