Am I starving myself of XP?

[DrakenKin]

I am currently playing only sneaky... meaning i don't kill anyone, and i don't make them sleep either. I just sneak past everyone.

But worried about XP, since i don't get any if i don't neutralize enemies.

Should i be worried about lack of xp?

(playing on max difficulty)

[Vassago Rain]

Not really, no.

[CursedPanther]

You get stealth XP bonus if you're successful. Also you need to explore the area and grab those extra XP.

[Sinophile]

Unlike most RPGs, Deus Ex actually rewards nonviolent gameplay. Nonlethal actually rewards more exp then lethal attacks. The main drawback is that people can be discovered and wake up.

[DrakenKin]

You missed my point,

I am not attacking ANYONE. I am just sneaking by without using attack or sleep, i leave everyone alive and conscious...

[CursedPanther]

We get it, and the answer is still no.

[DeadBeat]

I think so because there's alot of hacking that can't done without knocking out guards here and there. Not only does the hack itself give you xp but sometimes there's bonus xp to be had in the data stores.

[Steven SeBoomBoom]

it will make some difference vs. putting everyone to sleep+undetected and hacking everything etc. but it certainly wont be omfg I cant finish the game because my skills are too low.
also note that you can do a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ between missions in prague, where you get trailblazer or whatever and that alone gives you like 400xp.
Id assume that he has 2-3 praxis less than someone who did everything.

[Purity+Control<]

You get more XP if you knock them out than if you kill them, but zero XP if you avoid them completely. The different ratings and XP bonuses for avoid detection and alarms apply whatever you do.

But honestly? You need to knock out 100-110 NPCs in order to get ONE praxis kit from doing it.

So yeah, the time wasted taking everyone out is really not worth the reward.

[DrakenKin]

Originally posted by Mambo Sapin:

You get more XP if you knock them out than if you kill them, but zero XP if you avoid them completely. The different ratings and XP bonuses for avoid detection and alarms apply whatever you do.

But honestly? You need to knock out 100-110 NPCs in order to get ONE praxis kit from doing it.

So yeah, the time wasted taking everyone out is really not worth the reward.

Great answer, very clear.

Thanks everyone!

[Syd Khaos]

Less EXP for playing this way? Yes, absolutly.

Starved for EXP playing this way? Not gonna happen.

Deus Ex games have always been about progressing through each area as YOU see fit. To make this possible the Devs have always added plenty of options for getting exp.

And, as Mambo Sapin said, the EXP you get from killing or knocking people out pales in comparison to the EXP you get for:
Finding hidden spots/ exploring an entire area
Most hacks
Completing a task and whole mission

By the end of the game you will not be seeing much of a gap between your character and one that kills/disables target NPCs along the way....esp if your getting stealth completion bonuses on alot of your missions.

[DrakenKin]

Where can you see if you got stealth bonus or not?

(i was stealthy for whole first area but then got seen at the sandstorm, wondering if i got it or not.)

[This is Hunk! From Alpha team.]

you can easily get full aug tree if you explore around. There's ton of XP out there not only main quest you can get it. Im only at Main quest 2 and did 3 or 4 side quest but i have 45k or 50k XP i dont remember.

[MaffiaBaas]

Originally posted by Draken:

Where can you see if you got stealth bonus or not?

(i was stealthy for whole first area but then got seen at the sandstorm, wondering if i got it or not.)

Probably not.

One of the most annoying things is that we can’t see the history of the "XP-gains/achievements" of the completed missions/challenges. But unfortunately only once, when you've finished something that rewards XP when the popup shows on the screen. (which sucks, and isn’t really helpful while still playing/focusing on the game)

What I did to see, and/or keep track of my XP-gains was (REALLY time consuming, and a "No-life" state of mind :P): I made multiple save files, in which I finished a few missions with different outcomes. Like getting spotted intentionally, and shooting/killing around etc, etc. Right before finishing the mission, (which I played completely stealthy, like a ghost. And avoiding as much XP-gains as possible, to get a clean baseline). To see what gave me most XP-points.

As a conclusion I found out that, whatever kind of method you choose may vary quite more than anticipated.

Depending on the main approach, which is the way you complete the mission, I,E, stealthy/ghost/loud/terminator/die-hard/etc (stealthy/ghost most rewarding).

BUT, everything else which rewards us with XP-gains come by (what others have said before) exploring every inch, reading everything there is, uncovering secret passages, completing challenges (including in-game achievements), hacking EVERYTHING successful (most xp when the firewall-node is taken down, when possible), distracting and knocking out, keep body's hidden, (not)using augs, And etc, etc, etc 10 more times.

No killing, raising 0-suspision, 0-alarms and all that DOES have its requirements to be most "XP rewarding".

Comparison, between 2 approaches:

I,E, a gameplay, in which there are NPC's killed, and or you're spotted. BUT with all the small XP gains possible achieved, to get "max XP" possible.

And a gameplay in which only the main goal is finished all stealthy, and all that. Will/Can sometimes be less rewarding, than the first example.

So combining the stealthy part with all other XP rewards is the most rewarding gameplay, BUT also the most time consuming AND most risky way to lose ((mostly time and effort, when spotted.) Or being spotted and killed in permadeath-mode and/or, when the last save file available is to old/or just really far back).

BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW IS VERY VERY SIMPLE, AND REALLY SERIOUS... Doing the things explained in the previous paragraph is the most enjoyable/rewarding/FUN/lovely/-AND ALL OTHER WORDS THAT DESCRIBE THE BEST GAMING EXPERIENCE, to play this game if you ask me:P:P.

PS: time spend on this comment was made possible by the DAMNED credits at the end. This SHOULD be possible to skip... Especially after we've seen it more than 5 times already :p.

PSS: anyway, I hope that this answers your question at least a little bit :p.

PSSS: Download the Deus Ex app, best way to keep track of the game progres.