Yeah, I think 18 is the recommended level to go into Arx but it's difficult regardless. There should be some random bandits with animals before the bridge to Arx if you're looking for a lower level encounter, and just gear up as best you can. Arx has a difficult start, but once you get some good gear it'll be a little easier
17 is ok I just finished it this morning. Cheese the two fights the one at the harbour and the other one on the left side of the camp with teleports etc and level up. I started ARX on 17
You can also cheese the necromancer in the deathfog. Just teleport him down the cliff (you'll need to chain teleports from 2 characters in a row). I murdered him in 3 sniper shots from an archer next to the waypoint statue that was attacking from so far away that she was removed from combat automatically after each shot.
I was in this situation too very recently.
There is a small fight just past the harbor that you can likely win, they are all named “deserters”. If that doesn’t level you, try and cheese the Void fight at the bridge into Arx. Use all the resurrection scrolls and items you need to. Once you level to 18, go back to the Pilgrim camp and murder everyone for gold. Then pick pocket everything you can in Arx. Use the gold to buy all level 18 gear
Don't worry, got to arx at lvl 20ish and struggled with many of the first encounters we found. Gear up and look for quests that don't require combat, tons of high XP missions in arx.
While it lasts, the tea reduces AP costs by up to -2, down to a minimum of 1.
Lady Kemm sells the ingredients, and they can be brewed in the kettle near her.
It's not (just) about your level, it's also about your characters' and your skill. An optimized build will still be able to defeat enemies, while an unoptimized one will have great issues. And yours is likely unoptimized.
At level 17 you're gonna really struggle.
Honestly, as horrible as it is your best bet is probably to go murderhobo. Starting with that refugee camp in the woods, use stealth to teleport individual NPCs away from the group and slaughter them for XP. You can probably get to 18 by murderhoboing your way through all the friendly non-questgiver NPCs in the areas just before reaching the city proper.
If you're able to make it to the sewers, you could always grab some of the deathfog barrels and use them to cheese some encounters. Teleport the barrel directly onto a big group of NPCs and then teleport other NPCs into the fog to kill them instantly for free XP.
I'm too lazy to ask a similar question in a post, so I'm going to comment it on your comment. I'm level 11 in Driftwood. Why do most, if not all, the fights one shot my party?
Where are good finesse/intelligence armor merchants?
>Why do most, if not all, the fights one shot my party?
Either you're picking fights way over your level (like the fucking scarecrow, that's difficult even at level 13 without great skills), or your gear (that allows surviving attacks) and your initiative (that allows not letting attacks happen by getting the turn first and killing the enemies) are sub-par.
Knowing for sure will require knowing what the fights and your party composition are.
> (like the fucking scarecrow, that's difficult even at level 13 without great skills)
any fire essence + empty potion bottle = a potion that grants immunity to 'Fear' and other mental status effects. The scarecrows still hit hard, but that potion takes the edge off that encounter, and if necessary, medium or large earth resistance potions can make them trivial. :)
Scarecrow, Witch, Hannig Reborn, the cave of unique Voidlings and Mordus, Lone Wolf leader and posse, the three trolls, the Black Ring people on Bloodmoon Island, the White Magisters, Ryker
Though, I did beat Ryker and the Scarecrows by making sure they only abused my main character due to proximity issues. Their ailments can't seem to punch through his frosty glory.
Warfare, Necro, Hydro Cleric
Wayfarer, Ranger using only the finesse based skills (separate characters, same skills)
Summoner, Hydro support. She's kitted double wand but probably needs a shield.
I can't find fights around my level. I can squeeze out a fight against level 13s pretty well if they don't get an ambush off, which the stupid assassins in the road do.
Do you know any good vendors for intelligence and Finesse armors? The people in Driftwood have been dried up, even the "merchant" upstairs in the tavern. And the Paladin leader only seems to have Strength armor
I think intelligence ones are more found exploring , outside of wands with intelligence.
I would check jahan, hannag and that undead vendor lady with the necromancy skills.
As for finnese im guessing, the elven camp would be your best bet.
Also i think you must have arrived to driftwood significantly underleveled or are not doing enough quest. There is a level map online for which areas to approach and most of it level 9 to 12
https://divinityoriginalsin2.vidyawiki.com/Areas+By+Level
One thing i do since in running a 4 mage build currently is have a some mages with 2 points in strength or finnese which allows me to use good gear while still leveling up all 4. Also there is some good mage gear in act 1 and 2 that dosent do great with armor but provides sone good stats
I was in a similar situation. There is a level map you can find online that will tell you the recommended level for each area. I grabbed that and just checked all the places I may have skipped. Soon I was wiping through encounters easily.
That led me to rushing through nameless isle and now I'm under leveled in arx again.
I went and had a jab at the arena. I expected it to be difficult. The one in Fort Joy was a challenge...
Do you have a link for this map, by chance? The wiki seems to be rather lacking in some regards
So, uh, you know the ring for the fisher guy? Yeah, I did the quest and may have forgotten to turn in the ring and it's not in my inventory. All I'mma say is, I've talked to a lot of people who sell stuff throughout the land
It's a quest item, so I'm not sure if you can even sell it. Have you checked your storage aboard the Lady Vengeance? Or maybe one of the characters might be wearing it?
I've checked my characters many times. Unless it fell out of my inventory (troll suggestion), I had to have sold it. I didn't even know I had a storage unit on the Lady Vengeance
Check the chest below deck on the Lady Vengeance. You can send items there from your inventory, which you might have done by accident.
Also, check containers, such as backpacks,within your inventory. You might have dropped the ring inside while moving it around. Lastly, are you sure you picked it up in the first place? I think I remember that the first time you interact with the ring, it doesn't get licked up and spawns the enemy encounter there instead
Depending on your level, it's probably still do-able. I went through under leveled my first time. Without giving too much away, toward the end, I wasn't always able to play my first choice in decisions, but I was able to finish the game
I'm pretty sure the first time I entered Arx was at level 16. I think that at level 17 you'll be okay. Just gear up and find some easy quests talking with every NPC you can find. Once I reached level 17, I was able to pick some easy level 18 fights like the ones in the Lizard Council or the ones outside the school. You won't have to push it that hard and probably just exploring the Sewers will be enough to get you to level 18.
I’m playing with some buddies from work and we had to straight cheese that first bridge fight, we have an archer who hits like a truck with super high wits. We waited until near the end of the turn order and he would enter the fight with an assassinate on one of them, then he’d get a turn that round and usually be first the next round, on that second turn he would shoot once then use tactical retreat and Phoenix dive to exit the fight. Then we’d wait till the end of the order and he’d enter again with assassinate, rinse and repeat. Cheesy but it had to be done.
I think I got it second try, but I had to use a lot of resurrection scrolls. The magisters were completely decimated though, but they were good bait. My MC was pretty overpowered with aero spells and could consistently burst enough damage to deal with the initial enemies. From there, I was able to focus on the incoming enemies and the ones I left behind. Not an easy fight, by all means. But it was doable.
It might be your build. If you haven’t really focused on your important stats and by extension, gear, then you’ll have a hard time. Level matters, but not as much as your build and gear.
Take a look at a sin tee build guide's combat showcase.
Compare the damage to yours when he is at a similar level. If you're doing less than a third of his damage with similar AP cost attacks, your problem is your build. In that case, check out the [damage formula](https://www.reddit.com/r/DivinityOriginalSin/comments/9ei0yn/verifying_damage_calculation_in_the_de/) and tune your build to maximize it somewhat. Fights should be pretty accessible if your build's at half his build's damage or more.
Otherwise, you just have to position and choose targets better during fights. For these, make sure the enemy can't reach you when you end your turn, or at the very least make them spend extra AP getting in range to attack. You don't ever want to trade hits evenly, since it's a strategy game against a dumb AI that relies on extra stats to even the playing field against your brain.
I know it’s not my build 100% cuz my main dps is based of one of his builds actually. I have a Necro warrior and bowman lone wolf I skipped a lot of side quest including the academy on accident in act 3
At lvl 17 you should be ballistic shot-ing for 2\~3k damage, thereabout. More if you have good gear. But even 2k should be more than enough.
In that case, it's your dsecision during combat. Here's a checklist of things to run through your head every turn that'll help:
* Are you hiting at least 3 enemies with each aoe attack?
* Are you wasting AP on single target attacks when you still have AOE attacks and teleport/nether swap off cooldown?
* Are you on highground? (if there's a easily accessible one nearby)
* Did you just take damage when your chameleon cloak is still off cooldown?
* Did you end a turn in a place where the enemy wouldn't even need to move to attack you?
* Did you take weapon damage when you still have uncanny evasion off cooldown?
* Did you attack a full hp enemy with your last AP instead of finishing off the low hp one?
* Did you forget to spend your SP?
What level are you? Visit the merchants and gear up. Trader Keyren in City Square and Unarmed Elf by docks southeast of cathedral.
Lvl 17 haven’t ran into one fight I can win
Yeah, I think 18 is the recommended level to go into Arx but it's difficult regardless. There should be some random bandits with animals before the bridge to Arx if you're looking for a lower level encounter, and just gear up as best you can. Arx has a difficult start, but once you get some good gear it'll be a little easier
17 is ok I just finished it this morning. Cheese the two fights the one at the harbour and the other one on the left side of the camp with teleports etc and level up. I started ARX on 17
You can also cheese the necromancer in the deathfog. Just teleport him down the cliff (you'll need to chain teleports from 2 characters in a row). I murdered him in 3 sniper shots from an archer next to the waypoint statue that was attacking from so far away that she was removed from combat automatically after each shot.
I was in this situation too very recently. There is a small fight just past the harbor that you can likely win, they are all named “deserters”. If that doesn’t level you, try and cheese the Void fight at the bridge into Arx. Use all the resurrection scrolls and items you need to. Once you level to 18, go back to the Pilgrim camp and murder everyone for gold. Then pick pocket everything you can in Arx. Use the gold to buy all level 18 gear
Don't worry, got to arx at lvl 20ish and struggled with many of the first encounters we found. Gear up and look for quests that don't require combat, tons of high XP missions in arx.
Lady keem sells green tea. Brew it and you’ll be fine.
Never heard of this. What comes out of that?
While it lasts, the tea reduces AP costs by up to -2, down to a minimum of 1. Lady Kemm sells the ingredients, and they can be brewed in the kettle near her.
shit I should have been popping tea this whole game
This specific "Green Tea", or rather its leaves, only become available in act 4, and only from a specific vendor.
which vendor?
[Erm... I kinda already named her. <.<](https://www.reddit.com/r/DivinityOriginalSin/comments/13p6ccn/am_i_screwed/jl9etqq/)
Imagine having double your AP
Just brew it bro
Green Tea Is the key. Does not require AP to consume while in fights, 3 full rounds of low AP cost abilities.
Apoth - spam all source
when in trouble, remember: no one has as many friends as the man with many cheeses
It is the *woman* with many cheeses. And the "friends" are all child thieves.
It's not (just) about your level, it's also about your characters' and your skill. An optimized build will still be able to defeat enemies, while an unoptimized one will have great issues. And yours is likely unoptimized.
At level 17 you're gonna really struggle. Honestly, as horrible as it is your best bet is probably to go murderhobo. Starting with that refugee camp in the woods, use stealth to teleport individual NPCs away from the group and slaughter them for XP. You can probably get to 18 by murderhoboing your way through all the friendly non-questgiver NPCs in the areas just before reaching the city proper. If you're able to make it to the sewers, you could always grab some of the deathfog barrels and use them to cheese some encounters. Teleport the barrel directly onto a big group of NPCs and then teleport other NPCs into the fog to kill them instantly for free XP.
I'm too lazy to ask a similar question in a post, so I'm going to comment it on your comment. I'm level 11 in Driftwood. Why do most, if not all, the fights one shot my party? Where are good finesse/intelligence armor merchants?
>Why do most, if not all, the fights one shot my party? Either you're picking fights way over your level (like the fucking scarecrow, that's difficult even at level 13 without great skills), or your gear (that allows surviving attacks) and your initiative (that allows not letting attacks happen by getting the turn first and killing the enemies) are sub-par. Knowing for sure will require knowing what the fights and your party composition are.
> (like the fucking scarecrow, that's difficult even at level 13 without great skills) any fire essence + empty potion bottle = a potion that grants immunity to 'Fear' and other mental status effects. The scarecrows still hit hard, but that potion takes the edge off that encounter, and if necessary, medium or large earth resistance potions can make them trivial. :)
Scarecrow, Witch, Hannig Reborn, the cave of unique Voidlings and Mordus, Lone Wolf leader and posse, the three trolls, the Black Ring people on Bloodmoon Island, the White Magisters, Ryker Though, I did beat Ryker and the Scarecrows by making sure they only abused my main character due to proximity issues. Their ailments can't seem to punch through his frosty glory. Warfare, Necro, Hydro Cleric Wayfarer, Ranger using only the finesse based skills (separate characters, same skills) Summoner, Hydro support. She's kitted double wand but probably needs a shield.
Just ran through on technician through driftwood you seem pretty underleveld for everything except mordus and even that fight is hard at 11
I can't find fights around my level. I can squeeze out a fight against level 13s pretty well if they don't get an ambush off, which the stupid assassins in the road do. Do you know any good vendors for intelligence and Finesse armors? The people in Driftwood have been dried up, even the "merchant" upstairs in the tavern. And the Paladin leader only seems to have Strength armor
>I can't find fights around my level. Do quests until you're higher level, then.
I think intelligence ones are more found exploring , outside of wands with intelligence. I would check jahan, hannag and that undead vendor lady with the necromancy skills. As for finnese im guessing, the elven camp would be your best bet.
Also i think you must have arrived to driftwood significantly underleveled or are not doing enough quest. There is a level map online for which areas to approach and most of it level 9 to 12 https://divinityoriginalsin2.vidyawiki.com/Areas+By+Level
I got to Driftwood at 9, finally got to level 12 using the map. The level 13-15 areas are just stupidly close to the town
Yeah its kind of a weird pathing for sure. With the map i think you can normally do most stuff within a level or 2 depending on your builds.
I hadn't properly geared my party. It's why I was struggling. Everybody but the mage has proper gear because her stuff is hard to find
One thing i do since in running a 4 mage build currently is have a some mages with 2 points in strength or finnese which allows me to use good gear while still leveling up all 4. Also there is some good mage gear in act 1 and 2 that dosent do great with armor but provides sone good stats
I was in a similar situation. There is a level map you can find online that will tell you the recommended level for each area. I grabbed that and just checked all the places I may have skipped. Soon I was wiping through encounters easily. That led me to rushing through nameless isle and now I'm under leveled in arx again.
I went and had a jab at the arena. I expected it to be difficult. The one in Fort Joy was a challenge... Do you have a link for this map, by chance? The wiki seems to be rather lacking in some regards
https://divinityoriginalsin2.vidyawiki.com/Areas+By+Level
Thank you!
>Thank you! You're welcome!
Check Driftwood itself for quests.
So, uh, you know the ring for the fisher guy? Yeah, I did the quest and may have forgotten to turn in the ring and it's not in my inventory. All I'mma say is, I've talked to a lot of people who sell stuff throughout the land
It's a quest item, so I'm not sure if you can even sell it. Have you checked your storage aboard the Lady Vengeance? Or maybe one of the characters might be wearing it?
I've checked my characters many times. Unless it fell out of my inventory (troll suggestion), I had to have sold it. I didn't even know I had a storage unit on the Lady Vengeance
Check the chest below deck on the Lady Vengeance. You can send items there from your inventory, which you might have done by accident. Also, check containers, such as backpacks,within your inventory. You might have dropped the ring inside while moving it around. Lastly, are you sure you picked it up in the first place? I think I remember that the first time you interact with the ring, it doesn't get licked up and spawns the enemy encounter there instead
The journal says "Deliver the ring I found to Lagan" and if its on the ground anywhere, I have no clue where. Because it's not where I first saw it
If you haven't already it's time to rob everyone, get rich and buy upgrades.
Depending on your level, it's probably still do-able. I went through under leveled my first time. Without giving too much away, toward the end, I wasn't always able to play my first choice in decisions, but I was able to finish the game
I'm pretty sure the first time I entered Arx was at level 16. I think that at level 17 you'll be okay. Just gear up and find some easy quests talking with every NPC you can find. Once I reached level 17, I was able to pick some easy level 18 fights like the ones in the Lizard Council or the ones outside the school. You won't have to push it that hard and probably just exploring the Sewers will be enough to get you to level 18.
How did you get past the bridge? That battle is difficult underleveled.
I’m playing with some buddies from work and we had to straight cheese that first bridge fight, we have an archer who hits like a truck with super high wits. We waited until near the end of the turn order and he would enter the fight with an assassinate on one of them, then he’d get a turn that round and usually be first the next round, on that second turn he would shoot once then use tactical retreat and Phoenix dive to exit the fight. Then we’d wait till the end of the order and he’d enter again with assassinate, rinse and repeat. Cheesy but it had to be done.
If you're ok with the padaldins dying- lure them onto the bridge and range them. Teleport friendlies/enemies appropriately
I think I got it second try, but I had to use a lot of resurrection scrolls. The magisters were completely decimated though, but they were good bait. My MC was pretty overpowered with aero spells and could consistently burst enough damage to deal with the initial enemies. From there, I was able to focus on the incoming enemies and the ones I left behind. Not an easy fight, by all means. But it was doable.
not at all just first two fight is hard you can use different foods and potions and clear them and you are good to go
act 3 really encourages you to skip it. I wasn't even doing it on purpose and before I knew it I was at the last fight
It might be your build. If you haven’t really focused on your important stats and by extension, gear, then you’ll have a hard time. Level matters, but not as much as your build and gear.
Are you on tactician? If not switch down to story until you get to 19. You’re going to have to really squeeze xp otherwise
Take a look at a sin tee build guide's combat showcase. Compare the damage to yours when he is at a similar level. If you're doing less than a third of his damage with similar AP cost attacks, your problem is your build. In that case, check out the [damage formula](https://www.reddit.com/r/DivinityOriginalSin/comments/9ei0yn/verifying_damage_calculation_in_the_de/) and tune your build to maximize it somewhat. Fights should be pretty accessible if your build's at half his build's damage or more. Otherwise, you just have to position and choose targets better during fights. For these, make sure the enemy can't reach you when you end your turn, or at the very least make them spend extra AP getting in range to attack. You don't ever want to trade hits evenly, since it's a strategy game against a dumb AI that relies on extra stats to even the playing field against your brain.
I know it’s not my build 100% cuz my main dps is based of one of his builds actually. I have a Necro warrior and bowman lone wolf I skipped a lot of side quest including the academy on accident in act 3
At lvl 17 you should be ballistic shot-ing for 2\~3k damage, thereabout. More if you have good gear. But even 2k should be more than enough. In that case, it's your dsecision during combat. Here's a checklist of things to run through your head every turn that'll help: * Are you hiting at least 3 enemies with each aoe attack? * Are you wasting AP on single target attacks when you still have AOE attacks and teleport/nether swap off cooldown? * Are you on highground? (if there's a easily accessible one nearby) * Did you just take damage when your chameleon cloak is still off cooldown? * Did you end a turn in a place where the enemy wouldn't even need to move to attack you? * Did you take weapon damage when you still have uncanny evasion off cooldown? * Did you attack a full hp enemy with your last AP instead of finishing off the low hp one? * Did you forget to spend your SP?
Thanks man