XP for quests in Oddity

[Vokial]

Ok, so I helped the Eels against the Scrappers. In order to accomplish that, I had to do the following SEPARATE quests, FOUR in total:

 - Find out where Blaine is hiding and get the info out of him
 - Plant the explosives in Depot-A tunnels
 - Convince SGS (or Protectorate) to lend a hand in the battle
 - Actually wipe out an entire map of the Scrappers base

all that for a SINGLE XP at the end.
One xp was the reward for all those above. I am level 9 and need about 20 to reach the next level. So that whole questline got me 1/20th ahead. The same as killing my first rathound for it's ear. Basically you can get 4 times that much from killing a few dogs and get their collars, there' a few at the Scrapper's base too.
This made me convinced that the Oddity's side needs some serious rework in relation to how much XP it provies after quests, especially knowing that a lot of stand alone quests doesn't even give any XP at all. At least provide 1 point for each segment for the above, but a single one for all that chain of quests kinda worries me, as one needs about 718 oddity xp to reach level 30.

I honestly thought that quests will be my main way to level in this mode, to get involved and do as much as I can, even dumpster diving for propaganda leaflets or half eaten food will come as secondary to that. It turns out that quests are so far behind, that even on Oddity you'll be much more ahead for killing critters like a mere hopper and such than accomplishing feats like playing a key role in a gang war or any other main questline that moves the whole story ahead.
The problem with this, is that players become demotivated to do quests, when in oddity that should be even more encouraged than in classic mode. One can think twice if he really wants to embark on some engrossing questline, when he can get the same xp for finding some junk on a shelf for zero effort.

I love this game and I still think that Oddity is better than not, but sometimes it can completely take away the feeling of accomplishment. You feel like you basically did all that for nothing and it barely made any difference other than wasting a lot of time, ammo and other resources and that's not how it should be in a game belonging to the RPG genre.

[TheAverageGortsby]

Well, just going off the top of my head -

Directing you into the Underpassages for the first time opens up the various oddities down there, plus the secret area right next to Blaine's shop. (~ 5 oddity XP, I think, from the stuff in the map stub due north of where you come in, plus the stuff in the map east with the Lurkers, and the disk in the secret area)

Depot A tunnels includes an oddity in a broken stalagmite (-ctite?) container

Wiping out the Scrappers base nets you at a minimum two oddities you can't get while peaceful with them

Plus you get the quest reward, however meager.

[harperfan7]

The problem is there's already too much oddity exp in the game.  Unless I missed some, you can get at least 89 oddity exp PAST lvl 30, and you can be lvl 30 before you set foot in the endgame area. 

The gangwar gives you TONS of loot, it gives you Blaine, and it affects the ending slides.  It can give you a shield emitter if you're lucky.

[Vokial]

The problem is there's already too much oddity exp in the game.  Unless I missed some, you can get at least 89 oddity exp PAST lvl 30, and you can be lvl 30 before you set foot in the endgame area. 

The gangwar gives you TONS of loot, it gives you Blaine, and it affects the ending slides.  It can give you a shield emitter if you're lucky.

That's reassuring. It should be ideal to reach level 30 by entering DC for those who stole and looted all oddities possible.
One question, for those oddities that are only accuirable through a random event (like the very rare two-headed mutant in Depot-A), is it possible to get them even later if returning to the location? Or if we did not encountered them or passed them by, they're lost forever?

[Koveras]

Getting 30 before DC is quite a feat though, and depending on your build/faction choices it might be impossible. Siding with the protectorate will make you miss 2 oddity points (one of the Protectorate Can) and not siding with JKK is very likely to make you miss 1 oddity point (one of the Train Logs). Not having stealth will make it impossible (or at least extremely hard) to get both the Sword Handle and the Tri-Monitor Blueprint, unless you're willing to antagonize core city factions. Not having pickpocket will probably cost you some oddities too. And of course, non optimal quest resolution costs xp.

Still more than enough to get max level in DC, the area is loaded with high value oddities.

The two-headed mutant is a bit annoying and I found a lot of conflicting info about it when I was doing my full oddity run (which failed as I played Coretech/Protectorate and missed the two mentioned above...). What I can tell for sure is: you can come back later and encounter it. What is not clear is:
- Can the event happen multiple time? Is it lost for the run if it was encountered and skipped?
- Is there a reliable strat to trigger it, faster than visiting the zone after each reset? I guess that question can also be: when does the game actually decides if an event occurs?

[harperfan7]

You have a chance of spawning the 2-headed mutant in Depot A north every 30 minutes.  The last time I saw him, he came out of that small shack on the north side with the cloth door.  I don't know if he can be encountered twice, however.

[Vokial]

You have a chance of spawning the 2-headed mutant in Depot A north every 30 minutes.  The last time I saw him, he came out of that small shack on the north side with the cloth door.  I don't know if he can be encountered twice, however.

I plan to go back ome other time, maybe to collect some free mines I did not recovered while I'm there. Problem is, first time I focused on sneaking past every enemy, so even if I saw this poor abomination, I probably just left it behind. Really hope that's not the case.
Although I had the impression of random events only occuring when you visit an area for the very first time, at least that's how it was for me.

Getting 30 before DC is quite a feat though, and depending on your build/faction choices it might be impossible. Siding with the protectorate will make you miss 2 oddity points (one of the Protectorate Can) and not siding with JKK is very likely to make you miss 1 oddity point (one of the Train Logs). Not having stealth will make it impossible (or at least extremely hard) to get both the Sword Handle and the Tri-Monitor Blueprint, unless you're willing to antagonize core city factions. Not having pickpocket will probably cost you some oddities too. And of course, non optimal quest resolution costs xp.

That's good to know, was planning to side with JKK anyway (for their goggles), but it really made me to check those oddities in the wiki and plan ahead. Thanks for the info, both of you. Still, since I plan to do a run where I'm collecting all oddities (at least attempt to) and while only being at the beginning of the game, I might consider exporting my character, start anew and savescum that mutant. My oddities carrie over, and if the xp I got from quests too up until this point... well, then I might just reach level 30 before DC after all
Now to decide what items I'll be carrying with me - only the bare necessities. Perhaps that tabi to walk faster in order to quickly get back to where I left off. Maaaaaybe the tac-vest and that newly made RR Falchion LS too.