Can you simply ignore the main quest?

[Chucktheninja]

I don't like games like this that also feature a main quest line like this one has. Can it be ignored without hampering progress?

[FuzzyJuzzy]

Yes, you can do whatever you want in the sandbox. Make your own goals.

I'm curious as to why you hate main quests in this context?

[Vivisector 9999]

Yes. There's not a level limit that gets lifted when you finish X or Y main quest or whatever.

Cuts both ways, too, as locations aren't scaled to your level, either. Want to visit the Moon Stair as a level 1 character? You probably will die before you even get there... but you're welcome to try.

[Pixel Peeper]

Almost all of the content is available without doing the main quest.

Usually you want to do about half the main quest regardless because it's just extra EXP, but it's entirely optional.

[Icedfate]

i keep wondering if i'm playing wrong, lol.
i have 3 separate characters now that are in their mid 30's and only one of them has even gone to grit gate to do the main questline.
all these levels were gained purely in the lefthand 1/3 of the map, just from killing enemies and then all the ruins i cleared and all the books i found and getting all of Resheph's secrets for that guy.

I keep telling myself, okay now i'm gonna go do the main questline and then something shiny catches my attention, like another ruin or i see a legendary girsling i want to bond with, but it's hostile, so i tried to proselytize it, but my ego wasn't high enough, so i left it there and looked for ego boosting equipment, the went back and then it wanted the cloning liquid, so then i had to look for an ichor merchant to buy that from him, but because my ego was low, i needed 3500 to buy it, so then i had to sell a bunch of stuff and then juggle waterskins and trade goods to afford it. . and then once i got what i wanted from it (the rep boost) i dismissed the girshling in the middle of the desert , abandoning it there.
I did the same thing with the "Slog of The Cloaca" boss inside golgotha. I proselytized it, water(slime) bonded with it, then abandoned it in the desert. ."go away! you're free now! get outta here!".
I feel bad for it, because i got a message it was getting dehydrated and then i just left it in the desert (i'm not sure how to get it to drink. I assume it wanted slime, because that's what i used to bond with it. I tried doing bond again, but the message just came up a few screens later again. . .)

and then i wanted to go in the asphalt mines, because the wiki says there's something on strata 30, but then from 21 and beyond, every floor has laba everywhere and every stairs seems to always be surrounded by it so i have to step in it and then sit there patting out fires on my equipment, despite myself being 100% immune. .
and then on floor 27, i saw some enemies that said "impossible" even to my level 30 , so i ran away
and then i finally made it to grit gate and did the quest. . and noticed all the tunnels below, and spent the last 6 hours exploring those.

I just can't leave anything behind. I loot everything and destroy the corpses as i go, so i don't get confused, and then my inventory gets full and then i go back to town and dump it all in a chest.

but then, i guess there is no "wrong" way to play. If you can play how you want to then that can't be such bad thing now, can it?

[Vivisector 9999]

I've mentioned before that this game is basically a science fantasy roguelike Elder Scrolls game. Thankfully FAR less buggy, but it shares their characteristic of there being a main quest that you're technically supposed to do... but you're also free to get distracted exploring every other corner of the map until you're seriously overleveled for everything on the main quest up to Tomb of the Eaters.

At any rate, your conclusion is correct. As long as you're having fun, you're playing this game right.

[Chucktheninja]

Originally posted by FuzzyJuzzy:

Yes, you can do whatever you want in the sandbox. Make your own goals.

I'm curious as to why you hate main quests in this context?

I just play rouges to mess around in the universe with new journeys each time. If the main quest was somehow mandatory or heavily incentivised, it would make many runs bleed together IMO.

[Icedfate]

i believe you will find what you are looking for here.