Is there a penalty to fighting weaker armies?

[IntelCoreDuo]

I have been gathering leadership by kiting, getting good troops and started fighting weaklings on the first islands. Does this mean that my dragon or character gets less XP from each fight and will level slower?

In other words, does putting stronger units in reserve before a fight, or the order in which you fight enemies affect your total XP at the end of the game?

[1darklord]

Yes you get less XP for fighting weaker enemies, your Dragon will level slower to.

Some people suggest using less stacks to increase XP.

Daniel.

[MaroonMaurader]

Hero xp is not effected by hero level. It's based on the total combined leadership of the troops you're fighting, plus some multiplicative factors when there's a hero, fortress, or other unique feature.

Dragon xp is effected by hero level. If your hero level is higher than your dragon level, you get more dragon XP (so your dragon level tends to be "dragged" up or down towards your hero level... so kiting to gain hero experience before fighting actually gives you more dragon xp). It is also effected by the ratio of your army's leadership to the enemy army's leadership - so if you fight with a stack that is much smaller than the enemy stack, your dragon gets far more xp. If you fight with a stack that has much more leadership than the enemy stack, your dragon gets less xp. If you're trying to maximize your dragon xp, try to use the minimum troops you need to win a fight.

[infernal1800]

Originally Posted by MaroonMaurader

Hero xp is not effected by hero level. It's based on the total combined leadership of the troops you're fighting, plus some multiplicative factors when there's a hero, fortress, or other unique feature.

Dragon xp is effected by hero level. If your hero level is higher than your dragon level, you get more dragon XP (so your dragon level tends to be "dragged" up or down towards your hero level... so kiting to gain hero experience before fighting actually gives you more dragon xp). It is also effected by the ratio of your army's leadership to the enemy army's leadership - so if you fight with a stack that is much smaller than the enemy stack, your dragon gets far more xp. If you fight with a stack that has much more leadership than the enemy stack, your dragon gets less xp. If you're trying to maximize your dragon xp, try to use the minimum troops you need to win a fight.

Exp of the dragon is not related to the level of heroes. The amount exp he gain depends on the difference between your total leadership of your troop and total leadership of enemy troop. If you are higher then your dragon gain less exp. For example, your army has 1 black dragon and 1 cyclop and enemy troop only has 2 archmage, 5 peasant => your dragon will gain less exp.

[MaroonMaurader]

Originally Posted by infernal1800

Exp of the dragon is not related to the level of heroes. The amount exp he gain depends on the difference between your total leadership of your troop and total leadership of enemy troop. If you are higher then your dragon gain less exp. For example, your army has 1 black dragon and 1 cyclop and enemy troop only has 2 archmage, 5 peasant => your dragon will gain less exp.

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpos...9&postcount=13
"The dragon gains more experience if its level is lower than the hero's." - Zechnophobe

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpos...3&postcount=13
Read the whole post if you want to know the dragon xp formula.
That said, the relevant part here:
"experience gained = (xpskill*[...]*(herolvl/petlvl)*[...]"

[IntelCoreDuo]

So I gather that dragon level is dependent on leadership, but will gain more leadership if lagging behind hero and will thus remain at about the same level. That makes sense, otherwise people who only use dragon spells that do no damage and have long sleep time would end up with very low level dragons in late game.

But how about the hero? Should I reduce the number of stacks or units to gain more XP and level quicker, or do I get a fixed amount of XP from each battle, ignoring bonuses etc?

[Sir Whiskers]

Originally Posted by IntelCoreDuo

But how about the hero? Should I reduce the number of stacks or units to gain more XP and level quicker, or do I get a fixed amount of XP from each battle, ignoring bonuses etc?

As stated above, Hero XP is determined solely by the strength of the enemy stack, with certain bonuses for elements such as an enemy hero. The size of your army has no impact on the amount of XP your hero gains from winning the fight.

While I often boost my dragon's XP by bringing in smaller armies (assuming I can still win the fight), my experience has been that it's not necessary to obsess over this. If you defeat most stacks in the game (approx. 300 fights, IIRC), your dragon will come close to or reach the max level of 60. The primary advantage of boosting the dragon early is - if you have sufficient rage - you'll have access to more powerful abilities in the mid-game, which can be helpful. The primary disadvantage of raising your dragon's level too quickly is that you may end up with abilities for which you have insufficient rage.