How does XP work when killing dinos?

[jackknight]

I'd like to know how XP works when killing dinos because it seems inconsistent/buggy to me. The problem I am having is:

I go out with a friend. We're both about the same level (~78) and we're each on a pretty high level spino. We go out together and just smash around and kill wild dinos. When we come across an alpha (usually raptor), a couple things can happen:

- I kill the alpha. I get no XP, my dino gets no XP but my friend and his dino get XP. Sometimes a lot of XP.
- I kill the alpha. Nobody gets XP.
- I kill the alpha. Everyone gets XP.
- My friend kills the alpha. I get no XP and my dino gets no XP. My friend claims to always get XP.

Usually, for me, it's the "I get no XP and my friend does" - which I find very frustrating.

So I'd just like to know what's going on. What should happen? Does it depend on the level of the alpha we kill? Who kills it? How it's killed?

[Mastaccolli]

+1 been finding this myself. Also, when a group is killing an alpha the player who gets the kill shot is often the only one who gets any exp.

[jackknight]

I've been finding that when I kill the alpha, I'm often the only one in the group that does *not* get any XP. Or the dino I'm on either. That's ... frustrating.

[NotDylan7055]

1. You stab dino.
2. You kill dino.
3. XPS R URS

[jackknight]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von dylan:

1. You stab dino.
2. You kill dino.
3. XPS R URS

More like:

1. You risk a lot by attacking alpha
2. You manage to kill it
3. Everyone but you gets XP
4. You're pissed off

[insaner3]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von jackknight:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von dylan:

1. You stab dino.
2. You kill dino.
3. XPS R URS

More like:

1. You risk a lot by attacking alpha
2. You manage to kill it
3. Everyone but you gets XP
4. You're pissed off

Jacknight, I'm sure you figured it out since last October that you were wrong. I ve killed hundrets of Alphas already and it was always the same. You always get XP if YOU make the kill. It is essential that you actually kill it, you will not get XP if you do 99% damage and somebody else does the last 1% damage to kill it. Ride a dinosaur to kill Alphas, so both, you and the dino get a lot of XP - if a friend is nearby he and his mounted dino get also a lot of XP. Killing Alphas in a group on mounted dinos is most efficient.
I noticed that some XP doesn't show up immediately after you kill an Alpha, it can take up to ~10 seconds until you actually level up or see the XP gain in the stats. Although the leveling-up tune plays instantly - weird.
so - if you had problems before it was either a bug or you did not realize who actually killed the Alpha - My guess is that there was a wild dino involved that did the kill and you misread the killing message.

[Salcha]

I noticed the same, alpha killed by friend mounted on his dino, I get a lot of xp and the dino I'm on gets a lot of xp. When I kill alpha with the dino I'm mounted on, I get very little xp, my dino gets very little xp, friend gets lots.

[Tanchyon]

Pretty sure when you are on foot and get the killing blow you get maximum xp.

[Osterberg501]

If you kill anything while on a dino you get 50% of the xp yourself and the dino gets the full xp. If a tribe member is near on a dino the shared xp they got from you killing something goes 100% to the dino their on. It can take a bit for xp to show up on you or your dino, but I have never had any issues with nobody getting xp unless something else takes the last hit.

[jackknight]

To insaner3 - no, I figured out that the game is bugged. No surprise there. We did some testing and it was random. Sometimes I'd get XP for killing an alpha. Sometimes not. Sometimes I'd get loot... most of the time not. And there was no "wild dino hiding to make the kill" - just me and the raptor I was riding. So I know the dino I was riding made the kill.

We also tested it having other dinos with us and not. It is very random who and what gets XP and how much they get. It's not just me either - a number of people had problems with Alpha kills not giving the proper XP.

I just wanted to know if the game is broken, or if it's supposed to work this way (which I consider broken too).

[Darmaniac]

loot is random. its not always a 100% loot chance.
Maybe your dino is maxed out so no more exp can be gain. and at HIGH levels. the exp gain is minimal due to the amount of exp needed to level up. i killed an alpha raptor with my rex and he got less then half a level. didnt get a level up

[jackknight]

Yeah, I hear you. But this was not on a max-level dino (this was before that was easily possible). And while the loot is random, I think you're supposed to get the skin no matter what, and even those don't always drop. But my character and my dino should still get the XP for it, and I've screen capped and checked and ... no, sometimes it just doesn't work. I don't know why.

[9mm]

Zombie thread... in a very bad way. Ark is still broken after all these years.

I'm having this problem with two dilo's... One's level 124, one's level 17, I'm level 16. Killed two parasaurs, no one got experience... Not me, Not my dilos. I'm tribe leader and only one in tribe.

[A Terrible Modder]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von 9mm:

Zombie thread... in a very bad way. Ark is still broken after all these years.

I'm having this problem with two dilo's... One's level 124, one's level 17, I'm level 16. Killed two parasaurs, no one got experience... Not me, Not my dilos. I'm tribe leader and only one in tribe.

its a parasour, they give midget xp

[Boomer Voncannon]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von 9mm:

Zombie thread... in a very bad way. Ark is still broken after all these years.

I'm having this problem with two dilo's... One's level 124, one's level 17, I'm level 16. Killed two parasaurs, no one got experience... Not me, Not my dilos. I'm tribe leader and only one in tribe.

Just a minor quibble here, but lately I see people using the phrase “after all these years” in reference to Ark. Ark is a 3 year old game. Would you say of a 3 year old child “After all these years Sally has really grown.” Of course not, because it sounds absurd. “After all these years” is not a an appropriate phrase to apply to something that is only 3 years old. In this case it’s use disingenously implies the problem has persisted for longer than it has in reality.

[Vesuvius]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Boomer Voncannon:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von 9mm:

Zombie thread... in a very bad way. Ark is still broken after all these years.

I'm having this problem with two dilo's... One's level 124, one's level 17, I'm level 16. Killed two parasaurs, no one got experience... Not me, Not my dilos. I'm tribe leader and only one in tribe.

Just a minor quibble here, but lately I see people using the phrase “after all these years” in reference to Ark. Ark is a 3 year old game. Would you say of a 3 year old child “After all these years Sally has really grown.” Of course not, because it sounds absurd. “After all these years” is not a an appropriate phrase to apply to something that is only 3 years old. In this case it’s use disingenously implies the problem has persisted for longer than it has in reality.

Not to mention, its only been in full release for a bit over 1 year.