Most definitely was. Just not as noticable as others. Levels 30-45 still go by quickly, hell level or not, in comparison to nightmares like grinding through 59.

30,35,40,45 are all 'hell' levels but honestly aren't super bad when you compare them to lvl 51+. From what the wiki says lvl 54&59 require significantly more exp than the levels around them making them extra hell levels, but imo lvl 54 didn't seem horrible (compared to 53 and 55) and level 59 is just rough because you are at the point where a lot of mobs are simply low level compared to you (you start getting a lot of light blues all over the place).

I can say for certain that I did an exp grind from 35-46 at the same location and lvl 35,40,45 all took twice as long as the levels around them. I would get 5% every x mins like clock work but in those levels the time literally doubled for 5%.

One thing to remember is that if you think 30,35... etc are bad you are probably going to have a rough time getting 60 because those levels are easy in comparison.

worth noting that level 50 is *not* a hell level

50-53 is cake walk. 54 sucks. 55-58 is fine, 59 SUCKS THE MASSIVE SUPER SPACE DICK FROM SPACE. 60 is aite.

Exp loss for deaths at level 60 kinda suck though.

^^ i can imagine

EXP loss at each level is based on how much EXP the previous level took. so EXP loss is greatest for levels that are immediately after a hell level.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3fdn6K6TD1qekq2t.gif

This is pretty much it. 51 is a hell level which looks kind of worse than it is based on the fact that 50 is kind of a short level. It is particularly apparent when you die in 51 and if you get a rez see almost unnoticeable xp loss. Death loss is based on a percentage of the xp from the previous level.

Your friend might think 5 is a hell level if he just started playing again because even though it takes minimal effort to get through it is still a large increase relative to 4.