russianrocet wrote:
Farming is maximizing your sxp gain per kill while sacrificing exp gain. The optimal method is to maintain a mastery gap of 9 (highest mastery - your current level). Farming at the bandit den at level 16 is popular b/c of the high spawn rate of the bandit archers and the potential to be able to one-hit them with a level 16 SOS equivalent or better bow. At level 16, your highest mastery should be 7 (16-7=9 gap).
Now, farming at level 16 is not required by any means. You can farm at any level with a 9 level mastery gap. The best times to do this, however, would be at times where you gain access to a new weapon degree such as at 24, 32, 42, 52, and 64 because of SOS potential.
Farming sometimes involves deleveling, the purpose of which is to maintain the desired sxp gain per kill b/c at every level up, you gain less and less sxp from a specific monster. For example, let's say you are farming on bandit archers. You are level 16, therefore, your highest mastery should be 7. When you level to 17, the bandit archers become "weaker" to you and therefore give less sxp. Now you will have a 10 level gap (17-7=10) but since 9 is the maximum at which you gain sxp, there's no advantage in leveling to 17, you only LOSE sxp per level gain. So, in order to counter this, players delevel their characters (by dieing multiple times), back down to 16 so that they can maintain their maximum sxp gain.
Now, you could stay at level 17 and decrease the 10 level gap back to 9 by increasing a skill but then you'd have to farm on a higher level monster in order to get the same amount of sxp that you got before from the bandit archers. The reason against this is that nothing else spawns as quick as bandit archers in that level range.
Also, you could level up to 21 if you so please and then delevel back to 16. The advantage in this is that it gives your character an extra 5 str and int points.
Basically, farming is killing the same monster repeatedly while maintaining a mastery gap (preferably 9) until you reach your desired SP total.
Hope this helps.
