How early can a solo Berserker go through Watcher's Keep in SoA?
thesoloer
Member Posts: 77
I just want those Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization. Would it be feasible to go in Chapter 2? Also, what happens when you have X.5 attacks per round? Does that mean you get one extra attack every 2 rounds?
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2: Yes, the extra half attack translates in one extra attack per two rounds.
However, you were asking avout Chapter 2 of SoA. A solo character who completes most or all quests that can be done in Chapter 2 will probably reach around 3 million before going to Spellhold, perhaps a bit more, perhaps a bit less. But you surely won't come anywhere near 8 million. Hence my earlier statement that the original SoA cap of 2.95 could be reached in Chapter 2.
If you do everything, including npc quests (add them just to get the quest) and use a mage (for scrolls) or thief (for traps/lock) i think you can probably reach 4m in chapter 2.
Anyway everything in soa is trivially easy post hla.
As for the original question:
- level 1 is quite easy. It can be done from the start with the help of potions
- level 2 is not so hard either.
- level 3 is much more tricky, some fights vs the demons are very tough. I think that without access to hardiness you will get huge problems
- level 4 is not that hard IMO.
- the seal fight in level 5 will also be almost impossible without hla.
So it's possible to do it in chapter 2 but you probably want to wait reaching hla levels.
Anyway once you can get this done, the gauntelts will not make any difference...
[Edited] : Changed 'will' to 'can'.
This might not be possible on a character that isn't a rogue or mage, but you'll still easily get over 3 000 000 experience on a fighter.
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And for the question in itself, it's not so much about your level, it's about the gear you can get hold of. Once you have kitted yourself out with the items and potions you need in chapter 2, head to watcher's keep.
Level 1 and 2 are very easy and forward.
The chromatic demon can be killed with using potions that deal elemental damage. Stack up on fire breath potions/fiery oil, equip your red dragon scale armor, ring of fire resistance and helm of peace. Wait until he goes into Ice golem and release him then to get in some early potions. With the correct potions and weapon you'll be able to kill him.
Level 3 is a bit tricky but it's not because it's that hard, it's because so many random things can happen. You can instantly die from a vorpal hit or a trap that petrify you (there are two rooms with this). If you're alright with loading many times it won't be that hard. Remember to keep your rage up in all the fights, they will level drain and do loads of nasty stuff to you.
Level 4 is pretty much a breeze, a scroll of protection from undead vs the demi lich and you can kill the dragon if you want, you got good enough gear now and with some potions it shouldn't be that hard with a load or two.
And at this point you got so much gear and experience from Watcher's keep that you should be able to handle the rest as well.
If you're allowed to reload, watcher's keep isn't that hard.
The big problem is that once you've got your gloves from level 5, the rest of the game will be so boringly easy that you'll most probably just quit it.
The amount of experience my party has gained from KILLS alone is 4 086 736. Remove 500 000 for the two levels of watcher's keep and they have gained 3 586 736 experience from kills in chapter 2. And my team hasn't farmed for experience and rarely been interrupted while resting.
If you scribe every scroll from level 1 to 8 once (which is possible in chapter 2 with a little bit of luck) you'll gain 728 000 experience from that.
The amount you'll get from traps and open locks in chapter 2 is probably around 1 000 000. Let's put this together then.
3 500 000 - kills
728 000 - scribing
1 000 000 - thieving skills
89 000 - starting experience.
That's 5 317 000 experience without having completed a single quest.
To give you an idea, just completing firkraags dungeon will give you over 300 000 experience in kills alone.
When i did Firkgraags dungeon with my four man party i ended up fighting.
6 Vampires : 8 500 - 10 500 each.
6 stone golems : 8 000 each.
2 clay golems : 8 000 each.
2 Iron golems : 14 000 (?) each.
1 Adamantite golem : 25 000.
3 Greater Wolfwere : 16 000 (?) each.
Wraiths, Shadows, Greater wraiths : 20 000+
Firkraag : 64 000
Adventure party : 20 000 - 35 000
Tazok + Orcs = 20 000+
That's just from the kills alone. I can't remember on the Greater Wolfwere and Iron golems if it was 14 000 or 16 000.
But what you're saying makes sense.
The reason he is reaching much lower XP numbers is quest experience. Many quests in BG2 give quest experience which is delivered to every single party member.
So for completing a quest that gives you 45 000 quest experience, that's 45 000 to each person. In a 6 man party that is 270 000 experience gained. So the more party members you have, the more experience you'll have at the end of the day.
My last party of four that just got to spellhold had 3 200 000 experience each. That doesn't mean that a solo player will gain 12 800 000 (4 *3 200 000). He would probably sit on around 8 000 000.
When it comes to solo play the amount of experience you get from kills will be the major part of your levels. Throw in scribing scrolls and opening locks/disarming traps and you can reach a high number.
Also if I'm remembering correctly he is playing a F/I. This means he doesn't have access to thieving skills, so he'll end up losing well over 1 000 000 experience here.
So you'd say @MacHurto is on par with 4.2 million XP for each of his three characters with only Bodhi/Suldanessalar/Irenicus lying ahead?
One of his party members is Jan Jansen, so he should get locks and traps XP.
@thesoloer, sorry for sidetracking yout thread. I'll stop after this
One of his party members is Jan Jansen, so he should get locks and traps XP.
4 200 000 sounds low for a three man party that far ahead. The Underdark is quite the gold mine if you clear out the beholder and mind flayer lair as well.
But there are several factors that get taken into consideration here. Certain places like the Cult quest in temple district, Firkraag, Temple ruins and even Druid Grove will give you much more experience if you're higher level when you complete them.
Has he gotten into Watcher's keep yet?
It's hard to say when i haven't followed his run. But i had 3 200 000 experience on a 4 man party when i got of the boat to spellhold. I did complete watcher's keep level 1 and 2 but there isn't that much experience in those two levels.
Doing all major quest save for the beholder cult i got less than 4mxp with my sorceror.
Granted scribing and theiving yields some xp but i would be surprised to be able to reach 8 (or even 6) without major grinding or doing WK.
You take Firkraag dungeon as an example but is to my knowledge the most rewarding quest my a fair margin.
Where you can get more wp however is :
- WK gives great xp (the statues on level 1 give 20k each)
- NPC quests
- maybe 300 k for beholder cult
The astral prison will give you just as much experience as Firkraags dungeon if you go into every pit and clear them out. If you wait with doing the cult you'll get the same amount of experience there from clearing out the groups of beholders.
I don't use any of the new NPC's, and none of the old have a quest that grants you a ton of experience.
3 500 000 experience from killing everything in Chapter 2 (outside of WK)
1 000 000 from traps and locks.
728 000 from scribing.
That's 5 228 000 experience without having completed a single quest.