Generally it's good to ramp-up your calories over an extended period when going into a bulking phase to prevent initial fat gain.
As for the rest of your question, I've found that the body is a very complex machine, and very capable of adapting to nearly anything you throw at it. So eating 3500 k/cal could conceivably keep you at the same weight as 2500 k/cal under certain conditions.
My strategy is to keep it simple. Add food when you want to get heavier and eat less when you're trying to drop fat. Let the scale and calipers be your guide.
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