What's the right time to (or when do you) visit Lonelywood?

Rik_Kirtaniya

Not until recently, I didn't know about the fact that you could return back from Heart of Winter (albeit after completing it) by talking to Hjolder, and then go about fighting Belhifet. Now that's great! Firstly because starting HoW with an imported game from IWD causes you to lose your containers (and all the precious loot in them that you have gathered with so much toil and struggle), and secondly, doing so feels quite unbalanced and too easy. The last time I stared HoW after defeating Belhifet, my solo Sorcerer was already level 30. No level-ups meant that I didn't get that impulse to continue further. (I wish we could go till level 40, but I think that would be too over-powering.)

I have heard that there is a certain XP limit after which you can talk to Hjolder in Kuldahar and go to Lonelywood. (Can someone please specify the exact value?) Now, my question is: when is the right time to start HoW? At what point in the main game should I go to Lonelywood so that HoW feels balanced, and even after returning back, the main game is still challenging? The "right time" may also vary with the number of party members and party composition, so advice on that aspect is also appreciated.

To be specific, this time, I plan to do a solo F/M/C run on insane. So considering that too, what would be the right time in this specific case?

sarevok57

well to be honest, if you play HoW and go back to IWD there is no way IWD is going to pose a challenge anymore, especially if you do the TotLM quest as well, so no dice on that

my assumption is that IWD was made for you to have 6 party members, and in the original game ( without HoW ) i believe the XP cap was 1 801 000 ( it was enough so a mage could get a level 7 spell )

now with that being said, when i play IWD, i usually hit around 1.35 million XP the time i get to belhifet ( this is on insane difficulty with XP bonus turned off, and without much grind )

then i start HoW and do TotLM and the time i get to the white dragon im around +/- 3 million XP per character

this is why solo play throughs can be a problem, there is just so much XP given out in a silly fashion ( instead of player x gains quest XP, it just gives it out in a big glob )

i remember back in the day, you could import a team to HoW and they had 500 000 XP each, so i guess you can base it off that? a team of 6 you would want 500 000 XP each, if you are going solo, i suppose 3 000 000 XP for that character

but even with my teams going in at 1.35 million each, i still find the game challenging enough that it doesnt feel too easy, in fact some battles in TotLM are based on your party level, in terms of; if party is above level X then use these abilities, but if they are below level X then don't use these abilities sort of thing

OlvynChuru

I generally prefer to start HoW after defeating Belhifet and importing my characters.

The point at which you start HoW also determines which items you can get. If you go to HoW after defeating Belhifet, Tiernon lets you upgrade the Blade of Aihonen. On the other hand, if you start HoW in the middle of the game, you can create a remorhaz helmet and a white dragon scale armor from Icasaracht's scales after you come back from HoW.

Raduziel

I always do HoW and TotLM right before kicking Belhifet's behind.

A little anticlimactic, but that's life.

Yulaw9460

Deleted.

fluke13

Actually it was this very question that made me start a new mod. I wasn't happy with the order of events, so now I've made it so you can go to HOW after defeating Belhifet.

Raduziel

fluke13 said:

Actually it was this very question that made me start a new mod. I wasn't happy with the order of events, so now I've made it so you can go to HOW after defeating Belhifet.

Give more details, please.

fluke13

Patience my friend, patience... I'll open a thread later in the year when the mod is ready for beta testing. People don't trust incomplete announcements these days

Yulaw9460

Deleted.

sibakruom

Rik_Kirtaniya said:

I didn't know about the fact that you could return back from Heart of Winter (albeit after completing it) by talking to Hjolder, and then go about fighting Belhifet.

You don't need to complete Heart of Winter, there are two other points where Hjollder can send you back to Icewind Dale. The first one is when you meet him at the Burial Isle (you need to ask him before leaving the conversation, otherwise he will disappear) and the second one is when you talk to him at the Barbarian Camp after exposing Wylfdene. In either case, once back in Icewind Dale you can just talk to Hjollder to return to Heart of Winter.

Rik_Kirtaniya said:

I have heard that there is a certain XP limit after which you can talk to Hjolder in Kuldahar and go to Lonelywood. (Can someone please specify the exact value?)

The "party leader" (the character who was in the first slot at character creation) must have reached 250k exp. In a party of 6 with neither exp bonus nor penalty that's shortly after completing chapter 3, solo that should be halfway around chapter 2.

As for the best time to tackle HoW with a single character I have no idea, but with a party I like to start HoW after chapter 3 and then alternate between the two. Something like that:

• IWD up until reaching 250k exp or completing chapter 3 (whichever comes last), then go to HoW.
• HoW up to meeting Hjollder at the Burial Isle, then back to IWD.
• IWD up to before starting chapter 6, then back to HoW.
• HoW up to exposing Wylfdene, then back to IWD.
• IWD up to the point of no return, then back to HoW.
• Start and complete TotL.
• Finish HoW.
• Finish IWD.

sibakruom

Rik_Kirtaniya said:

I didn't know about the fact that you could return back from Heart of Winter (albeit after completing it) by talking to Hjolder, and then go about fighting Belhifet

You don't need to complete Heart of Winter, there are two other points where Hjollder can send you back to Icewind Dale. The first one is when you meet him on the Burial Isle (you need to ask him before accepting to go to the Gloomfrost otherwise he'll leave the area), the second one is when you meet him in the Barbarian Camp after exposing Wylfdene. In either case once back in Icewind Dale you can return to Heart of Winter by simply asking Hjollder to send you.

Rik_Kirtaniya said:

I have heard that there is a certain XP limit after which you can talk to Hjolder in Kuldahar and go to Lonelywood. (Can someone please specify the exact value?)

The "party leader" (the character who was in the first slot at character creation) must have reached 250k exp. In a party of 6 that's early in chapter 4, solo that should be around the halfway point of chapter 2.

As for the best time to tackle HoW with a solo characte character I have no idea, but with a party I like to start it early then alternate between HoW and IWD. Something like this:

• IWD up until completing chapter 3 or reaching 250k exp (whichever comes last), then start HoW.
• HoW up until meeting Hjollder on Burial Isle, then back to IWD.
• IWD up until before starting chapter 6, then back to HoW.
• HoW up until exposing Wylfdene, then back to IWD.
• IWD up until the point of no return, then back to HoW.
• Start and finish TotLM.
• Finish HoW.
• Finish IWD.

fluke13

In iwd2, a crazy old cat woman speaks about the heroes in iwd1... She seems to imply the order of events are 1. Main story, 2. HOW, 3. TotLM

Im working on a mod which gives you more choice and replayability to the main story, allows you to play on after defeating Mr B, to finish quests and HOW, allows you to travel to Targos with either your existing party or a party of complete noobs.