Those who were in the Discord’s #general chat were probably aware of my daring task - finishing the game with lowest possible level. It was a rough ride, but I made it in the end. For those that don’t want to read any longer the lowest level to beat normal is 17.
Here’s how I did it:
I started the game, looted all the scrap and things I could so I could repair the bridge. So I crossed the bridge at level 1. To make things less messy I got myself up to level 2 to take on Direni, the first unpassable boss. From there on out every time I got exp after reaching level 3 I would keep killing myself until the exp bar was nulled, meaning I reached the lowest possible experience points on the given level. In most cases it didn’t really help at all, but in two-three cases it kept me from leveling one higher than I was. It was a tedious task, but it was one I was willing to take.
Here is my entire log:
Level 1: Got really unlucky with scraps, so I had to farm those for about and hour in a row, after which I went straight for the bridge. Leveled to 2 to make Direni fight possible.
Level 2: Direni fight. It was a big mess and took really long(about half an hour to an hour) but I eventually did it. The fight leveled me to 3.
Level 3: Reached Cronley’s room, killed the two crystals, and then let Cronley kill me until I lost all the experience(level 3 is the first level where dying causes you to lose experience). Cronley fight itself was extremely easy, as even on level 3 I didn’t need to use a single potion, nor did I die. Only about half of the hunger bar was actually used. The fight leveled me to 4.
Level 4: Rushed to Smuggler’s Pass where I met my third unpassable boss - the gatekeeper Voldrak. Made a huge number of instances to find one where I stood a chance against the horde in the end. Killed the 3 mobs in the end(2 warriors and a shaman) and let the gatekeeper smash me until I lost all the experience. The boss fight itself was again fairly easy due to having taken care of the mobs around. I had enough space to run around the boss without him hitting me(other than with the AoE circle). 10 minute fight, and it leveled me up to 5.
Level 5: Rushed to Homestead portal, and let them kill me until I got to lowest possible experience. Defeating Nazagrad leveled me up to 6.
Level 6: Got rid of the overflow exp from leveling up and killed the tiny mobs left around the portal. The game bugged and the portal didn’t open, causing me to spend multiple hours in this particular location. Eventually I managed to get everything done as level 6 and nulled the experience bar once again. But then… Then I gave the quest to Ulgrim to open the west gate… Level 10.
Level 10: Nulled experience -> took the quest to destroy the Aetherial Amalgamation(which gave 2.5k exp) -> nulled experience -> went to Aetherial Amalgamation -> killed all mobs inside the gates -> nulled experience -> killed Amalgamation. Not much experience, awesome. Gave the quest away… level 12. Damnit.
Level 12: Nulled the overflow experience before proceeding any further, because I have to talk to Ulgrim to get the gate open. Thankfully only 100 exp. To North! Eventually came across Karroz. The fight was hard and tough, but thankfully no level up. Let’s keep going! Upon reaching Fort Ikon I opened the rift, but unfortunately gate was closed. Back to Homestead to finish the prisoner mission! Aaaand it leveled me to 13(about 5% missing from 14). Close one, but still a level-up.
Level 13: Took a while to get rid of nearly a full experience bar, but it was worth it. Or so I thought. Gave in the next quest in line aaaaand level 15.
Level 15: Nulled the experience bar once again, gave in the next quest, and nulled it again. Attempt two for Fort Ikon! The quests leveled me to 16.
Level 16: And then to 17.
Level 17: Finally got the blood wagon quest and I can enter the final dungeon! And the game has been finished!
Some notes I made along the way:
Lowest experience possible at level 3 - 192
Experience lost on death at level 3 - 1
Lowest experience possible at level 4 - 452
Experience lost on death at level 4 - 2
Lowest experience possible at level 5 - 914
Experience lost on death at level 5 - 5
Lowest experience possible at level 6 - 1652
Experience lost on death at level 6 - 8
Lowest experience possible at level 10 - 9164
Experience lost on death at level 10 - 44
Lowest experience possible at level 12 - 17131
Experience lost on death at level 12 - 80
Experience lost on death at level 13 - 104
Lowest experience possible at level 15 - 37082
Experience lost on death at level 15 - 168
Lowest experience possible at level 16 - 46409
Experience lost on death at level 16 - 205
Lowest experience possible at level 17 - 57317
Experience lost on death at level 17 - 249
And here’s some screenshots!
Let me know what you think of this little pet project of mine!