People try to meld in that much PIE? Are they new? What a colossal waste of stats.

For non-full party stuff you don't need 251 PIE since you're facerolling it. For full party stuff, if you have no SCH there is a different issue. But if you're in party with a SCH and still don't have 251 then you'll have to make up the difference with a Novus meld or two.