When I made a new monk, I was desperate to at least level my STR and DEX just a little bit, so I could use the basic implants and some decent armor and such. (I wanted to use the Metalplated vest, not Spirit Armor, since I was mainly fighting aggressors). What made sense to me was to use melee attacks - that's surely STR/DEX right - just for one or two levels. I went in the sewer and started punching spiders. I had discovered that I was getting zero EXP (across the board - all skills - zero exp) for killing dozens of spiders, even though I was still low enough level to receive the full credit reward for the kills, and I thought it was a bug, and made a bug report thread on it.
One of the replies to the thread said that they did indeed gain some EXP for using their fists and stiletto, so I went and tried again. I still received literally 0 EXP for most kills, but, some of the slightly higher enemies, like Poisonous Fierce Spider, gave me a miniscule amount of EXP - something around 11 EXP for killing 10 of them.
I did an experiment just now and these were the results:
- On a low-level tank with 13 STR
- Using a TL-10 Tsurugaoka sword
- Which deals 7 damage per hit to aggressor captains
For killing 5 Aggressor Captains (completely alone) I received:
- 2265 STR xp
- 710 DEX xp
.. and then, switching characters ..
- On a mid-level monk with 19 STR
- Using a TL-17 rusty double-edged sword
- Which deals 12 damage per hit to aggressor captains
For killing 5 Aggressor Captains (completely alone) I received:
- 212 STR xp
- 206 DEX xp
.. to verify, I switched weapons ..
- On the same monk with 19 STR
- Using a TL-29 unlabeled electro shocker
- Which deals 14 damage per hit to aggressor captains
For killing 5 Aggressor Captains (completely alone) I received:
- 206 STR xp
- 197 DEX xp
The issue is I am getting an impossibly low amount of XP on a character who has more STR and DEX than the other one, using a better weapon than the other one, and even doing twice the damage per hit.
So I feel if a Monk, PE, or Spy casts a spell on a mob, dealing 30 damage, every class should get the exact same amount of PSI exp. The same should apply for using H-C weapons (any class), melee, pistols, rifles, and all tradeskills too. If a tank wants to level his INT by researching, he should be able to, and he should get the exact same exp that a spy would get for doing the same TL research.
In chat the other day I saw someone say something like, "I'm a spy, and I'm using H-C weapons to level my str, but I'm not getting any str exp. but that should work in theory.. right?" I don't think that guy was dumb for trying that. It's sensible to believe that it should work, since every skill is available to every class.
What I mean is, why does the game allow a spy to spec H-C, if he doesn't get any (or terribly small) exp for using the H-C skill?
If it were equalized, this may solve a few problems like spies not being able to level STR and monks being nearly forced to level DEX by repairing rhinos?