The previous post was starting to lose steam so here is another one.
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I'm seeing some conflicting information about Act II out there regarding order of operations. From what I've read, it sounds like I'll get a pop-up warning when I'm about to trigger something that would affect other quests. However, I'm also seeing a lot of people saying that you should just beeline to Moonrise ASAP before doing any side quests. So which is it? Am I free to explore, work on Halsin's stuff, etc. as long as I don't trigger that pop-up? Or is there a timer going as soon as the stuff at Last Light kicks off?
Go to Moonrise Towers before the Mausoleum/Gauntlet. So long as you don't go on the Roof or too deep into the Oubliette you wont lock yourself out of anything.
Going to the Gauntlet first can make things a little more difficult if you kill Balthazar, and entering the portal at the end is the point of no return for Act 2.
Perfect. Thanks. I've found the mausoleum (and had the encounter outside,) but haven't entered yet. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't screwing anything up by working on the Halsin/shadow curse quest line and just exploring the map before visiting Moonrise. I saw people complaining about ruining their playthrough by waiting too long to go to Moonrise and I suddenly got worried that this was a Mass Effect situation and some hidden timer was running on all the prisoners or something.
I was in the same boat as you. I believe that you can explore to your heart's content as long as you don't cross a boundary with a warning about progressing the world.
I explored everything in act 2 up to the boundaries, and then did Moonrise and I don't think I messed up any questlines.
It's hard to describe without spoiling anything, but once you get to Moonrise, it does give you some direction on where to go, so it does kinda make sense to go there ASAP.