Experience
- For the game command, see EXPERIENCE.
Experience, often abbreviated exp, is the general term for all of the skill learning your character has attained.
In DragonRealms, your ranks in a skill are increased by using it. This is called training. The amount of experience gained from any action is scaled to the difficulty of that action for your character at that time, and how successful your character is in performing it. It is common for a task that has become very simple or unchallenging to grant zero experience.
Experience can potentially be lost as a consequence of character death, although this can be easily avoided through favors.
Ranks
Gained experience is measured as whole-number increments called "ranks." As your experience drains from your experience pool for a particular skill, your learning is converted into ranks. Your ability in a skill is measured by the number of ranks you have attained in that skill. Additionally, there are skill requirements for advancing in circle (or character level) within a guild. Finally, gaining ranks in skills grants TDPs, which can be used to raise your stats.
Note: It is generally considered OOC to engage in explicit discussions of numerical stats or skills. (Role-players may also object to the term "ranks.") When discussing skill via IC channels, the most conservative approach is to use the RP messaging, reserving numerical discussions for whispers and private messages. See Out of Character for additional information.
The amount of effort required to move up one rank in a skill can be measured in bits. Through analysis of the output of the CONVERT command it was possible to reverse engineer this relationship between ranks. Your next rank in a skill will be reached after you have gained 200 + n bits, where n is the current rank. This means to go from rank 0 to rank 1 in a skill you will need 200 bits, to go from rank 1 to rank 2, you will need 201 bits, and so on. By summing up the number of ranks you can determine how many bits it will take to reach a current level.
The graph and table below show the total number of bits needed to reach a specific rank from 0. This graphic demonstrates the relative difficulty to climb ranks. For example, to go from 300 to 400 ranks takes roughly the same number of bits as going from 0 to 200 ranks. Going from rank 1,000 to 1,500 requires approximately twice the number of bits as going from 0 to 1,000.
| Rank | Total bits needed |
|---|---|
| 1 | 200 |
| 25 | 5,300 |
| 50 | 11,225 |
| 75 | 18,050 |
| 100 | 24,950 |
| 150 | 41,175 |
| 200 | 59,900 |
| 250 | 81,125 |
| 300 | 104,850 |
| 400 | 159,800 |
| 500 | 224,750 |
| 750 | 430,875 |
| 1,000 | 699,500 |
| 1,250 | 1,030,625 |
| 1,500 | 1,424,250 |
| 1,750 | 1,880,375 |
Maximum rank
Ranks are capped at 1750. Once you hit 1750 ranks, you no longer gain experience into your experience pool for that skill and draining experience has no effect. It is possible to have effective ranks higher than 1750 through buffs such as abilities or spells. Skill buffs are capped at 20% for most skills, and 10% for crafting skills. You can see your current buffs using EXPERIENCE MODS.
Calculations for Ranks and Bits
The relationship between bits and ranks can be defined algebraically. In the formulas below r refers to ranks and b refers to bits.
yields the bits needed to reach a specific rank.
yields the rank a number of bits would reach.
Experience pools and pulses
Experience pools
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
- Discipline (Note: It was planned for 3.0 to remove discipline from the experience pool effects, but as posted by Socharis on 1/18/13, "...So I looked into this, and Discipline was never taken out - It's not as significant as intelligence, but it definitely increases your [experience] pool size."
| Amount Learning | Mindstate Fraction | Amount Learning | Mindstate Fraction |
|---|---|---|---|
| clear | 0/34 | analyzing | 18/34 |
| dabbling | 1/34 | studious | 19/34 |
| perusing | 2/34 | focused | 20/34 |
| learning | 3/34 | very focused | 21/34 |
| thoughtful | 4/34 | engaged | 22/34 |
| thinking | 5/34 | very engaged | 23/34 |
| considering | 6/34 | cogitating | 24/34 |
| pondering | 7/34 | fascinated | 25/34 |
| ruminating | 8/34 | captivated | 26/34 |
| concentrating | 9/34 | engrossed | 27/34 |
| attentive | 10/34 | riveted | 28/34 |
| deliberative | 11/34 | very riveted | 29/34 |
| interested | 12/34 | rapt | 30/34 |
| examining | 13/34 | very rapt | 31/34 |
| understanding | 14/34 | enthralled | 32/34 |
| absorbing | 15/34 | nearly locked | 33/34 |
| intrigued | 16/34 | mind lock | 34/34 |
| scrutinizing | 17/34 |
Experience pulses
This field experience is gradually converted into actual ranks. When field experience is converted to ranks, it is called a pulse. The size of the pulse is calculated as a fraction of your total pool size. The primary factor affecting this fraction is whether the skill is primary, secondary, or tertiary; higher Wisdom also increases this fraction. However, secondary skills under 50 ranks will drain like primary skills[1][2], and tertiary skills under 25 ranks will drain like secondary skills.[3]
| Skillset | Time to Pulse From Mind Lock to Clear |
|---|---|
| Primary | 40-60 minutes |
| Secondary | 50-80 minutes |
| Tertiary | 70-100 minutes |
Skills pulse in groups every 200 seconds, with each group being offset from the previous one by 20 seconds. These skill groupings are arranged by skillset in the order they appear in the experience list in game, with the exception of certain guild-only skills which are located with their historical group. The order and timing of the pulses is fixed, meaning the pulses happen at the exact same time for the same skills for every single player in the game.
| Relative Time Offset | Skill Group |
|---|---|
| 0 sec. | Shield Usage, Light Armor, Chain Armor, Brigandine, Plate Armor, Defending |
| 20 sec. | Parry Ability, Small Edged, Large Edged, Twohanded Edged |
| 40 sec. | Small Blunt, Large Blunt, Twohanded Blunt, Slings, Bow, Crossbow |
| 60 sec. | Staves, Polearms, Light Thrown, Heavy Thrown, Brawling, Offhand Weapon, Melee Mastery |
| 80 sec. | Missile Mastery, Primary Magic, Attunement, Arcana, Targeted Magic, Augmentation |
| 100 sec. | Debilitation, Utility, Warding, Sorcery, Evasion, Athletics, Perception, Scouting |
| 120 sec. | Stealth, Locksmithing, Thievery, First Aid, Outdoorsmanship |
| 140 sec. | Skinning, Backstab |
| 160 sec. | Forging, Engineering, Outfitting, Alchemy, Enchanting, Scholarship, Mechanical Lore, Appraisal, Bardic Lore, Trading |
| 180 sec. | Performance, Tactics, Astrology, Empathy, Thanatology, Expertise, |
- Endurance, Summoning, and Theurgy are currently missing from this list.
Stats and learning
Mental statistics now have a greater effect on the experience system. Intelligence and Wisdom affect all skills equally and have diminishing returns that are not logarithmically diminishing. (Every TDP spent on these stats provides a benefit.)
- Intelligence: Maximum size of experience pools
- Wisdom: Pulse size
- Discipline: Experience pool size (10% efficiency)
The effect of Intelligence and Wisdom is a percentage and not dependent on how many ranks you have in the skill. The effects of these stats can't be "tested" in an hour. This is something that assists you over the course of your entire career.
On 12/10/2015, GM Armifer shared some hard numbers on how intelligence and wisdom affect learning.[4] Using 10 as the baseline (100%), here is the magnitude of the effect of training those stats:
| Stat | Value | Effect (Compared to 10) |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence/Wisdom | 30 | 112% |
| Intelligence/Wisdom | 60 | 121% |
| Intelligence/Wisdom | 90 | 125% |
| Intelligence/Wisdom | 120 | 130% |
"Discipline also increases pool size, at 10% efficacy, thus continuing its trend of doing just a little bit of everything." --GM Armifer
Experience drain at login
Experience drain at login is based on when you last logged out of the game. Starting at 30 minutes, you will drain a percentage of your experience equal to the number of minutes that you have been logged out divided by 360 (or 480 if you received a warning within the last six months).
When you're logged out, experience drains at a static rate, regardless of skillset placement, ranks, or stats. Technically, the experience doesn't actually pulse until you log back in. It's important when you log on to wait for the experience drain before logging off, as quickly logging in multiple times may cause the system to not apply your log on drain correctly.
| Time Logged Out | %Pulsed (Clean) | %Pulsed (Warning) |
|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | 8.33% | 6.25% |
| 1 hour | 16.67% | 12.5% |
| 2 hours | 33.33% | 25% |
| 3 hours | 50% | 37.5% |
| 4 hours | 66.67% | 50% |
| 5 hours | 83.33% | 62.5% |
| 6 hours | 100% | 75% |
| 7 hours | 100% | 87.5% |
| 8 hours | 100% | 100% |
- Note: Free to play players do not receive offline drain without a pass from the Simucoin store. See Idle experience drain for more details.
- As of 03/12/2015, players who have received a warning within the last six months drain over eight hours instead of not being able to drain experience at login.[5]
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 game-play.
- 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 = Beginning
- + 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
Bonus experience pools
During experience 3.0, when skills were combined, the "lost" experience bits were moved into the bonus pools, one for each skillset. When experience is absorbed through the normal method, an equal amount is removed from the appropriate bonus pool and added to permanent experience. This effectively doubles learning rates in the skillset so long as experience remains in the bonus pools.
The metric used is an arbitrary unit, a multiple of the amount of bits that it takes to move a skill from 0 to 200 (60,300 bits) plus the number of ranks any remaining bits would teach. As an example:
Your Lore pool could fill 14 empty skills to 200 ranks and one empty skill to 57 ranks. |
Syntax
To view how much experience is left use EXPERIENCE BONUS. When there is no longer any experience left, you will receive the message "You do not have any experience in your bonus pools."
To toggle absorption, use EXPERIENCE BONUS TOGGLE <skillset>.
References
Related Forum Posts
Click here to search for related posts.
Additional Information
- Demystifying the Experience System: Isharon's explanation of the experience system (a good link to share with new players)
- Experience (obsolete) has information on the obsolete experience system prior to the 3.0 release.
- Category:Skills has a listing of all skills in game.
- Skillsets for how skills are grouped in game.
- Time Development Points are calculated based on earned ranks in a skill.