There's are question that's asked at least once a day on the forums regarding skill masteries and sp farming. Do I have to SP farm? What skill mastery gap should I leave? How long do I have to SP farm for? Can I keep my mastery equal to my skill level after I farm 30k. Do I really need 30k SP? What's the answer? I don't know. Well, not completely.
I had put out a couple requests for data regarding XP and SP gains for each kill at various skill mastery gaps and character levels and have received a good amount of data. Enough that I have performed a preliminary answer to some of the above questions...
First, using Homicide's skill calculator, I calculated the amount of SP needed to max every single skill in each tree by level 30. I also did the same fro 60, but I am currently unable to draw any conclusions due to lack of data, but I'll get into more of that later.
Code:
30 60
Bicheon 4610 68984
Heuksal 4555 57908
Pacheon 3991 51785
Cold 3819 51693
Fire 3507 49684
Lightning 3686 45839
Force 3753 42443
Those are the skill points required for each mastery. So, let's generalize this. To max 1 skill, you need ~4k sp by level 30, 2 skills ~8k, and 3 skills ~12k. The table below shows how many SP you will obtain by level 30 assuming you keep a constant skill mastery gap (excluding levels 1-9).
Code:
SM Gap Total SP
0 3943
1 4811
2 5873
3 7223
4 9070
5 11648
6 15484
7 21822
8 34684
Well, what does this mean exactly? If you were to max only a single tree by level 30, all you would need is a 1 level gap. For 2 trees, you would need a 4 level gap, and 3 trees you need a 5-6 level gap.
But wait, there are several assumptions here that affect what you actually need.
1. If you've been keeping a couple level gap the entire time, chances are that you will still be maintaining that gap since the level cap isn't 30, it's 60!
2. That brings us to point #2, these gaps are assuming you max out every skill at 30. There is no mention of how many points you need to max out everything you want by level 60!
3. This ignores all questing and any deaths. Each death will increase your SP gain by 2% at that level. Any quests may be more or less beneficial depending on when you do them and what your SP/EXP ratio is at that time.
4. You are maxing out every single skill in the tree. Depending on your build, this may or may not be an accurate assumption.
Well, that's all good, so I've given you information and conclusions, and just told you they were all wrong. What good am I? Well, this is just a preliminary conclusion on SP gathering and I will update with level 60 info when I have more data. Also, most of the values I have here are estimates, extrapolated from the data I actually have collected. Any additional data is greatly appreciated.
So, the main point? If your main goal is to have enough skill points by level 30, you don't
need to sp farm. If you are planning on maxing 2 trees and have a sub tree, you can keep your gap at about 4 and have a good number of skill points to get what you want by 30. If you don't plan on setting your character level equal to your skill level at 30, then you can even keep about a 3 level gap and wait till about level 33 to get to level 30 mastery.
Again, because I do not have any data at all for anything level 30+ I cannot form any conclusion about whether or not SP farming early is required. It may very well be, even if not for SP acquisition, but to make the later levels easier. Also, I do not have any data on a mastery gap of 9 levels, so I cannot provide any feedback for that either.
If anyone wishes to know more information or question anything, feel free to just post a reply or to pm me. I'll be happy to answer anything I can.
~Aurium (Babel)[/i]