Act 1, Tips for a new player?

[gunner]

Hi guys, currently I have arrived at Oleg's Trading Post. I must admit I feel nervous as I understand there is some sort of time limit to complete Act 1.

1. Whats the optimum route to take to move around Act 1?
2. Anyone can give me a link to a good walkthrough for Act 1 and perhaps the future acts?
3. Is there any specific order to complete moving through Act 1?
4. How fast can you complete all side quests and defeat the Stag Lord?

Really could use some enlightment and tips from veteran players, thanks. This is my first playthrough.

[Jean-Luc]

The time limit is more symbolic. You'd have to deliberately waste time for it to run out. You can see the time left in the quest log. It's supposed to be 3 months so 90 days?

[junkbarbarian]

I farted around A LOT, did all the quest, and still had like 15 days left. I would suggest doing the slaver camp (can't remember the name .... something league) as soon as it appears on your map because it gives you some more options (don't want to spoil it for you). Slow and methodical is the way to go when you clear the Stag Lords fort. It will pay off in the final fight. There are a couple fights with critters that have specific weakness, so make sure you look at the combat logs and such if you run into something that you can't seem to damage.

[Akarin]

Originally posted by Jean-Luc:

The time limit is more symbolic. You'd have to deliberately waste time for it to run out. You can see the time left in the quest log. It's supposed to be 3 months so 90 days?

This is only true if you go the right way and if your playing a melee class, if your running a wizard your guaranteed to lose the game unless you min max your routes to perfection.

[Overlard]

Don't level up after the bandit fight. Go inside and rest, then go back and sell all their loot to Oleg. Walk back inside and immediately hire 2 companions which you can blessedly build yourself. If you're still level 1 they should be 500 each. That way you can get some people who actually have good stats for what they want to do, i.e. not a fighter with 15 charisma.

Of course this all only works once the devs patch the game to unbreak the dialogue to do this, but it's a good tip for when that happens.

[Terse]

Originally posted by Akarin:

Originally posted by Jean-Luc:

The time limit is more symbolic. You'd have to deliberately waste time for it to run out. You can see the time left in the quest log. It's supposed to be 3 months so 90 days?

This is only true if you go the right way and if your playing a melee class, if your running a wizard your guaranteed to lose the game unless you min max your routes to perfection.

It's also not true if you're not paying careful attention to the text pop ups as you complete mission steps.

So my #1 tip: ***READ the quest updates carefully***.
I skimmed many and totally missed where to find key locations while I (mostly) enjoyed exploring the map until I had realised my oversite insufficient time to criss cross the map with enough rests to recover from fights and fatigue.

[junkbarbarian]

"So my #1 tip: ***READ the quest updates carefully***. "

Second this. I could have done things much quicker and better if I had read everything carefully.

[Weaver]

Originally posted by Akarin:

Originally posted by Jean-Luc:

The time limit is more symbolic. You'd have to deliberately waste time for it to run out. You can see the time left in the quest log. It's supposed to be 3 months so 90 days?

This is only true if you go the right way and if your playing a melee class, if your running a wizard your guaranteed to lose the game unless you min max your routes to perfection.

If you're playing a casterthe time limit just mean don't blast your way through all fights and use your spells carefully,don't rest after every fight

For example on most fights, 1 enlarge on Amri is better than several magic missile or burning hand

[RafaelElendil]

Answers:

1 - Netle's Crossing (SE of the map), Ancient Tomb, Bandit Camp, Old Hut, Temple of The Elk(if youre already level 3), Old Sycamore, Staglord Fort

2 - None exist. Probably will change a lot in the next few days due to adjustments.

3 - Just follow the plotwalls, The order i gave in number 1 is just to aleviate the plot block you get.

4 - Depend in how much save-reloading you do. If you complete the ACT one fast (i dont know the exact number of days) you get a free magical weapon from Jamandi. The weapon isn't great, but sell for some money.

[gunner]

Originally posted by Overlard:

Don't level up after the bandit fight. Go inside and rest, then go back and sell all their loot to Oleg. Walk back inside and immediately hire 2 companions which you can blessedly build yourself. If you're still level 1 they should be 500 each. That way you can get some people who actually have good stats for what they want to do, i.e. not a fighter with 15 charisma.

Of course this all only works once the devs patch the game to unbreak the dialogue to do this, but it's a good tip for when that happens.

I am using a Cleric as my main character, how do you suggest I build the 2 companions I hire?

[Mordikan]

Originally posted by Weaver:

Originally posted by Akarin:

This is only true if you go the right way and if your playing a melee class, if your running a wizard your guaranteed to lose the game unless you min max your routes to perfection.

If you're playing a casterthe time limit just mean don't blast your way through all fights and use your spells carefully,don't rest after every fight

For example on most fights, 1 enlarge on Amri is better than several magic missile or burning hand

"Don't rest after every fight". So true. Learn to manage the party health situation. I made it through 3 fights with Amiri at 3/41 HP having her use guerilla style fighting (which actually offsets her low AC really well). And use scouting. Remember you are in a hostile area, so don't take your whole party blindly around the corner.

And if you really want optimal (in a time to reward aspect), then follow plotlines. Don't assume the best option is to fight your way through everything. Sometimes if you "give up" you end up with far better rewards.

[gunner]

I went to the Fangberry caves and my Barbarian companion got poisoned by the Giant Spiders. It reduced her Strength, I went back to Oleg's to rest but I had to rest a few days (use the bed a few times) to get everyone in my team to perfect condition. Is there any faster way to recover from Strength afflictions, like any healer Npc in act 1?

[AlexnChaos]

Originally posted by gunner:

I went to the Fangberry caves and my Barbarian companion got poisoned by the Giant Spiders. It reduced her Strength, I went back to Oleg's to rest but I had to rest a few days (use the bed a few times) to get everyone in my team to perfect condition. Is there any faster way to recover from Strength afflictions, like any healer Npc in act 1?

Lesser Restoration Potions will fix stat damage, hell Lesser Restoration anything will fix stat damage

[ositodefelpa]

Originally posted by gunner:

I went to the Fangberry caves and my Barbarian companion got poisoned by the Giant Spiders. It reduced her Strength, I went back to Oleg's to rest but I had to rest a few days (use the bed a few times) to get everyone in my team to perfect condition. Is there any faster way to recover from Strength afflictions, like any healer Npc in act 1?

I have found that save/reload can solve this problem in some cases. Certainly worked with Death's Door, so give it a shot.

[gunner]

Lesser Restore pots cost 200+ a pot though, not exactly cheap, any other ways to work around Stat damage?

[NixBoxDone]

Okay, general hints:

Explore every nook and cranny and every corner of every map if you can. There's loot hidden everywhere. Any map that isn't a random encounter has persisting loot, meaning you can leave stuff behind and come pick it up later. As such the only stuff I'd take with me to sell are ranged weapons (long bows and crossbows) because they are worth 50 to 100 coins a pop, treasure items, quest specific stuff and of course any enchanted pieces of jewellery, weapon or armor.

That will make you plenty rich without having to lug around tons of 20 weight 25 value chainmail shirts.

Always have someone with a good nature lore check with you for hunting. Doing so will mean you lose supplies only very slowly, as most hunting attempts will restore 4 to 6 food for my ranger. This will extend how much you can travel in a go.

Have a priest with you - they can learn spells to restore reduced attributes and dispell curses. Otherwise a bad encounter with spiders/centipedes/something that curses may force you to travel all the way back to your trading post.
You lose 1 stat point damage per rest, too, but that's only good for stat damage that isn't strength - multiple points of strength loss can make your character unable to move if all they wear is armor and a weapon, which blows.

Invest 100 to 200 coins in alchemical fire from the hermit. It will allow you to tackle enemies you otherwise wouldn't be able to beat (spider swarms, regenerating enemies).

Have a pen with you and write down any chests/encounters you couldn't do on a lower level, then spend a week or two later on doing a treasure run just grabbing all that loot. Chests you can't unlock almost always contain at least one magical item and are as such always worth getting later.

If you have Valerie or another tanky character, prioritize them for tank related items, send them in first and have squishier melee characters hold position until the enemies are bound. They rarely switch targets, so once they start hacking away at her you can back her up and focus down characters.