Leveling in GW2 - Seems Pretty Slow and Boring?

[Epiphany.7125]

Just an observation: leveling in this game, outside of the fairly modest amount of story content that I've encountered on my way to level 38, is unfocused and slow. Now I can deal with the unfocused part, since that can also be a positive, since you have freedom to level as you see fit. But the slow part is a bit concerning. It's taken me nearly a month to get to level 38, and while I started out leveling quickly, not so much now. And what's worse, I'm really not enjoying anything in this game outside of the stories, so I play for half an hour to an hour before I get bored and log off. At this rate I might make 80 by the end of summer but I doubt it.

 

What's sad is I really liked the game at first. Oh, and I die a lot, doing normal quests - and that's a time waster as well. ALL THE DYING ISN'T MAKING ME A BETTER PLAYER BECAUSE i'M NOT SURE WHAT I'M DOING WRONG! (sorry caps) - it does piss me off.

 

The game is frankly not giving me much of a good reason to play it at the moment. So I'm thinking of using one of my level 80 boosts since clearly the leveling part of the game is not enjoyable to me (as an aside, I just max leveled a Sith Warrior in SWTOR and ran through the entire current story line and wow was that fun! - too bad SWTOR's end game is crap).

 

Realistically, if I hadn't paid full price for the game and expansions I would probably just call it a day on my brief GW2 career, but I'd like to at least get my money's worth out of it.

[SoulSin.5682]

When this game released years ago I remember how fast was leveling up compared to my past MMos.

I've reached lvl 80 in like 3~4 weeks. Where in other MMos I had played I would grind for 6~7 months and still didn't had the basic PvP/Raid level.

 

GW2 is a kinda of middle waters here, the game is faster compared to old MMos but slower compared to new ones. If that's good or bad its kinda up to the player.

 

And yes, I agree with the unfocused part. Sometimes, I wish i could just go to a map and mindless kill stuff.

 

Now then, my opinion out of the way...

 

 

 

> @"Epiphany.7125" said:

> What's sad is I really liked the game at first. Oh, and I die a lot, doing normal quests - and that's a time waster as well. ALL THE DYING ISN'T MAKING ME A BETTER PLAYER BECAUSE i'M NOT SURE WHAT I'M DOING WRONG! (sorry caps) - it does kitten me off.

>

Its advised to change your equipment every 10 levels and always use itens of rank mastercraft or higher. You may want to use rare weapons whenever possible.

When you reach lvl 80, you can worry about exotic stuff.

Don't forget the rings and accessories since a great bunch of your stats came from them. You can use the Black Lion Trading to update your stuff.

 

As far as the map event goes, keep in mind that new players hardly stand a chance against CHAMPION class mobs. Those events must be completed in group. Everything else you should be able to solo just fine. If you need class specific tips, please ask on each class board.

 

On Story quests, a bit of attention should be enough most of the time. But getting downed is fairly normal. On higher level quests, there is always a NPC ready to ress you when needed.

 

Either way, for grinding porpoises:

- Map completion is a great way to go. If you think its too much work, doing hearts, finding waypoints and vistas are the ones that gives the most experience.

- Keep shouting on map for event calls. There is always something happening and those will level up the fastest.

- Tough meeting people to do it may be harder nowadays, dungeons are available at lvl 30+. Its hard at lower levels but one single dungeon run grant you 70% of the exp of a level up (regardless of your level or current exp value).

- Keep in mind that all exp in this game is scaled up to your level. So you can grind up on lower level maps as well as the ones near your level. (exp is slight slower, but its easier).

- Food boost experience gain, just use any. Finding a guild is also great since higher level guilds have upgraded Guildhalls and boons that grant up to 10% extra experience.

- PvP and WvW are also choices if you like it. You can farm [Tomes of Knowledge](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tome_of_Knowledge "Tomes of Knowledge") on both game modes. And fairly fast regardless of how much you win or lose.

 

 

> The game is frankly not giving me much of a good reason to play it at the moment. So I'm thinking of using one of my level 80 boosts since clearly the leveling part of the game is not enjoyable to me (as an aside, I just max leveled a Sith Warrior in SWTOR and ran through the entire current story line and wow was that fun! - too bad SWTOR's end game is crap).

>

> Realistically, if I hadn't paid full price for the game and expansions I would probably just call it a day on my brief GW2 career, but I'd like to at least get my money's worth out of it.

 

Tough using the booster is your choice, most people will recommend your otherwise.

Mostly because doing low level story missions at lvl 80 isn't that much fun (despite the level scale), map completion loses meaning and the higher level maps (mostly Heart of Thorns maps) are hard as hell for unprepared players.

 

You should trully try to find a guild tough. 80% of the fun in a MMo is the community.

I leveled up to 80 chatting all day on map chat.

 

 

PS: First char is slow in this game, but at higher levels you will accumulate so many Tomes of Knowledge that you can boost any number of alts straight to lvl 80.

In fact. I have 6 chars level 80 already with 2 boosters to 80 in wait, plus around 150 Tomes, and at least 5~8 scrolls that boost me straight to lvl 30~40.

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

About the leveling: Are you seeking out events, or just doing hearts?

About the dieing: Is your gear relatively up to level? Is it coherent or are the stats spread all over the place? Do they (decently) match your weapon's skills? Focus toward *either* Power *or* Condition Damage, and make sure to use weapons that match - look at the skills, do they inflict damaging conditions? Don't use it without Condition Damage. Tanky/support stats (Vitality, Toughness, Healing Power) are not very good for solo play. I don't advocate full glass, but too much of them *will* get you dead from not killing your enemies fast enough - they are *not* enough to keep you alive through whatever comes at you.

[Blocki.4931]

The leveling is as fast as you are.

 

What I mean is that everything awards a set percentage of experience. If you finish map exploration quickly you will very quickly level up. It doesn't get harder to level up even if you are level 60 finishing one of the starter maps. Having a power based build is also helpful as you get to kill faster. I recommend testing different weapons and many different skills for your class, find something that clicks with you and leveling will become and feel very natural

[Zushada.6108]

> @"Epiphany.7125" said:

> Just an observation: leveling in this game, outside of the fairly modest amount of story content that I've encountered on my way to level 38, is unfocused and slow. Now I can deal with the unfocused part, since that can also be a positive, since you have freedom to level as you see fit. But the slow part is a bit concerning.

> Realistically, if I hadn't paid full price for the game and expansions I would probably just call it a day on my brief GW2 career, but I'd like to at least get my money's worth out of it.

 

As a SWTOR player from launch and as a GW2 player from launch, I have to be honest, you cannot compare the two. The stories in SWTOR are brilliant and while the stories here are well done, they aren't the same. Levelling is a slower process in this game but you are likely noticing it more, because EA/BW cranked up the XP acquisition speed in SWTOR quite a bit between 2013 and 2015. This game, doesn't have a whole lot of guidance on what to do or where to go, but the Scouts do help a lot when it comes to giving direction. The other thing is to look for events in game that credit the hearts as well. But pretty much every event will give you more xp than just the heart completion alone. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Experience

 

I also think, any player who comes from WoW or SWTOR needs to accept and appreciate that dying is just part of this game. It was a hard lesson for me to learn and I got very frustrated many times. But death is different in other games. There is a reason why you have a downed state and why ppl can rez you in combat in GW2. Too much dying and you get super frustrated of course, but when I see threads from new GW2 players who are frustrated with death,, I have to mention -- this game likes death and being downed and dying is just another mechanic. It does get better the higher level you get though but you will still die and you will see a lot of level 80s die around you as well.

 

Here is what I suggest:

 

1. Go to your guild hall and get the free XP boost

2. If you have received any XP boosters as rewards -- use them

3. Use food and utility. Most food and utilities will give you 10% extra experience per kill

 

My final suggestion, is if you haven't try PVP via the crossed swords icon in the nav bar in game. PVP will let you see the spec for your profession at 80 and if you have HoT or PoF or both purchased, you can see how the elite specs work. You don't have to go into a game, you can just use the lobby and smack the training dummies. The other thing both WvW and PVP give you are Tomes of Knowledge via your chosen reward track. this will give you one full level and I will be honest, they drop quickly in both game modes.

 

If you have an auto-boost to 80 you can try it out in SW before consuming it. I will be straight with you. I could never level a character in this game. I found the levelling process so boring. What hooked me was getting the auto-boost to 80 with HoT and getting into those maps (you think you die alot now LOL) and experiencing the game from a level 80 perspective. It really blew my mind and I was hooked.

 

Don't give up! There are lots of options for you! :) Freel free to msg in game if you need an assist.

[Khisanth.2948]

Also how is the exp curve set up in the other game? In GW2 it is nearly flat since everything rewards exp as a percentage. The numbers go up per level but the time doesn't change much.

 

This is in contrast to some games where it is something like the first 90 levels takes 50% of the exp needed to reach 100.

 

Keeping up with gear is important but you don't have to go too crazy with it. I usually go every 20 levels using green/masterwork gear. Have also just leveled using the level up rewards(not idea since they are a mix of stats).

[Epiphany.7125]

Wow thanks for the helpful comments from everybody! My gear is of blue/green quality mostly from drops, some from vendors. I don't seem to make enough copper/silver/gold to buy anything better off the trading post. I do seek out events, and do heart quests if they happen to be close. I should focus more on finding events I think. Most MMO's I've played ramp up the XP required to level, but some later offset that by increasing the XP rewarded as you level.. SWTOR was a cinch to level - I got to max level in 2 weeks playing fairly casually (it took 3 weeks to finish all the stories and expansions - one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had). WoW is in a similar state, fairly effortless yet occasionally challenging leveling with a lot of dumb grinding quests offset with a decent sprinkling of more creative and usually entertaining quest lines.

[altermaven.7385]

Always check heart vendors, they often sell decent equipment for karma once you complete them.

 

As for leveling, yellow (Neutral) mobs are your friend. Some of these are neglected, which means they accrue exploration experience. Combined with experience and "on kill" boosts such as food/utility items, this will help give you a bit of an edge when working on levels.

 

As far as overall area goes, don't feel pushed to take areas at/near your level. As the first answer nails it, experience for you is scaled UP if you're higher than the area you are in, but your overall level will be scaled DOWN to the relative area, so as to keep the monsters interesting and not easy. The upscale modification applies to mob kills, hearts, explorations (to a degree) and event rewards (including relevant karma and money rewards **excluding** hearts where the karma reward is unmodified).

 

If you can get yourself a few Laruel shop XP boosters, these have a "killstreak" booster that further ramps up bonus experience based on how many monsters you've killed recently, and only disappears if you wait too long. Useful if you want to slaughter things (such as neutral mobs).

 

You can also craft, crafting gives you experience per 'level' relative to the stage of the crafting -- higher ranks give you more experience per 'level'. This will help you make use of materials you come across from node harvesting and salvaging.

[Blocki.4931]

Also do the personal story (the green star) whenver it comes up! It gives you a ton of gear and drops that you'll be using until you can eventually replace it with something better.

[LucianDK.8615]

Should note that you get downleveled in sub 80 zones to the upper cap of the zone. Its to make all zones relevant even at max level. so you have really no need to rush to boost.

[Fluffball.8307]

You should generally be getting 1 to 3 levels per hour playing just super casually. If you're not, something may be off with what you're doing (i.e. you didn't realize you're supposed to equip new gear/forgot to fix your broken armor/etc.) If you're trying to level via killing rando-things in the open core world, that not necessarily the best idea (it CAN work, you just need to know a few things first.)

 

GW2 handsomely rewards you for _doing_ things, so explore, look out for events, craft, do JPs, do dungeons, etc.; whatever floats your boat. Don't try to grind mobs. If you're doing that and still not getting a level or 2 per hour, let us know.

[Hesacon.8735]

Once you're level 65, do Teq every day, each time you clear him it's worth several levels and drops like 5 gold in loot. Check the world boss timer and the squads section of LFG to find a map.

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tequatl_the_Sunless

 

Dynamic events are the best way to level, and you'll generally attract other players to help if they see you doing something. Low level world bosses also attract a lot of players and are also on the timer.

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/World_boss#Current_events

[Lanhelin.3480]

Leveling in GW2 is not narrow-forwarded like in other MMOs where you go from hub to hub. You always can and should go back into areas where you already have completed hearts to participate in events you most likely missed when you where there the first time. The gold-rated-xp gathered from events equal or exceed xp gained from hearts. Basically you can reach max level on the first map without ever leaving it (though this probably will become pretty boring sooner or later).

[Linken.6345]

> @"Epiphany.7125" said:

> Wow thanks for the helpful comments from everybody! My gear is of blue/green quality mostly from drops, some from vendors. I don't seem to make enough copper/silver/gold to buy anything better off the trading post. I do seek out events, and do heart quests if they happen to be close. I should focus more on finding events I think. Most MMO's I've played ramp up the XP required to level, but some later offset that by increasing the XP rewarded as you level.. SWTOR was a cinch to level - I got to max level in 2 weeks playing fairly casually (it took 3 weeks to finish all the stories and expansions - one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had). WoW is in a similar state, fairly effortless yet occasionally challenging leveling with a lot of dumb grinding quests offset with a decent sprinkling of more creative and usually entertaining quest lines.

 

You can buy green gear from hearts you complete if they are around your level aswell for karma that you get from the orange circle icons on map.

[zaekeon.5128]

I would say level 30-45ish are probably the slowest and most boring levels. It starts to pick up pace. The plus side is once you have an 80 leveling Alts will be much quicker as you get masteries like mounts, and gliding. You will collect quite a few leveling up tomes along the way too. When you get to level 73 just max out chef progression for a free 7 levels of xp

[crepuscular.9047]

gear is one thing if you are dying a lot, but a more experienced player is able to survive by learning the combat mechanic and the class even if under geared

unlike other MMOs, where you will be rewarded a lot of experience for completing quests in a zone higher than your current level, GW2 does not

 

there are alternative ways to level up, like world vs world's Eternal Battle Ground where you follow the zerg and run around capping objectives, it's a good way to level up your WvW's XP and toon's XP at the same time

 

another good way to level is do world boss trains

 

[Vayne.8563]

If you're on a US server, hit me up in game. You're leveling far too slowly. When I focus I can get a level roughly every ten minutes. If you're not getting a level every 15-20 minutes, there's stuff you can probably do better. I'd be happy to help.

[Fluffball.8307]

> @"Vayne.8563" said:

> If you're on a US server, hit me up in game. You're leveling far too slowly. When I focus I can get a level roughly every ten minutes. If you're not getting a level every 15-20 minutes, there's stuff you can probably do better. I'd be happy to help.

 

I quoted 1-3 levels an hour super casually, and six sounds totally reasonable to me if you're power leveling. A month to get 38 has some serious fundamental problems, and it wouldn't hurt to have someone take a look at what's going on.

[Dawdler.8521]

> @"zaekeon.5128" said:

> I would say level 30-45ish are probably the slowest and most boring levels. It starts to pick up pace. The plus side is once you have an 80 leveling Alts will be much quicker as you get masteries like mounts, and gliding. You will collect quite a few leveling up tomes along the way too. When you get to level 73 just max out chef progression for a free 7 levels of xp

 

I would say more like 20-40. The problem is you actually hit a bump where you're not high enough to do the story levels, but you're not really pointed in any way that give you xp. You're just let free to do whatever. And I can understand that would be troublesome for many people, it lacks direction. Its not until higher levels you get clearly pointed towards Orr and need to work your way through the southern zones.

 

The easiest way to go around this is to explore ALL the low level zones (and do events obviously), not just your race. Go to the capital city -> take portal to Lions Arch -> take portal to one of the other races -> do their 2-3 starter zones. This should get one above the bump and start in earnest. After that, just mix open world exploration of zones and the story missions. It's pretty easy. Be sure to check out the boss timer on dulfy too and as you explore, keep track on where each boss is and routinly go back them, then return where you where. That'll give you lots of levels for little work.

 

If one got a couple friends, then doing dungeons is quick'n'easy to boost levels too.

[delriaan.7854]

Regarding dying: Game mechanics mastery is more important than gear at the beginning, IMO. This includes learning how to move around effectively and make use of free-look while moving. Key bindings optimization is, well -- key ;) Even learning to recognize certain skill sounds in combat will help know when to take defensive action.

Hope that helps, even a little. Cheers!

[Cyninja.2954]

> @"Epiphany.7125" said:

> Wow thanks for the helpful comments from everybody! My gear is of blue/green quality mostly from drops, some from vendors. I don't seem to make enough copper/silver/gold to buy anything better off the trading post. I do seek out events, and do heart quests if they happen to be close. I should focus more on finding events I think. Most MMO's I've played ramp up the XP required to level, but some later offset that by increasing the XP rewarded as you level.. SWTOR was a cinch to level - I got to max level in 2 weeks playing fairly casually (it took 3 weeks to finish all the stories and expansions - one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had). WoW is in a similar state, fairly effortless yet occasionally challenging leveling with a lot of dumb grinding quests offset with a decent sprinkling of more creative and usually entertaining quest lines.

 

I think you are simply more used to tradition MMOs with more strait forward questing and haven't adapted yet to GW2s system.

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Experience

for a general overview of what gives how much experience. Experience works as follows:

- if you are equal level to the area you are in, you will get exact values as on that chart (for example 2.625% of your level for a waypoint).

- if you are lower level or higher level than the area you are in you experience gets adjusted to which ever level is lower (yours or the areas) meaning you will get slightly reduced experience

 

**Unless you are going for 100%ing a map, try to stay in areas which are close or slightly above your level.**

 

Final advice: mix it up. Everything in GW2 gives experience. Crafting is especially fast (use http://gw2crafts.net/ for example and maybe do cooking). Running around and uncovering the map also easily nets you 1-2 levels for little work every couple of levels. I actually once leveled all the way to 17 without ever really engaging in combat (I think I did occasionally tag events, not sure it's been a while).

 

Please realize that this game is designed around active defenses. You will not be able to facetank much of the damage thrown your way. If survival is an issue maybe give necromancer or warrior a try.

[Epiphany.7125]

Thanks for the responses - the bottom line is I have absolutely no desire to deep dive into the intricacies of this game - if it's not something I can pick up fairly easily after having played various MMORPG's over the past 15 years, then I'm really not interested - and it also appears you have a pretty active alt-right aspect to your community and Nazi's aren't my thing so I'll quietly take the $80 hit and be on my way. Really sorry I bought this game.

[Khisanth.2948]

Well that is pretty simple. This game was designed with the intent of being different from previous MMORPGs. That means the many things you know from other games will not apply. This is the wrong game to get if you just want more of the same.

[Trigore.7904]

> @"Epiphany.7125" said:

> Thanks for the responses - the bottom line is I have absolutely no desire to deep dive into the intricacies of this game - if it's not something I can pick up fairly easily after having played various MMORPG's over the past 15 years, then I'm really not interested - and it also appears you have a pretty active alt-right aspect to your community and kitten's aren't my thing so I'll quietly take the $80 hit and be on my way. Really sorry I bought this game.

 

Well there's your answer. It probably isn't for you. It's a shame because coming from someone who has played wow, final fantasy, eso and many others, GW2 has something unique with its battle system/skills. Unlike wow or ffxiv, GW2 is very much like ESO where it takes skill to play your class. You have to dodge roll stuff, block stuff, some skills act as finishers to others etc it's not just a button bashing exercise.

 

Sorry to see you go, but from the post I quoted, it kinda sounds like your mind is made up anyway. All the best.

[Sleepwalker.1398]

> @"Epiphany.7125" said:

> Thanks for the responses - the bottom line is I have absolutely no desire to deep dive into the intricacies of this game - if it's not something I can pick up fairly easily after having played various MMORPG's over the past 15 years, then I'm really not interested - and it also appears you have a pretty active alt-right aspect to your community and kitten's aren't my thing so I'll quietly take the $80 hit and be on my way. Really sorry I bought this game.

 

hi there OP, if you decide to give it another try then you can try tips from this link.

 

Also get some of those really cheap Halloween food that cost like 2copper and grant +15% exp.

If you running short on gold msg me ingame, i have tons of those leftover food which i can mail to you for free.