What drops, and how often
When a monster dies the server does not roll "an item" in one go. It walks a queue of gates, one after another, and the first one that opens ends the kill. Understanding that queue explains almost everything that looks odd about drops — including why a jewel comes out instead of equipment.
The queue, in exact order
- The monster's bag — bosses and the golden monsters have a list of their own. If the monster has a bag, it answers and no other gate runs.
- Quest — if you have an active quest that asks for that monster, the quest item comes out here.
- The separate table — jewels, scrolls, wing materials and the boxes. It is a table apart, with its own chance per item (see below).
- Ancient — only in Land of Trials, and only from monsters level 25 and up. If it hits, the item is ancient and the kill ends there.
- Excellent — from 0.010% to 0.050% depending on the map, also only from level 25 up. This gate ends nothing: it just raises a flag and the kill moves on to the common gate.
- The common gate — this is where normal gear comes out.
- Zen — if nothing came out above, the monster can still drop zen.
The separate table, and why it grows with level
Every line in that table has its own chance and its own monster level range. A weak monster fits few lines; a high one fits nearly all of them. Adding up the lines that apply to each band:
| Monster level | Chance something comes from the table |
|---|---|
| 20 | 0.50% |
| 40 | 1.12% |
| 60 and up | 1.85% |
What comes out of it: Jewel of Chaos, Bless, Soul, Life and Creation, the event scrolls (Scroll of Archangel, Blood Bone, Old Scroll, Devil's Eye, Devil's Key, Symbol of Kundun), the socket Spheres, the Chaos Cards, the keys and sealed boxes, and the Spirit of Dark Horse. It is the same table on any map, except for the four materials that belong to a single map — see where to hunt.
The common gate
Two numbers meet here: a rate from the world and a resistance from the monster. 367 of the 434 huntable monsters share the same resistance, so the maths come out the same nearly everywhere:
| Account | Per kill |
|---|---|
| Free | 15% |
| VIP Silver | 16.6% |
| VIP Gold | 18.0% |
| VIP Diamond | 19.6% |
The exception is nine monsters, not a map. Ice Walker, Ice Giant, Giant Mammoth, Dark Mammoth, Dark Giant, Coolutin and Iron Knight resist more: the chance falls to 10.7% on a free account.
And the "75% drop" on the front page? Same thing, said differently. 75 is the server's rate — the number toplists ask for — and it gets divided by the monster's resistance. On the 367 ordinary monsters that resistance is 500, and 75 over 500 is the 15% per kill in the table above. Both numbers are right; one is the setting, the other is what you feel.
Adding it all up: kills per item
Adding the common gate to everything else, something hits the ground on 16.6% of kills — in practice, 1 item every 6 monsters.
And excellent and ancient together do not pass 0.2% even on the best map. What fills your bag is common gear and jewels — and selling that is how zen really comes in.
And which item comes out?
This page explains HOW OFTEN something drops. Which item it is follows another rule — and that one has an exact answer, monster by monster: see where each item drops.