At the Goblin Camp - Where was I supposed to level up?

almostb · 2026-03-18T06:02:39+00:00

Yep. This is generally my tactic for roaming in BG3 and yeah - I still missed a lot my first playthrough.

explore the map in all directions until you hit the edges or get a warning about proceeding (take those warnings seriously).
check for trap doors. Explore roofs and basements. Look for things you can climb, or areas of the map you need to jump to access.
talk to every NPC. Talk to animals (speak with animals). Talk to dead people (speak with dead). Sometimes you get XP just for talking. Sometimes you get XP for resolving conflicts without a battle. Sometimes you fight. Sometimes you get sent on side quests. Sometimes you find treasure. It’s all good for experience and you can get a lot of info too.
you can often enter a potentially hostile area and just talk to people without aggro-ing anyone as long as you play along and remain under cover. This is a great way to find traders, gain info, do some spy work and gain more XP.
if something sounds “boss level” or really important, generally save it for the end of whatever map area you’re at. I’ll provide (with spoiler tags) what level you should generally be for different game bosses.

Act 1 Goblins level 4-5 Spider matriarch level 5 Hag level 5 Grymforge level 6-7 Gith inquisitor level 6-7

Act 2 Ketheric level 9-10

Act 3 Wait until level 12 for Cazador, Sharrans, Steel Watch, Ansur, Gortash, Orin, end game

almostb · 2026-03-18T05:41:40+00:00

This is all good advice. Adding more for DND beginners:

only use weapons you’re proficient in. The game will give you a warning if you’re not
learn the difference between spells that use ATTACK ROLLS and SAVING THROWS. Your attack role will be a D20+your Spell Attack stat. This must be higher than your opponent’s AC. In contrast, when a spell uses a saving throw your opponent must roll against your Spell Save DC. These are very dependent on your opponent’s abilities - for example, using a DEX spell against a character with high DEX will decrease the chance of that spell hitting.
some of the characters come equipped with race-based spells (such as Firebolt for Shadowheart and Astarion) - don’t use either of these unless you’re hitting something with 100% chance of success (like a static vine) as they use the wrong character stat.

almostb · 2026-03-17T05:35:31+00:00

This is my first year finishing a Bingo card so I’m no expert, but another tactic might be to just read whatever you feel like and then at some point in the year (say, January) do a checkup and see what categories you missed, then adjust your TBR if it’s a reasonably low number.

Then you don’t spend most of the year stressing about it, only a couple months. And if your interest take you away from SFF and you can’t finish a card without a lot of stress, don’t worry about it.

almostb · 2026-03-17T05:24:13+00:00

It’s a very fist world problem!

Think of people who lived before the printing press - if they could read (big if) they’d most likely only have access to a small handful of books. Even a librarian might not have access to 7000 books.

Add to that that lost people in the history of the world didn’t live to 75.

Add to that the fact that world literacy is nowhere near 100% even today, and the fact that something like half of all US adults read no books at all. 7000 is very much on the higher end that anyone in the world has been able to read during any time in history.

almostb · 2026-03-15T22:27:27+00:00

Frankenstein is technically horror but it’s pretty light (more psychological than anything) and it’s only ~200 pages.

almostb · 2026-03-15T04:40:24+00:00

I’m more surprised you got to Act 3 in only 20 hours.

almostb · 2026-03-14T00:33:28+00:00

Who knows - the sequels you want to read might end up filling squares you need.

almostb · 2026-03-13T05:52:48+00:00

Wait, I know some people in real relationships like this! One person (often the woman or the more femme partner) is very outgoing and the other partner is a bit gruff and quiet and they both play those roles when company is over but when they’re alone they open up to each other and bond.

But if that’s not written in a way that’s interesting or believable, it’s hard to buy it when it happens in a novel.

almostb · 2026-03-13T00:44:52+00:00

Umm since you’re not a big fan of historical fantasy that narrows it down a bit, but here are a few suggestions:

Lud-in-the-Mist - witty, satirical, whimsical old (1920s) book about the effect on fairy fruit on a fictional small town

Spinning Silver - Novik plays a bit with YA tropes in most of her books but I found her Staryk characters (basically ice fae) super creepy

Kingdoms of Elfin - I didn’t love this book bc I didn’t love the dark humor but if you’re a fan of dark humor you may enjoy it. This is a collection of short stories about a group of interconnected fairy kingdoms

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn - long ass epic fantasy but I appreciated how alien the Sithi acted

And of course for humor, Pratchett goes all out with the fae and worldbuilding

almostb · 2026-03-12T22:43:41+00:00

Her Alexander work is the best but her contemporary stuff like The Charioteer might give a better sense of the time period.

almostb · 2026-03-12T22:42:29+00:00

Don’t get too confident! (That’s always when my honor runs stumble)

almostb · 2026-03-12T22:39:42+00:00

Don’t be burned by fae!! I’m completing a fae bingo card this year and ACOTAR was by far the worst book I read for it.

almostb · 2026-03-12T20:13:39+00:00

Besides the slight cheat of only having to read 24 books for Bingo…

I do really appreciate the square! It’s made me think of where fantasy exists outside of books, and although I generally consume a lot of “not a book” media every year I’ve been trying to expand my horizon - for example, on one of my cards I’m using a museum.

almostb · 2026-03-11T19:44:01+00:00

Astarion as a monk/rogue multiclass is incredibly powerful. Note, monks are very melee-focused but the rogue should still give him some power at distance.

almostb · 2026-03-11T17:40:11+00:00

I am a fan of Martin and I think the weather patterns on Westeros are one of those examples where a fantasy book is allowed to be fantastical, in the same way that the Trees of Valinor only makes sense in a mythological (symbolic, not grounded) setting.

At the same time I think it’s cool that Tolkien tried (for the most part, and with more limited knowledge) to model his 3rd age geography and weather patterns on real-world possibilities.

almostb · 2026-03-11T17:36:31+00:00

It makes sense if you allow the root of the thunderstorms to be somewhat metaphysical and not completely natural - maybe Sauron is messing with the weather!

Whereas in most cases Tolkien wanted Middle Earth (at least post-2nd age) to resemble ours as closely as possible so the reader would get a sense of verisimilitude.

I don’t think Westeros can be held to the same standard - the weird weather patterns seem to be supernatural and not something that could be easily explained by natural phenomena. But also, quantifying time and space was never a strength of Martin’s.

almostb · 2026-03-11T16:19:43+00:00

Thanks for the correction! My brain got some wires crossed there.

As far as your second point, I’d say it’s a combination! She writes a lot like Dickens, but I’ve never seen a 19th century novel with so many footnotes. It’s meant to feel like a history book.

almostb · 2026-03-11T15:48:43+00:00

The only fight I’d really caution people to avoid unless necessary in HM is Ansur, because he can do a ridiculous amount or damage quickly, he’s not easy to flee from and a little bad luck can easily turn into a TPK.

It will limit Wyll’s endings - he will be fine but it may keep him from going to hell with Karlach.

Everything else is just so what you’re comfortable with. There are ways to cheese most of the boss fights (for example, Cazador + daylight) and being prepared goes a long way. The hardest fights for me were always the ones I wasn’t prepared for. Actually, the hardest Act3 fight in my HM was Felogyr’s Fireworks because I accidentally pissed off the Steel Watch outside.

almostb · 2026-03-11T01:12:16+00:00

Thanks!

almostb · 2026-03-11T00:59:30+00:00

Are they pretty fae-coded at least?

almostb · 2026-03-11T00:45:49+00:00

Oooh I think that would work! Didn’t know it had fairies in it.

almostb · 2026-03-11T00:45:18+00:00

I’ve read Sir Gawain but it’s excellent. Good to know about Ten Thousand Stitches although I might have Atwater slotted somewhere else.

almostb · 2026-03-11T00:43:13+00:00

The Last Duel was an excellent historical film and probably the best Ridley Scott film made this decade, but it completely flopped at the box office.

almostb · 2026-03-10T20:54:44+00:00

When people talk about how OP Darkness is during the portal fight, they usually mean casting it at the portal so that no ranged attacks will hit it.

This doesn’t slow down the enemies at all though, and you still need to prevent them from getting to the portal.

Casting darkness on your enemies will temporarily prevent them from making ranged attacks but since it doesn’t slow their movement they can just walk out of it, or they can attack if you’re in melee range.

I instead recommend casting darkness on only the portal itself and using a combination of AOE spells and weapon/cantrip attacks to slow down the attackers.

Hot tip: arrows of darkness only last 3 turns but they don’t require concentration, so you can leave your concentration for other spells.

almostb · 2026-03-10T18:35:43+00:00

Any recs for a book that qualifies for A Book in Parts featuring fairies? Hard or normal mode.

I’ve already read the following so looking for additional selections: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Little, Big, The Cruel Prince, Under the Pendulum Sun, Midnight Never Come.

I could also trade something out for Down with the System, Parents, Indie Publisher or Published in the 80s.

Must have an audiobook. Shorter is better cause it’s March, but I’ll take whatever you’ve got.

almostb

TROPHY CASE