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An Alternative Way to Calculate XP Gain

One of the biggest drawbacks to being a tank or healer class is their inability to solo efficiently. While dps classes rip through mobs one after the other gaining a high rate of xp/second, tanks and healers kill mobs much more slowly and earn far lower xp/second. In the worst implementations, tanks and healers are reliant on groups to earn any kind of meaningful xp at all.

An alternative way to award xp would be to go away from giving a set amount of xp based on a single kill, and move more towards giving xp based on what the player actually did. The (simplified) mechanic is as follows:

1. DPS classes earn xp based on damage dealt.
2. Tank classes earn xp based on damage taken.
3. Healer classes earn xp based on health healed.
4. Accumulated xp is awarded when the mob dies.

Example numbers:

Mob with 1000 health dealing 100 dps.

Rogue dealing 100 dps kills the mob in 10 seconds, deals 1000 total damage, earning xp at a rate of 100 xp/sec.  

Tank dealing 50 dps kills the mob in 20 seconds, takes 2000 points of damage, earning xp at a rate of 100 xp/sec.

Healer dealing 50 dps kills the mob in 20 seconds, heals himself for 2000 health, earning xp at a rate of 100 xp/sec.

Since the accumulated xp is only awarded at the time of the kill, a tank or healer that just lets a mob beat on them for a long while before killing it will still make the same rate of xp as the rogue killing one mob after another.

As players add their sub-class, their xp modifier adjusts accordingly. A tank/tank still has his xp calculated by damage taken, but a tank/healer has his xp calculated as 75% damage taken and 25% health healed.

In a  group setting this xp model holds as long as each class is doing their job.  

This is obviously a simplified version for the purposes of explanation, but other characteristics can be brought into play, such as:

Mob DPS - different mobs will have different  health and dps values, meaning some mobs will be more efficient xp/sec for different classes.
Downtime - some classes will be better than others at killing nonstop, so that must be included in xp/sec calculations.
Hardiness - while the healer kills slowly, he can kill any mob that he can out heal, something other classes can't do.
Max Health - when a mob has higher dps than a healer can heal, the superior total health and mitigation of a tank will be required.
Mob Abilities - some mobs could have a skill they use 15 seconds after being engaged, meaning the quick killing dps classes have an advantage.

This system could get as complex as the imagination of the person creating it, but it's probably time to stop allowing the "kill 1 mob, get 100 xp" paradigm to hamstring tanks and healers from gaining efficient xp rates. 

Comments

  • This was talked about before if I remember correctly and well people have different opinions on the matter, while it's true that tanks and healers take more time to level up it's also a fact that their survival rate is higher than the other classes.

    We will have to wait and see how Intrepid decides to deal with it in the future or if there will even be big enough problems to change anything.
  • I've chosen tank for most of the mmo's I've played and it's never taken me long to level up, infact I would say it's fairly quicker as I can pull more mobs then any one else and still do a fair amount of damage.
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited February 2018
    I'm just hopeful that whatever system they settle on that healers get credit for healing as opposed to just damaging, like you already mentioned OP.
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