So, about a week ago I decided I was going to really dive back into Conan. Because the single player game is, uh … not quite right, shall we say, I sprung for a private server and I’ve configured it to be identical to the official PvE servers (since I’m not going to PvP myself). No boosts, level 6 purge, building decay, thrall limits, and all the rest, right down to the 600 second thrall wakeup time. Exactly the same as officials.
I’ve spent my time creating a small base near the south river, with some small wheels, an animal pen and a stable. Because I’m a completionist, and I’m going for a “pure” solo experience (no cheating whatsoever, even if I lose something due to nonsense, I’m going to treat it exactly as it would be on officials – in other words, too bad, sucks for me). Bottom line, this would be exactly the same experience I’d have on an official server, but without all of the derp from other players.
Now that’s the background. Typical gameplay, and I’ve done no grinding (other than harvesting resources, of course) and nothing to try and level quickly (no sprinting around the map, no focus on trying to get as many journey steps out of the way to maximize leveling speed, and so on). I don’t have any of the western map explored (haven’t been Sepermaru), only about half the desert and half the jungle, none of the North. I’ve spent the majority of my time either harvesting, or looking for thralls that aren’t terrible.
I’m level 56. How the heck is this possible? Again, no XP boosts of any kind, not doing anything special to try to level quickly, and the default game has just rocketed me up there. This seems way too fast for a PvE experience, and faster than what it was the last time I did this (about a year ago). Did they seriously ramp up XP rates across the board for some reason? It is what it is, but I’m curious.