Too much experience! <minor spoilers>

Hi there,

Continuing my explorations into the Temple of Elemental Evil, I just wanted to say again how much I appreciate the work that modders have done in getting this game in a decently playable state (I get very frustrating by bugs so don't think I'd have stuck with the vanilla TOEE past Hommlet!). I don't know how much of the encounters I'm playing are modded and how much are original content, but I've recently done some fantastically fun fights, like the Target of Revenge ambush, the Fire Temple and the room full of bugbears on Temple Level 2.

I wonder if anyone would like to comment about a problem I'm finding - namely that my PCs seem to be rising through levels too fast! I seem to be levelling up more than once per dungeon level - I've now just begun Temple Level 3 and all my PCs are level 9, and so far the few rooms I've done (Smigal, Bugbear Leaders, Ogres and Will o Wisps) have been walkovers. Yet I'm still receiving huge amounts of experience - e.g. killing two Greater Temple Bugbear Leaders netted my five PCs over 2,000 experience apiece - and it wasn't a tough fight.

I've already done the Verbobonc quests, but having read in a thread elsewhere that they tended to make you too powerful I then reduced all my PCs' experience using the console to try and ensure they didn't get too high level for the rest of the Temple. But I've still got this problem and I feel like the majority of the encounters are too easy.

Does the "max HP" tickbox in the TOEEFE work properly? Can I tick this at any time, or does it only take effect when I start a new game? If it works then I guess this would be a way to make the encounters harder - although it wouldn't do anything to slow my headlong rise through the levels!

Any other suggestions? Or are there tough fights later on in Temple Level 3 that I just need to wait for?

 

Though to be fair to the modders here, the game has always suffered from the problem of the early stages being balanced, and the later stages being too easy. Prior to Co8, the beginning was probably too easy too.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I've decided to go with on-the-fly adjustments - i.e. turning on Max HPs for enemies, reducing my experience using the console (so I don't go up levels so fast), and forcing myself not to use (or craft) the more powerful weapons and items. I think a sizeable donation to the Church of St Cuthbert might be in order too...

I happened across a thread in the modders section about moving around Hickory Branch and/or other Co8 mod sections to different places within the game timeline, which sounds very exciting.

I find it amazing (and rather inspiring) that there are still dedicated people putting time and effort into making TOEE better and better - you have my respect and thanks!