Don't you think squatting is great?

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Well, I have squatting my party until I reached level 12 at Duergar outpost. By now, I killed The Lost Followers last night and my party is as follows:
Aasimar - Paladin of Helm 8/Fighter 4
Shield Dwarf - Barbarian 8/Fighter 4
Drow - Diviner 11
Tiefling - Wizard 8/Rogue 8
Aasimar - Stormlord of Talos 11
Human - Monk of the Old Order 12

I get 13.200 exp for killing Thorasskus while my tiefling was still level 13 and I get 3600 exp for followers after I level him up to 16.

I hope to reach level 20 at Saablic Tan where I will let all them level up.

Although my party's level average was 12.5, those followers was not that hard. (I killed Kaervas and Jaiger with 'Club of Distruption' )

 

If you want to get the extra levels and the extras that come with them, it is the only way. However, it states in the manual that part of the CR (challenge rating) system is that it increases the difficulty of the battle as the average level of your party increases. I do not think that it makes it corresponding tougher.
Example, wolf battles at Wandering Village: Wolf levels might be 1 level lower but you get 10x (almost) the XP per wolf and there are still the constant 8 regenerating until they reach a total of 16 or you get 25-50 hp and the wolf levels are 1 level higher. You can increase your XP anywhere by adding two level 1s and then squat for an 8-10X increase in XP of which 2/3 goes to your best guys.
IaaA

 

Well, adding level 1s won't work for me because I already have a party of six. The down side of squatting is that it kills the fun of game. Think about it; you have enough levels and scrolls to cast high level spells but you can't do so. But the end of game and HoF(If I can play) will be very enjoying, I guess.
I'm in a hurry to kick asses of those twins

 

What`s `Squating`?
davfra

 

Because of the fact that lower level characters will get highier XP with killing a monster of a particular level, so people purposely don't level up their character(s) immediately, keep the average level low and get the extra XP. This is squatting.

 

Last night, I have visited Ice Temple for Nickademus to pay that "favor" he asked before. For killing the gelugon, I received 7200 exp and 5400 for Glabrezu's. With my first party, I had received half of these.
I LOVE SQUATTING

 

According to the CR (challenge rating system) notes, if you party is of a higher level the game is supposed to be harder. Supposedly, if you squat, the game is just as hard; but you get more XP and can go to higher levels where the game is supposed to be even more complicated.
Example: I just took a squatted monk (now level 30, ECL level 32 Drow) into the 8 chambers. He cannot quite defeat the brASS monks in the immolation chamber because I failed somewhere in creating a better mix of character. He is pretty good though. I'm sure that other players didn't require a level 32/30 monk to win through the chambers in hOf.
IaaA (anyway, trying to be IaaA)

 

A side note about CR:
I think you get less xp for killing opponents that you don't need to kill to progress in game.

 

Nope. It's a straight calculation based on the average level of your party (be it a one-man, two-man ... six-man) and the actual level of the individual enemy that you kilt [sic, killed] no matter the size of his group or their average level. The only thing that is constant is the XP for quests.
IaaA

 

But I killed King Lothar in Chamber of Magma and received only 900 xp for it. I think he should worth some more while my party average was about 12,5 levels.

 

There is some third-party software out there that will tell you what level he is. And based on his level and your average, that is how many XPs you will get. Unless of course there is a bug. But this is how it is. It has nothing to do with whether or not it is required to kill him to continue the game. The way the game works is that a level of character is kind of equal between different characters. One may have more magic resistance, better weapons, better magic, better defense, better offense, etc. And thus one may be easier or harder for you to kill; however, they are considered fairly equal. There are published mooncrate.2da files that are tables that actually give out the XPs at this site. You will find information about this in other threads.
IaaA?

 

Squatting is unfortunately a good indication that the CR system in IWD2 is totally screwed up.

I squat.

 

I love squatting too ... that's where I get 90% of my reading done!

Seriously, this idea has never occured to me, and now that you mention it, I'm shocked! Where do you come up with these ideas? Just play the game!

 

Good pun Mathetais and I can see that you don't read much.
Earl Grey, it's good to see you back. I restarted hOf with squatting. Currently I'm in the middle of the fortress (my average game level is now about 6 -- levels: 28, 10, 10, 10, 1, 1) and my six guy/gals have over 470k XP each.
YUP, I squat. Also, when we were discussing squatting a team through Shaengarne [sic] bridge and making level 30. It's really not tough because of the CR system. Remember that part of this system is battle based, id est, the lower your team average the easier the battle. However, once I get to a certain level (around 16-18 I think) my AC won't matter.

EDIT add: I raised my sorcerer to level 30 (ECL 32) for the courtyard battle and my average to about 15. The battle was no where near as tough as my previous time through (had much better characters {even with the day blindness} than I had previously because of what I've learned on this site interacting with you guys too). This is a 7+-hour battle, game time without sleep (nope, I don't like to sleep) and this time I was able to do it in the two sections because I didn't run around. Now, I don't want to level up the rest of my party until I get to the Severed Hand -- absolutely, not before the Fell Woods as the wolves are really tough if your average is 16-18. This one- or two-level difference seems to me to be huge in the game difficulty (your AC actually still works). Also, all my characters can be real level 30 now except my gnome who is a few k short. I also want to keep my level low so that my monk can defeat chamber 8 in the monastery and I want to see the difference it makes in Battle Squares.

[ January 04, 2003, 14:56: Message edited by: IaaA? ]

 

Squatting is great however be wary that it kills MCing and some fun of game. My second run is about to finish. My party is sleeping on the aerie top of war tower by now. I have squatted them from Duergar outpost to this point. My second party for the last fight will be as follows:

Aasimar - Paladin of Helm 15/Fighter 4
Shield Dwarf - Barbarian 16/Fighter 4
Drow - Diviner 19
Tiefling - Rogue 10/Wizard 9
Aasimar - Stormlord of Talos 19
Human - Monk of the Old Order 20

More details can be seen in topic:
"How long it took to finish normal?"

I get 4 extra levels by the end of normal by squatting them. (For nearly 3 chapters which is very long)

 

I think the key to serious squatting and level raising is the beginning of the the game. Stay at level 1 as long as you can: Then raise one character at a time. This is where the huge difference in XP is. If you squat later in the game, you might run into the part of the XP matrix where there is little change in XP for several levels. If you only raise one guy at a time, you may lose some enjoyment from the game in that you don't get to fight with all your guys at max level; but you have to dream up some incredible tactics that create a lot of fun in themselves. Also, if you don't protect your lower-level guys, then you get XP based on the average level of your party that is left alive (this would reduce your XP).
I just thought of a new tactic. You could take an enemy hero down to almost dead; kill your top level characters; then finish him off with your lower guys for a huge increase in XP. However, this will not give you any XP for your dead guys.

 

You must be kidding.
Why would I kill my own members? Just for some bloody XP? This one is too much for me. They are MY men/women. How can I betray them?