Your Favorite Way to Hit Level 30 - The Ascalonian Catacombs Rush!

So, lately my attention has been focused on leveling my alts to 80. I find the most enjoyable way for me to level quickly (while making tons of bank at the same time) is to do AC Exp runs from 30 to 70 (then CoF, HotW, CoE as the opportunities arise). In the early levels I run a very 'Supporty' build, so as not to be a burden on my group with low DPS, but I digress.

I've used multiple methods to level to 30 quickly, as I find that to be the most boring part of the game. I'm going to list the ones I have used already, and hopefully it will be helpful to some people, but I am also hoping somebody has a method I have not used yet that I can try out to mix it up a bit.

* Clearing a map or two while keeping up to date on Personal Storyline

* Crafting (usually Cooking and another profession determined by what I happen to have an excess of at the time) and Personal Storyline - This is my favorite method currently. I usually spend two or three gold while doing this, but I end up with a bunch of ectos (not from cooking) in the end, so that doesn't concern me overmuch

* WvW - I find this to be the most tedious method, as WvW is kinda blah on a new character

That's all I have so far. Looking for some new ideas :-)

You really do AC from 30 to 70? That's mind boggling to me. What does an exp run give you, 3/4 of a level? So that's 53 runs, right? Do you pug those runs? I only ask because I see many people who mindlessly insist that people running any dungeon be level 80. I'm leveling my 3rd character leisurely, by participating in the lowbie zone clears (Prissy's) and 100%-ing zones while keeping my personal story up to date. I am also doing tailoring, but I haven't picked a second crafting profession since the only 2 I really need are Armorsmith and Weaponsmith and I'm not sure a Necro has much use for either. I will probably cave and pick up cooking on yet another toon. I guess I don't have any new ideas for you. :/

I have no new ideas. I just go with the flow and be RANDOM! Somehow I have two 80's, one mid-70's, two in their 30's and only one toon still under 20. I do crafting on 4 of them - both 80's now have two crafts each at 400. The two in their 30's are my other crafters with only one of those crafts at 400, the others are close. The 30's did get a LOT of their leveling done with the crafting along with random low zone and story quest stuff. My mid-70's toon is purely PvE running around maps and a little WvW with no crafting at all. I don't do many dungeons either.

I've done the AC leveling on my last couple chars (I've got 8 chars 5 of which are lvl 70-80) and its a lot of fun and since they updated the loot you get quite a bit of gold while leveling, usually ~1 gold every 2 runs or better, especially if you sell the random armor drops (well everything blue or better and salvage the rest). I kinda wanna try leveling via fractals sometime, though I don't think I'd take in a char below 30, though starting at 30 it would be fun. And yes we do guild groups Ralcore and I, just pick up whoever wants to do a run in guild chat, not worried about lvl or gear or what ever were just having fun doing AC collecting tears along the way I've got 2k+ tears atm, still not sure what to use them on, I think when my guard hits 80 she's gonna be in AC gear lol

» Edited on: 2012-12-21 11:15:55

I do a mix of crafting, personal storyline and then target about three zones for completion, usually ones that contain dungeons so I will have the waypoints. That's about it.

As for the AC tears, I buy exotics with them and toss them in the forge for a VERY small chance at a precursor. Yeah, I run 30-70 on AC, but as Zoe mentioned, always with a guild group. It's not as crazy as it sounds...I've done so many, we can get a run down in 30 minutes or so. Best dependable XP/Loot over time I have come across thus far.

Doing hearts (while clearing the zone) seems to be the best way to level for me. The story missions give decent XP too but they can take a while to complete (with some having 2 or 3 phases before the reward). The hearts are usually pretty fast to complete and give a good chunk of XP. I would guess the loot is a lot better doing the dungeon thing, though.

Ralcore, I ran AC with you and Zoe a couple of times, but don't ever see you on. Which room do you hang out in and what times of day? And tbh, AC is designed for level 30's... DPS, gear and everything. I see pugs demanding level 80's, but I see LFM's demanding 80's for Tixx, which is optimized for a level 2's limited skills and hardly a challenge. They're just misinformed /fail players who are challenged if they're not maxed out and over-leveled for the content they're trying to beat.