Constantly feeling a bit underleveled

[Lionor]

Hello guys,

total newbie here in GW2, enjoying myself so far, however I have a slight problem.

I seem to be in a state of constantly being 1-2 levels below the next heart on my map.

I visit all points of interest, skill points and vistas as well as participate in any dynamic events I see going on along with my story quest.
However the XP just doesn't seem enough to progress me level wise to get to the next heart on my map.

Any suggestions? Should I just grind mobs?

I try to res other players/NPCs when I see them however I'm not very active with gathering stuff.

The problem is more obvious on my Assura Thief that it is on my Norn Memsmer, could it be a matter of the starting areas?

I'm only level 15, does it get any better on other maps/areas?
Am I doing something terribly wrong?

Thanks!

[Deleted]

Hey

I totally have the same problem as you. I guess either do lots of events.. or farm mobs as you suggested.

[Deleted]

i very well know the feeling on your first character. The first zone that lasts from 1-15 has barely enough experience to get you to lvl 15 if you get 100% completion. However there are 4 Other 1-15 zones. Just visit them.

Guild wars adds tons of benefits for exploring and trying to do something in every zone is one of the more enjoyable ways to level and it will reduce the feeling of being under leveled.

If you don't know how to get to the other starter zones, just go to the main city and look for a purple gate ( asura gate) that leads to the vigils keep, it's the main routing hub as of right now.

[Lionor]

snip

Cool thanks, that sounds like good advice!

[Seronalis]

Yeah that seems to happen, done a fair bit of leveling but I'm no expert and it's possible I'm missing something as well.

I get around this by either jumping back and forth between one of the other zones of the same level range (there's always at least one) or finishing off older zones I skipped or only partially completed. You get some really nice rewards for doing a zone to 100%, and apart from the mobs which give a bit less the exp is still quite good. Quests and events seem to give exp for your level not the zones, so finishing off an area 10-15 levels below you is quite viable.

I appreciate that it goes against gaming instinct but try not to worry to much about level, everything you do gives pretty solid experience regardless so just cruise around a few of the starting zones, get all the skill points and do the events and quests you run into. If you find a zone you like and your say 5+ levels above it's starting point just stay there and go for zone completion. If you're not huge on PvP the end game seems a bit wanting so enjoy the journey and soak in the sights!

And as it can be a bit confusing to navigate to the other starting zones if you're new you should find a big pink portal somewhere in your races capital that goes to "Lions Arch". This is actually a lie as Lions Arch got blown to hell not long ago but it still takes you to a hub. Anyways you should find other portals where you land to all the other races capitals, simply hope through one of those and head for their 1-15 zone!

[Facerockker]

Welcome to Guild Wars 2. Leveling is a bit janky in this game, especially in the Asura starting zone. It's an odd mix of Hearts, events, Personal Story progression, dailies etc. You'll get the hang of it!

[Rhywolver]

Welcome to Guild Wars 2. Leveling is a bit janky in this game, especially in the Asura starting zone. It's an odd mix of Hearts, events, Personal Story progression, dailies etc. You'll get the hang of it!

Ah, glad to hear that. Started my first Asura some time ago and wondered if leveling has always been so slow (had 7 chars between Level 22 and 80 so far). However, hoping around the starting zones and doing some personal story stuff helps (skipped that for most of the chars so far).

[Karizee]

Think of Hearts like bread crumb quests, you cannot level off them alone - there's only 301 hearts in the game and the later zones have no hearts at all! They are meant to lead you into an area but it's the dynamic events are the real meat of the leveling experience. As you move into the higher zones they start to chain, branch and web so after finishing an event, make sure to stick around a minute to see if another event follows. Events can unlock mini dungeons or new areas, well worth the time to do them and it's where you find much of the game's lore.

You can gain xp from just about anything - crafting, gathering, exploration, personal story, rezzing downed players or NPCs. Talk to any NPCs that are trying to catch your attention, they are not there just for flavor and pay special attention to any named NPCs, they often trigger dynamic events.

As others have said, since it's not linear you can go to other zones. Cities are good for exploring and you don't have to deal with mobs or events there if you need some easy levels. Also pick up some cheap xp buff food like cinnamon apples for the xp and magic find bonuses.

[Deleted]

Yes, in the first starting zone the experience is not that much, so you may need to visit some events/jumping puzzles etc multiple times. After that it's good, in the next zones you will get easily above the cap, but for the starting zone I can only suggest you also visit another starting zone. Visit the sylvari one, their story ties in a bit with the asura one.

[Fencers]

I'm only level 15, does it get any better on other maps/areas?
Am I doing something terribly wrong?

The problem is you are "questing". Essentially playing the game linearly. This is a mistake and against design intent.

[Deleted]

What I would suggest myself is to explore all cities now. They will reward you with a decent amount of levels to continue. Also those cities are connected to the other starter zones which you can continue to explore.

If you have explored around 50% of the world map, you will most likely be level 80.

You can also considering do your characters story, which also rewards you with a nice bit of exp =)

And as a last don't forget the food and other consumables! You can combine food like Bjorni's Rabbit Food with a Tuning Crystal for 20% more experience from kills.

Grab any event you can get. You don't 'have' to finish them fully, just for the biggest part to get the best reward. Unless you are the only one around I would suggest to finish them, since nobody else will - or it might fail.

Hope this helps you =)

[zed zebes]

From level 1 there is 5 zones, 6 cities to explore, crafting, gathering, wvwvw, eotm, and spvp. Level 2 or 3 you get personal story. I don't recommend all of those things right out of the gate, but the game is all about picking your own adventure.

[lawow74]

Explore the other starting zones. Even if you don't complete them fully, they'll help boost you to get you up to being more on/ahead of the curve to level through the rest.

[Lionor]

Thanks everyone for all the replies.

I started yesterday by exploring a couple of major cities and even ventured out to a different starting area.

I didn't even know that was possible so easily, sounds really cool