Do non-recruited NPCs still have stunted HP growth as they level in BGEE?

merrilly

I read in some online guides for the original BG that companions level to several different tiers if left unrecruited, and they don't roll max HP when leveling, so they'll become weaker the longer you leave them there. Since in BGEE your character automatically rolls max HP when leveling, I wondered if that also applied to the unrecruited NPCs, but I couldn't seem to find that info anywhere.

Gallowglass

merrilly said:

I read in some online guides for the original BG that companions level to several different tiers if left unrecruited, and they don't roll max HP when leveling, so they'll become weaker the longer you leave them there.

True.

merrilly said:

Since in BGEE your character automatically rolls max HP when leveling ...

True on Easy or Normal difficulty, but untrue on Core, Hard or Insane difficulty. The "official rules" (as per the documentation) are Core difficulty - that why there are tables showing HP per level in terms of hit dice instead of fixed increments.

merrilly said:

... I wondered if that also applied to the unrecruited NPCs ...

No, except that they will always have max HP at level 1 (as also does your own character, regardless of difficulty setting), but after that it's reduced to simulate good and bad dice rolls (as if they had been playing on Core difficulty prior to recruitment, regardless of what setting you're actually using).

merrilly

Aha, thank you! I am playing on Normal, I forgot to mention that. It's too bad the rest of the world can't play by the same rules.
I'm torn between liking the realism and lamenting that the late-game companions are basically always going to be at a disadvantage.