Where are the best spots now to grind AA during lesson burns and/or bonus XP weekends? I searched online and all I can find is "GMM" however that is pre-nerf. I am typically with a full group, geared with Snowbound and mostly GMM non-vis. Up until level 110 we had been using FM for AA's (getting about 90 AA's per lesson), but once we hit 110 we moved to GMM: The Darkness Howls to gear up everyone and are still doing that. A lesson there gets about 42 AA but that is doing the mission not strictly grinding. AA's were definitely faster in FM but I am guessing it would slow down with mobs likely turning light blue to level 112's.
My favorite spot at that level was the "tizmak augur" camp in GD. You may not be able to do the named at first, so focus on the west side or the caves to the north west.
Just a reminder - AA experience penalty of "outdated" expansions. I.e. once your level is higher than the max level available during that expansion your AA experience is basically halved, except your puller. In practical terms - unless you solo/molo, once your group dings 111 your AA exp is halves in all expansions except ToV and CoV. That brings me back to actual question - bonus time and lesson burns. Start ToV progression, it's relatively easy to do Mercenary quests in EW, get your feel of ToV trash mobs. And discover a miracle of ToV progression experience, when 3 quests to kill some half-dozen trash can give you 20-25% of the level exp (during bonus time). Then challenge yourself with Partisan tasks and get even higher exp reward. Hero missions are probably too tough for growing characters, but you can just buy TA's for mere 100K each and get another (40%*4 + 40% for Paragon) 2 levels during bonus time. Once you beef up to do Partisan tasks as a grinding activity you'll find out that there is 3-4 quests you can do in a loop with about 70-80AA per hour reward without a lesson or a bonus. And soon enough you'll forget what Lesson is.
All valid points. But I know a few people who like to grind a lesson prior to raids to refill their glyph AA's. Popular spots seem to be WW caves or a stroll through Temple of Veeshan or Skyshrine. Usually pretty easy to knock out 230 AA's in under an hour like that. Conq
ToV progression is fine for leveling, but merc tasks can't be repeated for any xp/AA reward. And I think there are only a couple of relatively fast partisan tasks that are repeatable for AA. Easiest thing I found to do is grab a Restless Assault instance in GD and clear the wurm caves. The caves are big and strightforward, unlike the twisting/turning of the tizmak caves. Both mob types (wurms and dwarves) are just tank and spank mobs, nothing special. Relatively low HP, easily split if necessary, can be snared, and die fast. No other groups to worry about and no named to bother with...just mindless grinding like the good ol' days. When you clear the caves, drop the instance and grab a new one, rinse, and repeat.
Thanks for all of the good input. Right now I am more interested in a grinding spot for the upcoming labor day weekend bonus xp. My group is working through progression and is still on RoS so I will save ToV progression until we get there. I will try out what is suggested here and post some feedback on AAxp rate (using Overseer for regular xp). If anyone else has spots that they use let me know and I will check them out as well.
Depends on your group make up. e.g. If you have a Paladin then the caves of Great Divide filled with restless Coldain will be absolutely fantastic for a LoTD burn.
If you're still fighting in RoS. Go to the pit in HS or go to ST if it's not infested with PLing crews. Those are spots I used to use.
we did a lot of lesson burns in Sathir's Tomb when it was the current expansion. Fast respawn, lots of mobs, lots of easy kills. stay clear of the mobs in the centre of the second room though, if you dont bring some cc...
pop a lesson and do the Great Divide Mission in Torment of Velious, 5aa per boss kill + about 72AA upon completion -> finish your lesson burn on the Wurms / dorfs caves in/out of the group mission youll have more AA then you know what to do with
So we tried a few spots last night. (all values are without lesson) GD Restless Assault - Wurms and Dwarfs were 120%AAxp per kill. With our group it was about 1 min/kill. The fact that this is instanced is a huge bonus. Sathir's Tomb (Grave Robber Room) - 68%AAxp per kill. Kills were still pretty close to 1 min each, slightly faster than GD but not enough to make up for the lower xp GMM Darkness Howls - Similar to ST ~70%AAxp per kill. Kills are a bit faster here than ST. So far it is looking like the Wurms and Dwarfs are the way to go, with lesson and assuming we get a 100% xp bonus on the weekend it'll be 480%AAxp per kill or 4-5AA per kill which is right in the sweet spot based on the cap of 5AA/kill. With a good lesson burn should be able to get ~140AA in 30 mins on the weekend. We tried the Restless Assault mission, I am thinking our level is probably on the low side (levels 110-112) to use it as a valuable way to get AA as it is pretty slow going. We quit after a wipe because it was taking so long, but will try again for the challenge.
I'm pretty sure the bonus experience and lessons are additive, not multiplicative. That means something which gives 120% AA exp normally would give 360% with lessons and a 100% bonus experience, which is still great. However, if the bonus experience is only 50%, then that kill would give 300% AA exp.
I wasn't sure if that was the case or not, I'll check it out this weekend and get some numbers to be sure.
With no bonus xp, Lesson, or potion, I get an AA per kill in that zone (sometimes 2 AA as the percentages catch up). With no bonus xp and Lesson running I get 2 AA a kill. When bonus xp is running, depending on how much it is, I'll get 2-3 AA per kill without Lesson and 3-5 AA per kill with Lesson. That's how it's worked for me in the past (with a full group).
Tested out last night, was getting the 480%aaxp per kill which netted 144AA in a lesson burn (Restless Assault Wurms and Coldain). We also managed to finish off the mission, popped a lesson before the reward and almost a full level of regular xp from 111 to 112 on my Cleric. Not sure if you get the full xp from the mission every time or if it is a one time deal.
The xp from achievements are one time only in ToV. I think there were a couple of partisan tasks that reward like 25 AA each time you do them.
There is no point in nerfing experience in the older zones when a new one comes out. Let's use some basic logic here. The average grouper is not equipped to xp in the new zones, so we are basically locked out of leveling until our gear and levels are higher- like around the time a new expansion comes out! The raiders don't NEED extra experience. They will still level up before anyone else is out of the starting gate. The attraction of a new expansion and new gear is enough to pull them into the newer zones. If the experience were better in the old zones, they might actually come grind with groupers. Win-win for everyone. You really SHOULD boost the experience in zones where 60s-90s go. Your "hot zones" are a cold shower.to player motivation.
