ColonelScarlet logged in at breakfast time. His pale blue pony was already halfway through level 6, so a morning with a friendly Bandit moved things on nicely, so that by the time lunch was due, level 10 had been reached.
Kaerella went out for a "power hour" after coffee, in as usual the back room in Prokion Temple on Katar-4; it was time to use a pssp, and a blue-and-white psp as well, so that, now that Kae was level 29, each Orc Sergeant killed would give 1.925 skill points - or 7.7 of them if I used a skill point booster. I had 114 of those left, and picked up another along the way from a Hand of the Guard, so killing 115 Orc Sergeants while using an spb brought in 885.5 skill points - and killing Orc Axemen (without using an spb) brought in another 1.54 skill points per kill. Being able to use the level 33 +15 bow meant that the killing was rather quicker than before, so that by the end of the hour a total of 37.48% experience had been gained, and 1314 skill points, plus 1057 pet points. If I'd not used the skill point boosters, the number of skill points gained would still have been a very respectable 650, or I think 557 without the stacking 50% extra skill exp gain from the platinum skill pill.
Of course, speed isn't everything - as one wants to get as many skill points as possible before reaching a level at which Prokion Temple is no longer worth going to, the ratio of skill exp to experience is also rather important. Those 115 level 29 Orc Sergeant deaths had a ratio of 8.12 to 1, while each of the level 27 Orc Axemen killed without an spb had a ratio of 2.67 to 1 - rather better than a Sergeant without an spb, where the figure was 2.03. Of course, if one goes for Orcs a few levels lower, the figures become more interesting; a level 25 Orc Fighter would give 3.21, while a level 23 Orc Soldier would give 14.50, assuming that one was still using the pssp and psp, or just 4.14 without any kind of boost.
So, unless I get the chance to buy any more skill point boosters in a three-for-one deal in the very near future, I think that the level 23 Orc Soldiers may take a few hours of Kaerella's time.
After lunch it was RedRyder's turn to grind some skill points, though first there was the little matter of getting rid of the percentage of experience she already had in level 25 - which started at 49.67%, but went up to 86.73% after finishing a few quests. So, running to her death in Prokion Temple was what was needed, 29 times, which took a while, particularly as twice she respawned in the foundations of the Temple rather than the starting hallway, and had to return to town as the only way, other than relogging, to get out of there.
The strange "death bug" is still in operation sometimes. Red dies, I click on the pop-up window to respawn rather than wait 5 minutes, and Red is standing in the Temple's hallway. If there are other people and the teleporter visible, all is well, but if I have the place to myself, the bug has struck again. If I don't move, then whatever killed me attacks some more, even though we are in theory in entirely different rooms, and given a few tries kills me again. If I do move, I am instantaneously back in the room I died in, and being attacked. I have incurred the 3% experience death penalty, which is fine as that was what I was trying to do - in fact I've incurred it twice in quick succession. That is okay for me, though one can imagine circumstances in which an unwanted death, and death penalty, became doubled.
Dying removes Elizabeth's Enhancement, so a trip back to Randol was needed once Red was down to 0% - and then, it was time to go back to the Temple, and settle down in that room alongside my back room, fighting Orc Soldiers and Mummies. The session got me up to 68.82% again, plus 497 pet points (the Mummies are blue-named now, so don't give pet experience), and the full 272 skill points that RedRyder needed to maximise all her general and passive skills, up to level 25. After spending all the sp, it was time for 23 more death runs, including another visit to the foundations - and then there was time for another shorter session, bringing in 143 skill points, which started Red on getting all her "special" crafting, gathering and manufacturing skills; all but the final level of advanced mining, plus basic herbalism.
Zenderfly had got in touch; she had got almost all the gold she needed to repay my loan, but it didn't seem worth the bother of a part payment, best to do it all in one go. She suggested that we could do another power-levelling session for her Night Shadow Merun in the evening, this time going all the way to the Commanders in the grave room, rather than stopping off at the Anubis Spear Men. Fine with me, as long as it was Zen making the run there, rather than Barbarienne! I was a little worried that the place might be a bit too busy on a Saturday, but Zen said she'd scout it out, and report the situation at 5:30, UK time, after my traditional food break.
I logged ColonelScarlet out for a while; he had got the pony up seven more levels, to 13, during the day, which was steady progress. Barbarienne had just about filled her inventory, so I was busy for the ten minutes before 5:30 moving loot items across from Barb to MistressDomina, my merchant character on the Cariae server. And then Zen reported that all the useful spots in the Tomb were taken, and we both simultaneously suggested that we should try again on Monday.
So, ColonelScarlet logged back in, and went off to Bandit country, and RedRyder made the trip out to get her experience back down to 0% again. I had wondered about playing Kaerella, but she does rather need specific rooms in Prokion, and it being Saturday, there might well be a lot of competition for them. So, for a change of scenery, I decided to play, er...well, Kaerella, actually...
By that I mean my original Kae, the Cariae cleric slowly working her way through level 49. Thank goodness for the "Elizabuff", at least. The evening session was spent fighting giants, and a few akane giants at the lower end of the path. The only excitement was when Kamira arrived, but although I mentioned it on the forum shoutbox, things were pretty quiet there and nobody responded. She left after a while, and found someone else to bother.
So, Kaerella added 1438 pet points for SirFrancis, went up by 17.28%, and earned 107 skill points, so that was a pretty solid session - I see her previous one was 1502, 17.09%, and 107, so Kae is being fairly consistent. She probably fought a few more akane giants this time, which are a level higher than the regular kind and thus give slightly more experience per kill but less skill exp.
After that, which was a bit less adventurous than fighting the Sphinx Commanders in the Tomb with Zenderfly, it was time to log out, leaving ColonelScarlet still working away. With any luck the pony will reach level 16 before the older computer gets switched off, and miraculously grow to horse size. There's still a fair way to go before MistressDomino gets the mount she's expecting, though.
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