Basically looking for people’s experiences across multiple playthroughs in this game. Tell me all about the unexpected things you found, especially after more than two playthroughs.

I’m currently on my second run, close to the end. The first run I played Tav. I thought myself pretty thorough with map exploration, and by the time I finished I had a pretty good idea of which quests I had left unfinished and which characters I wanted to interact more/less/differently in my next run.

I wasn’t expecting the game to feel this different though, and I’m loving it for it. So now on my second run I am playing Durge, I recruited Laezel and Minthara (previously I didn’t…) and I made sure to find all pieces of Dribbles. I set myself to antagonize the Emperor in this run, unlike in my previous one. Oh and I made sure to keep the windmill gnome alive in the blighted village, since previously I accidentally pulled the wrong lever and yeeted him away, lol. I thought that was it, that would be most of the missing content I was interested in.

I… didn’t expect to find so many different bits and pieces here and there or because of the order in which I did things. I realised I could recruit Scratch, an owlbear, and also an intellect devourer. I was surprised to see that entering the shadow cursed lands from the mountains as opposed to the grimforge would give me the opportunity to join the drider’s caravan. Straight to moonrise, skipping the Inn. I rescued the prisoners and Minthara and was surprised, again, to see I could take them all, and myself and the party by boat to the Inn even if I hadn’t yet been at the Inn.

I also realised I pretty much sucked exploring the map in Act 3; so many doors left unopened. For example I discovered there are mausoleums one can actually break into and explore in the graveyard. How come I missed that before, I don’t understand. There is a mindflayer in the windmill in Rivington, and I should have taken the emperor’s advice regarding it. In this run, my companions actually pointed at the shop Jaheira said would be the safe place, so I brought Jaheira with me and oh boy I discovered she actually has content exclusively for her. Her little questline was totally unexpected; previously I just let her tag along at camp but mostly ignored her. Discovering this as Durge I guess added extra flavor.

Etc. I could go on forever, but I want to hear what surprised you. Bring it on, maybe you can inspire me to try something different in my next run.