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Vanguard: 10-30 General Guide
MMORPG.com Vanguard Correspondent Jei Anderson writes this general overview of what he feels that players of Vanguard should experience in levels 10 through 30.
So you just got the wrapper off of your new $20 Collector's Edition of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and you are ready to play. You spend 30 mins. to an hour, making your new character…choosing your class and your race, and going through all of the customization options, making sure your nose is the right width, etc. And then you log on for the first time and enter into a vast, realistic, beautiful, world. The game leads you through the first few levels with quests that do a pretty good job of acclimating you to all three spheres (adventuring, crafting, and diplomacy) as well as harvesting, if you do them all. However, at some point, you will probably feel a little overwhelmed if you do not have a veteran friend leading you through the game, due to the sheer enormity of the explorable land. So we here at MMORPG.com decided to give you a few hints and tips on some great places to go to get your character from level 10-25. Some of these zones may even be foreign to your veteran friends if they haven't broadened their horizons when it comes to race or zone-level progression. Unlike in most MMOs, there are quite a few zones to quest in at any level in Vanguard, so if one gets used to going to a particular place or set of places, and only goes to them with every new character, then they will miss out on a lot of content. So hopefully the information provided in this guide will help out players new and old.
Prior to Game Update 6, which just hit live servers on September 10, 2008, depending on your chosen race, you would enter the game in a particular starting area to start your journeys of Telon. Now, however, you have the choice of doing the very same thing, or starting on the Isle of Dawn. I would suggest the IoD (for new and old players), as it has a very interesting, new, storyline that is fun to play through and all of its quests offer gear with stats on them. In addition to this, no matter what race you are, if you choose the IoD, you start in the same place, so it gives you an opportunity to make new friends right from the start, whereas in some of the racial starting zones of less popular races, you may go through all of the starter quests without seeing any other player characters.
10+
Once you have gotten to the mainland or simply gotten away from your race's starter zones, you may be ready to see something new. Well at level 10, you are armed and ready to do so. The first thing you will want to do is find a local horse vendor and buy your very first horse for 12 silver and 50 copper. Then find yourself a riftway and the world is open to you. At this level, as all others, there are several places you may want to visit and explore and the Rift Keeper will offer you a quest called "The Nature of Rifts". These will be quests that will instruct you to use the riftway to go to particular zones to meet new NPC's that will get you started exploring that particular area.
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Here are some of those zones:
- Thestra- Three Rivers, Veskal's Exchange
- Qalia- Temple of Dailuk, Qa Riverbank
- Kojan- Wildgrowth Forest, Jalen's Crossing
The Qa Riverbank is a nice place to start out. Take the riftway there and speak with Neelin Roshuk. The quests at Neamsong Bunker are fun and even send you on a flying mount to see quite a bit of the continent for free! In addition to this, you get introduced to the Hunter's League, a group that you want to know very well. These quests will offer you some nice uncommon armor and weapons.
12+
At level 12, you have the opportunity to do a quest line that offers some very nice rare gear from a group called URT (United Races of Thestra). To start these quests, take a riftway to Renton's Keep and speak with Legrok Blacksmelter. There are quest givers for the URT line in Three Rivers Village, Renton Keep, Veskal's Exchange, and Kaon's Rush. Some of these quests can be very tedious though, especially at lower levels, so I would suggest that if you are questing solo, you either wait until you are level 14 to start these or skip them and just do the normal quests in your level range.
15-18
At level 14, I would suggest that you head on over to the Blighted Lands. You can also now viably do the Temple of Dailuk dungeon in Qalia, if you have a group. There are other places that you can go at 15 such as:
- Thestra- Misthaven Crossing, Kaon's Rush, Renton Keep
- Qalia- Hathor Zhi, Kasavari Gulch
- Kojan- Sundering Wastelands
The Blighted Lands is a very popular zone for mid-teens, so it is very easy to get a group here. There are lots of quests that are in one centralized area, so you don't have to do an excessive amount of running around. In addition to this, you get "The Five Brothers" quest here, a quest that has you assassinating five devout followers of Ra'jin. This quest rewards you with quite possibly your very first cloak in the game, the "Cloak of the Pupil". While doing this quest, make sure you pick up "Ra'Jin Outpost: Cripple the Guards", "Ra'Jin Oupost: Deeper In", "Ra'Jin Outpost: Looking for Trouble", "Ra'Jin Outpost: The Courier", and "Spirit of Talsu", as they can all be done at the same time. Try to kill all of the three dot and named mobs that you find in the encampment, as they drop some nice uncommon and rare gear and weapons.
18-25+
Once you reach level 18, it is time to drop all that you are doing, and head on over to Skrilien Point to speak to Neneler Jabifa. If you did the quests at Neamsong Bunker, then you are familiar with the Hunter's League. If you did not, then it is time to meet them. These quests are very difficult for some classes, not as hard for others, but for most of them, you will need to be in a group and be prepared to spend quite some time doing the quest line…in upwards of 10 hours, but it is well worth it. Once you have completed the Neamsong Bunker quests it is time to either swim, take a boat, or rent a wyvern to get to Skawlra Rock. For completing the entire Hunter's League quest line, you will end up with, quite possibly, your first heroic chest piece, legs, and weapon in the game, made specifically for your class. You will also receive rare shoulder pads, helm, and arms and the "Officer of the Hunter's League" title. In addition to the rewards, you will get a chance to work in a group, something you may or may not have experienced up until this point.
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Other places you can go to around the 18-20 levels are the Tomb of Lord Tsang, a much looked over dungeon that offers a quest that eventually rewards you with a heroic weapon. You can find this dungeon in the Jin'ka Forest in Kojan. Once you reach 20, you should also, either after you have completed your Hunter's League quests, or as a break from them, head on over to CIS (Coterie Infinium Sanctuary) and speak with Scholar Donovan (he does not have a quest icon over his head, so you will just have to talk to him). After your conversation with him, he will give you the quest "Strange Things Are Afoot". This quest takes you into the Infineum Dungeon. These quests are not soloable at this level. A proper full group, complete with tank and healer/s will be needed for these quests. For completion, you will be rewarded the uncommon Infinium Cloak of your choosing and offered the next quest in progression. The most notable reward for completing the entire CIS quest line is the first legendary weapon available to you in the game. Yet another good dungeon is Trengal Keep, which you can go to at level 23. At times all of these dungeons will be amply populated; they all offer very nice rewards and very good experience.
The trick to Vanguard is remembering that the world of Telon is vast and meant to be explored and discovered. I have given you some places to go see, but get out there and search for yourself. I'm sure you'll find other places that I have not mentioned and good reasons to venture them as well. Good luck and as always, have fun!
Thanks for your opinion. I disagree completely. That's about all I'm going to say on the subject.
Conspiracy theory much?
People do play and care about Vanguard.
Well, the game is unfinished and with the staff they have supporting it, it will probably never be finished. It is an ok game that will probably not get better. I guess the point is, why invest time into a game that is strictly in maintenance mode with a small playerbase?
Where do people come up with this misinformation? Unfinished? What exactly is unfinished about VG? The game plays well and has more content than most other MMOs out right now. I can play multiple characters and have completely different experiences and quests if I want.
As to "maintenance mode" and "will probably not get better" -- the game has improved and continues to improve with every update. Improvements include NEW content as well as bug fixes (IOD anyone, faction mounts and armor, faction system, character customization, massive optimizations, in game events, etc off the top of my head). As to the small player base, I have zero problems finding a group when I want one and I see other people on all the time. It's not WoW, but it's a long way from being a lonely dead place too.
Please try to do a little research before you just slam the game with wrong information.
Vanguard might not be the biggest MMO on the market, but in my opinion, it's one of the best out right now, and it deserves just as much space on these boards as any other.
Where do people come up with this misinformation? Unfinished? What exactly is unfinished about VG? The game plays well and has more content than most other MMOs out right now. I can play multiple characters and have completely different experiences and quests if I want.
As to "maintenance mode" and "will probably not get better" -- the game has improved and continues to improve with every update. Improvements include NEW content as well as bug fixes (IOD anyone, faction mounts and armor, faction system, character customization, massive optimizations, in game events, etc off the top of my head). As to the small player base, I have zero problems finding a group when I want one and I see other people on all the time. It's not WoW, but it's a long way from being a lonely dead place too.
Please try to do a little research before you just slam the game with wrong information.
Vanguard might not be the biggest MMO on the market, but in my opinion, it's one of the best out right now, and it deserves just as much space on these boards as any other.
AMEN! Vanguard is the most fun PvE game on the market. I wish Vanguard got more face time but I guess the real estate is better used for the kiddies' WoW stuff because after 4 years and one expansion I guess people are still discovering new things to talk about in WoW???
At the stage where the game is now it should be front page news, its epic scope and enormous game play value needs to be heard about, it's not the game it was at launch, it is a totally different beast. As for the technical aspect of the game I have no issues with it, no CTD and no glitches, though it stands as a demanding game when you are running it with graphics on full blast! In that case you will need a powerful PC if you want all the eye candy.
A great deal of work has been done to it and without a doubt it is the best PvE game on the market at the moment. The team working on it might not be the biggest in numbers, but they have showed great dedication to what they believe is one of the greatest MMOs out there. So yes, it does deserve to be front page news.
i started playing this game in open beta and quit after about a month or so and started playing lord of the rings. that was about 2 years ago and i started playing again. this game has more content and places to explore and see than any other mmo ive ever played. this game is huge. theres more classes and races than any other mmo ive played and makes it exciting to play every time. the people that are bashing this game are probably the same people that quit about the same time i did and didnt come back to check it out. the new trial island for newbs is awesome. i dont know what else to say. im still hanging around waiting for darkfall and whatever mmo bioware is going to announce on the 21st.
Yes, Yes , Vanguard is best mmo ever. ,,This game has more content and places to explore and see than any other mmo,, But is to late for this game
, Sigil and Sony broken Vanguard on begining..........................................Psio lvl 50 , Diplomat lvl 50 
Yes lets all hate Sony, I mean they were only the distibuter for vanguard when it came out so it must be their fault! The fact that they bought it and continue to improve it means nothing! Oh, wait thats right years ago they messed up your *gasp* Stars Wars!
Where do people come up with this misinformation? Unfinished? What exactly is unfinished about VG? The game plays well and has more content than most other MMOs out right now. I can play multiple characters and have completely different experiences and quests if I want.
As to "maintenance mode" and "will probably not get better" -- the game has improved and continues to improve with every update. Improvements include NEW content as well as bug fixes (IOD anyone, faction mounts and armor, faction system, character customization, massive optimizations, in game events, etc off the top of my head). As to the small player base, I have zero problems finding a group when I want one and I see other people on all the time. It's not WoW, but it's a long way from being a lonely dead place too.
Please try to do a little research before you just slam the game with wrong information.
Vanguard might not be the biggest MMO on the market, but in my opinion, it's one of the best out right now, and it deserves just as much space on these boards as any other.
Hey if you enjoy the game, have at it, but I stand by the facts. Things are exactly as I stated above and if you can't face the reality of that, too bad for you. SOE dictated that when the elminated all staff except for a small maintenance team. They are still working on bugs that came with the game at release, hence it IS unfinished. Chances of new content beyond a new area or two are nil.
As to SOE, well they have the midas touch, everything they touch turns to crap lately. Everyone of their games is in decline. It was not just SWG they messed up. All you have to do is look at their current philosophy to realize that just don't get it. They like simplified MMO's, RST, consoles and item shops and think that is the coming thing for MMO. Well sorry, but that is exactly backward to what the MMO audience wants. People have good reason to bash SOE because they are so out of touch with their marketplace.
Vanguard is not a bad game, I would never criticize anyone for playing it. It is far better than most of the f2p games out there. My point is that SOE has no intention of improving the game, it is in strictly maintenance mode. You will never see a Vanguard expansion or any major additions to the game, unless Sony wakes up and clears out the executive suite at SOE.
You know, I thought that AoC and WHO were pretty poor games but I never post on their forums because I don't care about games I don't like. You guys who actively post on games forums that you don't play really need to get a life. I mean it. Truly sad.
Now...On topic...
Nice write up Jei :) Good job.
One thing I love about VG is that in the 18-25 section you could've mentioned the CIS/Infineum questline or Trengal Keep as well as Skawlra. And those three are just the 'main' hubs at that level. There are plenty of other dungeons/areas to explore just at those levels, off the beaten track.
It truly is a standard that has not even been equalled in other MMOs. So much to do at every level. The sandbox, explorer player's dream game :)
He did mention those. But IMO once you get the gear from Hunter's League done, that'll be at around level 18-24. You should head straight to Wardship of the Sleeping Moon chunk and start on the faction and collecting the materials needed for the armor. By the time you reach level 30-32 you should have all the pieces needed to make the armor except for the chest,leg, and arms which requires a group to hit up in the level 35-40 range. The faction grind is tedious, and by the time you get to level 30 (without grinding faction from earlier levels) it will be even worse and take longer and get boring.
And after 25 you could start doing the epic mounts quest.
In VG there's HUGE content... even if something is still not finished.. like the diplo lines in aghram and things like this...
Thank you guys for you input.
To the posters that feel that Sony had a hand in this, I will tell you, you are wrong. I wanted to put Vanguard on the headline because I feel that it has the potential to be the game that everyone wants Warhammer or Darkfall, or whatever, to be....the "Savior". There is so much to this game, so much that could be elaborated on...Vanguard has infinite potential...it's like Neo before he jacked out of the Matrix. I wanted to write on this game so that it could have it's name put out there in a positive light. So that maybe others will get interested and decide to try it out, love it, and stay. Maybe if the community grows, the money will be provided to make this rough, a real diamond.
On the other hand, I, like many others, am tired of waiting on it to be what I know it can be. So regretfully to those that like to read my articles for the game, this will be my last...
I need a break from VG and maybe one day I can come back to playing it again, and maybe writing...I don't know, but until then. you still have Warren going strong. I know he'll be bringing lots of good information.
If you like my articles, look for me to be writing on CoH soon.
Thank you,
Jei Anderson, AKA Fate
Vanguard is really a great game. It's overlooked by many now because of its poor launch. But Sony has done a tremendous job fixing bugs and improving performance. Now is exactly the right time to promote the game and talk about it. Isle of Dawn offers the chance for a free trial and a risk free introduction for new players. IoD is packed and a lot of new players are really falling in love with this game.
I had fun reading all the responses! It was like the rally of troops. Anyways I do enjoy end game content and the fact that there is only one end game raid in the game is a little dissapointing considering there is not going to be an expansion for a very long time if ever. I can say however as you have all displayed the player base in Vanguard is nice
While some of the critism posted here is fair, it is also based IMO on old information. Vanguard has seemingly gotten it's act together finally over the last couple of months and is a very playable game at this point. While it is dissappointing that it took this long to get it together, as someone who used to follow the development of Vanguard, I am happy to be in the game and enjoying it a lot. Vanguard is a PvE game, so people into PvP will not have much use for it. Vanguard is a more open sandbox than a lot of games out there.
I've played many of the MMO's out there and for myself, while I am not a fan of SOE at all, my money goes into Vanguard and into Eve. Both outstanding examples of open sandbox MMO's. This is not to say that WoW, WAR, ect. are bad games. Indeed they are excellent games and do appeal to a mass majority. However, there is still room for niche markets in the MMO genre, and Vanguard fills one of those niches nicely.
As to answer the poll question, yes Vanguard deserves to still be front page news. Indeed so much is happening around Vanguard right now and a lot of players are either coming here for the first time or coming back, that it is newsworthy. By all accounts, Vanguard looks like it is coming on strong, though the next few months will be the telling ones, if SOE can keep the subscriber base happy and keep attracting players to or back to Vanguard. This IMO is newsworthy stuff.
I know the original artical is kind of old, but I just started playing Vanguard again about 4 weeks ago and I love the game now. I bought VSoH on launch day and was really disapointed with the games performance and bugs. I had the Station Pass and tried to play the game off and on but I just couldn`t. I played EQ2 and WoW but I did get burned out on both. Well, I bought a new computer about 5 weeks ago and wanted to see how the game fared on my new system (because Vanguard just ran like crap on my other system). I started a toon on the Isle and it ran very good. I even turned my graphics to near max settings and it still ran great (although there was some slight twitching in populated areas). The game looks great and it plays great now. As of writing this post, I have 8 toons on Vanguard. I cancelled EQ2 (and Station Pass) and WoW and I just play Vanguard for right now. I`m glad I made that decision because I`m haveing a blast with this game. It`s like a mix of EQ1 and WoW from what I`ve played so far. I`m so glad I didn`t dump my Vanguard discs at launch. This game has kept me playing MMO`s.
I'm glad you did bring this old thread up. I didn't know there was a guide.
I have become a devoted Vanguard player in so much as I have decided that I will always keep a Vanguard account. I play somewhat regularly but it is my "game for relaxing".
I love the huge world and the sense of exploration. There are of course bugs here and there but nothing game breaking (for me at least).