No experience from combat

I just played the backer beta of Pillars of Eternity and they use a very interesting system: You don't get experience from combat!
I think this is very interesting as you focus on other things and also it solves the problem of grinding.

I think that this could work in SotA, too to shift the focus more on the adventure and away from killing as many enemies as possible. This would also solve the problem of respawning monsters. If you do not get experience points from killing monsters why should they mysteriously reappear - at least in the single player modes.

The more I think about this the more I love the idea.
The whole focus of the game would shift away from killing enemies just for the sake of killing them and getting better to a sense of danger. Combat would not be a neccessity anymore but you would have to fight to defend yourself, help someone or solve a quest. This would make combat more interesting.
You wouldn't need to fight any monster anymore out of fear of not getting exp. This would open up totally new possibilites for roleplaying for example sneaking through a dungeon etc.

 

@op

I agree, it would be fantastic to be able to get away from killing for the sake of killing. I also like the idea that completing quests unlocks new skills and abilities.

As to the question of "why monsters respawn?" That's a questions that we need an answer to regardless of experience points. I'd really like to see NPC mobs "migrate" from place to place, so once they're cleared from one HEX, they respawn in another HEX. When they get killed in that HEX, they respawn in another HEX. So you can't just goto the same place over and over again killing the same respawned mobs, you have to kind of hunt them down.

 

I'm not totally against respawning. If it is explained in a logical way for example that a dungeon gets repopulated over time with new monster then I am totally ok with it or when monsters migrate like you say.
But when I clear a dungeon and go back to it just a few hours or a day later and the same monsters are back or worse when the monsters respawn while I am in the dungeon or every time I enter the dungeon then this is really strange and kills the atmosphere/immersion.

Also bossmonsters and monsters relevant for quests should stay dead for me forever!