Level scaling for all PT and DLC!

[JRD]

The way the game scale to your level cap is quite confusing considering that some players are going through the DLC for the first time after beating the main game twice, which puts them on level 61 (until the next patch raises it to 69).

I`ve finished PT1 around 35 and moved to Zombie Island, which I found quite easy as a matter of fact, but they were all dead already  ;D . Now I`m on General Knoxx and enemies are quite easy to kill and dropping average loot. (one caustic sniper shot can put down a Lance Rocketeer  ???? )

My level is 42 right now and I just reached Moxxi at Deep Fathoms

I thought about going through the DLC on PT1 before hitting the main game on PT2 as I wanted better guns to go on (and not weaker enemies instead  :-( )

Here`s what I found at the BL forum (if you have the patience to read and concatenate the info, that is  :-( )

ZI PT 1 starts around 10 and caps off aat 35, adjusting its level to pre-set positions as you complete certain main-game missions.

ZI PT2 does the same thing, from 35-ish to 50.

When you complete PT 2, ZI becomes 49-51, along with the rest of the main game.


Knoxx PT 1 always starts at 35 and goes to about 40. It does not adjust.

Knoxx PT 2 starts at 50 and goes to about 56. Once you complete the main story mission for Knoxx it adds 5 levels to every area within Knoxx. Enemies that were 51 are now 56, and enemies that were 56 are now 61.


RR starts around 10 and adjusts based on key main-game story missions, like ZI did.
If you've completed Find Steele it should be mid-40s.

If you've completed and turned-in the final story mission for Knoxx (Loot Larceny) it should be in the mid-50s.

If you have killed Crawmerax and turned-in You. Will. Die. RR will be 61 for the specific playthrough that you turned You. Will. Die. in for.

Ie: if you only completed Loot Larceny in PT2, but killed Craw and turned-in the mission in PT 1, RR in PT 1 will be 61, and RR in PT 2 will be mid-50s.



Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot adjusts itself automatically to whatever the Host's level is.

..............................


At some-point probably mid-October, a new patch will come out that will change the leveling system.

Under the new rules, once you have reached the Destroyer in PT 2 (ie: completed Find Steele) the game will adjust its level around yours IF the base level it would have otherwise been is lower than your current level.

So, if you complete PT 2 and head into Knoxx, enemies at 50 will be around the 50s, but the enemies farther along will still be 56. If you farm the crap out of Drifters and hit, say, 59 halfway through, all the enemies will be around 59.

In theory this new system should allow you to run PT 1 > PT 2 > PT 2.5 (for missions skipped during PT 2) > ZI > Knoxx > RR without ever becoming over-leveled following the Destroyer fight in PT 2.

So I understand I should go first on my PT2 in order to get harder enemies on the DLC, even if I`m playing the DLC for the first time? And if I play through all main game and DLC before going on my PT2 I will find weak enemies on the main game PT2?  ????

[mmosu]

Wow, that was a lot of info  :o
I'm not even sure where to start!  Cheers JRD for sorting through all that  :-X
I've always completed everything in order (always playthrough 1 before playthrough 2), never really thought too much about it until now, seemed like the logical way to do things  :-()

[JRD]

Thing is: for people who bought the game on release and played it, the DLC probably came after the player was at a high level cap and at the second playthrough, when enemies are scaled up anyway.

If you just play the game once and then move on to the DLC, scaling seems to put enemies in a somewhat lower cap level (35 tops against a 40-ish player on PT1), so most missions are "trivial", taking some of the fun and dropping are scaled down loot too.  :-(

At first I though that the game would just read you level cap and apply a multiplier to that, so most missions would be "normal" with a few "trivial" as you progress and "hard" or "normal" bosses depending on when you decide to tackle them, regardless of which playthrough you are.... but it seems to be way more complicated than that.

Maybe the patch is due to fix that... hopefully!

[mmosu]

I think that is exactly what they had in mind with this patch.  As you said, I was through the main game when the DLC's started to hit, so the progression was a little different for me.  While it is fun blasting low level foes and seeing how high you can make the chunks fly ( >:D), it does get old quickly.  That's why I spend so much time hanging out in the parched fathoms right now - with Craw dead and turned in, everyone is on level 60-61 with me.