Hmm, I *really* want Imoen in my party, and after reading Syl's thread about Imoen, when should I stop doing the Athkatla quests and go on to chapter 4?

I would come back in chapter 6 (or whatever it was) and do the other ton, my party is on average level 10-11.

Going through the underdark is very, very tough with a 10-11 party...especially if you want to get the parts to the weapons. I went in with a 10-11 party and couldn't get past one of the drow war parties you run into. I had to start over from the beginning, but knowing what I know now I probably could've made it. Without the essential parts to certain weapons, of course.

It seems possible to bypass most of the Underdark and come back to it later... If you're interested, there are other posts discussing it, or simply ask again here...

Very Interested actually, I have almost done the Planar Sphere, just can't kill that damn demon, any suggestions?

Then I will probably only do one or two more dungeon crawl quests and a few minor quests before going on, Windspear Hills is a definate.

For the demon, summonned creatures are helpful as well as items/spells that provide free action...

As for the other question:

**** Spoiler ****

If you travel north from where you enter the Underdark (in a roundabout way since there are walls in the way), near where the Deep Gnome bridge is there is an exit on the extreme west side of the map that will take you to the Kuo-Toan dungeon. Within the Kuo-Toan dungeon is the exit to the surface. IIRC, you'll only have to fight some Spore Colonies, some Kuo-Toans in their dungeon, and a few Drow who are guarding the exit to the surface and battleing the elves... There may be a few more monsters between you and the exit to the Kuo-Toan dungeon, but nothing that hard as I recall...

Once out, can you return to the Underdark this same way and continue on with the quests and everything found in the Underdark without upsetting anything?

Syl...

Hmm, I read somewhere that once you leave the Underdark, you can't get back.

Thanks for the demon tips btw, protection from evil helps a bit, stops it from devestating me as much.

My understanding is that yes, you can go back the way you came; I did not personally do this, but there seemed to be no reason why you couldn't... I believe there are one or two posts by people who have done this. One said he left after talking to Adalon and so spoiled one quest, the other seemed more successful.

Once out, the place where you exited will appear on your main map, and you can travel back there (in fact you have to), but again, I didn't try going back down.

[This message has been edited by Blackthorne TA (edited December 06, 2000).]

So, any idea what level would be a good one to hit before spellhold, my monk is almost level 11, about 20000 XP.

Well, it's difficult to say since I was pretty powerful, and things may have seemed easy when they're not.

But! From the ease with which I dispatched the Sahuagins, you should have no trouble there. In the Underdark the Drow will likely be your most difficult foe and the Kuo-Toans next (speaking from the perspective of exiting as fast as possible).

The Kuo-Toans attack in balanced groups of fighters and mages, but you can usually draw the fighters away and deal with the mages later.


[This message has been edited by Blackthorne TA (edited December 06, 2000).]

I thought there were Liches in the underdark, illithids, elder orbs and standard beholders.

Ah, yes! If you're trying to conquer the whole of the Underdark before leaving, then there are indeed very powerful foes and I would suggest getting as much experience as possible before attempting it...

I'll try at least level 12, so my PC has +2 weapons for fist, it depends on how much XP i get from windspear & umar, any suggestions on other high XP quests?

Yoggi, you should do

Umar hills
Windpeer hills
Trademeet (ink Druid Groove)
Dearnise hold

and all minor Athakla missions...

Cause the Underdark can be really hard...

Just finished the Planar Sphere and my monk is lvl 11, gonna do windspear hills next.
Any decent quests that aren't some kind of dungeon crawl?

I started chapter 4 with a level 12 Monk and I didn't have any problem (except for the MFs but they are a problem no matter what level). If you are going to take Imoen perhaps you should leave a couple quests for later.

Go anytime you want, you have the level for it.

mind flayers are really not that difficult as long as you have some "caotic command" spells ready...

Yes, and the greenstone amulet also comes in handy. But the thing I don't like about them is the intelligence drain and the chaotic command doesn't help you there (good AC and potion of genius helps though).