Devlog: v0.3.9.7 EXP Balance & Clock Integrity
Version 0.3.9.7 slows hero leveling so that level 120 is a goal of months, not days. It also closes a clock exploit that handed out free offline time. You keep your level and your progress bar, and the early game stays as quick as before.
What happened
A hero reached the level 120 cap about 2.7 days after creation. When we looked into how, we found three problems, and only one of them was a cheat:
- A clock exploit. With the device clock set far into the future, the web version could not reach our time server and fell back to the device clock. Each jump paid out a full day of offline progress in an instant, and this hero gained about 50 levels in a single moment.
- EXP bonuses that stacked without limit. Achievements alone could add +368% EXP, and every unlocked class added part of its EXP bonus even when it was not your main class. A hero with many classes ended up with roughly 8 times the base EXP.
- A short curve. Even without bonuses or the exploit, level 1 to 120 took only about 26,000 kills, a few days of idle time. The late story quests also paid more EXP than the whole curve needs.
The last two affect every player, not just this one. That is why 0.3.9.7 changes the leveling pace for everyone.
The new pace
We aimed for level 120 in 3 to 6 months. A hero that idles around the clock should get there in about 90 days, and one that plays half as much in about 180. Level 20 still comes on the first day.
| Hero level | Always-on idler (about 5,700 kills a day) | Half-time idler (about 2,850 kills a day) |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | under 1 day | about 1.5 days |
| 40 | 6 days | 12 days |
| 60 | 21 days | 41 days |
| 85 | 51 days | 101 days |
| 100 | 68 days | 136 days |
| 120 | 90 days | 180 days |
These are projections, fighting monsters near your level. Your gear, class and how often you check in all move them.
What changed
Leveling now costs more EXP the higher you climb. The early levels barely change (about 1.5x at level 10, 3.7x at level 20), while the last levels before 120 cost about 230 times what they did. Class levels follow the same shape, so your main class now reaches its cap near hero level 100.
EXP bonuses are lower across the board, and only your main class gives one:
| Source | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| All 47 achievement EXP rewards together | +368% | +92% |
| Novice at class level 115 | +104% | +28% |
| Cartographer at class level 115 | +96% | +29% |
| Transcendent Grand Feast | +40% | +12% |
| Guild EXP perks | +20%, +15% | +6%, +5% |
| Weekly EXP events | +20% to +25% | +8% to +10% |
| Inactive classes | about 20% of each class's EXP bonus | none |
Races, bloodlines, prestige, Aetherium upgrades, relics, the Spire, the homestead and gear affixes were cut by a similar amount. Their in-game descriptions show the new values.
The largest story quests now pay EXP that fits their level: a fifth of a level for most, half a level for zone finales. Together, story quests now cover about 7% of the climb instead of more than all of it.
World Tiers now matter for leveling. Each tier gives full hero EXP up to level 20 x tier + 40 (60 on Tier 1, 80 on Tier 2, 100 on Tier 3, 120 on Tier 4), then 10% until you advance. You can always advance before you reach the limit, and the Prestige page shows where it is.
Offline doubling paid with crystals now counts toward the same 5-per-day limit as ad doubling, and only absences of 30 minutes or more can be doubled.
What it means for your hero
Nobody loses a level. When you load the update, your hero and every class keep their level, and each progress bar keeps its percentage on the new curve. If you were halfway to the next level, you are still halfway.
What you will notice:
- Levels past 40 come noticeably slower, and EXP numbers get much larger. A level near 120 now costs hundreds of millions of EXP.
- Your EXP bonus on the Character page is lower, especially if you have many classes unlocked.
- On Tier 1 past level 60, EXP drops to 10% until you advance a World Tier.
- Gathering, crafting and farming EXP are a bit slower too, because they use the same EXP bonus. Their level curves did not change.
Fair play
The game no longer follows your device clock forward. When the time server cannot be reached, game time only moves by the time the game itself measured while it was open. Real time away is never lost: it is credited as soon as the game can reach the time server again. Changing your device clock now does nothing.
We also added tools on our side to spot saves with impossible timestamps or impossible play time. When a save has clearly been pushed forward by an exploit, we can roll it back to the point before the exploit. The rollback lowers the hero and class levels and removes achievements and quests earned through it. Gold and items stay. The first rollback goes to the hero described above, who returns to level 25.
What's next
We will watch how fast heroes climb on the new curve and tune it if the pace lands far from 3 to 6 months. A small dip in monster EXP around level 78 to 80 is also on the list. After that, our focus moves to 0.4.0, "The Grand Exchange & Sovereign Unions": player trading, a Trade Hub, auctions and Unions.
If leveling feels wrong in a specific spot, tell us in the Astral Tavern.
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