The journey to hitting the XP Cap in BG1 EE with no mods and grinding.... Before starting chapter 2

sarevok57

So one day just for the Lulz, I thought to myself; Is it possible to hit the XP cap of 161 000 XP with 6 characters before starting chapter 2? Well over the coarse of the next almost 200 screen shots coming up, we will see...

But First some rules;

#1 Cannot start chapter 2 ( duh ) Which means no entering the following areas; Nashkiel, Carnival or Nashkiel Mines, those areas are off limits ( as are other areas that you cannot access because of higher chapters as well, duh )

#2 Must complete the game with 6 party members that all hit the 161 000 XP mark

#3 No intentional grinding or farming XP and some caveat rules to this;
- Can only rest in "wild" areas if you are damaged, need healing or out of spells ( cannot rest just for the sake of grinding or "hoping" to get waken up )
- If attempting to rest and party is waken up, then you are allowed to kill said baddies if desired ( although ironically 9/10 i reloaded when i was waken up, okay, maybe more like 4/5 in some cases, but close enough haha )
- Cannot intentionally travel in between areas for the sole purpose of being way laid by enemies and cannot reload intentionally to get way laid by better enemies ( Only allowed to reload if someone dies )
- Once an area is complete you are no longer allowed to go back, unless you forgot something by mistake ( no intentionally attempting to get random encounters on a completed map for a second time )
- You are allowed to explore and take as much time as needed to complete an area as long as it doesn't break any of the above rules
- If you are waylaid by enemies and dont feel like fighting the battle and reload so you dont have to, then you cannot fight a better battle if going the same way ( so for example if you are travelling from beregost to gnoll fortress and are way laid by Xzarts and reload, and still want to go to fortress, then you must keep reloading until you get there without being waylaid or until the "original" xzart party appears again )

#4 you can reload as much as needed for convenience sake ( party members dying, and such ) as long as its not to get a better XP result in terms of grinding/farming/ random encounters

#5 no mods allowed that add extra XP for any reason or allow you to access areas that cannot be accessed in chapter 1

so with that, let's see where i got...

Edit: man i need to learn how to spell check...

sarevok57

First, starting off, this is what i chose to as my candidate for this mission;

so, after finishing up in Candlekeep it was time to go out into the big bad world, XP when candlekeep finished;

after leaving candlekeep and entering the first area, there wasn't much to do except run away from imoen as fast as possible and make sure i get high hedge and the area between beregost and friendly arm in, ready to travel to

on the way to the area where you first meet elminster i was way laid by baddies;

wowzers, those x4 wild dogs were rough, but i made it by

then i finally arrived in the elminster area, got a ring, got some belts and finished off that area

next, i went to beregost, grabbed a scroll case, talked to marl and settled him down, and then sold off some goodies by the looks of it, and now its my first level up and then off to high hedge it looks like

i reach high hedge and i see this and i say to myself, hmm wonder if i can take it on?

apparently the answer is nope, not quite strong enough at level 2 to bring this beast down, oh well, reload time

so after i reach high hedge it looks like im just there to grab a potion case and open up some more areas on the over world map;

so i continue on my way, and go the to area south of beregost ( nothing to show, i just went straight to the right and then down, no encounters ) but on the way to the area north of nashkiel i get this surprise;

obviously gibberlings ain't got nothing on me

then i reach the area north of nashkiel and head west to start my "drizzt" encounter

on the way to opening the area for drizzt it looks like at the same time i was opening the way for my future party members as well, so next was the area where bassilus is and on my way this happened;

that enrage sure comes in handy when you are low levels

then i land in the area where bassilus is, but its only strictly to open up more areas for some easy future fast travelling, but in the meantime, my dude's XP progress;

and this concludes part 1 of 9 or 10 ( mostly for the sake of not having to upload a bajillion pictures in one post )

part 2 coming up...

sarevok57

Part 2

next i was on the way to the temple area east of beregost when this happened;

too easy

and then when that was over, i headed to temple, looks like this was mostly just to open up more areas to the east

now that i had enough areas opened up, all my quick fast time travels were ready to go for when it was time to grab some team mates

the team mates that i would be grabbin; shar-teel, kagain, viconia, safana, baeloth

next on the agenda was the drizzt "encounter", this is the first part of the set up;

so for the next part of the drizzt encounter i was going to need some team mates so i took a stroll over to the friendly arm inn and this happened;

ah, been playing this game for 20+ years, and i wasn't even level 1 and the holmes took me down haha

so, uh... With that out of the way, this were continuing on as normal;

and then i grabbed some more team mates for a show down with the almighty drizzt;

then, here were the results of that encounter

easy as pie, good times

so with the drizzt area complete, it was time to head for the lighthouse area...

first up were some sirines;

just like in pokemon stadium when your pokemans is 50 levels higher the announcer says; it didn't stand a chance! yup, you would be right

i love how, that when i go to leave the map, on the way this little bugger comes up

ha, seriously, what did he hope to accomplish?

anyhow, cleaned up that area a little bit, grabbed some XP and some REP and it was off to grab some more;

and that concludes part 2

part 3 coming up...

sarevok57

Part 3

so on my way, to grabbing more XP and some REP, i grab a chicken, get waylaid by some gibberlings, and make it to high hedge;

once at high hedge i finally make it to the wizard with the following result;

not a feast hall dinner tonight, i direly need that XP and REP

so after that encounter, it was time to venture off and just gain a little bit more XP to hit the mark i was going for...

now with the situation i was in, i was thinking what would be the perfect place to put me right where i need to be, and luckily, i thought of this area;

excellent, almost couldn't have gone better ( if it wasn't for that 1 louzy kobold ) anyway, it was team mate picking up time, and here comes team mate number1

and here comes team mate number 2, with a little bonus encounter before hand

well to be blunt, it is kind of true you know

and then comes team mate number 3

and then comes team mate number 4

and then that concludes part 3

part 4 coming up...

sarevok57

Part 4

after picking up Safana, you need to do a little quest for, and since team mate number 5 comes in with more XP, i didn't mind not sharing with him

after that was dealt with, it was time for the final team mate, team mate number 5

now that our team was assembled it was time for us to seek our goal

now it was time to explore every possible area and do every possible thing starting with, the area where gorion gets pasted

not much here for XP or such

and then the area where you meet elminster for the first time;

then finishing off the friendly arm inn

then finishing off high hedge

then finishing the area south of beregost

then finishing off beregost itself

and then finishing off the area north of nashkiel

and that concludes part 4

part 5 coming up...

sarevok57

Part 5

continuing on our map clearing, XP gathering adventure we next head to the temple area east of beregost;

then the area where you meet drizzt

then the area where you fight all the basilisks

then the area where you have the shoal the neired encounter ( or however it's spelled )

then back to the lighthouse area

i was actually lucky in this area, because there was almost no XP left, but when i went to rest, x2 sirines woke my party up, and as soon as i killed the second sirine, shar-teel got charmed so i had her chase kagain around a rock in circles until the charm ended, good stuff

then went to go finish off the bassilus area

then off to the xvart village, lulz

XP is XP i guess

then off to the cloud peaks where you get that fancy +2 halberd ( thanks to the EEs )

and then off to the gnoll fortress for some much needed goodies

and then finishing off the other south area west of nashkiel

and after that area i finally had 10 REP again, and thanks to the tome of CHA i gave it to safana so with the nymph cloak she would have a whopping 20 CHA for buying items, so after we finished the area south west of Nashkiel the party went to go buy some goodies and then off we went again, in part 6

part 6 coming later today...

sarevok57

alrighty, part 6

so the next area is the area north of the gnoll fortress and i happen to stumble upon this on my way there;

after that, i hit up the area north of the gnoll fortress

then i head up to the area where you meet Brage

unfortunately i will never be going to nashkiel, so i had to take Brage out, left his body in a barrel in beregost with my winter wolf pelts and bandit scalps haha

at this point, i figured it was time to power game to the extreme and get an additional 11 000 XP with no REP loss;

and then after that, i cleared out the area that has the "farting" bandit i suppose? ( aka the area where you find the two handed sword +1 )

and since shar-teel is on the team, i want to dual class here when she hits the 64 000 XP mark...

couldn't have landed it better haha

and then i cleared out the ulcaster ruins area

and then next i travel to the firewine ruins and run into this;

i wonder how this will turn out?

ah, just the way i wanted it to go

after that, i finished off the firewine ruins

and then after that, i finished off the area the you end up in after exiting the nashkiel mines

lucked out hard in this area, got to fight x6 ankhegs, absolutely gorgeous, oh and PS: hasted ogres completely wipe the floor of that evil female ambush group

and that completes part 6

part 7 coming up...

sarevok57

Part 7

so next i plan to go to the most south east corner of the world and run into this;

and here i thought you could only access this if going to nashkiel mines, apparently not

after that, i finish off the south east map

luckily i was able to fight x6 winter wolves here, ca-ching!

after bringing buddy back to the friendly arm inn temple and grabbing an amulet of spell warding, it was time to finish off gullykin

after that, it was time to head up north to Larswood

and then naturally peldvale was next

and then the area where you meet up with that great of red wizards/ spiders/ ettercaps

after that was all said and done, it was time for the ankheg area, oh, bring on the XP

then next was the bridge area going into BG the city

and then finally, the little bonus area that is north of the bridge area

and so at this point i have completed absolutely all of the original non expansion content there was to complete ( heck, almost hit the original BG XP cap of 89 000 before chapter 2 ) Which means now, the only content left is strictly TotSC stuff, so hopefully there is enough XP to go around to hit the 161 000 XP cap

So off to the TotSC in Part 8...

sarevok57

Part 8

on our way to unload some ankheg shells i come upon this;

i wonder how this will turn out?

ah, time to add more bandit scalps to the "barrel of scalps and pelts plus one body"

so after cleaning that up, it was time to go to ulgoth's beard do some things there;

and then next off, was our trip to durlag's tower, so i bought some ammunition and along we went;

desperately needed that XP

after finishing everything there was to do outside and the upper levels, it was time to go into the basement

finished off basement level 1

then finished off basement level 2

i got super lucky here and one time i had to rest and i was waken up by a greater doppleganger 4 or 5 times in a row, that was a nice healthy chunk of XP for sure

then finished off basement level 3

then it was time for a good ol' game of chess

and finished off basement level 4 and getting ready for the final encounter

and then the final encounter;

who would have thought that this battle was much more doable when using a copious amount of potions

and that completes part 8, oh boy, we're getting close, but there is not much left now, all there is to do is clean up what's left in ulgoth's beard, will i make it? find out in the conclusion of part 9

part 9 coming up...

sarevok57

Part 9 the conclusion

so all that there is left to do now, is go to ulgoth's beard and finish up what business i have there, but luckily on the way this happened...

oh yes, desperately need that XP

*sigh* facepalm

so obviously i reload and when i try again i get this weak crap instead;

oh well, better than nothing i suppose

so it was off to ulgoth's beard, and the "Ulgar's cleaning baddie emporium was in business that day"

and then it was time for the final battle...

seriously, potions man do they make the difference

so, that was the end, no more XP to be gained, what was the results of my team mates?

conclusion:

so i actually did it, i actually achieved the level cap for 6 characters strictly staying in chapter 1 at the time of 119 days and 18 hours, but there was some luck to be had, if it wasn't for the x2 extra sirines in the lighthouse map, and the x4 or 5 extra greater dopple gangers in durlag's tower, i probably would not have reached it

here is what my world map looked like once everything was done

and the equipment of the team

and that is it, challenge complete, so i guess it is actually possible to hit the level cap in chapter 1 with a full team, who would have thought?

Doubledimas

Couldn't you also include werewolf island, or does that trigger a chapter?

StummvonBordwehr

Doubledimas wrote: »

Couldn't you also include werewolf island, or does that trigger a chapter?

It would

You will have to get the sea charts in Baldurs Gate - which is post chapter 4

Btw. Well done Sarevok57 - a hypothesis proven correct.

sarevok57

StummvonBordwehr wrote: »

Doubledimas wrote: »

Couldn't you also include werewolf island, or does that trigger a chapter?

It would

You will have to get the sea charts in Baldurs Gate - which is post chapter 4

Btw. Well done Sarevok57 - a hypothesis proven correct.

thanks, and it was definitely a close call to, a few less higher level baddies and i might not have made it

Gurkengelee

Wow. Didn't think that to be possible. Good job!