Sample DNA 6 (Source)

It's been four months and I decided I'd like to take up BE again. While I was levelling DNA sampling I made some observations. Some of these are known and some are intuitively obvious anyway; I wanted to approach the grind with a fresh perspective.

Observations At Novice I was able to sample from giant sand beetles (CL30). Sampling these animals is not a good way to grind, however, as the success rate was very low. I did not attempt to sample any monsters higher than level 30.

At DNA 1 the success rate for creatures was higher but I was not able to sample from higher challenge level species. In fact I spent a fair amount of time attempting and failing to sample from creatures with levels around the mid-30s. From the perspective of someone grinding as quickly as possible, this time must be said to have been lost.

At DNA 2 I successfully sampled creatures up to CL39. I attempted up to CL47 but did not get a single sample from the more challenging mobs. By this point, however, I was able to sample CL30 creatures with impunity.

At DNA 3 I sampled up to level 50, failing several attempts at level 56. The success rate for level 50 was again low; grinding on level 46 or 47 (I had good success from craggy bolmas) would be more efficient.

XP per sample was determined solely by creature level. A level 30 monster yields 346 XP regardless of its HAM, aggression, planet, species or anything else.

I recorded the following level/XP pairs:

+----+-----+
| CL |  XP |
+----+-----+
| 50 | 596 |
| 47 | 557 |
| 46 | 544 |
| 40 | 468 |
| 39 | 455 |
| 36 | 418 |
| 35 | 406 |
| 34 | 394 |
| 32 | 370 |
| 30 | 346 |
| 29 | 334 |
| 27 | 310 |
| 26 | 299 |
| 25 | 287 |
| 24 | 276 |
| 23 | 265 |
| 22 | 254 |
| 20 | 232 |
| 19 | 221 |
| 18 | 210 |
| 17 | 199 |
| 15 | 178 |
| 14 | 168 |
| 13 | 158 |
| 11 | 138 |
| 10 | 128 |
|  8 | 110 |
|  7 | 101 |
|  6 |  92 |
|  5 |  84 |
|  3 |  68 |
+----+-----+

How to grind Set up the following macro (I called it keep_sampling but the name is unimportant):

/sampleDNA /pause 10 /macro keep_sampling

Leave this macro running the whole time you are out sampling. It will sample from whatever you have targetted with no downtime. Just /follow the creatures you want and away you go.

Mask your scent at all times.

Drink one vasarian brandy (mind stats buff) and one accarragm (action stats buff) to cancel out HAM drain as you sample. Repeat as drinks' effects wear out.

DO NOT waste time trying to AFK with any of the many macros people have posted. Assuming you emptied your inventory and ran such a macro outside one of the newbie towns you would come back to find your pack full of 80 samples for at best 8000XP. Unless being AFK is your main priority, you will level faster at the keyboard by choosing the right animal to sample.

Creature Knowledge +45 lets you see a mob's challenge level. Master Scout or grind the Survival branch of Force-Sensitive Enhanced Reflexes for this useful skill. Alternatively have http://www.swgcreatures.com/ on hand to check monsters' levels.

At Novice If it moves, sample it but try to find cu pa (CL11, 138XP) or ronto (CL18, 210XP) on Tatooine. If you have combat skills you can try greater desert womp rat (CL22, 254XP, aggro).

At DNA 1 Bol pack runner (CL26, 299XP) on Dantooine is good and you can get missions for them. Endor has erratic swirl prong, blooming jax and bolle bol bark biter all for CL27, 310XP. Alternatively if you have combat skills go to Dathomir and take regular baz nitch missions. These will spawn angry baz nitch avenger (CL24, 276XP, aggro, deathblows) with a slightly higher chance of getting more samples.

At DNA 2 Go to Endor. Sample anything at CL40 and below. bolle bol male (CL30, 346XP) and bolle bol female (CL32, 370XP) are good; take bolle bol lair missions for these. venom-filled arachne (CL36, 418XP, aggro, deathblows) can easily be found in the wild or from the mission terminal and is the ideal choice if you have combat skills.

At DNA 3 The lower risk, more time-consuming option is to repeat what you did at DNA 2, possibly risking delirious merek avenger (CL40, 468XP, aggro). Alternatively go to Dathomir and look for surefoot brackaset (CL46, 544XP) herds. Alternatively take missions for craggy bolma (CL47, 557XP, aggro, deathblows).