Henchmen give you more XP?

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Is this true? I read it at uhs-hints.com

 

Hmm... Everywhere else, I'd read the exact opposite. I could understand if, perhaps, your henchman were way behind you in levels, but they're only ever one off. They're right about them being a big drain at low levels, though, especially in the OC, as they start off at a higher level than you in Chapter 1. Generally, my tactic is to clear out all the easier foes from all 4 districts (the Zombies in Beggar's Nest are particularly easy to deal with; they're so ridiculously slow that there's simply no excuse for letting them get to melee range), before motoring through the Peninsula jail, which I find to be easiest.

Adding low-level party members worked in IWD2, so there is precedent in 3E rules-based games, but I didn't think that NWN bothered. Next battle, I'll get my Ranger to venture into the fray with and without a badger, to see the effect.

 

Yeah, that would only be true if you never levelled up your henchman, thus reducing your average party level. It's the same thing as level squatting in IWD2.

If you keep your henchman as his maximum level, then he will drain XP from you like a leech.

 

It also says on the uhs site that NWN is *not* like IWD2. In IWD2 you could level squat happily, since the game looked at your level, saw it was low and gave you huge XP. Apparently, NWN looks at the XP, and therefore the level that you could be. So telling your henchman not to level up would be pointless.

 

If you got a lower level henchman, you'll get more exp... it may not make sense, but that's how it is.

 

That's strange, BTA. My paladin never had a henchman for a second and he still got only level 16, I think.

For all I know, henchmen take your XP from kills and stuff but they give you quests for some XP, as well. I suppose one could use this to his advantage.

Also, different classes get different amount of XP for things because there's some messing by BioWare with effective levels in order to make up for the heavy emphasis on physical battle that doesn't really give wonderful opportunities to other classes, at least in the beginning.

 

I remember using a low level henchman to "take away" the multi-classing penalties, i've no idea how far you could abuse this though.

 

That was true in the first several versions of the game. One of the patches changed it so that henchmen do eat up XP.

In true 3E D&D rules, having a henchman would increase the total experience given but it would divide it equally among all group members. That is what newer versions of NWN do.

 

I think Rastor is right, I never got more experience with henchmen, no matter what their level (and I forgot to level them up quite often)

 

The henchmen in this game are mostly useless anyway so it's not really an issue. They're bound to die within seconds of entering combat so they're not going have any impact on your XP anyway. I've long since given up trudging back to restore those losers every time they die.

 

It certainly would be a big challenge to keep a NWN henchman alive given their levels of incompetence. At least in BGII, you could turn off the NPC AI and control them yourselves to help stop them from doing dumb things.

 

Do summoned minions/animal companions use up XP just like henchman?

 

Tassadar - yes, they will influence the XP you get, sometimes stealing some and sometimes providing more, depending on their level.

 

Damn! Guess I won't be an undead summoning necromancer then!

 

As noted previously, the XP loss for summons is actually a non-issue because ultimately you "catch up" through temporarily being at a lower level and getting more XP for your victories due to the operation of the challenge rating system.

 

I checked my xp between battles with/out henchman. I get exactly 1/2 xp per kill with a hecnhy.

It's REALLY hard to keep 'em alive, unless you pick the better henchmen. The bard is awesome, she has lots ofHP too, problem is she has low AC and goes in melee to cast spells :-\. Rogue sucks, I hate Tomi, can't disarm a single trap his level, because he spent all his skill points on hiding and moving silently.... greeeaaattt skills.....

 

grimnaw and Deekin are awesome however both lived thru some fantastic punishment in my game.

 

In the OC, most of the henchmen are completely useless. They just make too many dumb decisions like charging straight into battle and not running away when it gets too tough. I got so sick of going back and regenerating them that I gave up and just went solo. In SoU and HotU, they seem to be a wee bit more intelligent and don't seem to die as much.