To simplify thinks for the 'I need to know in advance crowd':
When you start the game in newbie land - you know zero about the mobs!
What did you do?
1. rush out and hit the first thing you met?
2. ask someone else?
Option 1 is valid if nobody else is around, or you are brave (spelt stupid some times)
Ok so the first thing you attacked (Yubo for example)- did it kill you?
Yes - note in you mind its strength (green 2 star)
Now look for a green 1 star, same species!
You killed it! Woohoo first leason learned lvl1 can kill green 1 star but not green 2 star (Yubos).
Make note suckling = weaker than weaning!
Kill a number of suckling Yubos till you are feeling stronger.
Lets try one of those green 2 star Weaning Yubos.
Woot killed it!
based only on what we have learned so far:
2 star > 1 star
Named prefixes are another guide.
We can work our way up through Yubos.
What to do once you are a little tired of Yubos....
Humm tough choice.....
I know kill a different species! That sound like fun.
Now do we go and kill a 2 star of a new species?
mabe - but we died when we did that last time! So lets find a 1 star to be safe.
Humm Yuber - bash bash - oooh there easy ... lets try a 2 star .... humm these kill me so mabe not all 2 stars are equal. If fact when fighting that 1 star Yuber it was almost as hard as fighting the 2 star Yubo!
Leasons Learned....
Not all species are the same some are tougher than others.
Always start with a 1 star for a species/region
Kill enough of the ones you can kill till you tough enough to kill the next, more stronger, ones.
Prefixes have a meaning and rate the species.
So far you have learned everything you need to know about 'wisely' judging you enemies strength.
Aggro vs social vs non-social vs non-aggro ... etc
We if it starts a fight with you, its AGGRO
if when you hit it, its friends stand there an laugh, non-social
if you hit it and its mates join in a kill you its, social
etc
I think you get my point here!
So if you are careful and take a little time to study the world.
Aggros will also attack other mobs.
Find a nice place to stand/sit and WATCH.
Study the groups of mobs. You will learn what to avoid and what doesn't want to eat you doing this alone!
So far we have learned alot and we have died only a few times and our DP is small at this point and fast to remove. But the knowledge we have gained is ours forever!
All of the above has been done, without a system tell you whats easy and whats not. In fact doing the above can be classed as FUN by people like me!
So from Newbie land to the mainland ... a large number of the mobs look the same but have different names (some have the same names
yey I can kill them).
Now every now and then you come across an NEW never seen before creature.
Do we:
1. rush up and hit it?
2. remember everything we have learn before and study it a bit?
Personally I would go for 2. everytime!
I have a prefix to give me a clue!
I have a star and region rating to give me a clue
The creature may look similar to another creature, (that might help)
Ask some if they have fought them
Only after doing all of the above would I consider hitting it with a stick!
Sometime you will make mistakes, wrong assumptions, or the creature just might be way stronger than your clues lead you to believe!
Only this or some bad luck should result in DP! Unless you are braving areas you are not ready for!
Hope this helps ..... but the above is just common sense to me!