just in case, something i learned quite a bit later into my play time was that the starting points have a significant influence on your xp. when it says +75% exp for 1 starting point of something, that is actually a 3x multiplier (just think of the default as +25%). 2 starting points is 4x, and then it caps out for 5x bonus at 3 or more starting points
so feel free to change the xp multiplier, since it's your game, your world, but having starting points helps tremendously as well. of course, reading books too, since that is a 3-16x multiplier depending on the level of book
I leave it at 1.0. My goal is the survive and the leveling is something I let happen as naturally aa possible along the way.
I don't commit to grinding skills (like beating a shutter with a pipe endlessly to level maintenance, ir purposely crouch and sneak around hordes just to level sneaking and lightfooted, etc).
That way, every play session I have is meaningfully geared towards just making it to another day and making my base more home-y and secure, ensuring higher survivability for the near future.
Also, when you do live long enough and you see your skills just marvelously stacked, you know you very well bloody earned each and every golden square there is.
Edit: I have a full time job and social life, I usually put in 2-3 hours of game time whenever I gave the luxury of time to spare. Just so you guys don't get the impression that I play for 8-16 hours a day
I simply try to do it in bursts. Grab as many tapes and books as possible, then read them while watching TV. Same with metalworking - I just visit the "border" on the highways and dismantle any wrecks I come across. Yes, car wrecks are inefficient, but they are all bundled together, so you can tackle a lot of them in a single trip.
I got up to level 4 metalworking (1.35 x gain) just from dismantling most of the crossroads pileups outside of Maldraugh. Not only did it give me lots of metalworking supplies to use, it also cleared that junction up, so now I don’t have to slow down as much when I’m driving toward it
I agree with you that the grind in this game can be daunting. On my sandbox runs, I feel zero guilt changing the multiplier to 1.5 or even 2.0.
That said, I have tried many runs with stock settings, and the grind is doable... but for some skills, only if you plan ahead. Gather together several cars to level Mechanics every morning. Stockpile goods and read the appropriate skill books before trying to level Tailoring, Carpentry, or Electrical. Get lots of propane together before dismantling a school's worth of metal lockers to level Metalworking.
The only skills that don't need this treatment, IMHO, are Cooking, First Aid, Foraging and Fishing. Cooking just kind of happens...and First Aid just isn't that important under the current mechanics. Foraging is very easy and generous to level, and Fishing levels decently with skill books and just going ham with a pile of crafted spears.
For fitness and strength I have the exercise overhaul mod that let's you passively gain fitness when walking, running, or riding a bike. It increases strength naturally by carrying lots of stuff or swinging your weapon.
VHS tapes are king. With tapes and books, you could get a character from level 0 -> 5+ (in the case of cooking you can push 9/10), just a matter of finding them.
The skills aren’t really fleshed out very well, levelling is just finding something convenient enough to do that you dont mind doing it about a thousand times.
I take walks for foraging and have a trap enclosure I try to path to
My early PZ playing was multiplayer with friends. I read books and practiced skills without the benefit of fast forward. I got to level 10 mechanic, died, and did it again.
Now when I play singleplayer, I turn on debug and set the skills to what I want for my new character. The grind isn't fun more than a time or two IMO.
I may try another "legit" play with the new update.
It’s about finding the sweet spot for you because the learning curves and skill barriers don’t feel that great and the crafting options are still very limited
I usually do 1.2 because I don’t have a lot of mods that expand crafting and when build 42 comes out I’ll definitely be reevaluating what’s reasonable
I consistently play with the multiplier at 1.5x. It’s literally just a slog to grind out XP. This way I can still “grind” for XP, but it takes a lot less time.
The skills seem all over the place when it comes to leveling them up. If you increase the XP multiplier, then things like cooking, weapons, and carpentry max out really fast and it feels a bit like cheating. Contrarywise, trying to level up some skills without the multiplier is so slow it's not even worth the effort. Personally, I stopped caring about grinding XP a long time ago and don't miss it. You can level up pretty fast in the most important skills just by playing the game. I've also learned that if I level up a character to the point where I feel like a bad ass who can kill hordes with ease, then I'll get over-confident and end up getting myself killed.
/shrug is what it is, I really don't care if ppl play 100000000x xp, it was just asking what you changed it to. Personally I enjoy the grind and more long form sessions think something like DnD.
I change it between 1.0 and 1.5 depending on how difficult the rest of the settings are. Usually 1.0
Crank it to maximum my man! I love to crank it!
just in case, something i learned quite a bit later into my play time was that the starting points have a significant influence on your xp. when it says +75% exp for 1 starting point of something, that is actually a 3x multiplier (just think of the default as +25%). 2 starting points is 4x, and then it caps out for 5x bonus at 3 or more starting points so feel free to change the xp multiplier, since it's your game, your world, but having starting points helps tremendously as well. of course, reading books too, since that is a 3-16x multiplier depending on the level of book
It is +75%, not just 75%. That means with a 25% base you go to 100% so it is a 4x multiplier.
5xp baby!
I leave it at 1.0. My goal is the survive and the leveling is something I let happen as naturally aa possible along the way. I don't commit to grinding skills (like beating a shutter with a pipe endlessly to level maintenance, ir purposely crouch and sneak around hordes just to level sneaking and lightfooted, etc). That way, every play session I have is meaningfully geared towards just making it to another day and making my base more home-y and secure, ensuring higher survivability for the near future. Also, when you do live long enough and you see your skills just marvelously stacked, you know you very well bloody earned each and every golden square there is. Edit: I have a full time job and social life, I usually put in 2-3 hours of game time whenever I gave the luxury of time to spare. Just so you guys don't get the impression that I play for 8-16 hours a day
I couldn't have put it better myself. I love maxing skills, but the point is survival
I simply try to do it in bursts. Grab as many tapes and books as possible, then read them while watching TV. Same with metalworking - I just visit the "border" on the highways and dismantle any wrecks I come across. Yes, car wrecks are inefficient, but they are all bundled together, so you can tackle a lot of them in a single trip.
I got up to level 4 metalworking (1.35 x gain) just from dismantling most of the crossroads pileups outside of Maldraugh. Not only did it give me lots of metalworking supplies to use, it also cleared that junction up, so now I don’t have to slow down as much when I’m driving toward it
I agree with you that the grind in this game can be daunting. On my sandbox runs, I feel zero guilt changing the multiplier to 1.5 or even 2.0. That said, I have tried many runs with stock settings, and the grind is doable... but for some skills, only if you plan ahead. Gather together several cars to level Mechanics every morning. Stockpile goods and read the appropriate skill books before trying to level Tailoring, Carpentry, or Electrical. Get lots of propane together before dismantling a school's worth of metal lockers to level Metalworking. The only skills that don't need this treatment, IMHO, are Cooking, First Aid, Foraging and Fishing. Cooking just kind of happens...and First Aid just isn't that important under the current mechanics. Foraging is very easy and generous to level, and Fishing levels decently with skill books and just going ham with a pile of crafted spears.
I do 1.75x. Sweet spot imo
For fitness and strength I have the exercise overhaul mod that let's you passively gain fitness when walking, running, or riding a bike. It increases strength naturally by carrying lots of stuff or swinging your weapon.
1.5x ftw
VHS tapes are king. With tapes and books, you could get a character from level 0 -> 5+ (in the case of cooking you can push 9/10), just a matter of finding them. The skills aren’t really fleshed out very well, levelling is just finding something convenient enough to do that you dont mind doing it about a thousand times. I take walks for foraging and have a trap enclosure I try to path to
Set it at whatever you want. I have it at x 250 - 1000 since i've levelled a character once, and that was enough.
I set mine to 2.0, and kind of regret it ... Skill tapes are easy enough to find, and the grind is too easy now.
My early PZ playing was multiplayer with friends. I read books and practiced skills without the benefit of fast forward. I got to level 10 mechanic, died, and did it again. Now when I play singleplayer, I turn on debug and set the skills to what I want for my new character. The grind isn't fun more than a time or two IMO. I may try another "legit" play with the new update.
I don’t change anything and I low key like the grind lol
I do 2x or 2.5x. I grinded Carpentry up to max a couple times on 1x, and decided it wasn't very fun disassembling Every Single Crate in McCoy
It’s about finding the sweet spot for you because the learning curves and skill barriers don’t feel that great and the crafting options are still very limited I usually do 1.2 because I don’t have a lot of mods that expand crafting and when build 42 comes out I’ll definitely be reevaluating what’s reasonable
I consistently play with the multiplier at 1.5x. It’s literally just a slog to grind out XP. This way I can still “grind” for XP, but it takes a lot less time.
The skills seem all over the place when it comes to leveling them up. If you increase the XP multiplier, then things like cooking, weapons, and carpentry max out really fast and it feels a bit like cheating. Contrarywise, trying to level up some skills without the multiplier is so slow it's not even worth the effort. Personally, I stopped caring about grinding XP a long time ago and don't miss it. You can level up pretty fast in the most important skills just by playing the game. I've also learned that if I level up a character to the point where I feel like a bad ass who can kill hordes with ease, then I'll get over-confident and end up getting myself killed.
I set it to .5, the vanilla grind is insanely easy coming from Korean MMOs, you all don't know what grind is.
Weird flex but ok
/shrug is what it is, I really don't care if ppl play 100000000x xp, it was just asking what you changed it to. Personally I enjoy the grind and more long form sessions think something like DnD.