Originally posted by Crusix221
My current lvl 22 character, I've probably spent about 15-18 hours and hes only that far. How is that people have gotten characters to lvl 35+ in a day? Or even Max level in just a few? Am I missing a fast way to gain exp? I do hearts, gathering, story line quests, eat food and even use XP pots here and there. I'm also an elementalist and can AOE 4-5 mobs at a time with no downtime. Whats goin on here?

Crafting can get you leveled very quickly.

Originally posted by Crusix221
My current lvl 22 character, I've probably spent about 15-18 hours and hes only that far. How is that people have gotten characters to lvl 35+ in a day? Or even Max level in just a few? Am I missing a fast way to gain exp? I do hearts, gathering, story line quests, eat food and even use XP pots here and there. I'm also an elementalist and can AOE 4-5 mobs at a time with no downtime. Whats goin on here?

Dynamic events, instances, WvW. But if this is your first character, you will be slower because you are enjoying the process and learning.

Since you are level 22 I can give you one tip. 

When you reach ~ lvl 35, get a couple XP and kill streak boosters.  Then go to hirathi hinterlands.  Kill everything in sight.  There is a DE chain that resets frequently in a mob dense area (the chain leading to killing the centaur king/leader).  It is located in the NE quadrant of the map. 

You will level really fast this way.

Maybe other can chime in, but try to level in zones that are more dense with mobs/hearts/DE's.  Areas link sparfly are pretty dense while places like Mt. Maelstrom are sparse and difficult to navigate.

Use this site to check out all the areas.  GW2cartographer.

Originally posted by Crusix221
My current lvl 22 character, I've probably spent about 15-18 hours and hes only that far. How is that people have gotten characters to lvl 35+ in a day? Or even Max level in just a few? Am I missing a fast way to gain exp? I do hearts, gathering, story line quests, eat food and even use XP pots here and there. I'm also an elementalist and can AOE 4-5 mobs at a time with no downtime. Whats goin on here?

 Some forum posters lie about it in attempts to make the game appear bad, others actually get alts levelled that quickly with a good bit of gold and craft there way there. The game is designed through normal play to take an estimated hour to hour and a half per level once you hit about 20ish.

Originally posted by Crusix221
My current lvl 22 character, I've probably spent about 15-18 hours and hes only that far. How is that people have gotten characters to lvl 35+ in a day? Or even Max level in just a few? Am I missing a fast way to gain exp? I do hearts, gathering, story line quests, eat food and even use XP pots here and there. I'm also an elementalist and can AOE 4-5 mobs at a time with no downtime. Whats goin on here?

The leveling in GW2 by design is quick. that is why players level so fast.

Originally posted by Crusix221
My current lvl 22 character, I've probably spent about 15-18 hours and hes only that far. How is that people have gotten characters to lvl 35+ in a day? Or even Max level in just a few? Am I missing a fast way to gain exp? I do hearts, gathering, story line quests, eat food and even use XP pots here and there. I'm also an elementalist and can AOE 4-5 mobs at a time with no downtime. Whats goin on here?

Lvl 22 in 15-18hrs isnt bad at all..... thats at least a lvl an hour. Those that lvl really fast might be also doing crafting and have more mats than you since they are on their 2nd chracter or have support form their guild and can craft craft craft. Just try to not get distracted from the beautiful world and finish your maps and be on the constant move. Leveling is actually pretty fast with gw2, also make sure to do your PS along the way for some quick lvls.

Crafting got my brother on an alt from 1-80  in a single weekend with only much less than expected playtime.

If you prefer not to craft, you do indeed level a lot quicker with a friend or two.

Originally posted by Crusix221
My current lvl 22 character, I've probably spent about 15-18 hours and hes only that far. How is that people have gotten characters to lvl 35+ in a day? Or even Max level in just a few? Am I missing a fast way to gain exp? I do hearts, gathering, story line quests, eat food and even use XP pots here and there. I'm also an elementalist and can AOE 4-5 mobs at a time with no downtime. Whats goin on here?

People who really level fast used hacks, wandering around with speed hacks under the map to gain area points and other stuff. But crafting will level you up quiete fast. Donno if those botter and hacker got removed already from the game and they actually did implement a better anti cheat protection, in the first weeks after release GW2 had issues here and I dont play anymore. Have fun ingame.

Don't think that you're doing it wrong because others are leveling faster. They probably don't do the map completion and only do the story quests that are really worth it for the xp. If you team up with a fixed group you can kill faster while still getting all of the rewards. If you're solo, you're solo. There is no wrong way of leveling if you're having fun doing it.

The fastest to level 80 got there through crafting with the help of guildmates providing the mats. If reaching level 80 in a minimum of time is some kind of goal for you, then you should be looking into crafting.