Total playtime should be about 60 to 100 hours (
Anyone Played For 100 Hours?). In the original release just the D2:ED section of the game took me 75 hours, exploring everywhere and doing all the quests. IIRC Larian's official (conservative) estimate was 40 hours for D2:ED and 20 for FoV (I didn't keep track, but I'd guess I spent at least 25 hours on the expansion).
I entered the fjords at level 13 with my ranger, and didn't have too much trouble. There were a couple places I had to run/jump away, but didn't need to use many potions. The opponents give a lot of experience, so you can level there relatively easily. After getting to level 16 I returned to Broken Valley to clear up some stuff before heading to Maxos temple, where I got to level 17. I went back to the fjords before heading to Sentinel Island, and between clearing the rest of the areas accessible then and turning in a bunch of quests, got to level 22 (the first mindread on Sentinel Island then bringing me to 23).
