GU 100 Preview: The Experience Vial System

Written by Feldon on . Posted in EQ2, Game Updates & Maintenance

From  Dexella on the EQ2 Forums:

The launch of GU 100 is just around the corner! So far, we’ve unveiled The Island of Zek Scourge Wastesthe new Fabled Zones, and the raids in Scourge Keep. Today, to get you ready for the anticipated Thursday, April 28th launch, we’re going to introduce you to the new Experience Vial system!

While the content for GU 100 will be released only to All Access Members, this new Experience Vial system is accessible in the Marketplace and usable by all players! Who will you share your experience with first?

Want to get your hands on everything GU 100? Then become a member! Find out more at www.everquest2.com/membership.

UPDATE: An EQ2 player Aivet has put together an XP Vial Spreadsheet with these estimates based on 200,000 XP vials:

  • 1 vial will get you from level 1 to level 31
  • 9 vials to get from level 99 to level 100
  • 88 vials to get from level 1 to level 100

UPDATE from Dexella:

We’ve clarified with Dev. These will not be available on Stormhold.

From Robert “Caith” Fouts on the EQ2 Forums:

Ever wish you could bottle up your hard-earned experience and share it with your friend or guildmate? Wait no longer, and allow me to introduce the new Experience Vial system!

Experience Vials will allow players to purchase empty vials off of the EverQuest 2 Marketplace for Daybreak Cash; these vials can be used to “bottle” experience points as you earn them. Once you fill up an empty vial, you will be able to claim a full vial which you can give to a friend or alt, sell on the broker, or even save for yourself for later.

Here is how the system works:

You will notice that there is a new icon attached to the left side of your experience bar. This is the nerve center for the Experience Vial system, and it is where you can control everything about your experience vials. In the screenshot below you will see that we currently do not have any active experience vials, but that the XP Siphon and Auto-Consume functions are active. Both the siphon and auto-consume functions are dependent on having an active vial, so in this case, we would not see any change to our normal play experience.

xpvial_01

Note the three experience vials which you can see in the backpack above, however, as we are now going to examine them. When you examine a vial, this is what you’ll see:

xpvial_02

XP Capacity: This is the amount of experience required to fill the vial.
XP Conversion Rate: This is the efficiency of the vial. In this case, 60% of the experience siphoned by the system will count towards filling the vial.

Once you consume an Experience Vial, the system has been activated. Right-clicking on the Experience Vial bubble will allow you to control the system. You may also examine the Experience Vial you are currently using, which will bring up the item examine window, or provide you a quick link to the Marketplace to purchase empty vials.

xpvial_03

From this menu you can also disable the XP Siphon, allowing you to earn experience as normal instead of having it siphon into your vial. Disabling Auto-Consume will force the system to stop siphoning experience after you have filled a single vial. To re-enable the system, you will need to consume another vial from your inventory.

While experience is being siphoned, it may not be used for any other purposes. Thus, you will not be earning tithe or AA experience.

Mousing over the Experience Vial bubble while the system is active will grant you a detailed look at what is going on “under the hood.” The amount of experience currently stored by the system, the conversion rate, what type of experience is being stored, and more can all be seen on this popup.

xpvial_04

While the system is active, your experience point earnings will be explained in detail in the chat window. In the example below I have earned 10,000 adventure XP, which is then converted into 6,000 XP and stored in the currently-active vial.

xpvial_05

Mousing over the window vial bubble will display the current totals in the vial.

xpvial_06

If you want to remove an active vial to return it to your inventory before it’s done filling (so you can pass the vial off to another character on your account, for example), you can do that, but know this first! Any experience currently stored on the vial will be lost, so be absolutely sure you want to return an active vial to your inventory before removing it.

Once you have filled up your Experience Vial, the counter on the vial will go up, indicating you have a filled vial to claim. In the case below you will note that the system auto-consumed one of my remaining empty vials and is continuing to siphon experience points.

xpvial_07

You may now right click and claim your filled experience vials, which may be traded or consumed at your leisure. Experience granted from a vial works in all ways as if you earned it from a quest or defeating a creature, and thus will grant tithe, or can be converted into AA experience depending on how you have your experience slider set.

xpvial_08

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Comments (15)

  • Mizgamer62

    |

    Another handy dandy cash grab.

    Reply

    • Feldon

      |

      Before the expansion, XP earned after you hit level 100 with 350 AAs was simply discarded. Now you have two alternatives:

      • small stat boosts through deity system
      • xp vials

      It beats just losing that xp.

      Reply

  • Jettexer

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    so, am I required to buy these things in order to earn XP while adventuring?… 🙄

    Reply

    • Bru

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      What? No. You buy these to siphon off the experience you’re gaining into a vial, then you can give or sell it to another character. You don’t need these at all for gaining experience.

      Reply

    • GriffonLady

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      It’s kinda a way for max lvl/max AA characters to capture the experience that goes to waste. >.>
      Experience works normally without a vial, no worries. ^_^

      But if (for example) you have an enchanter that sucks to play but is in high demand at max level, you can now go to town on an SK with a bottle active and capture XP for your chanter. XD (My hubby always complains about how he hates to play his illusionist, but it’s always what guilds want him to play. >..< Do they think content for the game just gets pulled out of people's butts with no money needed? o.0)

      Reply

    • GriffonLady

      |

      My daughter’s cat decided to edit for me… I meant to say

      IMHO it’s a clever and win/win way for the company to get some income and make more content. (people who whine and cry about “cash grabs” are sooo annoying. >.< Do they think content for the game just gets pulled out of people's butts with no money needed? o.0)

      Reply

  • Xalmat

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    The real question is: how much real money do the empty vials cost?

    This, combined with mentoring, XP bonus potions, and other XP bonuses, would be a heck of a way to power level a friend/2nd account if the price is right.

    Something like this should be a standard feature in other MMOs if you ask me!

    Reply

    • Feldon

      |

      If they are 100SC a pop, I’ll definitely use them. 1000SC or more? I’d seriously hesitate.

      Reply

      • Xalmat

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        Well that depends too on the bang/value. Using the 200k XP potion as an example, that might not even buy a full level or AA when you’re in your 90s, so I’d be hard pressed to spend more than a dollar on that. But something that’s more efficient (90% efficien vs 60%) or more valuable (1 million XP versus 200k XP) could justify a higher cost.

        Reply

  • thait

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    If they’re cheap enough, and i do mean really cheap at something like a 100sc, i could see using them to stockpile xp between expansions. It would allow you to actually store up useful xp to use the instant a lvl cap it raised.

    For me i wouldn’t really bother, i don’t mind the grind when new expansions come out so it’s not for me. But i know people who would probably really like that.

    Now the real question is can i use it to store tradeskill xp to drop on a different character since my main is maxed out? I would actually use a tradeskill vial.

    Reply

    • GriffonLady

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      Shhh! Now they’ll but a time limit on them. XD

      Reply

  • Katz

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    Like most of you, how useful it will be for me depends on the price. If the price is right it would be great for max level characters.

    Reply

  • madrat

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    So the real question is if you use one of these will your xp not count for the new diety system we have in place? Kind of confused.

    Reply

    • Feldon

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      When you are filling a vial, all other places xp could go such as deity points are disabled.

      Reply

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