[1.07] Leveling to 98 and 99 on cows - some sample data

ziambe

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Oct 21, 2009
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After leveling multiple characters for crafting purposes in older patches, this time I decided to collect some data about how long it takes, so that players who would like to consider achieving higher levels in old patches can compare what it is like in 1.07 to 1.14.

So I recorded the amount of experience I earned in self-multiplayer 8-player games using a javazon to clear the secret cow level. After each run, I divided the experience earned in that run with the total amount needed for that level in order to calculate the % of each level gained each run.

Not every single run was recorded, but for level 97 to 98, I collected data on 25 runs and for level 98 to 99, I collected data on 28 runs. There are 3 reasons for not recording data from every run: I would level up mid-run, for 2 runs I had an experience shrine which I did not want to contaminate the data, I used the NM and Hell ancients quests to finish 98-99.

Some other notes on methodology:
  • No runs with an experience shrine were used
  • Wirt legs were collected each game, generally on /players 3. This resulted in 3,000 - 6,000 extra experience gained
    • This experience was not excluded from the data because it was much lower than the amount of experience gained from a single cow at level 97 or 98 (16K and 13K, respectively)
  • 99 - 100% of cows were cleared on every run, including the cow king since the portal was opened by a portal mule
  • NM and Hell ancients were used when enough experienced was achieved in order to result in completing level 99

Here is the result and the data:

Table: Approximate number of 8-player cow runs for level 98 and 99
Character levelsAverage % of level gained per run# of cow levels needed
97 to 983.850425.9713
98 to 992.587238.6518

If you consider that 26 and 39 clears of the cow level are needed to reach levels 98 and 99, respectively, then you can also estimate the amount of time it would take to achieve these levels. Here are some calculations based on arbitrary run times:

Table: Estimated time needed for levels 98 and 99 in cow level
Average run time per clearTime need for 97 - 98Time needed 98 - 99
8 minutes208 minutes (3 hours 28 min)312 minutes (5 hours 12 min)
10 minutes260 minutes (4 hours 20 min)390 minutes (6 hours 30 min)
12 minutes312 minutes (5 hours 12 min)468 minutes (7 hours 48 min)
15 minutes390 minutes (6 hours 30 min)585 minutes (9 hours 45 min)

Note that you can also reduce run times considerably by:
  • Collecting wirt legs in advance and muling them with ATMA
  • Not clearing every single cow
  • Not picking up anything
  • Using EXP shrines when possible
With some or all of these measures, run times could probably hit 5 minutes per run.

Consider also that if you save your Nightmare and Hell ancients quests, which reward 20 and 40 million experience each, you can also earn up to 20.6144% of level 99 much faster!

So if you fancy enjoying some of the Good, the Bad or the Ugly of patch 1.07 and want to create a high level character for the achievement or for crafting purposes, consider how much quicker this patch is compared to modern patches!

Data: % Experience gained per run
Code:
Run       Level 97 - 98      Level 98 - 99
1         3.26               2.41
2         4.46               2.59
3         3.55               2.38
4         3.84               2.82
5         3.57               2.37
6         3.00               2.73
7         3.76               2.72
8         5.24               1.91
9         3.74               1.77
10        3.74               2.23
11        4.56               2.77
12        3.96               2.40
13        5.02               3.03
14        3.88               2.56
15        3.19               2.38
16        3.66               2.71
17        3.45               3.45
18        4.45               2.75
19        3.36               2.39
20        3.14               2.20
21        2.91               2.43
22        4.16               2.55
23        3.71               2.69
24        4.09               3.10
25        4.56               2.22
26                           2.52
27                           3.13
28                           2.98

Data: Sum, mean and standard deviation
Code:
Sum % Experience gained     Number of runs     Mean % experience gained     Standard deviation from the mean
96.26                       25                 3.8504                       0.604
72.19                       28                 2.5872                       0.367
 
Last edited:
Interesting info. From the perspective of a non-time travelling 99er fan, I knew 1.07 was faster but seeing by how much is still both surprising and shocking. :) Indeed probably even faster when focusing on juicy cow packs, assuming creating/joining a new MP game with all chars doesn't take super long... how come there is no 99er sept in 1.07 yet? :D
 
This is really interesting data. I did wonder how long a sept of lvl 99 chars would take on cows. Do you have any data on lower levels as well? I know this is exact data but even approximations would be cool.
 
Well, I didn't track exp/run or anything, but I did track how many /p8 cow runs it took for my 1.07 HC sorc to lvl from 98 - 99, and my result was 40, which should be about equivalent to your 38.65, given that she did NOT kill the cow king, so she could (and still can) open the portal herself...

I'll just quietly note that if you want a lvl99 crafter/gambler in a later patch, they can be leveled quickest in 1.07, then forwarded to that patch...

WoRG
 
Interesting numbers! They are even weirder than I would have thought. I was under the impression that leveling in 1.07 would take about the same amount of time as in 1.09b. For comparison here's a statistic for 1.09b I made a while ago:
According to that it takes 21 hours for a Javazon who does 400 cows/5 minutes (i.e. 5 minute runs) to go from 85 to 99 in a players 8 game.

I assume you have all 7 leechers in the cow level? If so the experience boost in 1.07 must be higher than in 1.09b for these player settings.

What is the XP you get from a single cow? It would be good to know the exact value, although that is probably hard to pull off :D
 
Do you have any data on lower levels as well? I know this is exact data but even approximations would be cool.
Unfortunately no because until about 80% of level 96-97 i had between 1-7 leechers in the cow level also. Only levels 98 and 99 were fully without leechers - the mp toons sat huddled, uncomfortably close to each other (especially considering covid), next to the campfire.
I'll just quietly note that if you want a lvl99 crafter/gambler in a later patch, they can be leveled quickest in 1.07, then forwarded to that patch...
Yup! Thats essentially what im getting at here :)
I assume you have all 7 leechers in the cow level? If so the experience boost in 1.07 must be higher than in 1.09b for these player settings.

What is the XP you get from a single cow? It would be good to know the exact value, although that is probably hard to pull off :D
Actually no. All other toons were kept in town. XP per single cow is roughly 16k at 97 and 13k at 98. I could check exactly what the figure is for 98 as i have a few other 98s just from leeching multiple chars to 99, but i dont currently have any other 97s.
 
How is experience split? I'm just curious about how long would it take to level a sept of characters to 99. Mostly just being curious rather than actually trying to attempt that :D
 
Its really not bad at all. I leveled my first java to 99 with mostly 7 leechers in the cow level and they all finished in the low and mid 90s i think.

This time i started a new java and leveled her to 93 first. By the time she hit 93, i had three other sorc 98s, 2 barb 98s, and another new sorc 93. They all had different levels because i added and removed them depending on when they dinged and changes in long term plans. And i am probably forgetting some other chars that came and went. In other words, a sept of 99s would be so fast, its morally questionable :p

My pride and joy is my 3rd and final sorc for 1.10a 'bkthree'. She hit level 99 without killing a single monster. Ever. She also boasts 495 unallocated stat points and 112 unallocated skills :)

Once or twice a cow snuck through the merc defense lines and massacred them all :p so i would strongly recommend always moving away from the red portal into a corner and killing whichever cows still wander towards you, before bringing the leechers in. No exceptions! No matter how safe it looks!

I dont have concrete data regarding the split in experience between toons - although i could check on multiple 98s, but i dont have a non 99 java anymore /sigh :D :D
 
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