Are you supposed to get 10% extra exp in BG2?

thesoloer

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I just noticed during my solo that my character was getting a little bit more exp than what was being displayed on the battle log thing at the bottom.

meagloth

Hhmmmm... I've never heard this... I heard that the character in the leader spot gets a higher percentage of the party XP, and maybe it's boosting it by that percent?

thesoloer

Yeah I never really paid attention to it until now. I returned the poisoned guy to Rylock in the Docks District and it said I received 14,550 exp on the battle log, but when I checked my character sheet I actually gained 16,005 exp.

CrevsDaak

In vanilla BG2 you get 110% XP and not 100%, I can confirm this. TobEx has an option to fix this.

meagloth

CrevsDaak said:

In vanilla BG2 you get 110% XP and not 100%, I can confirm this. TobEx has an option to fix this.

Because you don't level fast enough when soloing :P ? Is there an explanation?

jacobtan

The "fix" appears to be due to simple ignorance or a misinterpretation of the rules rather than a genuine fix. Sometimes, in the course of bug-fixing, in a fit of zeal, things can end up "fixed" before they are properly ascertained to be real bugs. To compound the problem, there are few 2E buffs to provide the background information required to make informed changes.

EDIT: It seems that this is a known issue in these forums, but it was removed for... How should I put it, discretionary/balance reasons

According to 2E Player's Handbook, if your prime stat (e.g. Wisdom for clerics) is at least 16, you get a 10% experience bonus.

I vaguely recall that the 10% bonus was applied all the time whether the prime stat was 16+ or not. This is incorrect. But removing the XP bonus altogether is also incorrect. The proper way to institute this bonus is to implement stat checks before XP gain, and add 10% XP bonus if the prime stats meet the criteria.

I would assume that since min-maxing is prevalent, the 10% bonus should apply more often then not, hence for simplicity, the designers implemented 10% XP bonus across the board.

smeagolheart

meagloth said:

CrevsDaak said:

In vanilla BG2 you get 110% XP and not 100%, I can confirm this. TobEx has an option to fix this.

Because you don't level fast enough when soloing :P ? Is there an explanation?

the explanation is it's a bug that hasn't been fixed

thesoloer

So it's not a bug, it's part of the rules? Neat, I didn't know that.

jacobtan

thesoloer said:

So it's not a bug, it's part of the rules? Neat, I didn't know that.

Actually, it's part of 2E rules, but I wouldn't place as much emphasis on it. This is the age of modding and adherence to the rule set will be loose at best.

thesoloer

I assume 2E means 2nd Edition rules?

jackjack

thesoloer said:

I assume 2E means 2nd Edition rules?

Correct!

jacobtan

Yeah. Nobody really gives rules a damn nowadays, whether 2E, 3E or 4E. So just do as you see fit. If there are enough active modders who think similarly as you do, chances are good that you will get a rules mod that is to your liking. Otherwise, you can always edit the data files directly with an editor.

thesoloer

It's just intriguing to know that the developers intended this 10% bonus to be put in the game. For a long while I had mistakenly thought it was a bug.