Leveling Areas

[magecat]

A lot of the pre-Epic/Epic material is penchant on equipment. As a for instance, there are 5DR items scattered through the starting areas that provide an almost invulnerable level of protection.

Most of these can be found by following the lower level Quests. There used to be a spreadsheet that listed the various static drop equipment.

[boroie]

Jul 14, 2023 15:50:18 GMT nwfan87 said:

Thank you for this useful resource. Personally, I think the xp scale should be increased to accommodate for modern gaming. It would have been fine in the day when HG was originally made but I think these days, it's just so much of a grind just to level up, its just unbearable at times. I had to stop earlier today because I couldn't take it anymore, clearing the same dungeons over and over and still what felt like no direction. Something in the order of 10-20% increase would help move the pace along. There is only so much Hack and Slash one can take, before it starts to wear off.

While it can be fun to explore the early content (at least the first time), it is really not a good way to level. For example, when you are at level 34 then just 15-20 minutes being dragged through a LL (legendary level) area called Uro will gain you as much experience as it takes to get from 1-40 in normal levels. The real reason to do lowbie areas is to gain the tags necessary to become an immortal and gain access to later content. You can choose to do all of the tags for a completion bonus (described here: wiki.hgweb.org/wiki/Accomplishments ) or just the bare minimum required to unlock the immortal fight and tag. 

Doing all of the tags is a bit of a polarising experience, but that combined with the optional quest system is usually sufficient to gain enough XP to level. Some areas are used for grinding, usually by characters far below the 'level appropriate' level, these would typically be the Farm, Planes of War, Zhents and Bone Horde amongst others. This is also not required. 

The Quest system is on the wiki here: wiki.hgweb.org/wiki/Quests
You can use a sheet like this to track and find an optimal path that combines quests and tags in similar areas to prevent too much running around: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_GDqg3jUxy4SknxjiAINt7rC4R6GEbbKNjEAn6YEWSg/edit?usp=sharing
Tag information: wiki.hgweb.org/wiki/Accomplishments
Area map: wiki.hgweb.org/wiki/Map

[jelricle]

I spent a while getting map pins for all the secret areas. After a bit, I started marking some static items, as well (eg. the elemental immunity rings)

I broke the locations out into separate files, but you could probably combine them all into one file, then search for some of the items. Or just look in
- preimmortal.xml
- northoftown.xml
- cemetary.xml
- farm.xml
- anduin.xml
- drow.xml

drive.google.com/file/d/1D6U8xayCorSfcBe2OPBITYZUotHpW0c4/view?usp=drive_link

(I would love any recommendations for additional map pins!)

If you want to see the map pins:
- put these files in your HGX directory under your "...\HGX\data\areas.d" folder
- run hgx.exe
- right click the "hgx" task bar item on the task bar of your desktop
- choose: Preferences --> Modules --> Map pins --> Show Search Spots
(It shows all map pins. Not just the search spots)

[magecat]

Spoiler Alert

First, not taking levels will keep you acquiring experience at Current Level +1. This is a NWN engine thing. What this means in a grind is that you continue to acquire exp even though you are holding levels.

Second, as long as you are within 6 levels of each other (1 to 7, 2 to 8, etc) in a party, you will acquire exp regardless of who makes the kill. This means you can have a party in hiding(for example, behind the wall on East Road) and they will get the exp. It is worth noting that the server is set up for most monster areas to be Party PvP, which means this only works when you are in the party.

If you have the patience, you could ride these grinds all the way through Level 40, but, gods, would it be boring.

Oltum
Level 6, Druid or Ranger

Oltum is an elemental falcon found in the Crossroads past the East Road Bandits. It can be Animal Empathy captured by a Level 6 Ranger or Druid with maximized Animal Empathy and supplemental equipment.

The old woman in the Merchants sells the following:

Rings of Hiding (Hide +10, Level 1 required, 1172 GP), buy 2 of them
Cloak of Elvinkind (Hide +10, Level 2, 2606 GP)
Ring of Animal Friendship (Animal Empathy +12, Level 5, 6385 GP), buy 2 of them
Greater Gloves of Animal Handling (Animal Empathy +6, Level 1, 939 GP)

Total Cost: 18659 GP for an Unfavorable merchant reaction

The rings and cloak of Hiding are sufficient to Stealth sneak through the Bandits (you may need Hide skill, too, been a while since I did this) to get to Oltum.

The Animal Empathy items will allow you to "catch" Oltum when added to your skill (Oltum requires a total of 39 AE).

Stay stealthy in Bandits or Strange Tower, and harvest exp. It is wise to take this slowly as Oltum will come unbound with little warning, and has spells that have to be expended before it resorts to fighting. Oltum can accept elemental damage enhancements and Magic Fang (cast on the caster, not the critter). If you walk (Oltum does Not transfer when using TP stones) out of the area (Crossroads or Town) and rest, Oltum will come unbound but can be recaptured.

Final Thought - The bird is Very Aggressive and Will attack distant things unless controlled properly.


Dracolich
Level 13 Cleric or Druid

This is the Level 22 Achievement. It is found in Cemetery dungeon, Crypt Level 3. Required, Rope.

The Dracolich has a Spell Resistance of 26 and a Will Save of 25. Level 13 Divine casters are the first level that has Heal as a cast spell, meaning you apply your various character based benefits (Spell Penetration feat, etc) to the casting.

Unlike the East Road, you will be jumping from server to server for this farm. On each server, you go into the Crypt, slay the Dracolich (Heal, then some damage spell for the last 4 or so HP, the final damage can be from anyone), move back into the hallway, then use !portal ### (111, 211, 311, 112, etc) to jump to another server. Once this is set up, you bounce between servers, rest (optional, depending on available Heals), slay, repeat ad nauseum. If you are doing this in a party, it is worth noting that you lose party status when you move to another server.

This is a very quick method once set up, but the setup is tedious, and it is very boring for everyone except the caster(s).
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If you see Chrystoph (all characters should be Chrystoph, xxxxxx) on the servers, I have a Cleric set up for the Dracolich. Ask, and I will run it unless I am in the middle of something.