XP tweaks question EET

[gringochilenoo]

So I have read that if you're playing with alot of major quest mods that you should set the XP to 50% for quests and monsters. But I'm about to do a trilogy run with no mods except tweaks and EET itself. So, I was thinking of setting both to 75% to compensate. Is that about right? I haven't been able to find any guidance on an otherwise unmodded run. 

 

Also, if I see I have too much experience as I go along, can I change the XP tweak mid game without messing anything up? If so would I have to uninstall EET end, run the tweak .exe to change it, then install EET again?

 

Or perhaps the best bet is just establishing the XP caps per section like the option gives? But that kind of defeats the immersion...

 

Thanks for any advice!

[Jarno Mikkola]

You can install the xp adjustment components after the EET_end just fine. It's what I would do. Yes, you can install mods in multiple stages, per component infact. You can just Quit out or Skip componets you don't want to install just yet. And no, that won't interfear with the other mods components. 

[gringochilenoo]

OK thank you! So I suppose will just pay attention through the chapters and adjust as necessary

[Jarno Mikkola]

You can also just cheat with EEKeeper and adjust the xp in the saves when it comes to it.

[Lightbringer]

Your mileage may vary, and if you read my post on the main EET page called "Curbstomping Firkraag", you'll know how true that is. In my opinion, a basic, mostly unmodded EET run doesn't need caps or xp reductions. See below why, and again, YMMV.

I can report from experience the results of a basic BG1 run with no cap. This was, I think, in TuTu. I played a monk, I recruited a full 6-man party as fast as possible, and I kept them throughout. I did everything in vanilla BG1 I could possibly do. The only quest related mods I had were Unfinished Business, FinchNPC, and Sirine's Call -- negligible added XP.

My CHARNAME reached level 9 monk in the Thieves' Maze right before the end of BG1. That's 225k XP -- a mere 64k beyond the vanilla BG1 cap of 161k. In the scope of BG2, where each level takes around 250k (class dependent), that's small potatoes. If I had the standard caps, I would have started BG2 at level 8, and made level 9 after the chateau and the standard circus/Coronet/Slavers circuit.

The SoD level cap is 500k -- that's around level 10 or 11, depending on class. You'll push past that by at least the 64k, possibly a little more, depending on how much surplus XP is in SoD. Even if there's a surplus of an extra 150k XP in SoD, that's still not enough for an entire extra level. Remember, capped, vanilla SoD intends you to enter BG2 with a 10th-11th level character.

As Jarno pointed out, manually setting XP levels in EEKeeper is also a very valid strategy.

[Lightbringer]

Quoting from the ultra-authoritative "some guy on reddit" source:

"My last SoD run, with XP caps off (the cap is 500 K in SoD), I came from BG1 with 190 K and left with 540 K."

[Endarire]

Years ago I finished BG1EE and imported to Black Pits where I played past the level cap and kept accumulating EXP, making me Fighter13 in terms of EXP.  In BG2EE, I dualed to Mage soon after starting and found I was about on par with EXP.  This was with seemingly no additional quest mods.  (I used Ascension, SCS, Wheels of Prophecy, an EXP cap remover, and maybe a small number more.)

I played primarily in a group of 1-3 characters and we had to farm EXP to reach level 40.

[gringochilenoo]

2 hours ago, Lightbringer said:

Your mileage may vary, and if you read my post on the main EET page called "Curbstomping Firkraag", you'll know how true that is. In my opinion, a basic, mostly unmodded EET run doesn't need caps or xp reductions. See below why, and again, YMMV.

I can report from experience the results of a basic BG1 run with no cap. This was, I think, in TuTu. I played a monk, I recruited a full 6-man party as fast as possible, and I kept them throughout. I did everything in vanilla BG1 I could possibly do. The only quest related mods I had were Unfinished Business, FinchNPC, and Sirine's Call  -- negligible added XP.

My CHARNAME reached level 9 monk in the Thieves' Maze right before the end of BG1. That's 225k XP -- a mere 64k beyond the vanilla BG1 cap of 161k. In the scope of BG2, where each level takes around 250k (class dependent), that's small potatoes. If I had the standard caps, I would have started BG2 at level 8, and made level 9 after the chateau and the standard circus/Coronet/Slavers circuit.

The SoD level cap is 500k -- that's around level 10 or 11, depending on class. You'll push past that by at least the 64k, possibly a little more, depending on how much surplus XP is in SoD. Even if there's a surplus of an extra 150k XP in SoD, that's still not enough for an entire extra level. Remember, capped, vanilla SoD intends you to enter BG2 with a 10th-11th level character.

As Jarno pointed out, manually setting XP levels in EEKeeper is also a very valid strategy.

Very helpful, thank you! I will remove the caps then and refer to this post to check up on how XP is going. 

 

Of the mods listed thus far which are highly recommended? (Unfinished Business, FinchNPC, and Sirine's Call, Ascension, SCS, Wheels of Prophecy)

 

I'm curious but don't want to risk messing up the install since I just started modding. Prefer not to use an install tool. 

[Jarno Mikkola]

25 minutes ago, gringochilenoo said:

Of the mods listed thus far which are highly recommended?

I have a list of 200 mods with nearly 1000 components, you want it all ? Aka, the more there is the better... depending of course on taste.

You can do the Black Pits I at level 1, so there's really no point in importing into it.

[Lightbringer]

I haven't gotten far enough into BG2/ToB to speak on Wheels of Prophecy or Ascension -- though they are both quite popular and well regarded.  I have them both installed and I look forward to seeing them.

I can speak for SCS.  The current version has an in-game difficulty adjuster -- you can tweak how tough it makes things during a playthrough. In fact, per that Firkraag thread, I plan to tweak dragon difficulty for my current game. I highly recommend giving it a try.

I was a skeptic of and reluctant to try SCS. I usually don't like difficulty mods, as I don't generally like frustration in games. I love SCS. It has made my playthrough more robust and fun, and with enemies that --while more clever -- are still quite able to be defeated. Most of the horror stories you might hear have been ironed out, or can be eliminated on the fly through the in-game difficulty adjuster.
 

FinchNPC is just an NPC mod. Finch is a very cute and fun -- and very well voiced -- bookish, gnome cleric. If you like the sound of that, go for it. If she's not your cup of tea, avoid it. She is certainly neither Viconia nor Branwen. One thing to keep in mind is that she has zero content outside of BG1. I had used EEKeeper to change Minsc to multiclass Ranger/Cleric, so I was able to deal with her absence in SoD. For BG2 and beyond, I had other plans.

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by Lightbringer

[ptifab]

Hey @kjeron, i think i have found a small bug in component 2040 : "XP for Traps, Spells and Lockpicking" -> BG1 values. The Pick Locks line in the XPBONUS.2da table is at 15 xp at level 16 and after, where it should be 150 or 155 ? Also, it's not extended to level 50 if XP Cap removal is installed, i don't know if it can cause any problem ?

Edited April 2, 2022 by ptifab

[kjeron]

@ptifab I think you tagged wrong person, but I think you're correct about both bugs.

[ptifab]

Sorry for tagging you @kjeron, but in the readme, i think it was your tag that was highlighted. Sorry for the inconvenience then... do you know where i should report those bugs though ?