Skip to content

First-timer: Leveling up after Nashkel mines

I'm right after the Nashkel mines and alot of enemies totally slaughter my party in the surrounding areas so i just wonder what you guys usually do right after the Nashkel mines.

Continue the main quest?
Grind? and if so, where?

My char is R/C level 2 on both and my party are all around level 3.

Thanks for any reply

Comments

  • MerinaMerina Member Posts: 303
    See the recently created large topic "Unbeatable encounter after exiting nashkel mines".

    Short version: Exit the mines via the front entrance and return to Emerson and Nashkel afterwards. Or leave via the back exit you've found, but don't approach the hostile group. You can avoid them if you move directly towards the west border of that map, for example. If you want to fight them, revisit all your options.
    JuliusBorisovatcDave
  • CluasCluas Member Posts: 355
    Just don't go north, when you exit : )

    ('Cos they are very hostile)
  • fanscalefanscale Member Posts: 81
    Go after the half ogres or the high hedge area. The two south maps are also easy. Tranzig is easy back in Beregost.
    atcDave
  • zerimozerimo Member Posts: 29
    Are the half ogres to the left of Beregost?
  • PingwinPingwin Member Posts: 262
    The half ogres are south south west of Beregost or north west of Nashkell. The other map to the south west of Beregost can be relatively easy.
    RAM021
  • LindeblomLindeblom Member Posts: 257
    Be caytious, scout nd make shure you avoid enemies who look too tough...they will be there when you come back in the future =)

    2/2 is a little bit weak and the party waiting outside the Nashkel mines exit can be really hard even if your levels are higher and you have played before.....they are simply a tough encounter. You can also try to divide and conquer, try to take on enemies one at the time. Also make sure you use all your npc's and their abilities it can make a difference.

    I envy you, playing for the first time...just be aware that the game can be very punishing, not going easy on you. I personallylove lvl 1-2 the most, when every encounter is life or death and you struggle to survive. It is fun at other levels as well of course, but your powers are preeeeetty great once you start hitting level 3 spells with clergy and magicians
    Merina
  • AnduinAnduin Member Posts: 5,745
    Are you drinking potions? I find that you should have a stack by now.

    Drink 'em all and charge! Even if yer' a wizard Harry!

    They will fall eventually.

    Or you can powergame and read the descriptions.

    But WHERE is the fun in that?

    ...

    I find you will eventually have to drop some or start storing potions if you don't use them.
    jackjackwubblePibaro
  • PingwinPingwin Member Posts: 262
    Put them in a potion case and forget about them.
    RAM021wubbleCaptRoryTisAmazinJayviee
  • LindeblomLindeblom Member Posts: 257
    Pingwin said:

    Put them in a potion case and forget about them.

    Totally agree, if you dont have 2000 potions stacked in a chest somewhere at the end of the game, you are a bad player!
    Took me like 10 play throughs to actually use any ptions besides healing. I was always saving them for when I would need them....and then the game was over =)
    wubbleCaptRory
  • PingwinPingwin Member Posts: 262
    A mod to make all potions look identical and rename them all to just "Potion" with no descriptions could make things quite interesting.
    RAM021wubbleCaptRory
  • zerimozerimo Member Posts: 29
    Pingwin said:

    Make your mages learn infravision spells too in case you run out of infravision potions

    Why do i even need infravision?

    I had a infravision ring but i sold it, it seems a little useless.
    CluasPibaroNimran
  • zerimozerimo Member Posts: 29
    Where does most of the game take place, in the city of Baldurs gate?
  • zerimozerimo Member Posts: 29
    What kind of mage do you guys dual-class Imoen to when she has sufficient Find traps/Lockpicking?
    Or do you just leave her as a thief?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    edited January 2015
    zerimo said:

    Pingwin said:

    Make your mages learn infravision spells too in case you run out of infravision potions

    Why do i even need infravision?

    I had a infravision ring but i sold it, it seems a little useless.
    It was a joke :smiley:
    zerimo said:

    Where does most of the game take place, in the city of Baldurs gate?

    Actually, the city itself contains only about 1/5 of your activities (if you do all quests). The majority of the game happens on wilderness areas, including Cloakwood forest and Forest of Sharp Teeth (i.e. Larswood and Peldvale in the game).
    zerimo said:

    What kind of mage do you guys dual-class Imoen to when she has sufficient Find traps/Lockpicking?
    Or do you just leave her as a thief?

    Without editing or using mods, Imoen, as any other character, cannot be dualclassed into a kit (specialist mage). Only vanilla class can be the second class in the dualclassing.

    As for the dualclassing itself, it depends on your party composition. For e.g, if my PC is a thief, I can dualclass Imoen without losing thieving skills for the time she gathers her levels back. But if there's no other thief in a party, I don't dualclass Imoen.

    Also, if it's your first playthrough, I vote for not dualclassing. Play her as she is, without any waiting for regaining the thief skills.

    Post edited by JuliusBorisov on
    LindeblomatcDaveNimran
  • zerimozerimo Member Posts: 29
    bengoshi said:

    zerimo said:

    Pingwin said:



    Thanks for you reply
    Yeah i might just keep her as a thief.

    Where is the Forest of Sharp teeth?
    I can't find it on complete maps online, is it part of ToTSc?
  • zerimozerimo Member Posts: 29
    That reply came out a little weird
    jackjack
  • GarrusN7GarrusN7 Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 155
    im playing on easiest (not sure about you) so hard to advise

    since im a warrior with neera dorn jaheira khalid and imoen i have the right team balance.
    i am just following the main quest.
    once u are powerful enough and get attacked by annoying wyverns, and get a BIG stack of wyvern heads go to high hedge (Careful as there are crowds of skeletons and gnolls near entrance) to sell them as based on my own XP only he buys the heads.
    later in the game should be quite easy, except when fighting spiders in cloakwood as there are web traps which are loads of bull****. use some rogue to fire explosive arrows kill the spiders and activate the trap with a rogue, then just kill mobs in there.
    or you can keep going to sleep in high level areas to get attacked and get XP from mobs

    right now due to this strategy im lvl 6 and soon going to BALDUR'S GATE, so i guess my startegy is alright ;D
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    zerimo said:


    Where is the Forest of Sharp teeth?
    I can't find it on complete maps online, is it part of ToTSc?

    Larswood and Peldvale.

    @GarrusN7‌

    Wyvern heads can be sold not only at the High Hedge but also at the Feldpost Inn in Beregost.

    Also, the 6th level is fine for going to the Baldur's Gate city, yes : )
    jackjackDragonspear
  • GarrusN7GarrusN7 Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 155
    @bengoshi really? Never knew that...
    but either way higher levels would be better when u enter the area before baldur.... these green bugs can be pain in the ass
    JuliusBorisov
  • BladesBlades Member Posts: 167
    Leave the mines. Stay on the borders of the screen and work your way to Durlags Tower. Sell everything you have and buy the Wand of Fire. Everything gets a lot easier after that. Never use the last charge. Sell, save and re-buy the recharged wand.
    Blackraven
  • MestarMestar Member Posts: 78
    I've always been a fan of clearing the Ankhegs out, just north of the Friendly Arm Inn. Isn't too hard with a few Quick Saves and Quick Loads and after 15 minutes you'll have gained a level or 2 and have no problem clearing them.
  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    My power-levelling spot of choice is east of the Beregost temple. Make sure to bring a few potions of mirrored eyes or protection from petrification scrolls.

    The ankheg farm is also a good spot, but it'll probably take some reloading. Ankhegs are fairly squishy, give tons of experience, and attack slowly, but they hit like trucks.
    jackjackwubbleBlackraven
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    I feel your pain, and suspect some posters here might have forgotten what their first experience of the game was like (for folks like me it has been almost 20 years!)

    I distinctly remember my first game, quickly building up a party of 6, which spreads xp thinly between the group, and then directly following the guidance of the game, first to the Friendly Arm Inn to pick up Jaheira/Khalid, then straight to Nashkel, and into the mines. My leading characters were only just hitting second level on the final dungeon level before we hit Mulahey, my first level-up experience! It was a tough fight, and we left the dungeon exhausted, on low HP, and with no spells/abilities left to use. Naturally we make a run for the shortest route we can see back to Nashkel, and yes, there is no way you will take that party in those conditions.

    As some have pointed, one of the important skills to learn in BG, especially in the early levels, is when to call it a day and run. You do not have to beat every enemy placed before you, indeed it is often a mistake to try. I found that a really hard lesson to learn, but reload significantly less now, and enjoy the game a lot more.

    Once you are overly familiar with the game, you will learn lots of easier ways of getting xp in the early game, learn to leave the Nashkel mines alone a little longer while your party gets its first couple of levels (it is significantly easier at 3rd level than 1st) and also pick up a little hidden kit from various stashes around the game. This will all make the game a little easier, and perhaps a little more satisfying, but there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of taking the game on your own terms, the solving the problems yourself. Sadly, you can never take back knowledge once gained, and I would advise you to resist as long as possible the lure of the online walkthrough. To this day I feel dirty every time I use a certain suit of armor that I did not find for myself, but learned only through an online guide. (Of course, in the early days the 'tab' character did not highlight all the loot either, making such discoveries all the more thrilling.)

    So yes, the game is hard, especially at the start. And yes, the game will get a little easier as you gain a couple of levels. There are better ways to do this than simply 'grinding' on cheap monster spawns, there is a whole world out there to explore, full of xp and loot for the brave of heart. Just remember to be swift of foot when the bravery proves too much...
    JuliusBorisovjackjackBlackraven
  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    For the record, a lot of folks around here will suggest that you run a smaller party in the early game to maximize xp gain. I happen to disagree with this strategy quite strongly, but nonetheless a lot of folks think it's the best way, and not without reason. The first couple levels are massive improvements. So take that as you will.
    jackjackJuliusBorisov
  • NexusNexus Member Posts: 19
    As a completionist (must...leave...no...fog...of....war) I always found myself and pretty much the entire party to hit the level cap at the end, and that includes switching some people out here and there.
    JarrakulBlackravenJuliusBorisovDragonspear
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    There are plenty of power-levelling tricks for an early party when you know the game better - I tend to avoid them as too meta-gamey, choosing to take less obvious routes simply for a careful bonus, that I would otherwise not know about. I also like running parties of 6, so that I can use all my loot :)

    That said, I also like to run a little lean to speed the route to second, mostly grabbing some of the early quest xp around Beregost before it gets split too thinly.
    JuliusBorisov
Sign In or Register to comment.