How is experience handled outside of groups?

Question

I've been exploring the first real quest area after joining the Illuminati, and (expectedly) found a bunch of other people also wandering around, killing zombies.

If I decide to help someone kill a few zombies without grouping up with him, how is experience handled in that case? Am I stealing experience from him? Am I not getting rewarded for the kills at all?

I would hope that it is beneficial to take a few seconds to help out another player, but I would like some confirmation one way or the other before I start developing habits.

Answer 1

Pretty much the same way as in any other MMO - if you're not grouped, you don't get experience. Enemies that were pulled by another player have a more translucent unit frame than those pulled by NPCs or yourself.

Here is a picture:

The left of the picture shows an enemy that I pulled, with a name plate and health/cast bar that is clearly visible. In this instance, upon death you will receive experience points.

The right of the picture shows an enemy pulled by another player, the name plate is far more transparent. You can still attack it, and pull agro if you generate enough hate. In some instances I guess the other player could see this as beneficial - however, you will not gain experience from this kill.

There are exceptions to this rule! Enemies required to be killed for quests will give you credit regardless of whether they were pulled by another player or not. Presumably this is to prevent contention from many people levelling on the same quest simultaneously.