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A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

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A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

Post by Panikpansen »

Hi, I'm new here and playing on my first character I found a neat spot to grind xp that works well for me. I didn't see any guides for this so I decided to do a quick write-up in the hopes that others may find this useful. Feel free to leave your feedback! SPOILERS BELOW!

One of the new areas added in Andor's Trail 0.7.3 is the graveyard area south of the waterway house. As part of the quest "Mine for the taking" you have to rid the graveyard of a zombie king - but it also doubles as a particularly convenient xp grinding spot. Here is how to make use of it:

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# Why grind at the graveyard?

To no one's surprise the graveyard is swarming en masse with zombies: the 'graveyard corpse' mob. Individually not much of a challenge, their sheer number can make them a danger even to more experienced PCs. At the same time, because of their number after an initial clearing the graveyard becomes one of the best xp grinding spots in the game:
  • with only 70hp for almost 350xp, graveyard corpses have a very good hp/xp ratio of about 5xp per hp (afaik only quick/vicious/strong venomscale snakes have a similar hp/xp ratio at an xp value over 300)^1
  • the graveyard map itself is a large one with well over 220 spawning spaces - the stream of zombies to fight here is almost continuous
  • most importantly (and ultimately the reason for this recommendation): graveyard corpses track you over the entire map - once they spawn they immediately start coming to you. As long as a path is available your xp will walk to you - you only have to lift your weapon of choice to collect!
  • the graveyard map is structured like a maze, so zombies will track around and file in in an easily controllable stream instead of a large group
  • in similar vein, the map offers some central safe spots where you can only be attacked from two spots at once - even if more zombies spawn, they'll have to wait their turn while you safely dispose of their colleagues in fair 2v1 fights
  • this will probably work best for characters around lvl50 - but your mileage will vary depending on build and skill. I had no trouble grinding out levels 55-60 with a pretty atrocious one-handed shield build.
#How to unlock the graveyard (quest "Mine for the taking")

The graveyard area is a recent addition to the game and is located in the northern part of the map, just south of the waterway house on the road between Crossroads/Loneford and Remguard. Follow the river north of Loneford to the waterway house and take the south-eastern exit from there - the location itself is hard to miss.

However, to gain access you'll need to start (but not finish!) the "Mine for the taking" quest:
1. From the waterway house (A) (https://imgur.com/a/ajOSMkn) go east to access a wooded area.

2. Open the chest (B) (https://imgur.com/a/ajOSMkn) that's sitting there out in the open - you will fail. Talk to the nearby NPC who will tell you about the graveyard and the local legends.

3. Go south and enter the graveyard area (C) (https://imgur.com/a/ajOSMkn) - you'll find an invisible barrier preventing you from entering. Time to gain access - talk to the NPC again and he'll tell you about a woodcutter who is rumoured to have been here before.

4. Unfortunately, the woodcutter is a fair ways away. You'll need to track back to Crossguard and from there follow the road to the southeast until you reach the obelisks for Lodar's quest. Turn south into the woods and follow the path - the woodcutter's camp is just north of Fallhaven, but can only be accessed from this main road here.

5. Talk to Hagale. He is a drunk and will require a generous donation of some of the local pub's famous 'rat poison', a healthy beverage sold by NPC Lowyna. Fortunately, he is just inside the house Hagale is standing next to.

6. After refuelling Hagale he'll share his sad family history, and will give you the quest item 'Ancient text' and a warning. With this in hand you'll now be able to enter the graveyard.

7. Track back the way you came and enter the graveyard. Once you'll enter the graveyard, a script message will appear and graveyard corpses will spawn. Prepare for a tough initial fight - about 20 or so corpses will spawn and start to swarm you at once. But that's what you came here for...
#Grinding XP at the graveyard
  • Graveyard corpses are not strong on their own, but can be dangerous in larger groups. They make up for their low 70 HP with 9 DR and 135 BC. At 10 AP, with 3 AP per attack they will attack three times per round, with AC 160, Crit 5 and Crit* 2.0. They also have a 25% chance to apply Putrefaction 1 on hit, lowering the PC's AP by 1 for 3 rounds. They will also heal up by 1-2 HP per hit.
  • Graveyard corpses will track you wherever you are on the map - pick a central spot on the map and wait for zombies to peter in one by one.
  • If you find yourself dropping too low in HP while grinding xp here, consider standing on the yellow tile in the middle. On this spot you can only be attacked from two mobs at once - even if others spawn during your fight, they won't be able to pathfind to you and stand still until one of the tiles adjacent to you frees up.
  • Consider using sustain items (or skills/buffs) for these fights - anything that awards +HP per kill is great here, in particular the Rapier of lifesteal. I've combined this with the new Guynmart Shield (Bark skin procs frequently with the quick zombie attacks) and Marrowtaint with good success.
  • After the initial clear of the graveyard just pick your favourite spot and watch the zombies stream towards you. Sit back and hack away - ideal for semi-afk farming.
  • Graveyard corpses will drop bones (1-2, drop chance 30%), gold (1-6, 70%), wooden clubs (AC10, Dam 0-1, 10%, sells for 47 gold) and crude iron shields (AC-10, BC12, DR1, 5%, sells for 128 gold). There are better spots in the game to farm gold, but it's something at least. No rare/exceptional items drop in this area.
  • Don't kill the Graveyard King blue tile! Once you do
    your ancient text crumbles to dust and no more zombies will spawn.
    This means that in order to grind xp here you cannot finish the 'Mine for the taking' quest. This means you'll also miss the quest reward for now,
  • If you do decide to kill the Graveyard King, be wary of his putrefaction debuff. It temporarily lowers your AP and can stack up quickly, leaving you unable to heal up or attack. Potions of haste / minor speed can be a great help here, or anything else that prevents you from getting hit.
Enjoy grinding away on the corpses of graveyard zombies!

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^1 Note: This does not factor in damage resist and block chances, so effective xp/hp rates will differ. Even if graveyard corpses are not the very best mobs to kill stat wise, they are still in the top tier just for the convenience of this spot.


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Let me know if you spot any mistakes or you have any other feedback. I'm not 100% sure about which version the graveyard was added, and I've written up the quest steps from memory. Any other clarification on game mechanics, in particular spawning, is much appreciated. And of course, if you think this is useful or absolutely isn't, let me know!
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Re: A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

Post by rijackson741 »

Hello Panikpansen, and welcome to the forums.

Nice post :)

Note that there are a few places you can stand where only one zombie can attack at once. One of those is 5 tiles west of your yellow tile.

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Level:71, XP:6493739, PV:608, FQ:84
HP:210, AC:212, AD:58-77, AP:4, ECC:16%, CM:1.5, BC:188, DR:3
Gold: 237559 | RoLS:1, RoL:1, GoW:1, VSH:1, RoFLS:1, WoB:1
HH:1, WA:1, CS:2, Cl:1, IF:4, Ev:3, Re:2, WP:DA:1, WP:1S:1, WP:B:1, AP:L:1, FS:DW:2, S:DW:1
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Re: A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

Post by T-rex2298 »

I should try this grinding spot. Just need to get my RotLS first...
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Re: A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

Post by Panikpansen »

Thanks for the kind words :)
rijackson741 wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 1:32 am Note that there are a few places you can stand where only one zombie can attack at once. One of those is 5 tiles west of your yellow tile.
Good catch, my suggestion for the spot is by no means the only viable, I should add that above. Any nice central tile is good at any rate to minimise the average time zombies spend walking towards you.

T-rex2298 wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:35 am I should try this grinding spot. Just need to get my RotLS first...
This feels like an appropriate moment to mention that I got my Rapier of Lifesteal after about 600 kills. :)

Yeah but try this spot for some change of scenery, the tracking mechanic / zombies swarming you all day is good fun!
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Re: A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

Post by __Demo__ »

Damn I should not have killed the Graveyard King, hopefully I do not kill it again with my new characters, this grinding guide is definitely necessary for lazybones like me

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Demo
Lv 70 HP 46 AP 3/12 ATK Stats 324 65-71 DEF Stats 50
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Re: A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

Post by ace »

My teacher once told me that lazy people often have very efficient ideas with minimum effort to put in. and here I can see one example. thanks for sharing this. it's one amazing method to hack and slash your way to high levels.
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Re: A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

Post by Urbain »

Nothing like a good, lazy, creative solution. I did the same thing until deciding that the Graveyard King needed to be dispatched.

It's such a great grinding spot since the re-spawn rate is incredible and, as you mentioned, the HP to XP ratio is second to none. Great rundown of the tactic. Thanks for posting it!
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Re: A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

Post by T-rex2298 »

Panikpansen wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:26 am This feels like an appropriate moment to mention that I got my Rapier of Lifesteal after about 600 kills. :)

Yeah but try this spot for some change of scenery, the tracking mechanic / zombies swarming you all day is good fun!
Really? I'm at 6,435 which technically I shouldve had a 64.35% of getting a Ring. But to be honest with you Ive never had much luck obtaining rare/extraordinary stuff. In game or not.

I'll use this grinding spot later, I'm still at the rank where I have to watch if my health needs replenishing ;)
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Re: A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

Post by rijackson741 »

T-rex2298 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 11:21 pm Really? I'm at 6,435 which technically I shouldve had a 64.35% of getting a Ring.
Probability calculations are not that simple. At 6,435 kills you had a 47.46% chance of getting a ring.
Level:71, XP:6493739, PV:608, FQ:84
HP:210, AC:212, AD:58-77, AP:4, ECC:16%, CM:1.5, BC:188, DR:3
Gold: 237559 | RoLS:1, RoL:1, GoW:1, VSH:1, RoFLS:1, WoB:1
HH:1, WA:1, CS:2, Cl:1, IF:4, Ev:3, Re:2, WP:DA:1, WP:1S:1, WP:B:1, AP:L:1, FS:DW:2, S:DW:1
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Re: A lazy man's guide to grinding XP at the new graveyard [LVL50+] [Spoiler]

Post by T-rex2298 »

rijackson741 wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 1:58 am
T-rex2298 wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 11:21 pm Really? I'm at 6,435 which technically I shouldve had a 64.35% of getting a Ring.
Probability calculations are not that simple. At 6,435 kills you had a 47.46% chance of getting a ring.
.........
Everything can be solved with a quick bite to the neck.
Operation Shadowslay.
Maturity: Completed! For the one ring has been found!
Melior Futuri.
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