Tanred

Same here.

I agree, with scaling up turned on PotD v1.1 stays somewhat challenging even in later levels (with companions party at least). Early levels can be brutal, for my playthrough I even had to slightly tone down the PotD bonuses to accuracy and defenses.

They've changed the encounters too.

Flat bonus + 2 to Armor and Penetration on PotD now. Not sure if it does scale on top of that. Veteran vs. PotD (btw. values are moddable now):

Additional Custom AI actions (switching weapons and modals) are very cool, thanks.

I agree, enemies with a base level relatively high to what is the location level certainly shows weaknesses of the level scaling system which this mod exacerbates even further. The main culprit are, IMO, some of the locations which have their level set too low for what is their enemy base level and it really throws the balance off sometimes. It can go weird like this: Spawning a base level 6 enemy in a level 1 location against a level 6 party would result in a 10 level enemy on vanilla and 13 level enemy with my mod. Spawning a base level 6 enemy in a level 4 location against a level 6 party would result in a 7 level enemy on vanilla and 10 level enemy with my mod. Spawning a base level 6 enemy in a level 6 location against a level 6 party would result in a 6 level enemy on vanilla and 8 level enemy with my mod. Level scaling overall and certainly this mod work best when the enemies' base levels are roughly the same as what is the location level where they are spawned. The easiest fix would be setting the location to a higher level in certain instances (mainly Neketaka I guess), but that would up to Obsidian. Anyway, I decided to wait for Obsidian's balance patch first before tweaking the mod any further.

Just out of curiosity, is there any kind of problem with singing up on Nexus?

That's a great news!

Reposting my answer to this question on Nexus: When in doubts whether the mod is working properly, the best way would be comparing the accuracy and defense values against vanilla. You would need to uninstall the mod but you can reinstall it again once you check the vanilla values without the need to start a new game. You should also load a save game from before you entered the location you want to test. The amount of bonus levels gained from scaling should depend on the difference between the player's level and a set location level, not enemies level. That's how the game works - at least according to my testing (otherwise I wouldn't have an explanation why same enemies get different bonus levels in various locations when party's level remains the same) E.g., if the location level is 6 and your party level is 6, there should be nothing to scale regardless of the enemies base level.* Anyway, an example how to scaling works in the game: 1) scaling turned off, vanilla: Your level 12 party enters level 6 location. You encounter xaurip priest and xaurip skirmisher. The first one should be at level 3, the other one at level 4 = their base levels. 2) scaling turned on, vanilla: Your level 12 party enters level 6 location. You encounter xaurip priest and xaurip skirmisher. The first one should be at level 7, the other one at level 8 = their base levels + 4 bonus levels from scaling when the difference between player's level and location level is 6 levels (that's vanilla level scaling setting). 3) scaling turned on, my mod: Your level 12 party enters level 6 location. You encounter xaurip priest and xaurip skirmisher. The first one should be at level 11, the other one at level 12 = their base levels + 8 bonus levels from scaling when the difference between player's level and location level is 6 levels (that's modded level scaling setting). *However, this mod, unlike vanilla, should give some bonus levels (usually 2 or 3) to enemies even if there is no difference between player's level and the location level. For example: 1) scaling turned on, vanilla: Your level 6 party enters level 6 location. You encounter xaurip priest and xaurip skirmisher. The first one should be at level 3, the other one at level 4 = their base levels and 0 bonus levels from scaling. 2) scaling turned on, my mod: Your level 6 party enters level 6 location. You encounter xaurip priest and xaurip skirmisher. The first one should be at level 5, the other one at level 6 = their base levels and + 2 bonus levels.

Thanks! I'll do that.

Yeah, I'm aware of this but sadly, this mod needs to change "MaxLevelAdjustment" value for each character, that is 1748 modified objects in total. It would be pointless to create a separate file with so many modified objects so I need to find a way how to extract just the "MaxLevelAdjustment" object. I was not successful yet. I'll try to look into it more.

I've found -30% to XP works better for later levels and -50% for early levels (I switched from -50% to -30% during single gameplay). But it is a gamestyle dependent tweak and I doubt we would be able to find a single value working for everyone. The advantage is you can change it anytime.

Thanks! Eventual future updates to the mod will be uploaded on Nexus, here's the link: https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/24 Link to the mod thread here on Obsidian forums: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/100039-mod-level-scaling-mod-released/

Thanks for the feedback! I've just tested the encounter with Nomu the Marauder with my level 10 party and the barbarians are at level 11 (+30 bonus) and Nomu himself has level 12 (+33 bonus). In vanilla (with the mod uninstalled and scaling turned on, all, only up), they are of level 8 (+21 bonus) and 9, respectively. Nomu has base class level 5 (and I assume his barbarians are 1 level lower), so it appears that you don't have scaling turned or it is not working properly. Could you please test the 2nd encounter without the mod and check it again?

This mod aims to increase the game difficulty by altering enemy's level progression, however it is more of a band-aid partial fix rather than a proper solution to current issues with PoE 2 difficulty. Also please bear in mind the mod is still work in progress and hasn't been thoroughly tested and balanced yet. What does it do: Enemy's levels are increased globally. This has been done by increasing the level scaling values by 2-3 in progressiontable gamedatabundle file. Note that actual level increase depends on the difference between the player's level and location level (see below). Enemy's levels scale up higher than in vanilla. Vanilla level scaling table has a hard cap of max 4 levels above the enemy base level. This mods changes the cap to 10 bonus levels. This has been done by tweaking the level scaling values in progressiontable and characters gamedatabundle files. Download link (Nexus): https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/24 Few notes: I am not 100% sure but it appears that the way level scaling works in PoE2 is that a same creature would get different bonus levels when spawned at different locations. The only logical explanation I have is that the amount of bonus levels enemy gets above its base level depends on the difference between the current player's level and the current location level (where the creature is spawned) rather than on the difference between the player's level and the enemy's base level. This means that an enemy spawned at early game areas would have higher adjusted level than same enemy spawned in later game areas - provided player's level remains the same. This mod should work on any difficulty but it is intended to be balanced against Path of the Damned difficulty. You have to turn level scaling on (all, only up) in order to make this mod work. Edit: different scaling options should run well with the mod, however this has not been tested. Note that the mod might work only in locations you haven't visited yet (this needs further testing). It does not require starting a new game. Neither of the mods should break any achievements. The mod should work with game version 1.02. How to install: Go to Pillars 2 folder (e.g. Pillars of Eternity II\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\) Create "override" folder in Pillars of Eternity II\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\ Unzip the mod to the created /override folder. The path to the mod files should be: /PillarsOfEternity2_Data/override/LevelScalingMod/gamedata/ Run the game. Make sure scaling is turned on. Optional XP gain tweak: I have also included a separate XP reduction mod for those who want slower levelling. It decreases the quest XP gain multiplier and combat XP gain multiplier in global gamedatabundle files to 70% of the vanilla values. You can tweak the values yourself if you wish, the default vanilla values are 1.35 for QuestXPMultiplier and 1.25 for CombatXPMultiplier. Compatibility with other mods: A. The Level Scaling Mod is not compatible with any mods that change 'CharacterStatsGameData' objects in 'characters.gamedatabundle' or 'CharacterLevelScalingTableGameData' objects in 'progressiontable.gamedatabundle'. The following is a complete list of Level Scaling Mod's tweaks made to those files: characters.gamedatabundle: 'MaxLevelAdjustment' property changed from 4 to 19; progressiontable.gamedatabundle: 'ExpectedCharacterLevelAdjustment' arrays expanded up to 'ExpectedDifferenceMin: 8', 'ExpectedDifferenceMax: 50'; progressiontable.gamedatabundle: changed 'AdjustedLevelAmount' values (up to 10 - this is the mod's hard cap). B. The XPTweak_0.7 Mod is not compatible with any mods that change 'Game.GameData.ExperienceTableGameData' objects in 'global.gamedatabundle'. The following is a complete list of XPTweak_0.7 Mod's tweaks made to that file: global.gamedatabundle: 'QuestXPMultiplier' property changed from 1.35 to 0.945; global.gamedatabundle: 'CombatXPMultiplier' property changed from 1.25 to 0.875. I'd welcome any input.

Wrong forum, please delete.

I made a level scaling mod and while testing it I noticed same creatures would get different bonus levels when spawn at different locations. Thus it seems that ExpectedDifferenceMin/Max values are not tied to base enemy level but to location (area) level. With scaling turned on, enemy base level appears to be adjusted by the difference between the player level and the location level. Early game locations would give highest bonus levels. Anyway, here is a link to a work-in-progress level scaling mod for anyone willing to test it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lkrSndOItGA5nB1eQyBXyL0IyVh04lRd/view?usp=sharing Mod's intention is to make the game slightly more challenging. It does two things: Enemy levels are increased. It changes the levelscaling cap of max 4 bonus levels to 10 bonus levels. As posted before, enemy base level appears to be adjusted by the difference between the player level and the level of the current location. How to install: Navigate to Pillars 2 folder (e.g. Pillars of Eternity II\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\) Create "override" folder in Pillars of Eternity II\PillarsOfEternityII_Data\ Unzip the mod to the created /override folder. Run the game. Make sure scaling is turned on (all + only up). Note that the mod might work only in locations you haven't visited yet (needs further testing).

I made a level scaling mod and while testing it I noticed same creatures would get different bonus levels when spawn at different locations. Thus it seems that ExpectedDifferenceMin/Max values are not tied to base enemy level but to location (area) level. With scaling turned on, enemy base level appears to be adjusted by the difference between the player level and the location level. Early game locations would give highest bonus levels.

It took me about 6s of looking, and 2s to change the two numbers. It took a bit longer to realize another mod was overwriting it all. So yea, less than 10s of mod work is going to be wiped away, likewise with changing the scaling. It's probably less than a minute to do what Tanred did. Ctrl-F replace all with whatever number you want. Repeat 3 times. Voila, you've just increased the scaling in 3 easy steps that take less than a minute. Yeah, modding the gamedatabundle objects seems to be pretty quick and easy. Balancing and testing not so much. When I get time I'll try to mod the level scaling to scale all the way up to or close to player level. I haven't been successful so far though, can't break the hard cap of 4 levels above the base class level (even with tweaks to MaxLevelAdjustments found in characters gamedatabundle).

There is a mod which supposedly enables difficulty indicators with scaling turned on: https://github.com/SonicZentropy/PoE2Mods.pw/blob/master/README.md I haven't tested it yet.

Right, the idea is to make POTD more impactful, and not overcome by level 6. In theory what I hope it does, is clamp down on accuracy/deflection inflation. The bonus the AI gets from POTD becomes more important, levels in terms of accuracy and deflection remain important, but not to the point of trivializing POTD in short order. It also tightens the margins between player and AI. Think of it in terms of percentages. How big of a difference is 15 accuracy, at level 16? Level 16 gives the AI +45 accuracy/Deflection currently. POTD figures only 33% into that. Drop the gain to +1 per level, and now level 15 is EQUAL to POTD. Instead of a combined 60 accuracy/deflection, the AI gets 30, and you have 15. Meaning the difference between you and the AI is 100%, versus the difference between 45 and 60. The relative difference is much higher, preserving POTD difficulty, because now lower level critters, are not going to just get instantly exploded, because while a level 1 beetle is much weaker than you, it has the same bonus as you, which means you won't just auto crit/auto evade every hit. Maybe it won't have the outcome I hope it will, and maybe it will just make POTD basically impossible? Hmm, I see your point. I might actually try it. It would have a huge effect on class/abilities balance though.

Can you test to see if you can get the "AccuracyPerLevel":3,"DefensePerLevel":3, to work when you change the values? I'm wondering if I've just broken something or if it just won't change. I got it working, I must have borked something with my other modding! Anyways. I think, maybe just toning down the per level bonuses might be a better solution than just scaling monsters up completely. The reason is, the bonuses they will get from levels will push their accuracy/deflection much higher, basically doubling the effect of POTD. By lowering the bonus of levels, you take away the biggest advantage the player has over under leveled NPCS, and by leaving the scaling as is, they don't get that massive double dip of almost 2x POTD. Of course, without the +3 accuracy/bonus, the emphasis on stats will change quite a bit, especially on POTD where everything is going to have a 15 level handicap in terms of accuracy/deflection. I think it will definitely change what is viable build wise in potd. Things like dagger/hatchet modals will become very useful. Tell me what you think about just dropping the per level bonus from 3 to 1. Higher level stuff is going to be much harder, = level stuff will be very difficult, under leveled stuff will provide a bit more challenge in swarm type encounters. I think PotD gives good amount of challenge when fighting enemy close to my level. The issue imo lies in overlevelling and hard cap for scaling. That's why I personally run with default scaling values and use a XP gain reduction tweak instead (0,66 atm): https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/98907-modtweak-xp-gain-modifier/.

It's working ok, however this way enemy gets reduced Acc and Defenses as well.

I tried to set every AdjustedLevelAmount value to 4* in progressiontable gamedatabundle and on-level fights became way more challenging on PotD when enemy is getting +5 levels from PotD (+15 Acc, +15 Defenses) and another +4 levels above the base level from scaling adjustment (+12 Acc, +12 Defenses). Tho not sure this is the right direction the difficulty tweaks should be heading. The amount of misses and enemy crits is way too high. * "ExpectedDifferenceMin": -1, "ExpectedDifferenceMax": 1, "AdjustedLevelAmount": 4 "ExpectedDifferenceMin": 2, "ExpectedDifferenceMax": 2, "AdjustedLevelAmount": 4 etc.

Yes but i havent tested it yet.