Not sure I understand the point of this mod keeping NPC max levels still so high? I'm sure many people will have beaten Oblivion by the time they are level 30, basic bandits scale with the player even 30 hours in and still run around with ridiculous high tier armor like Elven/Glass?
This mod has some weird choices, as you said it will probably not even affect new runs as you will probably finish the main story before even level 25, and bandits will still wear glass armor
I'm pretty sure it's meant to be paired with the Ascension mod. That one fixes the enemy loot and armor issues, so this mod just makes enemies tougher stat-wise (up to a cap) while keeping their armor reasonable. I think the idea is to maintain some form of challenge progression — since bandits are one of the core enemy types in the game, limiting them to low levels would just turn the entire game into a cakewalk.
This mod has the same issue as vanilla Oblivion - NPCs level along with the main character, making it absolutely pointless to level up at all. Best strategy is still to put skills that you use as minor skills and always remain at level 1. This way you get more powerful while enemies remain the same.
There should be a mod that makes all NPCs and creatures have static levels so improving your character always remains worthwhile. Would be difficult to play in beginning due to being much weaker than enemies on average, but incredibly rewarding in the end game, when can dominate.
@sacalata I think I agree with you. It seems like the level cap in the Remaster is 45 (though realistically closer to 43-44), and for comparison, Skyrim's level cap is 81 (without prestiging), with bandits capped at level 25.
I think this mod might benefit from further reducing enemy level caps. Capping generic bandits at what feels like late game levels (30) doesn’t really provide the satisfying sense of progression that Skyrim managed to deliver. However, it's still a lot better than infinitely scaling enemies in vanilla lol.
1. can you do a all-static-version? 2. another version with (much) lower caps. I agree with other players that bandits wearing pricy armors/weapons have no sense at all... They should probably stop around lvl8-10.
The best way to play this game especially on higher difficulties is to level up one time every time you get your 2nd level up. So essentially youll always have as many backup levels as your current level. Still I think it's too fast because youll be skipping enemies in the game and essentially fighting daedra randomly within an hour of the game lol but atleast you will have some sense of progression. Personally I do it every 3rd level up or so. For example right now I am level 6 and I should be level 14. Feels about right and enemies on Master are somewhat killable without taking more than 10 mins per bandit as I would if they were my same level.
This is a great mod! My only gripe is its a bit annoying to keep updated because of the file structure which isn't compatible with mod organizers. In future versions, can you please structure the files so that they are in a file tree that matches an offset from the Oblivion remastered folder?
For Example: Content/Dev/ObvData/Data/Balanced NPC Level Cap.esp
Edit: I've found that the auto sorter plugin automatically puts it in the right location so disregard this
You can't tell until you hit level 31, as it freeze NPC levels to whatever they would be at player level 30. But also, I don't think it works if added to an old save
Hey, can anyone confirm this can work on existing saves? I've tried both the approved load order and messing around, and I cannot for the life of me get the NPC levels to stop scaling
Sorry I don't really understand the point of this mod or what it adds? I don't follow.
I've found a shocking number of random folk in inns or on the streets of towns who were levels 5+ in the base game. Even some who were over level 20. Made doing a murder for the brotherhood quests to start strangely taxing when I couldn't stealth archer BEGGERS on the waterfront in one shot.
From what I could understand from the description, all this mod does is add in a max level, but the lowest max level for NPCs is 26? I came looking because I don't like regular bandits on the roads keeping pace with me above level 10 at the most. I already dislike bandits showing up in Mithril and Dwemer and Orcish armour, keeping pace with my hero of the realm. I've been playing a while and my highest level is about 17, so if the level cap is 30, then even with most of the main quest and Fighters' Guild done, are enemies still just going to keep pace with me until I've practically done most if not all of the major questlines?
Is there a much stricter version of the mod that puts much lower max ranges for enemies?
Appears to work well in the remaster. Mudcrabs were at level 1, Vilverin bandits at level 8 and guards at level 20 both when I was level 1 and level 50 (I changed level using console before exiting Imperial City Sewers).
Some people reported that it doesn't work. It works for me, but only on a fresh save, and then the level cap lingers on that save / character even after the removing the plugin.
When adding this mod to a save mid-playthrough, even after sleeping for 3+ days to reset cells and visiting new dungeons never visited before, bandits keep leveling beyond 30. But with the fresh save, it works as intended; bandits are never above 30, even after setting my level to much higher. However, when I remove the mod from that fresh save, they do not progress past 30 again.
No conflicts; all other mods were disabled when I was testing both situations.
This is what I've found on other mod. Apparently the cells reset after 10 days rather than just 3, while vendors require only 2 days to restock. Have you tried sleeping waiting for 10+ days before checking out the stats of said bandits?
Yeah, what Ghost said. It likely has to do with the new 10 day respawn. With the Ascension vanilla-plus loot mod I had to wait 10 days for a bandit to reset with leather gear. When I waited 3 days, it didn't do anything and he was in the same spot decked out in elven. I imagine it could be the same case here.
Start new game with Balanced NPC Level Cap installed
Save game
Set level to 50 (previously I used to do advskill manually, all the way up to level 50 - same results)
Wait 11 days
Travel to Vilverin
Check the first bandit: Level 26
Then tried this:
Uninstall Balanced NPC Level Cap
Load save from the 2nd step
Repeat steps 3-6: Bandit is level 26 again
Then I started a fresh save WITHOUT Balanced NPC Level Cap: Bandit was level 46So the mod works with a fresh save, it just cannot be uninstalled. I haven't tried reinstalling it again on a fresh save yet; I'm more concerned about not being able to remove the mod from my proper playthrough if I don't like the balance.
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JumpAh! Nvm, I just checked on Ascension page it says it will work fine. Lets test it out :) Cheers!
There should be a mod that makes all NPCs and creatures have static levels so improving your character always remains worthwhile. Would be difficult to play in beginning due to being much weaker than enemies on average, but incredibly rewarding in the end game, when can dominate.
I think this mod might benefit from further reducing enemy level caps. Capping generic bandits at what feels like late game levels (30) doesn’t really provide the satisfying sense of progression that Skyrim managed to deliver. However, it's still a lot better than infinitely scaling enemies in vanilla lol.
Don't worry about the numbers and be happy. That part is my burden...
2. another version with (much) lower caps. I agree with other players that bandits wearing pricy armors/weapons have no sense at all... They should probably stop around lvl8-10.
Personally I do it every 3rd level up or so. For example right now I am level 6 and I should be level 14. Feels about right and enemies on Master are somewhat killable without taking more than 10 mins per bandit as I would if they were my same level.
This is a great mod! My only gripe is its a bit annoying to keep updated because of the file structure which isn't compatible with mod organizers. In future versions, can you please structure the files so that they are in a file tree that matches an offset from the Oblivion remastered folder?
For Example: Content/Dev/ObvData/Data/Balanced NPC Level Cap.esp
Edit: I've found that the auto sorter plugin automatically puts it in the right location so disregard this
I've found a shocking number of random folk in inns or on the streets of towns who were levels 5+ in the base game. Even some who were over level 20. Made doing a murder for the brotherhood quests to start strangely taxing when I couldn't stealth archer BEGGERS on the waterfront in one shot.
From what I could understand from the description, all this mod does is add in a max level, but the lowest max level for NPCs is 26? I came looking because I don't like regular bandits on the roads keeping pace with me above level 10 at the most. I already dislike bandits showing up in Mithril and Dwemer and Orcish armour, keeping pace with my hero of the realm. I've been playing a while and my highest level is about 17, so if the level cap is 30, then even with most of the main quest and Fighters' Guild done, are enemies still just going to keep pace with me until I've practically done most if not all of the major questlines?
Is there a much stricter version of the mod that puts much lower max ranges for enemies?
When adding this mod to a save mid-playthrough, even after sleeping for 3+ days to reset cells and visiting new dungeons never visited before, bandits keep leveling beyond 30. But with the fresh save, it works as intended; bandits are never above 30, even after setting my level to much higher. However, when I remove the mod from that fresh save, they do not progress past 30 again.
No conflicts; all other mods were disabled when I was testing both situations.
iHoursToRespawnCell = 240 (10 days)
iHoursToRespawnCellCleared =720 (30 days)
iDaysToRespawnVendor = 2 (2 days)
This is what I've found on other mod. Apparently the cells reset after 10 days rather than just 3, while vendors require only 2 days to restock. Have you tried sleeping waiting for 10+ days before checking out the stats of said bandits?
- Start new game with Balanced NPC Level Cap installed
- Save game
- Set level to 50 (previously I used to do advskill manually, all the way up to level 50 - same results)
- Wait 11 days
- Travel to Vilverin
- Check the first bandit: Level 26
Then tried this:Then I started a fresh save WITHOUT Balanced NPC Level Cap: Bandit was level 46So the mod works with a fresh save, it just cannot be uninstalled. I haven't tried reinstalling it again on a fresh save yet; I'm more concerned about not being able to remove the mod from my proper playthrough if I don't like the balance.
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