Experience
Every guild uses skill requirements to determine circle.
There are five skill sets which are learned by varying degrees by every guild. Each guild has chosen one of the five as a specialization skill set or primary skill set. Two of the remaining four have by chosen by each guild as a proficiency and support skill set for the specialization skill; these are known as secondary skills. The remaining two are considered to hold minor relevance and referred to as tertiary skills.
Guild | Armor | Lore | Magic | Survival | Weapon |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barbarian | Secondary | Tertiary | Tertiary | Secondary | Primary |
Bard | Tertiary | Primary | Secondary | Tertiary | Secondary |
Cleric | Tertiary | Secondary | Primary | Tertiary | Secondary |
Empath | Tertiary | Primary | Secondary | Secondary | Tertiary |
Moon Mage | Tertiary | Secondary | Primary | Secondary | Tertiary |
Paladin | Primary | Secondary | Tertiary | Tertiary | Secondary |
Ranger | Secondary | Tertiary | Tertiary | Primary | Secondary |
Thief | Tertiary | Secondary | Tertiary | Primary | Secondary |
Trader | Secondary | Primary | Tertiary | Secondary | Tertiary |
Warrior Mage | Tertiary | Secondary | Primary | Tertiary | Secondary |
Experience Pools and Pulses
Every skill has its own individual pool, which fills with field experience as you obtain it. The current amount of field experience in your pool ranges from empty (clear) to mind lock (full).
Factors that determine maximum pool size (in descending order of importance): whether the skill is in your primary, secondary, or tertiary skillset; the number of ranks you have in the skill; Intelligence; and Discipline.
This field experience is gradually converted into actual ranks. When field experience is converted to ranks, it is called a pulse. The pulse size primarily depends on whether the skill is a primary, secondary, or tertiary skill and the total size of the pool. Wisdom also affects the pulse size.
As of July 10, 2009, there are now 34 experience pool states:
State | Fraction |
---|---|
clear | 0/34 |
dabbling | 1/34 |
perusing | 2/34 |
learning | 3/34 |
thoughtful | 4/34 |
very thoughtful | 5/34 |
considering | 6/34 |
pondering | 7/34 |
ruminating | 8/34 |
concentrating | 9/34 |
attentive | 10/34 |
deliberative | 11/34 |
interested | 12/34 |
examining | 13/34 |
understanding | 14/34 |
absorbing | 15/34 |
intrigued | 16/34 |
scrutinizing | 17/34 |
analyzing | 18/34 |
studious | 19/34 |
focused | 20/34 |
very focused | 21/34 |
engaged | 22/34 |
very engaged | 23/34 |
cogitating | 24/34 |
fascinated | 25/34 |
captivated | 26/34 |
engrossed | 27/34 |
riveted | 28/34 |
very riveted | 29/34 |
rapt | 30/34 |
very rapt | 31/34 |
enthralled | 32/34 |
nearly locked | 33/34 |
mind lock | 34/34 |
The experience pool states under the old system were:
clear
learning
thoughtful
pondering
concentrating
muddled
very muddled
perplexing
perplexed
bewildering
bewildered
dazed
mind lock
Mind States
Mind state is a very important factor in experience to rank conversion. The worse your mind state is, the slower you learn. Mind states range from clear to very frozen. Every skill you raise to a mind lock state affects your overall mind state. At a Frozen or very frozen state, you no longer learn at all.
However, as long as the Multiple Opponent skill is not Mind Locked, the state of the Evasion skill, the Parry Ability skill, and the Shield Usage skill will not contribute to overall state.
When the new experience system was released, mind states were disabled. It has been stated that it will return, but not in the way it was previously implemented.
The mind states are as follows:
clear
fluid
murky
very murky
thick: penalty begins
very thick
dense
very dense
stagnant
very stagnant
frozen: no longer absorbing experience
very frozen
Stats and Learning
Your character's mental statistics are an important player in your overall learning process. The three mental stats, wisdom, intelligence, and discipline affect learning in different ways, and all of them are based upon a logarithmic return rate, thus eventually reaching a point of diminishing returns.
Wisdom Wisdom affect learning more so than any other skill, and has less functionality than any other skill. Wisdom increases the amount of raw experience converted into rank per pulse. The point of diminishing returns is around 30 points.
Intelligence Intelligence affects the size of your experience pools. It also has a point of diminishing returns around 28 or 30, however it also plays a factor in spell resistance in Spell Vs. Will scenarios.
Discipline Discipline is probably the most useful of all mental skills. In relation to learning, it determines the speed at which your overall mind state changes and increases the size of your experience pools. It also has a point of diminishing returns, but only for learning. It's other uses including resisting fear effects, and modifies several guild specific abilities, such as the barbarian's dance ability.
Wall Ranks
Each skillset is learned at a different rate depending upon if it is primary, secondary or tertiary. The rate at which each skill is learned is controlled by wall ranks. A wall rank is a reduction in the amount of actual rank percentage gained from the experience pool per pulse. The amount gained per rank depends on the ranks distance from the wall, The first rank after a wall is gained at 9/9ths, or 100%, of the pulse amount for primary skills, 5/9ths for secondary skills (56%, roughly), 3/9ths (33%, roughly) for tertiary skills, and it drops by a ninth for every rank following up to 2/9ths for the wall rank. For the primary skill set, your wall rank is every eighth rank, and because 0 does count as a rank it begins at rank 7. For secondary skills it is every fourth rank, thusly beginning at 3. and for every tertiary skill it is every other rank, beginning at 1.
However, due to recent changes to the experience system, wall ranks have been slightly modified for all secondary skills below 80 ranks and all tertiary skills below 120 ranks. The change is thus, for ranks 1-20 all skills are learned at 9/9ths (primary skill rate), for 21-40 at a rate of 8/9ths, 41-60 -- 7/9ths, 61-80 -- 6/9ths, 81-99 -- 5/9ths (secondary skills will stabilize here), 100-119 -- 4/9ths, 120+ -- 3/9ths (standard tertiary rate).
RP Messaging
Ranks in each skill are numerical. However, there is also a role-playing system of nomenclature set up for skills, to make it easier to integrate into gameplay.
- Ranks 1-49 / Novice
Within the above range:
- + 0-09 = Lowly
- + 10-19 = Promising
- + 20-29 = Able
- + 30-39 = Trained
- + 40-49 = Full
- Ranks 50-99 / Practitioner
- Ranks 100-149 / Dilettante
- Ranks 150-199 / Aficionado
Within the above ranges:
- + 0-09 = Beginner
- + 10-19 = Competent
- + 20-29 = Proficient
- + 30-39 = Experienced
- + 40-49 = Skilled
- Ranks 200-299 / Adept
- Ranks 300-399 / Expert
Within the above ranges:
- Rated by degrees 0-99
- Ranks 400-499 / Professional
- Ranks 500-599 / Authority
- Ranks 600-699 / Genius
Within the above ranges:
- + 20-39 = Exceptional
- + 40-59 = Outstanding
- + 60-79 = Renowned
- + 80-99 = True
- Ranks 700-799 / Savant
- Ranks 800-899 / Master
- Ranks 900-999 / Grand Master
Within the above ranges:
- + 20-39 = Distinguished
- + 40-59 = Venerated
- + 60-79 = Exalted
- + 80-99 = Transcendent
- Ranks 1000-1249 / Guru
- Ranks 1250+ / Legend