Why are you penalized for leveling on NPCs that are higher level than you?

So after dying on my level 42 HC Witch I felt that I needed to speed up my leveling a bit so that I could get back to the high level game as quickly as possible. No problem, I thought; since I'm a better player now I'll just take a few more risks by killing higher level mobs and be rewarded with massive exp in the process, right?

Wrong.

Here's how much experience you'll receive at different levels by killing a level 36 Rattling Archer in The Ledge zone on Ruthless difficulty:

31:
1339

32:
1431

33:
1527

34:
1626

35:
1729

36:
1836

37:
1587

38:
1364

At first I felt pretty satisifed about killing Merveil on Cruel at level 25. Now I feel more like a sucker due to all the xp I've probably left on the table while fighting in zones that are 3-4 levels higher than me.

This reward structure seems completely counter-intuitive to me and I'd like to know the reasoning behind why you receive more experience from killing an NPC when it is one level below you than when it is three levels higher. Or is the Rattling Archer just a freak accident while all other mobs in the game reward you as you would expect (i.e. more difficult = more rewarding)?

EDIT For the disbelievers: Here are some more numbers from killing level 32 Archers at level 31. Compare with the number for level 31 above.

Level 32 Human Archer in Pools and Streams:
1479

Level 32 Skelly Archer in Cathedral of Bones 2:
1512

I also feel that the curve should be modified.

I legit was killing stuff 3-4 levels higher than me, and feel I should have been rewarded more for doing so.

Instead of being some negative parabolic shape, it should probably be some other shape, possibly taking into account party member levels to avoid very high levels taking you to high level zones to leech xp. (modify it by highest level-lowest level)

Assuming a solo player can do it legit, they should always get a reasonable amount of xp more by killing harder stuff.

Probably a mechanic to stop rushing low level characters. Isn't needed when you are solo anyway, so maybe they can change it to work only on party.

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fr0d0b0ls0n wrote:

Probably a mechanic to stop rushing low level characters. Isn't needed when you are solo anyway, so maybe they can change it to work only on party.

Exactly.
While I think it's a good idea for party play (especially as this is an online game), it just kind of punishes those who power through.

I agree that solo players or groups that have relatively same level should not be penalized for killing tougher mobs. I am running into the same issue with my ranger while killing mobs that are 2-3 levels ahead of her.... I am just progressing at a quicker rate through the areas and I get penalized for it.

I completely agree, I'm killing dudes solo 9 lvls above me and getting hurt all the way. I didn't know this, but now I am extremely annoyed. The design for solo play doesn't make any sense at all.

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Chris wrote:

Hi guys,

This is currently intentional and the reasoning is as follows:

a) The higher monsters are worth more experience (pre-penalty) anyway.
b) To discourage rushing characters to areas beyond their abilities (I understand this doesn't feel good, and that may be a good reason to change it).
c) To fix the abuse of a low level character leeching experience from higher level ones (which can be extreme).
d) Other action RPGs have very similar (or exactly the same) system.

Having said that, I'm more than happy to change it. What do you suggest we do?

I think it should scale up to about 5 levels above you, and then back down rapidly, or something to that extent.

Yeah it would be good if there is a "fair range" above the character level where the exp penalty is gradually applied with each successive level they are apart. That way it's fine to fight a couple of levels above but getting boosted by someone 20 levels higher than you still won't work.

Could you not have a seperate scale for in and out of party?