What are your techniques for leveling?

[Masaryk]

So, Masaryk has just hit level 9 (Druid) as of today. I have found that once reading this thread, it was extremely quick and easy to hit this level of experience. I have only been playing for about a month, but I feel that I have got a good hold on my character and what I need to do to gain a decent amount of experience.

When I first started out, I did the normal quests that many new adventurers seek out to do, gaining 100-500 XP here and there. From level 3-5, I was hunting goblins and bandits.

Once I hit level 5, I started dying way too much. This was primarily due to the fact that I was attempting to join the Wardens and the join quest is much too hard for a level 5,6, or perhaps even 7.

Once I had completed that quest (with some hefty help), from levels 5-7, I gained XP in the Mossclaw Meet area. The key with this area was to find parties to join. You are giving yourself much too high of a burden if you try to grind these levels alone. I would also search areas here and there for little mini quests. One other spot I liked to hunt was the pathway outside the Exigo Trading Post. There is just one shadow wolf there, but for these levels, killing the wolf is fairly easy and gives a nice chunk of XP.

Once I hit level 8, I had the proper spells to start really grinding through some XP (especially by myself). I went through the entire level of 8 bashing Cartel folks outside of Aquor, as well as heading to the Frozen waterfalls to kill (very carefully) ice mephit sages and white elk hunters. These guys give GREAT XP and I was able to solo them with some careful tactics.

[Masaryk]

You call that roleplay?

When you aren't busy reading my character requests as a not-DM to learn about my secret plots, not cybering with the vampires, not OOC grinding, then maybe you RP.

Otherwise, you just exploit the RP ticker.

Oh, and what is this RP ticker you speak of?

[Dave Fritz]

Oh, and what is this RP ticker you speak of?

That would be the 30XP you get every so often when you're RPing with folks at the various campfires, etc.

[Mournas]

As a Wizard I go 3rd to 4th off goblins THEN turn in the quests which puts me 1/3rd of the way through 4th. From 4th to 5th I go to the Ruins and complete the two quests that you get at the gate of the sunderer. Completing those quests will either ding you 5th or very very close. If still 4th Head to the Port and turn in the chain quests for some easy xp to hit 5th. At 5th I grind viridale solo or with a group (be smart if you solo use spells wisely etc). Once I hit 7th I solo parts of the grave yard in Argyle, again with the right selection of spells it is doable, a bit dangerous but doable. From there well you hit 12th or 13th level and move on to bigger better things. Easiest thing to do is provide defensive maintenance to a group that needs a little extra touch in mossdale or veritas. Hastes, Displacements, Extra Stone Skins etc. Then you end up around 17th level watching the xp get smaller and smaller.

[Snowmane]

Gonna derail the thread a little . . .

I find leveling to be easy compared to getting faction reputation up. My character is pushing real close to level 14 and she is just barely about to become a Foot Soldier (the second tier of her faction which she should reach tonight). I am actively trying to avoid xp gain and get my faction up. It seems a bit off for so powerful a character to be so low on the totem pole in their faction. I have been trying to get into more events, but the DMs tend to give more Sundren rep than Blackwood rep in my experience.

I guess what I am saying is don't be in too much of a hurry to level. I'd suggest once you hit level 10, you're pretty viable - at that point you should really stop thinking about xp and start thinking about the rest of your characters story. Where do you see your character fitting in to the Sundarian society? What can you do to achieve that goal? Who are your characters trusted allies and who are folks they would rather avoid or see dead? Flush out your characters story and add it to the wiki in the character bios section if you haven't already.

Remember, this is a role-play server so in general you should be trying to develop your characters story along the way. Sure, plan out your build ahead of time and craft your story to fit the build. Role-play doesn't necessarily mean you have to be play a horrible build, but keep in mind that sometimes the weaker builds can be more interesting to play.

In my humble opinion, if you race to 20, you will be missing out on something more exciting than grinding exp.

[Thief Of Navarre]

Gonna derail the thread a little . . .

I find leveling to be easy compared to getting faction reputation up. My character is pushing real close to level 14 and she is just barely about to become a Foot Soldier (the second tier of her faction which she should reach tonight). I am actively trying to avoid xp gain and get my faction up. It seems a bit off for so powerful a character to be so low on the totem pole in their faction. I have been trying to get into more events, but the DMs tend to give more Sundren rep than Blackwood rep in my experience.

I guess what I am saying is don't be in too much of a hurry to level. I'd suggest once you hit level 10, you're pretty viable - at that point you should really stop thinking about xp and start thinking about the rest of your characters story. Where do you see your character fitting in to the Sundarian society? What can you do to achieve that goal? Who are your characters trusted allies and who are folks they would rather avoid or see dead? Flush out your characters story and add it to the wiki in the character bios section if you haven't already.

Remember, this is a role-play server so in general you should be trying to develop your characters story along the way. Sure, plan out your build ahead of time and craft your story to fit the build. Role-play doesn't necessarily mean you have to be play a horrible build, but keep in mind that sometimes the weaker builds can be more interesting to play.

In my humble opinion, if you race to 20, you will be missing out on something more exciting than grinding exp.

I agree that once you get to a half decent level you can focus on the more important things. although I dont really put much weight behind rank in a faction. You can become a respected member of your faction without even going beyond Toilet Cleaner rank.. Most people know my character Fox within the eboncoin yet he is only at starting rank!

[roguethree]

I believe there are plans to include repeatable faction quests to assist with ranking up in a faction. In the case of the Triad, the DMs gave my paladin, Dain, the authority to promote whomever, whenever, but there aren't any Triad PCs in my play time, so that hasn't happened but once. The current system certainly does make it tough to achieve top rank (and therefore appropriate gear for your level) in any faction, but hopefully the removal of the donation system and the inclusion of a worthy replacement will help.

To you cats with high reputation, you can vouch for someone every in-game day, not just per reset. So every time that little moon in the corner of your screen shows midnight, you can vouch for someone. It doesn't seem like much, but it can add up quickly. With banners and vouching, a lot of PCs can gather over 100 reputation a day, and that's without DM assistance.

[Mournas]

To you cats with high reputation, you can vouch for someone every in-game day, not just per reset. So every time that little moon in the corner of your screen shows midnight, you can vouch for someone. It doesn't seem like much, but it can add up quickly. With banners and vouching, a lot of PCs can gather over 100 reputation a day, and that's without DM assistance.

Aye, vouching for someone can get a lot of good Rep, really fast. Those with 20k+ rep in a faction can vouch for 20points. If my boss gets on and vouches for me I get 23 Rep which is pretty much 1/2 to 2/3 the value of top tier flags. It adds up FAST as R3 said over 100 Rep a day, and that is by far a low number especially if you have multiple people vouching for you. I believe 3000 is the first marker for when you can start vouching for others.

[Kaizen]

To caveat on the reputation: if you find yourself in an event with a DM and feel that your character should be granted rep points because of certain actions, politely remind the DM about said reputation points, and do your best to explain to them why you feel this way. Obviously, there's a time and place that warrants this kind of request.

-Kaizen saving Viridale Forest from a massive wildfire caused by hippie hating and money mongering Exigo employees is due some reputation points from his faction, the Wardens of the Vale.

-Kaizen waltzing into the Triumvirate as a chicken and ninja kicking level 5 paladins in the face does not. Even if there was an epic of a follow up RP thread with sophomoric puns.

Seriously. With all the influx of dice rolls/ skill checks/ controlling NPCs/ moderating dialouge/ keeping up with the current roleplaying/ general DM shenanigans, that kind of thing is easy for a very busy DM to accidentally overlook.

The same can be applied to alignment points, but those, as a general rule of D&D life, turn into philosophical debates on the internetz, which in turn, usually preceeds allusions to the Nazi party - but I digress.

So. Yeah. Reputation points. Good stuff.

[Standur]

I believe 3000 is the first marker for when you can start vouching for others.

What command do you use to vouch for another player? I have a PC over 3000 and I have not been able to figure it out.

[roguethree]

Right-click --> Sundren --> Vouch for this PC