How exactly should I level from 1-12?

[danny191993]

Like, what quests to take, what to do, when to look for groups, that stuff. I was stuck on 3 due to poor exp rate in the Catacombs, and don't know what to do. :confused:

I'd really appreciate it if someone helped me. I might give up WoW for this game, some of the dungeons here are really good (A New Kobold Ringleader or whatever really got me good, felt like Wow with the loot and optional bosses and stuff). I'm on a trial subscription right now.

[Elfboy]

There's a panel up top, 2 profile faces, it's the social panel, there you can put up a ting that you are lfg(looking for group). It also has a list you can put friends on. Really, just the 1st few quests in the Harbor, are soloable. They're designed that way. :)
I would lfg anytime you log on. Lots of the quests are party needed types. Make sure you do Waterworks, you need it to get into the Marketplace. You only need the first two parts. But it's good to finish the other 2 parts for reward.

[danny191993]

Perhaps I should mention that I have a strategy for 1-3. But I always get stuck at level 3, I don't know what to do there. Doing Goodblade quests till I hit 2, finishing a couple of level 2 quests, and doing WW.

However, at 3, I went into Catacombs and found myself very low on exp rate.

[Judey]

here's some big xp quests:

lvl3-4
STK
Tangleroot

lvl5-6
Gwylans Stand
Delera's Tomb
Stormcleave

lvl7-8
Cof6
Threnal

lvl9-10
VON
TF


you could just do those until you can't get xp out of them anymore and you'll level pretty quick.

but, i'd only recommend that so you can try the higher level stuff before you decide on the game.

once you've got more than 10 days, i'd say take you time at each level and complete as many quests as you can before leveling.

also not that the levels listed aren't the actual level of the quests, just when I would do them if I were planning on leveling as quick as possible.

[Matuse]

Waterworks has a vastly disproportionately huge XP ratio attached to it. Running it on elite at level 7 to get the favor, I was getting more XP than running a level 6 "long" quest on elite. A lot more, actually.

[Therigar]

Some levels seem more difficult than others because of the availability of quests. I just hit L3 with a new character and it was very easy.

Now that I am working on L4 my plan is to try to put together a group to do all the harbor quests thru elite -- including WW. I will run WW at least 2 additional times on normal (harder if with the right group) just for the XP. I plan to do all this before ever going into the Marketplace to run the quests there.

Once in the Marketplace I will run STK at least 5 times (thru elite and then a couple more times for the XP just like WW). From there it is off to Tangleroot.

Plenty of XP available in those and L4 should be hit easily.

Therigar

[Connavar]

I believed it was pretty easy to get to level 3, after that it gets harder, on my cleric i got him to level three (start at 9 in the morning and ending at 11) from doing all of the n00b quest (the ones in the harbor, not n00b island) for both the EXP and the favor (he is already maxed on coin lord favor and he is still level three!) i also ran WW the first time on elite at level 2, it gave out a load of EXP. i then done WW two more times (one on hard the other on normal). i still had not hit level three at that time so i ran a short quest (in the philisophers square, the one where you have to get the guys tools from a troyolite) hit level 3!. For my fighter i done TR an ungodly amount of times and also delera's and Redwillow loads. It also helps if you party with people of the same level.

[Riddikulus]

Yes, from 3 to 4 is a hard level... even harder is 8 to 9.

Getting in on a couple TR runs is the easiest way from 3 to 4.

[maloriq]

If you want to level, and you're not a caster, the best way to get levels, now that they changed static loot is:

1. Go to the definitive loot thread and see what you want in terms of statics;
2. Run those quests until you get the items you want;
3. Viola, you're level 8 - or more if you're unlucky, or give up.

Unless you're lucky, you're going to be running those static quests ALOT. Those static quests also happen to be the ones that give disproportionate exp.

[Harrington]

Maybe the culture on Tharashk is different, but the dead levels are 6-9 over there.

I've been VERY successful leveling my new tank, MacDeath. Here is what I did:

You do NOT have to level up once you get enough XP. You can actually bank enough XP to get your next level plus all the action points for that level. For example, you can stay level 1 until you have (enough XP for level 3) -1. So, what I do to maximize my XP earned is hold off on leveling as long as possible.

I ran the Goodblades, The solo quests and The Low Road on up to Hard before I leveled to 2. Then I hit Goodblad/The Low Road on elite.

After that I ran some other harbor quests before even going to WW and had enough XP banked to hit level 3. I started running WW until I HAD to level to 3. Then I ran STK and whatever else folks felt like doing.

By the time I was ready for Tangleroot, I had enough XP banked for level 5. I took ONE level and went to level 4 and ran Tangleroot and the Depths (which my tank can solo but a squishy would need to group)

My tank is level 6 now and has enough XP to get to 7.2. I have finally hit the doldrum of Stormcleave, ad nausium. For some reason folks don't like Deleras but I'm going to need to form some parties to get my Carthouche.

Once I get anough XP for 8, I will either level to 7 or go all the way to 8 so I can run with my level 12 guildies. A level 8 can tag along on Vons and such and still get some XP from it, but Ideally I'll jump from 7 to 9, though 7 is the most painful level in the game it seems.

The key in the beginning though is to stay in the harbor/STK sweetspot as long as possible and try to group only with folks of your level or lower.

[DasLurch]

I am not familiar with some servers, but the best ways that I have found is to stay in the harbor finishing as much on hard/ elite as you can until at least level 3. It is pretty easy to hit level 4 if you play with a usual group. Once you manage to hit the 3-4 range, head to the market and hit the Steam Tunnels for the Shan-to-Kor quest arc. Running this 2 times (norm-hard) should get you to level 4 or 5. Then turn your attention to some of the other little quests that have some fair-decent xp. The Swiped Signet quest is a pretty good amount of xp for a 1 time market quest. The depths in house D are also ok and fun. 3 Barrel Cove also has some really nice xp in it too for a level 5-7. Once I get to be near level 5, I head out to Tangleroot Gorge in house P. The reasons for this are 1, I want to be able to equip the items that this chain of quests give, and 2, there are not a large amount of 4-5 level quests. Running these on normal and hard should put you close to level 6. Now is the time to get into most of the odd 1 shot quests in the houses and the BEST mid level xp quests in the game, Delera's Tomb. Try to stay out of Stormcleave, Gwylan's, and Redwillow for now. These are more important to run at level 7-9 on all 3 settings. I try to do this because of how long level 7 & 8 are and the dearth of groups looking at these levels. I will head into Redwillowat 6 if I get bored. If you can run Delera's on normal and hard at level 6-7, level 8 will fly by with 3-4 runs of Stormcleave and Gwylan's Stand. This leaves you with running Cult of 6, Threnal Ruins, and the new Necropolis stuff at levels 8-9. These all should be FAIRLY smooth running now due to your level. I would hold off on the Threnal and new stuff on harder settings until 10+, or 9 at the very least. These are not very easy rides at level 8-9 for some. Once you hit 10, Head to Tempest Spine in house J and TRY to run it on all 3 settings. It gives some VERY nice xp and can really speed up your passage to level 11. At 11, you can run most anything in the game, but I would reccomend on TRYING to stay out of the desert until you hit level 12. 11 is a great time to run the Invaders quests, ANY of the Vault of Night stuff (dragon), and Twilight Forge quests. That should leave you with ALL of the desrt quests, and some of the new ones in the houses ( J & P) to move along until you are capped. You can run any of the quests in any order you wish, this is just the pattern that works for me. I have a new 32 point build that is about 1/2 way through level 9 and still have not run Delera's on anything other than normal nor have I been through Stormcleave Outpost on elite yet. The other reason to do this is to help you out with favor as well. There are plenty of things to try to run, but I have seemed to find that levels 4, 7, & 8 are the real rough spots so far. 12 looks to be a long one as well, but there is nothing past that YET in game. I hope that this helps you out, and if you're on Khyber drop me an in game mail if you need some help. :D

[Harrington]

[QUOTE=danny191993;870732]Like, what quests to take, what to do, when to look for groups, that stuff. I was stuck on 3 due to poor exp rate in the Catacombs, and don't know what to do. :confused:
[QUOTE]

One more tip, the catacombs are the worst benefit/effort ratio for a quest chain. The only reason to run them is when you are going for 1750 favor.

[DelScorcho]

When I try to level up quickly, I will go 2 runs of WW and STK on Normal, xp farm the two Tangleroot missions, Stormcleave several runs on normal, and 1 run on hard and elite, East 2, Deleras 2 (can run in about 13 minutes with a competent party) and necro. Von 5 can be xp farmed also pretty well and pretty quickly. The above missions can take you from level 2 to level 12 in about a single boring week.

[Jakylpops]

I don't even bother with catacombs when i'm powerleveling, it's a waste of time. STK should be the next area you beat to death after WW...then Tangleroot until you get whatever stat items you need, then it's just a matter of running Delera's tomb and Gwylan's Stand and Stormcleave until you're high enough to get into a Tempest Spine raid. If you think you're hitting a wall at 3rd, you've obviously never been 8th level:p . Pick a character you like and just gut it out, I do alot of lowlevel rerolling myself, and in the beginning it's tempting to just start another character as soon as things start to bog down and you're not levelling up every day anymore. Trust me, you're not going to find a paralyzing heavy repeater in WW no matter how many times you run it.

[sirgog]

I don't even bother with catacombs when i'm powerleveling, it's a waste of time. STK should be the next area you beat to death after WW...then Tangleroot until you get whatever stat items you need, then it's just a matter of running Delera's tomb and Gwylan's Stand and Stormcleave until you're high enough to get into a Tempest Spine raid. If you think you're hitting a wall at 3rd, you've obviously never been 8th level:p . Pick a character you like and just gut it out, I do alot of lowlevel rerolling myself, and in the beginning it's tempting to just start another character as soon as things start to bog down and you're not levelling up every day anymore. Trust me, you're not going to find a paralyzing heavy repeater in WW no matter how many times you run it.

8th is indeed terrible, but if you get a group that can handle it, Xorian Cypher provides amazing XP (but probably some deaths too)

[Rentz]

i'm not quite sure why everyone fears level 8 so much, i usually breeze through it pretty good, i think..

co6, xorian, stormcleave elite, delaras elite, Threnal-which is much easier now that coyle can be buffed -
and lets not forget Tempest Spine on normal or hard -- - stupid xp from that quest...
oh, and don't forget The Pit - which is actually really good time vs xp IF you have a person or two in the group who knows the quest well.

i don't find 8-9 to be that bad unless there's just no one to group with..but i can't say that's really been a problem for me on khyber.

if you actually want to have fun while leveling, try and complete all the quests at/below/within 2 of your level up to elite. so if you're level 4, try and finish all the level 2 quests on elite, and so on. it's a fun challenge, and ensures that you stray from the "power levelling quests" and fill up your favor page with nice red ELITE tags. :)

on a side note, if you intend to get your 1750 favor tome you might as well do all the quests on elite while you still get xp for them instead of "wasting" time later going back to do them for favor and no xp/unuseable loot. just imo, tho.

[Elleron]

After getting to level 2 I run

Osgood basement, normal, hard, elite
then the lighthouse normal hard elite

If you run this with all 1's and 2's get exp

3-4 ww, and stk, house d, depths quests
running stuff in the market and finishing up elite in the harbor will get you to 5th and 6th

5-6 tangleroot, can do this at 4th but if you want to do it on hard or elite, wait till 5 or 6, also all the house k quests like ruined halls, etc. sorrowdusk isles

7-8 threnal, von series= 40-50,000 at this level by itself

9-10 desert

11-12 gianthold

13-14 now you are uber, you dont need no xp.

I try to get favor as I'm leveling just so I don't have to go back and do the harbor stuff at level 12, though you can do it by yourself if you can't find a party.

Gianthold: huge xp out there, I was in a party of 7-10's and we did maze of madness a couple of times on normal like 22k xp, there. Just have to know your party. Now you don't get any gianthold area xp until level 10, but you can still do the quests.

I reserve the right to be wrong about everything. Happy hunting.

[JelloMold]

If you are new to the game, don't rush too fast to level up. There are quite a few things about DDO that are unlike other MMOs (so I've been told). A lot of the side quests that don't give good XP are still fun and interesting. The best way to find out is to run with others as has been mentioned earlier. Some truely are a chore (ie. Catacombs - can you say stairmaster?:D ). Generally though, I think the majority of the quests are worth running at least once; for the experience if not the experience (points);)

[jkm]

After getting to level 2 I run

Osgood basement, normal, hard, elite
then the lighthouse normal hard elite

If you run this with all 1's and 2's get exp

3-4 ww, and stk, house d, depths quests
running stuff in the market and finishing up elite in the harbor will get you to 5th and 6th

5-6 tangleroot, can do this at 4th but if you want to do it on hard or elite, wait till 5 or 6, also all the house k quests like ruined halls, etc. sorrowdusk isles

7-8 threnal, von series= 40-50,000 at this level by itself

9-10 desert

11-12 gianthold

13-14 now you are uber, you dont need no xp.

I try to get favor as I'm leveling just so I don't have to go back and do the harbor stuff at level 12, though you can do it by yourself if you can't find a party.

Gianthold: huge xp out there, I was in a party of 7-10's and we did maze of madness a couple of times on normal like 22k xp, there. Just have to know your party. Now you don't get any gianthold area xp until level 10, but you can still do the quests.

I reserve the right to be wrong about everything. Happy hunting.

*cough*spell components*cough*

[Brummbar]

Hi

Mid levels.... do Gwylands, Redwillow, Tear of Drhkan from Normal to Elite . Run all three, 3 times and you'll not have much problem from getting from 7th to 9th level.

Run all 3 Barrel Cove on all 3 settings, plus Storm Vaulds Mines and Storm Cleave on all three 3 settings and the n the on noraml Pit your at level 10.

Run all Vons 1-6, and Twilight Forge stuff, bingo level 11.

Your now Desert and Tor ready.....

And there you go.