Just at act 2. General advice on how to proceed.

[solaris32]

No story spoilers please. I've read people talk about going to certain places and triggering events that alter places they hadn't been to yet.

So I'm asking for general advice on how to explore the land without triggering story events that change things, so I can see and talk to as many people as possible first. Like do I go to the inn first or Moonrise towers first? Is it ok to explore the land before going to either place, you know explore as I go along?

[Ironwu]

There are WIKI sites that will give you a roadmap of what to do. This is probably not a good venue to ask for that amount of information.

[solaris32]

Originally posted by Ironwu:

There are WIKI sites that will give you a roadmap of what to do. This is probably not a good venue to ask for that amount of information.

I don't want step by step, just a general thing. "Don't talk to X person at Y location until you're ready to proceed the story." Can you answer that?

[Veritas]

I'd encourage you to roll with whatever happens and prioritize roleplaying.

[Thorn]

Act 2 is very flexible in what order you do things (except for one important thing that gives a special warning before) so just explore and see what leads catch your interest

[solaris32]

Originally posted by Thorn:

Act 2 is very flexible in what order you do things (except for one important thing that gives a special warning before) so just explore and see what leads catch your interest

As long as there's a warning.

[Dexter in the Dark]

you get a warring message before the point of no return

[Thorn]

Originally posted by solaris32:

Originally posted by Thorn:

Act 2 is very flexible in what order you do things (except for one important thing that gives a special warning before) so just explore and see what leads catch your interest

As long as there's a warning.

Ya a message will pop up just like what happens when you transitioned into act 2

[SoloQ]

The game is very very hand holdy in regards to being locked out of stuff. There's a popup and you have to accept going forward. And it's pretty obvious when you reach it, there's a whole dialogue thing outside that gives you a general idea that your actions in the area ahead will have repercussions.
Otherwise just play the game and explore it. Finding dead characters that could've been saved or losing out on a quest because you did something somewhere else is a part of the game and encourages multiple play throughs. And all the time spent trying to "do it all" in one go could've been spent playing the game to the end and starting a new play through.

[Kafik]

Originally posted by solaris32:

No story spoilers please. I've read people talk about going to certain places and triggering events that alter places they hadn't been to yet.

So I'm asking for general advice on how to explore the land without triggering story events that change things, so I can see and talk to as many people as possible first. Like do I go to the inn first or Moonrise towers first? Is it ok to explore the land before going to either place, you know explore as I go along?

You don't want to explore Shadow Cursed Lands before going to one of the two hubs. Wherever you entered from just follow the road and the first group of NPCs you encounter, then go from there. Later on you can explore, you'll very quickly learn why I am saying what I am.

[dbond1]

Save Shadowfell for last. Rescue tieflings first. The rest is up to you.

[solaris32]

Originally posted by dbond1:

Save Shadowfell for last. Rescue tieflings first. The rest is up to you.

I'll keep that in mind.

[Gregorovitch]

Originally posted by solaris32:

Originally posted by Thorn:

Act 2 is very flexible in what order you do things (except for one important thing that gives a special warning before) so just explore and see what leads catch your interest

As long as there's a warning.

Yes there is. It's quite easy to hit that warning before you've finished the main parts of Act 2 so it's a good job it's there, but it is very obvious so it should not be a problem. There is also a specific exit to the monestary/Githyanki Creche area (which is officially part of Act 1) in case you haven't done that yet and you want to keep Lae'zel happy (which is generally a pretty good idea IMHO). It's not hard to find if you explore the map systematically.

If you want some basic advice prioritise finding the Last Light Inn first, you are more or less told to do that anyway, since it's an important hub. From there you will get directed to what you need to survive the shadow curse which is kinda important on the Act 2 map. Once that's done there there is no set order in which you have to do things, you are free to go where you like. Just explore and see what happens.

When you get to Last Light there will be one ambush you will be subjected to that is very difficult to win first time blind unless you get a God tier bunch of initiative rolls and can think very, very fast on your feet. Although this ambush won't actually kill you. However it's pretty easy to win with 20/20 hindsight. I'm not sure what happens if you let yourself lose that one, but I suggest you keep up to date with your quicksaves so can you decide. Also there are a lot of other ambushes here and there across the shadow lands map. So quicksave regularly.

[Mike]

I am at the choice of big boss or shar portal any advice?

[BeautifulFlowerField]

There aren't very many timers. The only major cutoff is that you can't enter the portal at the end of the dungeon of shar - once you do that you can no longer do anymore sidequests or travel to act 1 maps, you're stuck on a linear track to raiding moonrise and defeating the final boss of the act, so you'll fail quests like rescue the prisoners etc although you can still take long rests at certain points along that track. There's no way you'll accidentally trigger this - there is a UI warning before you enter the portal and it's the absolute last thing at the end of the only major dungeon and you have to do at least 2 boss fights and major puzzles before you even get there so it won't surprise you. It's in the far northwest corner of the shadowlands map.

Other than that I don't think you'll have any issues other than Halsin/Thaniel quest being timed at certain points, and make sure you do not let Isobel die or be kidnapped from the Last Light Inn. To elaborate on the Halsin thing, it'll be pretty obvious - you meet a sleeping man and then find some stuff related to him in Reithwin Town to wake him up. You keep going back to camp to talk to Halsin as you update this quest and eventually he'll move out of your camp and into the last light inn and as you progress that quest certain obvious points may be timed. The worst case scenario is that you have to reload before taking a rest one time, I think the only way you could accidentally ruin your playthrough is if you were not paying attention whatsoever and barely saving. There really are not a lot of cutoffs or timed quests in this game.

[BeautifulFlowerField]

Originally posted by Mike:

I am at the choice of big boss or shar portal any advice?

Shar Portal is the end of act 2, do absolutely EVERYTHING you can before that. That's the major cutoff point, nothing else in act 2 is.