Paranoia - Inverted Class Exp Penalty?

[Malakriss]

Inverted Class Exp Penalty? What the hell is that you say? It's my latest crazy explanation for the odd things that happen when you stare at your exp bar while grinding.

The theory: the amount of exp a mob awards on P99 is not only influenced by what race and class your character is, but it is also influenced by what class the mob is! What does that mean exactly? That two mobs of the same level in the same zone may not reward the same amount of exp!

Think about it. The EQ experience bar is not exactly the most precise statistical reporting UI element, plus the majority of mobs are made up of the basic (non-hybrid) classes! There are some shadow knights, and the occasional paladin, but not rangers and bards. In fact, most are the classes in the +/-10% range! Here's a refresher table:

Warrior = 110%
Rogue = 109%
Cleric/Shaman/Druid = 100%
Necromancer/Magician/Enchanter/Wizard = 90%
Monk = 80%
Paladin/ShadowKnight/Ranger/Bard = 60%

Ever kill a melee mob and think "hmmm, I got less than expected from that"? It's because it was a filthy monk! Pissed at that caster nuking you, or that freakin' healer healing over and over again and thinking you deserved more for that kill? It's because it wasn't a warrior/rogue! The Inverted Class Exp Penalty is holding you back!

Insanity, or Genius? You decide!

[Deezie]

Originally Posted by Malakriss [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Insanity

Yep.

[Kich]

I always felt like bears gave more experience than other mobs of the same level. Never really bothered to test it though.

[baub]

It should be only 60% for a bard npc kill

such pushovers

[Estu]

Originally Posted by baub [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It should be only 60% for a bard npc kill

such pushovers

THEY DON'T EVEN SING!!

It's almost as bad as the centaur archers in South Karana that don't arch.

[RKromwell]

They don't? I've stayed away from the Cents this time around but I know on live the Centaur Archers would shoot at you constantly.

[t0lkien]

Originally Posted by Estu [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

THEY DON'T EVEN SING!!

It's almost as bad as the centaur archers in South Karana that don't arch.

Just be glad they don't swarm kite your ass.

[quellren]

I haven't given this a second thought in several months. Since I DL'd the Vert UI and have a percentage next to my exp bar, it takes about 5-6 spawns to nail down a pretty precise amount per kill. From there I can easily do the math to know how long/how many kills it'll take to lvl.

i.e. I camped Drizda Tunesinger/Dark Deathsinger from like 29-34. Both on a 6:20-6:30 timer
29 2.334% per kill (2% for 2 kills, 3% for every 3rd kill)
30 she gave me just over 1% per kill. Damn Hell levels. (every so often a single kill would register 2% gained due to rounding)
31 it was a solid 2% per kill
32 2% per kill
33 1.667% (2% for 2 kills, 1% every 3rd kill)
34 1% (I only killed her 3-4 times to feel out the new wolf pet, then moved to Guk.)

Being OCD like I am, it wasn't enough to just guesstimate *this is good exp/this is not good exp*. However, knowing the predictable gains-per-kill took every last drop of fun out of grinding. A simple calculator could tell me:
avg 30 secs to kill target
avg respawn time of 6:30
= 7 min cycle
7mins * X amt of exp= A minutes
A min/60= # hours to lvl.

[Jhaaz]

Originally Posted by Malakriss [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Inverted Class Exp Penalty? What the hell is that you say? It's my latest crazy explanation for the odd things that happen when you stare at your exp bar while grinding.

The theory: the amount of exp a mob awards on P99 is not only influenced by what race and class your character is, but it is also influenced by what class the mob is! What does that mean exactly? That two mobs of the same level in the same zone may not reward the same amount of exp!

Think about it. The EQ experience bar is not exactly the most precise statistical reporting UI element, plus the majority of mobs are made up of the basic (non-hybrid) classes! There are some shadow knights, and the occasional paladin, but not rangers and bards. In fact, most are the classes in the +/-10% range! Here's a refresher table:

Warrior = 110%
Rogue = 109%
Cleric/Shaman/Druid = 100%
Necromancer/Magician/Enchanter/Wizard = 90%
Monk = 80%
Paladin/ShadowKnight/Ranger/Bard = 60%

Ever kill a melee mob and think "hmmm, I got less than expected from that"? It's because it was a filthy monk! Pissed at that caster nuking you, or that freakin' healer healing over and over again and thinking you deserved more for that kill? It's because it wasn't a warrior/rogue! The Inverted Class Exp Penalty is holding you back!

Insanity, or Genius? You decide!

Does this table change in Kunark any?

[Estu]

Originally Posted by quellren [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I haven't given this a second thought in several months. Since I DL'd the Vert UI and have a percentage next to my exp bar, it takes about 5-6 spawns to nail down a pretty precise amount per kill. From there I can easily do the math to know how long/how many kills it'll take to lvl.

i.e. I camped Drizda Tunesinger/Dark Deathsinger from like 29-34. Both on a 6:20-6:30 timer
29 2.334% per kill (2% for 2 kills, 3% for every 3rd kill)
30 she gave me just over 1% per kill. Damn Hell levels. (every so often a single kill would register 2% gained due to rounding)
31 it was a solid 2% per kill
32 2% per kill
33 1.667% (2% for 2 kills, 1% every 3rd kill)
34 1% (I only killed her 3-4 times to feel out the new wolf pet, then moved to Guk.)

Being OCD like I am, it wasn't enough to just guesstimate *this is good exp/this is not good exp*. However, knowing the predictable gains-per-kill took every last drop of fun out of grinding. A simple calculator could tell me:
avg 30 secs to kill target
avg respawn time of 6:30
= 7 min cycle
7mins * X amt of exp= A minutes
A min/60= # hours to lvl.

Impressive bookkeeping, but it seems like an inefficient way to level. For instance, at level 29 and 30 (and earlier) you can hold down the four spawns outside of Surefall Glade - two guards and two millers - by root-dotting. All four of them are dark blue. I'm not sure of their respawn times (I know Guard Philbin has a longer one than the other three), but I know I didn't have much downtime at this camp and I was making EXP at a pretty good clip. Seems like holding down four dark blue spawns would net you a good deal more EXP than holding down two, even if the spawn times vary a bit.