Increasing xp gain in forage:
It gets easier as you go, so persevere. It's never fast, but it does get easier.
Dig good stuff: You get more XP for Choice and Excellent mats than you do for Fine, and even that is better than Basic. There are excellent mats in *all* areas, even the q50 ones, and choice mats are "easy". :)
Dig with your best stanzas: The more mats you dig per node, the more xp you get. Again, this means that at the beginning you get very little at the beginning, but it gets better.
Always dig materials that are 10 levels above your current level, i.e. from level 20>29, dig q30. As soon as you hit level 30, dig q40, etc. You get more xp for higher difference between mat q and your level, so the first few levels of each ten go faster than the last one. Digging higher than the rounded down +10 leads to degradation and may actually reduce your xp. (I.e. digging q40 at level 29 will cause degradation in amount and quality on a random, and irritating, basis.)
Careplan: XP for digging is maximized if you run out the timer (white bar) rather than source life ("heart" bar), and is additionally knocked down if the source explodes or gasses you. Having someone careplan for you works, but you can also careplan for yourself.
Use catalysts: If you are on the free trial, experience catalysts are your friend. Back in the old days digging was one of the primary skills that catalysts were used for (crafting was the other). We would even save them for the last two levels of each ten-level stretch to make those levels less stressful.
So -- some quick tips.
It gets easier as you go, so persevere. It's never fast, but it does get easier.
Dig good stuff: You get more XP for Choice and Excellent mats than you do for Fine, and even that is better than Basic. There are excellent mats in *all* areas, even the q50 ones, and choice mats are "easy". :)
Dig with your best stanzas: The more mats you dig per node, the more xp you get. Again, this means that at the beginning you get very little at the beginning, but it gets better.
Always dig materials that are 10 levels above your current level, i.e. from level 20>29, dig q30. As soon as you hit level 30, dig q40, etc. You get more xp for higher difference between mat q and your level, so the first few levels of each ten go faster than the last one. Digging higher than the rounded down +10 leads to degradation and may actually reduce your xp. (I.e. digging q40 at level 29 will cause degradation in amount and quality on a random, and irritating, basis.)
Careplan: XP for digging is maximized if you run out the timer (white bar) rather than source life ("heart" bar), and is additionally knocked down if the source explodes or gasses you. Having someone careplan for you works, but you can also careplan for yourself.
Use catalysts: If you are on the free trial, experience catalysts are your friend. Back in the old days digging was one of the primary skills that catalysts were used for (crafting was the other). We would even save them for the last two levels of each ten-level stretch to make those levels less stressful.
So -- some quick tips.
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Remembering Tyneetryk
Phaedreas Tears - 15 years old and first(*) of true neutral guilds in Atys.
(*) This statement is contested, but we are certainly the longest lasting.
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