Punished for choosing dialogue over combat?

[Rosh+]

I just did the goblin encounter in the ruined village, where they're torturing the deep gnome. I chose the dialogue first, but wasn't satisfied with the amount of EXP I got because I knew I should have gotten more, based on all the enemies. I did it again, but fought this time. After an easy battle, I compared all the EXP amount gained based on my previous total.

XP before dialogue/fight: 1162
XP after dialogue: 1277
XP after fight: 1432

I'd noticed this before but never tested it. Seems as if the game rewards combat a lot more than dialogue checks, which is kind of lame. What's the point of building my character to pass these skill checks if I get punished for using them?

[Recjawjind]

I think that specific encounter ends the second you kill the goblin boss/get him very low

Meaning, the amount of exp you get is variable. Killing every single goblin as the super high effort choice that often expends resources being the most exp valuable option does kinda make sense.

[Rosh+]

Originally posted by Recjawjind:

I think that specific encounter ends the second you kill the goblin boss/get him very low

I never had them run or had the encounter end, I just killed them all.

Originally posted by Recjawjind:

Meaning, the amount of exp you get is variable. Killing every single goblin as the super high effort choice that often expends resources being the most exp valuable option does kinda make sense.

It's not high effort. I didn't expend anything other than spell slots. My characters are all level 3, I'm running SH, Astarion, Gale, and my own character is a Bard. The fight took less than 5 turns. I used create water scaled up to a second level spell slot and covered half of the goblins group in water, then hit them with lightning chromatic orb which immediately killed them. The rest of the encounter consisted of slept goblins and their dogs being critted/sneak-critted and killed instantly.

I think I used maybe 3-4 spells slots.

On the contrary, I had to reload a couple times testing the dialogue options because I got bad luck and rolled low twice on a 15 persuasion roll. It actually took me more time and effort just to persuade them the second time around.

[Recjawjind]

Hm, might be best to try with other encounters. Though usually scorched earth combat is pppprobably always resulting in more hp.

[PandoraWolfCrow]

https://youtube.com/shorts/pKxaCk_xmhk?feature=share

[Zebulon Ecthelion]

Originally posted by Rosh+:

I just did the goblin encounter in the ruined village, where they're torturing the deep gnome. I chose the dialogue first, but wasn't satisfied with the amount of EXP I got because I knew I should have gotten more, based on all the enemies. I did it again, but fought this time. After an easy battle, I compared all the EXP amount gained based on my previous total.

XP before dialogue/fight: 1162
XP after dialogue: 1277
XP after fight: 1432

I'd noticed this before but never tested it. Seems as if the game rewards combat a lot more than dialogue checks, which is kind of lame. What's the point of building my character to pass these skill checks if I get punished for using them?

Free xp doesn't cause you to have to take a long rest and use camp supplies vs more xp, but you'll probably need to take a long rest afterward.

[Rosh+]

Originally posted by Naram-Sin:

Free xp doesn't cause you to have to take a long rest and use camp supplies vs more xp, but you'll probably need to take a long rest afterward.

I've got 2 control casters, 1 cleric and more than enough spell slots left over. I've used exactly one long rest over the course of this short playthrough. I don't see any reason to rest after every single fight unless you're really loose with spells. No, I haven't skipped any fights.

[SpockEndil]

Originally posted by Rosh+:

I just did the goblin encounter in the ruined village, where they're torturing the deep gnome. I chose the dialogue first, but wasn't satisfied with the amount of EXP I got because I knew I should have gotten more, based on all the enemies. I did it again, but fought this time. After an easy battle, I compared all the EXP amount gained based on my previous total.

XP before dialogue/fight: 1162
XP after dialogue: 1277
XP after fight: 1432

I'd noticed this before but never tested it. Seems as if the game rewards combat a lot more than dialogue checks, which is kind of lame. What's the point of building my character to pass these skill checks if I get punished for using them?

That's a heck of a lot closer in XP than I would have thought. I understand the desire to maximize XP. However, in terms of consequence of choice, that's a pretty good relative XP return for diplomatic vs combat completion.

I've never done the comparison, but it's close enough to make me consider more diplomatic options when the full game releases.

[Zangetsu]

I am sure everyone will be able to hit lvl 12, some sooner then others, in their game before the last boss.

[Rosh+]

Originally posted by SpockEndil:

That's a heck of a lot closer in XP than I would have thought. I understand the desire to maximize XP. However, in terms of consequence of choice, that's a pretty good relative XP return for diplomatic vs combat completion.

I've never done the comparison, but it's close enough to make me consider more diplomatic options when the full game releases.

It's close, but that's just from one fight, the loss adds up dramatically if you were to use dialogue instead of fights. What I need to do, is play to the end of EA primarily avoiding any combat I can through dialogue, and compare it to a murderhobo playthrough.

Originally posted by Zangetsu:

I am sure everyone will be able to hit lvl 12, some sooner then others, in their game before the last boss.

Yeah, I agree. Level 12 is a pretty low bar, and we level up fast as-is. This isn't going to stop me from using diplomatic dialogue options, I just feel like it's kinda lame.