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Difficulty Scaling

Monsters scale with level and punish underleveled players, but they do it by boosting their HP pools — your damage is still intact, you simply have to land more hits on higher-level foes. The system uses true HP modification to increase monster max HP based on their level, so stat upgrades feel rewarding while each level increases the amount of health to burn through. Features:
  • Higher-level monsters deal more damage and are tankier
  • Fighting underleveled is dangerous (gap penalties)
  • 4 difficulty presets: Easy, Normal, Hard, Extreme
  • All values configurable via preset

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Difficulty Presets

PresetMonster→Player Dmg/LvlHP%/LvlGap Dmg MultGap Def MultBest For
EASY+0.5%+2%×0.75×0.75New players
NORMAL+1%+3.25%×1.0×1.0Default
HARD+2%+4.5%×1.25×1.25Experienced
EXTREME+4%+6.5%×1.5×1.5Hardcore
Example (Level 50 monster, NORMAL):
  • Damage: Base × 1.5 → 1.5× harder
    1 + (50 × 0.01) = 1.5
    If base 10 damage → 15 damage
  • Tankiness: Max HP × 2.63 → 2.63× tankier
    HP mult 1 + (50 × 0.0325) = 2.625
    If base 100 HP → 263 HP (needs 2.63× more hits to kill)

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Monster Damage Scaling (Monster → Player)

Formula: Final = Base × (1 + Level × Monster→Player Dmg%/Lvl)
LevelEASYNORMALHARDEXTREME
251.125×1.25×1.5×2.0×
501.25×1.5×2.0×3.0×
751.375×1.75×2.5×4.0×
1001.5×2.0×3.0×5.0×

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Monster HP Scaling

Formula: Max HP = Base × (1 + Level × HP%/Lvl)
HP Multiplier: 1 + (Level × HP%/Lvl) Monsters have their max HP increased based on their level. The HP bar reflects the actual increased HP. This approach keeps player damage from being artificially reduced — instead of nerfing your hits, monsters simply require more of them as their HP grows with level.
LevelEASYNORMALHARDEXTREME
251.49×1.81×2.14×2.63×
501.98×2.63×3.28×4.25×
752.46×3.44×4.41×5.88×
1002.95×4.25×5.55×7.5×
Example (L87, NORMAL):
HP mult 1 + (87 × 0.0325) = 3.83 → if base 100 HP → 383 HP (3.83× more HP).

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Gap Damage Bonus (Monster → Player)

Gap damage bonus only applies when the monster is higher level than the player: When Monster Level > Player Level (Positive Gap):
  • Monster deals extra damage
  • Formula: Final = Base × (1 + Gap × 0.01 × GapDmgMult)
When Player Level > Monster Level (Negative Gap):
  • No damage change — gap bonus returns 1.0× (no effect)
  • Negative gaps only affect XP rewards, not damage dealt
Base rate: +1% per level above player (scaled by preset).
Level GapEASYNORMALHARDEXTREME
+1+0.75% (1.01×)+1% (1.01×)+1.25% (1.01×)+1.5% (1.02×)
+5+3.75% (1.04×)+5% (1.05×)+6.25% (1.06×)+7.5% (1.08×)
+10+7.5% (1.08×)+10% (1.10×)+12.5% (1.13×)+15% (1.15×)
+20+15% (1.15×)+20% (1.20×)+25% (1.25×)+30% (1.30×)
+30+22.5% (1.23×)+30% (1.30×)+37.5% (1.38×)+45% (1.45×)
+50+37.5% (1.38×)+50% (1.50×)+62.5% (1.63×)+75% (1.75×)
0 or negative1.0× (no change)1.0× (no change)1.0× (no change)1.0× (no change)
Gap damage to player can be disabled via EnableGapLevelDamageToPlayer: false in config — monsters will not get bonus damage from level gap.

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Gap Defense (Player → Monster)

When you’re below the monster’s level, you can optionally deal less damage via damage resistance. Tiered by gap, this is an extra layer on top of the HP scaling toughness above — disable it if you prefer consistent damage and let the increased HP do the heavy lifting.
Level GapEASYNORMALHARDEXTREME
0–5100%100%100%100%
6–1090%85%80%75%
11–2085%75%70%65%
21–3075%70%65%55%
31+55%50%30%20%
Formula: Damage Taken = Original / Resistance Multiplier
Resistance Multiplier: 1 / Damage Taken Percentage Gap defense uses damage resistance (divide by multiplier), not percentage reduction. For example, if you deal 75% damage (gap 11–20, NORMAL), the resistance multiplier is 1 / 0.75 = 1.333× — your damage is divided by 1.333×. Defense cap: the highest gap tier now leaves you dealing 55% (EASY), 50% (NORMAL), 30% (HARD), or 20% (EXTREME) damage — roughly 45% / 50% / 70% / 80% reduction. Monsters stay more killable when underleveled.

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Combat Examples

ScenarioMonster DmgMonster TankGap DmgGap DefResult
L50 vs L501.5×2.25×NoneNoneFair
L45 vs L551.55×2.25×+10% (1.10×)85% takenHarder
L45 vs L701.70×2.25×+25% (1.25×)50% takenVery hard
L45 vs L861.86×2.25×+41% (1.41×)25% takenNearly impossible

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Configuration

File: mods/Zuxaw_RPGLeveling/RPGLevelingConfig.json 
{
  "difficultyPreset": "normal",
  "EnableMonsterLevelScale": true,
  "EnableGapLevelDefense": true,
  "EnableGapLevelDamageToPlayer": true,
  "EnableGapLevelXpReducer": true
}
FieldTypeDescription
difficultyPresetString"easy", "normal", "hard", or "extreme"
EnableMonsterLevelScaleBooleanIf true (default), monster level scaling is enabled: monster damage/HP scale with level (HP scaling is the primary toughness mechanic, so your damage stays consistent while higher levels require more hits), gap damage bonus (monster → you) and gap defense (you → monster) apply, and XP from kills uses the new level-based system (monster level + level gap). If false, all monster level scaling is disabled: no level-based damage/HP, no gap damage/defense, and XP from kills falls back to the old HP-based formula (only mob max HP). Monster/zone levels and level display above player head still work visually.
EnableGapLevelDefenseBooleanIf true (default), extra level-gap defense is applied: you deal less damage when underleveled via damage resistance tiers. If false, gap defense is disabled — your damage to monsters is not reduced by the gap, letting you feel each stat-point increase while HP scaling handles the toughness. Use false for a more consistent damage feel or when HP-scaling alone provides enough challenge.
EnableGapLevelDamageToPlayerBooleanIf true (default), level-gap damage scaling is applied: when a monster is above your level, it deals extra damage (gap damage bonus). If false, gap damage to player is disabled — monsters do not get bonus damage from level gap; only monster base damage/HP scaling and gap defense (you → monster) still apply. Use false to avoid “monsters hit harder when you’re underleveled.”
EnableGapLevelXpReducerBooleanIf true (default), XP is reduced when you are underleveled (monster level above yours) — see the level-difference table in Formulas. If false, no XP reduction for being underleveled — you get full XP (1.0×) from higher-level monsters.
Difficulty scaling (monster damage/HP) is controlled by EnableMonsterLevelScale. difficultyPreset sets damage%, HP%, and gap multipliers. EnableGapLevelDefense turns off gap defense (player → monster). EnableGapLevelDamageToPlayer turns off gap damage (monster → player). EnableGapLevelXpReducer turns off XP reduction when underleveled.

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Formulas Summary

Monster damage (monster → player):
Final = Base × (1 + Level × Monster→Player Dmg%/Lvl) Monster HP:
Max HP = Base × (1 + Level × HP%/Lvl) Gap damage (monster → you):
Final = Base × (1 + Gap × 0.01 × GapDmgMult) (only when Gap > 0, otherwise 1.0×) Gap defense (you → monster):
Damage Taken = Original / Resistance Multiplier
Resistance Multiplier = 1 / TierValue[Gap]
(capped: EASY/NORMAL min 25% damage, HARD/EXTREME min 10% damage). Disabled when EnableGapLevelDefense is false. Damage pipeline (you → monster):
Final = (Raw + DamageStatFlat) × DamageStatMult / GapResistanceMult
(Note: Monster HP is increased via HP modifiers. Gap penalties use damage resistance.) Defense pipeline (monster → you):
Final = Raw × MonsterLevelMult × (1 + Gap × 0.01 × GapDmgMult) × (1 - PlayerDefense)
(Note: Gap bonus only applies when Gap > 0, otherwise multiplier is 1.0×)

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Implementation Notes

  • Level-based HP scaling via true HP modification — monsters have increased max HP based on their level
  • Level-based HP scaling via true HP modification — monsters have increased max HP based on their level, so player damage stays consistent but higher-level mobs simply take more hits
  • Mobs display increased HP in their HP bar (reflects actual HP)
  • HP modifiers are applied via EntityStatMap modifiers (similar to HardcoreMode approach)
  • Gap penalties use damage resistance (divide by multiplier) — when you’re underleveled, your damage is divided by a resistance multiplier
  • Gap defense capped per preset: EASY/NORMAL 75% reduction (25% min damage), HARD/EXTREME 90% reduction (10% min damage); monsters remain more killable
  • Gap defense can be disabled via EnableGapLevelDefense: false in config
  • Gap damage bonus only applies when the player is underleveled (positive gap)
  • Negative gaps (player > monster) do not reduce damage — they only affect XP rewards
  • Scaling is always enabled and controlled via difficultyPreset
See Formulas for XP and leveling, and Configuration for main plugin config.