Guild Wars 2

Hi, I’ve just started playing this game and bought it because of the 50% off sale. I’m finding it really slow to level up. The hearts/quests don’t give enough exp for me to level up so i end up going for the other hearts/quests that require a higher level. Story gives nice exp but after that i go back to the problem with hearts. Tried the edge of the mists. It was annoying. Travelling to where the battle is, getting some exp then end up dying and going on a long walk again.

Edge of the mists and try crafting and go google gw2 crafts it gives you the cheapest way to level crafts

Tip 1) Do map completion for all the cities before you do anything at all. This will get you to around level 10 before you’ve even started.

Tip 2) Do the events as much as possible. If you can complete a heart by doing a nearby event, all the better.

Tip 3) Don’t restrict yourself to one starting zone. There are five of them, do them all.

Edge of the Mists is probably best left until you have some traits and higher tier skills under your belt, imo but ymmv. I absolutely recommend crafting as a chef and using the food you create to gain exp boosts etc. It’s cheap and you get a lot of exp from it. I think it’s second only to medium armor crafting atm but you’d have to consult with someone more knowledgeable about the fluctuating materials prices/check the trading post yourself since I tend to be very yolo about my crafting. You also get a good amount of exp from map completion – I’d start with the cities and work your way out.

I’ll quote what I recently posted to another new kid on the block looking for advice:

“Each race has a lowbie 1-15 zone. To access these areas, you should head through the Lion’s Arch asura gate in your race’s city (if you can’t find it, look it up on the wiki though you’ll earn exp for exploring the city). Due to recent events in the Living Story, Lion’s Arch has been destroyed and these gates will take you to Gendarran Fields. There, you will exit the asura gate and be surrounded by a hub of gates. This hub will take you to any race’s city in the game. You’ll want to go through each one and explore the map just outside of the city. You should find enough content to take you to level 15 or higher for the next tier of maps.

As for the 15-25 map, you can try experiencing a map a little bit higher level than you. Characters are “upleveled” in this game, meaning your stats will get a little bit of a boost in higher level areas (alas, you will still be using the simple skills and traits you normally have). I’d recommend bringing along some food/relevant potions which you can make as a chef (food) or artificer (potion) if you want to try the tougher map right off the bat. Oooor you can just buy off the trading post but you probably don’t have a lot of extra money at this point and you’d be missing out on the experience you gain from crafting. Seriously, try crafting for a bit once you’ve gathered some materials. It’s easy exp and the items created are usually helpful. Maybe give /map chat or LFG tool a shout out to form up a party. Safety in numbers and all that."

Edge of the Mists is hands down the place to be for every one at the moment. No matter the reason.

Explore a bit. Enjoy the game. Don’t worry about getting to max level. You will get there in time. Just play what you can.

Cooking is a really cheap 7 levels – it’s usually about 2g.

This is what I did for my Ranger, Warrior and now Necro:

Stack as many XP boosters as you can:
1. Birthday
2. XP Booster
3. Laurel Booster
4. Food
5. Potion
6. Banner/Guild
*7. Killstreak Booster

I’ve made the killstreak booster last over 2 hours – it helps a LOT but you need to be in a zone where you can kill things quickly without having to rest or without any chance of being killed. It’s best to get comfortable with a zone before you pop one of these – make sure you know the area and there are enough mobs that you can keep moving without any dead spots that will make you lose the booster. (you need a kill every 30 seconds)

You get decent XP for the killing the mob, but the gravy comes from killing mobs that have been alive a long time. You need to look off the beaten path to find these areas, but it’s not that hard. You will get 3-5 times the XP by killing these “old timers” compares to mobs that just spawned.

If you can get all those boosters and find a good area, you can get an easy 5 levels per hour. It can be monotonous and it’s probably not worth it unless you can stack nearly all of those boosters for maximum effect.

Edit: I would not try this until you are about level 30. I would also try to stack power in your weapons and armor and ideally a perma speed boost and some emergency skills in case you get in trouble. Farm an area where you are at least 2 levels above most of the mobs.

Crafting isn’t a good way to level your early characters. It’s expensive for anyone new to the game, and obviously adds absolutely nothing to your experience within the world at large. Some good tips were mentioned above, but for your situation the best course would be:

1) Run everywhere. Every way point, point of interest, vista, and explorable area provides experience when you discover it. Besides, it lets you see the game and find out what parts you like. I’ve never actually done it, but you can probably level to 80 without ever killing a thing and simply run the map.

2) HUNT SKILL POINTS. Besides the XP, these are now worth more than ever. See trait unlocking.

3) Look for areas where an orange “event” overlaps with a heart. Most of the time kills in this area double count for both tallies. You get the heart XP and the event XP when finished. When an event or heart looks ridiculous or irritating (defend really slow person for 20 minutes plus/dance like a cow) – SKIP IT. The bonus XP from map completion is small and finishing off those particularly tricky vistas or POI’s when you don’t know the secret is very time consuming. (*see below regarding trait unlocking)

4) Eat food & potions. Food, potions, stones, crystals, etc. all offer a 10% boost to XP from kills. At low levels, the stat boosts aren’t worth much, but it doesn’t matter. Having 1 food and 1 potion up on you at all times give you a permanent 20% boost to kills XP. No reason to splurge on expensive food and it doesn’t matter if you are using a Centaur killing potion when you are really killing ogres. You still get the boost. Potions are ridiculously cheap and I would recommend those over stones/oils/crystal until lvl 50 or 60. Many foods and potions are available for less than 5 coppers. Even some one new to the game can afford to quaff that stuff down endlessly.

5) Stack power (optional). Power rules in leveling. Throwing on a sigil of bloodlust makes things go away fast. Also, many events require you to destroy physical objects that are not subject to critical hits or conditions. The new boost to the sigil of speed may be very helpful, especially if you are a mesmer or guardian. Still, you should not let this dissuade you from playing a certain style. If you love your condi necro, by all means play that way.

Those are the big ones. Other people will suggest WvW or champ trains, but there is too much waiting around and you are dependent on other people to help you along. Rampaging through the PvE world can be done anytime, solo or in packs, and it won’t matter. The last time I aggressively tried to level a character, I did it in 7 days, playing 5 or 6 hours a day. I could have gone faster, but occasionally stopped to enjoy myself.

**The other factor here is going to be if your character was created after the April 15th patch. If it was, then you are subject to the new traits system where you must complete a whole pile of map completions to unlock traits, or be forced to pay for them. Some map completion may be in order on the appropriate maps to cut down on your costs.

You may find it really “slow” to level up, simply cause the game lacks “vertical” progression. You don’t start at a ludicrous speed gaining the first 15 levels and then move slower and slower and slower up the top. This game is quite fun when it comes to exploring and doing dynamic events, so stick with those. If you think you’re too low (or weak) to continue, like others mention above, visit the starter areas (Queensdale, Metrica Province, Wayfarer Foothils, Plains of Ashford, Caledon Forest) of other races until you feel you’re ready for more. Also, exploring the main cities gives good XP and of course Transmutation charges.

With the “effective level” feature, it doesn’t matter what level you are. You just adjust to the level your area is. So sit back, and enjoy the game.

If you like PvP you can get a Tome of Knowledge to level up for every hour and a half or so of PvP.