So recently I was leveling once again and doing the Idiot Savant start instead of max int. I have seen people site the math when stating that int overtakes idiot at int 16. My experience contradicts that.
Idiot frees up several mostly unused points in the early game and gives a nice advantage in that way, but it IS a bit slow to start so I realized using some + int items till level 12 helped a bit there.
The big difference though was once I started getting used to switching on int gear and int chems I kept them around past lvl 34.
I realized, you can fish for Idiot procs, killing low level mobs in an area till it procs and gives you 60 seconds of 5X XP gain. So soon as it procs, you throw on the int gear and use your berry mentats.
Bam now you're getting the 11 int (2+clothing and drug bonuses) base (+33% xp) (or more if you collect more int gear) X5 for all the high XP mobs in that area. Well rested/lover's and Gage's companion perk give you further xp base bonus, as does squirrel stew. add them all together and these kills from the proc get you :
base XP + 33% from int
+ 2% from food
+ 15% from lover
+6% From gage.
1.56 X 5 = 7.8X XP for that 60 seconds.
If you now base your strategy for kill order in any given area, you'll nearly guarentee a proc before you kill the high xp leaders in the area. Turns a proc that starts as a big of a gamble betting on averages, into something much more in your control.
The numbers skyrocket even more if the gear you're switching to for int bonus is unyealding; a non nerd rage bloodied build.
I personally believe this play style ends up producing more xp not just than int 16, but in fact more overall XP even than int 46.
Others can let me know if I was missing something, and obviously the int build takes much less planning and fiddling around during play, but yeah, do you guys think I'm onto something here?
Seeing numbers like 2300 xp when I kill mirelurk queens just hits different.
