To Power Level or not to Power Level?

[zzZooKzz]

I've been playing DDO for a few months now and love the game.

Been playing pen & paper for many years and recently joined the world of DDO after the release of Mod6.

My highest level tune is a Dwarven Barbarian that wields Holy and Pure Good Dwarven axes most of the time. Pure Killer!

I've watched other players take their tunes from level 1 to level 16 in the same amount of time it has taken me to bring my guy to level 7.

I'm not about Power Leveling but sometimes get frustrated running the same content over and over just to bring a tune to level 4 or 5. Seems like once you get to level 6 it's a slow progression from there.

What are some tips to get into the upper levels without Zerging through the quests?

Laz...

[thatguy]

I've been playing DDO for a few months now and love the game.

Been playing pen & paper for many years and recently joined the world of DDO after the release of Mod6.

My highest level tune is a Dwarven Barbarian that wields Holy and Pure Good Dwarven axes most of the time. Pure Killer!

I've watched other players take their tunes from level 1 to level 16 in the same amount of time it has taken me to bring my guy to level 7.

I'm not about Power Leveling but sometimes get frustrated running the same content over and over just to bring a tune to level 4 or 5. Seems like once you get to level 6 it's a slow progression from there.

What are some tips to get into the upper levels without Zerging through the quests?

Laz...

If your one Sarlona, you need get to get in a party with people who zerg all the time. I usually play cleric on these zerg fests and its an adventure to say the least. I can usually keep up with the pace and sometimes fellow zergers die simply because of the pace but that's all part of the package and all parties know this when they join.

Lets face it, most of the quests in this game I have done dozens of times and I really don't want to explorer every nook and cranny. I simply want to finish the quest and get my XP so I can continue leveling. I hate leveling up toons and when I cap my next cleric it will probably be it as far as bringing toons along for a long time.

[JacknCoke]

If you want to burn your self out and become a bitter person who thinks they own a great deal of stock in ddo with there 14.99 a month sub, power lvl.

If you want to keep your sanity and be able to sit back and laugh at the above take your time.

[tihocan]

Simply put, leveling fast = zerging through high XP quests.
I don't think many new people do it though. I mean, it took me a lot of time too to level up my first character. Then each new one was faster, because I was more experienced with quests and could afford better equipment.
Don't worry too much about it... you'll get there someday too

[augie]

If ya want to get to the mid/upper levels quickly and painlessly (relatively), zerging is pretty much your best bet. Don't get tunnel-visioned with conquest/observance/ransack bonuses. Many quests can be zerged and completed 2 or 3 times for a larger amount of total XP than a single run of the same quest where ya dilly-dally around trying to get all the XP bonuses.

This obviously isn't everyone's preferred way of playing though. But if ya get in a group of experienced players that have this mindset, you'll be surprised how quickly leveling happens. Quite honestly, this style of play can make things very interesting and get the adrenaline pumping at times. Nothing like runnin thru quests as a level 2 knowing that if you get hung up or hit a locked door, you're gonna be turning around to 20+ kobolds/bugbears that really didn't appreciate you running by and ignoring them.

[RedeemerRed]

Nothing like runnin thru quests as a level 2 knowing that if you get hung up or hit a locked door, you're gonna be turning around to 20+ kobolds/bugbears that really didn't appreciate you running by and ignoring them.

I LOVE IT!! I don't think I've 'zerged' at all so far, but I've done the same quest from normal-elite with a group in one quest, then move
onto the next one, then the next, and we do at it a nice pace, so it isn't bad at all.

But then again, I'm still a lowbie, so I guess I'll have to see how things play out a little later on.

[darthmaul121783]

you way wont to zerg you may not but if you would like to get a toon capt fast tehn just roll a cleric or maybe a caster they get lvl very fast as their needed in most groups the rest of the classes can lvl ok fighters seem to take the logest as their are a lot of them

[Zaodon]

You should play this game the way you most enjoy playing it, and not feel pressured into playing a different way just to "fit in".

Some people love D&D, and play DDO very much like they play D&D (some even roleplay).
Other people love competition and MMORPGs, and play DDO "competitively" like just any "video game"..

Neither way is "right" or "wrong". The nice thing about DDO is that you can find guilds (groups of people) that play the same way that you enjoy, and then join that guild or group with those people to do quests, and you'll find that your question simply becomes moot.

[rawfocat]

The best way to level and run quests at your pace is to start learning them. Most power levelers do so because they know the quest and just want the xp.

Pick a quest 1-3 levels below your level and run it on normal. Pull up the Lost quest guide on the forums and read the quest description and prepare a bit (you are going for knowledge not speed) buy a small number of potions (resist, invis, haste) and use them at the appropriate time. Invisibility potions are great for sneaking around even with a melee.

Once you think you know the quest put up an lfm and lead the party through. You can somewhat control the pace. Try and learn a couple quests for each level range this way.

Do not worry too much about completion or dying while learning. The goal is to know the quest well enough to help newbs through it, not become an elite soloer. Another tip if you are do not wan to spend that much time is after completing a quest with a group, rerun it alone on normal and see how much of it you remember.

Remember potions are a melee's friend, but you need to not develop an expensive habit

[CSFurious]

when i started playing in September 2006, there was minimal zerging

now, it is rampant

when i level a new char now, i level a certain way which would be considered power-leveling

anyway, i would not want to zerg all of the time if i was a new player (some of the time is good)

[Mistinarperadnacles]

As you're relatively new to the game - I'd advocate just taking it at a fairly leisurely pace and enjoying the new stuff, suprises and cool discoveries you get that first time round.

Powerlevelling will still be there for later.

Don't fall in to comparing your success or character to those who have been playing for over 2 years.

[Thrudh]

We all took a long time leveling our first characters... and it was fun!!

Enjoy your first time in a dungeon... someday you will have done them all, and nothing will be new

[Selenay]

The only reason I would power lvl is to keep my characters all relativly the same lvl. If you're new, then I would certainly not power lvl. There's too much you miss out on if you did that. It also kills part of the fun of exploring. I mean if you go all the way to the highest lvl then what's left? Showing off? Boring!

Take your time. Learn the game. Find a guild and make great friends. I personally love the different story lines in this game. Maybe you will too.

[Scipio]

I used to power level. If you have the time and you like the high exp quests it can be fun as long as ya don't mind repeating them over and over. I didnt mind and enjoyed doing it that way.

But my wife does things a diffrent way and I have converted to her way of doing it. Which is to do everything to elite. (with some exections... looks at the tombs quests...lol) This way you get exp AND favor done at once. It is slower but you are not bored running the favor later!

[Cruzer]

You should play this game the way you most enjoy playing it, and not feel pressured into playing a different way just to "fit in".

Some people love D&D, and play DDO very much like they play D&D (some even roleplay).
Other people love competition and MMORPGs, and play DDO "competitively" like just any "video game"..

Neither way is "right" or "wrong". The nice thing about DDO is that you can find guilds (groups of people) that play the same way that you enjoy, and then join that guild or group with those people to do quests, and you'll find that your question simply becomes moot.

QFT

I zerg because after playing since pre-release, many many maxed characters and deleted max characters for new characters, I don't need to take the time and smell the roses in WW, STK, Deleras, Tangleroot, etc. I smelled those roses long ago - they smell the same still. And surprise, surprise, its ddo! Don't worry about finishing a quest too fast - its a safe bet to believe you're going to do it again sometime soon!

So power level if you want, don't if you don't. The only time it becomes an issue is when Joe Bob Cleric lvl 8 for the last 3 months gets jealous of the person who spent those 3 months getting 3 characters to 16 and is looting "awesome" items to send down to his next guy.

[lissa_981]

The single biggest mistake one can make while trying to efficiently level a character is to do quests over their character's level. Sure, doing Stormcleave at fifth level is all impressive and makes you feel cool and powerful, but then what do you do for quests when you're at eighth level?

This makes the most difference in the 7 - 11 (ish) level area. Many folks blast through all the "good xp" quests...Stormcleave, Gwylan's Stand, Delera's Tomb, Redwillow's Ruins, etc. Folks love to do those waaaaay under level, because getting those big xp pay-offs is really nice at lower levels, and because they can.

Don't do it. You're better off saving those quests for when you really need the xp...which is when those quests are level appropriate.

[zzZooKzz]

I've found that when putting together a PUG, somehow I always seem to get 1 Zerg in the bunch. It can be very frustrating...

I don't necessarily need to look in every nook, however I have found that some people who Zerg haven't even seen whole parts of some of the quests because it doesn't have enough XP for them to care. I'm sure the developers who spend hours upon hours creating content would be sadly disappointed by this. I ask you to take your tune into one of the more elaborate quests with high ceiling and once in a while (not during a fight I might add) look up. Check out the attention to detail that the developers put in to make your experience richer. If you want to compare, check out the original Castle Wolfenstein game graphics and see how far we’ve come.

There are still so many quests that I have not done simply because I haven't the appropriate level yet or because I just haven't come across it. I don't want to just run through like my pants are on fire to reach the end as quick as possible. Well, that's not entirely true as I attempted WW on Hard with my 1 lvl Ftr / 2 lvl Wiz by myself and I did do a lot of running, mostly away from things... “That’ll learn me”

This past week I finally did Stormcleave twice and loved the quest. I first ran through with a Zerging Monk who had twice the kill count that I did. Very sad... The second time was with a more balanced party and I enjoyed that run much better. It pains me to watch a blue dot run off the map ahead of everyone and see kill after kill and chests being opened when we still haven't finished an earlier battle. THANKS DUDE!

I play on Thelanis which is both good and bad. There are a ton of players, sometimes too many. As a result the auction house is always full but the prices suffer as when you have (20) +3 Longswords available, don't expect to get top dollar for yours. On the flip side, if you are looking for something exotic you'll probably find it on auction quite often. It is also quite easy to put a PUG together as you’ll usually find a ton of players looking for a good party.

Back to the topic for a moment. I don't Zerg nor do I like people who do but I understand that if you have run the quest 20 times it might be tiresome to walk slowly through it again. I only wish that the quests would have more randomly generated content. The Zerging would probably stop.

~k~

[scampb]

I used to power level. If you have the time and you like the high exp quests it can be fun as long as ya don't mind repeating them over and over. I didnt mind and enjoyed doing it that way.

But my wife does things a diffrent way and I have converted to her way of doing it. Which is to do everything to elite. (with some exections... looks at the tombs quests...lol) This way you get exp AND favor done at once. It is slower but you are not bored running the favor later!

I just created a new toon on Friday evening. By Sunday late morning he was level 6 (for sake of argument, level 5.4 with only 4k xp to go). I know this is nothing for some power levellers but was an acheivement for me. I did exactly what your wife does. I ran almost all the coin lords quests. I have all five back pack slots and house P favor and the only quest we did out of level was Red Willows. I enjoyed the process. With a few great PUGs over the weekend we ran everything we did on norm/hard/leet. Got to know the quests well and did a couple I had not done on my earlier toons. The biggest benefit of doing this like mentioned above is the favor. It is done and out of the way. No reason to revisit later as a high level toon (unless you are strapped for a few extra favor to get 1750).

I would recommend new players take your time and do quests at your level first. Enjoy the game. After you roll a few then power level your next ones up to level 6 or so when the quests become more time consuming and involved.

[Kalari]

I used to be anti powerleveling, then made a cleric to help out my guild and I must say its been a fun time. Sure it took me awhile to get my main wizard where she is now, I took my time with her and that was fun. But leveling up this new girl has been really exciting, ive run stuff with her that my main has only seen once or twice if any at all. So ive lost the attitude about powerleveling. Ive learned that depending on the character and my mood that its not always such a bad thing. So now for the rest of my girls I'll either take my time or powerlevl them now depending on how comfortable I feel playing the class. That to me is the most important, sure zerging isnt always fun, but when I dont want to you know what? I choose to take it slow. Thats the whole point of gaming period, play to the style that makes you happy. If your not happy stuck at lower levels power game abit till you get where your comfy. If you want to take it slow go on and read every last piece of text in a dungeon. Its all about what kinda play style suits you and ive learned that the longer I play the more variety I like. So this week I maybe powerleveling, the next dungeon crawling. I hope you find yourself a happy Medium to.

[ToeTank]

As others have said, move at the pace you are comfortable with. I have been playing since launch and only have one alt at L15. If you don't want zergers in your group so you can move a bit slower, start your own group and state no zergers. Just because you post an LFM doesn't mean you need to know where you are going. I can't tell you how many times I have started a group to run a particular quest and then asked if anyone knew the quest well enough to lead the way. If not, we all had fun trying to figure it out. You can also post on your LFM that you will be moving slower to look around or something like that. There are plenty of people that want what you want. You just need to let them know.

Good luck. If you ever decide to switch servers, I am on Ghallanda. Feel free to look me up anytime. I can zerg if needed but I have know problem moving at a snails pace if someone in the group hasn't done that quest before and wants to experience it for the first time.