Okay, so my main playthrough is nearing the end. The only quest left to do is to defeat the Netherbrain. In this post, I'll mention my thoughts on Act 1 and my impressions on some of the fights.
Something went buggy
Unlike Luality, I won't claim that Larian rigged my client. But there was something buggy with my fights from Wyrm's Rock Fortress to Wyrmway. Whenever I first melee attacked, my attack mode auto-toggled to auto dual attack (I'm running a dual-wielding build). To make things worse, my Uncanny Dodge passive was also turned off automatically. To make things look buggier, the same didn't happen for Lae'zel, where her all-in passive for Great Weapon Master feat was concerned. As a result, I had to specifically look out for whether the bug triggered every turn. It wasn't game-breaking, but it was annoying.
On the flip side, my alternate playthrough scored multiple 20s early in the game. It feels ridiculous.
Remember to save!
The good thing about BG3 is that it's very casual-friendly in Balanced mode, so long as you know the right strategies. With that said, remember to save before rolling. And with that, remember to delete your saves when you don't need them. A good indication of save inventory cleaning is after you complete an Act. Either that or you can clear your save inventory whenever you don't need them. You wouldn't want to clutter up your save inventory, especially after finishing a playthrough. For Steam users, it seems that Steam cloud saves have a limit.
Act 1: From Level 1 to 6
Act 1 should be where you start the pace for levelling up. Ideally, you should be at level 6 by the time you reach Act 2. I did it in my main playthrough, where I hit level 6 after finishing every Crèche Y'llek quest. Despite the Dream Visitor telling you not to enter that place, it's highly recommended that you go ahead. You can gain additional XP, and the vendor also sells some neat stuff that can sustain some of your characters until you reach Act 3 with enough gold to spare. Sometimes, you may even stick with the gear you buy there for good (Knife of the Undermountain King, I'm looking at you). For dual-wielders, Knife of the Undermountain King can last for the entire game, if not at least until Act 3, where you can buy Cold Snap from Ferg Drogher (that one pairs very well with Crimson Mischief although the same goes for Knife of the Undermountain King. It depends on your build). For Gloves of Dexterity, it goes well with fighters until you grab Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength from the House of Hope (just make sure you don't give it to Helsik). I find budgeting a good way of doing things (no, I don't steal from vendors).
A good Soldier is a good one
If you're running a Soldier background, choosing to do good helps due to No One Left Behind, To Arms!, Chain of Command, Warrior of the Hells, and A Headless Horde background goals. Interestingly, it'd seem that knocking out Minthara wouldn't lock you out of A Headless Horde. That is unless Larian redid the whole thing. One thing to note is that Start Them Young and Stalwart Heart no longer give inspiration. Instead of being a bug, I suspect Larian purposely made this the case. No One Left Behind should be pretty easy to pull off. For To Arms!, it should also be easy if you're a fighter or a ranger with a Wisdom of 14 (Soldier as a background does make sense for rangers).
Error 404
One note on the owlbear cub. It seems that Larian made specific changes, or it's a bug. In my main playthrough, resting would trigger the mother owlbear's death. In my alternate playthrough, however, that didn't happen. As a result, I had to initiate the fight by approaching the skeleton (because the skeleton and nest were close to each other). After the battle, despite several rests, the little critter didn't show up. I don't know what's going on here. Hopefully, that little critter can pop up by the end of Act 2, as this would be the cut-off point.
You'd do well to do them
You definitely should be doing the Adamantine Forge and Auntie Ethel quests. For the former, Adamantine Shield and Splint Armour can last you until Act 3. Considering how expensive heavy armour is, that can save you plenty of gold. For the latter, it is to unlock the Act 3 quest that gives you Duellist's Prerogative, arguably the easiest high-end legendary weapon to get. If you're running with or as Lae'zel, this one can last you all the way until you get the legendary Silver Sword of the Astral Plane from Voss. If you're doing a two-fighter party run, depending on your party setup, it can even last you all the way until the end.
NOT Rings of Power
Then there's the Gloves of Power, which you can get early in the game by repelling the goblin attack on the Druid Grove. This is an excellent fit for rogues and rangers, especially those proficient in Sleight of Hand. To make this count, however, you'll need the Mark of the Absolute to unlock its full potential. The +1 to Sleight of Hand may seem nothing without the mark, but the ability to Bane any enemy once you have the mark means a fully unlocked Gloves of Power can last you all the way until Act 3, where you can get either Legacy of the Masters (if Dammon survives) or Bonespike Gloves (if you trigger the Farslayer fight at the correct spot). In the worst-case scenario where Dammon dies and you fail to loot Bonespike Gloves, Gloves of Power can still last you for the entire game so long the Bane ability is unlocked.
There's something about Crusher's Ring
Crusher's Ring is another piece of gear that can last long due to its excellent utility value. The increase given to movement speed means it's a great fit for both melee and ranged damage builds. To get this ring, however, you'll have to kill Crusher or kiss his foot. The one issue with the latter is that the DM/narrator doesn't tell you about the ring on his foot. In short, you'll have to mess around with dialogue options for the sake of it to discover it. Either that or you'll have to search the internet for relevant information. From the RP perspective, it's a terribly bad design. It'd be much better if you had to roll a passive Perception check at the relevant point so that the RP factor doesn't get broken.
Stuff you get in Blighted Village
Haste Helm and Bracers of Defence are also great for the early game, and they can be easily obtained in Blighted Village. The former is good for melee and ranged damage dealers, while the latter is excellent for barbarians, wizards, and sorcerers. Put this on Gale together with Mage Armour, and you'll get a +4 bonus for AC. For any wizard and sorcerer, every bit of AC helps in surviving any fight.
Fighting fire at Waukeen's Rest
Doing the Waukeen's Rest quests is highly recommended. Not only does it give inspiration to party members with the Soldier background, you can get some neat loot as a result. Faded Drow Leather Armour is good for rogues and rangers alike. For rangers, however, it's recommended that you switch to Hide Armour +2 once you reach the Goblin Camp, where you can buy it from the vendor (i.e. the guy outside the temple, NOT Roah Moonglow inside). For me, the real deal is saving Florrick, as completing it would give you a choice between three weapons that give you Lightning Charges. I choose the quarterstaff for Gale as the other two options don't last long for my character builds since there are better options within Act 1. Saving the half-naked dude and resolving his dowry issue was more of something I did for the heck of it. That said, Joltshooter with Jolty Vest is a good combo for archery ranger builds.
#FreeOskar
Saving Oskar. Should you or should you not? Free the Artist is a common complaint among gamers, as the consensus is that it's poorly designed. In the past, you could free this guy from the Zhentarim for free if you passed the relevant dialogue checks. Now? It's either you pay the full amount or the discounted amount if you pass the dialogue check. Personally, I find the change to be outright stupid. In fact, I see it as actively discouraging players from freeing him. If this was Larian paying attention to the gamers' complaints, it wouldn't have been the best way to do it. In Act 1, you may not have that much gold. Even if it's the discounted price of 600 gold (800 if you decide to play the nice guy to Oskar), would it be a waste of resources? Sure, you can sell the painting gained at the quest's end (provided Kerri didn't do him in) for an actual profit, as long as you save Figaro from Dolor. But is it worth it? Completing Free the Artist does give you 1K+ XP. Then you have the XP gained by killing the poltergeists and easy access to Philgrave's Mansion. Otherwise, you'll have to pass a Perception check to have a chance of getting inside. If you kill the Mystic Carrion (i.e. for good), you'll get Hood of the Weave. It really depends on how you view the tradeoff. If you really want to free Oskar, I recommend completing Free the Artist before you hit the level 12 cap so that you won't waste the XP tradeoff.
Anders' Game
Sword of Justice is probably one of the best early-game weapons in Act 1 before entering the mountain pass (the other being Phalar Aluve). To get it, you have to help him kill Karlach or help Karlach kill him. If you have party members with the Soldier background, then there's clearly motivation to choose the latter. I've come across online posts stating there's some kind of bug in the game where ending Anders before killing off his two goons would result in Karlach leaving the party upon reaching Act 2. I don't know how accurate this is or whether the bug has been addressed, but I'm not waiting to find out. Doing this fight at level 5 is relatively easy. If you have a wizard/sorcerer in your party, you can position the caster on the house's second floor. Then cast a level 2 Magic Missile on Anders once the fight starts. That can wipe out more than half of his HP. At the same time, Magic Missile is auto-homing. In short, you can fire this from an awkward angle and still hit him. Make sure to take out the vendor asap, as she can pop a potion of speed and use a scroll of Hold Person on any party member within sight. This can be problematic as Anders' attack can wipe out a huge chunk of HP per strike.
And one more thing. Remember to get the tollhouse key to loot the tollhouse for gold and some camp supplies. Split up your party to sit on the two stone chairs to open the secret chamber for more gold and additional weapons to sell for... well, gold. Make sure to have Shadowheart (if you have her in your party) to detect the traps. Being a cleric with proficiency in Perception means she's arguably the ideal party member to detect traps and do passive Perception checks.
Sword of Justice or Phalar Aluve+Ring of Absolute Force?
By itself, it's easy to choose Sword of Justice over Phalar Aluve due to the damage and Tyr's Protection. With the Ring of Absolute Force in the equation, however, and that's where things get interesting. Using Shriek will deal an additional 1d4 Thunder damage. With the Ring of Absolute Force, that'd be 2-5 Thunder damage instead of 1-4. Sword of Justice deals 3-13 damage. Phalar Aluve, with both hands, would deal 1-10 slashing damage plus 2-5 Thunder damage with Ring of Absolute Force for 5 turns. That'd translate to 3-15 damage in total for 5 turns. Use this off an Action Surge to maximise the efficiency of the combo. I guess it depends on whether you're more comfortable with a five-turn burst in damage or a slower but more consistent damage burn. With that said, this Phalar Aluve+Ring of Absolute Force combination can work wonders against Orin when it comes to whittling down her Unstoppable stacks. Assuming we're talking about a level 11 fighter, one turn translates to 3 attacks. Assuming the Thunder damage add-on applies to removing one stack of Unstoppable (not sure about that), one turn can wipe out six stacks of Unstoppable. With that said, there's a bug for Ring of Absolute Force where the wearer doesn't need to be branded with the Absolute's mark to unlock the additional Thunder damage bonus. Has it been fixed? I don't know. That being said, BG3 is a good game to be a fighter since Duellist's Prerogative isn't the only BiS choice until you get Silver Sword of the Astral Plane and Balduran's Giantslayer.
Push the duergar down the lake (so my country can be free)
I'm tempted to add the link to Borat's provocative song about throwing a Jew down the well (hence, "so my country can be free"). While I'd be doing this for the fun of it (fact check: Borat is factually a Jew), I don't want to be seen as a Hamas-loving leftist moaning over Yahya Sinwar's death. Despite dealing with a few level 5 enemies, this fight is 100% doable with a party of level 4 members. If you have party members with the Soldier background, winning the battle will give them free inspiration. Granted, you'll have to pay a fine of 100 gold by the duergar government of Grymforge. But hey, the XP and free inspiration make this deal worthwhile. Also, doing the fight means you can loot the ship and enemies for loot to sell. In Act 1, having as much gold as possible is better. This fight takes place on two boats. Ranged damage dealers should stand on high ground and fire away, while melee damage dealers should just run up and pummel the opposition. If you have a warlock (Wyll or someone else) able to cast Hunger of Hadar, just drop it on the enemies' boat and wait for them to come.
Taking down True Soul Nere
This fight is easy. Just cast Silence, corner him with melee damage dealers, and watch him die. One random observation from this fight is that casting Lightning Bolt with a brazier in the AoE will result in the brazier dropping down. It's an accident resulting from Gale casting Lightning Bolt to damage Nere and Thrinn.
