Gothic II - Night of the Raven Expansion

[mammu]

Hi, All!
I have a question about the Expansion (Night of the Raven) for Gothic II. Do I have to do everything in Gothic II (Valley of the Mines, etc.) before going to Jharkendar (the new area)? I know that doing everything before that will give me tons of experience and armor and weapons but I had already played all of Gothic II way before the expansion came out. I am following a walkthrough for Night of the Raven which does not go into the Valley of the Mines so I did go through the portal to Jharkendar but I am finding it rather more difficult without a lot of spells (which I am running out of). If I have to go back to a savegame or go back through the portal and do the Valley of the Mines, I guess I will have to, although I would prefer not to. I am a Level 10 Mercenary at this point.
Thanks all.
Carol

[Celos]

You most definately don't have to, but as you said, it's going to be a hell of a lot more difficult. Some mobs will eat you so fast, you won't have time to blink. But the Valley of mines doesn't grant you as much exp. as before anyways. You're not powerful enough to clean out the valley.
The thing is, you can't finish Jharkendar w/o going to the valley at some point. So have a bit of fun in Jharkendar and then go to the valley.