Multiplayer Tips and Faqs

[XTwistedScorpio]

This is an attempt to gather information for the community (or to point people in the right direction to already established posts) about multiplayer and how it can affect game play and or character progress that might not be immediately evident. Please feel free to correct the information here, and or tag other posts that already have this information or explain it in better or more detail. As a player who often plays games for the multiplayer experience and who believes that most games are better when playing with friends, my hope is that this discussion becomes a wealth of information and spring board for everyone to improve their multiplayer sessions and to enjoy the game better as a whole.

^_^ *Credit to CrazyVex (My lvl 24 friend) for being patient while helping me find out and test these details, and all the other times you've sated my curiosity and obsessions in games. You're a Gentleman and a Scholar. :D

Information gathered so far:

Quests: If you join a player's game that is ahead of you in a quest line (The main story is confirmed this way, at least), your progress in that quest will be locked. If you open the quest log, it will say "Quest locked in this session based on Host's progress." This lets you know that the quest line is locked, and you won't progress in it during this session. Fret not, though: when you return to your game, you can continue the quest without issue.
To test this, I made a brand new character and joined my friend's lvl 24 character. When spawning in, the first quest, "Waking to Misery," was available when first talking to Jarvis, (a yellow exclamation point was above his head) but after accepting the quest, where it shows up on the right side of the screen, there's an "X" in front of the quest's name: "X - Waking to Misery," letting you know that the quest line is locked and I wouldn't be able to progress in it while in my friend's game. I ran into town to see if I could over-ride this manually, but Captain John Bourbon wasn't standing at the gate in front of the Prison, he was inside at his office (where he is based on my friend's quest progress). Interestingly, I was able to walk through the gate (you usually have to do the first quest before being allowed inside) and when I talked to Bourbon, he says something interesting: "You're allies have already provided us with assistance. I have no information for you." Cheeky. Seems the developers want you to know you shouldn't be joining a high level person's game. I was able to access the Blacksmith, and Inventor, though.
Out of curiosity, I had my friend complete a story quest of his while I was in the game, and I didn't receive experience, a notification, or a quest log update when it was turned in. Additionally, when he accepted a new story quest, I wasn't given it. However, I was able to talk to a side quest giver (Stephen Skinner in the Arkovian Foothills) and accept it, which gave both my friend and I the quest. When he turned in the side quest, I was given the notification, experience, and the item reward. When I returned to my own game, Stephen was still in Devil's Crossing, the quest was still completed in my quest log, and after going to the Arkovian Foothills myself, he was not where we found him originally.
Word of caution: We aren't sure yet what this will/could do to the new character (or the host character), if anything, when they go back to their own game(s) and go through the quest line. Will this cause an error in the scripting/game file(s) or the inability for the new character's quest line/progress? (Update pending).

Aside from Quests:
(explain these in more detail)
Shrines and Devotion: While in my friend's game, I thought I'd see if I was granted the devotion points he's unlocked. So after reaching level 2, I checked. I wasn't. So, out of curiosity, I slogged to the first shrine (that I know of) under Burial Hill, which he had already cleansed and got the devotion for before I joined. The shrine was already cleansed, and even after clicking on it, I wasn't granted a devotion point for my character. However, we ran to a shrine that hadn't been completed, and when it was done, my character and his both got the devotion.

Experience: There is a shared experience mechanic built into the game when you're partied up (that's what the game calls being in a cooperative group together), however, if a player doesn't deal damage to a creature before it dies, they don't get as much exp as the player(s) who did (not sure yet if it's based on how much damage, or just if they participated in the damage) Also, it seems that if players are too far away from each other, they wont get exp from things being killed, not even the passive exp share (not sure what the distance is, but we confirmed that while I was standing in Devil's Crossing and he was smashing bandits in the Arkovian Foothills west of town.
While in my friend's game, I had him smash some of the low level critters to see if I'd get some power leveling. Neither he 'nor I got any experience from them. When I followed him to an area of his level, when he killed something, I got experience (a lot). When I attacked and damaged a target of the same level and type I got more experience when it died than when I was just running around like a headless chicken. lol
These factors are why you may notice some players creeping ahead of everyone else in a party, despite only playing those characters together.

In conclusion, joining a higher level character's game has both Pros and Cons. The lower level character will be unable to progress in story missions, which give you access to important things like more backpack space, and unlocking people and services in Devil's Crossing for your own character/game (like the blacksmith and inventor) You will also be missing out on any shrines the host has already cleansed. With that in mind, joining a higher level game does let you gain high passive experience (if you're close enough or can poke enemies and survive), completing side quests the host hasn't done yet, unlocking shrines/devotions the host hasn't done yet, and picking up high-er level items, (although you wont be able to use them right away) recipes, crafting supplies, and of course bits for your character to take back with you to your game.

*Please feel free to leave your thoughts, comments, corrections, critiques and any other information you want to see here or think would be good additions. Also, please feel free to add links and such to help people find additional and more detailed information about Multiplayer. (This is my first Community post on Steam, so please don't hesitate to give me formatting or other tips/advice to make this a better/more organized post as well. ^_^)