When do you do watchers keep

Cowled_wizard

Cowled_wizard

ahh forgot to add before suldanessalar

velehal

Between SoA and ToB thanks to SCS mod.

Corvino

There are just too many nice little extras on level 1 to pass up early on. Unlimited quivers? Ammo belt and potion case? Foebane, Usuno's blade and the Crimson dart? Yes please!

Not to mention that a quick detour for the Firetooth crossbow and shortsword of Mask is worthwhile.

bbear

Dont you wish that there is a bag of holding at WS so you can put all the goodies in one place?

recklessheart

Yeah, I do it before I head to rescue Imoen, as with pretty much every sidequest. In hindsight, I think I will wait until ToB to do it with BG2:EE, because you and your equipment becomes too powerful to really consider anything Bohdi or the Matron Mother can throw at you a threat.

Sceptenar

I usually do the entire keep in one go after Saradush, but before Abazigal and Sendai. I don't even go near the place in SoA because I think the rewards are too good relative to the difficulty, thus it throws off the feel of SoA if I run around there with ToB level equipment.

elminster

"ahh forgot to add before suldanessalar"

Count mine as that actually

doomdoomdoom

I agree that doing WK in SoA can be considered cheesy, but I don't necessarily agree that it's just because of all the loot.

It just so happens that the weapons you find there are generally very poorly represented in SoA in terms of higher end +3 or better stuff.
So you can tell the developers put thought into it and considered that some players might go there before ToB.
Maybe a +3 or +4 weapon almost straight out of Irenicus dungeon without any fight (if you abuse stealing from shops and reselling) or relatively easy fight (using exploits to kill the statues) is a bit too much, but somewhere further along in SoA it's hardly a game changer when you've already found weapons just as good or better.
For example, Usuno's Blade is a pretty cool weapon while you're in SoA, and solves the "no scimitar worth mentioning besides Belm" issue, but can anyone honestly say they definitely use it if only picked up in ToB, when you already have a variety of weapons that do more than just 10% of some electric damage?

Moreover, you can't get the upgraded "overpowered" versions of these weapons before ToB anyway.

I think the crazy XP you get there compared to SoA questing is a far bigger threat to balance, and there is no easy remedy for that other than not doing WK at all (while you can always unequip the weapons if you think they make the game too easy for you) so I generally avoid going deeper into WK before ToB.

Lord_Tansheron

It depends on my party, and how frisky I feel. With small parties, I usually do it before the Underdark. With large parties, XP will usually be too spread out to do it comfortably, and I'll wait for after the Underdark. Either way, I always do it top to bottom in one go, no splitting levels.

Cuv

I do level 1 of WK early in SoA for the easy gear, then wait and do the rest in ToB before the enclaves to break it up the ToB storyline a bit.

KingGhidorah

Vote none of the above.

Chapter 6 is usually when I go WK. Makes sense, the ultimate test before confronting Irenicus.
Altough I have done it in chapter 2 once in order to pump some EXP in my ranger/cleric dual class.

Messi

I've done it at various points, voted level 1 ASAP because that's how I did it on my last playthrough, but in BG2EE I'll probably not do any of it at least until after UD. Doing lvl 1 really early always feels bit cheesy to me so I try to avoid it.

Zanian

Watcher's Keep is a big challenging fun treasure trove. I always do it as soon as I'm able. I just can't wait.

Drugar

Before Suldanesellar, to give Irenicus some more time to squash the elves before my arrival.

Poncy gits.

Cowled_wizard

There is one thing everybody should go to do as soon as possible... the bag of holding potions.... (unless in bg2ee there are other places to find it)

lordkim

Christ, im surrounded by fanatics !!!! me love it

sunset00

I have no idea and don't remember sufficiently my original BG2 days/timings.. but i heard (here?) ) the very first level was excellent for some little extras..and very doable (with care) even for relatively early chars.. so i'd say i will clearly try to do that first level as quickly as possible in my next bg2ee playthrough.. if possible ))

ps; once you come in, can you go back though (dont remember^) ?!.. of course, if once entered in, you must finish it to be able to exit..like the 2 last lvl of Durlaag tower..would be a little annoying for that 'lvl1 only' strategy and.. 'i will be back boooys, wait for me a little, byyye! (at the end of lv1)'. But if possible, seems to be very good idea indeed..'

shawne

Right after recruiting Sarevok in ToB - the Keep is a great place to test his abilities, plus it gives him time to banter with other party members.

Lord_Tansheron

Cowled_wizard said:

There is one thing everybody should go to do as soon as possible... the bag of holding potions.... (unless in bg2ee there are other places to find it)

That is very true, the shop at the top is something I frequently visit very early. The potion bag is one thing, but also the Firetooth crossbow, which is amazingly strong.

sarevok57

I do it right after I kill yaga-shura

etagloc

only because it makes SOA to easy if you have ++ levels and all the epic items.

OneAngryMushroom

Cuv said:

I do level 1 of WK early in SoA for the easy gear, then wait and do the rest in ToB before the enclaves to break it up the ToB storyline a bit.

Exactly what this guy said

Shin

I usually start it early on in ToB. For pacing/RP reasons I don't want to make a run for powerful gear early on in SoA, and I also feel saving WK until later on helps pad the ToB content out a bit.

mackos

Sceptenar said:

I usually do the entire keep in one go after Saradush, but before Abazigal and Sendai. I don't even go near the place in SoA because I think the rewards are too good relative to the difficulty, thus it throws off the feel of SoA if I run around there with ToB level equipment.

yep, 100% true sir
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BaldursCat

I hate the maze. That is all.

Mathmick

I do it at the point where it seems to be intended to do it. It seems weird grabbing all of the recipe trinkets before you can even use them.

YupImMadBro

I got to go right away, even if it's just for the Potion Case.

Zarakinthish

I don't know yet. Despite having the original BG2, I didn't get ToB until a few years later, when I had moved on to other games. Playing through BG2:EE will be my first time going through anything ToB adds.

Montresor_SP

Some time during Chapter 8, usually before going after Yaga-Shura.