Gaps in leveling when dynamic events don't pop?

[Ryquis]

I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed how difficult it is to keep up with the leveling curves of the game just by jumping from gold heart to gold heart, and also if anyone had suggestions for fun non-grindy leveling once I've gotten my reward for full clearing a map but still am not high enough in level to move on. Crafting filled the gap nicely for about a level or two until my crafting got too high for reliable exp, so I'm not sure what I'm missing where two days in I can only manage to level 20ish where my friend who I creamed on the way to 85 in WoW is in the low forties.

[Deleted]

I think that they really need to increase the xp hearts give. You shouldn't HAVE to go explore and find EVERYTHING on a map to just level up. (Even tho I mostly do that, and yet I'm underleveled)

[Snow White]

Talk to scouts if you're unsure where things are happening. They will point you in the right direction for DEs.
Crafting is great especially when you take advantage of the discovery tab. Cooking specifically sicne you can buy ALOT of the mats from vendors with karma.
Also: WvWvW.

[jtgizmo]

here read this: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/c...tly_gw2_style/

Explore, explore, and explore some more. I've seen a lot of people complaining about the lack of things to do to level, I watch them race from Heart to Heart then complain some more of how the game is unplayable. You’re doing it WRONG. Don't run off the moment a DE finishes, look for the main NPCs of the DE, they may be having a dialogue or may start running off, follow them, wait for what happens, chains don't always happen right away and it pays to be more in tuned with the environment. The mentality of “LETS GO POINT A TO B!” is actually very detrimental to how enjoyable the leveling process can be.
Hearts are meant to guide you and something to do in between DE chains; they’re not the major attraction, go off that seemingly dead end trail and make your way to that Vista, you are rewarded for doing that. In fact, if you make your way towards a Heart and a DE happens, you’ll probably complete that heart too. As you become more conditioned to the dynamic event system, you’ll notice in higher level zones they chain more and Orr (80 zone) does not even have hearts, the main attraction are the Dynamic Events all throughout the game.
Additionally, everyone should pick up a crafting profession and gather. There is no discipline just for gathering, just buy the appropriate tools and you can gather any node, there is no competition for nodes and you also gain XP for doing so. Crafting also gives a CRAPTON of XP, when I hoard mats for a few levels; I walk away each session with at least 2 levels. The first person to reach 80 legitimately pumped out the last 20 levels from mats donated by his guildies. I stumbled into a cave filled with destroyer crabs with a purpose, to gather those damn nodes they're guarding. Deeper into a cave I found a lost little girl clearly NOT CHILL with her situation and well-being. Talking to her triggered an escort event to bring her to safety. This is just one of few examples of how well the world is tied together.
Between your Personal Story, Dynamic Events, Skill Challenges, Renown Hearts, Exploration (Point of Interest + Waypoints), Vistas, Crafting/Gathering, and WvW, it is very easy in fact to always be over leveled before you even complete a zone. If you’re up to it, dealing with content 3-4 levels higher than you also nets you more XP, better loot, doing this is the only way I’m not downscaled as there are simply so many ways to gain XP.
TLDR: Take your notion of leveling conditioned from other games and throw it out, GW2’s PvE plays like a different beast and is immensely more enjoyable when you slow yourself down and be whisked around by the world’s wonders. You miss out on a lot on what the world offers if you just chase Hearts/DE then rush to the next one the moment it’s finished.
EDIT//I realize now the title is misleading and has other connotations to it. I did not think that far when I was first making this post and any impression of trying to run your life for you is unintended. I'm not implying this is the correct way to level, this is merely a post for helping people that still have a limited understanding on how the game is built and what you can take advantage of to help with your journey.

[rhinomatic]

In Gendarren Fields I had the misfortune of not encountering many DEs. I entered the zone at 24 and was 27 at 100% zone completion. I only saw 2 DEs the whole time I was doing that and missed out on one because I DCed halfway through and logged back in on an overflow server where there was no event happening.

I ended up harvesting and crafting my way up to 31 when my personal story took me to Fields of Ruin and the game just took off again.

They need to do something to insure there are plenty of DEs going on all over the zone because if you get stuck with none to do the game really does seem to grind to a halt.

[Deleted]

Why can't they just let you play the game however you want?

[Achyra]

My only issue is that DE's never fail, so they never go forward, so you're kinda missing on on more stuff, even if it's just see more content.

[rhinomatic]

My only issue is that DE's never fail, so they never go forward, so you're kinda missing on on more stuff, even if it's just see more content.

DEs fail quite easily if you can get away from the zerg. I'm in the 40-50 zone past Fields of Ruin (something steppes) and it's a constant back and forth with the ogres out there. The zone isn't overpopulated and that's why.

Had the same experience in Fields of Ruin. Just need to find the zones that the crowds aren't headed to.

[rhandric]

Why can't they just let you play the game however you want?

You can - they're just not going to hold your hand while you do it. Hearts are purely there to give direction, they're not there to be the main source of PvE content -- or they wouldn't remove them in later areas. Complaining "Hearts don't give me enough experience" is like saying "I did one quest per quest hub (in <generic MMO>), why aren't I max level?!"

[Dexiefy]

meh, im lvl 50 and im just starting harathi hinterlands which is 35-45 zone or so... but then again i went to all starting zones and stuff so i never really felt any underlevel ;o
only gripe i have atm with the game is the ammount of cloth you get... its way too low... and yes i salvage everything i can, i salvage what i craft even and i went to all lowbie zones and even then i barely got enough jute scraps to progress onto wool...
When my JC was at 145, my tailoring was at 60 or so >.>

but yeah as for being underleveled, never happened to me.

[Moon-Man]

Did you know in Guild wars 2, Dynamic event is equal to questing in other MMOs? If you put it that sense, GW2 isnt anything new than any other MMO out there!

You will need to do event in order to level up, you cant level up by exploring and doing tasks alone (you can, but you will have gaps and you will underlevel yourself).

Tasks (Heart on map) and Dynamic events= Questing in wow, or any other MMO.

[rhandric]

Did you know in Guild wars 2, Dynamic event is equal to questing in other MMOs? If you put it that sense, GW2 isnt anything new than any other MMO out there!

You will need to do event in order to level up, you cant level up by exploring and doing tasks alone (you can, but you will have gaps and you will underlevel yourself).

Tasks (Heart on map) and Dynamic events= Questing in wow, or any other MMO.

For a very loose definition of equal
Yes, DEs are intended to be the main source of open-world content (and experience), so in that sense they're "equal" to quests, and some have similar goals. but their portrayal is completely different.

[Achyra]

DEs fail quite easily if you can get away from the zerg. I'm in the 40-50 zone past Fields of Ruin (something steppes) and it's a constant back and forth with the ogres out there. The zone isn't overpopulated and that's why.

Had the same experience in Fields of Ruin. Just need to find the zones that the crowds aren't headed to.

There is no such thing, people are literally everywhere, packed in so thick that if was real life you wouldn't be able to toss a rock and not smack someone in the head. I guess if you've leveled fast enough to be ahead of everyone it's doable, but I'm level 25, 11, and 10 so for now I'm just another person, keeping DE's from failing.

[Ashnazg]

In Gendarren Fields I had the misfortune of not encountering many DEs. I entered the zone at 24 and was 27 at 100% zone completion. I only saw 2 DEs the whole time I was doing that and missed out on one because I DCed halfway through and logged back in on an overflow server where there was no event happening.

I ended up harvesting and crafting my way up to 31 when my personal story took me to Fields of Ruin and the game just took off again.

They need to do something to insure there are plenty of DEs going on all over the zone because if you get stuck with none to do the game really does seem to grind to a halt.

But there are like 3 other zones with 25-35 content? Just visit one of those and you'll be 40 in no time.

I am 45 now and I haven't even started clearing the 35-45 zones. Hell, I just got done with 15-25s.

[Tonyctattoo]

Why can't they just let you play the game however you want?

Name a game with more valid options for leveling? Every other mmo out there you have your choice do the pre defined quest (that are pretty much the exact same thing over and over) or grind dungeons.. Most other games dont give you hardly any xp for exploration hardly any if any xp at all for crafting, not to mention vistas and jumping puzzles and other mentally stimulating things.

[SilkforCalde]

I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed how difficult it is to keep up with the leveling curves of the game just by jumping from gold heart to gold heart, and also if anyone had suggestions for fun non-grindy leveling once I've gotten my reward for full clearing a map but still am not high enough in level to move on. Crafting filled the gap nicely for about a level or two until my crafting got too high for reliable exp, so I'm not sure what I'm missing where two days in I can only manage to level 20ish where my friend who I creamed on the way to 85 in WoW is in the low forties.

What? I have the complete opposite problem. I'm always getting my level downscaled. Explore around, you'll find tons of hidden chests off the beaten path. I had one quest to kill ghosts in the Charr starting area. I find this area loaded with ghosts, I explore it, and I find a boss veteran level ghost which was guarding a massive chest, killed the boss ghost with another player and the chest gave me 5 or 6 blue items.

You should not be running from heart to heart. Why even rush?

[Speedy92286]

Talk to scouts if you're unsure where things are happening. They will point you in the right direction for DEs.
Crafting is great especially when you take advantage of the discovery tab. Cooking specifically sicne you can buy ALOT of the mats from vendors with karma.
Also: WvWvW.

I wanted to make sure this post got bumped. WvW is a GREAT way to close whatever gap you have from leveling. Every objective you do gives you more experience than a DE, and to me is actually far more fun. This is what I did when I was in a level 25 zone at level 21 and it worked just great for me.

Also, are you doing your personal story? That also helps with leveling as you usually get a half a level at least per quest.

[Tonyctattoo]

What? I have the complete opposite problem. I'm always getting my level downscaled. Explore around, you'll find tons of hidden chests off the beaten path. I had one quest to kill ghosts in the Charr starting area. I find this area loaded with ghosts, I explore it, and I find a boss veteran level ghost which was guarding a massive chest, killed the boss ghost with another player and the chest gave me 5 or 6 blue items.

You should not be running from heart to heart. Why even rush?

This is wizardry, pretty much exactly what I was going to post.

Also crafting is huge xp. And you can explore all the capital cities when you get bored. I like the thinking involved in some of the vistas, I mean none of them are hard but it's a break from killing stuff

[rhinomatic]

There is no such thing, people are literally everywhere, packed in so thick that if was real life you wouldn't be able to toss a rock and not smack someone in the head. I guess if you've leveled fast enough to be ahead of everyone it's doable, but I'm level 25, 11, and 10 so for now I'm just another person, keeping DE's from failing.

Some zones are better than others. In the human zones, I couldn't go anywhere without encountering an overflow server. In the charr zones beyond the first area, I haven't had a single overflow server. Those zones, appropriately enough, have been the most fun.

I just logged into Blazeridge Steppes and the very first camp (Foewatch) is under control of the ogres. That's a failed DE state right there.

BRB gotta liberate a camp.

[theredviola]

Why can't they just let you play the game however you want?

Even I admit, it would be nice if we got just a tad more Xp from heart quests and DE's (something like... 10% more).

But, I do believe that Anet balanced leveling around every form of xp gain. HQ's, DE's, Personel Story, crafting, gathering, exploring, etc.