Does the hotzone bonus apply to instances within the same zone? The zone The Grounds currently is a hotzone, will the instanced zone The Grounds: The Gardener also receive the hotzone bonus? edit: Also out of the current hotzones, what would be good for a full boxed group of a level 85 mage/mage/mage/bard/shaman/necro? I am currently in the old bloodfields pulling just outside the castle but was wondering if there might be a better zone/spot. Thanks for any help
As to the hotzone question, it seems that it usually does but someone told me that's not always the case. The only true way to tell is to try or wait for someone who has, to respond. It's more of how effective you are at killing the mobs in bloodfields. It takes some math but if you can kill x amount of mobs in Hills of Shade (which are lower level) much faster than Bloodfields, it might be worth it to go there. I haven't spent much time in either to know if the HP pool difference is much between the two.
From my experience the XP bonus does not apply to instanced versions of the zones. I remember a Dev stating this some time ago, but things change. Easiest way to test is to set xp to full AA and solo kill a mob a couple of times and check the increase.
Originally, hot zone bonus didn't apply to instances. Not long ago, I saw a dev post saying that it did apply to a specific instance that was being discussed, although I can't remember which, and didn't do any testing to confirm. So presumably it was changed at some point.
I thought instances had a bonus zem applied to them like dungeons? If that is the case, is that maybe what you were experiencing instead?
It would have to be mighty coincidental for me to receive exactly the same exp per kill in static/instanced zones in more than one expansion.
It's a fact that a post from dev's disputes then. It is possible to get the 'exact' same xp in zones with and without bonus's though if your low aa count and getting the max xp per kill available it wont matter as long as your killing the same yellow/red etc con mobs.
Sorry, my snarkiness got in the way of my thinking. No, that isn't the case. If it was, the instance exp would not have decreased when the hotzones changed. I'm not aware of any zones that have a higher exp mod in an instance than in the static zone. Any examples? I might like a nice place to level alts. To Derd, I wouldn't take things Devs say as gospel. The instance/static hotzone exp bonus takes minutes for anyone in-game to test. I killed mobs of the same level so the exp received would be the same, and I was beyond any low aa bonus.
The hot zone bonus has never applied to instances. Back when they were really going more into instances they gave a lot of them different ZEMs than the normal zones. How they have them set now is anyone's guess. I want to say the instances back during DoN had higher ZEMs than the static versions of the zones. The hotzone xp bonus will take a bit more than just a few minutes to test. In order to actually test it you would have to kill at least 20 even con mobs, though 100 would be ideal, solo in both the instance and the static zone; noting the % you were at before and after they were all killed. If they were anything but even con mobs you have no way of knowing if they were actually the same level in both the instance and the static zone; less than 20 will be a bit questionable as to any difference being in the zone or how much xp you had to begin with; and if you are not solo then the division of the xp between the different players can throw things off too. When the Dev's say something like Hotzone XP doesn't apply to instances it isn't them saying what they think, it is them looking at the data and saying, "hey the static zone has the hotzone xp flag checked, but the instanced version does not have the hotzone xp flag checked."
And when the instance exp drops dramatically when the hotzones change? If the hotzone bonus was not being applied to instances, the instance exp would not have changed when the hotzones did. I'm referring to kaesora library and the feerrott. I think after spending hours and hours and hours in both static and instanced versions of these zones, I'd have slightly better information than someone that checks a database. I think you're right about the DoN. I seem to recall the instances being better as well. To be honest, I'm not sure why I'm debating this. If I found some reason to log in today and burn lotd in a feerrott run the same way I've run it for myself and others for over a year, I wouldn't receive even close to the same exp.
Ha ha ha. Classic. You don't know what you're talking about. You're only the developer that set up the hot zones.
Hotzone modifiers do not apply to instances. There was ONE time it applied to ONE zone (kaesora) and once it was found out, it was promptly removed. Was just an accident in that case anyway.
I wasn't trying to say he didn't know what he was talking about, but I can see how it looks that way. What I meant to say is there are numerous examples of things not working as intended or at all, far too many to list. In-game testing trumps whatever the computer may be telling him is or isn't happening. I'll log in tonight and test it again. I may very well be an , but I prefer actual data to prove it.
Unless changing the hotzones was their fix, no they didn't. I was there at 95 until the hotzones changed. I noticed the exp drop-off and then changed to the feerrott and the fall of tae ew instance.
My chars are in that range now on FV (where I left off on Vulak progression), and I like playing in those zones. And I also agree that the instances have very nice exp in them. What I don't know is whether it is better exp because the mobs are more tuned to the group levels, or due to an exp bonus. Either way, I stay with the instances.
Just finished my lotd flipping fall of the tae ew instances. I gained 33aa. My average was 44-48 at level 100 when the feerrott was a hotzone. The only thing that changed was the hotzone flag was removed.
