Guild Wars 2

I just returned to guild wars 2 only to find out nothing has changed, I am a level 21 thief trying desperately to level up.

I have two 100% experience boosters but I’m afraid to use them atm because I’m not sure I’m playing the game right.

I have 100% map completion in Divinity’s Reach, Queen’s Dale and Kessex Hills.. Although in Kessex hills it says I only have 42% completion but there’s nothing left on the map that havn’t been filled out. I’ve been in the boss train for hours on end but it’s so painfully slow that it hurts my soul, right now I can do nothing but grind an estimate of 3000 to 4,500 level 16-22 monsters till I reach level 25 so I can go on to the next area (Gendarran Fields).

You can go to Lions Arch and from there to the other races starting areas.

Open up the world map and look for the other areas which are for your level. Just because you are a Human does not mean you are locked out of the Shiverpeaks, Tarnished Coast or Ascalon. Go to Divinity’s reach and travel to Lion’s Arch through the big purple portal then do the map completion there if you want to. From there you can access the lands of the other races through the portals at the Gate Hub. you can go to the Grove Black Citadel, Rata Sum and Hoelbrak through those portals. There’s also a portal that takes you Lornar’s Pass. I forget exactly where it is. Each of the racial cities will grant you access to the lowbie areas.

There are usually multiple areas around the same level that you can go to.
And you can always go to other lower zones, the game scales you down to the right level so you’re not badly OP, basically any zone at your level or lower (world map shows zone levels)

But Brisban Wildlands is a 15-25 zone, as is Snowden Drifts and Diessa Plateau.
You don’t have to grind monsters the whole time to level, although you certainly can.

You could always hop into WvW or EotM (it scales you up to 80, but it can more training)

Ah okay, I’ll try and find it. I have completed the jumping puzzles in lions ark

Kunikakitty.3185:

I just returned to guild wars 2 only to find out nothing has changed, I am a level 21 thief trying desperately to level up.

I have two 100% experience boosters but I’m afraid to use them atm because I’m not sure I’m playing the game right.

I have 100% map completion in Divinity’s Reach, Queen’s Dale and Kessex Hills.. Although in Kessex hills it says I only have 42% completion but there’s nothing left on the map that havn’t been filled out. I’ve been in the boss train for hours on end but it’s so painfully slow that it hurts my soul, right now I can do nothing but grind an estimate of 3000 to 4,500 level 16-22 monsters till I reach level 25 so I can go on to the next area (Gendarran Fields).

Is it the grind or your play-style / weapon-set that you find boring? I ask because it’s an important distinction.

But to help, I would suggest porting over to the starting areas for the other races via Lion’s Arch. You can portal to LA for free by jumping into the mists / w.v.w. area (think it’s the B keyboard shortcut). I’ll do this when leveling up my alts. It helps a lot!

Edit: Wow, like 4 other responses while I was typing this one. Man, I’m a slow typer, lol.

Thanks for the advice btw, will probably get me to 25 if I complete the other races areas too.. maybe.

Events are your main source of xp gain. Monsters aren’t there for levelling purposes (although the killstreak boosts really make a difference). Depending on the event, you can level up with just a handful of successful events.

Kessex has tons of events going on so it should be easy enough to level through those. But if you are bored of that zone, you have no shortage of zones you can visit. Brisban to the West also is well stocked with events.

As for map completion, that will be based on POI’s.vistas/hearts – all of which give xp as you unlock them.

21-25 should take a couple of days at a reasonable rate of play doing the above. There is almost no grind in levelling here, so it’s just a matter of uitlising all of the game to level up.

If you have only 42% done on a map, then you do have hearts, points of interests, vistas and hero points to do.

If your having problems finding them go to
Options (gear icon on UI)
General options
Content guide
Set the content guide on default.

It will now point out areas on a map that you have not done.

Your experience is quite surprising since leveling in this game is really rapid.
First a 100% map completion is not only discovering the map but it requires you to “activate” the hero challenges, the Points of Interests, the vistas and the waypoints as well as filling every hearts.
Normally if the map is uncovered, you should see where are the missing things by hovering your mouse on the map recap (on the left side of the full screen map). If a heart is missing, try to speak to NPC with a telescope icon on their head.

Other than that I advise you to gather plants, ores and wood since these give exp. You may also want to visit other low level map in other region. The waypoints for those zones are normally either unlocked or you must travel through asura gates (Divinity’s reach to Lion’s Arch, then Lion’s Arch to another main city).
There are plenty of food you can find which increase exp by 10% (search NPPC in cities) and you can also interact with banners that people plant everywhere… chances are you get an exp bonus.
Your personal story (green star in the upper right corner if you have the appropriate level) is also a good source of leveling, along with the many dynamic events. Bashing mobs randomly is far from being the best source of experience points.
Also last advice, don’t forget crafting. If you gather materials, use them for crafting, this will give you experience. You can learn up to 2 crafting profession at one time but you can switch to others by paying a small fee to the trainers in cities. Your progress with any profession will be saved if you want to come back to it.

Kunikakitty.3185:

Thanks for the advice btw, will probably get me to 25 if I complete the other races areas too.. maybe.

Only 4 levels? Oh yeah. I have little doubt that you’ll make level 25 if you work all of the other intro zones.

Kunikakitty.3185:

Thanks for the advice btw, will probably get me to 25 if I complete the other races areas too.. maybe.

If you do all 5 starting zones you’ll be about level 35-40.

You do not kill mobs in GW2 to level up. Grinding is literally the worst possible way to level.

Randulf.7614:

Events are your main source of xp gain. Monsters aren’t there for levelling purposes (although the killstreak boosts really make a difference). Depending on the event, you can level up with just a handful of successful events.

True dat.

If I’m feeling especially lazy, I’ll just run my character through maps to unlock the vistas, waypoints, and Points of Interest. I just run past the mobs, lol.

Yeah I have completed the first two storyquests, I’ve gone to the Grove now, but it’s a low level area so I don’t think I’ll gain much from doing this.

I’ll keep an eye on any raw materials while questing here.

When I were in Kessex hills I only killed fireflys, since they’re likely to give more than 16 experience per kill.

I generally make 2 levels just running though one of the other race starter zones to get the Hero Challenges. 4 levels should be no problem if you complete one.

Kunikakitty.3185:

I have 100% map completion in Divinity’s Reach, Queen’s Dale and Kessex Hills.. Although in Kessex hills it says I only have 42% completion but there’s nothing left on the map that havn’t been filled out. I’ve been in the boss train for hours on end but it’s so painfully slow that it hurts my soul, right now I can do nothing but grind an estimate of 3000 to 4,500 level 16-22 monsters till I reach level 25 so I can go on to the next area (Gendarran Fields).

If you are at only at 42% then you are missing many of the hearts. They don’t automatically show up on your map. You have to run near them or talk to a scout(telescope icon on the map) to reveal them.

It takes 14 events or 800 mobs per level. It takes 56 kills to equal doing one event. Many events involve killing stuff too so just running around and killing stuff is going to be extremely inefficient.

- I would advise you to go to higher lvl areas and dont just kill mobs, do the dynamic events as they give much more exp.

-crafting is a good way to lvl up

- do your story quests they give a lot of exp when completed.

- play pvp. You can receive tomes of knowledge there which can level you up very fast

Kunikakitty.3185:

Yeah I have completed the first two storyquests, I’ve gone to the Grove now, but it’s a low level area so I don’t think I’ll gain much from doing this.

I’ll keep an eye on any raw materials while questing here.

When I were in Kessex hills I only killed fireflys, since they’re likely to give more than 16 experience per kill.

XP scales. Just because the numbers look lower doesn’t mean they are. You fundamentally misunderstand GW2.

You can level anywhere. In fact being in a lower level zone is FASTER BECAUSE YOU KILL FASTER AND XP SCALES BETTER IN LOWER ZONES.

Godmoney.2048:

Kunikakitty.3185:

Thanks for the advice btw, will probably get me to 25 if I complete the other races areas too.. maybe.

If you do all 5 starting zones you’ll be about level 35-40.

You do not kill mobs in GW2 to level up. Grinding is literally the worst possible way to level.

This. You get enough EXP for a level or two simply from getting all the way-points on a map, for starters.

If you want to level FAST, run past as many trash mobs as possible to explore maps, (Unless you have a killstreak booster) but complete any dynamic events you encounter and complete renown hearts you are near (Most hearts can be completed by killing said trash mobs in the area, so that’s when you go on a killing spree, but not inbetween the hearts out of range for completing one)

Events and hearts give huge chunks of bonus EXP that dwarf the exp you get from killing mobs, and even then, you kill more mobs in the process of doing those events than you do in areas were nothing is going on so you get more EXP either way.

This is so cool, I’ve only explored 17% of the grove but I’ve gained 3 bars of experience! in the matter of minutes.

Xp scales, you’ll gain the same or more amount of experience in levels with a lower area.
You are not locked out of anything, you don’t have to be level 25 to get to a 25 place, give yourself a challenge!
Also, there’s no need to 100% every place you see, while it gives a good experience boost just running around in same/lower areas doing events or hearts will be much faster.

Ah yes, nothing like starting a game, leveling to 21, just doing boss train, and then complaining about the grind.

The only arguable grind in this game is a gold grind, which you aren’t even doing.

If you find leveling up a grind, then I can confidently say you are doing it wrong.

a) Stop 100%’ing maps. That will make it feel like a grind. Go back to them after you hit 80.

b) Stop running trains. They are boring. You clearly don’t want boring.

To level without grind: pick a map within your level range, then wander it aimlessly doing whatever the heck you want. See a heart? Do it if you feel like it. See an event, hop in it, its good XP. Or don’t, it’s up to you! Maybe do a little PvP for a change of pace, or hop into WvW. Maybe do some crafting to level a bit.

There are multitudes of ways to level up in this game. If you’re only picking the most boring, grindiest ways to do it, that’s your own fault.

wait you have 100% map completion in queen’s dale and kessex hills and you’re level 21?

You really need to slow down. Thats only possible if you’re only been doing stuff required for map completion (ie Hearts, vista’s etc..) you must have been missing most if not all of the dynamic events which is the heart and soul of the game. These are the most of the map story take place and in terms of leveling they’re worth 7% of your level thats compared to defeating foes that only gives 0.125% + bonus. IE 1 event (excluding mobs you kill in it) is worth 56 mobs. Dont also forget personal story that gives a massive 27% of your level in XP.

doing dailies is also a good way to earn XP.

Kunikakitty.3185:

This is so cool, I’ve only explored 17% of the grove but I’ve gained 3 bars of experience! in the matter of minutes.

XP is very easy to get in this game, but some people get lost around the same level as you. They don’t know where to go because all around them is either too high or too low area. It’s a design flaw, but not a bit one. Once you figure it out, there is no problem anymore. Anyway here some ways to get xp.

- Explore the map. Like you found out Lion Arch allow you to travel to any racial city and from there you have access to pretty much all the maps you need.

- Crafting will give you a nice boost if map exploration is starting to bored you. Gathering material also give you some nice xp. So if you gather everything you can will doing map exploration you probably gonna have enough material to craft and gain a couple more level in a couple of minutes.

- Dungeons give you 70% of your level, whatever what is your level. You can’t start to do dungoen until level 35. At that point you can ask in the LFG tool for a party, but make sure you precise that you are new so you get people that want to help you, not people that want to go fast. That way you gonna have a way better experience.

- EotM : It’s a kind of WvW map where you gain a LOT of xp. Probably the fastest way to gain xp without using gold. XP there is so good that you can see entire zerg of low level character farming their level.

- PvP : If you like pvp you won’t level up. But you will gain tome of knowledge that give you a level each time. It’s not the fastest way to level up, but I find it the most fun way to do it. You have access to everything on your character like if he was level 80, then accumulate tomes of knowledge while doing PvP.

In addition to your personal storyline quests, you should be filling in the Renown Heart locations on the map by doing the tasks associated with them. If exploration is your thing, you get xp for going to Points of Interest and looking at Vistas. To unlock all of the cool stuff your character can do in later levels, you are going to be wanting to run Hero Challenges. You get xp for gathering resources, and you get xp for crafting. You get xp for participating in Events. And, I’m sure you’ve already noticed that you get xp for uncovering new areas of the maps and travel locations. Guild Wars has actually, as far as levelling goes, done a lot to be the antithesis of grinding – you can be doing just about anything to progress your character, and be getting xp for it.

Sometimes I start to believe that some people lack the patience to learn about the game mechanics, nor even check how the UI works. I see a lot of persons complaining about the grind and inmediately say to myself “renown hearts”.
I mean, you can basically reach lvl 25 starting as a 1 in like 3 hours just by doing so.
I know a lot of people are used to the korean mmo grindfest which is horrible but sometimes I believe the noob handholding guides in most of the games makes the average mmo player kida braindead.
Sorry pal, not saying you are, I’m just generalizing.

My recommendation is to find a good guild to join. They can help you with a wide variety of things that will help you level up. If you want 6-7 quick levels, try yourhand at a crafting guide. If you dont have the gold or materials for it, there are people in the guilds that will be willing to help you with it, just dont be demanding or an azzhat and most people will be helpful to you. Second best way IMHO is to map complete. Go find all teh hearts/vistas/POI’s/ and waypoints on a mp. do the events you run across in between them too, events can be almost a good a source of xp as mapping. Especially if you can find the ones that run in a chain event.

Ouch you are doing it all wrong. This is not Wow, or Runescape or any of those other games where you grind on mobs. What you do is actually PLAY the game and have fun.

Options:

1 – Explore all maps available to you to 100%.
2 – Run around doing events.
3 – Go to WvW and run with the zerg.

Don’t bother with crafting, that is for elite people who just have to get to 80 in 1-2 days. Just playing the game normally you can get there in 1-2 weeks depending on how many hours a day you can play.

Raven.1524:

Sometimes I start to believe that some people lack the patience to learn about the game mechanics, nor even check how the UI works. I see a lot of persons complaining about the grind and inmediately say to myself “renown hearts”.
I mean, you can basically reach lvl 25 starting as a 1 in like 3 hours just by doing so.
I know a lot of people are used to the korean mmo grindfest which is horrible but sometimes I believe the noob handholding guides in most of the games makes the average mmo player kida braindead.
Sorry pal, not saying you are, I’m just generalizing.

What I made bold here was one of the biggest issues with the Queensdale champ trains. New players were starting and asking how to level, guess what the reply always was?

That’s right – “join the champ train”. Many new players didn’t even bother to learn their skills or the maps or even basic gameplay. Perhaps some got bored and quit for a while. Come back and see the champ train in Queensdale is dead and gone and are just totally stuck as to what to do. Thus this OP methinks. :P

You think that’s grind? At lvl 21? In this game where you get xp if you run around long enough?

Do daily pvp too. You will get tomes of knoledge to 1up u o/

Oxidia.8103:

You think that’s grind? At lvl 21? In this game where you get xp if you run around long enough?

This ^^

Simply killing mobs gives garbage xp. Do hearts, explore go to new zones. Leveling up is insanely easy. If you just kill a monster, wait for respawn… kill rinse and repeat then I agree you’ll get little xp and it will be a grind. They build this game on getting xp from events/hearts not mob killing per-say (although you do get some, just not much).

Don’t stand around and kill mobs. It’s crappy XP because your character isn’t actually experiencing anything new when you do it. Follow the little arrow in the upper right of your screen. it always leads you to large sources of XP like undiscovered POIs, events, vistas, hearts, and undiscovered regions of the map.

GW2 rewards you the most for doing content. It rewards very little for standing in a field killing mobs that are just minding their own business. In fact, killing the same mob over and over awards less XP, as mobs become worth more XP the long they’ve been alive.

Still, forget that mobs give XP. Think of gaining experience as literally gaining experience as you would in real life. You have to explore, do new or important things, climb stuff, etc. Killing mobs during an event is where the experience is, because they’re actively attacking something, or you’re with an NPC to clear out a camp of them, etc.

You are doing something wrong.

For exp your focus should be hearts, and events not mobs (this is not a grinding game.)

Try PvP or WvW as well.

Also as you probably know exploring and crafting give experience as well (almost everything does.) So…do other things, most importanly try those other zones people mentioned. Google a map and see where you can fight.

A few remarks:

1 Use food and utility
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Food
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Utility_item
(example even if it’s lvl 0 it will gave +10% Experience from KILLS each (stacking), with halloween arriving you could check if you could get some Candy corn Icecream (prices should drop during the event) whcih gives +15% experience from kills
Combined with sharpining stones (rough sharpening stones cost a few copper) this will give you 25% added experience, STACKING with the other boosters

2 If you see banners just click them , all banners are nice and it’s just a matter of pressing F to get a few or a lot of buffs. buffs range from 5% added XP to 15% and many more.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_banner

3 All things in this game give experience:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Experience

• Events/Hearts Events have priority, they are temporary, you sometimes fill a heart while doing an event, and sometimes even more.
• Bosses Yes… Minor bosses (vets/champs) and Big bosses, a.k.a World bosses all give XP, and possibly good drops.
• Mining/chopping/harvesting (for either cash OR crafting)
• Crafting (getiing your crafting level up for any crafting proffession gives ~7 levels to 400, and 10 level for 500 while this is expensive it can be very beneficial in combination with harvesting and salvaging
• Exploring (all things you find give XP, waypoints, points of interest, hero points, new map regions, completing a map (getting 100% also gives added Xp and some free drops)
• Dungeons (from lvl 30 you can do they first lvl 30 story dungeon, from lvl 35 Explorable dungeons, these while harder will pay good money if you can find a group, and will give you .75 of a levels’ worth of XP)
• PvP/WvW If you like it….
• Killing (well most things except for critters. Enemies whcih have been alive longer on the map give MORE BONUS XP. So in area’s where critters are harvested you will not get much XP, but sometimes it can be worthwhile to just kill the yellow creatures as most people ignore them. sometimes the bonus XP is 150% of the normal XP… ending you with 2.5 times the base XP before boosters and food and all.
• Story:

4: DO STORY

Just as it says, it will give good XP, good armor pieces and quite some levels. also it will enhance your knowledge of the gw2 lore.

TIP 1
MAKE SURE to get WEAPONS, ARMOR and PREFERABLY TRINKETS FOR YOUR LEVEL, and preferably trinkets and runes/gems on your armor and trinkets, and buy minor sigils for your weapons… A minor sigil of bloodlust can help a lot… as will some other sigils (minor fire/air) also make sure you buy some new ones for armor if they do not salvage off, and at lvl 39 you can start buying Major runes and sigils which will be a big improvement the investment is minor but will save you a lot of problems… Invest in power as much as possible when leveling , if you find it heard to stay alive make sure you have a ranged and a melee weapon, and/or invest in some TOUGHNESS
make sure you are always withing 10 levels of your actal level
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dynamic_level_adjustment
Downscaling is a nice mechanic, unfortunately it will make you very weak as you still tend to have lower level armor and gear, which will be underpowered and give underpowered stats after downscaling, making you squishy.

TIP 2
Make sure you focus on power builds when you begin…
If you want a condi build, no problem, but start your leveling as a powerbuild until you are in RARE or better armor… (lvl 35+, preferably 39+) conditions at the low levels do a tiny bit of damage, power will be way faster. Also do not buy rare armor… you’ll get better…

Tip 3
at level 5 you can get blue gear (fine)
at level 15 you can get green gear (masterwork)
at level 25 you can get gear with dual stats
at level 35 you can get yellow gear (rare)
at level 39 you can get major runes and sigils (only on lvl 39 and higher gear!)
at level 55 you can get gear with triple stats
at level 60 you can get exotic runes and sigils (only on lvl 60 and higher gear!)
at level 63 you can get orange gear (Exotic)
at level 80 you can get pink and purple gear Ancended and Legendary gear….
All this gear comes with a lot of different stats and value.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Item
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Item_nomenclature

Last remarks:
- You might want to use your tomes of knowledge if you do not know how to level up. BUT will make yourself lost in lower level area’s while you start downscaling….
- Do not enter area’s higher then 7 levels above your present level… 2 or 3 is doable 4 or 5 is not so fun and 7+ is horrid.
- Make sure you focus on either power (especially at the start), or on condition dmg. Do not do both before you understand the consequences. Do not mix up stuff with all kinds of stats. You will survive without healing, without vitality and p[orbably also without toughness as long as you stay alert. If you have probelms to stay alive you can invest in some toughness, ignore vitality and healing. At least until you are lvl 80 and you make yourself a plan what you will be, or not be

Just do what you like. Do not feel forced to do whatever everyone want’s trying out stuff for yourself is the only freedom you have, and you will learn by making mistakes

Good luck

Go into WvW Eternal Battlegrounds or Edge of the Mists and look for a commander tag…there is probably a zerg there. It’s probably the quickest way to level. I don’t recommend this for the entire experience because there is so much to see, but it can provide a nice break from leveling in the world if that’s what you need.

Kunikakitty.3185:

Snip
right now I can do nothing but grind an estimate of 3000 to 4,500 level 16-22 monsters till I reach level 25 so I can go on to the next area (Gendarran Fields).

There is no need to grind mobs for levels in this game. This is the absolute slowest way to level when there are numerous alternatives.

The first place I would suggest, as a new player, is to work on your personal story. This will make leveling relatively smooth, fast, and interesting while introducing you to the lore of the game. Supplement this with exploring the maps and doing heart quests

Kunikakitty.3185:

Snip

I have two 100% experience boosters but I’m afraid to use them atm because I’m not sure I’m playing the game right.

I would suggest saving your exp boosters for power leveling alts later in the Edge of the Mists. Going to the Edge of the Mists with exp boosters and jumping on a ktrain (karma/exp train) is arguably the fastest way to level (if you don’t count Tomes of Knowledge and exp scrolls which are automatic exp). I don’t recommend this way of leveling for your first character though as you miss out on……well, everything :/

Kunikakitty.3185:

I just returned to guild wars 2 only to find out nothing has changed, I am a level 21 thief trying desperately to level up.

I have two 100% experience boosters but I’m afraid to use them atm because I’m not sure I’m playing the game right.

I have 100% map completion in Divinity’s Reach, Queen’s Dale and Kessex Hills.. Although in Kessex hills it says I only have 42% completion but there’s nothing left on the map that havn’t been filled out. I’ve been in the boss train for hours on end but it’s so painfully slow that it hurts my soul, right now I can do nothing but grind an estimate of 3000 to 4,500 level 16-22 monsters till I reach level 25 so I can go on to the next area (Gendarran Fields).

I strongly recommend trying out SPVP. You should also have a 2nd character slot available. Its very easy, just get into the SPVP lobby, look up some builds on your respective profession forums and try them out. Thief may be a bit too much for someone brand new to the game depending on your past experience within the genre. I would recommend something a bit easier to play like a guardian, warrior then branch out from there.

You can level there very fast to get you over the “dry humps” as well as end up much more familiar with the game and your respective class / build choices for when they become available in the other game modes.

and at 20 you can do second personal story arc should get you afew levels

Grind?

Try the original Everquest if you want to see real grind.

This is a walk in the park.

As the other said before, you play it wrong. Don’t follow the champ train. It is for farming and boring. Exploring the world and discover the meta event chains. If you are not strong enough for the event, you can map chat to ask for help.

An alternative is leveling up in PvP. All traits and almost every sigil and rune are unlocked there.