Guild Wars 2

Leveling up in Guild Wars 2 can take a while if you’re merely new to the game and exploring the open world PvE content for the first time. Here are some tips to quicken the pace in your lower levels.

PART 1. EXPERIENCE BUFFS aka stuff that gives you MORE XP!

I cannot stress enough how helpful it is with the many buffs available in the game that grant extra XP, this includes the following (from easiest obtainable):

• Lunar Newyear Firework and/or Exploding Draketail
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lunar_New_Year_Firework
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Exploding_Draketail

Easily purchasable from the TP for around 2 silver (which ever one is cheapest; both have the same effect) and grants for 5 minutes a 10% bonus experience from all sources. This item can stack up to 2 hours so make sure you buy them in bulk & use your play time wisely.

• Food and Utility Food consumables
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Food
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Utility_item

One of the most basic helpful buffs in the game (bought on TP) is consuming these 2 items categorized as “Nourishment”. Food grants 10% XP from kills (15% on certain higher level foods) and Utility Food is exactly the same at respective 10% and/or 15% variations depending on the food consumed.

These consumables have timers that may last 30 minutes, 45 minutes or up to 1 hour. You cannot stack these foods. The only way to get the most out of these foods is by purchasing from the Gem Store Metabolic Primers and/or Utility Primers which last for 12 hours; any food/utility consumable you use will have the same remaining time as the primer.

• Guild Banners/Hero Banner/Guild XP Gain
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_banner
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_XP_Gain

If you’re starting out I highly recommend joining an active guild with a Guild Hall as they provide boosts/buffs via the Tavern NPC (e.g; the guild I am in grants a 24 hour 9% XP buff).

Guilds can drop items called Banners which stay active in the world for a certain time that anyone can walk up to and interact with to gain their buffs/benefits. These Guild Banner buffs generally last 30 minutes but you can keep interacting with them to boost your buff timer back to 30 minutes if the banner is still active in the world.

• 50% Experience Bonus
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/50%25_Experience_Bonus

This buff can be acquired in various ways. (e.g; completing X WvW daily usually grants a 20 minute 50% XP Bonus). This item is also available on the Gem Store in packs of singular, 5 or 25.

NOTE: Do not confuse this buff with the ‘original’ classic 50% Experience Bonus. You may see this buff using the same icon as the new buff on some players. That is because these players may still have the, now un-obtainable, original boosters or chose it via an Enchanted Reward Boost.

• Communal Boost Bonfire
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Communal_Boost_Bonfire

This item is acquired through either the Gem Store or as a possible RNG reward from a Black Lion Chest (needs confirmation) using a Black Lion Chest Key.

This buff is exactly the same as the original classic 50% Experience Bonus mentioned above (if the person lighting the Bonfire specifically chose the XP buff).

NOTE: You will NOT be able to acquire this buff from the Bonfire if you already have some form of the original classic 50% Experience Bonus, this is also the same for the person lighting the Bonfire in an attempt to choose the buff they already have on them, sadly.

SUMMARY: There’s so many different buffs in the game so take advantage of them if you can & use your play time wisely when you have these buffs active!

PART 2. LOW LEVEL EXPLORATION aka explore all the Heart Quests, Vistas, Hero Points etc!

The starter zones and city hubs are extremely easy. Even more so with other players to help you out on your tasks/adventures.

There are many ways to tackle how one completes tasks within the map but from my personal experience it starts with the yellow Heart Quests and in general; exploring different parts of the map grants XP, too.

• Completing Heart Quests grants a chunk of XP in the first few levels, this is still relevant at higher levels but you’ll want to reap in everything on the map if you’re hungry for XP.

• Vistas are comparable to mini jumping puzzles in that they may take a certain path to get to or simply jumping around a bit.

• Hero Points (formerly Skill Points) may include communing with the interactable object or defeating a foe(s). These grant decent XP and are mostly easy to solo, especially if you gear yourself in DPS stats and use your active defenses wisely (dodging with the “V” key etc).

• General Map Exploration grants XP; just head on over to any area of the map you have yet to explore.

• Participate in any active Events. Upon success you are rewarded with XP and in some cases, an NPC might be available for a short time to sell you things.

• Queensdale Shadow Behemoth World Boss event is low level; also good for XP & loot. Look up a World Boss time schedual to see when this boss spawns next.

• Upon your travels you may come across NPCs or players that are dead/downed/defeated. Revive them for XP!

• Killing mobs/monsters sometimes grants “bonus XP”. This means that particular mob/monsters has not been killed in a while. Yay for you, more XP!

SUMMARY: Starter zones/city hubs are easy to tackle and reward good XP for lower levels. Make sure you explore as much as you can and complete heart quests, events etc. Every bit helps!

PART 3. PvP & WORLD vs WORLD CONTENT

NOTE: Upon reaching levels 18-22 (confirmation needed due to “New Player Experience” in this thread: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/a-fresh-start-the-new-player-experience-in-guild-wars-2/) new players will receive notifications unlocking the ability to access these 2 game modes.

• PvP Reward Tracks are a good, challenging fun way to acquire Tomb(s) of Knowledge. These tombs grant 1 full level for free! You can boost your reward track progress with certain buffs such as the 50% Experience Bonus and if available during PvP community events; Call of the Mists/Greater Call of the Mists.
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tome_of_Knowledge

• World vs World has it’s potentials; you do get XP for taking camps, towers, keeps etc. This may be limited to how well your server is currently fairing, though. Don’t expect to cap anything if the other sides are dominating the match or are unwaveringly defending their stuff. Other options to gain XP within this game mode include defending objectives & zerg fights. When you kill lots of players (zerg fights etc) this results in many batches of XP, WvW XP alongside loot bags.

Be sure to look out for the possible daily WvW Keep Capture as completing this rewards a Tomb of Knowledge.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Transcendent_Chest_of_Knowledge

• Edge of the Mists (similar to WvW) is regarded by many as typically a “K-train” map (Karma train) ideally meaning a zerg of players following a commander tagged up and they go around capping keeps, towers etc all the while gaining considerable amounts of XP, Karma, WvW XP, champion bags and WvW Ranks; rank up chests. Despite the slight nerf to this game mode, people still bring their low level alts here to rack up all the various types of XP. I still recommend this game mode for leveling, especially for the sole intent of gaining XP alone it helps greatly with the previously mentioned plethora of buffs available in the game.

NOTE: Not every EOTM map/instance is ‘easy XP sunshine & rainbows’ – either enemy side has every right to bag farm their enemies (you), cause havok within the map & dominate how they see fit as this is a hostile, dangerous PvP environment. Also, not every commander is going to be the bees knees or know what they are doing.

SUMMARY: Taking part in either or both of PvP & WvW can be rewarding and a positive experience for improving your combat skills against real players all the while obtaining XP.

PART 4. DUNGEONS, DAILIES, LOG-IN REWARDS & CRAFTING

• Level 30-35 is where Dungeons start for you & in doing so reward you with nice chunks of XP. Ascalonian Catacombs, located on the East side of the world map in Plains of Ashford is the first Dungeon you get access to. It is fairly easy, even more so with experienced players in your party or in general, other level 80s.
  http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ascalonian_Catacombs

• Always do your Dailies. These are simple tasks catered towards the 3 game modes (i.e; PvE, PvP & WvW) and some may reward you with a Writ of Experience or other goodies such as the previously mentioned timed 50% Experience Booster.
  http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Daily

• Log-in rewards are plain as day – you log in each day to acquire the free goodie available. On the list for log-in rewards are Tombs of Knowledge!
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Login_rewards

• Crafting is by far the fastest way to level and gain plenty of XP yet I only recommend this if you are willing to spend gold as it is indeed, quite costly…
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crafting

- Chef is hands down – the easiest, quickest one to complete. It is generally cheap to buy all the ingredients on the TP or to an extent, if you have Karma, from vendors throughout the world.

- Jeweler is number 2 on my personal cheapo’ list. The components required are either easily obtainable or cheap to buy on the TP.

- Artificer is 3rd on the list for being fast to complete; the potions are super quick to make although may be a bit more costly than Chef/Jeweler.

SUMMARY: Dungeon runs give very nice XP and a bit of gold – be sure to look up a Dungeon Guide, gear yourself appropriately & learn the mechanics involved in regards to specific monster attacks/active defenses (dodging etc) to give the other members of your party, including yourself, an easier time.

Log-in rewards are simple & a nice freebie for you; especially if you receive the Tombs for quick levels and doing your dailies is definitely recommended to help you out.

Crafting is excellent for levelling fast but also expensive. One’s definition of expensive varies, though. Yes it is entirely possible to reach level 80 solely through crafting; I have done this many times but it is unfavorable at times as items may fluctuate in price etc. There are plenty of Crafting Guides out there available!

I hope any new players have found these tips helpful.

If anyone finds any incorrect information in my post please feel free to correct me!

New players? Map completion and harvesting will get you to 80 in 20ish hours. This gives you a hands on feel of the game, the environment and your character of choice. After you get used to the game the above works.

A tip is also to grab karma gear from WvW every 10 lvls to save money for your end game gear. Also the blue gear is enough to get your to lvl 80.

Can’t stress going off the oft traveled path to find critters that have been around for awhile. You get something like 3x the XP when you include the bonus. Of course if you are also exploring, you get that XP while encountering “old” critters.

Seems to me it’s a waste of time to be killing stuff unless there’s an event timer up in the corner. While you can only do the hearts and heroes once, the others you can do as much as you want, and you don’t have to hang around for the whole thing, you only need to get one shot in to get the experience.

Now, I like exploring, it’s an amazing world, and the XP is a nice bonus. And I like killing things, plus I need the practice. But to a newbie that feels compelled to level, my advice would be, “Go for the events!”

Oh, yeah… to make things go faster, buy your gear on the TP. Get all “mighty” stuff, and check the levels below you; sometimes there’s a piece at level 5 that’s not matched until level 9, for instance. Don’t try to depend on drops and prizes.

Note that this applies to under level 20, things may change as you progress. But I’ve started and deleted at least 50 chars, so I have some experience, here.

Here’s the condensed version for new players: Do map completion (XP for every action) and join a sizable zerg in Edge of the Mists.

Daily: make the events by your (or below) your level https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Event_timers

Notice: not all the above tricks works for the free version (example: guild hall tavern is locked if you didn’t purchased the game), www etc.

Addendum on your experience suggestion:
Look for Bloodstone Feasts: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sous-Chef_Seimur_Oxbone

The meals cost only 8 copper (cheaper than the suggested 2 silver product) and give you a 30 minute buff that increase ALL exp by 5%, this includes kills, events and story-step rewards. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Poor_Nourishment