For All My Durge Players Out There: Maximizing XP Gain (Spoilers)

[WaitHeKindaVibin]

My first time ever making a post so apologies for any mistakes.

I usually play the good guy. Being evil makes me feel sad inside. That being said, I gave Dark Urge playthrough a shot, and I've been trying to play evil and build my xp through lots of gratuitous murder without killing characters who will later give me access to S tier gear. So with that in mind...

Hey kids! Sick of the evil side stopping us from getting good stuff later in the game? Good news, for that no longer needs to be true! (Second warning. Spoilers. Don't read if you don't want storyline spoiled for you!!!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!)

Dammon the tiefling gives access to perhaps the best armor in the entirety of Act 3. To get him to act 3, however, you generally have to make good-aligned decisions and help the tieflings, which can feel like a damper on your evilness. That being said, however, I'm here to tell you that you have options! There's a pretty surefire way to get the xp for the good side quests while still committing horrifying slaughter like the murderhobo you are for that sweet sweet combat xp and evil alignment.

Everyone knows you can kill the druids after allowing the tieflings to leave in Act I. However, if you want the Slayer form from killing Isobel without having to kill off all the tieflings at Last Light Inn, simply go through the entirety of Act 2, killing General Thorm etc. Upon Isobel and Aylin arriving at your camp, lock Aylin in conversation with someone and use Astarion to kill Isobel. Aylin won't even realize it was you, the tieflings live to see Act 3, and you don't lose out on some sweet sweet armor and gear late game. You also get the Slayer form which is mid, but it advances the Dark Urge Evil Plotline

You can go back to Moonrise Towers before leaving Act 2, convince Jaheira to join you and go to camp, lock Harper Tally (the only real roving NPC at that point) in conversation, close the big iron doors, and kill all the Harpers without alerting the Ironhand Gnomes, if you still want to keep them around for act 3. I did all of this in Tactician with no reloads necessary, pulled it off even after rolling a crit miss and only having three characters in combat. The Harpers are useless so not very hard to eliminate. Jaheira never realizes what you did, so you can still add her to your party to later get into a certain sanctuary without finagling your way through traps.

Edit: It's worth noting that this is all possible because I systematically slaughtered my through the Moonrise Towers before even going to rescue Aylin, I didn't want to share my xp with anyone and it's easier to kill them all piece by piece instead of all en mass in the official assault. Not to mention the Harpers really only ever get in the way when you attack Moonrise Towers with them. This means you get the joint XP of killing all the Moonrise Towers enemies by yourself, as well as getting the xp for killing all the Harpers post Moonrise Towers invasion. This essentially doubles (if not triples) your XP gain.

Just because we're evil, my dear Durges, doesn't mean we're dumb. This method of playthrough allows for even the evil roleplayer who isn't metagaming to make the smart decisions in-game, convincing everyone that you're the hero all while you're slaughtering all those whose absence will never be noticed. You're the ultimate villain — the who, up until the last moment, everyone blindly thinks is the good guy.

Is this edgelordish? Probably. Do I feel awful for all the bad things I've done as a Durge? Absolutely. But hey, sometimes you have to bring out your inner psychopathic fourteen-year-old. I hope this helps you guys!