Experience point

Experience Points to Level
Experience needed after True Reincarnation(s) is increased, view the charts here or mouse-over numbers above to see 1st life, 2nd life, and 3rd life+

Note: A character can earn up to one point less than enough XP for 2 levels. For Example: A Level 8 Character can obtain up to 439,999XP (1 point less than the amount necessary for the character to attain level 10) Some players use this process (called “Banking”) to extend the time that certain quests provide XP (ex.  A level 17 player can attain 1,709,999 XP.  This allows the character to run all of the Vale of Twilight quests on Hard with no XP loss except from repetition.) it also extends the length of time characters can spend with leveling groups (For instance, a level 17 can run quests with capped characters with no XP loss and can run quests with characters as low as level 14 without penalizing the XP of the level 14 character).

If you're level 18 you can go straight to level 20 and cap out, as the game doesn't keep that -1xp (in other words, you can attain 1,900,000 XP at level 18, rather than stopping at 1,899,999).

Gaining/Earning Experience Points(XP)
There are several methods to earn experience points, in two different places: quests and Wilderness adventure areas. Some XP adjustments apply equally to all members of the party, others are calculated individually. XP awards are not split among party members and are not affected by party size.

Quests

 * Complete optional objectives inside a quest. Common optional objectives include slaying a boss or named creature, exploring certain areas of a map, or clearing side areas of threats.  Some optional objectives are shown from the start of a mission, while others remain hidden until triggered.  Optional objective XP is granted instantly.
 * Complete all main objectives inside a quest. Some main objectives remain hidden until triggered.  Main objective XP is usually higher than that of optional objectives.  The main XP is bestowed upon completion of the quest and can be modified by the following conditions.  Changes to these conditions that occur after the main XP is awarded don't affect the amount (though they may incorrectly change the amount reported in the quest log - see below).
 * First-time completion of quest: (individual) Completing a quest on hard or elite difficulty the first time it is run gives two possible bonuses.  The first is an extra 10% if running on hard or 20% on elite.  The second is an additional 5% for hard or 10% for elite for running multiple quests on hard or elite for the first time up to a maximum of 5x, i.e. tops out at 25% for hard and 50% for elite.  See Bravery Bonus for more information.
 * First-time difficulty completion: (individual) Completing a quest for the first time on Solo/Casual or on Normal grants a +25% bonus. Completing a quest for the first time on Hard difficulty grants a +40% bonus  Completing a quest for the first time on Elite difficulty grants a +80% bonus.
 * Tome of Learning bonus: (individual) Tomes of learning offer up to +50% bonus.
 * Repetition: (individual) The first three completions have no adjustment. Completing a quest for the fourth time (i.e., the third repetition) carries a -10% penalty, with an additional -10% penalty for each further completion, for maximum penalty of -90% from the 12th completion on.  Also, beginning with the 13th completion, the main XP reward is capped at a maximum of 10% of its base value regardless of bonuses.  All completions at all difficulty levels count toward this penalty.  This penalty (including the 10% cap) is waived if there is a "first time" difficulty bonus, though that completion still counts toward increasing the penalty on later attempts.  If the player is at the current level cap then the repetition counter is not incremented upon a successful completion, however the quest is considered 'completed' at that difficulty for the purposes of the First-time completion bonus.
 * Level of quest vs level of highest character in quest: (party) Compare the quest's level to the level of the highest-level character to have entered the quest (even if they later left). If that character's level is below, equal to, or one level above the quest's level, there is no adjustment. If it's +2, there's a -10% penalty. +3 = -25%, +4 = -50%, +5 = -75%, +6 = -99%, and at +7 or higher there is no XP regardless of bonuses. Casual difficulty subtracts 1 from the quest's level (if possible) for purposes of this adjustment, Hard difficulty adds 1, and Elite adds 2. ✅
 * Power-leveling penalty: (individual) If you are exactly 4 levels below the highest-level character in the party, you receive a -50% penalty. If you are 5 levels below, you receive a -75% penalty. If you are 6 levels below, you receive a -99% penalty. If you are 7 or more levels below, you receive no XP regardless of bonuses.
 * Death: (party) There is a +10% Flawless Victory Bonus  if there are no deaths. (Unconsciousness is not death unless the player releases.) There is a +5% Survival Bonus  if there are one or more Hireling deaths but no player deaths.
 * Re-entry:
 * (party) There is a +10% Persistence Bonus  if no one leaves the quest (for any reason, including death & release to bind point, recall, or exit) and re-enters.
 * (individual) Each of your re-entries confers a -20% penalty to you, to a maximum of -90% for the fifth. Re-entry penalties do not apply on Solo or Casual difficulty, although the Persistence Bonus can still be lost.
 * Late entry:
 * (individual) If you first entered the dungeon ten or more minutes after it spawned, you'll have a -80% penalty if the time between your entry and completion is less than a quarter of the dungeon's lifetime at that moment. If it's at least a quarter but less than half, you'll have a -50% penalty instead. (Explained by dev Phax here)
 * Killing monsters: Killing a large portion of the monsters present can confer
 * +10% Aggression  bonus
 * +15% Onslaught  bonus
 * +25% **Conquest**  bonus
 * Not killing monsters: On the flip side, completing a mission while slaying very few enemies can grant
 * +5% Discreet  bonus
 * +7% Devious  bonus
 * +10% **Insidious Cunning**  bonus
 * Disarming traps: Disarming a large portion of the traps present can confer
 * +8% Tamper  bonus
 * +10% Neutralization  bonus
 * +15% **Ingenious Debilitation**  bonus
 * Finding secret doors: Finding a large portion of the secret doors present can confer
 * +8% Observance  bonus
 * +10% Perception  bonus
 * +15% **Vigilant Sight**  bonus
 * Destroying breakable objects: Destroying a large portion of the breakable objects (barrels, vases, caskets, etc.) present can confer
 * +8% Mischief  bonus
 * <font color='blue'>+10% Vandal  bonus
 * <font color='green'>+15% **Ransack**  bonus
 * Note that the not-killing-monsters bonus isn't listed in the XP log until after quest completion, while everything else is.
 * All bonuses are added together and can make a quest worth the time and effort to complete even if there are penalties. However, there are two cases where a quest's main XP reward will be 0 regardless of bonuses. The first is if you meet a condition that explicitly prohibits XP. The second is if there are enough penalties to reduce the reward to a subtotal of 0 XP before bonuses are applied. Due to roundoff issues, you may or may not get XP if your penalties total exactly -100%. You definitely won't if they go below that.

Optionals

 * Optional XP can be affected by penalties, but not the above-listed bonuses; the only exceptions to this are quest XP bonuses granted by:
 * special DDO events (such as a 10-25% bonus during Festivult, for example)
 * Tomes of Learning
 * The Voice of the Master/Mantle of the Worldshaper
 * Airship experience shrines
 * Experience Elixirs purchased from the DDO Store
 * Basically, any modifiers listed "above the line" in the quest log, other than "First time completing ____ difficulty," counts towards calculating the Optional XP.
 * "Base XP," for purposes of Optionals, consists of the listed XP for that level, plus possible game-wide bonus, minus any penalties which apply. This number is then further modified by any personal experience bonus gained from equipped items, airship shrines, or elixirs.
 * For example, the base modifier for doing The Mystery of Delera's Tomb on Normal is 1,742 XP. If the quest is done without incurring any penalties, this would be the Base XP used to calculate XP from optionals... even if it's your first time through on Normal.
 * With a small/medium elixir (+10% XP) in effect, the base is now 1,916 XP (110%).
 * With a 25% game-wide bonus, it's now 2,177 XP (125%).
 * With *both* in effect, the base XP is 2,395 XP (137.5%), rather than the 2,351 XP (135%) if they were added together before application.
 * Note that the repetition penalty is specific to the optional, and not based on the quest's repetition penalty (e.g., in Walk the Butcher's Path, if you survive the ambush several times without having completed the quest, you'll start to lose XP for it... even though it's technically your first time through the quest.) The reverse is also true; if you complete a quest several times, but one of the optionals just once (for instance: while farming a Muckbane, you complete Durk's Got a Secret five times before spawning Muck), you won't have a repetition penalty for the XP gained by completing the optional.  The repetition penalty is not removed for the first time on a certain difficulty.
 * Optional XP which has already been awarded will not be changed by subsequent penalties (from death, re-entry, or a higher-level character joining the quest); the amount listed in the XP Log will lower if there's a change, but you won't actually lose the XP. Any uncompleted Optionals, however, will be affected.
 * Optionals seem to be worth double the listed percentage on Casual; this is not the case for Solo-only quests.

XP Log
Bonuses and penalties are calculated and locked in when the main quest is completed, which may not be accurately reflected in the quest XP log. The XP log bonuses/penalties continue to be updated after the XP is locked, so you may see some bonuses/penalties listed that you didn't actually get (e.g., you may see a re-entry penalty reducing your listed XP because you finished-out and re-entered after the quest was completed: you actually got the full XP, but it now displays less than that). This holds true to optional XP as well.

The XP log is updated when: (Explained by dev Phax here)
 * 1) (individual) YOU log in
 * 2) (party-wide) Player Dies
 * 3) (party-wide) Henchman Dies
 * 4) (party-wide) Monster Dies
 * 5) (party-wide) Chest Looted
 * 6) (party-wide) Secret Door Discovered
 * 7) (party-wide) Trap Disabled
 * 8) (party-wide) Breakable Smashed

Wilderness Areas

 * Complete Slayer objectives by killing increasing numbers of enemies anywhere in the zone. Each objective requires more kills than the last, but is also worth more XP.
 * Complete Explorer objectives by visiting locations of interest scattered throughout the zone. Each location is worth XP the first time it's visited, with a one-time bonus for visiting all of them.
 * Complete Rare Encounter objectives by killing rare named bosses. Bosses are worth XP (and a loot chest) every time one is killed, with a one-time bonus when they've all been killed once. Each rare boss has only a chance of spawning every time the area is entered; an ordinary enemy often appears in its place instead.

Wilderness area objective quests are granted automatically the first time the area is entered. They do not have a difficulty setting. Their progress is tracked between visits, and they cannot be reset or abandoned.

Wilderness areas have different XP adjustment rules than dungeon quests. Each wilderness area has a range of levels it supports. If all party members are within the area's range, they all receive normal XP and objective progress. If any characters are above the area's maximum level, no one but them can make progress toward objectives. The ones above the limit can still complete objectives, but they receive reduced XP: 1/2 if they're one level over the maximum, 1/3 for two levels, 1/4 for three, 1/5 for four, and so on. Characters below the area's minimum level never make progress toward objectives and are completely ignored when determining XP for the other members in their party.

The "Art" of Gaining XP
There are many opinions on the best difficulty order to complete quests to get the maximum amount of XP. Here are a few examples of various five-run methods using "The Kobolds' New Ringleader" and a party of level 1-3 characters. This is one of the most-run quests at level 2 so it makes a good example.

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Note that the commonly-suggested method of "three times on Normal, then once on Hard and once on Elite" yields close to the maximum but not quite the absolute greatest XP possible. It tends to be quicker than any method that gives more XP, though, which often makes it the most efficient plan, and it can be done solo by all players. Methods that don't start with Normal difficulty require a V.I.P. subscription (which allows a character to start on Elite) or a character to be True Reincarnated (once for Hard and 2+ for Elite) or a party member who can open elite.

Note also that this very rough analysis doesn't take into account how long it takes to complete each run, assumes everyone can handle Elite difficulty with no deaths, and doesn't necessarily extend to longer repetitions.

EMET: the above is patently false. I've crunched the numbers, and have found the real best way to get XP

the key lies in opportunity cost. suppose somebody does N, N, N, H, E, E. by doing H fourth, they avoid a -10% penalty. by doing E fifth, they avoid a -20% penalty. now suppose somebody does N, N, N, N, H, E. by doing H fifth, they avoid a -20% penalty. by doing E sixth, they avoid a -30%. thus, our second example gets 20% more than the first.

IN SUMMARY the later you burn your first time completing bonus, the better. so...

FOR F2P: decide how many times you want to do the quest. subtract two. do normal that many times, then hard, then leet.

FOR P2P: decide how many times you want to do the quest. subtract two. do leet that many times, then normal and hard (any order)

EXCEPTION: this only applies if you are avoiding penalties. thus, if you are only doing the quest three times, it is best to do it N/H/E (any order) also, I did not account for p2p's bravery bonus, thus a P2Per may want to do as many leet as possible to keep it.

DISSENSION: H gives more xp than N.

response: based on "the kobold's new ringleader" quest, and only that quest, each level only gives an 8% increase. not enough to counterbalance even saving 10%.

theoretically, there could be a quest out there who's difficulty increases are enough to counterbalance the penalties. I could calculate how much of an increase you'd need, but frankly, I'd rather not.

Note: Due to bravery, the best way to farm XP is doing elite first. Then, do the difficulty you will be farming on many times. Some quests it might be faster on normal. Some quests it is worth to farm on hard. Some quests it is worth it to farm on elite. Farming on elite will give the BEST total XP due to getting repitition penalties later, and higher base XP. Then once you have done all your farming runs, do the 2 difficulties you have not done yet, and possibly casual. For example: shadow crypt with a good arcane is easy even on elite, and about as fast. So Ex12, H, N, C is the best way to farm. Von3 is quite difficult and generally slower on elite so E, Nx11, H, C might be faster experience.