OH LORD is this lvl a tough one!

[JacknCoke]

Lvl 12 to 13 is a bad grind. 13 and up not so bad seeing as you can run with lvl 16 and not a huge xp loss.
VERRY little in the way of LFM for people around lvl 12 that I have seen. There are quests, but 99.9999% have a lvl 16 in them.
SO any suggestions on how you all got form lvl 12-13? Any solable content for lvl 12? any suggestion on quests to form my own grp that can get the xp to get me from lvl 12 -13 as fast as possible? I have taken this game slow and steady tell now.

Paying to stand around staring at the LFG is not a fun time. I would love to form my own grp but the quests at lvl 12 are not ones to lead if you don't know whats going on, and I don't know many of the quests past lvl 10-11. This is my 3rd toon that got to lvl 12 and just floats there and cant seam to get anywhere.

My toon is not gimped, I still get the high kill counts (like it matters) can pop the traps, i know what to do and what not to. I'm very selfsufficiant.

any help will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

[Mavnimo]

explorer areas. ruins of gianthold, vale, orchard. all of these u can have lvl 16's and still get xp without any penalties. really good xp imo.

[MageLL]

Yep 12-13 good to do explorers. Orchard, and vale would be my suggestions. Look for groups doing loot or tap runs and join up. Those areas having a lvl 16 in the party does not hurt your xp at all.

[Laith]

take the 50% powerleveling hit and run with the 16s.

seriously: there's a ton of xp out there, you'll hardly notice it. besides, if the group runs all the optionals, conquest, etc, it really ends up being only like a 30-40% penalty.

your other choices are:
1) explorer areas (boring after 2 passes)


2) go back and complete all those lvl7 and up quests you missed (while they're still worth xp). IMO, it's not favor running if you're getting xp. You'd be surprised how much some are worth, and soloing is good practice. (btw, you get xp from quests 5lvls below the highest player involved).


3) run those lvl10-14 quests no one else is setting up groups for.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Start your own LFMs, the groups will fill

[llevenbaxx]

12-13 never really slowed me down before. I usually am still gaining the good xp out of GH at that point. Always seems to be a LFM or three looking to do that stuff in that level range on Ghallanda. If you blew through that stuff on elite already at levels 8-11, you may be in for a rough time. Kinda why I try to stick to level appropriate as I go, always seem to level smoother than when I skip to higher level stuff, to "powerlevel". If you didnt skip around GH is the way to go for good xp at that point imho.

[ENGRAV0]

Explorers: Orchard, Vale and Ataraxias Haven
Get flagged for the Shroud, once inside the shroud, you wont take a hit on the 5K xp given at the end of each chapter. Was easy doing it that way, well, for me. Take your hit when getting flagged, but realize that once you are flagged, you will be getting that 5K each chapter, and until you complete, I do not believe there is any hit at all, no matter how many times you reenter.

:) Cheers, and good luck.

A few more ideas, Do Crucible, and redo crucible, oh, and redo Crucible and Madstone. If you (either you, or) have a friend that is good at these quests, it will go by really quickly. I normaly level from creation to level 13/14 in about 6 days, which isn't the norm. BUT, it CAN be done, and have fun the entire time. Just make sure your equipped well enough for the adventures your going into.

[Gol]

Gianthold favor farming is great for level 12 if you haven't tapped it out for xp already.

[Missing_Minds]

This won't help you now, but may help you in the future.

Once you are about to hit that hump level. Aka lvl 12, and you are still lvl 11... just don't level. Continue to earn XP for the next 5 ranks, and just when you won't get any more xp, level then. You are then just one quest away from hitting the next level. Boom. Out of the hump spot.

[moorewr]

Yep, 12 is the new 10.

You have to be willing to start parties, BEG guildies for help, and hopefully, be willing to start parties for 12-15, 11-14, or 10-13 when you make level 13.

I make a real effort to get Reaver flagged, even at XP penalties, because at least I'm trickling xp every three days even if I'm playing my lowbies and capped characters.

[Club'in]

Some of the earlier quests on elite will still be pretty good (The Pit being the best, should be close to 12K for completion). The Threnal series on elite is big xp for you still (especially East2). A Relic of a Sovereign Past (Black Anvil Mines) is a great quest, and will be quite challenging on anything but normal. Cult of the Six starts out too low for you, but on elite will add up to some good xp (only if you haven't done it before on elite). Haunted Library elite (and hard, even, it's in House J) gives out good xp. Last chance to run Xorian Cypher and get paid good xp (only on elite, w/first time bonus). On all of those, you (at level 12) should be the highest level character in the party. Note that the desert caps out at 15, so no 16's in there. Try raiding. The dragon, titan, and tempest are all well within your range still, as well as the demon queen.

[Forceonature]

Run DQ flagging quests and Gianthold quests. I agree with Lorien, put up your own LFM. Since a lot of people repeatedly run these quests for flagging/relics, odds are that you'll find someone experienced with the quest to help you out if you don't know it that well.

[orcbanian]

I run around Ataraxia's Haven when there's a lull in LFM for that level. Its not uber XP, but its progress.

[rawfocat]

Pick one quest in Gianthold and learn it. Learn to run out to it on your own so you can lead others. Beg a capped guildy or two to run it with you on normal, but not finish. Go slow and learn the process. Then you can put up your own 9-12 or 12-15 lfms and lead the party. I would recommend Prison of the Planes, Maze of Madness and Trial by Fire. Once you learn them, then you can lead them on hard and elite and get the XP.

Seriously, with 2 capped guildies you should be able to learn Maze or Trial By Fire in an hour or two.

Enjoy

[moorewr]

I run around Ataraxia's Haven when there's a lull in LFM for that level. Its not uber XP, but its progress.

Also, there's often slayer runs in the vale, and that's really good XP, considering.

[Raiderone]

I think it starts getting harder from lvl 10. getting 11 and 12 are slow and ardous.
too many lets do POP at level 10. 13's and 14's like to play with the big boys for most part.

need newer raid at lvl 12 area...that might help. getting more slayers

[Ransacked]

Run PoP and Crucible until you get 0 xp from them? :)

[Frodo_Lives]

If you start running GH at level 9 then you may find difficulty to get past 12. I usually don't go near GH until 11, in which case there is a ton of xp ready for the taking.

Don't forget the Desert, there is easily 20K xp there for a few hours of slayer/explorer at level 12 -14.

[narizue]

My thoughts on level 12 are as follow:

1) Adventure areas. Love them, learn them, loot them. The orchard represents incredibly fast low risk XP and loot for someone who is familar with the zone. The Desert is also pretty quick with a chance at the Bloodstone, Firestorm Greaves and Ring of Spellstoring. Gianthold and Ataraxia's represent a significant amount of xp as well.

2) 50% of something is still better than 100% of nothing. I am not saying that the xp hit does not suck. But taking the hit and making forward progress towards level 13 is infinately better than making no progress at all.

Just my 2 cp.

[JaeBeam]

I'm level 12 as well.

I'm also a cleric. So I've been working on soloing in the Desert a lot. The slayer/explorer exp is ok, but nothing that is going to power me thru 12 quite yet. I'm working on getting one of those bloodstones for my fighter. Its been... a lot of work :)

I recomend starting a group. I don't see why you say you need to know a quest to lead it. I've led scores of quests without being able to find my butt with 2 hands and a map. Nobody seems to mind... Many folks out there can appreciate somebody sacking up and leading a group, since about 99% of the population won't for their own groups.

I'm not a big fan of getting power leveled thru quests I've never been on. I miss about 90% of the content just following folks around and tossing a heal in.

So. Did I mention starting your own groups?

[unionyes]

My fighter 11 is in the same boat.

When I am bored I solo, although with this toon I have done mostly solo stuff. When there are no LFM's up in my range (often) and I don't feel like starting one (also often) I run solo stuff.

You can solo the following quests fairly easily, and although the xp isn't grand, the loot is OK and slowly advancing is better than not.

Tear of Dhakkan (lots of chests, decent shot at some named items too)
Gwylan's Stand (when I need more healing pots, I just go in, skip the troll cave, and grab the first three or four chests, giant slayer knife in drops here and gwylans blade too)
Caged Trolls
The 'Chamber' series in House K
Greymoon/CO6 series (although for me anyhow the last one in CO6 is a little on the hard side to solo)
Stormcleave

Also the explorer areas are good. Find those rares and explorers, and crank up that slayer. There is great XP for hitting 1500, and it is pretty easy to do mostly by running all over the place trying to get that last rare to pop.
And I am sure that there are a ton more.

Would like to add that I have had problems getting through whatever level has been 5 and 4 levels below what the current cap is on every character except one. My healbot cleric. Go figure.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

I feel your pain.

And a related subject is that the only LFMs for most of the quests I want to do (less often run ones) are only being run by lvl 16s looking for favor (because they are bored).

My Sig shows a bunch of toons lvl 10-13. They've been in a holding pattern for a long time and the xp they do get is from doing the same quests over and over again.......despite a huge number of quests in their lvl range.

Start your own group is the only answer......but guaranteed you will get a join request for a lvl 16 guy or get a suggestion to do one of the same quests you've done a thousand times before.

[moorewr]

some of us have talked about a "midbie" night on Thelanis.. since we all have 10-13s hanging around they just need to find each other.

Might be worth posting on your server forum and seeing what you get.. Also beat up your guild - in Hey! we never ran lowbies together until we started "Tiny Toon Tuesdays," and now we know we can dust them off once a week if we choose..

[sirgog]

A few quests to consider, and the levels you want in the party.

The Shadow Crypt - Get together a 9-12 group, run it once on normal, once hard and once elite. Should be 40k XP there, even despite penalties for being overlevel. You'll need an opener, as this is the end of a chain. This quest is HARD if you don't know it.

Madstone Crater - 11-14 group, run normal once, hard once, elite once, should be 50k XP.

Crucible - 11-14, norm hard elite, 40k XP

The Cursed Crypt - 9-12 group, norm x3 (worthwhile for the Talisman upgrades and named loot anyway). 20k XP, again, is the end of a chain. If the group is up to it, run hard and elite also for 20k more XP. Also, each run there is an optional worth 2k XP (kill no silver flame hostages)

Inferno of the Damned - 11-14 group, requires serious quest knowledge, if you can get a group that will stay around, run this 3 times on norm, 1 hard, 1 elite.

Gianthold level 13 quests - 10-13 group, pick one quest, do normal then hard then consider elite if the group can handle it (msot can, some PUGs cannot)

I got Disector past level 12 without touching Prison of the Planes (except once on normal for Reaver flagging). Before doing PoP more than once, I had Inferno of the Damned elite, 2 runs of the Reaver and one of the Shroud.

[CrimsonEagle]

Yep, 12 is the new 10.

You have to be willing to start parties, BEG guildies for help, and hopefully, be willing to start parties for 12-15, 11-14, or 10-13 when you make level 13.

I make a real effort to get Reaver flagged, even at XP penalties, because at least I'm trickling xp every three days even if I'm playing my lowbies and capped characters.

You dont have to BEG, you just have to promise to stop healing Flash.....and yell at anyone who casts that god forsaken Merfolk's Blessing on me!!!!:p

[wamjratl1]

12-13 never really slowed me down before. I usually am still gaining the good xp out of GH at that point. Always seems to be a LFM or three looking to do that stuff in that level range on Ghallanda. If you blew through that stuff on elite already at levels 8-11, you may be in for a rough time. Kinda why I try to stick to level appropriate as I go, always seem to level smoother than when I skip to higher level stuff, to "powerlevel". If you didnt skip around GH is the way to go for good xp at that point imho.

That would be my advice exactly. At 12, Elite content in GH still gave me tons of XP (got to 14+ there actually).

And the high level explorer areas...

[moorewr]

You dont have to BEG, you just have to promise to stop healing Flash.....and yell at anyone who casts that god forsaken Merfolk's Blessing on me!!!!:p

Ha ha!

You're the reason my fighter carries cure wands. :p

[Averroes]

Any solable content for lvl 12?

I just leveled a sorc halfway from 11 to 12 running trial by fire over and over again solo on normal. 6.5k xp the first time, 5k for the next few, and 6-8 minutes a run.

If you haven't already farmed it out, East Threnal 2 is another good one -- something like 8k base xp for a soloable quest that takes under 15 minutes. There might still be some xp to be had in part 4 of delera's as well -- that one's like level 8 or 9 on normal, so should still be 4 or 5k for the 10 minutes it takes.

When my sorc hits 12 (and gets disintegrate) I expect to start running the desert stuff more -- wiz-king is easy to solo, and something like 9k xp without any penalties. If you can use the int rune it's a 10-15 minute run; maybe 15-20 if you can't.

There's also feast or famine and cabal, which are both also soloable (although harder than trial). I'd say cabal is the hardest of the three, but all are soloable in that level range. Maze of madness is a good one as well, although the three person minimum keeps me away...

And solo runs through the Orchard for tapestries and killcount are also reasonably productive.

[honkuimushi]

Got a character to 13 a few days ago running him very sporadically. How'd I do it? Ataraxia's Haven and the Desert. There is a lot of XP there and some nice items in the Desert. Ataraxia's is limited to level 14 and below and the Desert is level 15 and below. It can be difficult to get people to do more than the undead areas though. Both areas have areas that can be soloed by most classes near the top of the level range, but there are areas in both that are very rough on most classes solo.

The Orchard, Gianthold Ruins and Vale are good once you have your items for higher level play and you can group with level 16s without hurting your experience.

On Khyber, I often see 10-13 and 12-15 Gianthold runs. I didn't do much on him because because it took me awhile to get some extra Heavy Fort items that he met the level requirement for and could fit into his item scheme without giving up something almost important like false life and Con items. I didn't want to do too many Gianthold runs without those.

[doodooman]

@lvl 12
Madstone NHE
Cruicible NHE
Then grind for the second argo favor youll be 14 before you finish

[Eelpout]

At level 12+, if you sneeze you get xp. I know it feels like you are losing out on a bunch of xp running with level 16's, but it flys at you so fast it is hard to notice. I did this with my 1vl 15 guy when he was level 12. Gianthold and the Orchard quests all throw a ton of xp at you. Even if you take the 50%, you get 25% back the first time you run on Normal, Hard, and then it even's out at Elite with the 50% you get back. Even with the Penalties you should get anywhere from 7 to 10K per run. That adds up fast. Like others have said, the Explorer areas whip out the xp as well. At level 12, a few hours out in the Orchard with a good group will really get you on your way.

Luck and Happy Hunting!!

[sirgog]

I just leveled a sorc halfway from 11 to 12 running trial by fire over and over again solo on normal. 6.5k xp the first time, 5k for the next few, and 6-8 minutes a run.

If you haven't already farmed it out, East Threnal 2 is another good one -- something like 8k base xp for a soloable quest that takes under 15 minutes. There might still be some xp to be had in part 4 of delera's as well -- that one's like level 8 or 9 on normal, so should still be 4 or 5k for the 10 minutes it takes.

When my sorc hits 12 (and gets disintegrate) I expect to start running the desert stuff more -- wiz-king is easy to solo, and something like 9k xp without any penalties. If you can use the int rune it's a 10-15 minute run; maybe 15-20 if you can't.

There's also feast or famine and cabal, which are both also soloable (although harder than trial). I'd say cabal is the hardest of the three, but all are soloable in that level range. Maze of madness is a good one as well, although the three person minimum keeps me away...

And solo runs through the Orchard for tapestries and killcount are also reasonably productive.

Cabal would be very difficult to solo if you take Disintegrate (and not one of the two mass charm spells) as your level 6 spell when turning 12 on your sorc. If you take Symbol of Persuasion instead, you'll find this one to be quite easy.

[markymarksta]

Run PoP and Crucible until you get 0 xp from them? :)

Got to back up 'Ransacked' on this one. Run POP, Madstone and Crucible on normal, hard and elite for the first time bonus. The xp is awesome. There's more than a level in xp and the chance for some great loot, for example a friend helped me run Madstone on elite and he pulled a banishing rapier (lvl 10).

Seeya in Stormreach.

One run of the Vale with most of the explorers found is going to net you 20K exp as well.

Good luck.