Reach Lares without forcing the road
Use Thorus' Out of Sight route to meet Mordrag and let him escort you to the New Camp. The escort both establishes the route and makes the road safer. Mordrag's ring provides the introduction to Lares.
Build trust in the camp
Work through Lares and the Rice Lord chain, including A Piece of the Pie, A Few Drops Too Much, and Up to His Neck when they appear. These jobs build the admission state but do not yet force the final faction commitment.
Complete The Raid
After the altered-list route and trust work, Lares assigns The Raid. Current route descriptions agree on this sequence:
- Speak with Gorn and head toward the stuck convoy between the Old Camp and Old Mine.
- Find Wedge and set up the distraction.
- Separate or distract the guards, then knock them down without turning the scene into uncontrolled combat.
- Return to Wedge and then Lares.
- Use Lares' final admission dialogue to join and receive the Bandit's Dress.
Point of no return
The Raid itself is part of the test; the final conversation with Lares is the commitment. Keep a save before that dialogue if you still want to compare the other factions.
If Lares never offers The Raid
Check whether Diego already received the unmodified list. The clean recovery supported by current reports is an earlier save from before the hand-in. Console-spawned quest items are an unofficial PC workaround and are not presented here as a reliable repair.