My team is at level 6 now. I've done almost all the quests in Defiance Bay except the Crucible Knight one where you have to clear out that final overrun area (High Hedge? something like that...).

All I have left to me now is Raedric's Hold, The Endless Paths, that last area of Defiance Bay, and that area south of Defiance Bay to look for that cave for the firestarter woman (which I WILL NOT go to again until I gain a couple more levels ... good god).

Areas I haven't been to yet are Dyrford Village and all points east of it.

So, in your experience, is a level 6 team good enough to take on Raedrics Hold and The Endless Paths? Or should I just wait and continue east to Dyrford Village and come back later? I hate the idea of continuing east while leaving unfinished business behind me ... Also, I've purposely skipped the Temple of Woedica for now - I'm afraid continuing the main quest might screw up the remaining side quests I have ...



And now the something else ....... (SPOILERS!)























I wish I knew that if I took certain quests in Defiance Bay they would prevent me from doing others .... I did the Crucible Knights quests, and now, even after returning that family armor in the adventurers hall, they identify me as Crucible Knight swine and won't give me adventures to go on. Now dammit, I was looking forward to meeting up with that other group of adventurers at some point and whoopin them for their initial rudeness the first time I entered the hall ..... oh well, I guess it will just add to replayability now that I know ....

/rant

I would say you are too high for Raedric's hold...

I finished Roedric's hold way before even heading to Defiance Bay, at level 3 or 4... And I killed all the guards for their loot.
As about the Endless Paths, they are - as the name suggests - nearly endless, and you certainly don't need to clear all the levels in one go. I believe they're meant to be completed progressively, as your party grows in strength.

Thanks

I guess I'll go in guns ablazin then ..... I'll take the stealth approach next time. From what was said in-game about it made me think it was an extremely difficult part of the game ... guess not.

I guess I'll give the Endless Paths a go afterwards (I hear there's great loot in there) and proceed down until I reach a level that mops the floor with me.

In a nutshell:

For Raedric's Hold, your party is too powerful. It will be an underwhelming experience.

For The Endless Paths, you will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible at level 6. I would wait until you are level 8 or 9.

I've just started Raedric's Hold. ***SPOILERS***


Just met the nethermost lady and damn. I can't believe the rotten choice they want me to make. I'm going to feel dirty as hell, no matter what I do. Is there any way to get through this in a way that helps the town?

My view: she doesn't (can't) cure the town, and she's conducting vile experiments on innocent people, with Raedric's (who shows signs of insanity) blessing. The old priest may favour Raedric, but that's out of loyalty to his faith, and he even likes Kolsc, so talk to the old priest upstairs, and deny the wicked witch in the dungeons. Take the grimoire from her cold, dead hands.

May have already been said elsewhere, but Raedric's has a rep for being "hard" only if you wander in guns blazing thru the front door, adventurer style, and get mobbed by 20 guards and paladins all at once. >_>

If you've found the other secret entrance - there's someone besides the basement-dwelling animancer you can talk to. Personally, I think everyone there is a little crazy - but mostly desperate. More desperate than evil, definitely.

I think the Devs expected it to be done, along with hitting Caed Nua, at the end of "Act 1". Then you head into Defiance Bay and start on your mid-game material, eventually heading over to the towns east of the big city.

I had a lot more issues with Endless Paths at level 4-5, but YMMV - seems to have a lot do with your party makeup and focus. Amusingly you will find that it is not linearly increasing in difficulty all the time - so if one level is brutal for you, try the one below, and come back to the PITA one later. All I got to say is... Ogre Druids. F*** those guys.

Yeah, my level 6 party = cakewalk at Raedric's. Took out everything that moved. No strategy at all, just "select all" and attack.

Although I still did need to use a good strategy in the throne room (which I found out the hard way).

After killing everyone, I believe I had roughly 10,000 in sellable loot from just that one area.

+1 to that. Although I did find a way to draw the others out and leave the Druids alone so I could take them on without them having any backup. Cheesy, but it worked for me.

I managed to get through level 5, I think, with my level 6 party. Didn't get around to going back until my party was level 9. Currently down to the 14th level in the Endless Paths and my party is level 10. Couple tough spots, but so far, so good. I imagine I'm in for a can of whoop-ass soon though.

Only other thing giving me that hard a time at level 5 (as long as I don't head too far east of the river...) is the damn bounties. I don't know what level those parties are. I figured "Hey, they're all around Gilded Vale in areas I've already cleared... can't be that big of a deal".

LOL - yeah, they'll humble you pretty quickly.

Here's what I did:

1. Talk to Nedmar the priest & tell him you will free Giacco.
2. Clear the dungeon of monsters.
3. Free Giacco.
4. Talk to Osyra the animancer & tell her you will kill Nedmar (but don't).
5. Return to Nedmar & tell him you've freed Giacco.
6. Use the key Nedmar gives you to access Raedric's throne room.

Probably doesn't have to be this exact order.

Results:

- Nedmar is alive & able to continue plans to rededicate the temple to Berath, possibly curing the Legacy.
- Osyra is alive & able to continue attempting to cure the Legacy using animancy.
- I was able to complete the quest with minimal blood on my hands (the only humans I killed before the battle at the end of the quest were two guards that I couldn't sneak past... I prefer to imagine that we actually incapacitated them).

I was arguing this exact thing with a friend of mine who was just playing through that area. The point of whole thing is, you are not supposed to know what will happen either way, whether things will improve if you let them live or will just remain the same. So with that knowledge, every choice is a gamble. Still, my paladin was all like "unholy murderers die!!! And then I killed every single person on that castle lol.

Finis
Finished this up a few days ago: I tried to walk away from the conversation but she wouldn't let me unless I agreed to go kill someone. So I decided to agree but not kill the target. But then I started poking around the lab and I got caught stealing. Ended up killing her anyway, and shrugging my shoulders.