Quest suggestions for leveling 1st life Druid 15-20

[Arashi]

Hi there folks! I just rolled up a first life Druid using mostly the Gingerspyce build, and I'm trying to get him to 20 as soon as possible. I'm mostly a casual player, with sub-optimum gear, and not tons of knowledge how to zerg through quests for the best XP in the shortest amount of time.

I've read a bunch of articles and posts on leveling advice, but I've found most to not be useful without significant support from gear, LFG zerging groups, or knowledge of the quests. I don't feel comfortable with a random group because of my gear and I'm still learning my build, and don't know the intricacies of powering through a lot of these quests. I especially don't want to join any Raids. So, as mostly a solo with hireling, and occasional extra player or 2 from my small guild, what quests should I be doing to get to 20 as soon as possible with limited gametime available (2-3 hour sessions/day max)???

I'm figuring on lower than 15 quests on Hard/Elite that I can run quickly, or on-level quests that I can run multiple times in a row with minimal travel time to repeat that don't take too long. I'll be popping Elixers, but also have no experience with Bravery Bonus and how that actually works and how to get the most out of it.

Can anyone help me with a list of quests, at what level/difficulty, please?

Thanks for the help, and happy 10th Anniversary!

[FranOhmsford]

Assuming you're VIP and can open Elite:

VoN 1,2,3,4
Sands Walkups
OoB, Chains of Flame, Chamber of Raiyum, Against the Demon Queen
Relic of a Sovereign Past

That should get you to 16.

Gianthold Walkups {If you're not hardcapped 17 already stay at 15 and get or join an E-BB Group for these - The XP will be better. And if you run em at 16 you probably will end up soloing them}.
Lordsmarch 1+2

If you haven't already you can take 16 now.

Run Orchard Slayer to 1500 Kills, All Explorers and Rares.
Get 200 kills in each of the 3 Gianthold Slayers and All Explorers.
Group up for Cabal, Crucible, PoP, Madstone, Tor.
Keep the Group together for Orchard Quests.

Take 18
Get your GH Slayer up to 400 of each and finish off the Rares you missed first time round.
Group up for Lords of Dust Chain and Vale E-BBs.
Run Vale and Amrath Slayers to 2x400 and 400 - Get your Rares maxed if possible and all Explorers

If not able to take 20 yet join or start a Group for IQ1+2.

[unbongwah]

http://ddowiki.com/page/Bravery_bonus

The short answer is: try to run as many first-time quests as you can on Hard or Elite that are within two levels of your character level; this nets you a significant amount of bonus XP. If Elite-streaking is too hard for you to solo, downgrade to Hard-streaking; or skip the tougher quests so as not to break your streak.

Even if you're not raiding, the Orchard, Gianthold, and Vale of Twilight quests have enough XP to get you most if not all the way thru mid-to-late-teens levels, as well as some good gear. In particular, farming the Orchard early for Tapestries to claim a helm (usually a Minos Legens for Heavy Fort + Vitality) is a good idea, IMO. Furthermore, it might be worthwhile to farm GH Tor for dragon scales; either the white or blue armor is a good choice for a druid, depending on whether you need caster or survivability bonuses more. It's also pretty easy to find PUGs for those quests, although the up-/downside is 99% of PUGs will zerg thru these quests on auto-pilot and expect you to be able to keep up.

You can also tackle the FR / Eveningstar quests - i.e., Wheloon, Druid's Deep, High Road, Storm Horns - if you prefer them. I find them to be a lot more linear and straight-forward than the "classic" Eberron quests, which makes them easier to solo but also less interesting (IMO). The advantage to the Shadowfell quests is there is some easy-to-acquire named gear on the reward lists which is useful to any first-life build. Specifically, for a druid caster at lvl 15, I would grab the Guardian's Girdle (+40 HPs), Sage's Locket (+4 Evocation DCs), Guardian's Bracers (Riposte VIII), and Guardian's Gauntlets (+8 CON), if you don't already have better gear. Also, if you don't farm for dragonscale, consider grabbing Leaves of the Forest; it's one of the few named non-metal medium armors available to druids and the HN version will often show up as an end-chain reward for Druid's Deep.

[Arashi]

Awesome! Thanks FranOhmsford!

Couple of questions: Are all of those quest suggestions for Elite? And also, I'm not real current with some of the acronyms. What does E-BB mean? Elite-?? Also what is OoB? And "IQ1+2"?

Sorry, I'm just not as familiar with a lot of the quest names up this level range.

[FranOhmsford]

Awesome! Thanks FranOhmsford!

Couple of questions: Are all of those quest suggestions for Elite? And also, I'm not real current with some of the acronyms. What does E-BB mean? Elite-?? Also what is OoB? And "IQ1+2"?

Sorry, I'm just not as familiar with a lot of the quest names up this level range.

E-BB = Elite, Bravery Bonus {Basically Elite at 2 levels above or lower than the base level of the quest. So for Gianthold Walkups that would be 15 or lower, for Vale Flags it would be 18 or lower etc.}.

OoB = An Offering of Blood
IQ1+2 = Inspired Quarter 1 {The Mindsunder Chain} and Inspired Quarter 2 {The Dreaming Dark Chain starting with Eye of the Titan}.


Yes the suggestions are for Elite {except for the Slayers obviously} but on a 1st Life soloing you could always run Hard BB instead {Same Lvl Range as E-BB for the bonus btw}.




BTW for starting Groups for those quests:

VoN 1-4 = Lvl Range 12-15 and type in box: Iconic bank Favour, Some XP. {VoN 3 is actually still like 20k}
Sands Walkups = Lvl Range 12-15 and type in box: Sands Walkups Elite NO BB.
Sands Main Questline = Lvl Range 12-15 and type in box: Wiz King, OoB, Chains, ADQ Elite NO BB {If you get a good group you may want to try the Raid itself after}.
Relic = Lvl Range 12-15 and type in box: Elite NO BB.
Gianthold Walkups = Lvl Range 12-15 and type in box: GH Walkups E-BB
Lordsmarch 1+2 = Lvl Range 12-15 and type in box: Lordsmarch Elite {BB on 2nd Chain}.
Gianthold Main Quest Line + Crucible = Lvl Range 13-16 and type in box: Cabal, Cruci, Madstone, PoP, ToR E-BB
Orchard Quests = Lvl Range 13-16 and type in box: Orchard E-BB {Most Groups start with Vol and go Vol, Inferno, Fleshmaker, Ghosts}. {Forget about Litany!}.
Lords of Dust Chain = Lvl Range 15-18 and type in box: Full Chain E-BB {Make sure Lords of Dust is selected}.
Vale Flags = Lvl Range 15-18 and type in box: Vale Flagging E-BB {Best route round is Rainbow, Ritual, Coal, Devils, Dust}.
IQ1+2 = Lvl Range 17-20 + 18-21 and type in box IQ1+2 E-BB {You can change the LFM to IQ2 E-BB 18-21 after Mindsunder}



Oh and max level for full xp from the slayers is:
Sands 15
Gianthold 18
Orchard 19
Vale 21
Amrath 24



P.S. What server are you on? You may get some people willing to run you slowly through some of the later quests if you mention that.

[Arashi]

Ok, I think I've got it. :-) Those are great suggestions, and am thankful for the BB explanation, as well as the LFG advertising list. That is something I never would have gotten right. Leading to disappointment and much gnashing of teeth. Thanks, guys! I'm now looking forward to some serious grind this weekend, and see how far I can get with the Anniversary weekend.

[FranOhmsford]

Ok, I think I've got it. :-) Those are great suggestions, and am thankful for the BB explanation, as well as the LFG advertising list. That is something I never would have gotten right. Leading to disappointment and much gnashing of teeth. Thanks, guys! I'm now looking forward to some serious grind this weekend, and see how far I can get with the Anniversary weekend.

Remember to soft cap!

I.E. Don't take 16 till you have enough XP for 17, Don't take 17 till you have enough XP for 18 etc.
19 = Pretty much skip it entirely, take it when you have the xp for 20 and immediately take 20.

[Arashi]

P.S. What server are you on? You may get some people willing to run you slowly through some of the later quests if you mention that.

I am on Argonessen, FWIW.

[Whitering]

You are probably 20 by now but my favourite way to level is to look for items I want, and farm those quests. All the leet exp leveling guides I've seen kind of presume you will have the equipment necessary to progress. At least the one posted above will get you a good helmet from Tapestry turn ins, maybe a shield if you need one, and flagging for Demon Queen, Zawabi being a raid that is totally soloable at Elite on a first run toon at level, I know because I even managed to do it with my f'ed up clonk build a while ago.

Druids with their dots, go crazy, farm the raid as you level up to 20.

[Stormraiser]

Assuming you're VIP and can open Elite:

VoN 1,2,3,4
Sands Walkups
OoB, Chains of Flame, Chamber of Raiyum, Against the Demon Queen
Relic of a Sovereign Past

That should get you to 16.

Gianthold Walkups {If you're not hardcapped 17 already stay at 15 and get or join an E-BB Group for these - The XP will be better. And if you run em at 16 you probably will end up soloing them}.
Lordsmarch 1+2

If you haven't already you can take 16 now.

Run Orchard Slayer to 1500 Kills, All Explorers and Rares.
Get 200 kills in each of the 3 Gianthold Slayers and All Explorers.
Group up for Cabal, Crucible, PoP, Madstone, Tor.
Keep the Group together for Orchard Quests.

Take 18
Get your GH Slayer up to 400 of each and finish off the Rares you missed first time round.
Group up for Lords of Dust Chain and Vale E-BBs.
Run Vale and Amrath Slayers to 2x400 and 400 - Get your Rares maxed if possible and all Explorers

If not able to take 20 yet join or start a Group for IQ1+2.

There are many inefficient points in this suggestion.
Von1 & 2 are Level 8, 10 at elite. the majority of the players follow bravery bonus, and wouldn't join a Von 1 &2 group with a level 15 in there. They either did the quest already, or skipped it.

You are going to have a harder time finding a group that allows a level 15 into any quests with a lower bb. It's not impossible, but not probable.

Simple solution, If you are level 15, check the LFM for anything that says EBB and join the group with the lowest level cutoff. So if you see a group range 13-15 and one 13-16, join the 13-15. Play the quest, have fun, avoid replaying the same quest.

Skip the get all rares and explorers advise. It is way too time consuming, and you mentioned you wanted to level faster.

When you reach sufficient level, just level up. Don't worry, you're a first life character.

[Stormraiser]

Remember to soft cap!

I.E. Don't take 16 till you have enough XP for 17, Don't take 17 till you have enough XP for 18 etc.
19 = Pretty much skip it entirely, take it when you have the xp for 20 and immediately take 20.

This is terrible and outdated. What's the point of not playing at level 19? You have more hp, more spells, more sp and more AP. You're just handicapping yourself on a first life character.

[FranOhmsford]

There are many inefficient points in this suggestion.
Von1 & 2 are Level 8, 10 at elite. the majority of the players follow bravery bonus, and wouldn't join a Von 1 &2 group with a level 15 in there. They either did the quest already, or skipped it.

A level 15 Iconic should not have any problems soloing VoN 1+2 even if no-one joins them. And if you put "Iconic House K Favour" in the LFM chances are at least one other Iconic will join you.
VoN 3 is still 20k+ xp even at 15 so I wouldn't open the VoN 1-4 LFM to anyone higher than Lvl 15 - Just make it 12-15 and put "House K Favour, Some XP" on the LFM.

Even better if you haven't taken 15 yet and are soft capping you will get a little xp from VoN 1+2 too.

You are going to have a harder time finding a group that allows a level 15 into any quests with a lower bb. It's not impossible, but not probable.

You're the LEADER!

Anyone joining you is going to know right from the off before they hit the LFM that you're NOT running for BB!

It's a FAVOUR RUN! For BANK SPACE!

It also means you don't break your BB Streak when you get to 20 and can only find EN/EH VoN 3s and 4s - For a newer player I'd never advise putting up an LFM for EE because the chances are you'll just get yelled at/blacklisted when members realise you're not capable of EE!

Simple solution, If you are level 15, check the LFM for anything that says EBB and join the group with the lowest level cutoff. So if you see a group range 13-15 and one 13-16, join the 13-15. Play the quest, have fun, avoid replaying the same quest.

This is in my view a very bad way to level an Iconic as you will end up having to run the Lvl 17-19 Quests because you've used up all your GH, Orchard+Vale XP too early!

You will miss quests because of joining Groups half way through Chains!

You will be at the mercy of what group is up!

The reason I start off by soft-capping 15 is that I don't want to start the Lvl 13s until I have enough XP for 16, This means that I get to 20 without running a single Lvl 17+ Quest!

Skip the get all rares and explorers advise. It is way too time consuming, and you mentioned you wanted to level faster.

There's faster and there's XP/Min Zerg - These are two very different things!

If it's XP/Min Zerg you want then why not go the whole hog and just run Wiz King 5 times, Vol 8x, Coal 5x etc.!

When you reach sufficient level, just level up. Don't worry, you're a first life character.

Terrible Advice!

First Lifers don't generally have the best gear!
First Lifers don't generally know the highest level heroic quests off by heart!
First Lifers putting up LFMs for E-BB G-Point need Guide are going to find themselves waiting a long time for said Guide!

Vale, GH, Orchard and even Sands are much much more popular and getting groups or into groups for them is much much easier!

IQ1+2 are the best Lvl 17+ Quests for if you do still need xp to get to 20 after finishing Vale/LoD Chain as these are quite commonly run still
High Road would be a decent choice too but only if you're joining a group that's up NOT starting your own.

The reason to not take 19 is very very simple - NO-ONE will join your Vale or LoD Run 16-19!
So don't take 19 till those are done! At which point under my layout you will already be within 20-30k of Lvl 20! A single Devil Battlefield Slayer Clearance will get you this in Half an Hour!

Yes a Slayer Clearance is slower than most quests but tends to give more XP than most quests!
Vale and Sands are the long ones - First Clearance solo will take 55 mins for Vale, 1hr+ for Sands!
Orchard is a bit smaller than Vale, say 50 mins solo BUT it's also extremely popular and a group not worried about getting chests, explorers will finish it much quicker and maybe get 2-3 runs in for more Slayer/Rare XP {Just make sure you get your explorers over the multiple runs by swapping directions when you split up each run.}.
GH can be done in 45 mins!
Battlefield is 30 mins!

All of these Slayer Zones will give 30k+ XP on a first clearance at level {which for Sands is up to 15, for GH up to 18, for Orchard up to 19, for Vale up to 21 and Battlefield up to 24!}.
And for newer players not yet able to solo E-BBs never mind in Zergrush times Slayer XP/Min is not that low either!