EET Tweaks XP Cap questions...

[fluent]

Hey there.

 

So I'm about finish BG:EE in my EET run. First off, a few of my characters are at the cap I imposed for BG:EE (89,000), and they reached it while also using the "XP halved" function of EET Tweaks.

 

My question is, do you think for the best and most challenging mode I should keep the cap of 89,00 for the entirety of Siege of Dragonspear? I ask because obviously BG2:EE's starting XP level is 89,000. I wouldn't want to go into BG2:EE at some absurd 200k+ XP level, but I'm also thinking that maybe if I slow down the XP gain even more, entering BG2:EE at slightly above 89,000 wouldn't be all that bad. It would still give me some small room for leveling up and XP increase in Siege of Dragonspear, and only make the first bits of BG2:EE a bit too easy. Am I thinking correctly on this?

 

To try and make what I'm saying clearer, I want BG2:EE to be as challenging and not having any of my party over-leveled for it at the start. Yet I'd also like some wiggle room in Siege of Dragonspear since my current characters are close or have hit BG:EE's level cap of 89,000. Maybe slowing XP gain to 25% or even lower and raising the cap in SoD would be alright? Of course I'd be slightly overleveled for BG2:EE, but not terribly so (does it make a huge difference? I've never played SoD or ran through EET before.)

 

Thanks for any help in advance!

[Roxanne]

It is not just a matter of xpcap setting but also of game difficulty at large. For example, I play EET at core level setting with SCS installed, so I remove any xpcap and set EET_Tweaks xp gain values at 50% (considering 35% next time)..

This means that I get into BG2 with more xp and my PC now being at level 10 and party members from level 7 to 11 around me. But on the other hand this is compensated by what SCS does to the game.

In the end, it is all a matter of taste and which type of gameplay you prefer.

[Jarno Mikkola]

There's also fact that you won't see, but it's there when you know what's what. Multiple areas in the BG2 have alternative and higher level spawns that only trigger at higher character levels. Now of course if you want to play the game on impossible then you set the XP cap to 1, but that's not really well balanced. But as the name the name portrayes, it's not meant to be.

And the BG1: TotSC's XP cap was originally at 131000 XP, so the 200 000 XP won't be that much considering that you also go through the additional content of the SoD.

[bob_veng]

i'd recommend no caps & 50% xp for the whole of EET. you'll see that it will be very close to a vanilla original BG2 playthrough near the end in terms of party levels, which is i think ideal.

 

i'm completely against the 89,000 xp cap. it's highly artificial and limiting, quite unreasonable and unnecessary

[Roxanne]

i'd recommend no caps & 50% xp for the whole of EET. you'll see that it will be very close to a vanilla original BG2 playthrough near the end in terms of party levels, which is i think ideal.

 

i'm completely against the 89,000 xp cap. it's highly artificial and limiting, quite unreasonable and unnecessary

This is pretty much in line with my own experience (having been through EET several times now).

Just a few days ago, I was directly asked for my settings

http://www.shsforums.net/topic/56670-big-world-setup-an-attempt-to-update-the-program/page-240?do=findComment&comment=599698

It is a bit of refinement to what you say but goes in the same direction.

 

I am tempted to propose this selection maybe for BWS EET installs - note that the BWS settings for EET are currently a bit of a wasteland since they lack the foundation of experienced players having tested it like it was with BGT once.

[fluent]

Thanks for the responses by the way. @Roxanne, do you think 35% XP and NO MAX HP ON LEVEL UP is feasible for my first run? I just finished BG and it was rough at times, especially the last fight, but I did manage it w/ 50% XP. Just wondering if 35% would be better to get through SoD and then BG2 later. Thanks again!

 

Edit - How about 200k XP cap for Siege of Dragonspear at least? Yes/no? Looking for a mostly tactical, pretty challenging affair. Kind of a BG newb but still managed BG:EE + SCS w/ the advanced tactical options turned on + Hard difficulty, so wondering what the best challenge would be going forward.

Edited January 27, 2018 by fluent