Advice on proceeding with order of quests

[claudius]

I previously made a partial playthrough and I eventually stopped.  Returning to the game I decided to restart with slightly different main character and party concepts.  I have enjoyed that decision.  It is almost a review on lore and tactics.  I'm concentrating on only 5 companions rather than experimenting between them.

 

On my previous play I did most all I could figure to do in Defiance Bay and part of WM1 and about half of the Endless Dungeon.  I noticed online that I could hold off on talking to the messenger who starts (ball rolling on a long line resulting in) the Battle for Yenwood which made me happy because I wanted to be a bit stronger for that.  The first time I played it I had a little trouble.

 

So that battle isn't my topic but rather I am asking advice on what order to do exploration and quests?  I know Craighold is for high level side quest.  Should I do 'the man who waits' (Sanitarium main quest) and 'heritage hill' (main quest) before exploring the Dyrford area and all other wilderness areas accessible to act 2?

 

So I'm trying to avoid having content not missed say if one of those 2 main quests being done affects quests out towards Dyrford.  Or avoid having it not make sense.

 

Just asking for general advice not neccessarily needing detailed spoilers.

Edited January 7, 2019 by claudius

[Ivanfyodorovich]

The Man Who Waits, Heritage Hill, and Dyrford all lead up to the Animancy Hearings with the Duc. You can do all of them in any order, and they are all roughly the same difficulty (I'm not recalling specific encounters here, so some versions of them might be more challenging than others). Feel free to tackle these quests in any order. Once you complete all three, you will be asked to find support to attend the hearings. Make sure you wrap up any other quests in the Sanitarium first, before going to the hearings, as it will not be available afterward. You will also lose access to Defiance Bay for a short time afterward. 

 

Hope that helps.