Help...What level/XP did you finish chapter 1 at?

[Jim]

I'm really confused It's my second time through the game now (first time with a fighter using a greatsword, now with a dual wielding elf) and it appeared that my elf was entering helms hold at a lower level than the human fighter from my first game. So, I loaded up an old game at about the same spot that my current game was at, and there is a difference of almost 10000 XP!! That a huge amount in NWN's. My elf fighter is currently on about 24000 and my human fighter was on around 33000 at about the same spot. In my most recent game I've done all the quests that I had done in the first game plus a few others, (I think I did all the side quests too, except for the clock tower quests since you need to be a mage to do those) and most importantly I didnt use a henchman this time round to get roughly the 20% XP boost for every enemy you kill something, so I should have a substantially larger amount of XP with my elf, but nearly 10000 less is a massive difference. Neither game used any multiclassing so there's no XP penalty there, so what the hell has happened this time round? If I could ask you to please look at a saved game you have in or around helms hold, and if you could tell me the XP of your character that would be a great help, so I can maybe get to the bottom of this. The only other difference between the two games is that now im using v1.21 so theres a possibility that BIS have scaled down the XP.

Any ideas?

[AndyG]

Henchmen do not take xp from the main character. They are just there to help you, and they level up when you do. They do not have a separate xp pool.

In fact, they may indirectly increase your xp. The game rates your parties ability to defeat monsters, and sends more or less at you. With just a solo character, you will see fewer encounters, therefore, less xp. This won't be a big deal in the long run. Once you get to level 15 or 16, the games no longer very challenging. However, early on this can matter.

The other possibility is that now you know the game, so you didn't spend as much time wandering into random doorways and fighting extra bad guys. There's a lot of xp to be found in random houses and such in the various districts.

Another way to get differing amounts of xp is whether or not you kill the people who surrender. The half-orc in the prison surrenders. If kill him, he's worth 350 xp. There's also the sorceror in Blacklake.

[DraconisRex]

I've seen the same thing. My hypothesis is the game correctly computes experience per the 3E rules:

1. All monsters have different "challenge ratings."

2. All characters have different "challenge ratings." For example, as a dual-weilder, you have more attacks per round. Therefore, you would have a higher challenge rating due to your increase in offensive potential.

3. Experience points are computed proportional to the ratio between your challenge rating and the monster's challenge rating.

Since I haven't read the code (and couldn't if you put it in a book), I can't proove it. However, I believe the XP is scaled as set forth in the 3E rules.

[edited]

Oh yes, and add what AndyG said about the game scaling encounters. However, as I only solo (multiple classes, multiple times), and I'm a compulsive "do everything" kind of guy, I know different characters finish level 1 at different experience levels.

[ 07-31-2002, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: DraconisRex ]

[Jim]

Thanks for the quick reply guys. Firstly, in my experience, using a henchman does reduce your XP for defeating opponents compared to going solo. I've just tested this by going to an old save just before battling meldanen in the blacklake, and killing him with tommy grants 326 XP for my level 7 fighter. Dismissing tommy and then taking him on nets me 560 XP! That's a substantial difference. I did go through the really tedious process of going into every house in every district and killing everything that was hostile again, in fact, my playing style was identical to the first time through the game, so it's strange where I've lost these many thousand XP points. Interesting theory regarding the dual wielding though. I'm aware that as you progress in levels, you get less XP for defeating opponents than you would have had you been at a lower level/CR. If my CR is increased because of the dual wielding then this could compensate for some missing XP.