First, with the starting party, Warp to Shangri-La to get Lloyd's Beakon for the starting sorcerer. (Don't use the fountain.) Then warp to "Count Du Money" to get some gold and gems, then use Lloyd's Beacon to warp out (to avoid losing your gems to Mr. Wizard).

Then, spend a few decades working until you have hundreds of millions of gold in the bank. (Don't let it go over 2 billion, or your bank account may overflow and become small again.) Only after that should you delete the starting party and create your own. (That party is too old to adventure at this point anyway.)

With your real party, just observe 2 rules:
1. Don't level past 14, because if you do you will stop getting double experience from enemies.
2. Avoid permanent level bonuses.

Then, get enough experience to reach level 200. Only then should you level up in Olympus with all the money you've obtained. Once your party is level 200, *then* it's time to use permanent level bonuses.

Does this sound about right?

Well, it is possible to reach max level with less hassle by normal gameplay. And I am not sure how it is possible to kill really dangerous enemies as Lv.14 characters. Unless we speak about "Adventurer" mode and additional exploits...

It isn't that hard to reach the Level +50 fountain when your level is still low; You just need to make good use of fountains and Implosion spells. (Also Mass Distortion for Gazers and Teleport/Time Distortion for teleportation.)

I actually consider doing so to be a good idea; it makes the Labyrinth of Lost Souls much easier (especially when you factor in the 20 million XP sitting for you at the top of Dragon Tower).

I believe somebody has actually killed the Mega Dragon with a party of (permanent) level 1 characters. (Of course, the +50 Levels fountain was used for this.) If you manage to do this and the lone survivor is still level 1, I believe you get enough experience to reach level 200 just from that one kill.

I think you should try this challenge yourself: Reach the +50 Levels fountain with a (permanent) level 1 party. All fountains are allowed.

People keep forgetting to mention the mode where they did such kill. "Warrior" mode is normal mode, while "Adventurer" mode greatly increases chance to hit and triples your damage output (and possibly buffs other stats as well).

Not sure about the person who killed the Mega Dragon, but I've done my early Dragon Tower runs on Warrior mode.

Of note, the damage dealt by spells is not affected by the mode as far as I can tell. (That's one reason I prefer Warrior mode for WoX; Adventurer mode makes offensive spells not useful enough. Swords of Xeen, on the other hand, I play on Adventurer because the game is poorly balanced.)

I agree. Years ago when I played it, I made it to 2nd city with some ogres and gave up there.