Question about hell levels (30, 35, etc..)
 

Hey all, just wondering how this actually works in game. Are hell levels an actual thing, as in they were designed to sort of be like check points in the leveling of a character, or are they more like just weird spots in the game where exp comes slower due to various unintentional mechanics of the game?

Thanks :)

http://wiki.project1999.org/index.ph...ement_by_Level

From the post, it appears for the classic hell levels, the hell multiplier simply increments, but for the Kunark hell levels the hell multiplier is actually displayed_multiplier x 2

Hell levels basically require twice as much experience in order for you to get through them as normal levels do. They were intentional; the experience formula has a number in it that increases at each hell level and only at hell levels. No idea why exactly the developers decided to make them though.

Great information and resources. Thanks, guys!

The rumor I heard back in the day was they were an accident caused by the math, but the devs liked it and left it in. They eventually took them out, did they not? Like 6 years later.

Yeah, I heard it was an accident too. The idea is that EXP is calculated based on total EXP needed per level, and it usually follows a function that keeps the number of even-con mobs you need to kill to level up constant (relative to things like ZEM, race, class). But the devs wanted to make EXP get gradually slower as you leveled up, so there is a slight bump in this function from level 30 to level 31 (for instance). But since that bump is in the total EXP needed, you now need to make up the difference in EXP, as though you'd been going by the slightly slower function the whole time. This results in a hell level. Once you make up that bump, it's smooth sailing at a slightly slower rate until the next time the rate is slowed down, i.e. from 35 to 36.

This.

Well said.

I've always suspected that hell levels (and the increased exp loss on death in the following level) were the result of Verant's developers' investments in manufacturers of anti-depressants and energy drinks.

Hell levels sucked! I remember my first experience with the first hell level to be really felt, 35. In a way, it was like a rite of passage.

Yup. Its a good setup for casters tho. You get ur new spells 1 lvl before hell levels, making them a bit easier to handle. Often times able to move camps at those lvls if solo.