Editing Experience

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'''Experience''' is a number which describes how much a dwarf has practiced a [[skill]]. As a dwarf uses a skill they slowly gain experience. After gaining sufficient experience the dwarf's skill level will advance and they will earn a new title describing their increased ability to use that skill. The effects of this experience gain vary from skill to skill -- for some skills the dwarf will complete their work faster, for others the dwarf will produce a higher-quality product, and for a small number of skills the gain will have no effect.

== Experience earned per job ==
Most civilian skills give 30 XP per use, plus 30 more for each new item ''with [[quality]] levels'' produced. [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=96501] (That's 60 XP total for most crafting jobs. 
[[Decoration]]s and generic items like [[block]]s do not grant this additional experience.) Four exceptions to this rule are [[smoothing]], carving [[fortifications]], [[engraving]] and [[mining]], which each give only 10 XP per use. Military skills have variable increases, with more XP gained from real combat than from training. A dwarf taken by any [[strange mood]] (except a [[Mood#Possessed|possession]]) will gain 20,000 experience in the affected skill upon completion of the artifact. By looking at a dwarf's [[Thoughts and Preferences|thoughts and preferences]], thoughts of skill increases can be found, whether it's learning a skill or teaching it:

{{DFtext|She felt|7:0}}{{DFtext| satisfied|2:0:1}}{{DFtext| at work. She felt|7:0}}{{DFtext| satisfied|2:0:1}}{{DFtext| upon improving mining.|7:0}}<br />
{{DFtext|He felt|7:0}}{{DFtext| satisfied|2:0:1}}{{DFtext| after teaching striking.|7:0}}

== Reported Experience ==
In Adventure mode the game reports exact experience. However, in Fortress mode, a dwarf's exact amount of experience is never shown. To glean a general sense of how experienced a dwarf is, compare the dwarf's title and skill level with the table below. The title and skill level are shown when {{K|v}}iewing the dwarf, pressing {{K|g}}, and then either {{K|c}}, {{K|b}}, or {{K|m}}.

{| style="margin: 0 auto; border: 1px solid black; border-spacing: 0"
|-
| width="33%" style="border-right: 1px solid black;" |
{| width="100%"
! Lvl !! Title !! XP
|-
| 0 || None/Dabbling *    ||align="right"| 1
|-
| 1 || Novice       ||align="right"| 500
|-
| 2 || Adequate     ||align="right"| 1100
|-
| 3 || Competent    ||align="right"| 1800
|-
| 4 || Skilled      ||align="right"| 2600
|-
| 5 || Proficient ** ||align="right"| 3500
|-
| 6 || Talented     ||align="right"| 4500
|}
| width="33%" style="border-right: 1px solid black;" |
{| width="100%"
! Lvl !! Title !! XP
|-
| 7  || Adept        ||align="right"| 5600
|-
| 8  || Expert       ||align="right"| 6800
|-
| 9  || Professional ||align="right"| 8100
|-
| 10 || Accomplished ||align="right"| 9500
|-
| 11 || Great †        ||align="right"| 11000
|-
| 12 || Master       ||align="right"| 12600
|-
| 13 || High Master  ||align="right"| 14300
|}
| width="33%" |
{| width="100%"
! Lvl !! Title !! XP
|-
| 14 || Grand Master  ||align="right"| 16100
|-
| 15 || Legendary     ||align="right"| 18000
|-
| 16 || Legendary+1 ‡ ||align="right"| 20000
|-
| 17 || Legendary+2 ‡ ||align="right"| 22100
|-
| 18 || Legendary+3 ‡ ||align="right"| 24300
|-
| 19 || Legendary+4 ‡ ||align="right"| 26600
|-
| 20 || Legendary+5 ‡ ||align="right"| 29000
|}
|}
To reach ''Novice'' level in any skill requires 500 XP. Reaching each successive level requires 500 plus an additional 100 XP per additional rank, so to go from ''Novice'' to ''Adequate'' requires 600 XP; ''Adequate'' to ''Competent'' requires 700 XP, and so on. So, with most skills, getting an unskilled dwarf to Novice (Level 1) will take 17 tasks, to get to Proficient (Level 5, the highest for a starting dwarf) will take 117 tasks total, and to get to Legendary will take 600 tasks total (without the right [[mood]]).  It will take 484 ''additional'' tasks to skill a starting Level 5 dwarf up to Legendary.

::::''Notes:''
:::::<nowiki>  *</nowiki> Dwarves with no skill experience are referred to as "not <skill>" during embark. After embark, skills with 0 experience will not be displayed when {{K|v}}iewing a dwarf. Upon getting any experience, but before achieving "Novice", dwarf skills are listed as "Dabbling".  For the purposes of a [[strange mood]], skills with 0 experience are a lower level than Dabbling.
:::::<nowiki>  **</nowiki> This is the highest skill level possible for one of your starting dwarves.
:::::† Once soldiers reach this level in a weapon skill, they will become a [[Soldier#Heroes|hero]] and no longer complain about long patrol duty.
:::::‡ These levels are not shown in-game, but they do have an effect. An ordinary legendary dwarf produces a significant proportion of superior quality goods while a legendary+5 dwarf is guaranteed at least exceptional quality, barring effects like tiredness and hunger. After 31,600 experience the levels are unlabelled but continue to be displayed as Legendary. There appears to be no upper limit to experience levels.

== Loss of Experience ==
Experience can only be lost when a dwarf goes many months without using a skill, resulting in the skill becoming [[rusty]]. The initial stages of rust are reversible, but advanced stages result in permanent loss of experience.
{{Category|Game mechanics}}
[[Ru:Experience]]