Dark Devices - Phase 1 Exploit

[Slaxx]

Having done this FATE myself, I was unaware of the fact that the non-FATE mobs spawn was considered an exploit.

Snip for stupid forum limitations.

They are FATE mobs, just not the target mobs for the completion of the FATE.

With the absolutely massive XP requirements for the last 5 - 10 levels "exploiting" (I personally don't feel this is an exploit in the against the ToS sense) this kind of mechanic is the only way to reach these levels in any reasonable length of time, and I'm still working on my first 50. As someone who leveled multiple jobs to 75 (the cap at the time) in FFXI I can say that level grinding can absolutely suck the life out of you, and your MMO. Slow and tedious leveling should never be a substitute for meaningful content.

[Renvalt]

They are FATE mobs, just not the target mobs for the completion of the FATE.

I don't believe so. Usually, they'd have an icon near their names if they spawned as part of a FATE, and I seem to recall them sticking around after it as well (even when the FATE in question isn't up, they're still there).

I actually seem to recall my first attempt: we didn't get the Lambs killed in time, and only got a paltry amount of EXP. To me, it actually seems that the mobs themselves might contribute to the first phase FATE, but it doesn't seem to be what grants the biggest chunk of EXP in that particular FATE. I think the steps AFTER are what grant the biggest chunk (someone in the aforementioned party said that we lost a chance at about 30k EXP or so - I'm like to think it wasn't the mobs killed by AoEs that were the most important part).

[Slaxx]

I don't believe so. Usually, they'd have an icon near their names if they spawned as part of a FATE, and I seem to recall them sticking around after it as well (even when the FATE in question isn't up, they're still there).

The ~1 second respawn indicates that a vast majority of them are FATE mobs. There are similar mobs in the area that naturally get caught up in the AoE spam, but not nearly enough to account for the vast amounts of experience and chain 100+ that is easily attainable in a competent group.

Edit: The "gap" in leveling started far earlier than 47-49. At least as early as level 40 I would get 1/2 a level doing every available quest (story and side). I finished my hunting log to level 50 at 44 (maybe 45). There simply was no other reasonable source of XP beyond that. Grinding dungeons wasn't really an option as a DD. The wait times take the decent XP you can get from dungeons and put it in the realm of "auto-logoff due to afk".