Hi guys,

Lvl 37 Spiritmaster here and after reading how some of the MMORPG forum goers are apparently running into a brick wall around 25 I thought I should help... (if they want it and aren't just bitching for the sake of bitching).

1. 25-29 are actually easy levels to go through.  It's surprising to hear people give up because that grind is just too much at level 25.  There's a dungeon called Training Grounds.  All the WoW people may have thought this dungeon was for loot, but it's really where a good chunk of 25-29 will be played.  The xp is awesome and comes out to about 60-70% of your level per run (assuming you kill all elites).  Even with the lockout timer you should probably just run it once per level and play in the abyss for the rest of your time (you might even level there ahead of time).  You can improve this by going with 4 or 5 guys instead of 6. 
2. 29-32 is harder, so I'd use your campaign quests here and any other high xp quests you have.  Don't do jack shit xp quests it's not smart.  Look at what the reward is before you waste your time.  There are plenty of nice reward quests.  Travel to different spots for all the hand holding 1-25 it kinda stops at 25 and you can do whatever your little heart desires... take advantage of it.
3. 32-35 Run Fire Temple and grind in the abyss, do quests whatever helps.  Sulfur Fortress dungeon is nice too.
4. 35-41  Do Lepharists or Kaiden HQ.  Group from now on unless you just can't find a group.

Some general hints: 

• The closer the groups levels the better.  In most games being the lowest level in the group is like a divine gift.  In this game the lowest level gets the least xp.  The person who gets the highest xp is the highest level in the group regardless of mob level.  If the highest person is killing mobs lower level than he is.. he's getting okay xp.. you will get crap.
• Group up past 25 or 30.. groups do MUCH better.
• The abyss mobs give more xp per kill.  Balaur give the most xp out of the abyss mobs.  Find some friends to avoid being ganked and xp out there.
• The more dots a mob has the better xp you will get.  If the mob is elite and has extra dots .. this is an xp cash cow.  My SM can solo 4 dot elites and its 300-350K XP per kill.  Find a duo or trio of guys about 1-2 lvls apart and go crazy your xp will fly.

Hope that helps... some of you complaining about how grindy this game is obviously never played EQ.

Fantastic post... 

/sticky

Some minor detail.

Some of those shitty exp quests have chained quests that are actually pretty profitable, I got two level 45 blue items thanks to that and 2,5M exp.

This is all good advice.

Personally, at 33, I havent seen anything close to what I would call uncomfortablr grimd. I am aware that people say this gets worse later on, but to hear people saying it up to this point is confusing...

Sure, i have had kill X mobs Qs and whatnot, but nothing different to, say, EQ2. I have even had to stop 2-3 times and delete Qs from my journal that I had outlevelled to make room for new ones, and i dont even do repeatable Qs.

This is all just my experience tho.

Hey thanks for the tip! Good to know what dungeons are available. Can't wait to get there, I'm excited for the abyss.

Agree with the above.

As usual MMORPG full of whiners while most of us are playing the game.

With Aion, i like the idea the game is predominantly PVE until max level,  then it is predominantly PVP in end game (at least for now)

I haven't had to do anything I would consider a serious grind and i play a cleric, have done few blue quests, sod all crafting.

Originally posted by Ephimero

Some minor detail.

Some of those shitty exp quests have chained quests that are actually pretty profitable, I got two level 45 blue items thanks to that and 2,5M exp.

Yeah this guy is right.  All you can do though is ask around and pay attention so you don't miss this kind of thing.  Fire Temple has a blue weapon quest which really isn't hard at all.  It starts out as a loveletter quest though.  I also hear there are some blue and gold equipment quests coming up high 30's low 40's.   Save those KHQ molars and lepharist insignias.

Always keep your ear to the ground :)

Nice post, thanks.

The biggest problem  of Aion is between lvl 20-25 IMO
I quit at lvl 26 after being exausted by the tedious grind.
Maybe I just quit before the fun part of the game, but seriously, a game should be fun from lvl 1 not lvl 25+

They need more low level dungeons, that's what they are missing in my opinion.
A MMO without dungeons is not worth playing and Aion first proper dungeon is at lvl 28........way too late for me sorry.

Originally posted by ste2000

The biggest problem  of Aion is between lvl 20-25 IMO
I quit at lvl 26 after being exausted by the tedious grind.
Maybe I just quit before the fun part of the game, but seriously, a game should be fun from lvl 1 not lvl 25+

They need more low level dungeons, that's what they are missing in my opinion.
A MMO without dungeons is not worth playing and Aion first proper dungeon is at lvl 28........way too late for me sorry.

First dungeon is at lvl 25, which is about 2-3 days of playing in.

Originally posted by ste2000

The biggest problem  of Aion is between lvl 20-25 IMO
I quit at lvl 26 after being exausted by the tedious grind.
Maybe I just quit before the fun part of the game, but seriously, a game should be fun from lvl 1 not lvl 25+

They need more low level dungeons, that's what they are missing in my opinion.
A MMO without dungeons is not worth playing and Aion first proper dungeon is at lvl 28........way too late for me sorry.

Training Grounds opens up at level 25 and is what I would call a "proper dungeon." Erascus Temple, which opens at 28 is more of an open area with elite mobs, like the Krall areas in Verteron is not what I think of when I think "Dungeon." Next up would be Fire Temple at 32ish, though you can get in as early as 30. Then there are the repeatable Fortress Quests like Siel's Left Wing and whatever the other ones are called lol. Those are fun little dungeon instances with a chance of real nice loot. The mobs in there are lvl 35.

Great Post nice job.