what percent should i put towords AA's?

[bob]

my necro just hit 51 (woohoo!) and i was all excited about getting my AA's,
but since this is my first character to reach 51, i wasn't quite sure how
much xp i should put towords AA's. i asked the people in my group and one
said to wait all the way till 65 before doing any AA's, and another said to
at least wait till i leveled to start doing them. i told them they didn't
know me very well and if they had they'd know that i wasn't gonna wait
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you think
would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?

also, how does AA xp work? does it go up fast in the beginning like levels
did, then sort of gradually slow down as you get more, or does it take a
long time to earn an AA point?

[Ben Sisson]

A thousand monkeys banging on keyboards posted the following under the

Post by bob
my necro just hit 51 (woohoo!) and i was all excited about getting my AA's,
but since this is my first character to reach 51, i wasn't quite sure how
much xp i should put towords AA's. i asked the people in my group and one
said to wait all the way till 65 before doing any AA's, and another said to
at least wait till i leveled to start doing them. i told them they didn't
know me very well and if they had they'd know that i wasn't gonna wait
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you think
would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?

Er, 100% then, since you've already decided to gimp yourself by going
aa rather than level.

Go ahead and get run3 if you need to. Even regen3 or ft3 whichever
necros prefer is okay. If you're doing aa after that rather than
levels, you're basically screwing yourself.

In any event there is no reason to do anything other than all or
nothing.

Post by bob
also, how does AA xp work? does it go up fast in the beginning like levels
did, then sort of gradually slow down as you get more, or does it take a
long time to earn an AA point?

It is the same exp as L51. Which means at L65 you can get it absurdly
fast, but at L51 you're taking the same amount of time as it took to
regularly level.

[Tim Smith]

Post by bob
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you
think would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?

In almost all circumstances, if you are rational, there are only two values
you will consider for your AA setting: 0% or 100%. Here is why:

Suppose you set it to some value between 0 and 100, say N, and consider what
happens at some point later, when you get your next level or AA, whichever
comes first. Let's say, for the sake of discussion, that it is an AA point
you get first, and it took you T hours, so after T hours you have earned
exactly one AA point, and you have earned a certain fraction of the way to
the next level.

If you had went 100% toward AA, you would have got the AA point in less than
time then T, and then you could have switched to 100% regular XP long enough
to reach T, and you'd then be the same fraction of the way to the next
level. I.e., you'd be exactly at the same point you reached with you N%
setting, in exacly the same time--the difference is that if you go N% you
don't get the AA point until the end of that, whereas going 100% AA then
100% regular XP gets you the AA point sooner.

So, ask yourself this: what do I want to reach next? My next AA point, or
some specific level goal (or partial level goal--such as getting enough XP
into the level to take a death without losing a level)? If the next goal
you want to reach is an AA point, go 100% AA. If the next goal is dinging,
or reaching a safety point, go 100% regular XP. Whenever you reach the
goal, ask yourself this question again.

[Lance Berg]

Post by Tim Smith

Post by bob
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you
think would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?

In almost all circumstances, if you are rational, there are only two values
Suppose you set it to some value between 0 and 100, say N, and consider what
happens at some point later, when you get your next level or AA, whichever
comes first. Let's say, for the sake of discussion, that it is an AA point
you get first, and it took you T hours, so after T hours you have earned
exactly one AA point, and you have earned a certain fraction of the way to
the next level.
If you had went 100% toward AA, you would have got the AA point in less than
time then T, and then you could have switched to 100% regular XP long enough
to reach T, and you'd then be the same fraction of the way to the next
level. I.e., you'd be exactly at the same point you reached with you N%
setting, in exacly the same time--the difference is that if you go N% you
don't get the AA point until the end of that, whereas going 100% AA then
100% regular XP gets you the AA point sooner.
So, ask yourself this: what do I want to reach next? My next AA point, or
some specific level goal (or partial level goal--such as getting enough XP
into the level to take a death without losing a level)? If the next goal
you want to reach is an AA point, go 100% AA. If the next goal is dinging,
or reaching a safety point, go 100% regular XP. Whenever you reach the
goal, ask yourself this question again.

This is just a matter of preference, some people prefer to work more
slowly and then get multiple advances in quick order.

The reason that this is illogical is that it makes both occur somewhat
later, rather than one soon and one much later... which sounds like what
you said, but the difference is that getting an AA or a level will make
getting exp easier, so that "soon + much later" = 1.5 later while "both
somewhat later = 2 later.

That is assuming, of course, that getting that AA point is actually
going to improve your character to the point where he'll get exp faster.
Many AA points just get saved up towards a more expensive goal; those
AA points won't help you exp faster unless you've saved enough for that
goal. Many AA abilities don't help you get exp faster anyway; perhaps
they are tradeskill AA or something like that.

However, I think for most people, run 1, 2, and 3 fall into the helpful
category, and for many, regen 1, 2, 3 also fall into that category.

Levels, in my experience, almost always fall into that category,
exceptions being up past 62 when they can actually reduce exp for
soloers, who find most of the mobs they can profitably solo turning cyan
on them.

Grage, 53 Berserk with 0 AA, Luclin

[Tim Smith]

Post by Lance Berg
The reason that this is illogical is that it makes both occur somewhat
later, rather than one soon and one much later... which sounds like what
you said, but the difference is that getting an AA or a level will make
getting exp easier, so that "soon + much later" = 1.5 later while "both
somewhat later = 2 later.

Not quite: there is no "much later". E.g., suppose you need 1000 XP for
an AA, and 3000 XP to level. (Numbers totally made up, but they illustrate
the point).

Let's say you can earn 1000 XP per hour.

If you go 25% AA, then after four hours, you get an AA ding and a level
ding.

If you go 100% AA until AA ding, then 100% XP, then after one hour, you get
your AA, and then (assuming the AA doesn't change things), after three more
hours you get the level. So, at the end of four hours, you have both the AA
and the level, just like the 25% case.

If you went 100% regular XP, then AA, it would be three hours to level, then
one hour for the AA. Again, after 4 hours, you are right where the 25%
person would have been.

So, compared to the 25% setting, the 100% settings get one thing sooner, and
the other things at exactly the same time...not "much later". (And, as you
point out, getting the one thing sooner might speed up getting the other).

[Lance Berg]

Post by Tim Smith

Post by Lance Berg
The reason that this is illogical is that it makes both occur somewhat
later, rather than one soon and one much later... which sounds like what
you said, but the difference is that getting an AA or a level will make
getting exp easier, so that "soon + much later" = 1.5 later while "both
somewhat later = 2 later.

Not quite: there is no "much later". E.g., suppose you need 1000 XP for
an AA, and 3000 XP to level. (Numbers totally made up, but they illustrate
the point).
Let's say you can earn 1000 XP per hour.
If you go 25% AA, then after four hours, you get an AA ding and a level
ding.
If you go 100% AA until AA ding, then 100% XP, then after one hour, you get
your AA, and then (assuming the AA doesn't change things), after three more
hours you get the level. So, at the end of four hours, you have both the AA
and the level, just like the 25% case.
If you went 100% regular XP, then AA, it would be three hours to level, then
one hour for the AA. Again, after 4 hours, you are right where the 25%
person would have been.
So, compared to the 25% setting, the 100% settings get one thing sooner, and
the other things at exactly the same time...not "much later". (And, as you
point out, getting the one thing sooner might speed up getting the other).

But OP is at level 51, where he'll need 1000 xp for a level or 1000 xp
for an AA. We'll assume that due to his low level it takes him twice as
long to get 1000 xp as it would at your hypothetical level.

Thus, at 50%, it still takes 4 hours for him to get both... but at 100%
AA he'll get that first AA, and then perhaps he'll be able to use that
AA to get XP 10% faster (whether because it helps him that much, or just
because he doesn't die with it as much so it saves him that much lost
XP); now it will only take him 108 minutes to level.

Or he could put 100% into real xp, and level in two hours, when he'll
probably get xp half again as fast, so it will only take him 80 minutes
to get the AA... unless he leaves off AA again and goes for 53 instead,
which will still take 2 hours (because he needs more xp to level to 53);
now he'll be able to get that AA in 60 minutes due to leveling faster.

This is why people end up waiting on AA; because the amount of effort
needed to get an AA drops as your level goes up.

The only problem with this theory is that some AA are really worth the
extra effort needed to get them; I'd count Run amongst those for many
classes, as its cheap, has no prerequisites, and represents a paradigm
shift; now you are faster than almost every mob without worrying about
whether a buff has run out or been dispelled; running away or kiting a
mob around till its under control become constantly available options.

I'm not sure I'd count any other AA as worthwhile in this way for most
classes; pure melee might find the regen one handy, or the one that
improves Bind Wounds, if they solo a lot. Barring that, the rest of the
ones you can get under level 61 all require you spend those three extra
points (the ones above and beyond Run 3) plus most require several AA
points per ability. That means to get one ability may cost you 6 AA;
the equivalent of leveling from 51 to 52 6 times over... not many are
really going to change your character as much as simply leveling would have.

The other trouble with this theory is that for many classes, leveling up
may represent a drop in xp gathering rather than a raise; if you solo a
lot, you'll find that the mobs get harder faster than your power
increases. This is a deliberate game design since the early Verant
days; we were supposed to start out solo, then get a partner, then get a
small group, then a full group, and finally end up raiding; in this way
our power would increase exponentially, so mob power levels also
increased exponentially. Sadly, a single player's power tends to
increase only geometrically. Worse, caps to effectiveness of stats or
spells means in some cases player power actually plateaus out; there are
limits to what a bard can charm, for example, so his best xp gathering
method finds his targets being less xp each time he levels up.

If you group regularly and never have trouble finding a group, then that
problem shouldn't apply at all, in fact I've generally found with a good
group that the time per level actually drops each time you level up (and
the rest of the group does), because of the synergistic effect of the
increased power of its components.

Grage

[Sean Kennedy]

Post by Tim Smith

Post by Lance Berg
The reason that this is illogical is that it makes both occur
somewhat later, rather than one soon and one much later... which
sounds like what you said, but the difference is that getting an AA
or a level will make getting exp easier, so that "soon + much later"
= 1.5 later while "both somewhat later = 2 later.

Not quite: there is no "much later". E.g., suppose you need 1000 XP
for an AA, and 3000 XP to level. (Numbers totally made up, but they
illustrate the point).
Let's say you can earn 1000 XP per hour.
If you go 25% AA, then after four hours, you get an AA ding and a
level ding.
If you go 100% AA until AA ding, then 100% XP, then after one hour,
you get your AA, and then (assuming the AA doesn't change things),
after three more hours you get the level. So, at the end of four
hours, you have both the AA and the level, just like the 25% case.
If you went 100% regular XP, then AA, it would be three hours to
level, then one hour for the AA. Again, after 4 hours, you are right
where the 25% person would have been.
So, compared to the 25% setting, the 100% settings get one thing
sooner, and the other things at exactly the same time...not "much
later". (And, as you point out, getting the one thing sooner might
speed up getting the other).

However: The cost of an AA is constant. The amount of XP you can
get per hour goes up as you level. Therefore, in most cases, getting
to 65 first then AA'ing will get you the to the goal (65+X aa's) faster.

[Tim Smith]

However: The cost of an AA is constant. The amount of XP you can get per
hour goes up as you level. Therefore, in most cases, getting to 65 first
then AA'ing will get you the to the goal (65+X aa's) faster.

Yup. So, in most cases, you want 0% AA till 65, then 100% AA. If there are
any AA that you do want before 65, you should be at 100% AA while going for
them, then 0% AA till 65.

Basically, at any given combination of total AA XP and total regular XP, a
person who always has the split at 0% or 100%, and only changes the split at
AA or regular dings, could have got to that point with all but the latest
ding having occured earlier, and the latest ding at the same time or earlier
(depending on whether or not any of the AA points or levels represented
points at which they start earning XP faster).

[Graeme Faelban]

Post by Tim Smith

Post by Sean Kennedy
However: The cost of an AA is constant. The amount of XP you can
get per hour goes up as you level. Therefore, in most cases, getting
to 65 first then AA'ing will get you the to the goal (65+X aa's) faster.

Yup. So, in most cases, you want 0% AA till 65, then 100% AA. If
there are any AA that you do want before 65, you should be at 100% AA
while going for them, then 0% AA till 65.
Basically, at any given combination of total AA XP and total regular
XP, a person who always has the split at 0% or 100%, and only changes
the split at AA or regular dings, could have got to that point with
all but the latest ding having occured earlier, and the latest ding at
the same time or earlier (depending on whether or not any of the AA
points or levels represented points at which they start earning XP
faster).

I leave 10% into regular xp all the time, it makes up for raid deaths,
and the far too many unrezzed deaths I've eaten. Not that I recommend
doing that prior to level 65 particularly. I may switch over soon to
100% regular xp so that I am prepped for the climb to 70 with OOW.

[Bob Perez]

"Tim Smith" <***@mouse-potato.com> wrote in message news:IKbWc.8520$***@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...

Yep, that's how I approached it. I headed for 65 first, then went 100% AAs
to get what I needed. When I apped for Reso, I needed a quick 75 AAs in
various things and did a lot of grinding to get there but it went pretty
fast, actually a LOT faster than if I'd split the goals along the way. I
don't recall how many AA I had when I quit the game, I think something over
150. I did AAs for maybe 5% of the time that I'd spent playing in my entire
career, they went that fast at 65.

There was one exception when I wasn't 100% one way or the other. I had gone
to 100% AA soon after hitting 65 and didn't leave much of an xp cushion.
When I joined Reso my playstyle changed dramatically and for the first time
in my career I was primarily raiding and this slowed down my exp. The other
big factor was GoD. I was one of the first to walk into Kod'Taz and I spent
many, many sessions in that zone without any rezzers around and ate a few
deaths, to the point where I actually lost 65 at one point. That was a real
eye-opener for me. With all of the AA's that I still wanted to get, I didn't
want to go 100% xp for too long, but I also needed a good cushion so I reset
to 100% xp for a short time until I got about two yellows in. I then figured
that someday they would raise the level cap and it would be good to be close
to dinging, but it wasn't a high priority and I wanted to get back to my
AA's. So, I set up a 90% AA and then just forgot about it, and wound up
playing like that for the rest of my career. I am now at max experience,
ready to ding 66 if necessary, and reset to 100% AA. The 90% split turned
out to be a pretty good idea for that particular circumstance.

[Mal]

Post by bob
my necro just hit 51 (woohoo!) and i was all excited about getting my AA's,
but since this is my first character to reach 51, i wasn't quite sure how
much xp i should put towords AA's. i asked the people in my group and one
said to wait all the way till 65 before doing any AA's, and another said to
at least wait till i leveled to start doing them. i told them they didn't
know me very well and if they had they'd know that i wasn't gonna wait
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you think
would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?
also, how does AA xp work? does it go up fast in the beginning like levels
did, then sort of gradually slow down as you get more, or does it take a
long time to earn an AA point?

I remember reading somewhere, I know .. it doesn't narrow the search much
:), about some db mobs that were real good for getting AAs at 52 but turned
lb at 53 but now that my gnome mage is making his way through 52 I can't for
the life of me find the page again lol. Could well have been on Mage
Compendium but I've been looking for a while on there and other forums
without success.

Question I do have about AA exp though is ... do the mobs need to give
normal exp to give AA exp? ... if I ever find the camp I've mentioned is it
better to stay at 52 while getting AAs or will dinging to 53 and killing the
same mobs when they're lb make no difference to the rate they move the AA
bar?

[Lance Berg]

Post by bob

Post by bob
my necro just hit 51 (woohoo!) and i was all excited about getting my

AA's,

Post by bob
but since this is my first character to reach 51, i wasn't quite sure how
much xp i should put towords AA's. i asked the people in my group and one
said to wait all the way till 65 before doing any AA's, and another said

to

Post by bob
at least wait till i leveled to start doing them. i told them they didn't
know me very well and if they had they'd know that i wasn't gonna wait
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you

think

Post by bob
would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?
also, how does AA xp work? does it go up fast in the beginning like

levels

Post by bob
did, then sort of gradually slow down as you get more, or does it take a
long time to earn an AA point?

I remember reading somewhere, I know .. it doesn't narrow the search much
:), about some db mobs that were real good for getting AAs at 52 but turned
lb at 53 but now that my gnome mage is making his way through 52 I can't for
the life of me find the page again lol. Could well have been on Mage
Compendium but I've been looking for a while on there and other forums
without success.
Question I do have about AA exp though is ... do the mobs need to give
normal exp to give AA exp? ... if I ever find the camp I've mentioned is it
better to stay at 52 while getting AAs or will dinging to 53 and killing the
same mobs when they're lb make no difference to the rate they move the AA
bar?

Normal and AA exp are exactly the same stuff, if killing mob A gives you
200 xp and you put it all into "real" you'll get 200 xp, if you put it
all into AA you'll get 200 AA xp.

The thing is, the xp needed to move your real xp bar a certain
percentage changes as you level up.

Say at level 51 it takes 200 xp to move your bar 2% at 100% real, it
will also take 200 xp to move your AA bar 2% at 100% AA.

But at level 52 it may take 300 xp to move your real bar 2%. That same
150 xp will move your AA bar 3%, because the amount of xp needed to get
an AA never changes.

If your only choice is between a camp of DB mobs at 52 and LB mobs at
53, you'll get AA faster by staying 52; this is something that happens
to a lot of people at the line between 62 and 63. The reason for this
is that the xp you get for killing a given mob drops each time you level
up; that mob that was giving you 100xp now gives you 90... but when a
mob turns LB there's a sharp drop, the DB mob that was giving you 100xp
now gives you 50xp. Can you kill them twice as fast just because you
got one level?


However, I very much suspect that you'll find DB mobs you can slaughter
at 53 if you just look around some more; the world is filled to the brim
with mobs of all levels.

Grage, 53 Berserk, no AAs, Luclin

[Don Woods]

Post by Lance Berg
Normal and AA exp are exactly the same stuff, if killing mob A gives you
200 xp and you put it all into "real" you'll get 200 xp, if you put it
all into AA you'll get 200 AA xp.

Is the exp the same with respect to death? I.e., do I lose
progress toward AAs when I die? What about completed AAs?

I don't think it affects the general rule that either 100%
regular or 100% AA is almost always right; I'm just trying
to understand how AAs work.

-- Don.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Sukrasisx, Monk 38 on E. Marr Note: If you reply by mail,
-- Terrwini, Druid 27 on E. Marr I'll get to it sooner if you
-- Wizbeau, Wizard 20 on E. Marr remove the "hyphen n s"
-- http://www.iCynic.com/~don

[42]

Post by Don Woods

Post by Lance Berg
Normal and AA exp are exactly the same stuff, if killing mob A gives you
200 xp and you put it all into "real" you'll get 200 xp, if you put it
all into AA you'll get 200 AA xp.

Is the exp the same with respect to death? I.e., do I lose
progress toward AAs when I die? What about completed AAs?

The death takes 100% of its penalty from regular xp, always. It ignores
lxp, and aaxp completely.

As to losing AAs? No. It doesn't happen. However, I believe you lose the
ability to -use- a completed AA until you re-ding if you lost a level,
and the AA requires you have that level. I can't recall for sure... but
it would seem an exploit to allow you to unding back down to level 20 on
a pvp server but let you keep your 400 AAs...

[Graeme Faelban]

Post by 42
As to losing AAs? No. It doesn't happen. However, I believe you lose
the ability to -use- a completed AA until you re-ding if you lost a
level, and the AA requires you have that level. I can't recall for
sure... but it would seem an exploit to allow you to unding back down
to level 20 on a pvp server but let you keep your 400 AAs...

Having never tried it, I'm not sure if it works that way, or like skills,
where you only can use skill levels appropriate for your level + 5 or
something along those lines. I vaguely recall a mention of it, but don't
recall the exact details.

[Lance Berg]

Post by Don Woods

Post by Lance Berg
Normal and AA exp are exactly the same stuff, if killing mob A gives you
200 xp and you put it all into "real" you'll get 200 xp, if you put it
all into AA you'll get 200 AA xp.

Is the exp the same with respect to death? I.e., do I lose
progress toward AAs when I die? What about completed AAs?

You never lose any AA exp or any AA, although if you lose a level that
was required to buy a given AA you won't be able to benefit from that AA
till you regain the level.

When you get a rez, all the exp restored to you goes back to your "real"
exp bar as well, even if you thought you'd like to go ahead and dump
some deaths and put 96% of the exp into an AA for some reason.

Many people put 90% exp into AA instead of 100%, in order to make up for
deaths. A more common practice, however, is simply to build a "cushion"
of about 2 blue bubbles into your next level before switching to AA, if
you switch back and forth.

Grage

[Graeme Faelban]

Post by Lance Berg

Post by Don Woods

Post by Lance Berg
Normal and AA exp are exactly the same stuff, if killing mob A gives
you 200 xp and you put it all into "real" you'll get 200 xp, if you
put it all into AA you'll get 200 AA xp.

Is the exp the same with respect to death? I.e., do I lose
progress toward AAs when I die? What about completed AAs?

You never lose any AA exp or any AA, although if you lose a level that
was required to buy a given AA you won't be able to benefit from that
AA till you regain the level.
When you get a rez, all the exp restored to you goes back to your
"real" exp bar as well, even if you thought you'd like to go ahead and
dump some deaths and put 96% of the exp into an AA for some reason.
Many people put 90% exp into AA instead of 100%, in order to make up
for deaths. A more common practice, however, is simply to build a
"cushion" of about 2 blue bubbles into your next level before
switching to AA, if you switch back and forth.

It's such a pain to remember to switch it back and forth, so I just set
it 10% regular xp all the time to make up for both unrezzed (22ish so far
in level 65), and far too many rezzed deaths.

[c11man]

Post by Lance Berg

Post by bob

Post by bob
my necro just hit 51 (woohoo!) and i was all excited about getting my

AA's,

Post by bob
but since this is my first character to reach 51, i wasn't quite sure how
much xp i should put towords AA's. i asked the people in my group and one
said to wait all the way till 65 before doing any AA's, and another said

to

Post by bob
at least wait till i leveled to start doing them. i told them they didn't
know me very well and if they had they'd know that i wasn't gonna wait
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you

think

Post by bob
would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?
also, how does AA xp work? does it go up fast in the beginning like

levels

Post by bob
did, then sort of gradually slow down as you get more, or does it take a
long time to earn an AA point?

I remember reading somewhere, I know .. it doesn't narrow the search much
:), about some db mobs that were real good for getting AAs at 52 but turned
lb at 53 but now that my gnome mage is making his way through 52 I can't for
the life of me find the page again lol. Could well have been on Mage
Compendium but I've been looking for a while on there and other forums
without success.
Question I do have about AA exp though is ... do the mobs need to give
normal exp to give AA exp? ... if I ever find the camp I've mentioned is it
better to stay at 52 while getting AAs or will dinging to 53 and killing the
same mobs when they're lb make no difference to the rate they move the AA
bar?

Normal and AA exp are exactly the same stuff, if killing mob A gives you
200 xp and you put it all into "real" you'll get 200 xp, if you put it
all into AA you'll get 200 AA xp.
The thing is, the xp needed to move your real xp bar a certain
percentage changes as you level up.
Say at level 51 it takes 200 xp to move your bar 2% at 100% real, it
will also take 200 xp to move your AA bar 2% at 100% AA.
But at level 52 it may take 300 xp to move your real bar 2%. That same
150 xp will move your AA bar 3%, because the amount of xp needed to get
an AA never changes.
If your only choice is between a camp of DB mobs at 52 and LB mobs at
53, you'll get AA faster by staying 52; this is something that happens
to a lot of people at the line between 62 and 63. The reason for this
is that the xp you get for killing a given mob drops each time you level
up; that mob that was giving you 100xp now gives you 90... but when a
mob turns LB there's a sharp drop, the DB mob that was giving you 100xp
now gives you 50xp. Can you kill them twice as fast just because you
got one level?
However, I very much suspect that you'll find DB mobs you can slaughter
at 53 if you just look around some more; the world is filled to the brim
with mobs of all levels.
Grage, 53 Berserk, no AAs, Luclin

You can kill light blues faster in one circumstance...and that is when you
get a new pet spell if a magician or necro. I remember getting my last air
pet spell and going on a wholesale slaughter in Gunthak and Dulak.
Everything was light blue and blue, I averaged over 1500 plat every three
hours, and the exp was rolling in for me. I had AA set to 10% and still made
half a level normal exp a day in a six to seven hour play session soloing.
Average kill time per mob of any con was 25 seconds. As I edged over level
62 I moved on to Nadox and repeated he style.
Since a pet is four levels below you when you get it, the pet is then
about an even match for a light blue con mob to you. LoY mobs hit very hard
and have a bit more hitpoints than old world mobs but with the new pet heal
spells this makes the odds in your favor. As long as you solo pull each
light blue mob, the new pet will tear them up fast with only an occasional
heal from you. I rarely nuked unless a heal didn't get off in time or
fizzled to much.

Kelimalandyutu, 65 Magician
Midnight Wolfpack
Terris-Thule

[Beal]

Post by bob
my necro just hit 51 (woohoo!) and i was all excited about getting my AA's,
but since this is my first character to reach 51, i wasn't quite sure how
much xp i should put towords AA's.

0%, 90%, or 100%.

Some prefer 90% when going fully for AA's to keep their regular exp at
10% (90% AA) so that they dont lose their level.

Post by bob
i asked the people in my group and one
said to wait all the way till 65 before doing any AA's,

That's the smartest thing to do. Imagine if you could get the
experience you get now per kill, but apply it toward leveling from,
say, level 37 to 38. How fast would it take to get level 38? This is
how AA works, it takes fewer and fewer kills of mobs matching your
level to earn an AA and you can do more and more DPS to the ones you
do kill...if you put off getting AA's til later.

A level 65 can get an AA in anywhere from 30 minutes or less, up to
maybe a few hours, depending on the kind of exp they are getting. At
51 it will take hours and hours and hours to get that same AA--the
same time it would take to level from 51 to 52.

Another thing to consider is the benefit you get from those AAs. Run3
is great. You could argue (wrongly IMO) that it would be worth
putting off more levels for run3 since Necros kite a lot. After that,
you get crap for AA skills until you earn at *least* 15 to 20 more
AA's.

Whoopie, you can get 3 more mana regen per tic...Of course if you had
spent the time it took to get those 12 AAs in to leveling, you could
be level 63 and be using arch lich, regenning 15 more mana per tic
instead. (And one level from Seduction of Sarym--50/tic)

...you would have a single dot that does 40 DPS all by itself, not to
mention several other spell and pet upgrades.

...you would be able to easily solo in neat places like Veksar. (59+
pets are unfearable)

...you could much more easily get groups (or solo) in zones like
PoValor.

...you could enter zones like BoT and begin looting ornate
molds/patterns or HoH, which is very popular for Necros.

...you and your pet would look like Spectres.

...you would have cool spells for helping others like a group mana
tap, Conjure Corpse, Levant, Convergence (resurrect), Manaskin, a
componentless rune (f'ing awesome spell), a mez spell for undead that
works on mobs up to level 65, etc...

You could have all of this, or you could have +3 mana regen, run 3,
and still be level 51, still hunting in the same zones.

Post by bob
and another said to
at least wait till i leveled to start doing them. i told them they didn't
know me very well and if they had they'd know that i wasn't gonna wait
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you think
would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?
also, how does AA xp work? does it go up fast in the beginning like levels
did, then sort of gradually slow down as you get more, or does it take a
long time to earn an AA point?

It always takes the same points of experience to get an AA point
independent of how many you have. They come at the same rate...at
least until you get more regular levels, at which point they come
several times faster.

[pete]

Great reply beal.
I agree totally.

Post by Beal

Post by bob
my necro just hit 51 (woohoo!) and i was all excited about getting my AA's,
but since this is my first character to reach 51, i wasn't quite sure how
much xp i should put towords AA's.

0%, 90%, or 100%.
Some prefer 90% when going fully for AA's to keep their regular exp at
10% (90% AA) so that they dont lose their level.

Post by bob
i asked the people in my group and one
said to wait all the way till 65 before doing any AA's,

That's the smartest thing to do. Imagine if you could get the
experience you get now per kill, but apply it toward leveling from,
say, level 37 to 38. How fast would it take to get level 38? This is
how AA works, it takes fewer and fewer kills of mobs matching your
level to earn an AA and you can do more and more DPS to the ones you
do kill...if you put off getting AA's til later.
A level 65 can get an AA in anywhere from 30 minutes or less, up to
maybe a few hours, depending on the kind of exp they are getting. At
51 it will take hours and hours and hours to get that same AA--the
same time it would take to level from 51 to 52.
Another thing to consider is the benefit you get from those AAs. Run3
is great. You could argue (wrongly IMO) that it would be worth
putting off more levels for run3 since Necros kite a lot. After that,
you get crap for AA skills until you earn at *least* 15 to 20 more
AA's.
Whoopie, you can get 3 more mana regen per tic...Of course if you had
spent the time it took to get those 12 AAs in to leveling, you could
be level 63 and be using arch lich, regenning 15 more mana per tic
instead. (And one level from Seduction of Sarym--50/tic)
...you would have a single dot that does 40 DPS all by itself, not to
mention several other spell and pet upgrades.
...you would be able to easily solo in neat places like Veksar. (59+
pets are unfearable)
...you could much more easily get groups (or solo) in zones like
PoValor.
...you could enter zones like BoT and begin looting ornate
molds/patterns or HoH, which is very popular for Necros.
...you and your pet would look like Spectres.
...you would have cool spells for helping others like a group mana
tap, Conjure Corpse, Levant, Convergence (resurrect), Manaskin, a
componentless rune (f'ing awesome spell), a mez spell for undead that
works on mobs up to level 65, etc...
You could have all of this, or you could have +3 mana regen, run 3,
and still be level 51, still hunting in the same zones.

Post by bob
and another said to
at least wait till i leveled to start doing them. i told them they didn't
know me very well and if they had they'd know that i wasn't gonna wait
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you think
would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?
also, how does AA xp work? does it go up fast in the beginning like levels
did, then sort of gradually slow down as you get more, or does it take a
long time to earn an AA point?

It always takes the same points of experience to get an AA point
independent of how many you have. They come at the same rate...at
least until you get more regular levels, at which point they come
several times faster.

[Vladesch]

Post by bob
my necro just hit 51 (woohoo!) and i was all excited about getting my AA's,
but since this is my first character to reach 51, i wasn't quite sure how
much xp i should put towords AA's. i asked the people in my group and one
said to wait all the way till 65 before doing any AA's, and another said to
at least wait till i leveled to start doing them. i told them they didn't
know me very well and if they had they'd know that i wasn't gonna wait
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you think
would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?
also, how does AA xp work? does it go up fast in the beginning like levels
did, then sort of gradually slow down as you get more, or does it take a
long time to earn an AA point?

Id put 100% into AA until you get run speed 3, then turn it back to 0% until
you get to 65.
At 65 it will be MUCH easier to get more aa's.

You could get regen 3 and use lich/leach, but my experience with necros is
its just easier to get KEI at your level.

[Beal]

Post by Vladesch

Post by bob
my necro just hit 51 (woohoo!) and i was all excited about getting my AA's,
but since this is my first character to reach 51, i wasn't quite sure how
much xp i should put towords AA's. i asked the people in my group and one
said to wait all the way till 65 before doing any AA's, and another said to
at least wait till i leveled to start doing them. i told them they didn't
know me very well and if they had they'd know that i wasn't gonna wait
another second to put xp toword AA. so, ruling out the choice of waiting
till a higher level to start alternate advancement, how much xp do you think
would be a reasonable amount to put into AA's?
also, how does AA xp work? does it go up fast in the beginning like levels
did, then sort of gradually slow down as you get more, or does it take a
long time to earn an AA point?

Id put 100% into AA until you get run speed 3, then turn it back to 0% until
you get to 65.
At 65 it will be MUCH easier to get more aa's.
You could get regen 3 and use lich/leach, but my experience with necros is
its just easier to get KEI at your level.

Bah, 20 mana a tic is better than 14 per tic. It's enough of an
improvement to make the health loss worth it. So you have to tap
every two fights...that's also more DPS you're doing. In any case,
when he gets Demi Lich there is no going back to Chanter buffs. As
for my Necro, I never once intentionally got a clarity buff, I always
had something better than what could be cast on me.

[42]

Post by Beal
As
for my Necro, I never once intentionally got a clarity buff, I always
had something better than what could be cast on me.

That's not true. The necro and enchanter lines leapfrog eachother
through to the midlevels.

darkpact (4) < breeze (16) < allure of death (20) < clarity (29) < call
of bones (34) (and thereafter stays in favour of the necro, as he gets
lich before the enc gets c2)

For two stretches enc buffs are superior: 16-19 & 29-33 worth a total of
9 out of 34 levels.

And that's if you only get your enc buffs from an identical level enc if
the enc is higher level -- well you can run to pok for c1 which is
superior to necro regen from 1-33. And c3 can land on him from 46-48, to
greater effect than call of bones, while the necro still doesn't have
lich.

So technically the necro only has the best regen buffs that can be cast
on him from 34-45 in the first 49 levels. After 49 its all necro...
(afaik)

[Beal]

Post by 42

Post by Beal
As
for my Necro, I never once intentionally got a clarity buff, I always
had something better than what could be cast on me.

That's not true. The necro and enchanter lines leapfrog eachother
through to the midlevels.
darkpact (4) < breeze (16) < allure of death (20) < clarity (29) < call
of bones (34) (and thereafter stays in favour of the necro, as he gets
lich before the enc gets c2)

Well, kinda. You can get +2 mana regen starting at level 8 or you can
group with a 16 enchanter (before you hit level 20) and get a buff
that is mildly better (since it has no hp loss attached to it). Then
you can group with a 29 chanter and get Clarity, which also provide
the same mana regen as what you already had (at level 20)...meaning it
is only better because you dont lose hitpoints.

In any case, I never bothered through these levels. I soloed them,
for the most part, each in a few hours anyway. =)

Post by 42
For two stretches enc buffs are superior: 16-19 & 29-33 worth a total of
9 out of 34 levels.

Marginally superior, if at all...since you gotta group with the
enchanter and count on him or her to keep casting it on you.

Post by 42
And that's if you only get your enc buffs from an identical level enc if
the enc is higher level -- well you can run to pok for c1 which is
superior to necro regen from 1-33.

This is pointless. These buffs last 30 minutes. You lose more
experience running around for short-duration buffs than you would
allegedly gain by not having to lifetap once every few minutes.

Post by 42
And c3 can land on him from 46-48, to
greater effect than call of bones, while the necro still doesn't have
lich.

This I forgot about. I do remember keeping C3 a few times in my late
40's, but still never actually paying for it.

[GnecroVaz]

Post by bob
my necro just hit 51 (woohoo!) and i was all excited about getting my AA's,
but since this is my first character to reach 51, i wasn't quite sure how
much xp i should put towords AA's.

Put 100% into AA until you get Run3. Then put 100% into regular XP until you hit
53 and get your Rogue pet. At that point you'll be a very effective aggrokiter,
so you can afford to split exp if you wish to pursue AAs.

If you do decide to split, I'd recommend that you get Regen3 and then go back to
100% regular XP until you hit 65. You'll accumulate AAs much more quickly at 65
due to the higher "value" mobs you'll be killing.