Experience System

[Quasicide]

Love the game, definitely a must play for any turn based tactics fan. I also enjoy the setting and dialog too. It manages to combine elements of Fading Suns, Battletech, Heavy Gear, BSG, 40K, and it own ideas, into something distinctly compelling.


CHALLENGE
Part of the fun of swapping out Templars is choosing the best specialists for the mission. Yet if a Templar doesn't go on a few missions they are overtaken by new recruits. This results in veteran warriors becoming no more useful or experienced than a rookie.


GOAL
Be able to build up new recruits into a stable of veterans that remain capable even if they don't go on every mission.


SUGGESTION
Experience system works just like it does, with one change.

Every time a Templar goes on a mission, his minimum XP level relative to the Captain increases.

Example: A new recruit is set at 70% of the Captain's XP. Each time that Templar goes on a mission his minimum XP relative to the Captain's XP increases by 3%. So after 5 missions the Templar's minimum XP is 85%, and after 10 missions it is 100%.

The percentages can be adjusted. Maybe it is 5% per mission. And perhaps a Templar can't ever reach 100% of the Captain's XP, maybe 90% is the maximum.

From a fiction stand point, this makes sense because it is assumed those veteran Templar are busy fighting else where when not involved in the current mission.

[Trese Brothers]

@Kodiak - thanks for the post and I am glad you are enjoying the game. When you say that your veterans are "overtaken by new recruits" can you share the numbers you are seeing the difficulty you are playing at? From my understanding of the experience system, this would only happen if you were taking the new recruits consistently on missions and leaving the veteran on the roster. In no case, can a new recruit who has not gone on missions pass a veteran.

What difficulty are you playing on? Also, what level range are you looking at? If it is too low, then this is expected, as below level 6 special leveling rules are applied to help you squad get out of the start of the game with a decent base of veterans. Above 6, the normal leveling rules apply and you'll see Vets consistently getting ahead of new recruits.

[Quasicide]

Originally posted by Trese Brothers:

When you say that your veterans are "overtaken by new recruits" can you share the numbers you are seeing the difficulty you are playing at?

What difficulty are you playing on? Also, what level range are you looking at?

EXAMPLES
Hard Difficulty
Captain was level 11, new Recruits were level 8

Level 8 Soldier had 7 missions of experience and 41 kills
Level 8 Soldier had been on 7 of the 14 missions

Despite such experience, by the time the Captain reached level 11, that level 8 Soldier had the same amount of XP as a new recruit. The exact XP number was 1041.

Same for my level 8 Engineer. Despite 5 missions she is the same level as the new recruits, and only has 102 more XP than them at 1143.

I have also seen my Hydra go from being 1 level lower than the Captain, to 3 levels lower than the Captain. And that is despite him having been part of the starting force in 8 of my 14 missions, and having 126 kills.


OVERTAKE or FALL BEHIND
Here is how it happens.

The Captain always gains XP.
New recruits gain an entire level of XP,
Each time the XP% gap between them and the Captain is triggered.
Veterans only gain XP if they go on a mission.

So everytime a Veteran doesn't go on a mission, they "fall behind" and move one step closer to having the same XP as a new recruit. Or in other words, the recruits "overtake" them.


XP STALL
Also known as, how to send a Templar on missions, and yet never have more XP than a new recruit. Here is how that happens.

New recruits have XP equal to the minimum amount need to reach their current level.
If you send this recruit on a mission,
And the Captain levels up from that mission,
And this causes all the new recruits to level up to the next level,
Then the Templar that was sent on the mission "stalls" and gains nothing on new recruits.
Happens because the XP gained by going on the mission is less than the XP gained by the recruits for not going on the mission.

I sent a new recruit Paladin on two missions. But by concidence, she was sent on missions when the Captain leveled up, causing the new recruits to also level up. As a result, she never profited from these missions, and looked exactly like every other new recruit.

[Trese Brothers]

@kodiak - thanks for the details. I am still surprised your seeing this.

Important to keep in mind that 14 levels is about 25% of the campaign -- so you're still pretty early on. Also, when you are counting that a soldier has been on 7 of 14 missions, if 5 of those are the starting tutorial missions -- that is a big thing to keep in mind, those missions give very low XP totals compared to later levels, so they don't count for nearly as much as it might sound (7 out of 14 ... maybe 2 out of 9?)

How large is the pool of veterans you are trying to cycle through with new recruits? Perhaps it is simply too large to keep them all leveling effectively?

As you progress farther into the game, the scale continually stretches out. Later, you're level 20 Captain will be recruiting new Templars at level 14. In the squads I have taken through the game, by this point I always have a level 20 Captain, and a crew of 5-6 veterans at different levels between 20 and 16.

[Quasicide]

13th lvl Captain with 2522 xp - 18 missions
13th lvl Soldier with 2522 xp - 18 missions
13th lvl Soldier 2312 xp - 16 missions
9th lvl Hydra with 1500 xp - 9 missions
9th lvl Engineer with 1491 xp - 6 missions
9th lvl Valkyrie with 1291 xp - 3 missions
9th lvl Scout with 1291 xp - 0 missions, same xp as new recruits

I've also retired 4 Templar because new recruits became just as effective, and I didn't want to have to bother upgrading them. Also 1 rookie Scout died. Together they had about 8 missions worth of experience.

I tend to consistently achieve all secondary objectives and the time bonus, so my Captain often levels every two missions.

Perhaps I just had the wrong expectations? I'd assumed I was suppose to build a stable of veterans, but it seems like the game challenges you to choose between a couple high level veterans, or a few mid-level ones.

Game is a lot of fun either way, so now that I know it is suppose to work like this, it doesn't bother me, as I now see it as part of the challenge.

It could be you just need to add in a bit of text during the tutorial about the roster. Just let players know, they must chose between diversity and expertise, or something like that. In short, you don't need to change the system, you just need to explain to players it isn't a bug, it is a feature! : )

[Trese Brothers]

@kodiak - based on the squad roster you've shared, I think I'd agree -- that is how the feature is intended to work. We are working on re-doing the tutorial on leveling and the HQ (making it interactive / guided instead of a dump of text and screenshots), so I will be sure to include this in the new one.

Building a stable of veterans is definitely the goal. 18 missions is now something like 35% of the way into the campaign. XP rewards continue to increase slowly throughout, and you'll find that your Captain's rate of leveling slows, which slows the pace of the base level curve. If you do a second playthrough with a new squad, it would be fascinating to see what your leveling results look like. I usually find that I have 4-5 Templars who stay very close or 1-2 levels behind the Captain.

Within the game world as well, the Templars who are joining your squad are no longer newly forged in battle, they are veterans looking to join with a hardened Captain who has been sent to all the worst fighting in the Quadrant.

Thanks for the feedback!