Zwift Updates Climb Portal Powerup Probabilities

Back in May, I published XP Farming on Zwift’s Climb Portal – the Ultimate Guide. In it I detailed how you could “game” Zwift’s Climb Portal to earn lots of XP per hour and level up more quickly.

Maybe that post caught the attention of someone at ZHQ. Or maybe they already had a change in the works? Regardless, last week’s game update (version 1.92) included an unannounced change to the powerup probability algorithm in the Climb Portal.

The New Algorithm

Previously, the probability of getting a Large Bonus powerup (which awards 250XP) was 10% (feathers were 25%, small XP bonus 65%). With every climb portal having 10 powerup arches, this meant you would average 1 Large Bonus each time you completed a Climb Portal.

The new algorithm for determining the probability of obtaining a Large Bonus powerup considers both the selected difficulty scaling (50%, 75%, 100%, or 125%) and the climb’s total ascent. There is also a minimum (1%) and maximum (10%) probability.

Examples:

• You’ll reach the probability ceiling if you tackle a portal at 100% difficulty with 650 meters+ ascent. (Looking at the climb portal list, that is 15 of the 44 climbs in the library.) On these climbs, your Large Bonus probability is the same as it ever was (10%).
• You’ll reach the probability floor if you tackle a portal at 100% difficulty with 65 meters of ascent or less. You’ll also hit the floor if you scale the difficulty to 50% and the climb has 130 meters of ascent or less. (Only 3 climb portals currently have less than 130 meters of ascent.)

Comparing Old and New

Let’s compare estimated XP earnings per hour between the old flat 10% probability and Zwift’s new algorithm explained above. Our first example uses the shortest possible climb (Cauberg) at 50% scaling.

Old Probability

• Round trip time at 4 W/kg: 3 minutes
• Average XP per section: (250*.1) + (10*.65)=31.5XP
• Total sections completed in an hour: 10 sections per ascent * 20 repeats = 200 sections
• Bonus XP per hour: 200 sections * 31.5XP per section=6300XP
• Distance-Based XP per hour: (0.8km*2)*(20 repeats)*20XP=640XP
• Total XP per hour: 6940XP

New Probability

• Round trip time at 4 W/kg: 3 minutes
• Average XP per section: (250*.01) + (10*.695)=9.45XP
• Total sections completed in an hour: 10 sections per ascent * 20 repeats = 200 sections
• Bonus XP per hour: 200 sections * 9.45XP per section=1890XP
• Distance-Based XP per hour: (0.8km*2)*(20 repeats)*20XP=640XP
• Total XP per hour: 2530XP

An hourly rate of 2530XP is better than any other XP farming method, but keep in mind that’s at a 4 W/kg pace and on the shortest climb in the library. (Also, Zwift has stopped scheduling the Cauberg because its GPS coordinates overlay the start of Norton Summit, resulting in riders getting credit for both climbs when riding Norton Summit.)

What if we use the next shortest climb, Oude Kwaremont, at a more reasonable 3 W/kg pace?

Old Probability

• Round trip time at 3 W/kg: 5 minutes, 50 seconds
• Average XP per section: (250*.1) + (10*.65)=31.5XP
• Total sections completed in an hour: 10 sections per ascent * 10.3 repeats = 103 sections
• Bonus XP per hour: 103 sections * 31.5XP per section=3244XP
• Distance-Based XP per hour: (1.5km*2)*(10.3 repeats)*20XP=618XP
• Total XP per hour: 3862XP

New Probability

• Round trip time at 3 W/kg: 5 minutes, 50 seconds
• Average XP per section: (250*.01) + (10*.695)=9.45XP
• Total sections completed in an hour: 10 sections per ascent * 10.3 repeats = 103 sections
• Bonus XP per hour: 103 sections * 9.45XP per section=973XP
• Distance-Based XP per hour: (1.5km*2)*(10.3 repeats)*20XP=618XP
• Total XP per hour: 1591XP

Most XP farming approaches on Zwift earn 1200-1600XP per hour, including Shane Miller’s Alpe du Zwift workout approach. So this XP earn rate of 1591XP is right in line with other methods, whereas before the probability update it more than doubled the other approaches.

Is Climb Portal XP Farming Dead?

I’d say yes. While you can still earn a healthy amount of XP on Zwift’s shortest portals, it’s nowhere near the amount of XP you could earn previously.

While the Climb Portal still serves many good purposes (enabling us to climb GPS replicas of real-world climbs, providing a place for targeted hill climbing, etc.), riders won’t be climbing in the portal with the goal of leveling up extra quickly.

Your Thoughts

Do you think Zwift made the right move in reducing the Large Bonus probabilities in the Climb Portal? Will you still be using the Climb Portal despite the XP reductions? Share your thoughts below!