Experience farming (spoilers)

[Celacena]

even though my PC only had the weak ring of reganeration, for some reason in the slave tunnels of Sendai's enclave, he just didn't seem to suffer damage - so I just left him fighting Orogs(?) which appeared in pairs. after I went up a couple of levels, I decided to finish it off, but there was a temptation to just let them spawn time after time and splat them. I had an ac of about -10 and was using the Axe of the Unyielding in the right hand and the +4 longsword in the left - I was usually killing them in about 1 round each - I had +++++ in longsword and just + in axe. even so, I was shocked when I checked my HP level after a number of these creatures were gone and found the PC was still uninjured.

a couple of NPCs had been killed early on, just through sheer numbers and Sarevok was taking some damage in his fights, despite a better AC - he didn't seem to be destroying those that came his was as effectively as the PC (a lvl 18 fighter dualed to then lvl 23 thief). Sarevok was using the vorpal halberd in which he has +++, yet seemed to take more punishment.

anyhow - the bad guys seem to keep re-spawning until you kill the Slavemaster, so it occured to me that it would be possible to rack up a pinball score of xp by staying near the entrance and never going far into the cave. you could leave the rest of the NPCs in the Plane while you did it. should you be inclined or perhaps strip them of their kit and let them perish early while you concentrate on the xp.

anybody know any better ones?

(I flogged 75 suits of +1 full plate, so there must have been a lot of enemies)

[VonDondu]

Originally Posted by Celacena

anyhow - the bad guys seem to keep re-spawning until you kill the Slavemaster, so it occured to me that it would be possible to rack up a pinball score of xp by staying near the entrance and never going far into the cave...

(I flogged 75 suits of +1 full plate, so there must have been a lot of enemies)

I once killed 130 orogs in that area (that's how many suits of +1 full plate I ended up with), so you must have finished the area too quickly. I used a few Mordenkainen's Swords there the last time I played the game rather than area effect spells or full-scale melee assaults that would have killed them much more quickly; I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

I don't know why your PC wasn't taking any damage. The orogs have +2 swords, and I assume they use them, so even if you acquired immunity to +1 weapons in the Hell trials, they should be able to hit your PC.

[Celacena]

I was a bit tempted to re-do the tunnel solo as an experiment and see how far I could crank it. I think that perhaps I was just too quick in killing them - I was hitting every time with 4 attacks per round (I think) - I wondered about using the Ai script that auto-hides the thief, so that in the fraction of a second he had cleared the orogs, he went invisible and took the first one out with a back-stab each time...

are there any other locations that work in a similar way?

[VonDondu]

The entrance to Yaga-Shura's lair is a spawning point for fire giant patrols, but I can't remember exactly how to make them respawn over and over. If I recall correctly, you have to lure the patrols away from the entrance before you kill them to make the next batch spawn. It takes a lot of time and patience, perhaps more than it's worth.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

[galraen]

One of the worst farming spots in any game ever has to be on the wall in Saradush. Just equip as many characters as you can with missile weapons that don't need ammo or have endless supply, and just shoot fire giants for ever. Heck, you don't even have to watch, just turn off the monitor and leave it running overnight! I actually did that once, just to see how much xp would be accumulated, far too much was the answer, totally game destroying, so back to the previous save.

[Thrifalas]

I tend to stay in that tunnel as well. However, you've missed some vital points of the farm system there.

To begin with, unless you exit the tunnel or save/load you won't get orogs, but only dwarves which you get 13.000 exp for each.

Another good point is that if you're invisible they will zerg up at you. ADHD clean s the place pretty well and you'll be able to sum up a LOT of exp.

I tend to get 1-2 million xp per char before leaving the tunnel.

[Gorlam]

yah.... but if you are going to farm xp, wouldn't it be easier and faster to simple use a console code and just give yourself the xp you need? Seems kind of silly to farm xp in a game like Baldur's gate.

[Klorox]

I think it'd work, and work very well. The problem (at least for me) is that I'm already at such a high level by that point in ToB that leveling up doesn't do too much.

[Thrifalas]

Originally Posted by Gorlam

yah.... but if you are going to farm xp, wouldn't it be easier and faster to simple use a console code and just give yourself the xp you need? Seems kind of silly to farm xp in a game like Baldur's gate.

Butbutbut... that's cheating! What comes next, a little higher Dex because you're an elf? Maybe you really wanted to upgrade *both* Carsomyr *and* Purifier? etcetcetc...

Really depends on how you're playing though. Mostly I play with no cheats or abuses whatsoever, which includes scroll abuse, dual Gaxx ring etc, but while powerplaying with chars such as Val and Sola and items such as Sanchuu I don't mind "haxing" a little.

[Celacena]

Watcher's Keep - final battle - providing that you don't encourage demagorgon to follow you, he sends an unlimited supply of nasties, which net a LOT of points. they are pretty nasty, but if you can avoid getting stunned, you can fight quite a number without dying. I've got Sarevok with the Ravager +6 and the PC wielding the Axe of the unyielding +5 and some other sword and they are killing nasty after nasty. I rose a couple of levels or so, which considering how many million xp I already had, is quite an achievement.

be warned, going off and resting makes the scroll disappear, so you need to do it all in one go.

[Dummy]

never thought of that since i think its a pretty hard battle and usually have all hands to do not to die, but i use advanced demo anyway

[Celacena]

(I usually play on 'normal')
I am playing another game and got to the same point - by way of a warning - if Dema comes towards the party and starts up the stairs, you need to draw him back down to the area, otherwise he spawns too many nasties to deal with - I even take the risk of sacrificing an NPC to draw him down there - if you have enough kit in the bag of holding, you can nip outside, raise the NPC and re-equip to a reasonable level. if need be, you can rush a character in to pick up the dropped kit. With BoS and decent saving throws, you usually get to collect the original equipment with which you can go outside to re-equip (peace is needed for swapping armour)

I had a 6 person party (on solo multiplayer) and they all went up a few levels.

I also followed Von's example and did the tunnels better - I had a few hundred suits of armour to sell, but TBH couldn't be arsed to do so after I went over the 200k gp mark - there was nothing that I could spend that much cash on, so I abandoned the rest of the swords and armour.

you get much fewer dwarves if you nip outside and back in - orogs pretty much all the way. you need to make sure that you don't stray too far into the tunnel and get the slave-master as that ends the crop. you need to script a party properly to avoid mishaps - weaker party members with ranged weapons (without need for ammo) and tanks on scripts that don't have them chasing around too much. i was using a Monk as my main tank - the attacks per round of 9/2 dealt punishment swiftly. Monks really are one of the best fighter classes when they get past 20 - add the girdle of fire giant strength, ring of gaxx and ioun stone and you have a real bruiser.