Since the launch of WildStar I’ve continually been asked how to level quickly. Unsurprisingly it’s actually incredibly simple and if you follow the below steps, you’ll be level 50 in a couple of days. Several friends and I have utilised this system and reached 50 before the end of head-start. What I must stress however is that there is a requirement to miss large amounts of quest content by undertaking this method but you can, fortunately, return back to the zones to complete them when you hit 50.
Dependant on your faction, you’ll need to have this Dominion Leveling Zone map or the Exile version open for quick referencing on where you need to go.
Both factions starting zones (Crimson Isle/Levian Bay for Dominion and Northern Wilds/Everstar Grove for Exile) are of a similar length. You should complete all quests and path objectives here simply because it guarantees you will reach level 6. It takes around 40 minutes in total to get out of the starting zones with the beginning tutorial, before you land on your first island, the slowest part of the process.
Once you’re level 6 and have left the starting zone you chose you should travel immediately to Celestion (Exile) or Ellevar (Dominion). It’s at this point that you’re able to knuckle down and progress quickly. When you’re in Celestion or Ellevar and this stands from every zone from here until 50, do not undertake any of the following:
- Tasks (with disclaimer - see below)
- Paths
- Crafting
- Challenges
To expand on why there’s no need to do Tasks, it’s primarily because there are World Story, Zone Story and Region Events. These are the main quest lines and trigger when you enter a specific area of the zone or when you’re a specific level. These three offer enough experience to guarantee that you’ll progress through the zone. It should be noted that you’ll usually be 2 levels behind the enemies you’re fighting but all classes are capable of still killing these enemies quickly and it guarantees excellent experience. The caveat to me suggesting not doing Tasks is that if there is a Task in the area where your World Story, Zone Story or Region Event is, you should absolutely do it. If there’s anything that’s off the beaten track and a significant walk out of your way, just ignore it.
The reason why you can afford to ignore Paths, Crafting (collecting resources is fine but will slow you somewhat) and Challenges is that all this can be completed once you’re level 50, you simply have to return to the zone.
If you complete your World Story, Zone Story and Region Events and haven’t been prompted to accept another progressive task you’ll need to move to a new area of the zone (usually by following the path to an area of the zone that’s your level). The quest hubs are highlighted by the below graphic. Just gravitate towards those and if they’re your level and you’ll be back on track.
The moment you’ve reached the level cap for your zone, based on our Leveling Zone Maps, move straight onto the next zone irrespective of whether or not you’ve finished your current zone or if you’ve explored it all. Once you’ve moved onto the next zone it’s also worth hiding any Tasks you have outstanding for that zone so that in the future you can go back and complete them (if you’re a completionist!).
The best thing about WildStar’s leveling process when trying to do it as quickly as possible is that there’s a linear progression once you’re level 6. The routes for each faction are the following:
Dominion
- Levian Bay/Crimson Isle > Ellevar > Auroria > Whitevale > Farside > Wilderrun > Malgrave > Western/Southern Grimvault
Exile
- Northern Wilds/Everstar Grove > Celestion > Galeras > Whitevale > Farside > Wilderrun > Malgrave > Western/Southern Grimvault
It should also be noted that many of the zones operate a clockwise or anti-clockwise leveling map. For example, Ellevar is anti-clockwise from the top (levels 6-13) and Auroria is clockwise from the top. Utilising our Leveling Zone Maps will allow you to quickly see which way you should be navigating your zone.
As a last couple of tips for leveling quickly, I’d recommend unless you’re in an organized group to avoid PvP completely. Queue times slow you down and if you don’t win the experience is incredibly poor. However, if you are in an organized group and you are successful, the experience gained can be exceptional between levels 10-19.
When it comes to traveling around the map quickly and maximizing your experience gained, at 14 you should travel immediately to Illium or Thayd to unlock your house. Inside you can claim a buff which increases your XP by 5 or 10%. Once you're 15 you should also head straight back to Illium to unlock your mount. Bare in mind that a mount costs 10 gold which is easily obtained if you just sell absolutely everything you pick up.
Lastly and I cannot recommend this enough, download the Addon called TrackMaster. The default graphics are awful, but if you customize the appearance of the arrows (first row, 5th arrow down) it looks really great. When it comes to functionality though, it points a perfect straight line to your quest objective making navigating and completing your World Story, Zone Story and Region Events incredibly easy. You basically don’t have to think about what to kill or where to go and when you’re trying to level quickly, it’s perfect.
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