Gaining Experience Points
Experience points are earned primarily by defeating monsters. The amount of experience awarded scales with the monster's level relative to the character. Quests and special events also grant experience. Character level increases automatically when the accumulated experience total reaches the threshold for the next level — unlike Job Level, which requires a manual choice to spend Job Points. Level scales from 1 to 200, with the experience required per level growing significantly at higher tiers.
Death and EXP Loss
When a character dies in Rappelz, a portion of the accumulated experience points for the current level is lost. If the experience lost brings the total below the minimum needed for the current level, the character delevels — dropping back to the previous level. This can happen repeatedly if the character continues to die without recovering lost experience. Certain high-level dungeon areas and PvP zones carry a heightened risk of this happening. This death penalty applies to character level only; Job Level is never reduced on death, regardless of how much experience is lost.
Level, Stats, and the JLv Cap
Each level gained increases the character's base HP, MP, and core stats. The key relationship between character level and Job Level is that JLv can never exceed half the character's current Lv. A character at Lv 20 can reach at most JLv 10. A character at Lv 100 can reach at most JLv 50. This means that to perform the first job transfer at JLv 10, the character must first reach Lv 20 — even though the transfer requirement is listed as Lv 10 plus JLv 10. To unlock the Master Class at JLv 50, the character must already be at or above Lv 100 to cap JLv at that point, and must ultimately reach Lv 148 to meet the full Master Class entry requirement.
Pet Experience
When a character earns experience points from defeating a monster, the summoned pet also gains experience equal to 80% of the experience the character receives at that level. Pets level up independently and gain their own stat increases. Summoner classes can further accelerate pet leveling through skills like Creature Breeding, which increases the EXP gained by both summoned and recalled pets by up to 50% at max skill level.
