How bad is the xp penalty as SK?

[ivcho]

Hi all,

First post and before I go into my question I have to say this project 1999 thing is truly amazing. I have some of my best life memories from my late teens playing classic EQ and now I'm basically reliving them and it's incredible.

Ok, so my question is this. I used to back in the day mostly play a Dark Elf Shadow Knight and was completely ignorant that an XP penalty actually existed, so I suppose I never really noticed anything wrong. Now that I know it exists I'm reluctant to make the same character again as I fear the penalty would be awful.

How bad is it truly for those of you that have played hybrids or penalized races? Is this penalty in place to essentially offset the benefits a certain race or class provides and therefore ultimately you end up leveling at the same rate and don't really notice? Or is it truly a grueling process to level up a hybrid or a penalized race?

Thanks for your thoughts [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Duncon]

The hybrid penalty is not so bad. At least in the levels I have played. Other things will impact your leveling rate more than the penalty. You will notice bigger changes in xp rate between a decent group and a bad one, or getting in a sweet spot and not so sweet spot, than with or without a hybrid penalty.

I don’t think you should avoid playing a character you are interested in just because of penalty.

[fishingme]

I can tell you that ranger penalty is terrible. Partnered with a cleric yesterday in unrest and every 1-2 orange I got, he got a level.

[Swish]

Originally Posted by fishingme [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I can tell you that ranger penalty is terrible. Partnered with a cleric yesterday in unrest and every 1-2 orange I got, he got a level.

Didnt read all the responses but an iksar monk has a 44% penalty compared to a ranger's 40%, yet theres a ton of them around and people are either ignorant to it or figure its worthwhile.

I switched from an iksar SK to a dark elf one because of the silly amout of difficulty to get a group on my iksar one (40% v 68%)...so min/max players are real, out there and a thorn in every hybrid's side. The best way to level a hybrid is to become the person who makes/leads the group. If you get friendly with a cleric you'll have people flocking to join you [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

...just dont be picky and become a min/max player in the process who wont invite a wizard/ranger/etc [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[tanknspank]

Originally Posted by Swish [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Didnt read all the responses but an iksar monk has a 44% penalty compared to a ranger's 40%, yet theres a ton of them around and people are either ignorant to it or figure its worthwhile.

The regen and extra AC make a better monk. The ranger is worse than inviting the specialized class for whatever role you'd use them for.

[Swish]

Originally Posted by tanknspank [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The regen and extra AC make a better monk. The ranger is worse than inviting the specialized class for whatever role you'd use them for.

Rangers are good pullers tho... better than some monks

[holsteinrx7]

Originally Posted by Swish [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Didnt read all the responses but an iksar monk has a 44% penalty compared to a ranger's 40%, yet theres a ton of them around and people are either ignorant to it or figure its worthwhile.

I switched from an iksar SK to a dark elf one because of the silly amout of difficulty to get a group on my iksar one (40% v 68%)...so min/max players are real, out there and a thorn in every hybrid's side. The best way to level a hybrid is to become the person who makes/leads the group. If you get friendly with a cleric you'll have people flocking to join you [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

...just dont be picky and become a min/max player in the process who wont invite a wizard/ranger/etc [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

you switched to a DE because its easier to get a group? only the SK penalty applies to group xp, the racial xp pen is personal. facepalm fail.

[Kender]

Originally Posted by fishingme [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I can tell you that ranger penalty is terrible. Partnered with a cleric yesterday in unrest and every 1-2 orange I got, he got a level.

lies. if you were grouped he shared the penalty

[Stormlight]

I'm not certain why a harsh penalty on knights exists, but for me, it comes down to this: if I'm enjoying my time, the exp penalty doesn't matter. Keep in mind, I haven't played one to 60. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Stormlight]

http://wiki.project1999.com/Game_Mec...perience_Works

So, final thought...
Group with good players. An equal level group with multiple hybrids generally takes no more than 16% more kills to gain a level that a similarly leveled group that has no hydrids. Good groups kill at least 16% faster than bad groups. So, group with good players regardless of class.