Originally Posted by Stabbey


Originally Posted by Hiver
Going out into the western area is not early game. By that time the player is already on level 3 - or 4, depending on how much youve done in the city.


No matter how much you repeat this, you are wrong. The Western Cyseal area IS early game. You will only have fought between two and four battles by the time you can visit Western Cyseal (add two more if you find the graveyard tunnel, which not everyone will find).

1. Babby's first combat tutorial: the Cursed Servants everyone can sleep through.
2. (Optional) The sneak/surface tutorial fight. Also sleep-walkable.
3. (Optional) The two guards at the bridge. This is tougher, but completely optional.
4. The Orc fight outside the harbour gates. The first real challenge, as the Shaman's fireball has the potential to one-shot low-CON characters and burn the other at the same time.
5. (Missable) The undead mage in the graveyard tunnel. Not a tough fight, but the tunnel is not possible to miss from inside Cyseal.
6. (Missable) The skeletal scorcher fight. Quite tough early on, but as above, completely missable.

So there are only TWO mandatory fights before you can enter West Cyseal, and of those two, one is nigh-impossible to lose. Enemies outside West Cyseal start at level 3. Since the maximum level is supposed to be in the 20's, how is level 3 out of 20 not "early game"?

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Going out into the western area is not early game. By that time the player is already on level 3 - or 4, depending on how much youve done in the city. (and by that time you are or you should be full of all kinds of potions, equipment and food which gives various resistances)


Are you making the ASSUMPTION that every single player will do every single quest within Cyseal's walls, and they are also robbing the place blind, and they're all trying out every single food item in the game and writing down what they all do? That's a valid playstyle, but that should not be required for every player.


Not only that :
There is no door on the western entrance near the mortician's shop. So you think it's the easiest place to start with.
Aureus gives you a quest to find soldiers near the lighthouse.
You want to test combat with Madora/Jahan

Once you've played the game once you will explore the city first to get stuff, reach level 4, and be prepared to face poison.
But how many players on this forum did it on their first playthrough ?
How many found the tunnel ?
How many found Madora and Jahan ?

I insist that the first encounter in front of this entrance should not use poison, at least on the easy and normal difficulty settings.
Every new player will try to go there at level 2 and get killed if you leave the poison.
Have the undeads there deal enough physical damage to force you to use healing potions, and perhaps to retreat to the city. It's a good hint that you have to explore the city first without the need to reload the game. ( and it's not breaking the story )