NWN OC: Solo vs. Henchmen XP

XantharTheFlame · Post by **XantharTheFlame** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 6:35 am

Hi All,

I noticed that going solo you get 25% more XP than if you have a henchman in the OC. So has anyone ever done the math to see if completing all the henchmen quests ends up giving you more XP than going solo in the end?

Even if it does, given all the extra hours you'd have to play to complete it all, is it really worth it? I'm thinking it isn't.

There was a thread back in 2001 that touched on this subject, but it primarily discussed the use of henchmen to detect & disable traps & pick locks. (Yes, I searched.)

Of course playing with henchmen makes for a much more interesting story, with hilarious dialogue opportunities - I don't want this to be a discussion about that. I'm really looking to max out my character level, but getting through the game faster is better too (it's my 3rd time through, you see.)

Thoughts?

XantharTheFlame

mr_sir · Post by **mr_sir** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 6:50 am

You can play the game solo and still do the henchman quests

XantharTheFlame · Post by **XantharTheFlame** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 7:28 am

How? Don't you need to pick up the henchmen to get their quests?

Even so, I'm also looking for some insight into how much longer the game would be and how much XP you get -- because I'm not sure it's worth it, but I really am trying to max out my level (going for a Neutral Evil Elven Sorcerer/Red Dragon Disciple this time. Bwa ha ha ha!)

Thanks,

XantharTheFlame

mr_sir · Post by **mr_sir** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 8:55 am

You get them to join you, talk to them, then ask them to leave. If you do this with every henchman and just repeat everytime you level up or so, then you can get and complete all the henchman quests whilst doing the entire game solo

The game is no longer with or without henchman as the henchman quests are just find an item quests, and you find these whilst going through the main quest anyway. In my opinion, the items you get make it more worthwhile doing the henchman quests in each chapter than the XP gained - you don't get that much XP for doing them really.

XantharTheFlame · Post by **XantharTheFlame** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 9:02 am

Thank you. That's very helpful! I will do it that way then.

Regards,
XantharTheFlame

Ningengirai · Post by **Ningengirai** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:25 pm

Another thing you can do ( very similar to what mr_sir suggested ) to make it easier is to grab each henchman and bring them with you to the temples or wherever the stone of recall sends you to. That way, whenever you level and need to talk to one of them, you don't have to run all over the map and have all of them in one location.

MalaksBane · Post by **MalaksBane** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:45 am

Besides, babysitting a henchie actually makes the game more difficult. They have a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong things.

Jude Takerath · Post by **Jude Takerath** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 10:12 am

I always find henchmen useful, fighter ones were great to have when I was a mage. Plus the whole, mage against thousands of things trying to kill you is a good reason to have a henchmen

Renter · Post by **Renter** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:19 pm

Meh, I just take Tomi for convenience. There are a lot of traps & locks in the game.

Greg. · Post by **Greg.** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:48 pm

Linu is fairly useful as well.

Renter · Post by **Renter** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 1:43 pm

Question: Do you need to 'adventure with them' as their quest info say?

XantharTheFlame · Post by **XantharTheFlame** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 4:31 am

No. I'm following Mr. Sir's advice and it is working. I left them all at the temple, and every time I level up I talk to them. It takes a few tries, but eventually you get their stories and quests.

XantharTheFlame

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:35 am

XantharTheFlame wrote:Hi All,

I noticed that going solo you get 25% more XP than if you have a henchman in the OC. So has anyone ever done the math to see if completing all the henchmen quests ends up giving you more XP than going solo in the end?
<snip>

IIRC, then basically the math for assigning XP in NwN is that each "companion" (summon, familiar, henchmen) will cause the game to calculate XP as if you were +1 level higher.
Meaning if you get 50 XP from a monster at LX and 40XP from same monster at LX+1, then having a henchmen at LX will cause you to get 40 XP.

The times I've played through, I think it results in about 1 perhaps 2 levels difference, in normal play through, because the loss evens out as you grow more powerful.

XantharTheFlame · Post by **XantharTheFlame** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:28 am

That's what I thought -- but it is exactly that 1 or 2 level difference I'm trying to achieve (I'm playing for the power this time, not the glory or the gold).

On a side note, I found it very interesting that when I imported my 27th Level Paladin from HotU and re-started the OC at that level, the XP from a weak goblin was 275!! So the game obviously calculates a set percentage of the points required for next level based on the monster type you are fighting too.

Regards,
XantharTheFlame