Guild Wars 2

Just wondering how Southsun (or upscaled zones in general) compares to leveling in zones that match a character’s level. I know you get less experience while downleveled, but I’m not sure how upscaling affects leveling/xp.

The zone itself has no hearts, no chain events, but events are close to each, traveling isn’t as slow, and there’s little downtime (getting res’d is easy, and the TP/Bank is near, vendors are everywhere).

I follow a zerg of 80s from one place to another and also get lots of loot from mob tagging.

Plus it’s more fun since it’s not soloing and the zone itself is great (I love good monster design like the Karka+hatchlings).

The beauty of GW2 is the exp you get at lvl 2 and lvl 80 is the EXACT SAME (in terms of % of a level). There was a graph around release that showed it.

Fake numbers:
lvl 2 meta event: 20% of level – 800exp
lvl 80 meta event: 20% of level – 10,000 exp

Any place in game where you are having fun while playing is a good place to level.

Whether that be Southsun or WvW or Queensdale or Fireheart Rise.

If you are not having fun while doing it, move on to another area where you will! The levels seem to come easier while you are enjoying your time.

I wouldn’t really suggest levelling in Southsun Cove, mainly because of the lack of heart quests / vistas / skill points and small number of POIs. Those types of things actually get you a fair bit of experience, and other advantages as well (map completion, extra skill points obviously, and variety in general if you complete a map and move on).

But as long as you’re hitting events frequently, it won’t be TOO bad. If you’re enjoying it, you can gain levels in Southsun just fine. Probably not the 100% best way to level, but its not completely terrible or anything.

I say good idea, as long as you can equip the right gathering tools and you don’t die too often. Even with the gear drops down-scaled (which may actually net you more coin at certain levels), you can’t do much better if you want to make in-game coin while you level.
Another thing is the mobs have combat mechanics that you actually have to care about (Karka projectile attacks, reef drake confusion), so it’s a good place to try your character’s abilities, second only to dungeons and roaming in WvW (which is completely different).

One con as Electro noted is you don’t get much other map completion, which would be a big disadvantage if you do Guild Bounty or Trek on that character.

My eighty full exo’s ranger occasionally has trouble surviving there between all the ways to die. It’s like Tyrian Australia(lite, of course). I cringe at what I think would happen if I tried to level my level 23 necro there alone.

What the others said.

*Contra Southsun: —> If you like to solo, *this might not be the best idea
- in general, areas with hearts/vistas/POIs/WPs have more “free exp”
- Southsun is harder to survive / fighting mobs takes longer, so you fight fewer
- you may not have the levels to gather

*Pro Southsun: —> If you like to group up *or even zerg, this is a good opportunity
- it doesn’t matter where you do events as long as you do them
- new fun stuff, temporary content, now or never
- highly populated, so many people around to do group events with

And in general
- go where you have fun

Best advice ^.

good idea!!

just like leveling… well everywhere! as long as you have fun, its good!

most efficient way to level? nope, that would be normal map/heart/de/personal story/crafting. <—combination of these

i would choose having fun instead of faster:)

Just remember, you can only level in southsun till the 11th of june. after that it will be a level 80 zone once more (and you will no longer be promoted to level 80)

I’d recommend it personally. Dynamic events are great exp and they are constantly running and are easy to complete. It may not be the fastest exp, but it is fast, and it’s rewarding in loot as well.

I leveled from 62 to 80 on Sunday at Southsun and also got ~25 gold while doing it.

Whatever is fun is best. Having said that…

No hearts or POIs or vistas and few gathering nodes make Southsun completely dependent on DEs and kills. Also, the monsters are harder and slower to kill than in other zones. So it will be slower but if it’s fun and you’re getting good drops due to the event buffs, have at it. If you can keep the DE train rolling though, you’ll get fantastic XP for those. Karma too.

my lvl 28 ele was dying in 5 secs flat there, it was then i realised thakitten was my first toon and i had abandoned her at lvl 13 (only at lvl due to crafting) when i looked at her rather quick death rate, i discovered She had no traits and lvl 5 weapon and armor ,,,, I was sooooooooooo dumb back then no wonder i hated her

However, I have a question: The OP, and others like him, can only tag along while the southsun event is active this month, correct? I think this is a one month level boost for the monthly event. After the event is over at the end of the month, he wont be level-scaled up to 80. Correct?

Jemmi.6058:

I’d recommend it personally. Dynamic events are great exp and they are constantly running and are easy to complete. It may not be the fastest exp, but it is fast, and it’s rewarding in loot as well.

I leveled from 62 to 80 on Sunday at Southsun and also got ~25 gold while doing it.

Some people get bored after an hour or two of the same 4-5 events.

Anyway, can confirm that exp is pretty fast there atm and not to be beaten. If you get your timing right you’ll level quite fast. (I’m level 80 but been getting alot of Skillspoints) Just be prepared to die pretty fast and often.

And silly me was wondering why I’ve been having to ress so many upscaled there lately. Might actually try it out myself.

Mike.5091:

Jemmi.6058:

I’d recommend it personally. Dynamic events are great exp and they are constantly running and are easy to complete. It may not be the fastest exp, but it is fast, and it’s rewarding in loot as well.

I leveled from 62 to 80 on Sunday at Southsun and also got ~25 gold while doing it.

Some people get bored after an hour or two of the same 4-5 events.

Anyway, can confirm that exp is pretty fast there atm and not to be beaten. If you get your timing right you’ll level quite fast. (I’m level 80 but been getting alot of Skillspoints) Just be prepared to die pretty fast and often.

And silly me was wondering why I’ve been having to ress so many upscaled there lately. Might actually try it out myself.

Haha for sure, it can get repetitive. For me, I find it is more boring levelling in other zones, because I spend 75% of my time looking for things to do and 25% of my time doing them. (Might be an exaggeration, but feels that way). As oppose to constantly doing events over and over, that is more active and fun for me.

I also found that Southsun is more fun because there are plenty of people around, as oppose to many lower level areas where you may run into 1-5 people in a given zone.

Sounds like your server is high population and PvE oriented.
Try that on my server and you won’t get 20 yards.

In Orr. no-one is there to hear you scream.