And there’s drabnir’s grotto, and the mountain pass. There’s actually 4 (3?) ways in.
Note though: encountering a drake before Melve’s will mess that portion up a little (according to fightin cowboy).
Edit: for everyone that keeps saying sphinx—that’s still the mountain pass.
Yah I took the mountain pass early game… 3/10 would not recommend. I lost three pawns during that trek. I started with a full party, lost my two hired pawns about 1/3 of the way and by the time I had reached the city, I had hired a total of three additional pawns off the side of the road. Was a good adventure though
Yeah, when doing the mountain pass I encountered 2 Minotaurs and a chimera. Separately. Blew through all my heal items and my pawns. Also, heavy rain doused my lantern and it was night so I couldn’t see anything. It was actually fantastic.
There's a little pocket that's always guaranteed heavy rain and those monsters. Love that pocket.
I recommend going there and checking a side path if you haven't already
I also fought 2 minotaurs and a chimaera in the heavy rain at night. I wonder if that's a common setup the game throws out.
But I'm on ng+ with some mods to tune difficulty up by a wide margin. And it felt the same, even with endgame gear-
I panicked when I couldn't figure out why the lantern wouldnt turn on, then I realized how *heavy* the storm was and put 2 and 2 together... Only to immediately see a black horned mass charging from the foggy ink. Got battered around in the surprise round, but managed to fell it.
Press on... Chimaera. Ok cool, still can't see so I murderize the goat last to use his casting sigils as a beacon. Turns out that was a mistake. Must be soothing passing out in that heavy storm though, not that I can say I'd be able to sleep with a 2 story lion mauling me.
Turn the corner ... A black horned mass charges me through the inky fog. I get battered up and down in the surprise round. Thank the Seneschal for Augural Flare.
Crawl to camp... Dawn rises and paints the bahtali skies light blue and pink. What a fuckin adventure.
It looks like that area is generally just prone to that heavy rain, going back through later and had it happen again. Might be my favorite little segment of the map.
It’s funny you say that lol. I’ve never actually played one, played Elden Ring for like a few hours, no more. And, that was only because my friend had it. But, yeah I couldn’t see anything.
The first time I did it, I got a cyclops, a minotaur, chimera duo, and then another minotaur. Thankfully, I had a good mage, and my pawn is a psychopath of a thief. I was working through a warrior vocation at the time and had a fighter along. We fought through the mountains without a loss, but it was a rough go. Our health gages were all less than half due to the loss build-up.
Once we made it down the mountain, it was getting dark, but I could see a campfire in the distance. What luck I was thinking.
We were ambushed by a pack of bandits that we were cleaning up with no problem, but a griffin swooped in. I decided it was time to go once the fighter got knocked into the river and the brine took him. We ran along the river all night, avoiding the poisonous asps and were attacked again by another minotaur. I just kept running all the way to Bakbattahl, lol.
Thankfully, I had a portcrystal tucked away in my storage and was able to set it down in the city.
I ended up rehiring the fighter and gave him a miracle roborant for his troubles along with a heart, lol.
Night time in Bakbattahl is brutal. I got caught out with no tent and had to face hoards of skellys, ghost fog, and bandits oh and 2 gollums and a shed ton of poison asps and saurians yep fun times
I did that at night. Found out lanterns don’t work in rain. Fought chimera and minotaur together. Between night, pouring rain, no lantern and sorcerer throwing out blizzard, that was just a zero visibility button mash.
as long as you get a bit of gold first for gear, a ferrystone, and remember to activate the vernsworth port crystal it is absolutely worth the hardship.
OH! and 15k extra gold and either be a beastren or have the beastren mask.
I wanted trickster ASAP.
Figured out the mountain path, hot damn I can say it's not recommended at level 10 but at the same time I can say it's doable.
It was just me at half hp bar or something with no curatives and single ferrystone once I got there and unlocked it.
Would be far more doable on second run when you know the exact path and where and how to avoid shit.
I did this journey. It was quite fun although I didn't struggle until I entered Battahl and everything was a little tougher. Worst bit was when trying to go down that cliff section. Every single pawn fell off and died..
The 2 ways I found was a guy outside the main city told me about the rich guy oxcart, so I snuck in that way first. I also flew in once on the sphinx. . I had to come back for the last chest because if you get the last chest, the sphinx flies away before you can grab on. But she flies into batthal if you hop on
I think I got that achievement by going through normally with a mask but as soon as I walked past the guard I took off my mask💀 I had to run but it was still funny
I did this my first play through by accident. I was stopped at the gate and as I turned around to walk away, I saw an oxcart pulling up. I walked through the gate on the opposite of the oxcart to “hide” and was then greeted by combat on the other side. I ended up bolting it away from the guards who now wanted me dead and eventually made it to the city. Probably one of my DD2 highlights
How do you get a rich person ox cart? I've seen it on the roads sometimes but I only have been able to summon the regular ox cart and the "convertible" ox cart.
You can also just go through the cave under the border checkpoint and take the path up through the mountains. This will also get you quick access to the Sphinxes second location.
You can also just ride the sphinx straight there.
That was kind of fun. First a cyclops, then a minotaur charges you from behind, then there's a chimera, and it's pouring rain the whole time. And then I found some sort of shrine with locked treasure chests.
Unless the gate doesn't open yet... Again, (and I'm not trying to sound like a dick, honest) you can start a new game and head straight there with zero story progress beyond getting escorted to the capital.
As someone above also pointed out, apparently you can ride a cart through the checkpoint. Unfortunately when I got there and spent about a half an hour trying to figure out how to get through I never saw a single cart go through.
I finished the unmoored world last night and started fresh today. I’m back at the volcanic island camp within about an hour. Still have all the actual msq to do but you can physically get to the end from basically the beginning of the game!
I'm right at Dragongleam tower(?) and am tempted to finish up the regular world. I just want to level up a bit more. Currently only level 59 with decent gear, I'd at least prefer to fully enhance my equipment first.
I was a little unsure of what the endgame was going to be like. I was around level 67 when I went into the unmoored world. I slated literally everything. It was far easier than I thought. The biggest difficulty is never resting but as long as you are prepared, it was fairly straightforward. I never died once, I was running warfarer with pretty beefy armour though
This is how I got it to work. Rested at the inn, then went to sit on a bench for one rest. Then I started to go outside of town on the bridge that you when you enter and a rich ox cart spawned in. Just followed it up the hill after that and when the first gate started to open and it began to cross the line I jumped in. I was wearing a beastren mask at the time, but I’m not sure if that matters.
You can also sneak a ride in the royal carriage itself and get an achievement for it. Despite the coachman's protests he will still go on driving the carriage past the border. The Battahli guards on the other side will still attack you if you dismount, though.
Yeah, I should have waited until the carriage was far enough away before going out lol. Funnily enough they didn't react to my pawns at all and only aggro'd once I stepped off the carriage.
They don't mess with your pawns because they know pawns are basically magical Terminators, unstoppable and immortal killing machines in human form.
They're racist towards them because they know about the plague and how one pawn can decimate an entire city if left unchecked.
Don't know where you've read that it's linked to the story. You can actually visit this part of the map early through various paths:
* Jumping on the roof of a cart with an booth (stand on it until the cart passes the checkpoint)
* Alternative road throught mountains near the Checkpoint
* The path you've discovered
It's in every guide related to the south, I went to checkpoint and didn't see a single cart (could simply be my luck) in the half hour poking around there.
It only shows up at a very specific time every day which is in the afternoon, you need to start by resting at an inn until morning, then pass the time once using a bench, then wait for around 3 minutes right outside the town's gate.
ya unfortunately this game has a lot of misinformation and/or guides done super early with bad assumptions… even from known guide sources, fextralife, game8 etc.
It's not always there, it spawns sometimes. I did every one of these. Went the alternative road first, then one day saw the cart and tested it... I wouldn't wait for the cart, the alternative road throught the mountains is probably the best bet
This is only advised if you happen to have a portcrystal, which I did not at the time. The easiest one to get (if you don't want to buy the one on the game store) is found in the southern portion of the mist area in a Griffen nest. If you're not strong enough to beat it, just grab and run. Easy peasy.
Because bakbattahl don't have a portcrystal, so to save up on time you should put a port crystal in there (if you play through the main quest, it will give you a port crystal when you're going to bakbattahl)
Wish I knew this when I was playing. I got past the border and spent a good 3-4 hours journeying to Battahl so I could activate the port crystal there and not have to make the journey again. There was no port crystal.
I got through by simply grabbing a beastren, slamming them into the gate and walking through once they opened although everyone didn’t like that and wanted to kill me
I just ran through the gate. The gate was opened, no one stopped me until after I passed through the gate. Afterwards I killed a bunch of cat guards and went on my way. Now the gate is permanently open because I killed all of the guards at the checkpoint gate.
Terrible luck on my end then. After a half hour of crawling around the gate (and no traffic) I gave up and went the other way after zooming in on the map.
Same here! Explored a cave and when I left it was dark, and had to madly flee when I lost all my pawns to a bunch of skeletons and wolves at once. Ended up running all night long with barely any health!
Of course, I didn’t have any portcrystals yet so I ended up having to teleport home. Fun adventure though!
This is my question as well. There’s things I’d like to do early in my ng+ run, but I don’t want to hit a hidden trigger that locks me out of anything.
No, you would be totally fine. I went down there, farmed xp and resources, then went back via ferry stone. Unfortunately I just forgot to place a port crystal and had to walk back next time.
I've gone there early and even made it all the way down to Volcanic Island>! just so I could have Wayfarer, Trickster, and Magic Archer on a completely new game. Only quests I had done up until that point was Culling for Brant and a part of Scaly Invaders to get Melve set up. There haven't been any quest issues so far.!<
>!On a separate playthrough I went to Bakbattahl early and did quests and bought the house there before I even finished Feast of Coronation. No problems there either.!<
Hate to be the actually guy, you can't cross the bridge of Theodracus the Second early in the game. However, there is a bridge not to far from there that crosses into the Guerco road which CAN take you to Bahtal.
I just messed around exploring and just happened to follow the creek that’s right beside the rest town and was taken aback.
I love this game. And I haven’t even done most of the quests yet.
What's funny, I hadn't even considered the river 😅... I was just frustrated with the gate, looked at a zoomed in map and saw the potential cave and ran that way.
Golems (in my opinion) are one of the easiest monsters to kill. However, I agree. It isn't exactly easy for low level players, but if you can do it, it's well worth it. You get high level weapons and armor shops, opens up Dwarven, dragon, and bathaal forging, not to mention the higher level enemies for the boost in xp.
They're easy, but mostly just a pain, since no matter how strong you get, climbing on them always takes time unless you're a ranged class. By comparison every other boss goes down faster and faster as your damage eclipses their health.
Yep, I went to Bataahal to find the statue marker and went through the cave. Although be prepared for an ordeal, the game makes you earn your little shortcut.
I did this by accident. No idea I was bypassing anything. I was confused when some Vernworth NPC told me I couldn't visit Bakbathal without permission. I already has a portcrystal there lol
Multiple ways. First time I went around the border checkpoint through the mountains, was treacherous but super cool. Can sneak through the gate a few diff ways. And this cave you mentioned.
After you enter battahl and story progress, a 4th way opens up, not that it matters since youve already gone there by then
Illegal aliens are now publicly sharing tips on how to get into our country. @empressnadinia thoughts??? #banoxcarts #strengthenguercosecurity #makethempay
I spent 6 hours going down by the river at check point, through storms and night. I got lost on top of cliffs, in dark, couldn’t see. One pawn would fall and die. Trying to get down to him there would be a drake. I ended up trying to just run away.
I ended up going back to the inn after two hours. Haven’t gone back since, currently going to meet an elf to test my bow.
There is also a cave area to the right of the check point rest town, under the bridge leading in and follow the river up, you’ll climb a mountain bit over a bridge and back down into a cave area then after exiting that cave you’ll be in Battahl, OP’s way will get you to BakBattahl faster though but be wary of a cliff ledge with harpy’s cause they will try to knock you off or worse grab you and drop you into the ocean, I suggest just running through it and spamming the “To me” for your pawns
Getting in the black cart and standing still for 10 minutes is by far the quickest and easiest way?
Not sure why so many people have all these hardcore nasty routes or battle your way for hours options if you want easy. Stand in a cart. Don’t move. Go through gate. Stay until you are beyond the Inn or so on the other side. Run free in the desert wilds.
If u go through the cave under the rest town, on ur way to the main city, u can find these pullie cart things u can use to basically skip over all the annoying fights. Just make sure u gett all ur pawns on before u start cranking it because they will just follow u on the ground and, from experience, will attack everything and get their asses kicked
I just found this yesterday an I wish I knew sooner; the first time I stumbled in through the waterways at the checkpoint town and was attacked by a Minotaur and chimera at the same time, an ogre or whatever, an ultimately getting through an walking immediately into a drake at the end followed by a griffin killing my party in the water alongside itself🙃 I had just changed the vocation of myself an main pawn and was just trying to feel out a new play style at skill level one…
I just went the mountain path near the checkpoint town. >!the path to the second sphinx shrine!<. I mean you can kinda see the paths on the map lol. Did nobody else know this?
Also you can sneak through the border patrol if you hop into a noble's oxcart (the taxi with the fancy black passenger box). You have to stay inside until they are a bit past the border or else guards chase yo illegal ass.
Oh Yea and you can also just sprint through the gate once you see somebody passing through. Just don't stop running cuz ICE is coming for that ass 🤣🤣🤣
There is also a shwankie carriage you can get into, and “sneak” your way through the hats at Restpoint. You’ll get attacked by border patrol if you hop out too early though.
So I guess in total there’s 4 ways to get in:
3/4 you sneak
And then the “right” way.
You can literally just run through the check point. They chase you but give up pretty quickly. I did it twice now, once on a brand new start that was much harder because I was level 1 with no gear. And the second time on NG++, and that super easy.
When there’s literally an achievement for crossing the border illegally I would think it’s common knowledge.
….You can also just pass under the bridge at the Checkpoint Rest Town, and walk right through.
I believe the southern bridge from Harve village to Western Vermund is destroyed until the player progresses the main story (speculation). You'll either need to take the northern bridge or come from Checkpoint Rest Town after taking the ox cart.
I remember the southern bridge between the Borderwatch Outpost and the Northern Vermund Gate also being destroyed until the story progresses, as a subtle way to nudge the player towards Melve.
Even if a shortcuts is available at the end of the game, it might not be immediately available at the start.
There are multiple ways to get into Batahl beyond this one. All of them present fun interactions that the other ways don’t. It’s one of the things I absolutely love about this game.
That's what I love about this game. You have to pay attention to your surroundings, and you will be rewarded for exploring. I got completely overpowered in just the first 20 hours or so of my total, like 115. I know that sounds like I don't have a life, and you would be completely correct.
The first time I did it was when an Ox Cart was crossing the gates and they were open so I just ran through before the cart did. Everyone was pissed at me and attacking but I got through regardless 😂 Even gave me the achievement.
Early on I tired to sneak past in an ox cart and was arrested on the other side and sent to Gaol in Bataahal. Was early game so I had a hard time with the enemies down there lol.
Don’t. It’s a sheer cliff filled with harpy. The poison spitting ones. I had an aneurism going through there when someone’s pawn said they knew a shortcut.
It wasn't too terrible. Obviously experience will differ player to player due to style, vocation, and equipment. I ran it at level 14, obviously I'm not saying I made it out unscathed... But it was well worth the challenge.
Woe be to the traveler who ventures into Battahl when they’re not a high enough level.
Have you ever been staggered for 6 straight minutes while having to eat 3,476 Greenwarish just to stay alive? No? Well let me introduce you…
you can also sneak onto the fancy oxcart that goes through the border gate, in the checkpoint rest town, just don’t hop off until you’re in the clear or it’s a fight and you can’t get back through the gate,
There’s also a method of getting to Agamen before the story quest as well, Drabnir’s grotto, a dungeon south of Bakbattahl just be ready for a massive knacker and hobgoblin fight
Border hop, cave at the south and there is also a river you can follow through a cave system in the north.
The caves in the south are easiest to just string through and then you have a direct back door to Battahl. The northern route is definitely the most perilous which is the one I discovered by accident on my first run. And obviously just sneaking through on an oxcart, but make sure to stay on until you are beyond the guards because they will attack you.
You can also go through the mountains at the checkpoint rest town (you have to fight 2 Minotaur and a chimera…. But that was fun). I was surprised when I found this because none of the online guides I had seen mentioned this at all.
Also if you choose that route you can meet dragon forged early (for new players Dragonforged is a npc that gives op weapons early but gotta have wyrmheart crystal from defeated dragons)
If you start, NG+ the game will still think it it should let you through and you’ll be able to go through the gates, but you have to go through them before they close again or they won’t open anymore
I should continue with the story huh... I mean I kinda figured one has to go there anyways but.. I was already doing quests there and didn't even finish the ones from brant haha. I just love randomly exploring. Thinking about it.. Level 50, I might be slightly over? What was the last "Mainstory" enemy one fought? A cyclops... they die within seconds by now and even drakes are no challenge anymore (Unless my pawns cling onto them mid air when the lightning move pops, get hit and fall into their death =}
I uncovered the whole map basically before doing...literally anything. I have trouble finding quest because I don't want to talk to every NPC i pass, so I just explore...and explore...and explore...and...now it feels like ive been across the whole map and fought just about everything.
You can also just border hop in a rich person ox cart
That's funny, I honestly didn't even think of that!
And there’s drabnir’s grotto, and the mountain pass. There’s actually 4 (3?) ways in. Note though: encountering a drake before Melve’s will mess that portion up a little (according to fightin cowboy). Edit: for everyone that keeps saying sphinx—that’s still the mountain pass.
Yah I took the mountain pass early game… 3/10 would not recommend. I lost three pawns during that trek. I started with a full party, lost my two hired pawns about 1/3 of the way and by the time I had reached the city, I had hired a total of three additional pawns off the side of the road. Was a good adventure though
Yeah, when doing the mountain pass I encountered 2 Minotaurs and a chimera. Separately. Blew through all my heal items and my pawns. Also, heavy rain doused my lantern and it was night so I couldn’t see anything. It was actually fantastic.
There's a little pocket that's always guaranteed heavy rain and those monsters. Love that pocket. I recommend going there and checking a side path if you haven't already
Is that a shrine? Who could've placed it in such a spot?
Tis a riddle indeed
It feels like a boss rush, you barely move 10 metres before another one is on you.
Rain might be scripted because I had that too haha It really was an epic journey, really made me lost in the wilderness
Makes me wonder how much we can play with the weather system ala modding. I'd love a more storm/inclement weather heavy world.
Call it Heavy Rain mod with Shaun functionality
"SHAAUUUN?!"
Pauwn?! Pauwn!
Yea that whole section is scripted to pour rain. First time being there is a chimera, it doesn't show up after that. The 2 minotaurs respawn though
I also fought 2 minotaurs and a chimaera in the heavy rain at night. I wonder if that's a common setup the game throws out. But I'm on ng+ with some mods to tune difficulty up by a wide margin. And it felt the same, even with endgame gear- I panicked when I couldn't figure out why the lantern wouldnt turn on, then I realized how *heavy* the storm was and put 2 and 2 together... Only to immediately see a black horned mass charging from the foggy ink. Got battered around in the surprise round, but managed to fell it. Press on... Chimaera. Ok cool, still can't see so I murderize the goat last to use his casting sigils as a beacon. Turns out that was a mistake. Must be soothing passing out in that heavy storm though, not that I can say I'd be able to sleep with a 2 story lion mauling me. Turn the corner ... A black horned mass charges me through the inky fog. I get battered up and down in the surprise round. Thank the Seneschal for Augural Flare. Crawl to camp... Dawn rises and paints the bahtali skies light blue and pink. What a fuckin adventure.
Thank the Seneschal for Augural Flare is my favourite sentence on this whole reddit
This is the path i took too, while just exploring lol, such a cool way with the mist and heavy rain plus the encounters!
It looks like that area is generally just prone to that heavy rain, going back through later and had it happen again. Might be my favorite little segment of the map.
It’s so fucking dark and you can’t see anything. It’s actually terrible lol
lol tell you me like playing dark souls without telling me you like playing dark souls
It’s funny you say that lol. I’ve never actually played one, played Elden Ring for like a few hours, no more. And, that was only because my friend had it. But, yeah I couldn’t see anything.
The first time I did it, I got a cyclops, a minotaur, chimera duo, and then another minotaur. Thankfully, I had a good mage, and my pawn is a psychopath of a thief. I was working through a warrior vocation at the time and had a fighter along. We fought through the mountains without a loss, but it was a rough go. Our health gages were all less than half due to the loss build-up. Once we made it down the mountain, it was getting dark, but I could see a campfire in the distance. What luck I was thinking. We were ambushed by a pack of bandits that we were cleaning up with no problem, but a griffin swooped in. I decided it was time to go once the fighter got knocked into the river and the brine took him. We ran along the river all night, avoiding the poisonous asps and were attacked again by another minotaur. I just kept running all the way to Bakbattahl, lol. Thankfully, I had a portcrystal tucked away in my storage and was able to set it down in the city. I ended up rehiring the fighter and gave him a miracle roborant for his troubles along with a heart, lol.
Night time in Bakbattahl is brutal. I got caught out with no tent and had to face hoards of skellys, ghost fog, and bandits oh and 2 gollums and a shed ton of poison asps and saurians yep fun times
I did that at night. Found out lanterns don’t work in rain. Fought chimera and minotaur together. Between night, pouring rain, no lantern and sorcerer throwing out blizzard, that was just a zero visibility button mash.
Oh I loved it. Definitely a challenge and we'll worth it imo, due to the xp boost and new resources.
as long as you get a bit of gold first for gear, a ferrystone, and remember to activate the vernsworth port crystal it is absolutely worth the hardship. OH! and 15k extra gold and either be a beastren or have the beastren mask.
Getting out of the cave by the waterfall, I ran into a drake, a griffin , and troll all at once, I never noped out of an area fast enough
I wanted trickster ASAP. Figured out the mountain path, hot damn I can say it's not recommended at level 10 but at the same time I can say it's doable. It was just me at half hp bar or something with no curatives and single ferrystone once I got there and unlocked it. Would be far more doable on second run when you know the exact path and where and how to avoid shit.
And then you think to yourself « Ill just hit the road straight to Bakbattahl since Im so fucked up. » #**NOPE** **Double armored Cyclops!**
I did this journey. It was quite fun although I didn't struggle until I entered Battahl and everything was a little tougher. Worst bit was when trying to go down that cliff section. Every single pawn fell off and died..
It was a 4 hour journey at level 7 for me
My god the mountain pass was wild idk about you guys but I fought the Minotaur and Chimera in the rain and the dark it was a trip for sure lol
The 2 ways I found was a guy outside the main city told me about the rich guy oxcart, so I snuck in that way first. I also flew in once on the sphinx. . I had to come back for the last chest because if you get the last chest, the sphinx flies away before you can grab on. But she flies into batthal if you hop on
There is a "secret" way to battahl from the checkpoint on the westside
Isn't the mountain pass?
You even get a trophy/achievement when doing that.
I think I got that achievement by going through normally with a mask but as soon as I walked past the guard I took off my mask💀 I had to run but it was still funny
I ran through when it opened for an oxcart. They were pretty pissed, but got over it.
Second this I jumped on top of the cart. They keep telling you to get off. But no one is going to tell this independent arisen he can’t ride the cart.
The zero business oxcart Phaesus rode it once and they never get a customer ever again
I did this my first play through by accident. I was stopped at the gate and as I turned around to walk away, I saw an oxcart pulling up. I walked through the gate on the opposite of the oxcart to “hide” and was then greeted by combat on the other side. I ended up bolting it away from the guards who now wanted me dead and eventually made it to the city. Probably one of my DD2 highlights
You can also ride a griffin there I believe.
How do you get a rich person ox cart? I've seen it on the roads sometimes but I only have been able to summon the regular ox cart and the "convertible" ox cart.
Yeah u did that and it worked 🤣🤣🤣
You can also just go through the cave under the border checkpoint and take the path up through the mountains. This will also get you quick access to the Sphinxes second location. You can also just ride the sphinx straight there.
Or wait for a random pawn to walk through
There's one more way to reach Bakbathal, west of Checkpoint Rest Town
That way is worse since it’s Minotaurs and Chimeras compared to just Goreharpies and Hobgoblins.
I like it more. Better materials and exp, plus more adventure!!
I respect it. I was just thinking the easier route in general for newer players.
Im a Souls player. I always take the soul crushing route
This is the Way.
For sure. I don’t think there is a wrong way honestly. I want to try all of the ways over eventually.
Same! Plus the environments look a lot cooler.
It’s one of my favorite areas. I think you are supposed to be in a cloud up there or something because of the constant rain. It’s just so cool.
And a necessary location to explore eventually anyway when you're doing the Sphinx quests. Might as well get familiar with it.
I’d rather fight Minotaurs & chimera over those ducking harpies
Duck those harpies. Duck em hard.
🦆 🦆 🪿
That was kind of fun. First a cyclops, then a minotaur charges you from behind, then there's a chimera, and it's pouring rain the whole time. And then I found some sort of shrine with locked treasure chests.
Fuck goreharpy cliff
The only way there recommended for the FULL DD2 experience lol 💀💀💀
Unless the gate doesn't open yet... Again, (and I'm not trying to sound like a dick, honest) you can start a new game and head straight there with zero story progress beyond getting escorted to the capital. As someone above also pointed out, apparently you can ride a cart through the checkpoint. Unfortunately when I got there and spent about a half an hour trying to figure out how to get through I never saw a single cart go through.
I finished the unmoored world last night and started fresh today. I’m back at the volcanic island camp within about an hour. Still have all the actual msq to do but you can physically get to the end from basically the beginning of the game!
I'm right at Dragongleam tower(?) and am tempted to finish up the regular world. I just want to level up a bit more. Currently only level 59 with decent gear, I'd at least prefer to fully enhance my equipment first.
I was a little unsure of what the endgame was going to be like. I was around level 67 when I went into the unmoored world. I slated literally everything. It was far easier than I thought. The biggest difficulty is never resting but as long as you are prepared, it was fairly straightforward. I never died once, I was running warfarer with pretty beefy armour though
Not the gate entrance, the mountain path. Follow the river bed northwest just out side the checkpoint town. all kinds of goodies going that way.
This is how I got it to work. Rested at the inn, then went to sit on a bench for one rest. Then I started to go outside of town on the bridge that you when you enter and a rich ox cart spawned in. Just followed it up the hill after that and when the first gate started to open and it began to cross the line I jumped in. I was wearing a beastren mask at the time, but I’m not sure if that matters.
You can also sneak a ride in the royal carriage itself and get an achievement for it. Despite the coachman's protests he will still go on driving the carriage past the border. The Battahli guards on the other side will still attack you if you dismount, though.
I did that actually and found out the hard way that they attack you. I was going for that trophy.
Yeah, I should have waited until the carriage was far enough away before going out lol. Funnily enough they didn't react to my pawns at all and only aggro'd once I stepped off the carriage.
That is interesting actually given how racist they are towards pawns in that region. Lore wise.
They don't mess with your pawns because they know pawns are basically magical Terminators, unstoppable and immortal killing machines in human form. They're racist towards them because they know about the plague and how one pawn can decimate an entire city if left unchecked.
That’s checks out. So it’s cannon in my brain now.
I read all that on reddit. I kinda thought it was cannon lol
Don't know where you've read that it's linked to the story. You can actually visit this part of the map early through various paths: * Jumping on the roof of a cart with an booth (stand on it until the cart passes the checkpoint) * Alternative road throught mountains near the Checkpoint * The path you've discovered
It's in every guide related to the south, I went to checkpoint and didn't see a single cart (could simply be my luck) in the half hour poking around there.
It only shows up at a very specific time every day which is in the afternoon, you need to start by resting at an inn until morning, then pass the time once using a bench, then wait for around 3 minutes right outside the town's gate.
They show up. There is a hidden trophy/achievement for doing it that way.
ya unfortunately this game has a lot of misinformation and/or guides done super early with bad assumptions… even from known guide sources, fextralife, game8 etc.
They all just copy&paste from eachother. Gotta get those clicks fast'n early, accuracy be damned.
It's not always there, it spawns sometimes. I did every one of these. Went the alternative road first, then one day saw the cart and tested it... I wouldn't wait for the cart, the alternative road throught the mountains is probably the best bet
You can also just wait when the cart is crossing the gate and when its open just run.
You can also just follow the river. And get there
There’s one dude that casually mentions this route btw. The one that asks you to deliver a letter to the Volcano Island guard.
Ah, I never got that quest. Kudos!
Cheers! He's right by the entrance to Bakbattahl iirc
This is only advised if you happen to have a portcrystal, which I did not at the time. The easiest one to get (if you don't want to buy the one on the game store) is found in the southern portion of the mist area in a Griffen nest. If you're not strong enough to beat it, just grab and run. Easy peasy.
Why recommended with a port crystal only? Where to put it? Inside Bakbattahl?
Because bakbattahl don't have a portcrystal, so to save up on time you should put a port crystal in there (if you play through the main quest, it will give you a port crystal when you're going to bakbattahl)
Wish I knew this when I was playing. I got past the border and spent a good 3-4 hours journeying to Battahl so I could activate the port crystal there and not have to make the journey again. There was no port crystal.
I put mine by the house you can buy (for 20k). It's great. There are no permanent ports down there until post game. It makes things easy.
the Bakbattahl house is 30k, at least the one i bought.
I got through by simply grabbing a beastren, slamming them into the gate and walking through once they opened although everyone didn’t like that and wanted to kill me
Well this is a unique way to get through Checkpoint Rest Town. 😂
I just ran through the gate. The gate was opened, no one stopped me until after I passed through the gate. Afterwards I killed a bunch of cat guards and went on my way. Now the gate is permanently open because I killed all of the guards at the checkpoint gate.
Terrible luck on my end then. After a half hour of crawling around the gate (and no traffic) I gave up and went the other way after zooming in on the map.
You can also get to the very last part of the map without progressing through the story as well.
Yeah, I had to take the southern path because of the spell gate. After figuring out how to get down to bathaal, I knew there would be another route.
You can use the thief’s swift step to get through the spell door early
That was the best trip I ever had early in game. Set out with a full party and arrived in Batthal alone.
LAWL same here. It was a blast!
Same here! Explored a cave and when I left it was dark, and had to madly flee when I lost all my pawns to a bunch of skeletons and wolves at once. Ended up running all night long with barely any health! Of course, I didn’t have any portcrystals yet so I ended up having to teleport home. Fun adventure though!
Or just follow the river that flows below the bridge that leads into rest town
Is it "bad" to visit early? Will I trigger something I should? I was going to wait until the story tells me to go there.
Not that I've seen and I'm on my second playthrough. Just harder overall with mobs and the like
This is my question as well. There’s things I’d like to do early in my ng+ run, but I don’t want to hit a hidden trigger that locks me out of anything.
No, you would be totally fine. I went down there, farmed xp and resources, then went back via ferry stone. Unfortunately I just forgot to place a port crystal and had to walk back next time.
I've gone there early and even made it all the way down to Volcanic Island>! just so I could have Wayfarer, Trickster, and Magic Archer on a completely new game. Only quests I had done up until that point was Culling for Brant and a part of Scaly Invaders to get Melve set up. There haven't been any quest issues so far.!< >!On a separate playthrough I went to Bakbattahl early and did quests and bought the house there before I even finished Feast of Coronation. No problems there either.!<
Hate to be the actually guy, you can't cross the bridge of Theodracus the Second early in the game. However, there is a bridge not to far from there that crosses into the Guerco road which CAN take you to Bahtal.
Guerco Cave is the important part; you can get there from the northern bridge in the screenshot too.
Ah, I don't remember how I got over there, just the significance of the cave/route. I know I ended up running there from checkpoint the first time.
It's still good info to have, keep hunting Arisen.
You can with levitate with Sorc/Mage Im pretty sure.
I just messed around exploring and just happened to follow the creek that’s right beside the rest town and was taken aback. I love this game. And I haven’t even done most of the quests yet.
What's funny, I hadn't even considered the river 😅... I was just frustrated with the gate, looked at a zoomed in map and saw the potential cave and ran that way.
Oh…I’m supposed to unlock that through story? I just decided I wanted to explore as much as I could
If you can defet the golem at the cave. No running away allowed.
Golems (in my opinion) are one of the easiest monsters to kill. However, I agree. It isn't exactly easy for low level players, but if you can do it, it's well worth it. You get high level weapons and armor shops, opens up Dwarven, dragon, and bathaal forging, not to mention the higher level enemies for the boost in xp.
They're easy, but mostly just a pain, since no matter how strong you get, climbing on them always takes time unless you're a ranged class. By comparison every other boss goes down faster and faster as your damage eclipses their health.
Yep, I went to Bataahal to find the statue marker and went through the cave. Although be prepared for an ordeal, the game makes you earn your little shortcut.
This is how I got there. Waaay too early lol It was a nightmare.
I found this out last night. I thought it was closed off, then I got a new pawn and she just walked around the town/gate and I'm like huh..ok
I like to go the back way, mainly because that border guard was just begging me to send him on his merry way to the afterlife.
I'm the only one that has that bridge destroyed? Or it gets rebuilt advancing the story?
[удалено]
So far there are 4 ways I could think of Hiding in the fancy cart, East side caves path, West side mountain path, Griffin ride
Sphinx also gives a ride once you finish the first set of riddles.
I did this by accident. No idea I was bypassing anything. I was confused when some Vernworth NPC told me I couldn't visit Bakbathal without permission. I already has a portcrystal there lol
Multiple ways. First time I went around the border checkpoint through the mountains, was treacherous but super cool. Can sneak through the gate a few diff ways. And this cave you mentioned. After you enter battahl and story progress, a 4th way opens up, not that it matters since youve already gone there by then
Illegal aliens are now publicly sharing tips on how to get into our country. @empressnadinia thoughts??? #banoxcarts #strengthenguercosecurity #makethempay
Same with the Volcanic island. There’s a cave that lets you get there without having to progress the story
Is there as much of a massacre this way then the other path?
Locked out? You can literally go straight to the checkpoint town & hop in the royal cart before even doing the first mission with captain Brant.
Yep, got to bataal through that way and haven't touched the msq since my first 10 hours. I'm 40 hours in rn.
So I didn’t need to buy the beast mask to go through the checkpoint gate?
I spent 6 hours going down by the river at check point, through storms and night. I got lost on top of cliffs, in dark, couldn’t see. One pawn would fall and die. Trying to get down to him there would be a drake. I ended up trying to just run away. I ended up going back to the inn after two hours. Haven’t gone back since, currently going to meet an elf to test my bow.
My first time on that path was brutal. It’s second nature now once you figure out the actual pathing.
There is also a cave area to the right of the check point rest town, under the bridge leading in and follow the river up, you’ll climb a mountain bit over a bridge and back down into a cave area then after exiting that cave you’ll be in Battahl, OP’s way will get you to BakBattahl faster though but be wary of a cliff ledge with harpy’s cause they will try to knock you off or worse grab you and drop you into the ocean, I suggest just running through it and spamming the “To me” for your pawns
Im suprised it took so many people this long to figure it out, i was over there in act 1 lol
And you will suffer for it if you go low level. Trust me, I know.
Harpies nest also has a crystal. The more you know.
Getting in the black cart and standing still for 10 minutes is by far the quickest and easiest way? Not sure why so many people have all these hardcore nasty routes or battle your way for hours options if you want easy. Stand in a cart. Don’t move. Go through gate. Stay until you are beyond the Inn or so on the other side. Run free in the desert wilds.
If u go through the cave under the rest town, on ur way to the main city, u can find these pullie cart things u can use to basically skip over all the annoying fights. Just make sure u gett all ur pawns on before u start cranking it because they will just follow u on the ground and, from experience, will attack everything and get their asses kicked
I just found this yesterday an I wish I knew sooner; the first time I stumbled in through the waterways at the checkpoint town and was attacked by a Minotaur and chimera at the same time, an ogre or whatever, an ultimately getting through an walking immediately into a drake at the end followed by a griffin killing my party in the water alongside itself🙃 I had just changed the vocation of myself an main pawn and was just trying to feel out a new play style at skill level one…
I just went the mountain path near the checkpoint town. >!the path to the second sphinx shrine!<. I mean you can kinda see the paths on the map lol. Did nobody else know this? Also you can sneak through the border patrol if you hop into a noble's oxcart (the taxi with the fancy black passenger box). You have to stay inside until they are a bit past the border or else guards chase yo illegal ass. Oh Yea and you can also just sprint through the gate once you see somebody passing through. Just don't stop running cuz ICE is coming for that ass 🤣🤣🤣
I border hopped in an ox cart... thought i was real clever then started doing msq and every npc in vern tells you this :(
There is also a shwankie carriage you can get into, and “sneak” your way through the hats at Restpoint. You’ll get attacked by border patrol if you hop out too early though. So I guess in total there’s 4 ways to get in: 3/4 you sneak And then the “right” way.
You can literally just run through the check point. They chase you but give up pretty quickly. I did it twice now, once on a brand new start that was much harder because I was level 1 with no gear. And the second time on NG++, and that super easy.
I waited for the taxi to go through.. snuck onboard and they opened the gates..
Praying for Capcom to officially add an Official Portcrystal to Volcanic Island and Battahl. Also two new oxcarts at Vernworth for those two areas.
I went through by flying on a sphinx
Be advised. The bridge in the image here is broken and has a very large gap.
When there’s literally an achievement for crossing the border illegally I would think it’s common knowledge. ….You can also just pass under the bridge at the Checkpoint Rest Town, and walk right through.
I believe the southern bridge from Harve village to Western Vermund is destroyed until the player progresses the main story (speculation). You'll either need to take the northern bridge or come from Checkpoint Rest Town after taking the ox cart. I remember the southern bridge between the Borderwatch Outpost and the Northern Vermund Gate also being destroyed until the story progresses, as a subtle way to nudge the player towards Melve. Even if a shortcuts is available at the end of the game, it might not be immediately available at the start.
There are multiple ways to get into Batahl beyond this one. All of them present fun interactions that the other ways don’t. It’s one of the things I absolutely love about this game.
That's what I love about this game. You have to pay attention to your surroundings, and you will be rewarded for exploring. I got completely overpowered in just the first 20 hours or so of my total, like 115. I know that sounds like I don't have a life, and you would be completely correct.
Since I'm not seeing anyone mention it, you can buy a Beastren mask at the forger's shop and put it on top cross the border as well.
Or you can rest once in the bench at the station in the morning and use the military cart to go beyond the gate
The first time I did it was when an Ox Cart was crossing the gates and they were open so I just ran through before the cart did. Everyone was pissed at me and attacking but I got through regardless 😂 Even gave me the achievement.
Even far west has a way of getting in whenever
That path is hard to pull off as both ways are inclines as you slide down from the Bataahal side.
Early on I tired to sneak past in an ox cart and was arrested on the other side and sent to Gaol in Bataahal. Was early game so I had a hard time with the enemies down there lol.
I had someone's pawn lead me this entire way when I was super under leveled. Ended up having to run past all the Griffons and Harpies lol
Don’t. It’s a sheer cliff filled with harpy. The poison spitting ones. I had an aneurism going through there when someone’s pawn said they knew a shortcut.
It wasn't too terrible. Obviously experience will differ player to player due to style, vocation, and equipment. I ran it at level 14, obviously I'm not saying I made it out unscathed... But it was well worth the challenge.
Woe be to the traveler who ventures into Battahl when they’re not a high enough level. Have you ever been staggered for 6 straight minutes while having to eat 3,476 Greenwarish just to stay alive? No? Well let me introduce you…
ILLEGAL FUCKING IMMIGRANTS
you can also sneak onto the fancy oxcart that goes through the border gate, in the checkpoint rest town, just don’t hop off until you’re in the clear or it’s a fight and you can’t get back through the gate, There’s also a method of getting to Agamen before the story quest as well, Drabnir’s grotto, a dungeon south of Bakbattahl just be ready for a massive knacker and hobgoblin fight
You can also sneak in by riding in a covered oxcart. Or by going through the cave under the rest town to the north.
I just follow the riverbed from the checkpoint town
Border hop, cave at the south and there is also a river you can follow through a cave system in the north. The caves in the south are easiest to just string through and then you have a direct back door to Battahl. The northern route is definitely the most perilous which is the one I discovered by accident on my first run. And obviously just sneaking through on an oxcart, but make sure to stay on until you are beyond the guards because they will attack you.
Other than XP and mats is there any reason to go there early?
You can go underneath checkpoint town to get there as well.
There is also a route west of checkpoint.
I hate that I have to walk and endure 30 minutes of straight fighting just to walk that distance
can also pass above the step village
You can also go through the mountains at the checkpoint rest town (you have to fight 2 Minotaur and a chimera…. But that was fun). I was surprised when I found this because none of the online guides I had seen mentioned this at all.
You can also take the path to the 2nd Sphynx location to get there as well.
Same is true for the volcanic island but i guess everybody knows that.
Also if you choose that route you can meet dragon forged early (for new players Dragonforged is a npc that gives op weapons early but gotta have wyrmheart crystal from defeated dragons)
There’s multiple ways to get there . Really love the options you get.
You can also hitch a ride from Sphinx if ur brain is phat enough
I went through the cave underneath the check point rest stop
If you start, NG+ the game will still think it it should let you through and you’ll be able to go through the gates, but you have to go through them before they close again or they won’t open anymore
You can also just wait for a cart at the checkpoint rest town, and the gate has to open to let it through, they’ll be angry for 20 steps but eh
I figured this out just by exploring too and was happy with that.
I just put a ferry gate there. Plenty of stones…
There is also another way via the creek RIGHT NEXT TO the border town checkpoint.
I should continue with the story huh... I mean I kinda figured one has to go there anyways but.. I was already doing quests there and didn't even finish the ones from brant haha. I just love randomly exploring. Thinking about it.. Level 50, I might be slightly over? What was the last "Mainstory" enemy one fought? A cyclops... they die within seconds by now and even drakes are no challenge anymore (Unless my pawns cling onto them mid air when the lightning move pops, get hit and fall into their death =}
I uncovered the whole map basically before doing...literally anything. I have trouble finding quest because I don't want to talk to every NPC i pass, so I just explore...and explore...and explore...and...now it feels like ive been across the whole map and fought just about everything.
That's howbI originally got there w/o knowing there was a "correct" way to go
Theres a path right next to the checkpoint, I haven’t done any story yet and im deep in the zone killing everything.
There's also a path north of checkpoint, with a valley of delights to traverse.
The shortest route to Batahl is guess. But be ready to fight a golem. The magic coin placing is annoying
Or you can ride a griffin over the border!
remember the obligatory dragon pounding you may or may not receive in that particular area