Hello good people!

Questions to be answered
At what level do terror zone becomes better than regular Chaos.
In general how does exp/h compare between meta builds.
Terror zone ranking by experience gained per hour.


How the data was gathered
Done on single player with the command -resetofflinemaps to simulate battle.net
Did 20 minutes tests of each zone, then extrapolated to 60 minutes of gameplay.
Character and build used was Mosaic Sin level 98.
Picked up what is considered useful and valuable a week into a ladder to simulate regular gameplay.
Everything was done on players 8.


Things to keep in mind and how to interpretate the data
As I'm experienced with speedrunning and pushing ladder leaderboard, the experience gained per hour shown is higher than average. Depending on what type of player you are you can multiply these figures by a percentage. Example would be 80% by multiplying by 0.8
The same high effort was put into all the terror zones. from 1# Tal Rasha's Tombs and Tal Rasha's Chamber to #36 Burial Grounds, The Crypt, and The Mausoleum. So you would most likely see an even larger exp gap between the the two in regular gameplay, as players in most cases would put more effort into an hour of a better terror zone than a subpar one.
What can you expect from players 1 instead of 8: as you will not gain the 450% bonus from farming p8 zones solo. you can multiply the exp/h or % gained by 0.222, though as mobs have less hp you can expect a slightly higher output than that.
8 players in the same area: x4.5 bonus XP (the 450% bonus for P8) Then x3.37890625 for being next to other players. Your final share is (4.5*3.37890625/(everyone's level))*(your level) or a 90% bonus to XP (190% XP compared to P1) if you're all equal level


Data shown in spreadsheet (sorted by G)
Letters correlate to spreadsheet columns
B. Total exp for an hour of a given terror zone
C. Games per hour
D. Percentage per hour
E. Average exp per game
F. Here 10 seconds per game creation is added (to factor in you moving fillers or people not joining games instantly etc)
G. Exp per minute (F factored in)
H. Percentage with (F factored in)
I. How much less percent exp you get from 98-99 because of F factored in.

Text based ranking and information further down




Comparing Chaos vs Terror Zones
Decided to use TZ Cold Plains as the data from it hit right in the average between all the zones.
2,226,388 xp/min - Chaos (non TZ) Mosaic lvl 93
2,203,157 xp/min - Plains TZ Mosaic lvl 93
They seem to meet almost perfectly at character level 93.

At level character level 94
1,256,086 exp/h - Chaos (non TZ) Mosaic lvl 94
Already a level later at 94 we gain 43% less exp compared to an average TZ.

Conclusion: Only do the top 3 Terror zones prior to level 93. At level 93 the choice is up to you as an average TZ and chaos is close to equal. At level 94 TZ becomes faster than Chaos.


Comparing Meta Builds
720,042 xp/min | 14.84% - Chaos TZ Mosaic 98
715,120 xp/min | 14.74% - Chaos TZ Nova 98 - Equal to Mosaic
624,368 xp/min | 12.87% - Chaos TZ Javazon 98 - About 14% slower than Mosaic
584,358 xp/min | 12.05% - Chaos TZ Hammerdin 98 - About 19% slower than Mosaic
These numbers cannot be used 1:1 with other terror zones, as it does not factor in monster AI and resistances. But gives you a general idea.


Now to the rankings
The first one will in my opinion be the most realistic one to simulate real world conditions. It will show experience gained per minute and the percentage of experience gained per hour at level 98.
The second one will be if you could start each game instantly, not having to manually move fillers or a significantly delay from other players joining your game. This one will show experience gained per hour, how many games done per hour, experience gained average per game and percentage experience gained at level 98.

Ranking with 10s penalty per game creation

#1 - 816,340 - 16.83% - Tal Rasha's Tombs and Tal Rasha's Chamber
#2 - 745,700 - 15.37% - Worldstone Keep, Throne of Destruction, and Worldstone Chamber
#3 - 720,042 - 14.84% - Chaos Sanctuary
#4 - 525,229 - 10.83% - Flayer Jungle and Flayer Dungeon
#5 - 515,474 - 10.63% - Bloody Foothills, Frigid Highlands and Abaddon
#6 - 510,794 - 10.53% - Ancient's Way and Icy Cellar
#7 - 507,018 - 10.45% - Dry Hills and Halls of the Dead
#8 - 503,030 - 10.37% - Crystalline Passage and Frozen River
#9 - 502,247 - 10.35% - Rocky Waste and Stony Tomb
#10 - 501,586 - 10.34% - Nihlathak's Temple and Temple Halls
#11 - 496,585 - 10.24% - Outer Steppes and Plains of Despair
#12 - 495,354 - 10.21% - River of Flame and City of the Damned
#13 - 492,716 - 10.16% - Arcane Sanctuary
#14 - 489,935 - 10.10% - Sewers
#15 - 489,640 - 10.09% - Glacial Trail and Drifter Cavern
#16 - 478,550 - 9.87% - Arreat Plateau and Pit of Acheron
#17 - 468,496 - 9.66% - Dark Wood and Underground Passage
#18 - 457,993 - 9.44% - Black Marsh and The Hole
#19 - 452,414 - 9.33% - Cold Plains and The Cave
#20 - 444,579 - 9.16% - Lost City, Valley of Snakes, and Claw Viper Temple
#21 - 440,479 - 9.08% - Kurast Bazaar, Ruined Temple, and Disused Fane
#22 - 425,166 - 8.76% - Jail and Barracks
#23 - 409,364 - 8.44% - Cathedral and Catacombs
#24 - 407,608 - 8.40% - Durance of Hate
#25 - 393,274 - 8.11% - Great Marsh
#26 - 380,766 - 7.85% - Spider Forest and Spider Cavern
#27 - 375,758 - 7.75% - The Pit
#28 - 372,930 - 7.69% - Travincal
#29 - 359,274 - 7.41% - The Forgotten Tower
#30 - 345,444 - 7.12% - Far Oasis
#31 - 337,187 - 6.95% - Moo Moo Farm (Cows)
#32 - 328,934 - 6.78% - Ancient Tunnels
#33 - 301,986 - 6.23% - Stony Field
#34 - 283,839 - 5.85% - Tristram
#35 - 278,286 - 5.74% - Blood Moor and Den of Evil
#36 - 239,297 - 4.93% - Burial Grounds, The Crypt, and The Mausoleum
Bonus: 275,981 - 5.69% - Travincal members only (rank #36)



Ranking without considering additional game creating time

1# Tal Rasha's Tombs and Tal Rasha's Chamber
50,322,345 exp/h
9.6 games/h
5,241,911 exp/game
17.29% lvl 98

#2 Chaos Sanctuary
49,452,798 exp/h
45.5 games/h
1,086,875 exp/game
16.99% lvl 98
Notes: No Diablo.

#3 Worldstone Keep, Throne of Destruction, and Worldstone Chamber
46,324,762 exp/h
12.3 games/h
3,766,241 exp/game
15.92% lvl 98
Notes: Clear 5 waves - No Baal - Do WSK lvl1 if easily found.

#4 Arcane Sanctuary
33,467,511 exp/h
42.0 games/h
796,846 exp/game
11.50% lvl98
Notes: Couldn't believe the results, so ran it again, gaining 33,2m the second test. Only cleared North/West + North/East.

#5 Ancient's Way and Icy Cellar
33,433,773 exp/h
30.0 games/h
1,114,459 exp/game
11.49% lvl 98

#6 Flayer Jungle and Flayer Dungeon
33,027,487 exp/h
16.5 games/h
2,001,666 exp/game
11.35% lvl 98

#7 Bloody Foothills, Frigid Highlands and Abaddon
32,892,891 exp/h
21.5 games/h
1,529,902 exp/game
11.30% lvl 98

#8 Rocky Waste and Stony Tomb
32,578,185 exp/h
27.0 games/h
1,206,599 exp/game
11.19% lvl 98

#9 Crystalline Passage and Frozen River
32,289,573 exp/h
23.5 games/h
1,374,024 exp/game
11.09% lvl 98

#10 Dry Hills and Halls of the Dead
32,163,225 exp/h
19.5 games/h
1,649,396 exp/game
11.05% lvl 98

#11 Outer Steppes and Plains of Despair
32,066,446 exp/h
25.5 games/h
1,257,508 exp/game
11.02% lvl 98

#12 Glacial Trail and Drifter Cavern
31,981,356 exp/h
29.3 games/h
1,091,514 exp/game
10.99% lvl 98

#13 Nihlathak's Temple and Temple Halls
31,959,444 exp/h
21.0 games/h
1,521,878 exp/game
10.98% lvl 98

#14 Sewers
31,637,043 exp/h
25.5 games/h
1,240,668 exp/game
10.87% lvl 98

#15 River of Flame and City of the Damned
31,404,915 exp/h
19.3 games/h
1,627,198 exp/game
10.79% lvl 98

#16 Arreat Plateau and Pit of Acheron
31,134,570 exp/h
28.0 games/h
1,111,949 exp/game
10.70% lvl 98

#17 Dark Wood and Underground Passage
29,983,746 exp/h
22.5 games/h
1,332,611 exp/game
10.30% lvl 98

#18 Black Marsh and The Hole
29,556,744 exp/h
25.3 games/h
1,168,251 exp/game
10.15% lvl 98

#19 Kurast Bazaar, Ruined Temple, and Disused Fane
29,229,912 exp/h
34.5 games/h
847,244 exp/game
10.04% lvl 98

#20 Cold Plains and The Cave
29,214,183 exp/h
25.5 games/h
1,145,654 exp/game
10.04% lvl 98

#21 Lost City, Valley of Snakes, and Claw Viper Temple
28,580,081 exp/h
24.0 games/h
1,190,837 exp/game
9.82% lvl 98

#22 Jail and Barracks
27,162,330 exp/h
21.9 games/h
1,240,289 exp/game
9.33% lvl 98

#23 Durance of Hate
26,924,598 exp/h
33.0 games/h
815,897 exp/game
9.25% lvl 98

#24 Cathedral and Catacombs
26,199,303 exp/h
22.5 games/h
1,164,413 exp/game
9.00% lvl 98

#25 Great Marsh
26,025,486 exp/h
33.6 games/h
774,568 exp/game
8.94% lvl 98

#26 Travincal
25,818,231 exp/h
48.0 games/h
537,880 exp/game
8.87% lvl 98

#27 The Pit
24,820,681 exp/h
33.0 games/h
752,142 exp/game
8.53% lvl 98

#28 Spider Forest and Spider Cavern
24,587,607 exp/h
25.5 games/h
964,220 exp/game
8.45% lvl 98

#29 The Forgotten Tower
23,096,205 exp/h
24.0 games/h
962,342 exp/game
7.94% lvl 98

#30 Far Oasis
23,093,733 exp/h
36.9 games/h
625,846 exp/game
7.93% lvl 98

#31 Ancient Tunnels
22,342,704 exp/h
42.0 games/h
531,969 exp/game
7.68% lvl 98

#32 Moo Moo Farm (Cows)
21,465,462 exp/h
20.7 games/h
1,036,979 exp/game
7.37% lvl 98
Notes: Had to find leg every game.

#33 Stony Field
21,007,707 exp/h
49.5 games/h
424,398 exp/game
7.22% lvl 98

#34 Tristram
20,436,402 exp/h
60.0 games/h
340,607 exp/game
7.02% lvl 98

#35 Blood Moor and Den of Evil
19,118,892 exp/h
45.6 games/h
419,274 exp/game
6.57% lvl 98

#36 Burial Grounds, The Crypt, and The Mausoleum
15,337,722 exp/h
23.0 games/h
666,857 exp/game
5.27% lvl 98

Bonus: Travincal Members Only (#31)
22,580,274 exp/h
96.0 games/h
235,211 exp/game
7.76% lvl 98

super interesting and cool info, ty

Can you record an audio book of this? Morgan Freeman’s voice please.

Thanks for the effort.

Do you think that 20 min each zone has enough good/bad spawns to interpolate a full hour or more from it?

Could you explain a few pathings to the zones? Especially things like spider forest/cata/halls/flayer/lost city/foothills would be a good additions, since you see a lot of different things in those tzs.

I didn't expect so much XP from Sewers to be honest.

tal rasha number 1? i thought it was good but not that good, amazing data.

although usually i see that when tal tz is up people take a 1 tomb and when they are done its next game. so i guess that would make the results different depending on what tomb you get.

I guess its liket his if you have 8 accounts, or seven slaves.

couple of thoughts/questions -

1) am surprised only 12 runs/hour on wsk with mosaicsin. i understand you said realistic gear within 1st week of ladder - what does that look like roughly? and would you expect results for this or other meta builds to change signficantly with end game setups
2) roughly how much are you clearing on each map? elite packs/density only? etc. Or are there specific strats on certain maps - for example just eldritch/shenk for bloody foothills/frigid.

the other thing related to this is that there are a cap on elite packs for most maps, which can mean it may not be optimal to traverse the whole map (like arcane), and can favor maps with a lot of smaller separate areas (like tz tombs).

3)Rocky Waste and Stony Tomb - very surprised by the placing of this. hated the density, stony tomb so small and hard to find, and then you have to do the a2 walk every time.

4) also would like your input on lite sorc and how well it would do on some of the top areas. some old schoolers here insist its better than nova lol. i highly doubt it.

This post was edited by daanno2 on Dec 16 2023 06:02pm

This will keep me occupied on some lonely nights

Wow , ty

i would pay for this info. lol