Experience pool
Experience pools are the "buckets" where experience is stored to be absorbed incrementally or at a specific time. As experience is absorbed from the bucket(s), characters gain levels. Absorbed experience is for all intents and purposes permanent.
Field Experience
When a character does something that awards experience, an amount of experience is placed into a field experience pool of unprocessed experience. This pool has a finite size that varies by character, and the amount of experience that goes into this pool is dependent not only on the task that one has just completed, but also the degree to which that pool is filled.
Any unabsorbed field experience is lost during the process of death and resurrection, unless a Chrism is used.
The metaphor of short term vs. long term memory is fairly apt in describing the difference between the two types of experience (unabsorbed vs. absorbed).
Size of Pool
The size of a character's pool for unprocessed experience is determined by its DIS and LOG stats. The formula is:
So a character with a LOG and DIS stats of 100 would be able to hold 1000 (800 + 100 + 100) experience in their pool while one with LOG and DIS stats of 75 each would be able to hold 950 (800 + 75 + 75).
Mind Status
Thresholds for mind-status changes are here as a proportion of (experience in field exp pool)/(pool capacity).
Phrase Threshold Completely saturated > 1.0 Must rest 0.90 Numbed 0.75 Becoming numbed 0.62 Muddled 0.5 Clear 0.25 Fresh and clear > 0.0 Clear as a bell 0.0
Therefore, a character with a capacity of 1000 will hit "must rest" above 900 unabsorbed experience.
Gaining Field Experience
There are a variety of ways to add to the field experience pool, many of which will be mentioned here.
Hunting
The most common way of gaining experience is hunting. When hunting, experience is gained when a creature one has significantly participated in killing is LOOTed, SEARCHed, or decays on its own.
The amount of experience gained by a character is based on the differential between their own level and the level of the creature killed, as shown here:
Creature Level Experience Gain 10 or more below character no experience 1-9 below character 100 - 10x level difference same as character 100 experience 1-4 above character 100 + 10x level difference 5 or more above character 150 experience
A character continues to gain experience in this way until the pool is filled to its limit, which is determined as described above (800-1000). Continued experience-gaining activities will not add to this pool, though as experience is absorbed, it can obviously be replenished.
Multiple characters can gain experience from killing the same creature, and they need not be present when the creature actually dies (though the character must still be logged in).
Guilds
When a character is learning an Artisan's Guild skill, such as fletching, forging, or cobbling, it earns experience each time a rank is gained in that skill. This rate is based on the number of ranks of the skill the character already has, as well as other skills known. More detailed information is available on the Artisan Guild page.
The same is true for the profession guilds.
Experience is also be awarded by completing Adventurer's Guild tasks.
Profession-Specific Methods
Empaths can gain experience by transferring wounds from others to themselves. There is no experience granted for transferring blood while the patient is still bleeding, transferring from another empath, or if the wounds are self-inflicted.
Clerics and paladins can gain experience by raising others from the dead.
Wizards can gain experience when casting Enchant Item (925) successfully, with the amount being variable based on the item's status within the enchanting process, and the level of enchantment. They can also gain a nominal amount of experience via Charge Item (517)
Bards can gain experience when loresinging, under certain circumstances.
Sorcerers can gain experience when casting Ensorcell (735) successfully, or infusing a scroll.
Other Methods
All professions can gain experience when successfully disarming and unlocking treasure boxes (most easily trained by rogues). A much smaller amount of experience is granted when successfully using Unlock (407) and Disarm (408) on a treasure system box.
Throwing trash away will gain one experience point (in most cases).
Exceptions
These rates that are described in the above sections are all ideal rates, and based on the character gaining the experience with a fairly empty unabsorbed pool. As the amount of experience in the unabsorbed pool increases, the efficiency of adding to it decreases. For example, if one were to kill 2 rats at level 1, one would expect to (and would gain) 200 experience. However, if one kills 8 rats, one would add less than 800 experience to the pool. The precise rate of accrual decline is:
- Where N = nominal amount, InBucket = amount in bucket, and the final number is truncated
The bounty system is another exception in that one is able to greatly exceed a character's unabsorbed pool capacity. Also, the awards of experience from the bounty system are not subject to the diminishing returns effect described above. However, once the pool is filled, any excess amount added by bounty system reward is divided into two halves. Half is absorbed immediately (and is not subject to any multipliers) and the other half is added to the pool, even though this will be above the normal capacity.
Absorbing Field Experience
Experience absorption is affected by a number of factors, including one's physical location in the game, one's status with regard to a group, and even health.
On-node
- Base rate - when on a node or in town, a character will absorb an additional (Logic Bonus/5) experience per pulse
- Pool size - for every 200 unabsorbed exp in the field experience pool, add an additional experience point per pulse
- Group - being joined to another character will add an additional point per pulse
- Super Node - being on a Super Node will add an additional point per pulse
In Town Off-node
- Base rate - a number dictated by LOG stat, usually a few lower than the on-node base rate
- Pool size - for every 200 unabsorbed exp in the field experience pool, add an additional experience point per pulse
- Group - being joined to another character will add an additional point per pulse
- Weapons - carrying a weapon or shield in hand(s) decreases the rate of experience absorption
Other Areas
- Base rate - characters will absorb an extra (Logic Bonus/7) per pulse
- Pool size - for every 200 unabsorbed exp in the field experience pool, add an additional experience point per pulse
- Group - being joined to another character will add an additional point per pulse
- Weapons - carrying a weapon or shield in hand(s) decreases the rate of experience absorption
The "other" rooms are normally out of town, though strangely, some rooms (such as the courtyard of the Warrior Guild in Wehnimer's Landing) that are in towns count as if they were out of town.
Other Factors
- Injuries - for major head injuries or nerve damage, the rate of experience absorption is severely diminished
- Death's sting - if one has decayed or suffered a spirit death recently, then only a fraction of the experience is absorbed from the field experience pool
- There is no 40 experience per pulse hard cap (which was previously stated here). It is possible to gain 42 experience (or perhaps more) per pulse while saturated (before Gift of Lumnis or other experience multipliers are taken into consideration).
Long-term Experience
The long-term experience pool was introduced in 2016. Experience absorbed from the long-term pool is not increased by roleplaying awards, Gift of Lumnis, or other similar boosts. Experience in the long-term pool is normally absorbed at a rate of 250 experience points per day, but has no cap on the number of points that it can hold. Every night at midnight, characters with long-term experience stored will get one 250 exp pulse (they do not have to be online to get it).
Aside from the daily 250 experience point absorption, characters can also absorb long-term experience via continuing to absorb experience after the weekly Gift of Lumnis has expired. For every ten (10) points of field experience absorbed while outside of the Gift of Lumnis period, a character will also absorb one (1) point of long-term experience. That experience is deducted from the pool immediately.
This pool can only be added to through Long-Term Experience Boosts.
Long-term Experience Boost
Long-term Experience Boosts can be earned by characters level 20 and up on paid accounts only after they have killed an experience-granting creature (no more than nine levels lower than the character). Using this boost immediately deducts 500 experience points from the field experience pool and adds 250 experience points to the long-term experience pool.
Qualifying characters can earn up to two (2) long-term experience boosts per day via random drops upon LOOTing creatures that they are eligible to earn experience from. These drops are weighted to occur within the first 50 LOOT drops per character per day.
Even if the character is not logged in every day to hunt, it can still earn a lesser number of long-term boosts. A free "away" boost is granted upon the next login once every three (3) days that the characters does not earn a long-term boost (the days need not be consecutive).