Crypt of Decay

[Greencorneq]

Hi, I went here last night to join a raid but wasn't able to attend due to RL factors. I did however get to see some mobs that were all DB to me. Is this a good solo spot for a lvl 70 necro exp wise or loot even?

I imagine that they are all undead but wasn't sure, has anyone ever solo'd in there?

Honestly looks like a cool spot if they are undead and are at all doable.

If you have any info on this place your willing to share, your info will be put to good use. Thanks in advance!!

[Schaeffer]

The mobs at Entrance are NOT undead. You have to go in a little bit to find some undead. Only when in there once with a small group, Me a Pally and a Cleric. They were Gimp, Cleric didn't even need to heal that much after I slowed them. Never tried it solo, worth a shot...

[Felicite]

There are a couple of raid events you want to avoid (*coughs* Carpin Cycle) and not that much undead. Loot is.. well.. belts and what not that sold for 20-40K six months ago, now sell for 1-2K (if at all) these days.

http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/search.shtml?zone=174

Most of the Mobs are 58-62ish.. and fall outside the 5 level range for a bonus at 70.

You *can* agro kite around the entry (none of the entry area mobs summon that I know - Greater Foul Pulsings are immune to snare though) but I think you would be better served elsewhere for your time.

Now.. with a group in the late 50s.. this is a great spot.

[Cheitan]

Most of the Mobs are 58-62ish.. and fall outside the 5 level range for a bonus at 70.

Felicite - what does that mean - never heard of a 5 level range bonus at 70?

[Felicite]

To get the Zone Experience Modifier.. the Bonus %.. the mob you kill needs to be within 5 levels of you (up or down). Same rule applies to "Hot Spots".. those are just zones they have raised the traditional ZEM to Paludal like levels.

Click for ZEM list thread (http://www.necrotalk.com/index.php?showtopic=664)

Click for Hot Spot thread (http://www.necrotalk.com/index.php?showtopic=3072)

It's true at 20 and it's true at 70.

Remember when the XP in Paludal Caverns (with it's 114% bonus) suddenly slowed down? That was the point where you are killing mobs that are 6 or more levels below you.

I spend a whole lot of time reading the beastiary looking for things that are 65+ to hunt.. not 62.

Of course if you can kill the lower things waaay faster, maybe it's a wash. But.. that's the "5 level" thing. Clear as congealing blood?

[Cheitan]

clear as a bell - I didn't realize that the hot spots, or the zem bonus (believe 75 is the base right?? and anything over that was bonus) only applied to mobs that were less than 5 levels below you.

I never played in pauldal - but I have been un unrest for about 10 levels now and have not noticed a severe reduction in exp - course I am still killing things that I believe are within 5 levels of my level - so I think I am not really affected yet.

It does explain why my level 69 monk is getting crap experience from BOT mobs now though - even AA exp there has slowed down and I always wondered why - this explains it!

Thanks much

[Felicite]

5 levels up through 5 levels down.

Something 6 levels above you = no ZEM.. same as 6 levels below.

I hope I have it right. That it's inclusive of the 5th level (not less than 5). So, if you are 60.. I believe it is 55-65.. not 56-64.. but I am honestly not certain.

[Astroshak]

The XP bonus for a mob within 5 levels of you, and the ZEM, are two different things.

Each mob in EQ that is a certain level (lets say level 60 for example) is worth the same number of experience points. It does not matter if the level 60 mob is in Lavastorm or if it is in Paludal, or if it is in Plane of Fire, or if it is in Muramite Proving Grounds, all level 60 mobs in the game are worth the same amount of xp initially. That amount of xp gets adjusted by several factors, as explained below; this adjustment explains why killing a level 15 mob in paludal gets you more xp than killing a level 15 mob in west commonlands. However, whenever any mob is level X in a zone, any other mob one level higher will be worth more xp.

The very first modifier that affects how much of that mob's xp that you get is the ZEM. For most zones, the ZEM is less than 1.00 (or less than 100 if its given as a percentage) meaning that you don't get the full xp for that kill.

The next modifier that the kill's xp goes through is the group determination. First, the number in the group determines the xp bonus tacked on to the xp pool (0 bonus for a 1 man group, all the way up to 80 percent bonus for 5 man groups, adding a 6th does not increase this bonus). After that is added on, the xp is divided among the members of the group (note that a 6 man group the xp is divided by 5 instead of 6, so everyone gets the same amount of xp in a full group that they would in a 5 man group).

After the xp has been divided amongst the people in the group, then the level modifier is applied. When the level modifier was added, it was indicated that this was for those in the high levels (50's somewhere, and higher, I think). Whether this is the case or if it is applied for all levels, I do not know for sure. However, this is most definately applied after the xp has been divided amongst everyone in the group because two people at different levels who are grouped for a length of time will see the lower level gain AAxp at a faster rate than the higher person will. AAxp is really the only meaningful way of comparing this, because the levelling bars are worth different amounts at different levels, whereas the aaxp bar is always worth the same amount from one ding to the next.

There may be other modifiers that affect the amount of earned xp per kill. If there are, to the best of my knowledge they have not been released.

I don't recall if the level based xp bonus applies only to mobs in a 11 level range centered around your level (your level +- 5 is 11 levels in total) or if it applies to all mobs higher than 6 levels lower than you (mobs 5 levels lower than you, and up). However, it really does not matter much if the bonus applies to a mob 6 or 7 levels higher than you are - either you're with a raid to kill that mob, or you're being powerlevelled. For the former, you won't get much of any xp from it anyway, and for the latter, you're better off fighting a rapid succession of high blues than you are fighting a slower succession of high reds, because xp over time is more important than xp per kill.

[KB1]

Yeah ZEM has nothing to do with the 5 level bonus range. Two totally different things which when the are working together happen to make for good experience.