Best place to level? (Console)

[Mystix123 60]

Keep in mind I have a build for this spot...

This is a problem. If you use equipment which is specifically designed for the Refuge (which does not provide equal benefits to anywhere else), you will always heavily skew the results towards the Refuge. Keep in mind that when Lujate and I did the tests, we used equipment which were effective at all spots, not just one spot.

I won't bore you with the details, but I ran some stats on your numbers and used functions to remove skew. The functions worked successfully, therefore there had to be a factor which skewed your numbers in the first place. When the skew was removed, the differences between the three results were lost also.

 

A better comparison would be to deactivate CB (activate Battle Stance or Warding Energy in it's place if you want) and replace the 40% banish with something that would be beneficial at all spots (All Skills+, Damage+, etc), then test again. Only then will all conditions be equal.

 

Also, it's better to post the amount of experience and the length of time, over multiple runs (see Lujate's numbers and method).

It's harder to replicate the same experiment if we're given limited information from an unknown amount of runs. With limited information, there's no way to determine whether this was chance or not also (see the Stats that I ran on Lujate's numbers).

 

It's was a good first attempt at testing, but the tests need to be refined before they have experimental validity (as you're violating non-spuriousness currently).

[ZardoZsays 0]

The build isnt specific to the location except the banish%, Im aware that I would get different results with a different setup, which is why I mentioned that in the first place.

[lujate 578]

I am still of the opinion that the best we can do is come up with a list of potential places. Build specifics and playstyle account for too much for anything absolute.

[Mystix123 60]

I am still of the opinion that the best we can do is come up with a list of potential places. Build specifics and playstyle account for too much for anything absolute.

I'd agree with this.

 

So far we have:

Orc Cave - If you can kill everything in 15 seconds or less.

Jungle / SE Swamp - If you can't kill everything in the Orc Cave quickly enough, and if you can kill hordes of weaker enemies very quickly. (The two were highly correlated, so there seems to be little difference in the experience if you kill Kral during the run.)

Arkenmark's Refuge - If you have an undead killing suit?

[ZardoZsays 0]

Bad news for Arkenmark, found a permanent root glitch similar to the freeze glitch at the Orc Cave, happened twice and I had to go to the dash board to unstick myself. Was scary there when I reloaded and still couldnt move or interact with the player chest.

 

Also the slow loading problem was apparently due to memory issues, I had been playing for tlike 8 hours, if I load in a fresh game it loads quickly while zoning.

[lujate 578]

I have only really been to the Refuge once, but I did not experience any technical difficulties.

 

I have no numbers to back it up (and I am too busy working on the Niob campaign to get any), but my opinion of the Refuge is that it is on par with the Jungle and Swamp for XP. The drops fall way short, though.

 

I am playing Niob, so max level has never been an issue, but at lower difficulties that could change the distribution.

Edited January 21, 2011 by lujate

[Elwin 2]

South of entruag there is a big battle against trolls and orcs and there are huge armies there, also nice spot for expierience ( my favorite). Maybe worth a try and test ;p

That is part of the main quest, right? My two problems with that area are the orc "friendlies" that get in the way, and the fact that the enemies do not respawn.

 

 

Yes, this works only in shadow campaign, can be done in fre play but light campaign characters have orcs as friendly

Edited January 21, 2011 by Elwin

[vaskov17 1]

Ive found that if you have the right build the tomb at Arkenmark's Refuge can compete with the Orc cave for experience, my high elf couldnt get it done fast enough, however my Flaring Nova/Pelting Strikes Seraphim owns that place, 15 kills in 10 seconds or so... Takes a bit longer to load in/out, but you need to empty the inventory a bit less, also no jerks outside to ZoneFreeze you.

My biggest problem with it its the OMG long walk to get there.

 

There is a port on the north side of Artamark that you can teleport to which would cut the long walk to nothing.

[Sincere_420 0]

Sorry for such a lame question...but I dont know the answer as I am still pretty new. But where is Artamark?

 

Cheers!

Edited January 21, 2011 by Sincere_420

[Elwin 2]

Artamark is a human land. They are talking about city on the north of it

[Sincere_420 0]

Oh cool, usually me and my GF farm the orc cave or the seraphim island. This usually happens in the mid 30s as we get burnt out from questing and the main quest. We will have to look into this. The orc cave scares me cuz im a High Elf but she has no worries being a Seraphim.

 

Cheers!

[lujate 578]

Oh cool, usually me and my GF farm the orc cave or the seraphim island. This usually happens in the mid 30s as we get burnt out from questing and the main quest. We will have to look into this. The orc cave scares me cuz im a High Elf but she has no worries being a Seraphim.

 

Cheers!

I understand your reluctance. I am dabbling with a Seraphim caster, and the Orc Cave is definitely not on her to-do list.

 

Are you two playing local co-op? If so, how is the xp divided, and is there a kill bonus?

[vaskov17 1]

I haven't seen anyone mention this but there is a cave which connects the human and orc realms. The easiest way to get there is to use the grunwald teleporter and go southwest and at the first fork in the road go right. When you get to the cave, just run through it and just before the exit on the orc side there are around 10 - 12 enemies (some champions). In my testing this cave seems to be on par with the orc cave in terms of experience but the enemies are easier to kill and don't pose as much of a threat.

 

Anyway here are some numbers I came up with:

 

I made 3 runs in each place and clearing each area 5 times per run.

 

Arkenmark's Refuge:

Run 1: 382016 experience in 155 sec = 2464 experience/sec

Run 2: 400896 experience in 165 sec = 2429 experience/sec

Run 3: 370272 experience in 164 sec = 2257 experience/sec

 

Grunwald cave:

Run 1: 209920 experience in 94 sec = 2233 experience/sec

Run 2: 210304 experience in 94 sec = 2237 experience/sec

Run 3: 206880 experience in 96 sec = 2155 experience/sec

 

Orc cave:

Run 1: 201312 experience in 93 sec = 2164 experience/sec

Run 2: 203392 experience in 94 sec = 2163 experience/sec

Run 3: 199552 experience in 103 sec = 1937 experience/sec

 

Windswept fortress cave:

Run 1: 230048 experience in 76 sec = 3026 experience/sec

Run 2: 215680 experience in 72 sec = 2995 experience/sec

Run 3: 201472 experience in 81 sec = 2487 experience/sec

 

The windswept fortress has the potential to give very high experience/sec but it also has the potential to be very low. I've seen a run which had around 100k experience in the above conditions, although I didn't time it.

Edited January 23, 2011 by vaskov17

[Elf FireMage 0]

ohhh where is this Orc Cave located ?

[snacksmoto 0]

ohhh where is this Orc Cave located ?

 

http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?/topic/10049-a-guide-to-the-orc-cave-your-easy-way-to-a-ton-of-xp-and-drops/

[Mystix123 60]

ohhh where is this Orc Cave located ?

I'm guessing from your name that you're using a High Elf?

If so, I'd like to emphasize the warnings that others have put forward in this thread. The Orcs in there hit hard and fast. I've seen others (that I'm playing online with) drop pretty quickly in there.

[Scrappy McSlap 6]

Not going to read through all of the posts here to see if it was already mentioned... But when I do Orc Cave runs, I set my loot preferences to 3 star items only (in game options). This severely cuts down on inventory clutter while ensuring I don't miss anything important... Saves a ton of time micromanaging the inventory.