BG2 Question - Watcher's Keep

24jel

Hi all,

I'm currently playing through BG2 for the first time (after finishing BGEE I didn't want to wait for BGEE2). Now, I'm in chapter 4 and my characters are already almost maxed outin XP. I was wondering, when is the best time to tackle Watcher's Keep - in BG2 or in TOB? Is the difficulty of the dungeon ramped up in TOB? For which game is the loot better? Thank you.

IkMarc

Your characters are maxed out in SoA chapter 4? I assume you don't have ToB installed yet? Otherwise, install it so your xp cap will increase.

24jel

Ah, I have it, but I assumed the XP cap would be raised in TOB. Apparently not?

cyberhora

24jel said:

Ah, I have it, but I assumed the XP cap would be raised in TOB. Apparently not?

Yes it is. Xp cap for Soa is 2.7 mil( i think, miight be 2.9) and the zp cap for Tob is 8 Mil. Anyway if you are at the soa cap then Watchers keep should be safe.

24jel

I thought that the xp cap for BG2 was 2 million, so that's why I figured I was almost there. Is the loot from the Watcher's Keep better for BG2 or TOB?

cyberhora

24jel said:

I thought that the xp cap for BG2 was 2 million, so that's why I figured I was almost there. Is the loot from the Watcher's Keep better for BG2 or TOB?

It's better than most of the things you find in soa, but alot of the stuff requires additional parts from tob areas to use all of their powers. But i say go for it. Not only is the loot great but it's a lot of fun.

Eudaemonium

The loot is intended for ToB, so it might make the end of SoA a bit too easy. I do not think the difficulty is increased in ToB, though, but I may be wrong there.

Also, if you have ToB installed, then you will be using the ToB XP cap, so you won't stop levelling at the SoA cap.

ajwz

By the time you reach the end of Watchers keep you will be powerful enough to fight anything in the game - even ToB should be relatively easy.

Best time to tackle it is probably post-spellhold, but a lot of people like to do at least the first floor in ch2 or 3 which should be possible. You probably wont be able to finish the 2nd floor before ch6 unless you have done it plenty of times before.

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cyberhora

Bhaaldog said:

24jel said:

If this is your first game I would highly recommend not touching Watcher's Keep until you enter ToB. There is equipment available in Watcher's Keep which will make SoA far less challenging and may spoil some fun for you.

I have to disagree with this. The real cheese items are available in soa already and there are very few items(if any) in watchers keep that are powerful enough to "break the fun" (atleast untill you upgrade them).

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24jel

Thanks for all the advice people! Currently in Spellhold. I think I'll hold of Watcher's Keep till ToB. There is plenty of other stuff to keep me occupied.