Guide · chapter 8 of 12

Reaper XP: skull, pace, points

What to do: At level 30+, run the legendary quests with the most RXP per skull (table in §8.2) in Reaper, in a party at R4 or higher. Your first run of a quest is worth triple wiki, not cross-checked. Spend your points starting with Grim Barricade (§8.3) AX R220 W-RE. The numbers in this chapter are RXP per skull taken from DDO Compendium pages, plus the ddowiki page "Reaper difficulty" (same page as W-RD, reread on Nov 5, 2026, code R220). Points marked "wiki, not cross-checked" appear only on that wiki page, which could not be checked against a second source. The Compendium gives no durations in minutes, only a category (Short, Medium, Long, Very Long) R115.

8.1 The formula

Base rules

• Base RXP of a quest = 50 + 3 × quest level, multiplied by the number of skulls. × 2 if the base level is 30 or higher wiki, not cross-checked R220.
• On your first Reaper run of the quest in a life: +200%, for a total of × 3 wiki, not cross-checked R220. Vooduspyce's opinion points the same way: RXP per quest drops sharply on repeat runs, without giving the bonus figure (Vooduspyce's opinion, Feb 15, 2023) R149.
• After that, the same modifiers as normal XP apply (Conquest, etc.), except delving bonus and Tome of Learning. Elixirs, VIP and ship buffs apply wiki, not cross-checked R220.
• No RXP if you kill fewer than 10 enemies wiki, not cross-checked; may be an old test value, check in game R220.
• Earned RXP is kept on reincarnation, but you must reallocate your points wiki, not cross-checked R220.
• A level 30+ character earns RXP only in legendary dungeons (base level 30+). You can enter an epic Reaper and earn 0 RXP there. RXP still counts when your XP is capped by the bank or the level cap wiki, not cross-checked R220.
• No Reaper XP in the wilderness since U81 N81.
• The over-level penalty applies only in heroic, and it is the same as for XP: -10% when the highest-level character is 4 levels above the quest's base level. That is +2 above your effective level in Reaper (scale in §2.3). In epic, only the 6-level lock applies W-RD. An older, harsher scale (-20% at +1 ... -90% at +4, U34 notes) was reportedly replaced as of U42.4 wiki, not cross-checked W-RD.

Effect of duration: the Compendium formula, better supported than the wiki multipliers

The wiki gives duration multipliers of × 0.8 / 1 / 1.2 / 1.4 wiki, not cross-checked R220. The Compendium pages follow a different rule, checked against five exact values (calculation):

• RXP per skull at Medium duration = 2 × (50 + 3 × level) at level 30+. Below level 30 there is no × 2 (calculation on R114).
• Each duration step adds or removes 1.2 × level at level 30+ (0.6 × level below level 30, calculation). Short = -1 step, Medium = 0, Long = +1, Very Long = +2 R114.
• Checked at level 30+: level 37 Very Long = 410.8 R122; level 36 Very Long = 402.4 R114; level 36 Long = 359.2 R127; level 34 Long = 344.8 R142; level 32 Short = 253.6 R146.
• Also checked below level 30: The Druid's Curse level 17 Long = 111.2 and level 23 Long = 132.8 R211; The Vault of Night level 10 Very Long = 92 R05; Impossible Demands epic 21 Medium = 113 R103; A Legend Revisited epic 25 Long = 140 R108. The Mask of Deception, epic 30 Medium = 280, shows the × 2 starting at level 30 R94.
• The wiki multipliers would give 379.2 for a level 36 Long quest and about 442 for Very Long, against the 359.2 and 402.4 actually recorded (calculation, R220 versus R114). The old table in this sheet therefore overestimated Long and Very Long quests by 5 to 10%.

Worked example: level 36 Long quest, first Reaper run, before Conquest and boosts (calculation)

Medium: 2 × (50 + 3 × 36) = 2 × 158 = 316. Long: 316 + 1.2 × 36 = 316 + 43.2 = 359.2 per skull R127. First run: × 3 wiki, not cross-checked R220.

First runs at R4, R6 and R10 are in the same range as Axel's figures (about 4,500 at R4, 5,000 to 6,000 at R6, about 10,000 at R10) AX. The order of magnitude is enough here. Most pages predate U81, and the U81.4 notes cite no Reaper XP change R155. A first run is worth three times a repeat run wiki, not cross-checked R220, hence golden rule #7.

8.2 Which skull, and which quests

Choosing a skull

• Criterion: Reaper XP per minute. If going up a skull doubles the duration, stay below it AX.
• Axel recommends at least R4 at the level cap in a public group, and even skulls (R4, R6, R8, R10), since in his view the big difficulty jumps fall at R5 and R7 (Axel's opinion, May 23, 2026) AX R152.
• Vooduspyce recommends the highest skull possible, with even a single skull worth it for the first legendary quests of each life (Vooduspyce's opinion, Feb 15, 2023, before U81) R149.
• At level 30+, RXP comes only from legendary quests (Everling's opinion, DDO Vault, Aug 2023) R150. The wiki says the same wiki, not cross-checked R220.
• Party for farming at the cap. Solo is fine for leveling at R1 AX.
• The U81.4 notes changed damage reduction per skull (raids, and skulls 7 to 10 in quests) R155. The old test figures (U59) are not carried over here, because they predate that balance pass R155.

Reaper types: which skull for Doom? (still an open question) UNVERIFIED

• Vengeance from R5: the Compendium and Axel agree R151 R152.
• Doom from R5 or R7: the Compendium (2020) says R5, Axel (2026) says R7. No recent source settles it R151 R152. Advice, inferred: expect the worst from R5 until it is tested in game.

Legendary quests: ranking by RXP per skull

Columns: legendary level, duration, RXP per skull (Compendium), and RXP of a first run at R6 = RXP per skull × 6 × 3 (calculation, the × 3 comes from the wiki, not cross-checked R220), before Conquest and boosts. Only RXP per skull is comparable, since there are no durations in minutes R115. A shorter quest can pay as much per minute as a long one despite a lower RXP per skull (inferred). Table sorted from highest to lowest.

Key points about this table:

• Cold Snap and Locked Away (Part One) are legendary level 34, while the rest of Chill of Ravenloft is 36 R135 R136.
• The Curse of Strahd is the only Mists quest whose profile has been read. The legendary levels of the other Mists quests (31 and 32 for An Invitation to Dinner and Wrath of the Earth) are not confirmed R148.
• The Terror of Demogorgon pages (edited Aug 2 to Oct 2, 2026) and Times Long Past (Sep 21, 2026) postdate U81 (Jul 22, 2026) R115 R122 R75. The other pages date from 2021 to Feb 2026 and may not reflect recent adjustments R148 R124.
• Not read: seven Terror of Demogorgon quests (A Blood Pact, The Price of an Egg, For Want of a Heart, Flocked Together, The Fetid Wedding, Stealing from Sorcere, If It Wasn't For Bad Luck), several Magic of Myth Drannor quests (Safehold, Book Burning, Ettercap Incursion, Portal to Below, Seeds of Decay, Oghma's Song, Secrets of the Red Wizards) and most of Mists, Isle of Dread, Fables and Saltmarsh R116 R137. No value is assumed for them.
• No free legendary quest above level 34 was found. A page's "Free To Play" field does not tell a free quest apart from one unlocked by a patron R63.

Player opinions on quests to farm (old, read with caution)

• Vooduspyce's opinion, Feb 15, 2023: legendary RXP is out of proportion, about 1 million RXP per life, of which about 90% comes from legendary. Short quests he lists: Mists (Into the Mists, Death House, Fresh Baked Dreams, Final Vintage, Wrath of the Earth, Raven's Bane), Myth Drannor (House of Gems, Book Burning, Ettercap Incursion, Portal to Below), Vecna (What Dreams May Come, Party 101, Paper Trail), Saltmarsh (Back to Basics, Down You Go, Swim at Your Own Risk, The Final Enemy), plus Feywild and Isle of Dread. His guide predates Chill of Ravenloft and Terror of Demogorgon, so neither pack appears in it R149.
• Gunga's opinion, DDO Vault, Aug 2023: a full lap of the quests with the best RXP per minute earns about 1.5M RXP with 50% boosts. He does not name the quests R150.

8.3 Points: how much XP and when they matter

• The Nth point costs 2,000 N - 1,000 RXP. N points = N² × 1,000 RXP W-RE.

• The thresholds of 25, 50 and 75 points match N² × 1,000 (calculation on W-RE).
• The eyes and wings last one life only and must be bought again after a True Reincarnation wiki, not cross-checked R220.
• Usable according to your character's level: Tier 1 at level 4, Tier 2 at 10, Tier 3 at 17, Tier 4 at 21, Tier 5 at 27. Cores 1-6 at levels 4 / 9 / 15 / 21 / 25 / 30 W-RE. Total spendable: 33 points at level 4, 60 at level 10, 87 at level 17, 116 at 21, 144 at 27 according to the wiki W-RE. Axel gives 36 / 63 / 90 AX (a 3-point gap, unexplained).
• Cores 2 to 6 also work outside Reaper W-RE.
• Calculation: 40 points (1.6M RXP) take about 250 first runs of a level 36 Long quest at R6 with no boosts (1,600,000 / 6,466) (calculation on R127 W-RE). With Conquest (+25%) and a +30% potion applied last, about 150 (calculation, assuming the two multiply). One life does not offer that many new legendary quests, so this is a total across several lives of the same character (inferred). The wiki page now shows 147 points in total, down from the 156 once cited W-RE.

8.4 What stays open in this chapter

• Doom's skull threshold (R5 or R7): see §8.2 UNVERIFIED R151 R152.
• Durations in minutes for legendary quests: no source, so no ranking by RXP per minute R115.
• No 2025-2026 community statement on the most profitable legendary quests was found. The opinions cited date from 2023 R149 R150.
• Not every Compendium page was reread after U81, and a page's "Free To Play" field does not tell a free quest apart from one unlocked by a patron R63.
• The +200% on the first run, the × 2 at level 30+, the 10-enemy threshold and the three vendors come only from the ddowiki page (not cross-checked) R220.