Racing to 20?

[Tynien]

Just curious, but I frequently read about people hitting 20 in a couple weeks, or even far less (four days). How is this accomplished? What general approach should you take if you're going for 20 in order to TR (I'm aware that's disabled atm, but it's beside the point), and how does it differ between f2p/premium and VIP? Are there any "absolutely must-have, buy it now" adventure packs when it comes to speed leveling?

Do most players doing this try to solo in order to avoid the uncertainty of grouping (both in terms of waiting and player quality)?

Is it even possible to hit 20 in a reasonable amount of time with a server-first character? What do you look for in a guild or group if you're going that route?

Thanks for any advice anyone can provide.

[Quikster]

Just curious, but I frequently read about people hitting 20 in a couple weeks, or even far less (four days). How is this accomplished? What general approach should you take if you're going for 20 in order to TR (I'm aware that's disabled atm, but it's beside the point), and how does it differ between f2p/premium and VIP? Are there any "absolutely must-have, buy it now" adventure packs when it comes to speed leveling?

Do most players doing this try to solo in order to avoid the uncertainty of grouping (both in terms of waiting and player quality)?

Is it even possible to hit 20 in a reasonable amount of time with a server-first character? What do you look for in a guild or group if you're going that route?

Thanks for any advice anyone can provide.

Honestly there is a lot to be lost when racing to cap as a new player. Take your time and learn the game, meet some peeps etc.

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Honestly there is a lot to be lost when racing to cap as a new player. Take your time and learn the game, meet some peeps etc.

I agree with this. the power levellers are doing it because they are on character #20+ and know all the content by heart.

[QuantumFX]

And just in case you need more veteran approval for taking your time and enjoying the game: I agree with Quik and Lorien. Racing to cap is just silly. Take your time, learn the ins and outs of the character class you want to play and enjoy the experience while it’s new!

[Tynien]

But what if, hypothetically, the question I asked was the one I wanted answered?

I've got nothing against learning and enjoying the content, but I'm also looking to rack up a bit of Turbine Points on the way, and open up a 32+ pt build non-Drow without having to purchase and play through enough adventure packs to hit the 1750 favor mark (and without purchasing 32 pt builds...though I'm willing to buy the TR materials).

I don't really intend to grind out a whole pile of hand-me-downs, either. I just want to ding 20, preferably while leaving some good chunks of content unexplored for the second go-around, and then take things at whatever pace I want on the second run-through.

[Thriand]

But what if, hypothetically, the question I asked was the one I wanted answered?

I've got nothing against learning and enjoying the content, but I'm also looking to rack up a bit of Turbine Points on the way, and open up a 32+ pt build non-Drow without having to purchase and play through enough adventure packs to hit the 1750 favor mark (and without purchasing 32 pt builds...though I'm willing to buy the TR materials).

I don't really intend to grind out a whole pile of hand-me-downs, either. I just want to ding 20, preferably while leaving some good chunks of content unexplored for the second go-around, and then take things at whatever pace I want on the second run-through.

Players racing to 20 tend to not get very much favor and thus not many TP

[sirgog]

But what if, hypothetically, the question I asked was the one I wanted answered?

I've got nothing against learning and enjoying the content, but I'm also looking to rack up a bit of Turbine Points on the way, and open up a 32+ pt build non-Drow without having to purchase and play through enough adventure packs to hit the 1750 favor mark (and without purchasing 32 pt builds...though I'm willing to buy the TR materials).

I don't really intend to grind out a whole pile of hand-me-downs, either. I just want to ding 20, preferably while leaving some good chunks of content unexplored for the second go-around, and then take things at whatever pace I want on the second run-through.

You won't earn enough TP to unlock 32 point builds through the favor earned points. 32 point builds are very tough to unlock without spending money (either on adventure packs or on just buying the 32 point builds).

It's quicker to buy the 32 point builds, and later farm the 20 Epic Dungeon Tokens to earn a True Reincarnation.

[Lleren]

I am curious about how fast it is possible to level to 20 without TRing taken into account.
Personally I am taking my time.

[Lehrman]

Racing to 20 involves knowing what quests give the best xp:time spent in quest, knowing what to do and where to go in the quest to get through it fast, having the gear to be able to get through the quest easily and quickly, and being willing to be bored to tears for hours on end as you repeat the same quest over and over and over. Additionally, you will want to be in a group of like minded individuals who also know the quest, so that multiple goals can be accomplished by breaking up into teams.

Generally, a quest will be done 5-6 times on normal, then once on hard and once on elite before being abandoned for another quest. This is not a hard rule. Basically, when the XP:Time = less than your goal (20k per hour, 30k per hour, etc), its probably time to move to a different quest. 1.9 mil xp at 20k per hour is 95 hours of game play. At 30K per hour it takes about 63 hours to cap.

The best I have seen recently was a rate of about 60k per hour with the use of xp potions and voice of the master.

For a list of base xp for quests check out this site:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Quests_by_Level_and_XP

There are quests that contain lots of optionals which yield even more xp, unfortunately, the optionals are not listed.

Hope this helps,
Lehrman

[spyderwolf]

shadow crypt 260k+
wiz king 220k+
kobold 200k+.

those 3 quests alone will get ya over 1/3 rd of total xp needed to cap.