NPC experience

vangoat

I'm not sure if this is a bug or what, but at the moment (I've got 3 playthroughs going at once) every joinable NPC i bump into has 161k xp. This is a bit annoying, when i have about 400k or more and unbalances the party a bit. Is this how it always happens? I thought NPCs scaled so that when you pick them up they should be the same level?

The only mod I have installed is SCS and I can't find anything in there that would affect this

Aerie seems to be the only exception, she has a buttload of XP even right out of chateau irenicus.

vangoat

Anyone? I've helped lots of your kind!

Just wanting to know if NPCs routinely come with 161xp or what

Corvino

Usually NPCs scale to your level (or your party's level) not your CHARNAME's current XP. For example Imoen requires an *average* level across the party of 13 including multi and dual classes to spawn at her level 13 instead of level 9 (once you rescue her). Because of this I've never seen her higher level version spawn.

Most NPCs do have several versions that can spawn at different levels. But it depends on your level, not your XP. You're actually better off getting some at lower levels so you can assign their proficiencies. The best way to manage it is to pick all your party members up as early as possible and level them from there.

Ringo

Something is doing something bad to your game, because they should match your xp (more or less) up to 1200k xp.

victory_rose

During my last run (well, actually, the current run) as a f/m, I noticed that all the single class NPC characters (Minsc, Rashad, Neera, etc.) had exactly 161000 exp upon joining (of course I tried to get all the fixed NPCs (i.e. the ones I intended to play with the whole time) at the earliest possible opportunity). The dual/multi characters all had different (and varied) numbers, though. This was also the first run where Imoen was almost at the same level as everyone else when she rejoined (usually, she's much lower level than everyone else).

vangoat

ah ok, not sure what caused it!

it's not a huge issue as i've now mostly got my parties set, just that some npcs are couple of hundred K below my PC.

kryptix

They are set at their exp based on the first time you enter their area. Therefore if you entered the area at low levels then picked them up later too bad. I think Anomen always comes with high exp though.

On this play through, currently in level 3 of WK done with everything I'm not conflicted out of, I am at close to 5 million exp on my Charname but most of my npcs are at 4-4.5 million and imoen is only at like 3.5 million. I hardly notice any more though since everyone has hlas and max level spells except for Charname. Who won't get level 9 spells until around 6.2 million exp.

vangoat

kryptix said:

They are set at their exp based on the first time you enter their area. Therefore if you entered the area at low levels then picked them up later too bad. I think Anomen always comes with high exp though.

Yep, i definitely seem to have a bug then. Since I picked up Cernd without having been to Trademeet before, having around 400k XP myself, and he only had 161.

kryptix

@vangoat 400k is not so far off from 161k actually... It means he is only one quest behind which I think is within the tolerable gap. There's usually only 2-3 versions that you can get an NPC as, so it might be that to get the higher level Cernd you'd need 800-1000k exp for example. I think the maximum version is 1.3M exp for the NPCs, and 2.5M if you get them only in TOB.

Also, note that its the average EXP of your party not just how much your Charname has.

Dzuk5

one BG2EE NPC level depends from your charname LVL not XP for example i start play my druid avenger a head 150000 XP LVL 12 and when i free Minsc his lvl was 11 (900000 XP) with is very anoing. also some npc max XP is 40000 for example Nerra i get her in solo run when i have 8 mln xp with F/C/M. to fix that i use consule or EEkeeper yes i now is chating but if you don't whant have gap 1mln XP with your NPC you must cheat.

Dzuk5

kryptix said:

They are set at their exp based on the first time you enter their area. Therefore if you entered the area at low levels then picked them up later too bad. I think Anomen always comes with high exp though.

you are mistaken. XP is set with first talk not enter area. example you go copper cornet you join Anomn on lvl 9 but not talk to corgan when you have 2 mln xp an talk to corgan then he will have max xp for SoA NpC 1mln or 1,2mln i don't remmeber. if you talk to him with your 9 lvl(200-300k XP) he would have 9 lvl and if you kick him out his Xp will not change becouse you had him on your team earlier

kaffekoppen

Ringo said:

Something is doing something bad to your game, because they should match your xp (more or less) up to 1200k xp.

It just doesn't work that way. I'm not sure what the deal is exactly, but sometimes they join you with significantly less xp. For example, Edwin in my party is about 400k behind even though I had only gained less than 100k total (so 25k per character) since entering his area for the first time. Oh, and he's 400k behind *after* I did his personal quest where he gains 50k.

Haer'Dalis seemed is behind by about the same amount. His level seemed to match mine just fine, but since he's a blade that still means he's behind.

Corvino

I believe it depends entirely on the PC level, not numerical XP value. 400k XP is still only level 9 for Fighters/Rangers/Palandins/Monks and Clerics, and honestly the difference between 161k and 400k XP in BG2 is pretty miniscule after a couple of levels.

Here's a link to the level that each vanilla NPC spawns at depending on CHARNAME level:
http://iesdp.gibberlings3.net/files/2da/2da_tob/npclevel.htm

*Edit* Checking that link - Cernd spawns as level 10 (161k XP) unless you're level 12 or above. As a pure fighter you'd need 1 Million XP to get the level 12 version to spawn.

vangoat

Ah, thanks for the link! So for one of my chars, who's a f/m/c anytime they pick up an NPC they're gonna be low level, due to multiclass slow levelling?

On the flipside if i was to make a thief and level up rapidly I could pick up some stupidly high level NPCs?

What about dual classing, that could also be my problem with another char I dualled from totemic druid (level 12) to fighter. Since the fighter class was active but only at around level 6, any NPC i pick up at that time will be at their lowest possible level, yes?

Corvino

I'm not 100% sure how duals and multis work, but I have a sneaking suspicion it's taken as an average of the classes. So a Fighter 9->Thief 11 would be treated as level 10. And yup, any triple multiclass is going to end up with low-level NPCs.

I don't think picking characters up as slightly lower level is a big problem really. If you leave them to their own devices they often make rather poor weapon proficiency and thief skill choices. Best to go for them early and set them on the right path. While it can be nice to level up a few times in BG1 and then pick up a mid-level party the levelling is much more quest-XP dependent in BG2/TOB, which means a larger party isn't really a hindrance.

vangoat

Just picked up Edwin with 210k XP, my char (f/m/c) has about 700k). Half a million is a bit much..

All the other NPCs in my party have close to 600k, except Jan who I just picked up as well (400k)

kryptix

Dude, Edwin is a single class, he will still get all of his Mage hlas without your Charname getting any so relax. My imoen is about 1.2 million behind but at the end of watcher's keep during chapter six I barely notice. She already has timestop, improved alacrity, dragons breath, planetar, energy blades so she is basically set as a caster. Neera is 7-800k above her and specialist so has more spells but I have them in slightly different roles too.

Especially with Edwin, once he hits level 9 spells and gets 4 of them right off the bat, he will be by far your strongest character. As a solo class he levels fast too.