White March question

[PangaeaACDC]

Don't have the expansion yet, but see it's 40% off at GOG right now, so I'm tempted due to playing the game currently. If I buy the expansion and 'upgrade' my game, will I be able to take the current non-WM party into White March? I hope it's not necessary to start a new party.

 

Also, how does the thing work -- as in how do I get to the new areas and quests, when can I do it (level) and when is it recommended to do it?

 

How should I progress with the ending or progression in terms of main game content and White March content? Is it included kind of like the BG2 expansion, as a standalone after the main story, or is it more like in BG1, where it's part of the main campaign, sort of, and the game rolls credits when you beat the 'normal' campaign?

 

Hope that was understandable, even with a convoluted language

[JerekKruger]

As far as I know you don't need to start a new game no. You can take an existing party through the White March and White March 2 content. That said, I've never done it myself so there may be minor bugs associated with doing so (pure speculation) but I am fairly certain there won't be anything major stopping you.

 

As for how it works, basically after completing Act I (specifically after going through the Temple of Woedica in in Defiance Bay) you'll receive an alert that the Throne at Caed Nua has some messages for you. One of them is from Stalwart, the main town in the White March expansion, and after receiving it you unlock the ability to travel to the White March (the other is for the Siege of Crägholdt which is a high level area). The White March 2 unlocks immediately after resting outside of the White March after you complete the main quest of the White March 1.

 

As for when you should do it, that's actually quite flexible as when you first travel to the White March you have the option of level scaling it (if you're above level 8 I think). A rough guideline is this: White March with a party at level 5 will be fairly tough, getting easier the closer you get to 8; if you level scale it it'll become difficult again past level 8 and get easier as you go higher. One thing to note however is that the White March has, in my opinion, much harder encounters than vanilla PoE, so even if you're a bit over levelled you might still find the tougher encounters challenging.

 

The White March is more like Tales of the Sword Coast than Throne of Bhaal i.e. the content is included in the main game. My advice would be to treat White March 1 as challenging Act II equivalent or easier Act III equivalent, and White March 2 as challenging Act III equivalent. This is a rough guideline and you should be willing to leave and come back if you find parts of the expansions too difficult. You're not bound to the area when you enter it, so you can freely travel backwards and forwards between the White March and the Dyrwood.

 

I hope my own convoluted reply wasn't confusing

 

EDIT: oh, one more thing: I thoroughly recommend getting both expansions if you can afford them. I'd say, overall, they are better than the vanilla late game content and have some really cool lore stuff in them. Also, if you're an item junky like me, the items in them are far more interesting than in vanilla PoE.

Edited December 7, 2016 by JerekKruger

[PugPug]

Playing the expansion is seamless and plays just like it would if it were included in the initial game. You can do it with any saved game without problems.

 

The only "seam" I guess would be that clicking on the White March on the world map opens another world map for that region.

[PugPug]

Actually, I know I said "any saved game," but I think I've read that if you are near the end of the original campaign, saved games past a certain point cannot play White March. Like there is a point of no return that won't let you go back to the world map.

 

I haven't finished the game myself yet, though, but I would imagine it is pretty clear when and where that happens.

[Tigranes]

There's a point of no return at the very end of the game, but the game automatically creates a separate save for you. You only get stuck if you, for some reason, deliberately delete that.

[PangaeaACDC]

There's a point of no return at the very end of the game, but the game automatically creates a separate save for you. You only get stuck if you, for some reason, deliberately delete that.

 

You are right, that once you get to this point, it will be obvious (or should be) that there is no returning.

 

As far as I know you don't need to start a new game no. You can take an existing party through the White March and White March 2 content. That said, I've never done it myself so there may be minor bugs associated with doing so (pure speculation) but I am fairly certain there won't be anything major stopping you.

 

As for how it works, basically after completing Act I (specifically after going through the Temple of Woedica in in Defiance Bay) you'll receive an alert that the Throne at Caed Nua has some messages for you. One of them is from Stalwart, the main town in the White March expansion, and after receiving it you unlock the ability to travel to the White March (the other is for the Siege of Crägholdt which is a high level area). The White March 2 unlocks immediately after resting outside of the White March after you complete the main quest of the White March 1.

 

As for when you should do it, that's actually quite flexible as when you first travel to the White March you have the option of level scaling it (if you're above level 8 I think). A rough guideline is this: White March with a party at level 5 will be fairly tough, getting easier the closer you get to 8; if you level scale it it'll become difficult again past level 8 and get easier as you go higher. One thing to note however is that the White March has, in my opinion, much harder encounters than vanilla PoE, so even if you're a bit over levelled you might still find the tougher encounters challenging.

 

The White March is more like Tales of the Sword Coast than Throne of Bhaal i.e. the content is included in the main game. My advice would be to treat White March 1 as challenging Act II equivalent or easier Act III equivalent, and White March 2 as challenging Act III equivalent. This is a rough guideline and you should be willing to leave and come back if you find parts of the expansions too difficult. You're not bound to the area when you enter it, so you can freely travel backwards and forwards between the White March and the Dyrwood.

 

I hope my own convoluted reply wasn't confusing

 

EDIT: oh, one more thing: I thoroughly recommend getting both expansions if you can afford them. I'd say, overall, they are better than the vanilla late game content and have some really cool lore stuff in them. Also, if you're an item junky like me, the items in them are far more interesting than in vanilla PoE.

 

Thanks for the details I've forked out for the expansion and installed it now. Could load the save fine at least. But because I have not played that far into the game yet (or rather, taken different paths there), it's not possible to go to the White March areas yet. Hopefully it will work out fine once I do. And as we're ready to level up to 7, maybe we ought to visit a certain Temple and get to work.

 

I'm a sucker for items and lore, so I hope some of the gear in WM will be to my liking

 

When it comes to weapon enchanting. Getting excellent grade is fine and doable for many in the base game, but superb... you can basically forget about that due to the ingredients. Will this be the same with WM, so that you can still only get a small handful of items upgraded to Superb (or better)?

 

I've heard about another rather decent forge in the expansion, do these upgrades occupy many "slots"?

 

 

Whatever the answers to these questions are, I'm quite eager to play the game again now, as there is fresh content to look forward to. Almost a shame I have a job these days :D

[JerekKruger]

Thanks for the details I've forked out for the expansion and installed it now. Could load the save fine at least. But because I have not played that far into the game yet (or rather, taken different paths there), it's not possible to go to the White March areas yet. Hopefully it will work out fine once I do. And as we're ready to level up to 7, maybe we ought to visit a certain Temple and get to work.

 

I'm a sucker for items and lore, so I hope some of the gear in WM will be to my liking

 

When it comes to weapon enchanting. Getting excellent grade is fine and doable for many in the base game, but superb... you can basically forget about that due to the ingredients. Will this be the same with WM, so that you can still only get a small handful of items upgraded to Superb (or better)?

 

I've heard about another rather decent forge in the expansion, do these upgrades occupy many "slots"?

 

 

Whatever the answers to these questions are, I'm quite eager to play the game again now, as there is fresh content to look forward to. Almost a shame I have a job these days :D

 

 

How important is difficulty to you? If it's not a major motivating factor I'd suggest going asap. If you want a challenge then it might be worth waiting till level 8 (or 9? I can't remember the exact level) and upscaling the content. Do note that whilst the more mundane encounters will be fairly easy at level 7, there are still plenty of challenging ones so it should still be fun.

 

Hopefully you'll like the items in the White March then. They tend to be a bit more creative in what they do rather than the rather mundane examples in vanilla. Also Soulbound items are great fun (though sadly not usually as good as normal items, but the game is easy enough that you can use them if you like em).

 

There aren't any more materials to make Superb items, but you get a similar one off material that allows you to make an item Legendary (the next tier up). Also it's worth noting that you'll find a fair few items in vanilla and WM which start off with Superb so you needn't worry too much about the limited nature of the materials in question.

 

The upgrade given by the forge doesn't take any enchanting slots, it's an extra. Unfortunately Soulbound items can't get it, which is the biggest reason they tend to under perform compared to normal items. There is a limit to the materials needed to use the forge however. If you're not bothered by spoilers then it might be a good idea to look up the locations as there are a few you can miss. It's not necessary to get them all however so don't worry if you do miss them.

[PugPug]

 

Hopefully you'll like the items in the White March then. They tend to be a bit more creative in what they do rather than the rather mundane examples in vanilla. Also Soulbound items are great fun (though sadly not usually as good as normal items, but the game is easy enough that you can use them if you like em).

 

On the subject of extras, installing the White March allows you to select from a list of cross-class-style skills. Much cooler in concept than in reality due to them scaling poorly or not at all with levels, but some of them are nice.

[BrotherFerg]

I have a question too, I've been gaining experience since I hit max level, so all the exp I've gained since then will it be awarded to me once install the expansion or will I continue at level 12?

[JerekKruger]

I have a question too, I've been gaining experience since I hit max level, so all the exp I've gained since then will it be awarded to me once install the expansion or will I continue at level 12?

 

I don't know for certain, but I suspect that if your character sheets are keeping track of additional experience gained (e.g. they read something like 72,000/66,000) then you will get that extra experience. If, however, they read 66,000/66,000 no matter how much extra experience you are gaining, I expect you're losing the extra experience.

[Fenixp]

The experience gained after reaching lvl 12 is lost, which is fine, because you'll reach lvl 16 by the end of WM pt. II anyway.

[BrotherFerg]

Okay thank you, if I can't beat adadragon tonight I'm just gonna wait until I install white march

[PangaeaACDC]

This is SPOILERS territory, at least a little, so beware.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm approaching the sleeping orlan outside Cragholdt. None of us have anything but 0-1 in stealth, so he starts to wake up. I'm then given some options to deal with him, but all are redded out, despite approaching him with Aloth or Grieving Mother, who have Call to Slumber and Puppet Master. Why is that? Is this a bug?

[PangaeaACDC]

Update: At level 10, I think we need to turn around. Some brutal things in that place, and I'm nowhere close to finishing it. I checked some spells, and they're tossing level 13 spells and abilities at us.

 

Total party wipe. Noooooooooooooo

 

Better to start on WM part 2, or head back to Defiance Bay.

[JerekKruger]

Yeah, Cragholdt is meant to be challenging option content for White March 1, so it's aimed at level 13/14 probably and can remain challenging even if you go there at 16.

[Dr <3]

The First time i went in craghold at lvl 8 the Orlan alone wiped all my party

[Blades of Vanatar]

I'm currently tackling it on PotD at level 12. I find the outlying area not so tough but I'm sure once I go inside things will be different. Never tackled it with a a Chanter in the party so I am certainly looking to use a defensive mindset to let Dragons Thrashed and some Ogre Minions into the mix. Dragons Thrashed really melts the opposition.

[PangaeaACDC]

The First time i went in craghold at lvl 8 the Orlan alone wiped all my party .

Always doubt of sleeping things....

 

He messed me up something fierce too, so I reloaded, snuck up to him and cracked his neck instead of stealing his key. But the lot of bruisers that split into several fast feckers totally did us in.

 

In an odd way it felt good to get our asses handed to us.