Popularity Contest is a Quest in Divinity: Original Sin II. Dot and Cottontail want you to settle which of them was more loved by their recently deceased master.
Important NPCs
- Cottontail
- Dot
Popularity Contest Objectives
- Find Dot and Cottontail upstairs at Ryker's rest.
- Help them settle their argument.
Popularity Contest Walkthrough
Possible Bug: Currently, talking to them won't initiate the quest and create a journal entry. Luckily, you will still receive the experience and the respective reward. It's uncertain whether this is a bug or was intentionally removed to become an ordinary event.
Ryker's Rest upstairs, you will find two pets, Dot and Cottontail, arguing with each other over who their deceased master loved more. To enter this room, you must steal the painting right outside the door, which will drop a key that unlocks it. To quickly turn away the servants' attention, simply go behind them and engage in a conversation with them. They will turn around and not turn back to look at you stealing.
Both Dot and Cottontail will want you to side with them and convince the other that they are the one more loved. If you have high Persuasion, this quest can be solved with a simple dialogue check for either option. If you do not have high Persuasion, look for Dot's collar in the basement of Ryker's Rest or pick up Cottontail's toy ball right beside her to convince them instead (picking up the ball won't count as stealing, even though it shows as red).
You will need Dot's collar if you want to side with the cat, or Cottontail's ball if you want to side with the dog. Warning: If you try to tell them that their master loves both of them, nothing will happen and you will be unable to progress with the quest unless you have another character with Pet Pal start the conversation over again.
Note: Don't bother siding with Dot. The hatch he reveals will be considered sneaking in, which is near impossible with Ryker at his desk. Also, if you simply talk to Ryker and accept his quest and then leave the area, he'll give you access to the hatch anyway, making this completely pointless. Take the Diamond instead.
| Choice | Reward |
| Siding with Cottontail (Cat) | Diamond dropped near the bathtub |
| Siding with Dot (Dog) | Hidden hatch revealed under a carpet near Ryker downstairs (considered sneaking) |
| Telling them they're both loved | Nothing at all |
AnonymousGot the hatch before I found the room. Ryker reveals it himself. This quest is useless other than the xp you get
- Anonymous
After reading the comments, i decide to choose the dog, because he seems to be obsessed with Riker and if i choose the cat, he could kill her
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
You can kill them both to resolve the lingering quest. I found the diamond before it like the others, but talked to them before finding the collar and toy :/
- Anonymous
I also found the diamond before talking to the pets, while grabbing the fruit plate on the other side of the wall, decided to side with the dog since I already found and sold his collar
- Anonymous
You can get the Diamond in DE even if you choose the 'Both' option, I came back a lot later and I must have had a high perception score, but my character where all like "Oh, I found something!" and I couldnt see anything, but then I did the search thingie and found it :)
- Anonymous
The dog really did kill his own master lol, but it's unclear under which circumstances. The leg you dig at X:529 Y:87, if eaten by an elf, says: "You were kind and honest, and devoted to your dog. But you came a-knocking here in search of work, and the dog took fancy to the man of the house. Your own dog turned against you, and tore you down". Likely, Ryker made Dot turn against his original master and kept him as his pet.
- Anonymous
nah.... i think ryker killed his old master and took the dog with him.
- Anonymous
That dog killed his old master btw. And it wasn't mind controlled or something since he mentions it by saying ''My old master would've died for me and he did in fact''.
- Anonymous
DE : 7725 xp reward siding with the cat and showing the collar as proof.
Once you side with the cat, the dog dejected, reveals his last master would've died for him and did die for him. There is a body part in the Stone Garden confirms this: the dog abandoned him in favour of Ryker and later mauled him to death.
- Anonymous
I tried siding with the dog, got both the collar and the ball in my inventory, yet they keep on arguing. I also tried holding either in my hand while talking to them. What did I miss?
- Anonymous
You can't make me lie and say cats are better than dogs for a diamond, nope.
- Anonymous
I found the diamond by the bathtub without talking to the animals yet. So it's possible to get both rewards without ever doing this quest.
- Anonymous
I did this quest before killing Ryker, yet the dog refers to him dying.
- Anonymous
Shame you don't at least get xp for telling them they're both loved.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Tried the LOHSE tag here, didn't help much ... or rather didn't help at all. Seeing the cat's reaction makes me want to side with the poor dog, but then, his reward isn't really worth it.
- Anonymous
Cast clear minded on someone, steal the diamond from behind the tub. Then side with the dog. Best possible ending imo.
Reading the few comments below me always reminds me how some people who game take their gaming a bit too seriously, or simply just always looking for things to be butthurt about.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
if you mess up and select the option "master loves them both" you dont need another character with petpal to finish it if you have Fanes mask. simply shapeshift and talk to them again.
- Anonymous
Not exactly rewarding if you still have to Steal the awarded diamond...
- Anonymous
Definitive: Found the collar way earlier, never sold it. After killing Ryker I started the quest with them, which shows up in the log. One of my characters spotted the diamond by the bathtub on their own (high Wits, I assume, his were at 18). Picking up the ball updated the quest and reading the log shows I have both the collar and ball. I assume this is for low Wits characters to be able to find the hatch if they've killed Ryker before he ever enters his cellar, since the rewards are otherwise not useful.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
If you kill the cat you get 125xp, but t dog doesn't grant you anything (maybe it was because I picked the cat as the favourite?)
- Anonymous
***** the snob cat ^^ You can take the Diamond with the skill "Apportation" I wish i could take them to the boat.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
This isn't technically a quest since it doesn't appear in your quest journal. But it does reward XP.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
i got inside rykers mansion through the basement, found the collar, didnt knew it was part of a quest so i sold it. Now i talk to Dot and Cottontail and the quest wont pop up on my journal and grabbing cottontail toy ball does nothing ( i cant even use it in a conversation to finish the quest) and my companion with Pet Pal has very low persuasion so i cant even see if i get anything from a persuasion check.
well apparently I've been scrubbing this mention clean of loot looking for clues after the very first thing I did when I walked into the mansion was tell them both that they don't know what love is. maybe I respec another character pet talker? but what a pain in the ass for xp and table loot lol
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