Deep caverns and charlevel

[keats92]

My friend said that once you enter deep caverns you have to stay there until you have played through that part of the game, is that even true?

Anyway, which level were you when you entered deep caverns and what level were you when you left?

I have done all the sidequests and explored all the areas, i am 3 oddity xp from level 21, is this normal?

[Styg]

Yeah, that's pretty decent level at which to get down there. And, yes, you'll have to beat the Deep Caverns before you proceed, so make sure you go there prepared.

[TheAverageGortsby]

Anyway, which level were you when you entered deep caverns

I'm not using a walkthrough, an imported character, or any sort of cheat, but just exploring everything I possibly can.  Using Classic xp system, I'm about to go talk to Edein and begin the Deep Caverns part, and I've got 95k past the level cap.  If I kept this character save I think he'd level three times the moment the expansion hit   Clearly there's a lot more xp available in the Classic system, especially if you've got lockpicking, hacking and traps.