Power Levelling

Power Levelling is the act of using extra items, spells and most often another character to boost the rate at which at new character levels. Several different methods exist, some more powerful than other.


Table of Contents

1 High-Level Character Outside Group
1.1 50% Killing
2 Damage Shield Power Levelling
2.1 AE Damage
2.2 Damage Shields
2.3 Executing the Strategy
2.4 Levelling Path
2.5 Other Tips
3 Swarming
3.1 Swarming Path
3.2 Ghetto-Swarming
4 Headshot
5 Twinking
5.1 Weapons
5.2 Haste
5.3 Hitpoint Regeneration
5.4 AC and Hitpoints
5.5 Potions


High-Level Character Outside Group

The simplest method of power levelling is to get help from a character of higher level, from outside of the group with the twink(s). The help will typically be in the form of healing, buffing, and helping out in emergencies. You can group up to buff, teleport, etc., but in order to gain experience, the low-level character must either be solo (or with a mercenary) or with characters in the same level range.

There are restrictions in place to prevent very low-level characters from receive high-level buffs - Read about buff level ranges here. The restriction also includes healing spells. Still, even low-level buffs with provide you with a noticable increase in survivability and damage output. Focus on buffs that provide Hipoints, damage shield, Haste and Regeneration primarily, and also keep some healing spells ready. Some mounts also provide several hundred Hitpoints and some AC, and are usable at level 1.

Examples of some good low-level buffs include:

50% Killing

This method can be combined with all the above mentioned and exploits the fact that the character or group that does 51% or more of the damage to a monster, gets the full experience. As soon as the monster your low-level character is fighting gets below 50%, you can finish it off with your high-level, hopefully quickly if not instantly. Load up a fitting direct damage spell, if available, to make it as easy as possible.

Damage Shield Power Levelling

The most powerful method for levelling a new character quickly abuses the fact that damage done to monsters by damage shields does not 'count' as damage, in the sense that the damage just reduces monster Hitpoints without taking experience credit. For example, if a monster has 1000 Hitpoints and one character does 900 damage via damage shield, another character can swoop in and do the final 100 damage and get the full experience credit.

To begin with, you will need a character that is high-level, durable, and has access to relatively large damage shields. You can start out simple, but for effective power levelling, you need access to at least one level 80+ character with decent gear and good damage shield spells. The more powerful the character is, the further you can take the low-level via power levelling using this method.

The strategy entails pulling a ton of monsters with your high-level character and gathering them in place. While the monsters slowly get whittled down by the damage shield on the high-level, the low-level character steps near the pack of monsters and fires off an AE spell in order to do at least 1 point of damage to each monster, getting the full experience credit in the process. In order to be able to do this, the monsters cannot be too high level above the low-level, so you need to execute the method in tiers, moving on as the low-level gains levels.

AE Damage

It is crucial that the low-level can do at least 1 point of damage to each monster in the pull, or at least the majority of monsters, or it will be a waste. A level 10 attempting to land a spell on a level 40 monster will have his spell resisted 99% of the time. There should be no more than 15 levels difference between the low-level and the monsters, or it will be fruitless attempting to land spells.

The AE spell should be of the type with unlimited targets, also called 'PB AE' (Point Blank Area of Effect). Targeted AE spells or Rain-type spells can only hit a limited amount of targets (3 or 4), and will not be any good. The following classes have direct access to a usable AE spell at reasonably low levels:

If the character you're power levelling does not get an AE at level 1, simply power level him through regular means until the level where he gets the AE spell, or in the case of the Bard, either complete the first 'Jail Break!' tutorial, or go kill just a handful of monsters to reach level 2.

If your low-level does not have an AE spell at all, such as a melee character, there are other methods:

Don't stop as soon as you've cast one AE spell or procced your weapon once, as there will likely be resists. Keep casting or proccing until you estimate, judging your chat log, that almost all monsters have been hit.

Damage Shields

The most crucial part of the strategy is buffing damage shield. If you're looking to power level to around level 70, you should at least be able to buff a 200 point damage shield; the more the better. You can get by with less, but it'll take more time.

Some key sources of damage shields include:

Executing the Strategy

Start by buffing your high-level to the teeth. Focus on defensive buffs that provide Hitpoints, AC, movement speed, Regeneration, and most importantly, damage shield. Make absolutely sure that your low-level is in a safe spot, then commence with the pull. Pull as many monsters as you can handle, and beware that you don't run so far away that the monsters start resetting. As you return to your camp, it is best to wedge yourself in a corner, with the monsters beating you in the direction of the corner, so that you don't constantly have to re-adjust your position.

When you've either established hate through non-damaging spells and/or the monsters are at around 50% health, begin AEing with your low-level character. Be very, very careful that you don't step too close to the pack of angry monsters or you might get killed from proximity agro. When you feel confident that you've hit the majority of monsters with AE spells, retreat to the safe spot and let the high-level finish off the monsters with the damage shield.

Rinse and repeat until you've exhausted the experience possibilities of the zone you're in.

Levelling Path

The strategy requires a strict set of conditions to be met in order for a zone or area to be suitable.

Here is a suggested path for power levelling via damage shields:

Once you max out Paw, the damage shield AE gravy train comes to a stop, as monsters from now on have too many hitpoints and hit too hard for it to be viable.

Other Tips

When fighting monsters that summon, be careful that the high-level does not riposte or do too much damage otherwise, or he will start getting summoned, ruining the pull. It's almost a must to pre-buff with damage shields, so be careful that you don't let yourself get hit too much while pulling. Classes with riposte can equip two dummy weapons such as two Fire Beetle Eyes, in order to prevent ripostes from happening. Make bandoliers with your weapon sets for quick swapping.

The final monster in the pack might run away when low on health. Don't waste too much time hunting it with your low level; if it's too much trouble, just finish it with your high-level and pull a fresh batch.

If your low-level dies in the middle of a fight, you may attempt to resurrect him with an out-of-combat Cleric mercenary, or using in-combat 0% resurrection AA such as the Druid and Shaman AA Call of the Wild. Get up as quickly as possible and begin AEing again, as dying resets your experience credit for the monsters. If you cannot resurrect the low-level mid-combat, get the pull killed and start over.

Swarming

Swarming is the act of gathering a large amount of monsters and whittling them down all at once, primarily via ripostes and damage shield. Shadow Knights are the unchallenged masters of this method, as they are a tank class, have many damage shield spells, and incredible survivability through lifetaps.

Swarming requires that the high-level is grouped with the low-level and thus cannot be done unless the two characters are close enough in level to be able to gain experience together. The formula for this is (level * 1.5 + 1) [30 level maximum range], meaning that a level 50 character can group with a level (50 * 1.5 + 1) = 76.

Read about swarming on evilgamer.net, and search their forums for many other threads about SK swarming.

Monks can also swarm to a limited degree, particular by using their Whirlwind discipline, which makes the Monk riposte all attacks for 12 seconds.

Swarming Path

As swarming requires a high-level character with good gear, it does not really come into play until the low-level is close to level 60 and becomes eligible for grouping with a level 85+ character.

Ghetto-Swarming

A form of pseudo-swarming that essentially works the same way is to just kill as much as your character is capable of as fast as possible. For example, a Monk might be able to round up 10-20 mobs at a time and kill them at once, benefitting from riposte and damage shield to speed up the kills.

Headshot

Exclusive the Rangers, the Headshot AA gives the Ranger a chance of doing a huge amount of damage to humanoid targets when hitting them with an Archery skill based shot or spell. Headshot becomes available at level 60, although it is not viable for good experience gains until higher levels.

Like swarming, headshotting requires that the high-level is grouped with the low-level and thus cannot be done unless the two characters are close enough in level to be able to gain experience together. The formula for this is (level * 1.5 + 1) [30 level maximum range], meaning that a level 55 character can group with a level (55 * 1.5 [rounded up] + 1) = 84.

Read about headshotting on The Bow & Arrow.

Twinking

While not a real power levelling method, this oldest of levelling methods deserves mention. Twinking means putting powerful gear on a low level character that has been bought or farmed on another, high-level character. Twinking is generally speaking most poweful on melee characters, as a powerful weapon and Haste makes a large impact on the damage done. Spell casters can only really be twinked to have more hitpoints and mana.

The 'importance' of twinking has greatly diminished over time, mainly due to the fact that mercenaries are extremely powerful at low levels. Twinking is thus mostly for fun, and not something that makes a big difference in levelling speed.

With the Luclin expansion, the concept of recommended and required level on items was introduced. Since then, almost all gear has required a certain level and/or been no drop, making them unusuable for twinking.

When twinking a character, you should focus on the following item stats and types:

Weapons

For melee classes, the weapon makes a huge impact. Weapons with procs usually do not proc at low levels, but a few exceptions exist. Examples of good twink weapons include:

Note that up until level 20, there is a slowly increasing cap of how much damage you can do with any weapon. At level 1, you can do a maximum of 20 damage per hit, for example.

Haste

For melee classes, Haste gives you a very large boost in damage output. Examples of Haste twink gear include:

Up until around level 20-30, there is an increasing cap on how much Haste you can gain from items. At level 1 the cap is 10%, but it quickly increases.

Hitpoint Regeneration

Regeneration makes a big impact on survivability and reduces downtime for low-level players. It is suitable for both melee and spell casters. The old classic, the Fungi Tunic, remains the best in the category by a large margin, and is the only regeneration item really worth getting. A few examples include:

AC and Hitpoints

Many items usable at level 1 exist with plenty of AC and Hitpoints. Twink itemization peaked, so to speak, during Velious, where several items from raid bosses were both tradable and usable by level 1 characters. A few examples of some of the top Velious-era twink items are:

Potions

Almost all potions are level-restricted and thus won't provide your twink with ungodly powers. The only exception is damage shield potions, which are very powerful at lower levels.

Read about Potions here.




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