And then of course there's the Creche, which at first blush is the most obvious option for an evil character. They have a Githyanki in their party that can give them access to a creche and a means of healing themselves. She's the person with the most actual knowledge about Mindflayers currently in the party and her route is the most simple and direct one. By rights most evil characters shouldn't want to get involved with the goblins and druids at all because they call for a lot more runarounds and extra effort.
Pretty much this. Playing the smart evil route simply isn't viable yet in EA, hopefully it will be in the future. There's still the issue that if you skip the goblins/grove/hag that you'll be way underlevelled to be able to actually go the githyanki route though since the patrol is level 5 and you'll be at best level 2 if you go straight for the bridge. Not to mention that you'll be missing out on companion / tadpole interactions in the camp.
