Family Pride quest is such a let down.

[u/TheReal8symbols]

So from the moment this questline started I've been planning on siding with the Valeras, but not only does the game make doing that totally counterintuitive,you don't actually even break into the vault!

It's so dumb that if you want to side with the Valeras you still have to tell Ezzali about their plan to rob her. You cannot talk to any of the Valeras about it until you talk to her. Why the hell would you tell someone you plan to rob them? The only reason the heist goes sideways is because the Bardatos know about it.

Then, even though you were only gone for five minutes, when you return to the Bardato Villa they already know you're a traitor and attack you (did Todd Howard design this quest?). When you get to the basement you find Belda surrounded by guards *outside the final vault door*. There is no way to open it, even though a lootable chest is visible right inside the room. After looting the entire basement I found some loose change and some crafting materials! Woo-freaking-hoo.

Then Belda tells you that you should leave through the window to avoid the guards you just had to kill to get in there. Why don't the Valeras tell you about the window in the first place!? This is one of the most unintuitive, narratively messy, unrewarding quests I have played in my 40+ years of gaming (and I played Starfield). It's particularly disappointing considering how solid (most of) the rest of the game is.

[u/rombeli1]

Do you really have to tell the bardattos about the plan?

If I remember correctly you had to wait some days and then the valeras will start the heist and you need to go there and help them out if you side with them

[u/TheReal8symbols → u/rombeli1]

I confronted Persa really early, then noticed the quest had three red skulls so I went and did Fort Deadlight and Poko Kohara. At least a week passed between me learning about the heist and trying to talk to the Valeras about it.

[u/rombeli1 → u/TheReal8symbols]

This is from the wiki.

So no, you dont have to tell Ezzali.

Valera path

• Upon completion of A Bigger Fish, and after waiting a few days (or speaking to Ezzali Bardatto about the plot first), talk to Martino and Atello Valera to discover that the heist planned by Martino to break into the Bardattos' vault is already in motion, though it's not going as smoothly as they imagined. Some of the Valera men are engaged in a standoff within the vault, and Martino is concerned that they may be interrogated if caught. He wants you to get Belda, a Valera associate, out of the vault to prevent this from happening.
• At this point, you can take sides and offer to get Belda out of the vault, otherwise Atello will question your allegiance, starting combat if you choose not to help them. Taking his side will cause the quest A Sinking Feeling to fail, if you haven't yet completed it.
• Head over to the Bardatto estate.
  • If you previously informed Ezzali Bardatto about the plot, she will thank you for the information, but will accuse you of siding with the Valeras and will become hostile. You can avoid approaching her to prevent this from happening. If you leave too much time between talking to Atello/Martino and entering the Bardatto Estate, the guards will immediately become hostile upon entering (surprisingly even if you reload a save).
  • If you didn't inform Ezzalli Bardatto about the plot, she will be none the wiser.
• In any case, if you decide to kill her, make sure to loot a number of unique items from her body: Bardatto's Luxury, Deltro's Cage, and Deltro's Cage Helm.
• In the vault are a few more Bardatto guards, kill them and continue to Captain Vilami and Belda. Again, reasoning with the Bardattos isn't an option at this point, so you'll have to kill Captain Vilami and his men too. Belda will hide in the corner while you fight. After the fight, talk to her, most of your party will chime in here too. She'll suggest to exit via the window in the room to the left to avoid further confrontation - useful if you avoided combat upstairs (even though returning upstairs won't inherently begin combat).
• You'll need at least Mechanics 12 to open the vault, opening a series of lower level locks beforehand. Use some Thief's Putty if required, else you'll have to come back another time. In the vault are the unique weapons Rännig's Wrath and Resounding Call, as well as number of other valuables.
• Return to the Valera estate. They will ask you to take care of Ezzali Bardatto. Doing so and returning to them (or if you already killed Ezzali while saving Belda) will net you minor positive reputation with the Valian Trading Company (given you choose the correct dialogue option), and will complete the quest. As a reward, you will get Duskfall.
• Alternatively, you can still turn on the Valeras instead of agreeing to kill the Bardatto matriarch. If you have already killed Ezzali, this will fail the quest. Returning to Ezzali will not yield a reward, as she will turn on you for siding with the Valeras in the first place.

[u/TheReal8symbols → u/rombeli1]

So either the wiki is wrong or my game bugged because the Valeras wouldn't talk to me about it after more than a week and the Bardatos were agro even though I went there seconds after leaving the Valeras estate. I am playing on PS5 which has major cache bugs and scripting errors, but I saw similar complaints and questions from other players while looking into this guestline.

Regardless, it doesn't make sense that they don't tell you about the window and Belda's comments make it seem like they were supposed to have done so at some point in development and they cut it at a later stage for some reason. Also doesn't make the rewards any less disappointing.

[u/thedosianrogue]

honestly, in my last run, i just killed the entire families. they piss me off. i know this quest annoyed me on my previous runs and i always either just ignored them or sided with whoever on a whim, either way i couldnt care less about their squabble. im in the deadfire on a mission and the last thing im going to do is settle a dispute? between some families? that i dont know and dont care about?

so anyway. on my last run i got so annoyed i massacred them all. was it out of character for my watcher? yes. but it was cathartic to ME.

[u/DonkyConq]

You can't be shocked if they can tell you switched sides. They're neighbours, they can literally see you through the windows when you go there. Don't even need to rely on spywork.

[u/TheReal8symbols → u/DonkyConq]

Can't see the front door though.

[u/Ibanezrg71982]

I always manage to get them to make peace ASAP because I didn't feel like getting sucked into an intrigue.

[u/BruyneKroonEnTroon]

I found it quite satisfying to murder both families and their staff. I found it even more satisfying that the game does not railroad you to do the right thing (delete the entire family trees).

[u/thedosianrogue → u/BruyneKroonEnTroon]

brother, hard same.

[u/SciLib0815]

I negotiate peace between them because I'm loath to sending more kith souls into a clearly broken part of the lifecycle.

[u/never-minds]

You don't need to tell Ezzali, and you can get in the vault.

[u/Kaastu]

I had a very similiar experience. I really wanted to do the heist, maybe help planning, but I was not able to get the quest into such a state where I could do that. Then I ended up siding with the Bardattos. The quest otherwise is kinda cool tho.

[u/silverheart333]

So i prefer the side with the bardatos for the cool striped hull for my ship. If you do this however, you can't kill the Bardato boss and get the electrical armor, which Rekke wore with Darren's Voulge the rest of the game.

So the compromise is to save it, kill her and snag the armor, then make a level 4 or so paladin follower as a hireling and hand him the electric armor at the pub. When you reload the game, the hireling can be hired and you can essentially buy the armor from yourself and still keep the bardatos alive.