Dragon Warrior III/Experience chart

Charts
The data from the table above is used to plot the graphs below.
 * 1) Experience total: the data below were simply plotted on a spreadsheet.
 * 2) Experience per level: using a spreadsheet, the difference between each value in the table and the one straight above it was calculated, then plotted; this is called first derivative.
 * 3) Steepening: using a spreadsheet and the data used for graph n.2, the difference between each value and the one straight above it was calculated, then plotted; this is called second derivative.
 * 4) Ratio of experience per level: using a spreadsheet and the data used for graph n.2, the ratio between each value and the one straight above it was calculated, then plotted.

Experience points
These are the amount of total experience points needed to reach each level.

Experience per level
These are the number of experience points you need to gain to move from one level to the next. After level 45 the gains remain constant.

Steepening
The purpose of this table is to allow people to see the progression of the leveling required in this game. It helps players to see how long it will take to overcome the grind required to reach higher levels of the game. Rates appear exponential, thus forcing players to push through a curve of difficulty (it starts out easy to level, then progressively requires more and more time to do so).

The tables values are the amounts that the gains increase after reaching a certain level. In other words, it lists how much more experience is added on top of the previous level's total experience. Note that these rates are not ratios.


 * Example
 * The level 3 Hero's total experience is 87 EP (Experience Points).
 * To get to level 4, he needs 87 EP to reach 174 EP.
 * To get to level 5, he needs 130 EP to reach 304 EP.
 * This table thus describes the difference between these two needs. That is, 130 minus 87 is 43. The rate of change can only be understood by looking at multiple values of the rate table at once.

After level 45 the rate increase is zero for all classes.

Ratio of exprience per level
From the section above, the experience progression up to level 45 appears to be exponential. This can be verified by checking the ratio of experience-per-level (Exp/lv) between each two subsequent levels.

Because the graph is made of simple horizontal segments and pseudo-vertical steps, it can be concluded that this is the core of the level-up mechanic in Dragon Quest III.

Each horizontal segment represents a different exponential trend. At the beginning, the experience required to reach a level is 2x the experience required to reach the previous level, then the trend progressively steps down: 1.5x, 1.25x, 1.125x. From level 45 onwards, the ratio is 1x, i.e. the experience required to reach a level is equal to the experience required to reach the previous level (i.e. no more steepening).