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XP & Leveling Formulas

How experience is calculated, straight from src/game/Formulas.h and QuestDef.cpp. All multipliers below are further scaled by the Rate.XP.* settings in mangosd.conf.

Kill XP Colour Coding

Relative mob level decides the colour of the target's level (XP::GetColorCode):

Colour Condition
Red mob ≥ player + 5
Orange mob ≥ player + 3
Yellow mob within −2 … +2
Green mob > gray level
Gray mob ≤ gray level → no XP

Gray Level ("no XP" boundary)

player ≤ 5   : none (everything gives XP)
player ≤ 39  : player − 5 − player/10
player ≥ 40  : player − 1 − player/5

Zero Difference (GetZeroDifference)

Used for green-mob scaling:

Player level ZD
<8 5
<10 6
<12 7
<16 8
<20 9
<30 11
<40 12
<45 13
<50 14
<55 15
<60 16

Kill XP Formula

base      = (killer_level × 5 + 45) × levelFactor
levelFactor:
  victim ≥ killer : 1 + 0.05 × min(victim−killer, 4)
  victim > gray   : (ZD + victim − killer) / ZD
  victim ≤ gray   : 0        (BaseGainLevelFactor returns 0)

Multipliers applied afterwards (XP::Gain):

Modifier Value
Elite in non-raid dungeon × 2.5
Elite elsewhere × 2
Victim is a pet × 0.75
Creature xp_multiplier per-template
Damage-origin modifier partial credit when pet/totem did damage
Config Rate.XP.Kill or Rate.XP.Kill.Elite

Zero-XP cases: summoned critters/totems and CREATURE_STATIC_FLAG_NO_XP. Pre-1.7 pets use their owner's level for scaling (progression).

Group Bonus

xp_in_group_rate scales group kills (then splits):

Members Rate
1-2 × 1.0
3 × 1.166
4 × 1.3
5 × 1.4
6+ max(1 − 0.05 × count, 0.01)

Quest XP Degradation

Quest::XPValue(playerLevel). Quest level q, character level p, base reward RewXP:

Character level XP granted
p ≤ q + 5 100 %
p = q + 6 80 %
p = q + 7 60 %
p = q + 8 40 %
p = q + 9 20 %
p ≥ q + 10 10 %

Rested Bonus

Rest bonus accrues into characters.rest_bonus and is consumed as bonus XP. Accrual/consumption rates are configurable:

  • Rate.Rest.InGame - resting while logged in (tavern/city).
  • Rate.Rest.Offline.InTavernOrCity - offline in a rest area.
  • Rate.Rest.Offline.InWilderness - offline elsewhere (internally ÷ 4).

Tavern areas come from areatrigger_tavern; innkeeper binds set the recall point (npc flags).