Method of Steepest descents - determining location of end points?

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When we do the method of steepest descents (aka the saddle point method) is there anyway to quickly determine if the two end points points are in opposite valleys of the saddle point? I know this can be done graphically using contour plots but I am looking for method which can (quickly) be done on paper. Most books I read on this topic seem to skip over this part and just assume that they are in different valleys - is this a reasonable assumption?