Pet penalty applied *before* xp cap?

[LyonheartLakshmi]

I've been exp'ing off of suicidal gobs in Yuhtunga lately. A few times, I have benefitted from a botched bomb toss, and received my exp minus the 30% pet penalty, due to my pet still being alive and the failed bomb toss happening before I could hit my Leave macro.

During those fights, I've noticed getting rather high exp off of those mobs, in spite of the 30% penalty I should be taking. So today, I tried finishing off a VT Gob while keeping my pet under control. I was level 43 today, fighting Goblin Poachers in Yuhtunga, which go from level 42 to 47.

According to Mystery Tours exp charts, the only VT Goblin I would have faced was a lvl 47 one, which should give me base exp of 300. I had the enchantment from my exp band at the time. After the fight, I was rewarded with 300 exp with no chain.

If the pet penalty had been applied after all other exp calculations, I should have gotten:
[200 base exp] * 1.5 from dedication * 0.7 for having a pet = 210 exp

I can only guess that the pet penalty is factored in before the base exp cap is enforced. In other words, my base exp was calculated as:
300 exp * 0.7 for having a pet = 210 exp

The 210 exp was then capped at 200, and my final exp was calculated:
[200 base exp] * 1.5 from dedictation = 300 exp

If I were in a party, I would guess that the party/alliance modifiers are applied first, then base exp is divided by the number of party members, then level difference penalties are applied, then pet penalty is applied, and then the "base" exp cap is applied.

Why am I even bothering with pointing this out?
Well, if the pet penalty is indeed being applied before the base exp cap is enforced, this has a big impact on when it makes sense to release your pet. Due to several factors, I rarely have 100 TP at the end of a fight. So I usually end up taking 1 or more hits from the mob after I release my pet. But if I'm going to get max exp from a mob even with my pet under control, why not just wait until after the fight to release the mob, and avoid taking that extra bit of damage?

Granted, it won't always be easy to tell what mobs you can get max exp from even with a pet.

Has anyone else seen this with exp calculations?

[bside]

Re: Pet penalty applied *before* xp cap?

I never played BST myself, but according to Vana'diel Monsters, the 30% penalty is calculated in before the base EXP cap is enforced. Also, the bonus from dedication kicks in after the base EXP is determined, so what you came across must have been correctly calculated, and not a bug of any sort.

In other words, your guess;

I can only guess that the pet penalty is factored in before the base exp cap is enforced. In other words, my base exp was calculated as:
300 exp * 0.7 for having a pet = 210 exp

The 210 exp was then capped at 200, and my final exp was calculated:
[200 base exp] * 1.5 from dedictation = 300 exp

is correct.


BTW, I'm the author (translator, actually) of the exp table MysteryTour links to, as you can tell by the URL of the table, but is now too old. Don't accuse me of not updating for years; it was a one-time shot I recommend that you refer to the updated one on sompage.com, while their table also is based on my translation which consequently lacks some of the updated info, such as your question of when each bonuses/penalties get calculated into, of the very original site in Japanese, Vana'diel Monsters.

I might gonna try finding some time to update the table, but don't count on that. In the meantime, one on the somepage.com should suffice.

[little ninja]

Re: Pet penalty applied *before* xp cap?

sounds like some of the mobs i deal wth while meriting in the boyada tree. when i release a mob, ill get about 93 exp. if i keep the pet til the end its usually around 72-86 exp. so i usually screw the few extra exp an i go out an seek an extra mob an pet.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Re: Pet penalty applied *before* xp cap?

Ooh, thanks for the link to a similar resource on somepage. I initially gave somepage a cursory search for anything to do with exp calculations. But I didn't search anything beyond looking at the vertical menu. I guess there's too much info at somepage for them to link everything from that menu.