Magnolia Guidebook: Level System and EXP.

Here I will leave all the notes and research about the mechanics of leveling up. We'll find out what the level gives, how to level up, and the features of relics to increase experience.

What are cyclical and non-cyclical mobs? How does the experience work for them? What's wrong with Blighted Dice...? You can find out more here.

Introduction

Leveling Up - The foundation of all foundations

As we know, leveling up is related to the mechanics of accumulating a certain amount of experience, after which the counter resets to zero and increases the required amount of experience by a certain number.

This is a stepwise progression algorithm.
Accordingly, the higher the level, the more experience is required.

Leveling of previous part - is piece of cake. [EL]

Returning to the first part of the game - Ender Lilies, the level achievement system was fairly well balanced: by the end of the game, in an effort to reach the end of C, the player was guaranteed to get 75-80 levels, most of them who tried not to miss the mobs of the last locations - ~ 90. Level limit: 100. Of course, the last 10-15 levels remain, but using the relics of the experience boost and the farm of the last locations, it was not so difficult to reach the maximum level.

In addition, the global NG+ mechanics solve the level 100 problem with 100% probability, allowing players to fully upgrade all souls for materials with a bonus. But whether there was a noticeable difference between level 1 and 100 is an ambiguous question. With the mechanics of "Auto-leveling" in the outside world, the locations of the last chapters are not felt in any way, and the mobs of the first locations are the opposite - the damage is fatal for many, but the benefits of staying in the initial locations are questionable, but the visual mechanics of changing the main character with each new level are very specific and unique.

UPD: I double-checked the information: unfortunately, the visual image of Lily does not belong to the level of Blight. This mechanic is tied to the story passage, each cleansing of the boss impregnates it with filth, which can be visually compared in two gif images.

About little statistics [EM]

Returning to the topic of reaching new levels in Ender Magnolia, general statistics show that when completing the game at 100%, players finish it in the range of 60-67 levels. In the difference of 15-20 levels, compared to EL, we notice some "difficulties"...
The limit remains the same - 100. At the end of the game, you need to get another 33-40 levels. But is it easy to complete it..?

What is the role of the level in this part?

To answer the previous question about the difficulty of reaching the maximum level, it is worth first revealing the role of leveling in Ender Magnolia.

In this part, a protection parameter is added to the attributes. Of course, there was protection in the first part, but we know about it from the descriptions of the relics that increase this parameter, but it is not possible to find specific indicators and there are no accurate indicators of protection for Lily and her relics.

Now in Ender Magnolia, the defense indicator is entered as a accurate specific attribute, among the 6 main ones are HP, Attack, Healing Power, Number of healings, Number of SP. We are interested in Attack and Defense.

The higher - the stronger.

Let's take a look at the general tables of enhancing levels and its indicators:
There are several columns, each of which contains a row with level in, what attack and defense Lilac has at this level, excluding bracelets and carapaces, as well as the amount of experience required to reach the next level.

We can see that at the beginning of the game Lilac has 50 attack units and 10 defense units.

Each level increase increases the attack and defense attribute, the role of the level in Ender Magnolia. However, there are several nuances that complicate this thesis.

1. As higher levels are reached, the effectiveness of attribute enhancement decreases significantly.

From level 1 to level 60, at some levels, the main character gets from 2 to 3 ATK points, from level 61 - no more than two, that is, from 1 to 2. At level 85, the player will be able to see that he has received no ATK points... To get +1 ATK, you need to level up two levels at a time. And finally, at 94 to 96, 97 to 99, the player gets only 1 ATK point for raising three levels.

The situation with DEF is slightly different. At the beginning of the game, their number is significantly less, and the defense-to-attack ratio is 1:5. The maximum number of protection points that can be obtained per level is 2 (16 cases out of 99), for the most part only 1. However, unlike the attack parameter, the DEF parameter at high levels absolutely always increases. Thus, raising 85-99 levels does not seem pointless.

To level 19, the ratio is DEF:ATK levels up approximately to 1:3, and by level 100 - 1:2.

2. The difference in required experience increases for each next level.

This is the answer to the implied question - "Why is the player level quite low by the end of the passage compared to EL?"

Starting at the second level, you need to score 39 more, 46 on the third, 55 on the fourth...
On the thirtieth - 323, on the thirty-first - 357...
On the sixtieth - 6752, on the sixty-first - 7471... and so on...

On average, the difference coefficient is ~1.106, which is the multiplier by which the difference between the previous two levels and the next ones is multiplied. At the beginning (1-50) it sometimes grows, then it stays in the middle range, falling from the 93rd level.

And the coefficient of the difference in the total amount of EXP of two consecutive levels. It constantly drops, starting from the beginning of the game (1.13) and ending with the last (1.02).

Leveling up is getting more exhausted...

In fact, the system of the first 50 levels works easily, but then, the process of leveling up slows down very much. Why is that?

During the journey through the storyline locations, each new location has its own pool of mobs, which, in addition to being more stronger and dangerous, also provide a huge amount of EXP. When passing through 19 locations, the player gets 50-60 levels. He doesn't have to farm EXP- this is a kind of pattern of the EXPhe gets from bosses, mini-bosses, and renewable mobs in the process of exploring new rooms. The only difference in levels is whether the player uses the relic to boost EXP or not.

For the first 50-60 levels, the player goes from a smaller source of EXP to a larger source, and this is balanced with leveling up. As the player explores the most difficult locations, he will encounter this maximum that he can receive. For example, first the player kills 100 identical N mobs, each of them gives the same amount of EXP, and at the next level there are 116 of the same N mobs. The situation is incorrigible, because mob N is the richest mob in terms of EXP, and there is no way to kill a stronger mob than him. There is no way to gain even more EXP than he has, and with each new level, the amount of EXP required as well as the difference between the EXP gained and the required increases...

For the next 10 levels, 50th up to the 60th you need 418.253 EXP.

But: From the 60th to the 70th, 1.104.781 EXP is needed.

To make you feel how significant the difference is, the amount of EXP from level 1 to 50 is 236.400: 1.76 times less than the next 10 levels, and 4.67 times less than the second ones.

In total, by level 100, you need to get 17.512.133 EXP.

Blighted Dice as the key of EXP Boost and Mobs.

Blighted Dice

Blighted Dice is a relic that increases the EXP gained from mobs by a certain percentage.

Blighted Dice (left) and Blighted Dice+ (right)




The regular version increases the EXP by 15%. You can upgrade a relic in the workshop for 750 scrap. In return, you will receive Blighted Dice+, which increases EXP by 20%.

Mobs - foundation for EXP farm, and how they are subdivided...

Mobs are an obstacle in almost every location, with the exception of some rooms and safe zones.

The mechanics of mobs are based on two simple patterns:

1. The stronger the mob, the more EXP(compared to other mobs in the current location)
2. The more difficult the location, the more EXP drops from mobs.
All mobs can be divided into cyclical and non-cyclical ones.

Cyclical mobs - all mobs that, after entering the safe zone, respawn at their spawn points in dangerous rooms. These mobs are the foundation for the farm experience.

Non-cyclical mobs - mobs that cannot be destroyed twice in the same game world. This includes absolutely all bosses and mini-bosses, with one rare exception (but more about that later).

Cyclical mobs - Rule of Priority

As I said earlier, the second aspect of the mob mechanism is that more remote locations bring more experience. I discovered this aspect while researching all the cyclical mobs, which made my work more difficult, and I had to spend more time.

From this, I deduced the Rule of Priority: EXP is not binded to mobs, but to the location.
Using the example of the Aquatic Mine. This mob is in the Subterranean Waterway location, and it is this mob in this location that gives 36 EXP without a relic. However, there is exactly the same mob in the Administrative District, but its value is expressed in 3066 EXP, which is more than nine times more than in the previous location. The whole point is about priority. In a more complex location, a mob is much more dangerous, it has increased attributes, which is equivalent to the EXP it gives.

This rule does not contradict the first aspect of the mechanism, because it compares mobs from the same location, not from different ones. Nevertheless, Large Experimental Subject: Type 1 from the same location as Aquatic Mine is considered a stronger mob, and gives 58 EXP instead of 36. However, comparing it to the Aquatic Mine from another location, it will lose out in terms of experience in those locations where the priority in difficulty is higher.

Bringing you to this rule, you won't have any questions about the difference in EXP between identical mobs, and now you can look at the full picture of each mob and its value in EXP.

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MOB'S EXP VALUES (Patch 1.0.3 - ~1.0.4)

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Subterranean Test Site Ruins
Lower Stratum Streets
Old City - Lower Stratum
Magicite Mine
Tethered Steeple
Subterranean Waterway
Final Disposal Site
Crimson Forest
Crystalline Realm
Sorcerer's Academy
Declan's Estate
Frost Estate Ruins
Arcane Factory
Biological Research Facility (1)
Biological Research Facility (2)
Central Stratum - Steel District
Upper Stratum - Administrative District
Land of Origin


Of the entire pool of mobs, the most valuable in terms of experience is the Soaring Beast of Origin (9735-11200-11688).

Blighted Dice have some strange calculations.

Knowing that the relic increases the earning experience by 15-20%, which translates to a mathematical calculation of 1.1 or 1.2, it would be possible to multiply all the numbers from the first table by these coefficients.

I can say right away that each mob was checked manually, with or without an improved version. Checking the coefficients manually, I began to realize that they were inaccurate in many examples.

Lower Stratum Survey Trooper(Crystalline Realm): 138/120 = 1.15 instead 1.1 (132)
Aquactic Probe(Frost Estate Ruins): 798/693 = 1.15(15) instead 1.1 (~763)
Fusion Experiment (Biological Research Facility (2)): 2240/1947 = 1.150 instead 1.1 (~2142)
Soaring Beast of Origin: 11200/9735 = 1.150
And so on...

The average coefficient of a simple version Blighted Dice is 1.15068. This number varies depending on the location. No less high-priority locations where the amount of EXP is small and the difference between the numbers is small, the coefficient can be high (1.16, 1.17), and sometimes it does not differ at all from Blighted Dice +. However, in higher priority locations, the number is approaching the target. It's easy to check with mobs from the Administrative District.

It turns out that the coefficients may have been overestimated on purpose. However, this helps to advance the level in the early stages of the game.

It is worth noting that the coefficients of Blighted Dice+ are normal and very close to a pure 1.2, however, some mobs who have the same amount of EXP without relics and with a relic (15%) may have differences with a 20% boost, although this difference is extremely insignificant.:

CRYSTALLINE REALM - Specialized Miner(172) and Old Enforcer: Type 2(173).
BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH FACILITY - Experimental Manufactor (2241-2337) and Fusion Experiment (2240-2339).

Non-cyclical mobs - Rule of Story Progression.

This is a very difficult and extremely difficult mechanics to calculate. It has no computational pattern and it is impossible to calculate the EXP of each mob, with the exception of some mini-bosses...

Mini-bosses are mobs that are subject to the priority rule, but they are not particularly useful. They are disposable, and they will not help players gain experience faster.

Of course, some of them may have more EXP than a number of cyclical mobs, but the time to destroy them is quite long, due to the fact that they cannot be classified as simple mobs. As a result, it is easier to classify them as non-cyclical mobs that have no practical application.

With the huge exception of Soaring Beast of Origin. This is the only mob that has more than one on the map, and it has the ability to recover after visiting Respite. However, this mob has its own nuances, which I will discuss below.

There are still bosses whose experience depends on the exact opposite rule - Story Progression.

How does the Rule of Story Progression work?

The game has 15 chapters. From chapters 1 to 14, that is, until the moment of the possibility of reaching the ending A, the game has a special "experience multiplier" for bosses. As you move on to a new chapter, the EXP multiplier increases.

Usually, a change of head occurs after defeating one of the bosses and joining a companion to the team.

At first, the game is completely linear throughout the two bosses. You defeat Lito, Jolvan, and each of them gives you 100 EXP points.

Next, the choice is up to you...

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Get the Blighted Dice from the very beginning and earn increased EXP from the 3rd boss, which can be anyone.
You can first go to Magicite Mine, defeat Garm, (175-10%), then go to Tethered Steeple and defeat Shackled Beast(267-10%). Only then go down to the Subterranean Waterway, defeat Roller: Giant Orb (294-10%), then King of the Garbage Heap (595-10%) and only then Veol Wolf (881-10%).

Take a close look at the amount of EXP under this scheme. It seems that the Shackled Beast is stronger than Garm, so there is much more EXP, or the Veol Wolf is the strongest of all listed, so 881 EXP is awarded for it...

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Now let's look at another scheme. We can swap the first two bosses: first we defeat Shackled Beast, then Garm, also without removing the relic. According to the results of the accumulated EXP, Shackled Beast: (175-10%), Garm(267-10%). What I was talking about happened, the numbers changed places. And everything is explained quite simply: after defeating any boss, you get + 1 chapter, which means the multiplier increases, and the next boss will already get much more EXP.

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The following scheme. Goal: go first to Tethered Steeple, then to Crimson Forest. Nothing prevents you from dealing with the Veol Wolf almost immediately, right?
For Shackled Beast, we get 175(10%), and for Veol, guess how much?
- 267(10%).
Look at the first scheme above and you will see the difference that at first glance Veol seems to be the strongest boss in the sequential line, but now we get ~4 times less EXP...
That's because the Veol from the scheme was defeated on chapter 6-7, and in the current scheme - on the third. If we had gone to the Crystal Realm in the first scheme and defeated Lars, then for each stage with Blighted Dice, we would have gained 661 EXP points (661+661+661, ~Chapter 8), however, if in the current scheme, after the Wolf Veol, we would immediately open the way to the Crystalline Realm (Chapter 4), then for each stage of Lars we would get only 198 (198+198+198)

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Hence the conclusion that there is absolutely no binding and no fixed amount of EXP.

Despite only two finale points, there are dozens of different ways to reach them, each of which will be unique.
It is impossible to calculate the template numbers for bosses, be it 175... 267...441 and so on... By choosing a different path of passage, the 4th or 5th boss will still give out his certain amount of EXP, deviating from any probable pattern, especially if you complete it a chapter earlier or later...

The point was to convey this basic idea. Going through all the possible options for defeating bosses will take dozens of additional hours of time, I can say that it is more tedious than pumping level 100 in the game. Therefore, there will be no calculations here, since they do not have any practical benefit or any gaming interest anyway...

Soaring Beast of Origin demands your patience.

It's time to talk about what's wrong with Soaring Beast of Origin.
This mob is listed in the table of cyclical mobs due to the eternal respawn, however, this is the only cyclical mob that follows not the Priority Rule, but the Rule of Story Progression.

You can get the experience listed in the table for this mob by the end of the game, that is, by Chapter 14-15.

After completing the first 8-9 chapters, you will be able to return to Lands of Origin and meet this mob. However, after defeating one of these mobs, you will face the problem that the amount of EXPdoes not match what is written in the table.
Mob can give ~2000 EXP, ~3000 EXP, ~5000 EXP, ~7000 EXP... This number depends entirely on which chapter you are currently on. This means that it's not easy to gain experience on this mob, and you need to reach the finals first.

According to this principle, Soaring Beast of Origin, as a cyclical mob, can respawn, but as a non-cyclical one, it follows the Rule of Story Progression. I consider this mob to be an intermediate one.

The fastest way to gain experience. (+ The scheme of obtaining fragments)

This is a freeplay method based on Soaring Beast of Origin. Therefore, it is very important that you reach the 14th chapter.

1. Be sure to take the equipment for maximum damage.

(Primordial Heirloom + Ancient's Fury + Abelia Bracelet) Totem is optional, Cetus for example.

2. Adjust the difficulty this way: 0.7 - 1.6 - 2 - 2 - 2.

This way you reduce the time it takes to defeat one mini-boss and earn maximum fragments.

3. Ability Set:

• Soul Harvester. (Nola)
  
• Hail Dance (7th)
  
• Rocket Fist (Lito)
  
• Benumbed Howl (Shackled Beast)

4. Relics.

Don't forget Blighted Dice+!
Take relics for maneuverability to reduce the time spent moving towards the boss (Leg Enhancement Gear, Incomplete Gear, Enhancement Gear, Evasive Fragmentation)
Relics increasing damage, especially air damage. (Sanguinary Raven, Magic Strand Charm, Echo Device, Eye of the Ancients)
Headless Gold Statue (optional).

Go to this Respite. In the upper left corner there is a room with a mini-boss (Point 1).

Usually, a Rocket Fist (Lito) strike and a scythe combination are enough to take 75% of the total HP. Carry out all attacks in the air. After defeat: Esc - Return to Respite. And do this again

It will take 15-20 seconds or even less for each attempt, taking into account the correct conduct of the battle. Of course, there are many nuances about the different situations and behavior of this mob. In the future, I can add a video on how to defeat a mini-boss correctly and practically, if desired.

If we imagine that we can fully earn experience from the first level, then to get level 100, we need to destroy almost 1,500 Souring Beast of Origin. If it takes about 17 seconds for each one, then it will take 25,500 seconds / 425 minutes or 7 continuous hours to reach level 100.

Of course, given that by the end of the game, players gain an average of 50-60 levels, this time is reduced by two hours. However, 5-hour farming is extremely tedious.

100 level: For what sake?

At the moment, in patch 1.0.4, for level 100 you get +200 ATK, +115 DEF and... it turns out that there is nothing else...?

There is no level 100 achievement in the game, and in general, no level achievements have been added at all. Overall, for obvious reasons, this would be one of the most difficult and rare achievements in the game. The monotony of farming gets boring quickly, so the process of getting an achievement will take a long time.

The level does not have a visual display, as it was with Lily. There are no unique interactions or dialogues. Therefore, whether it's worth it or not is up to everyone to decide for themselves.

Perfectionists who are trying to buy out the entire store, upgrade all the relics, of course you can still try to test your patience and get level 100. But it is important to remember that no AFK-farm will help you. You will be forced to throw more than 5 hours out of your life for manual farming to finally close the game.

But at the moment, getting to level 100 is just a test for yourself and nothing more. All bosses are quite passable at 50-60 levels. An increase of 30-40 damage does not bring significant results in combat. And the answer to the question that was posed at the beginning of the article about the difficulty of getting the maximum level is an unequivocal "Yes".

Maybe there's no hurry... Additional patches and updates are waiting for us, probably NG+. Perhaps this empty field was left just for this mechanic, however, comparing it with NG+ in EL, the experience system still needs to be improved. For example, with each new restart, giving the opportunity to upgrade relics further, or increasing the experience multiplier on mobs are some ideas for developers.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting time to study in detail how certain mechanisms work, and I was glad to share my discoveries with you.


Level 100:
Left picture - Max DEF with all Equipments. Right picture - Max ATK with all Equipments.

Some interesting facts.

• The difficulty of the game does not affect the experience in any way. You can make the game as easy as possible while maintaining the experience. Cyclical mob's tables are relevant for all settings.
  
  
• The level does not affect the amount of HP or healing power. This is important to remember when you are trying to achieve Nothing to Fear. Don't waste your time...
  
  
• According to Lore EL, the material component of the experience was Blight. Most likely, the experience of this game is also Blight, obtained from infected homunculi. However, we do not see the visual effect or influence of Blight on Lilac, only descriptions in the dialogues.

A message for developers.

Dear developers of this game franchise...

I want to note right away that I am not calling anyone to anything with this situation, but I would like to say that probably in the next patches, if you read this guide, or if you receive a lot of reports on this topic, then the issue of the level system and gaining experience will change. On the one hand, it will be great if the changes are beneficial, on the other hand, the article will lose some of the relevant information, or lose relevance altogether...

Anyway, regardless of further patches, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the work you've done on this game. In the future, I will continue the work of the Guidebook Magnolia, as there are many topics that can be discussed.

May the fume of obstacles and failures dissipate, as the blight once dissipated in a Land of Fumes and stars may light the way of future... <3

[Fla1myC]

Привет!
Да, я уже проходил пару раз NG+, видел обновления.
Нужно либо переделывать все картинки с таблицами, либо добавлять под новый раздел, пересчитывать опыт со всех мобов, экспериментировать и много-много чего...
Это отнимет очень много времени, учитывая что его сейчас у меня и так недостаточно, но если действительно всем так интересно, то постараюсь в скором времени сделать апдейт.
Спасибо за поддержку, учитывая сколько сил было уже вложено в эту работу!

[Юка :D]

Чувак, мы ждём обновление твоей статьи, теперь в игре есть новая игра+ и новый кубик на 25%, мне интересно почитать что ты расскажешь по этому поводу, особенно что с патчем собирать 100 уровень не так сложно, на данный момент у меня 89 уровень.

[Fla1myC]

Thank you a lot for suggesting your farm idea!
If you have a published video about demonstrating your strategy, then I can insert it into the guide (with your permission, of course), and the article will become a little more unique and useful.

[rat]

My strategy was slightly different. I still started off with jumping into the mini-boss and letting off a Rocket Fist, followed by Nola spam, but I stayed in the air on the boss' hitbox until it did a teleport explosion attack. This did over half my health, swapping my damage buff from Magic Strand Charm's 15% to Jagged Crystal's 25%. I then kept attacking, but this time from the ground, since Nola can still hit and Lito can still do a lot of damage. If the boss never did a teleport attack, I would keep following it in the air to do more damage. I could never to get a full 75% of it's health gone out of the opening salvo, so this helped shorten the rest of the fight overall, assuming it started with a teleport explosion, and even if it didn't, the fight was still pretty quick.

[rat]

So I actually had a slightly modified setup compared to you that seemed to farm exp faster, at least in my experience. For abilities, instead of No. 7, I had Muninn with Seeker, for just a little bit of extra damage while spamming Lito and Nola. For relics, I had the following (all upgraded):
Chain Belt
Sanguinary Raven
Echo Device
House Milius Earrings
Magic Strand Charm
Jagged Crystal
Eye of the Ancients
Blighted Dice
Leg Enhancement Gear
Incomplete Gear

[Fla1myC]

I completely removed the information about the visual from the EL, as it is not relevant for this topic, corrected some terms, minor punctuation errors, changed the relic in the picture, with the correction of the set.

[Fla1myC]

Exactly! My bad.

I noticed this a little later, after writing the guide.
The fact is that the description of some relics is incorrect (not in English), and for some time I thought I had used the relic correctly.
I have passthroughed the game several times in English in order to understand some of the mechanics correctly and use terms in English that are more understandable for the entire community for guides and discussions.

Thanks for reminding me!
I have already made old comments, and changed the set of farm relics: Magic Strand Charm will be more useful here, especially if you upgrade it. The speed of one kill should increase slightly.

[Mareepbulb]

In the skillset you mentioned, you don't have a single pressure ability, so how does Floral Necklace increase damage in this case? AFAIK it only increases pressure damage.

[Fla1myC]

Considering that the level moves smoothly upward as the story progresses, I could really mistake this for visual mechanics...

Thanks a lot for the correction!
I have accumulated shortcomings in this manual, I will definitely correct this section and other errors.

[nesoukefka]

One mistake, Lily's appearence in the first game has nothing to do with her LV, it's entirely tie to story progression, her appearence change each time she purifies one of the main bosses.