Larian Studios Forums Divinity 2 - Ego Draconis (English) Help/Tips/Tricks Leveling Up Early On

I just picked up this game yesterday, and I was wondering if anyone had any tips on where to level up early on in the game? I don't have the greatest equipment(obviously), but my plans are to build a warrior that uses two handed swords, and maybe some ranged talents.

I just got to Broken Valley, any tips on what not to miss would be greatly appreciated

If you want the max out of XP, go first for killing enemies, find gear to equip by loot from enemies, barrels, chests, crates, etc... search & discover hidden area's, talk to many NPC's ... and than go for some quests ... Mindreading is a good and funny thing, don't skip it

If you want a good 2-handed sword: a Ghost, Arben, give you a good sword, but Rhode take it away from you, but she give it back later on in the game But you find also other good 2-handed swords in the meantime ... If you go for some Ranger skills:
if you started with a ranger you've already poison arrow, 1 point is fine. And Ranger Stealth is fun (I find) because you can shoot enemies from a larger distance and most of the time you can attack them before they see you! And more: equip a bow and you can see enemy and you can use magic spell before that enemy see you! If you choose magic, try a combination like this (for example):
Magic Blast or Magic Missile + passive skills Destruction & Confusion ... really great

Some quests gives also good gear, in particular the quests Captain Rodney gives you a reward for (he's in the Barracks).

This game DON'T hold your hand! So give many things a TRY, go for it and if you're unsure, make first an extra savegame (that's always a good thing if you wish to go in dungeons, doors, etc ... ).

To maximize your XP gain, try and get as many IMPORTANT mind-Reads done as early as possible, and get some quests. Then, kill off as many enemies as you can. Finally, complete the quests - this doens't change the XP rewqard, but it does give you higher quality items as a reward. To sum up:

To maximize your XP gain:
1) Get some quests.
2) Mind-read anyone who is worth it.
3) Kill as many enemies as you can.
4) Complete/Turn in your quests.

Hmm, strange ... My XP reward for completing a quest comes higher if I have some levels more!
But it is indeed a very good idea to talk to many NPC's and mindread them to see if it give you a (side) quest ...
But there are also some quests that give no XP, but only gear and like Stabbey says, that gear have a better value if you have a higher level... but this last case I don't examinated it still on my own.

I am new to the game as well, but my recommendation would be to check here http://guides.gamepressure.com/divinityiiegodraconis/guide.asp?ID=8163

before mindreading randomly, the guide seems to indicate which quests are prompted by mind reading and I beleive the list is complete, I just know that mindreading can be amusing but expensive at the same time due to the experience penalty, especially if its unneccessary

Thank you everyone

I did my first Mindread, that seems really useful.

If I were to invest in two Mage capabilities...what should they be? I already have Magic Missle and I enjoy using it...I've heard good things about fireball... Things are moving along alot better for me now...this game was a like a hot bath, in that I eased into it little by little...lol and my journey is just barely beginning in this insanely vast world...and I like it