Larian Studios Forums Divinity 2 - Ego Draconis (English) Help/Tips/Tricks Mind Reading - Does practice make you better

It is suggested in the game that practicing mind reading makes you better at it. But every reading costs XP. It would seem to me that unless there is a hidden mechanism that counts how many reads you have done, then to be better at mind reading, you are better off not mind reading people so you level fast, and use the skill you get on the mind reading skill...

Also, so far I met one guy whom I can mind read to get "new insights" (which gives me 1 point, I put it into intelligence.) Are there are such hidden bonuses for mind reading?

I've read in a review that there is a NPC who grants you a skill point if you read their mind.

I encountered someone with a high cost(1000xp or something) but I got a lvl up from it and no XP debt.

Imo if you encounter an important person or character, read their mind for a surprise. The reward is almost always worth it.

what about unimportant people? does spending 30XP to read the mind of every single villager (I started out at level 1 with over 1000 XP debt that way before leaving the village) pay off in any way?

I think you are getting in trouble if you are going to mind read everyone. Be selective.

It's impossible to see everything in this game in the first playthrough anyway.

In the start I didn't mind read too much so the debt wouldnt become too big.

But you should do whatever works for you

I am saying that the game makes it sound like there is a hidden "mind reading" stat that improves as you "practice" and is required to be able to get past the mental defenses of some harder to read people. that "practicing" mind reading on random peasants somehow will help me mind read later on, as an investment.

I am asking if this is true. or if mind reading and getting no info means I wasted XP on nothing.

Mind Reading only gets better by putting points into the Mind Reading skill which lowers the xp cost. I guess when you get to 15 in mind reading it will cost 0 xp to mind read.

PS. It is only useful to read the minds of people that have something useful. (example: The villagers that cost 30 xp at the beginning are useless to read) I would suggest saving before mind reading and if it isn't something useful (password, location of treasure, quest) then reload and not read their mind. Also the guy down in the cell in the village is worthless to read since it is just a shortcut through the quest and you lose experience for nothing.

ok... so the suggestion in the game that practice makes perfect is BS. you are better off not reading unnecessary minds, to level faster, to put more skill points into mind reading.