XP

Experience points (XP) are earned by players through various actions and are used to buy skills. A new character must spend 100 XP on their first skill; each successive skill costs 25 XP more.

Gaining XP

Combat

When attacking, characters receive XP equal to weapon damage for each successful hit. XP awarded is equal to full weapon damage even when then target has just 1 HP.

All XP awards are halved for attacks on players on the same side. There is no XP award for attacks on NPC traders.

Kill bonuses

When a target dies, the character dealing the killing blow receives a bonus XP award of (5 + target's maximum HP) / 2, rounded up. (See animals for bonuses for killing animals, which do not always follow this formula.) There is no bonus for killing NPC traders.

Healing

Applying a healing item to yourself, another player, an animal, or an NPC gives you XP equal to the number of HP healed. For example, if you use a first-aid kit to heal 1 HP, you gain only 1 XP. Eating tasty berries gives up to 2 XP, mangos and bananas give 1 XP (to players without full health), and so on. Similarly, a character with first aid or natural medicine can earn up to 10 XP using a first aid kit or healing herbs.

Poisoning

Eating a poisonous berries inflicts 2 HP of damage while giving you 2 XP. Drinking a bottle or gourd of salt water likewise causes 2 HP damage for 2 XP. It is not known whether a player with 1 HP who eats poison berries is awarded 1 XP or 2. There is no XP bonus for killing yourself.

Exploring

There is an occasional 1 XP award when chopping jungle (of any density). Revealing a hut by chopping down vegetation yields 10 XP. Revealing a food source (a bush or a fruit tree) by chopping vegetation yields a 5 XP reward. (See Special weapon event odds for research on the matter.)

Haunting

Spirits can gain XP by using spirit scream skills. Haunting scream gives 1 XP for 1 AP (or 2 XP for 2 AP). Shocking shriek and banshee wail give progressively more XP, increasing with the number of damaged victims. 15 XP for 6 AP is the highest award, but even in a very crowded location, 8 XP or 12 XP for 6 AP is a typical outcome. It is speculated that spirits receive a kill bonus when a victim dies of fright (such kills are quite rare).

Trading

Whenever a trader's stock of an item is short, a player who trades them that item will receive 1 XP. The first time you trade anything with a foreign trader (all but the one in your hometown) you gain an additional one-off bonus of 100XP.