Am I wasting my time clearing all Locations?

[Aeviri]

Or should I only focus on clearing locations I have a quest for?

[r-2]

Get a trainer....fast travel with hax...sync ppoints...profit...

[Aeviri]

That doesn't really answer my question. I don't plan to cheat in a game that is already pretty easy.

[Suzaku]

Depends on if you like clearing the map. You'll likely hit max level long before you complete the story, so most locations are just to help level up sooner (or catch up if you fall behind somehow) and maybe pick up some loot.

If you don't care about clearing the map, then the majority of locations can be ignored, though there are some that hold unique treasures. They won't necessarily change the game, but they can be nice to have.

In most cases you'll be guided by quests to anything of value.

[Ficelle]

It doesnt really do anything for you to clear everything unless you have some OCD
Some XP, perhaps an item, but these are everywhere, so...

I prefer a more fluid approach, exploring, doing unique quests, cleaning quest places
Random places closeby or on my path, i will clear too...but i wont go out of my way to clear a far away place

Up to you
If you cant live without everything cleaned, clean all
Still, non cleaned places will be there later anyway...no urge

[joakim]

some quests lead to cultist clues so you would at least do all sidequests

[Orion1189]

Once you hit the level cap, all the XP from quests and clearing locations goes to complete waste, as you can't get anymore skillpoints from XP. So I'd recommend just doing what is necessary for quests and achievements, assuming you care about them, and then just doing things like tombs for additional skillpoints, or viewpoints for fast travel. There's little point to doing absolutely everything in this game, and a lot more of it than in Origins, so for me at least, the fun of trying to do it all kinda wore off by this point. (I'm 120+ hours in, and about to finish all achievements)

It is worth noting though, that in the version of the game available through Google's Project Stream, you can level beyond 50. Whether or not this is a feature coming to the other versions of the game is unknown, but it might be something to look out for in a future update, even before the DLC.

[Mujokan]

If you look at the list of engravings that you haven't unlocked, it will give some hints on where to find legendary items. Also you will want to hit every ruin for tablets and tomb for skill points. You may also want to check with Ikaros for ostraka and good ship lieutenants. Sometimes it is quicker to sneak in, get the thing you want, and just leave the rest in peace.

[Connatic]

Originally posted by Calenax:

Or should I only focus on clearing locations I have a quest for?

I would only do enough side quests and exploring to be able to continue the "main" quest lines. The game is so big, I wanted to get the story finished before I got bored of the game, and if I'm still having fun, the auto scaling helps ensures the game isn't totally trivial, when i want to go back and explore. The game feels like it's meant to be a playground when you hit max level anyways, seeing how the game has dailies and special currencies.