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Enemy level scaling?


mikeprichard

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I'm finally about to start my playthrough, but just happened upon a Steam discussion topic (https://steamcommunity.com/app/1058130/discussions/0/2564160288803102582/?ctp=3#c1628538644183441771) indicating that most enemy encounters are scaled to be just under or over your current level. I absolutely despise level scaling in single-player RPGs in all its forms, though I don't want to rehash a pointless argument about it here - I'd just appreciate confirmation/clarification from anyone experienced with the game as to whether this is in fact the case. Thanks!

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I just checked and looked at the same encounter (Tinker's Tower) with a level 2 and level 5 party and the monsters were all level 6 both times.

 

While I know there have been some players that claimed the encounters scale with the party level, I never found that to be true. My experience was that you needed to pick encounters that were close to your level because one to three levels more made the difference between a difficult fight and going through without burning too many consumable items.

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It's not a big problem because usually, even if the monsters' level has increased, you've had time to acquire better equipments, so you'll do more damage per turn and have better protection, but the fights will take longer.

 

However, I advise you:

  • to open the passages to the new areas (Ukat, Vol, Ahriel) as soon as possible because it allows you to build a new fort, ...
  • to try the difficult dungeons with the right level : final battle in Tower of Nisse at level 19 and Dragon's Lair at level 21.
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I've got a related question: for people with more experience with this game, are so-called "empty levels" much of an issue?  Cause while, like OP, I'm not the biggest fan of level scaling, I'll tolerate it to a point (it helps if the game is a non-linear, go-wherever-you-want sort of deal, like this one is.  Then all the enemies in the game can start at a low level, and you won't have to worry as much about where it's safe to go), but if the enemies can outpace you in level-up gains, it's far worse.

 

My understanding is that empty levels aren't much of an issue, since you get new abilities and equipment with the skill points you gain and construction and exploring you do, and the enemies are always one level behind at least, but I'm not certain since I've never really gotten far enough to notice enemies getting stronger.

 

EDIT: Also, umm...my apologies if the mods consider this "off topic"; I just figured it's related enough to be on topic.

Edited by EarthPhantomTS
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Normally, when an enemy levels up, he gains a few health points; when you level up, you usually gain some health points and 1 mana point and if you have a level below 20, 1 skill point. So if you do a battle with the same equipments, the battles will take longer. As I played a lot of singletons and tried to clean some difficult areas (for the singletons) early to prevent the enemies from levelling up, I finished the game by cleaning some basic dungeons at level 22 (instead of level 6), it was much easier than if I had done the same fight at level 6: no need for good positioning,  for healing and I finished these dungeons with a lot of available mana, health points... .

 

Notes:

  •  a good way to prevent the enemy from levelling up is not to return quests when you've done them because some quests only give skill points when you return them; basically, you'll get the same equipment as before, you'll fight some enemies with a lower level than before but you'll have less skill points to distribute, ...
  •  rebuilding the fort is a good way to get better equipments earlier,
  •  when I reach level 17/18, my equipment is almost optimal as I have not return many quests, ... ; probably, you will reach the same limit when you reach level ~20.
Edited by osnola
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