This server very slow and boring to level ?

[Ironclad]

I'm probably doing something wrong but I've been on this server a while now on various characters over my time here and the highest I ever got was level 15.

And that was a massive boring Xvart grind with almost literally no RP value as everyone is just running in a circle auto attacking or throwing spells, so my stealth char can't stealth and my healer can't heal etc.

Not only this but the party size limit and the heavy experience gain penalties if anyone is a few levels above or below the rest seems to make the grind extra grindy with a side order of grind seasoned with some ground up grind for that extra hit of zingy grindyness...

I feel trapped in a rut and I have no idea how to get myself out as I don't know the server that well I've travelled the road from BG to Beregost and not much else on my characters and the few other random places I've wandered into I soon either insta died or had to run away from insta dying.

I could really use some pointers here because lately leveling groups have been rare and they quickly disband once someone "takes a break" that seems to be a common catalyst for groups disbanding on the spot or else a random high level will join and kill the exp for me or else drag the group to a hunting area more their level and there I will get worst exp and usually chain die because under level and under geared for that area etc.

But I regularly see pleny of +++ chars on the scry some clearly some of you have the secret to leveling here or are just a proper grind monkey or something in between!

Please tell me is this my future to just knuckle down and do the Xvart circle of death until level 30?

Thanks in advance, I know this sounds ranty its not its just frustration of not able to get moving past this point and seek helpful advice.

P.S.
That said I have had some excellent RP here recently and I hope to continue those associations in coming days

[Calodan]

Well it is really quick and easy to level 21 or so. After that is when it is slow.

Stop hitting up the stupid run in circles places it will burn you out.

Been here 5 years. I do not do Xvarts or Hill Giants. It is stupid.

Do adventure runs. Do various dungeons going through the low end of your CR with a group to the high end of your CR with a group. At level 15 you should be pushing Ulgoths Beard Pirate Cave, Troll Claws Trolls(GROUPED UP OR YOU DIE) Ogre Cave in Troll Claws.


IF YOU REALLY WANT TO LEVEL UP FAST AND DO CIRCLES THERE IS ONLY ONE PLACE TO BE FROM LEVEL 12-25!

Go to Rockrun in the Upper Dark and grind Kro's Labrynth and Kro's Descent. Small map with tons of spawns and this is the only circle run I would do. Totally worth the mind numbing grind there.

Just be aware that surface PCs may be screwed with by Under Dark PCs........Kind of the point. It is more dangerous so PvP is a very real chance down there. KNow your rules and play nicely folks!

[Dagesh]

What I would recommend is band a group of adventurers together on the forums. I remember Steve did something similar not too long ago. I bet you could probably ask for a DM to oversee an adventure as well.

[Nemni]

Quests give a lot of XP. Go looking for all of them, and do them regularly.
RP XP has been improved quite a bit. Find someone interesting to talk to and the XP will just slowly stream in like an extra bonus.

But overall, there's no reason to rush it. Took me almost a year to reach level 30 first time. Journey before destination , you just gotta make sure the journey is fun.

[Blackhorizon]

Suppose it depends on how fast you want/need to get there.

I can safely say it's doable over time. I got my toon to lvl 29 (in about a year) before rcr dropped her down to 20 then been slowly gaining again. I'm a slow leveller. Fairly easy to level faster.

I can safely say I've done 1 or 2 runs (during the whole time I've played the character) that I could call a grind run but those times it was just running through a quick run once. Usually you rarely see my main toon running. Other than that it's a mix of quests (steady source of xp), RP exp and occasional adventuring with others. You'll get more if you adventure with others often.

Good thing about adventuring with other (not just running around killing and looting) is that you also gain RP exp.

Anyway, slow progress isn't for everyone. Just that if a slowpoke like me can get there, others should be able to as well Grinding is, of course, an option. I just don't care for it as it's so darn boring.

PS: Other characters I've played with have gotten to 30 way faster. Also my char's build is laughable as I don't go build first. Could even say what build.

[Sun Wukong]

It also helps if you do not plan your character build to be finally done at level 30 or so... In fact, if you can get most of the stuff you want as early as possible, then you are kind of solid with just that.

For example Barbarian builds can get Epic Rage at level 25, and with that feat alone these builds are basically done.

For 'roguish' builds, once you get HiPS and Epic Precision, you are also basically done.

[Wandering_Woodsman]

Bah. For me, it's never been easy to level. I don't know where you lot are saying it is.

Still, it's a fun server if yiou can get a build and an area that's not going to slaughter you too quickly. That's the part that takes time.

[Steve]

The most fun you'll ever have on BGTSCC is starting a group from Lvl1, where you meet weekly 2+ times regularly, and simply RP through the content/adventure.

I've never received more DM-granted RP than during this type of endeavor, nor made more lasting friends, both IC and out. Plus, you get to fully enjoy all the Areas BG has to offer from low to high CR, and, your PC grows as part of a story, yours and others, instead of artificial circle jerk.

That said, you can earn 7k+ XP per week with quests, add onto that mob XP, plus RP XP, and got 3-4 hours per week, you'll easily earn 10k. Lvl 30 is 400k, so we're talking 40 weeks with say 5 hours per week. Add more hours, reduce the weeks. Simple math.

But I have to say: learn to love the RP of the moment, cause being Lvl 30 sucks!!!

Thanks for the shout-out Dagesh!

[Calodan]

Bah. For me, it's never been easy to level. I don't know where you lot are saying it is.

Still, it's a fun server if yiou can get a build and an area that's not going to slaughter you too quickly. That's the part that takes time.

I am saying it is easy because it is.

For example if you are level 12 doing Kro's labyrinth with the spiders and dire osquips you are getting 50XP per kill. They have low AB and AC so is easy to mop em up and you get this max XP for a few levels then at 16th level you move down to the descent part and do that for 50XP per monster and then the Kro boss drops you another 100 or so every 15 minutes. You can level here from 12-25 sufficiently and is the best XP/Hour rate on the server from levels 12-25.

Or you can do dungeon loops. I have said this is another thread I should go find it but I listed out the loops you do from level 1 - level 21 or so. After that it is just incredibly mind numbing to do any leveling without quests and because my soul is stolen from quests I can not do it anymore....

CR1-CR5 Bandit Cave > Cemetery Underground > Kobold's Ruins > Bladeling Ruins > Underground Cavern > Gibberling Caves

CR5-CR15 Goblin Ruins > Seaside Trolls > Sharpteeth Orcs > Gnolls > Minotaur Labyrinth *Optional add on for strong groups* > Hag Cave > Haunted House *Last two add on another 2 CR at least and the Haunted House 3rd Floor is EPIC ONLY 24+CR*

CR15-CR21 Fields of the Dead Crypt (NOT THE VAULT) > Ulgoth's Beard Pirates > Troll Claws Trolls > Ogre Cave

Each of these starts on the low end of the CR and each one goes up in CR as you get deeper in. If you want to push say the Minotaur Labyrinth at CR5 you should be in a party of 6.

[Selande]

Build matters a lot. As does your familiarity with the server.. and how much time you throw into grinding exp.

I put on a movie or tv series and just mindlessly slaughter stuff. It's kinda peaceful. Two monitors help.

Went 1-27 in a week on my ranger. He was decently geared and I knew exactly where to go for experience though. So that helped a lot.

[Planehopper]

It is all mindset. It is slow if you try to grind them out, yes. The current admin likes to say this is medium RP, and we tend to focus more on mechanics and builds, on exp and 'CR zones' a hell of a lot more than we ever have in the past.

This is not how it has always been. In fact we used to be called a medium RP server in the rules, and we intentionally dropped the medium from that and went with RP server, while at the same time purposefully not going hardcore and allowing the grindy type of play to be supported.

The medium crept back in, probably because that is what most of the current players enjoy (and there is nothing wrong with it). Our population loves to optimize gear and builds, pushing every ounce of power. They like to grind. (and there is nothing wrong with it) Thats why you see big groups in grindy areas. They will disagree, but comparatively speaking it is what it is. The server is much more medium than RP these days. (and, again.. nothing wrong there. Just how it is).

All that said to say this.. you can still earn a lot of XP if you are here to RP. I leveled from lvl 21 to 25 on RP XP and quest runs (with RP during). No grinding. No fishing. It is still very possible to do, relatively painlessly if you are here to RP and do so regularly.

XP is not hard to get.

[Deathgrowl]

It's much faster now than it has been in the past, at least!

Frankly, the design of so much XP from grinding makes me feel it is a bit too fast.

[Valefort]

It's way way way waaaay too fast.

[Tsidkenu]

I've been playing Mae for about ~2 months and I'm floating along at level 19 now. I'm always the type that enjoys the journey rather than the destination, though, so it will probably be another 6-9 months before I'm even closing in on level 30. It took me about ~2 years to get Aeili to 30, including entirely RPing the final level (no quests) which took about 2 months of itself. Got that level up in the midst of Telia Navra's Magefire ceremony

[Ironclad]

Thanks for the replies

Have to say that the blithe "its easy" and "way way way way to fast" are just contradictory nonsense to me in my current circumstances, I'm forced to solo around Orcs and Goblins because at least when their 20 spam rolls in I can tank it reasonably well for my low damage to kill them over time. This is neither easy nor way way way way to fast and as previously mentioned doing circles of death at the Xvarts can be reasonable exp 20-30 depending on size and levels its boring beyond the telling of it being a literal circle of death.

I regret that due to working shifts on a rota I dont have the luxury of forming a regular band (I wish)

I have found it quite hard to find anyone leveling of a similar range AND suitable from an RP point of view but thats just because this server still has level restrictions on exp gains (my old nwn1 had recently removed the hard +5/-5 level diff for exp and moved to a more party level based formula, although they never released the exact calculations)

As a matter of fact I am looking into getting a new job with more regular work schedule to bring the old work/life balance back to the middle again lol.
For now I guess I'm just doomed to the circle of doom as I don't know all the choice hunting areas nor do I have a warehouse of grandfather epic gear to kit out my leveling character with which going by some of the chars I've met today is where the "its easy" and "to fast" fantasy comes from