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Aug 29 2022 06:15am
Quote (LaughingSkull @ Aug 30 2022 12:12am)
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Your attempt at sarcasm is really inappropriate.

It entirely misses the whole point I was trying to make with my big post in the first place.

Namely:



.


go outside
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Aug 30 2022 11:06am
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Quote (Sakata @ Aug 29 2022 03:15pm)
go outside


Kid, I'm too old to do that.

But maybe you, being a kid, CAN actually do that and actually make me some money, as I'm kinda down a bit these days?

After all, I'm actually doing work for all of you here, that has been needing doing for YEARS. ;)

-
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Sep 10 2022 06:32pm
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A QUICK UPDATE AND A QUESTION

-


Quote (LaughingSkull @ Aug 17 2022 06:27am)
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After ~3 hours of repeated abuse of copy-pasting saves for getting that OPTIMAL imbue from Charsi, I am happy to present this:


https://i.imgur.com/tQ5M45W.jpg



Now, to be frank, it's not what I most wanted: +2 skills, +3 glacial, AND Fastest Cast Rate...

I did get some other staffs that had +2 skills, +1 glacial (for example...) AND FCR,

but I ultimately decided that I wanted to have the absolute MAX for SKILLS.

---




Remember me bragging about this?

It's obsolete now.

First, the reason: Having Fastest Cast Rate is just THAT much more useful.
Not only do you get to teleport more quickly around, but eventually it turns out that the monsters that you DO use Glacial Spike against,
will die FASTER to MORE FREQUENT Spikes than they would die to SLIGHTLY STRONGER Spikes.

-

Therefore, I switched to a rare Staff that has +2 to Sorc Skills AND FastEST Cast Rate., WITHOUT any + to Glacial Spike...

---

Second, THE QUESTION:
I was really bummed to find out that in Diablo 2 Classic, imbuing an item will produce a COMPLETELY NEW item from scratch,
even erasing the implicit mod that the base item has had (e.g. + to a skill).
This made it impossible for me to take advantage of using as an imbue base a staff that had, for example, +3 to Glacial Spike,
as the resulting Imbued item would be remade from a completely BLANK state. (i.e. it would not be augmented)

Is that the case in Expansion also?
I would think NOT, because of how RuneWords work: They DO NOT erase the item's implicit mods.

But then again, I've never actually imbued a STAFF / scepter / wand / etc. in LoD to actually be sure... :D

Anyone got an answer to that?

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This post was edited by LaughingSkull on Sep 10 2022 06:39pm
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Sep 12 2022 07:05am
Quote (LaughingSkull @ 11 Sep 2022 02:32)
-

A QUICK UPDATE AND A QUESTION

-






Remember me bragging about this?

It's obsolete now.

First, the reason: Having Fastest Cast Rate is just THAT much more useful.
Not only do you get to teleport more quickly around, but eventually it turns out that the monsters that you DO use Glacial Spike against,
will die FASTER to MORE FREQUENT Spikes than they would die to SLIGHTLY STRONGER Spikes.

-

Therefore, I switched to a rare Staff that has +2 to Sorc Skills AND FastEST Cast Rate., WITHOUT any + to Glacial Spike...

---

Second, THE QUESTION:
I was really bummed to find out that in Diablo 2 Classic, imbuing an item will produce a COMPLETELY NEW item from scratch,
even erasing the implicit mod that the base item has had (e.g. + to a skill).
This made it impossible for me to take advantage of using as an imbue base a staff that had, for example, +3 to Glacial Spike,
as the resulting Imbued item would be remade from a completely BLANK state. (i.e. it would not be augmented)

Is that the case in Expansion also?
I would think NOT, because of how RuneWords work: They DO NOT erase the item's implicit mods.

But then again, I've never actually imbued a STAFF / scepter / wand / etc. in LoD to actually be sure... :D

Anyone got an answer to that?

-


Staffmods are rerolled in d2 lod legacy, no idea about d2r
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Sep 16 2022 01:41pm
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Quote (Hell_of_Dammed @ Sep 12 2022 04:05pm)
Staffmods are rerolled in d2 lod legacy, no idea about d2r


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Thank you for your helpful response!

It appears that the so wanted Staff with +2 sorc / FastEST CR / +3 Glac Spike shall remain only a mirage for now...
(even though it is theoretically possible to spawn from a VENDOR (Akara / Drognan / Ormus / Jamella), as a non-rare, magic item)


========================



A quick update on something I touched upon before:



Quote (LaughingSkull @ Aug 29 2022 02:46am)
*


Yet another demonstration of just how BROKEN D2's math engine is:

At level 76, going onto level 77, suddenly Experience Gain from my usual XP route is DRASTICALLY reduced.

You see, what I've done to level so far, ever since I completed the game at level 55 was:
Arcane Sanctuary + Canyon of the Magi + All Tombs + Entire Act IV.

Until now, typically such a run would fetch me an entire level (+/- around 10% of the XP bar), provided I don't die.

However, ever since I hit level 76, I now only get something like 1/3 of a level from completing such a run.

...

Now, this is naturally explained by two known things and 1 unknown one:

1) Act 2's monsters are now below my +/- 5 levels optimal XP gain level gap. (max level for an act 2 monsters is 70, not counting Duriel who is 72)
2) The XP progression between levels has risen dramatically. DUH.
3) Similarly to LoD (presumably? no sources on this one...), Diablo 2's leveling system starts to enforce an XP penalty that is BEYOND the level difference between you and the monsters.
(In LoD, this starts occurring at level 70, where you simply start to gain less XP from the enemies that you kill, REGARDLESS of the level difference).

HOWEVER, this is only a partial explanation, and here's why:

1) Act 4's monsters were actually way above my optimal XP gain level gap in previous runs. It wasn't until only recently (like, level 69 or so) that I even BEGAN to enter their level interval.
Lowest level for an Act 4 monster is 74, whereas highest is 82 (not counting Diablo who is 90).
As you can see, until recently, I was actually getting ripped off hard from killing such monsters.
Yet, the XP pouring in was in no short supply! :)

2) Yes, XP required to reach the next level rises dramatically, but it's not really THAT much.
For example, it takes 3.3 M experience to reach level 75, and 3.6 M experience to reach level 76.
That's only a 10% increase in XP gain needed.
However, if I could complete the 74 -> 75 progression in just over a run, now the 75 -> 76 progression takes me 3+ runs to complete.

3) If there even is an XP gain penalty in Classic (and, again, there are NO SOURCES that even mention this AT ALL...),
then it would be extremely weird that it kicks in at level 76...
Like... why not 75? Or 70?

---

NOTHING can explain this;
And in fact, now I should be levelling up EVEN FASTER, because I'm closer in levels to those precious high-XP-yielding level 75+ monsters than I was before.

You see, even at my lower levels, the Arcane Sanctuary + Canyon + Tombs only constituted the lesser part of my overall XP progress for my run.
Compared to the Xp gained from the entirety of Act IV, they provided something like... 1/3 of its XP, maybe? That is normal, and is fine.

Now they grant almost nothing, compared to what I gain from Act IV. That is understood, and is well.

Now, Act 4 should be granting even more XP to me now than it did before, not just in absolute value, but also in RELATIVE value with regards to the overall XP bar.
Because, mathematically, the additional XP I gain in percentage, due to my level getting closer to the Monsters' levels,
is MORE than the % XP increase that is required to level up to the next level compared to the amount that was needed to achieve this level.

It doesn't.

Why?



BECAUSE THE GAME'S MATH ENGINE IS A MESS, THAT'S WHY.



(or, alternatively, due to some ludicrous reason, an XP penalty starts to get enforced at... level 76, out of all levels...)

=====================



---


I did figure this out eventually, and, as you may have already suspected, the true answer has to do with this part:


Quote

=
(or, alternatively, due to some ludicrous reason, an XP penalty starts to get enforced at... level 76, out of all levels...)
=




I did level up to 77 eventually and am now going up to 78.

I see no change to my speed of XP-gain progression compared to the 76-77 period.

In fact, I even compared the raw value of XP gained from monsters around my level, from my period going from 76 to 77 to that of going from 77 to 78:

THEY ARE THE SAME.

Which means that the crucial moment that affects XP gain occurs AFTER ATTAINING LEVEL 76.

And, after comparing the XP-per-close-level-monster value gains of my pre-76 period, to the XP values gotten from the very same monsters NOW,

THE ANSWER IS THAT A 50% XP PENALTY STARTS TO GET ENFORCED AFTER ACHIEVING LEVEL 76,
EVEN IF THE MONSTER(S) KILLED ARE WITHIN YOUR LEVEL AREA !!!


----

So.... there you go.... CASE SOLVED !!! :)

=========

Now, of course the question is: Why level 76 exactly, out of all levels?
Why not 70? 75?

Well, I cannot know for sure, without looking at the code itself, but I suppose it has to do with the back-end code having indexed the level milestones within an array.

Those familiar with programming would know that the first element of an array has an index of... 0.
The SECOND has 1.
The THIRD's index is 2.

etc.

The SEVENTY-FIFTH LEVEL'S index is 76.

etc.

...


Sooo, it is entirely plausible that the programmer responsible for this particular part of the code wrote:


Code
//pseudocode

if (charLevel >= 75)
char_xp_gain *= 0.5

//end pseudocode



And thus, the XP penalty actually gets enforced AT LEVEL 76...


Whaddya think... ?

==================

-

This post was edited by LaughingSkull on Sep 16 2022 01:49pm
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Sep 16 2022 02:22pm
ah yes, battle.net in it's infancy... the good old days ^^
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Sep 18 2022 09:21pm
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Quote (hotfix @ Sep 16 2022 11:22pm)
ah yes, battle.net in it's infancy... the good old days ^^


NOT Battle.net.

Single Player. :)



===============



A tiny update regarding my latest progress:



I did reach level 78 eventually,

and noticed NO further XP penalty applied, besides the one already cited above that took effect at level 76.
(of course, this is only concerning monsters around my level - of course those way below it still get the regular drastic level-difference XP penalty reduction)

However, WHO KNOWS: It might be that at level 80/81, a yet additional penalty is enforced?



================



YE MAY ALL REJOICE !!!



Level 78 is precisely the level at which I had originally intended to STOP playing the game, so you won't have to suffer my continuous "updates" in this thread any longer! :) :)


My reason for this is two-fold:


1) As mentioned before, levelling suddenly is very slow.
It took me 6-7 complete Act 4 runs to get from 77 to 78, and that wasn't a risk-free business, despite my sorc being as (almost) best-geared as can be.

2) There are simply no more feats to achieve within this game, except for three, in the following priority:

a) Acquire a +2 to Sorc skills AMMY.
(With it, I can now see how level 31 will look like for Cold Mastery, and whether that will bring the Res Reduction to -92 percent, down 1 percent from the thus-far assumed cap of 91 percent)

б) Gamble / find the Unique Bone Shield -- Wall Of The Eyeless, which is THE ONLY worthy Unique left I haven't had a chance to find so far.
(which, by the way, brings me to a suspicion that due to yet another of the game's countless bugs, this item is simply not gamble-able... TRUST ME... I have gambled like 200 Bone Shields already... STILL no luck !! >=( )

c) Complete all my sets. So far 4 remain uncompleted:
Civerb's -- lack the Pally Scepter
Iratha's -- lack the crown + ammy
Cathan's -- lack the Staff + Armor (this last one should be the easiest to find if I just devote myself to gambling it)
Vidala's -- lack the Bow

So -- 6 (six) Set items total lacking.

Too bad I won't be using ANY of them, unless for potentially levelling new chars ... which is kinda unlikely... LOL !! :D

d)
*EXTRA: Acqiure a MAX Life Steal AND Cold Damage Eye of Etlich
(so far I have TWO Eyes of Etlich and BOTH spawned MINIMUM on BOTH of these mods... -_-
Considering the total possible combinations of ONLY the values of these two specific mods possible, the odds of this happening is 1 in 900... LMFAO !! )

*EXTRA: Acquire The Mahim-Oak Curio == this one is not an interesting amulet at all, to be honest, so I might as well skip it, but since I'm gambling for amulets anyway, I might as well get it.



==================



REGARDLESS of what I said earlier, that I will, quote:


Quote (LaughingSkull)
STOP playing the game, so you won't have to suffer my continuous "updates" in this thread any longer! :) :)



I STILL intend to write 1 or 2 more FINAL posts...


...which will aim to, in as short a form as possible, summarize my overall feelings about Diablo 2's pre-LoD form,

including-but-not-limited to:

* all its major flaws
* its questionable / downright-bizarre design decisions
* mind-blowing bugs that somehow never got fixed in the entire year that D2 was gesting actively patched, before LoD
* dumb balance issues
* etc.


STAY TUNED! :) :) :)


-

This post was edited by LaughingSkull on Sep 18 2022 09:31pm
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Sep 20 2022 03:06am
-


Quote (LaughingSkull @ Sep 19 2022 06:21am)
-


d)
*EXTRA: Acqiure a MAX Life Steal AND Cold Damage Eye of Etlich
(so far I have TWO Eyes of Etlich and BOTH spawned MINIMUM on BOTH of these mods... -_-
Considering the total possible combinations of ONLY the values of these two specific mods possible, the odds of this happening is 1 in 900... LMFAO !! )

*EXTRA: Acquire The Mahim-Oak Curio == this one is not an interesting amulet at all, to be honest, so I might as well skip it, but since I'm gambling for amulets anyway, I might as well get it.

-



-

As it actually turned out, I already HAD a Mahim-Oak Curio before the writing of this post. Oopsie! :O

Strange how I got confused like that.
I was also with the false belief that I also possessed Cathan's Mesh (Chain Mail) set item, and was about to write that I only needed the Staff,
before double-checking as I was writing that previous post, to eventually add that I also miss the Armor.

-

As for the Eye of Etlich, I gambled yet another one... (so, it's my 3rd one now...)

...and guess what... ?

...IT AGAIN SPAWNED WITH (NEAR) MINIMUM VALUES FOR THE STATS THAT MATTER... -_-

Got 3% Life steal, 1-4 Cold damage this time.
My previous two both are 3% LS, 1-3 Cold dmg.

The odds of that happening yet again are so slim, I am starting to get convinced that the stats presented on the Official "Chaos Sanctuary" Database : https://web.archive.org/web/20010610042739/http://www.battle.net/diablo2/items/normal/uamulets.shtml

(3-7% LS, 1/2 - 3/4/5 Cold DMG)

MUST NOT BE TRUE !!!;




==================




Quote (LaughingSkull @ Sep 19 2022 06:21am)
-
I STILL intend to write 1 or 2 more FINAL posts...
-




Actually, BEFORE we get to that moment, there is still ONE VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE that needs to be settled
with regards to the central problem that was mainly responsible for the previous several posts in the first place:





Quote (LaughingSkull @ Aug 29 2022 02:46am)
-


.


===============


*


Yet another demonstration of just how BROKEN D2's math engine is:

At level 76, going onto level 77, suddenly Experience Gain from my usual XP route is DRASTICALLY reduced.

You see, what I've done to level so far, ever since I completed the game at level 55 was:
Arcane Sanctuary + Canyon of the Magi + All Tombs + Entire Act IV.

Until now, typically such a run would fetch me an entire level (+/- around 10% of the XP bar), provided I don't die.

However, ever since I hit level 76, I now only get something like 1/3 of a level from completing such a run.

...

Now, this is naturally explained by two known things and 1 unknown one:

1) Act 2's monsters are now below my +/- 5 levels optimal XP gain level gap. (max level for an act 2 monsters is 70, not counting Duriel who is 72)
2) The XP progression between levels has risen dramatically. DUH.
3) Similarly to LoD (presumably? no sources on this one...), Diablo 2's leveling system starts to enforce an XP penalty that is BEYOND the level difference between you and the monsters.
(In LoD, this starts occurring at level 70, where you simply start to gain less XP from the enemies that you kill, REGARDLESS of the level difference).

HOWEVER, this is only a partial explanation, and here's why:

1) Act 4's monsters were actually way above my optimal XP gain level gap in previous runs. It wasn't until only recently (like, level 69 or so) that I even BEGAN to enter their level interval.
Lowest level for an Act 4 monster is 74, whereas highest is 82 (not counting Diablo who is 90).
As you can see, until recently, I was actually getting ripped off hard from killing such monsters.
Yet, the XP pouring in was in no short supply! :)

2) Yes, XP required to reach the next level rises dramatically, but it's not really THAT much.
For example, it takes 3.3 M experience to reach level 75, and 3.6 M experience to reach level 76.
That's only a 10% increase in XP gain needed.
However, if I could complete the 74 -> 75 progression in just over a run, now the 75 -> 76 progression takes me 3+ runs to complete.

3) If there even is an XP gain penalty in Classic (and, again, there are NO SOURCES that even mention this AT ALL...),
then it would be extremely weird that it kicks in at level 76...
Like... why not 75? Or 70?

---


---





===============================




Quote (LaughingSkull @ Sep 16 2022 10:41pm)
-

-

I did figure this out eventually, and, as you may have already suspected, the true answer has to do with this part:


I did level up to 77 eventually and am now going up to 78.

I see no change to my speed of XP-gain progression compared to the 76-77 period.

In fact, I even compared the raw value of XP gained from monsters around my level, from my period going from 76 to 77 to that of going from 77 to 78:

THEY ARE THE SAME.

Which means that the crucial moment that affects XP gain occurs AFTER ATTAINING LEVEL 76.

And, after comparing the XP-per-close-level-monster value gains of my pre-76 period, to the XP values gotten from the very same monsters NOW,

THE ANSWER IS THAT A 50% XP PENALTY STARTS TO GET ENFORCED AFTER ACHIEVING LEVEL 76,
EVEN IF THE MONSTER(S) KILLED ARE WITHIN YOUR LEVEL AREA !!!


----



-




The answer to all this lies HERE: https://web.archive.org/web/20010608065209/http://www.battle.net/diablo2/basics/experience.shtml



Quote
When you pass level 75 you get 1/2 the experience.
When you pass level 80 you get 1/3 of the experience.
When you pass level 85 you get 1/4 the experience.
When you pass level 90 you get 1/5 the experience.




As if that weren't bad enough, Classic D2 also has a different formula from that of LoD
when it comes to THE LEVEL DIFFERENCE between you and your victims:



Quote
Characters Under Level 25
If there is only a small level difference between the monster and yourself (5 levels or less), you receive 100% of that monster's experience points.

Characters Level 25-74
For ANY monster ABOVE your level, you get EXP*(Player Level / Monster Level).

Characters Above Level 75
For ANY monster ABOVE your level, you get EXP*(Player Level / Monster Level).

-



As you know, in LoD, for monsters ABOVE your level, XP gain is affected ONLY if they are 6 or more levels above you.

Turns out this is not the case for Classic, where the same principle applies only if YOUR character is under level 25.
Go beyond that and the story changes, as cited above.

What a load of bollocks, tbh... :/

Absolutely bizarre...

-

All hail Blizzard Entertainment ™, certified maker of games that are meant to make you feel like SHIT, since 2000 !!!


-

This post was edited by LaughingSkull on Sep 20 2022 03:24am
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Posts: 36
Joined: Jun 10 2022
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Sep 29 2022 07:49am
-


QUICK AND SHORT UPDATE



Quote (LaughingSkull @ Sep 19 2022 06:21am)
-


б) Gamble / find the Unique Bone Shield -- Wall Of The Eyeless, which is THE ONLY worthy Unique left I haven't had a chance to find so far.
(which, by the way, brings me to a suspicion that due to yet another of the game's countless bugs, this item is simply not gamble-able... TRUST ME... I have gambled like 200 Bone Shields already... STILL no luck !! >=( )

c) Complete all my sets. So far 4 remain uncompleted:
Civerb's -- lack the Pally Scepter
Iratha's -- lack the crown + ammy
Cathan's -- lack the Staff + Armor (this last one should be the easiest to find if I just devote myself to gambling it)
Vidala's -- lack the Bow

So -- 6 (six) Set items total lacking.

-


-

Got Wall Of The Eyeless eventually, after like 60+ more gambled Bone Shields.

It's insane how long this took to farm.

For many, many other uniques / sets, it took me LESS THAN 10 (TEN !!!) gambles of the specific base item to acquire them.
For some others, it took 20-30...

But this baby? 250+ Bone shields gambled...

Amazingly, I was on the verge of giving up entirely, conceding that it just might not be gamble-able at all.
I was like "only 4-5 more attempts and I'm done with trying!", and... BAM !!! :)


---


Got Vidala's bow too. Was lucky enough that it dropped, rather than me having to gamble it.


---


Now, for Iratha's Crown (formally Iratha's Coil) it gets really weird...

There is another SET CROWN in the game -- -- Milabrega's Diadem.
Of that, I've dropped like a DOZEN already...
...but NEVER an Iratha's Coil...

So, it initially occurred to me that Iratha's Coil can only drop if and only if there is already a Milabrega's Diadem present in the current game session.
(the reason I got this hunch is because the system for unique rings and amulets also works the same way)
So I put a Milabrega's Diadem in my stash and carried on playing...
...a set crown DID drop...
...and it was AGAIN, Milabrega's Diadem... :/

So, obviously, this is NOT the mechanic I'm looking for... BUT...

I shall keep on trying, thusly:

Initially, I will try to GAMBLE for Iratha's Coil, while having Milabrega's Crown in my Stash...
IF I AGAIN get a Milabrega's Crown,
I WILL START TO CARRY MILABREGA'S CROWN IN MY INVENTORY AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS THEN !!! xD xD xD

Extreme, I know... but... for science! >=)



==================



A BUNCH OF MORE WHINING ABOUT WEIRD XPerience ALLOCATION



*[/size]


Quote (LaughingSkull @ Jul 7 2022 04:47am)
- Fire Eye (superunique Palace Cellar Invader) killed me ONCE in Hell, and I lost a huge chunk of my XP bar... something in the order of 20-25% xp...
...meanwhile I died TWICE to Ancient Kaa the Soulless (again, in Hell), and I lost a total of something like 12% of my XP bar...
How???
A death in Hell is supposed to lose you 10% of your XP bar, yet I became witness to this.
And, no, I'm not imagining things.



I think I actually figured this one out... well... partly, at least.

See, the game is smart enough to determine whether you're currently located in a BOSS AREA upon death.

In Act 2's case, this would be ANY Tal Rasha tomb (yes, even a FAKE one) + Tal Rasha's Chamber. (not sure about Canyon of the Magi... WILL test eventually... probably... (:
In Act 4's case, this would be River of Flame + Chaos Sanctuary.
dunno about act 3 and 1.

DYING in such an area reduces the experience penalty loss to something like 5%, by my eye estimates, instead of the regular 10%.

HOWEVER, this isn't always the case:
I died in River of Flame 2 days ago, and lost the full 10%;
Whereas the day before that, my death only lost me 5%


AND ALSO,

it STILL isn't explained how dying to Fire Eye in the Palace Cellar lost me something like a QUARTER of my XP bar... -_-


It's just... the game is terribly inconsistent !!!



*[/size]

I am absolutely convinced that sometimes, after a death, for a given time period OR range of XP, you actually receive reduced XP from killing monsters.
Kind of like an additional "punishment" for dying.
I even tested it in the Arcane Sanctuary:
At the very start of a new level (so 0% XP), I killed the entirety of a "sleeve" (1 of the 8 pathways that lead up to the end of the corridors),
then measured the amount of XP that I got,
then died.
The entire remaining SEVEN sleeves DID NOT bring me back to the same level of XP that I had earned from this one single sleeve.
Crazy! :O


----


It should be noted, however, that both of the above "quirks" of the game seem to no longer happen now that I have passed level 76, which,
which, as was already established in my previous posts, is something of a milestone after which many of the game's aspects change... for the WORSE... -_-


-

This post was edited by LaughingSkull on Sep 29 2022 08:07am
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