Leveling in World vs. World

Leveling a character in Guild Wars 2 is a fun and exciting way to adventure, especially when you consider the different viable methods to level. You can reach level eighty through a variety of means, mixing and matching to your delight. For instance, gathering gives a substantial amount of experience, so you could technically level your way to 80 by farming crafting materials. Likewise, World vs. World combat grants a sizeable amount of experience and loot, and is a completely viable way to reach level 80.

Unlike structured PvP, which is segregated from the game world (players have all skills unlocked, sPvP gear, all traits, etc.), WvW simply dynamically adjusts a player’s level to level 80, similar to how the dynamic leveling system will scale a players level down to an areas maximum level plus one. Equipment, traits, skills, and everything else follows along. So a level one player will simply be a level one player with the effective stats of a level eighty player.

This makes it where all players are of near equal foot in WvW and gives all players the chance to contribute to the greater good of their world. This also means that, after a short introductory tutorial, you can hop right into WvW and begin leveling. The best level to start is around ten to fifteen though, because if you go in at level one then you only have one skill. This makes doing much of anything impossible and unlocking skills by slaying enemy players can be a slow process.

The experience becomes much more rewarding after level 10, since it’s quicker to get through that first part doing the events after the tutorial and your personal story, plus you snag some gear and get your skill unlocks, weapon sets sorted out. After that though, WvW is very inviting, even if you are level 10 or level 40.

Things to Do for Experience

I’m not going to lie; WvW can be a very quick way to level or a very slow way to level, depending on your world’s activities and your location. You will get experience for killing other players, capturing control points, defending control points, for any NPCs that you kill, and any other general activity that would normally grant experience. Experience gain is a flat percentage based on your participation and the activity, so you’ll gain the same percentage of a level after level 15 for any activity that you do.

This means that no matter your choice way of leveling, you’ll always progress through the levels at roughly the same speed. With PvE, you can sort of level at a steady pace because there is always events running in a zone, but in WvW, it’s a bit different. You’ll need to flip control points in order to have a steady flow of experience coming in.

That means that the best experience will come from being with a group of players who are aiming at taking objectives (keeps, towers, resource camps), doing PvE objectives (bringing mercenaries under control), taking down supply dolyaks, and the random sentries throughout the land. The faster these control points are flipped, the quicker the experience comes in.

In fact, avoiding enemy players is a great way to level, because it prevents slow down and helps make sure that the points are captured rapidly. If there are defenders, then things get a bit rough. This may sound selfish, but snagging undefended keeps will help your realm, so it's a win/win scenario.

As a reminder, everything with an event grants XP! There are tons of events, from defending workers upgrading a keep to simply slaying a sentry.

Things to Not Do for Experience

The worst thing you can do for progression is get stuck in a keep defense / keep siege that is going nowhere. If it’s taking more than twenty minutes to get a wall down and leveling is the goal, then it’s time to split off and do something else. You do not have to stay with the zerg to be successful in WvW, as mentioned in our solo and small group guide to WvW. You can split off and level alone or with a few allies, and contribute greatly to your world.

Of course, losing has its consequences; unlike in PvE, if you fail to capture a keep then you fail to capture a keep. There isn’t an event that spawns that leads you to more experience and more rewards and no condolence prize. That isn’t to say trying and failing isn’t part of the fun – it’s just not part of the fun if you’re trying to level quickly.

The Appeal of WvW Leveling

Of course, we have to ask, why would you want to level in WvW? The answer is simple: you can level without feeling like you’re leveling. Sure, dynamic events and other PvE mechanics make grinding through experience seem like free strawberries and whipped cream, but in WvW you can easily lose yourself and find that you’ve gained a few levels for having fun.

A lot of tasks in WvW grant experience, as mentioned, so no matter what you do, you’ll level. The only issue is that in WvW, attackers do not get any rewards. That makes sitting and fighting for a keep a very unrewarding experience, at least in the experience department. So if you avoid long keep sieges, then you should advance rather quickly.

Well that’s how to level through WvW! Do you plan on gaining some extra experience in WvW or is that going to be the only way you level? Let us know in the comments section below.