Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

[Pious]

I decided to start lvling Bst this past week, mainly because I’m tired of either waiting for invites, or putting parties together myself with my my main (56 Thief). I really like the Job, it’s very challenging and fun, but it seems like once I got around lvl 17- 19 that I’m really grinding it out for exp.
I’ve been charming <Even Match> Rabbits and attacking <Even Match> Lizzys in the dunes, and the most I seem to able to rack up is #1 Exp chain for 84 Exp (without Empress Band). This of course is no where near as good as party exp. I’m subbing White Mage, and I have the best possible equip for my lvl, so I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong or if this is just as good as the exp can get for my lvl.
My questions are..

Does the Exp pick up in later lvls, like after you can call a pet? I know you don’t take hits from Exp with a Jug pet, but I hear they aren’t as strong as a charmed ones. Can you still take <Even Match> Mobs with a jug pet?

Any advice I can get would be appreciated.

Thanks,


If your on Valefor say hello.

/tell Pious

[pearlsea]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

From what i heard its alot easyer once you get the job ability "leave" but with the mpk patch you cannot take them away from their natural roaming radius without them despawning. Also try getting partys when you get acsess to a jug pet (23), i often find it more enjoyable then soloing.

For soloing for exp you should try charming EM and attacking low tough while your attacking with your pet, if your good with handeling the ocasional decharm while your fighting you should be ok.

[Xenthan]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

At 19 I went to Bub[tab] Peninsula and used rabbits vs. Gobs. Their occasional self destruct was nice, and I didn't have to compete with parties. If you find that this gets too boring, just go somewhere like Tahrongi and farm dhalmel hides while getting xp. Use DC vs. EP and just farm with a pet. It relieves stress and is a nice little source of income (or materials, if you're into leather).

[Silenus]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

Yes, it picks up greatly, especially on bombs. It's nice to get a Chain 4 450+ behind Gate 2 in Garbage Citadel.

I'm sooooo looking forward to Sky too^^

And now you know why everyone talks about Leave at 35 too--just before that last hit you could have ditched your bunny, killed the (T) mob (with empress band) for 180ish.

Keep goin--it gets better! Much better!

[samarium]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

At 19 I went to Bub[tab] Peninsula and used rabbits vs. Gobs. Their occasional self destruct was nice, and I didn't have to compete with parties. If you find that this gets too boring, just go somewhere like Tahrongi and farm dhalmel hides while getting xp. Use DC vs. EP and just farm with a pet. It relieves stress and is a nice little source of income (or materials, if you're into leather).

16 and 17 I did in Valkurm Dunes, but I wouldn't recommend it. Buburimu Peninsula ftw. 18-19 I spent in the little niche around E-9; it's CHOCK FULL of pets with goblins everywhere, you can pet chain anything you want to death. At night there's a Zombie or something that wanders around, but he's totally easy to dodge, just watch your HP 'cause he hits haaard. During foggy weather there's a will-o-the-wisp smack in the middle of a little grove of tree things you could pet chain if you're feeling really lucky, but I wouldn't recommend it as it was Incredibly Tough while every pet around was EP or low DC.

I did about the last half of 19 -> 20 farming Crawlers, Yagudo, and Goblins in Tahrongi Canyon with Dhalmels - they chew up and spit out everything else in the zone. It was slow going, most of the mobs around were TW, but I got something like half a stack of Silk Thread doing this, and the extra money made me feel much better.

Level 20 is a lot worse than 16-19, everything's either too easy, too tough, or too spread out. Valkurm Dunes is mostly suitable if you can work around the parties.

-sam

[Pious]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

Cool, thanks for the Peninsula tip, I'll try that out.
I was taking on <Tough>'s with <EM>'s in the dunes until I tried it with a Gob. He shredded my Lizzy (even after I 2hr'd) and I would have died if not for a nearby party's White Mage saving me, so I've been kinda avoiding that ever since. Maybe after I get 20 I'll charm some <EM> Bats and take on some <Tough> Crabs.
Xenthan, being your 71 I thought I'd ask can you solo <EM>s with jug pets fairly well?
I'd think not having the Exp penalty on EMs would make for some nice exp.

[samarium]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

Cool, thanks for the Peninsula tip, I'll try that out.
I was taking on <Tough>'s with <EM>'s in the dunes until I tried it with a Gob. He shredded my Lizzy (even after I 2hr'd) and I would have died if not for a nearby party's White Mage saving me, so I've been kinda avoiding that ever since. Maybe after I get 20 I'll charm some <EM> Bats and take on some <Tough> Crabs.
Xenthan, being your 71 I thought I'd ask can you solo <EM>s with jug pets fairly well?
I'd think not having the Exp penalty on EMs would make for some nice exp.

I'll bet that Tough goblin was a Mugger or Leecher. High evasion / self-curing mobs make for very challenging prey 'cause they're either hard to hit or have a habit of healing themselves with that multi-thousand-point MP pool they have. If possible, go for Ambushers or Gamblers - super-low-defense mobs are very fun, even if they get the occasional big damage hit.

Just from browsing the forum, I can tell you now that jug pets really aren't suitable for EXPing - they often are 3 or more levels below you and you can only call one every 5 minutes.

-sam

[Chulo]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

Some levels give faster xp than others. This is SE's way of keeping you on your toes. Also, slower BST xp balances out the LFP or WFR (waiting for refresher or healer) wait times you get in party play. Finally, many BST can only play an hour or two at a time so the XP ring works well for them.

When doing EM on EM it is often possible to watch the fight and make sure your pet dies at the end with the mob having only a little life left. Then you can easily finish it off for full xp. If it looks like your pet needs help, Dia or one or two hits from you may not get you hate or at least only one blow from the mob. This is like a balancing act that may speed up xp.

Then there is the Heel & Stay from far away trick to kill your pet. Use this when the balance is just a little too far in your pet's favour.

Some level ranges offer suicide mobs (Goblins, Bombs) that really speed things up. E.g. 32-34 in Gusgen, 40-44 in Yuhtunga, 56-59 in Garlaige, 63-66 in Cape Terrigan, 70-72 in Ifrits Cauldron and 73-75 in Sky. These opportunities are gimme's and make the slow levels totally worthwhile.

Edit: One more thing, at 35 Leave allows you to get full xp almost all the time without the waiting. So 36-38 go pretty fast until the higher TNL numbers at higher levels makes levelling slow down again.

[Wes311]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

I can tell that he is not using the Heel, Stay macros to get full exp......if you want to get max exp press Heel & Stay and let the mob kill your pet off...but sometimes it is too slow and you should just kill off the EM/T and use pet on another.

I would highly recommend you go to Valkurm from 21-23....its been great to me...the Damselflies and Sheep go down very fast. And you can kill goblins with leeches from 22-23

[Pious]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

No, I haven’t been using heel, or stay. In fact I didn’t even set macros for them cause I didn’t see any need. lol I usually fight 2 EM Mobs with one EM pet, and I try to set up so that it dies on the 2nd mob. I’ll try the heel move when I get home tonight.
Damn, the strategy behind this job is amazing. It’s like playing chess while lvling. Wonder if the other players know what they’re missing out on?

[samarium]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

No, I haven’t been using heel, and stay. In fact I didn’t even set macros for them cause I didn’t see any need. lol I usually fight 2 EM Mobs with one EM pet, and I try to set up so that it dies on the 2nd mob. I’ll try the heel move when I get home tonight.
Damn, the strategy behind this job is amazing. It’s like playing chess while lvling. Wonder if the other players know what they’re missing out on?

Nope! It's the obsession with quick EXP despite excessive repetition of the same moves over and over.... one of the most common things you'll hear from people who have done the BST job a lot is that they despise levelling whm because it's so boring.

Maybe it's good that I'm doing party jobs (with my LS, of course) first before I drown myself anymore in BST.

Why d'you think so much is known about bst as a subjob?

-sam

[Firedevil]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

Thought I would respond to your question about Jug Pets. I didn't see any response to the question as I was skimming the posts:

First of all, Jug Pets are not used for solo exp. They have several uses, the greatest of which is to save your ass when you can't find a pet to swap out with or when you get aggro. Mainly they are used for farming, party situations, missions, BCNMs, etc. Onto the question about whether your Jug Pet can solo an EM..... I'd say it's very likely that it won't. Courrier Carrie would have the best shot at it since she can tank well, but you'd have to enfeeble the crap out of that mob to make Carrie last. Jug Pets are somewhere in the range of EP-low DC. The great advantage of using them for farming is that they do MUCH more damage than you on mobs EP and lower. For example, I was farming Ninja Scrolls in Castle Oztroja last night and using Carrie. She was hitting consistently for 180-200 damage, with crits exceeding 320. I was hitting for about 80-100 per hit. Makes farming pretty easy, and gives you a good tank so you don't risk death.

If you need more advice let us know. Looks like you got some good info from this post though. Good Luck!

[Pious]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

Thanks for the great responses <everyone>.
Update: I started letting my pets fight to the death, instead of trying to keep them alive, and the lvling is flowing much easier. Lol
My Exp chains usually get up in the 200’s now!
My stats for Bst are lvl 20 with 15 deaths.

Thanks again for the input, I’m sure I’ll have more questions throughout the 20’s.

[RunningDemon]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

Best exp you are really gonna pull on BST is 2k-4k/hr average solo. Fighting self destruct mobs, you'll top 5k, maybe 6k if you get lucky, but that is it. The best part about BST is not having that hour-5 hour wait to find an actual PT.

[Wes311]

Re: Does Exp pick up in the later lvls?

Nice...I got to 25 last night...word of warning....levels 24-25 are somewhat slow, I think it is somewhat of an intermediate period and I just chain goblins in Valkurm and roamed trying to get every exp point I could.

Think I might spend level 25 in Pashow bc I heard Rolanberry is rather rough but dunno yet.