Tinker's Guide to Power-Leveling

[Tinker]

Yes I'm shameless!

Anyway. Seeing how more often than not I get top XP in the Dailies, I thought I'd share how I'm doing it, because it's not rocket science (I guess if someone was to really go crazy with XP, it would be more complex, but it's surprising how many top spots can be snatched without really understanding how things work... which I don't claim to, by the way, and I would totally love someone to explain what's the real optimal xp-maxing strat considering all the many-many variables like slow, petrification, learning, etc.).

So here goes...

Rule #1: optimal monster to kill is one that gets you as close as possible to a level-up - it doesn't matter, which. In practice it means that you ought to pick the highest level monster you can kill, in a way that - considering all modifiers like slow, petrification, learning, etc - you get as close as possible to the next level-up threshold. Now, if you don't have petrification, then unless you're playing on an easy map (or a Rat ), it will most likely mean you just go for a kill that levels you up by exactly one level - and ends you up as close as possible to the next level-up threshold. But if you have petrification, it might mean skipping a level or two. In that case it becomes a question of piety vs. XP - if you worship Mystera, for example, not skipping that level might give you extra piety, that will in turn boost your overall power. If you're worshipping GG, though, just skip as many levels as you're not ashamed to...

Rule #2: never, ever, go for L+2 kills. Either go for an L+3+ kill (i.e. pick a monster who is at least 3 levels above you), or go for an L+1 kill (so pick a monster that is one level higher than you). The math behind this is simple - you get 2 bonus XP for L+1 kill and 4 bonus XP for L+2 kill, but if you level-up, then the former L+1 monsters become equal-level monsters (no bonus XP), and the L+2 monsters become L+1 monsters (2 bonus XP). So you're better off picking off the L+1 monsters than going for the (most likely more resource-intensive) L+2 monsters, because once you've leveled up, most likely the bonus XP you can still gain from this group of monsters will zero out. That said, this is mostly a fall-back option, I do advocate going for L+3-5 kills as long as possible...

Rule #2.5: if you have the Balanced Dagger... You should never ever go for L+1 or L+2 kills. Go for L+3+ or L+0 kills primarily. No explanation needed....

Rule #3: slow every monster (duh). I'm not even doing it always, I tend to kill the first 4-5 monters unslowed. This is because on the "critical path" getting bonus XP will screw you up, and well you can adjust the kill-chain to accommodate this, but I'm usually not having enough presence of mind to do so, so I just avoid slow for the first 4-5 levels. But I do tend to slow every monster I can who is not on the short-list of leveling kill candidates.

Rule #4: use IMAWAL if you know how to. I generally auto-convert it, because it's just too complex for my little brain to comprehend. But I'm sure it can give you a lot of bonus XP if you're smart enough to use it.

Rule #5: know your killchains. So I made two post-its, one for normal case, and one for the L2->1 Humility, and have it available to stick on my screen whenever I'm playing a Daily. They go like this:

Normal killchain (i.e. no Humility):

L1 -> L4 monster (-> L2, 7/10)
L2 -> L5 monster (-> L3, 10/15)
L3 -> L7 monster (-> L4, 17/20)
L4 -> L8 monster (-> L5, 18/25)
L5 -> L10 monster (->L6, 25/30)
L6 -> L10 monster (->L7, 19/35)
...then just go for higher-level kills.

Humility killchain:

L1 -> L4 monster (-> L2, 7/10)
---take Humility to get back to L1---
L1(h) -> L4 monster (-> L2(h), 9/15)
L2(h) -> L6 monster (-> L3(h), 14/20)
L3(h) -> L8 monster (-> L4(h), 24/25) * this is a very tight kill. you're exactly 1 XP below threshold. If you have any Learning or slowed any of the previous monsters, this will screw you over, so pick a lower-level monster instead.
L4(h) -> L8 monster (-> L5(h), 21/30)
L5(h) -> L10 monster (-> L6(h), 23 / 35)
...then just go for higher-level kills.

Rule #6: Avoid level-up catapults unless you need it against the boss. Yeah. I know that the first couple of dozen hours of game-play are spent to master tricks like the level-up catapult. Which is really-really awesome. And it can save runs. But it doesn't help maximizing XP. So you have a choice to make. If the boss is a toughie, then by all means go for it. Otherwise, just be happy that this technique is at your fingertips, and avoid it... The thing is, the catapult will i) leave you just at the start of the next-level when you do the catapulting, and ii) will leave you with an uncontrollable amount of XP when you kill the monster. Is it worth to kill an L9 in a L3->4 catapult? Sounds great, no? Well, you get some nice one-time bonus XP... but how does it compare to above efficient leveling XP? Let's assume you level first two times by going with the killchain (i.e. L4 and L5 monster respectively). Then, in one case you go with the chain (L7, L8), in the other you go with the catapult, and set-up (so kill an L3 & L2 to level, then kill the L9 at your L4). In the efficient chain example you spent 24 levels worth of monsters and ended up L5, with 18/25 XP; in the catapult case, you spent 23 levels worth of monsters and ended up L5, with 11/25 XP. Sucks, right? Not to mention that you wasted an L9, who can give you bonus XP later on in the efficient chain scenario.

Rule #7: Altar-juggling. Ok, this is where it gets messy. Normally there are 5 parts to the altar-juggling, though not all 5 will be present in every run.
* Part I: Binlor / Mystera / JJ -> join one of these guys if they're around; get some nice boons from them; all this is to boost survivability. Not strictly needed for XP-maxing, just to boost power.
* Part II: GG -> convert to GG and get Humility. Do this still at L1/2. You need this to get the more beneficial kill-chain.
* Part III: TT -> convert to TT as early as you can without risking your win, and get as many shots of Learning as possible.
* Part IV: JJ -> finish in JJ and take Chaos Avatar. Take it when you're (as close as possible to) zero XP in you current level, with not enough XP left on the board to level you up.
* Part V: Alchemist's Pact (Pactmaker): take it; take Consensus with it if needed; drink all your potions to get lots of bonus XP.

If Part V doesn't prevent you from doing earlier parts, you can move it up the chain, but if you're like me, you'll often end up messing things up, and not be able to take Chaos Avatar (for example).

Now, I know ~'(^ + ^)'~ will shout "yeah, but Earthmother", but I don't really use her, not even for the IMAWAL. I just dread the map-clogging aspect too much. Plus, I have no clue how to use IMAWAL effectively. So I just skip it, do my thing, and hope it's good enough...

Now, you may notice I'm not mentioning Dracul... Or Taurog... Or the afore-(not-)mentioned Earthmother... Don't get me wrong, I think these three are awesome deities (especially Earthmother I totally adore in a non-Daily run). I totally get Earthmother's IMAWAL being awesome. And Dracul and Taurog being awesome in their own right. It's just that I'm assuming you have enough skill to use the abundance of resources available on any map to land your kills, and you can expend boons primarily on maxing the XP. It's not always the case. But if you go heavily into Dracul for example, you're likely not power-leveling.

Note, I don't advocate spending expendables early in the run. You can very reasonably go for L+3-4 kills without quaffing potions or similar. It's just about finding the "sweet spot" - which does take a couple of hundred runs, methinks, to really "tune in" to DD's wavelength, but once you're there, the whole balancing act (blackspace / permanents / expendables / piety / etc.) becomes more natural and efficient.

Anyway, I'm half hoping someone smart will go all mathsy (William? Vemb? Darvin? Smuglapse? fall_ark? ~'(^ + ^)'~? anyone? ) and prove me wrong on some of these points, which I'll end up shamelessly copying and assimilating into my DD playstyle... That, and I'm also hoping to see some really exceptional scores from the more talented players, that will leave me amazed!

[Darvin]

[Lujo]

^ It's not true for an even-steven "It's gonna take 10-12 minutes and all your scores are going to be rather high, most likely" approach, like what I used to be quite happy with back in the day.

Darvin will probably know what I'm talking about, you remember back when Trisword (there he goes again!), anyway back when it added stacking damage and you could prep 5 potions? Used to be a fashion to dump all the ones that let you power level right away and start at a high level? It stopped being the be-all-end-all default maximal strat when the special potions got reigned in, and especially when the sword got hit, but I've kept using that principle with regular potions, gobbos and generally any source of refills. Still works basically the same (and ties in with your justified potential get a brain stroke about avoiding level catapults except vs. boss).

Benefits, if you know what youre doing ofc, is that you can gauge what you'll need for bossess so you can use some expendibles (doesn't have to be potions) earlier to make some obstacle go away. Tends to help with the whole diminishing returns of taking more time than, say, 12 minutes. Thought I'd mention it.

[smuglapse]

I haven't done the math either, so I just usually wing it regarding XP. Find the highest monster I know I can kill, use as many XP items and god boons as possible, and avoid catapults. Sometimes I end up skipping levels and that's probably why I end up 3rd or lower on the daily.

Regarding IMAWAL, if you do use it, just some basic tips: Of course, try to use it on plants and other non-xp targets (the snake spawns, revenants, and some sub monsters like the heartless dragon). If level 1s are your only choice, then try to slow them first, since you will still get that 1 bonus XP, and start with the undead, since you might eventually want the blood pools from the other critters.

[William]

A lvl 5 gorgon trying to kill a lvl 10 monster sounds pretty daunting to me.

[Darvin]

[William]

[~'(^ + ^)'~]

Actually, like smuglapse, I don't do any math too, and mostly just try to do as high level kills as possible. Even though I can see the angle you are coming from when you talk about not skipping levels to have more HP and MP to gain piety (or to make yourself stronger with your current god), most if not all of the time, I just skip as many levels as I can.

In general, I agree with the altar-hopping stuff, but a point to add is, sometimes, it's much better to just mono 1 god and only convert to JJ in the end for CA. Usually the best candidate would be EM and it could also work with GG, TT (maybe? I never really start with TT as a first god in dailies and my normal runs).

Sometimes, I do need to use the calculator, just to count the XP I can get from remaining mobs, to decide whether I should take CA now (or soon) or whether I can push for 1 or more levels before taking CA (especially with Goblins, it's quite hard to estimate when is a good time to stop killing and converting items). That's about the only time I do any real math (with the help of a calculator! ).

I do tend to find myself topping XP when I use EM or when there is Imawal around but usually when it comes to power leveling or nabbing as high level kills as possible (double L1 boss kills, or even just normal L1 boss kill), I don't do as well as you or fall_ark and probably a few others.

I think you have achieved many amazing scores in dailies, and it's pretty rare for anyone else to be able to top your score or do something that can "wow" you. There's only so much we can do (if I remember correctly, Vemb achieved the highest possible XP in a daily with a Goblin Transmuter, I think it was 734 XP).

[William]

Okay. So I have read your rules...but would really love to see them implemented in a video. Maybe some of the pros could record a play through (or just a rundown of mob kills and how they managed it resource wise per level) using these rules? My skill level must be waaaayyyy lower than I thought; some of these rules seem...daunting.

[vipris]

The problem i got with all of this, is that you got to find the perfect target : a type of monster that has a the right lvl (not too low, not too high) and also is the right type of monster for the class you are playing. That means you'll probably waste a lot of blackspace trying to find your target.
Screenshots from Tinker always show alsmost no waste of health or mana, so I'm not sure what to make of that

Another thing i always do wrong (i know...) is that i always want to use all my potions for the bosses, and i usually end the game with most of the potions unused. Guess i miss out on a lot of power leveling there