Powerlevel Trio! Please help! Need to level a friend and brother ASAP!

[Goldenpine]

Hey, Goldenpine here, Level 65 Druid. First time poster, but have read alot on your website and really liked it. Here's the skinny!

Like I said, I am a level 65 Druid, I have 40aa and well...not so great gear, but i'm here to ask where is a good place to Powerlevel my Brother and Friend. My brother is a 55shadowknight, 0aa, and my friend is a 37beastlord 0aa. Now i bet you're wondering why im posting in the 60-64 forum...Well i'm getting to that! Silly kitties...

We plan to keep doing what we are doing now until my friend and brother are both 58-61, some where in there. And that is, we all head to Velks lab, my brother and friend group up, i stay outside the group. I buff the bejesus out of my brother and friend, biggest DS i can muster, and i go pull 10 or so spiders/whatever, I pull them back to my bro and friend, and my brother uses an area attack and pulls them all onto him. He sits in a corner letting the DS do its thang, I heal when needed, and my friend right now just raises skills and tosses pet/himself in there to help make sure they do dmg to every mob (so they get exp, since i dont do any dmg, 1point is all they need to do for full exp) And it's working well. Which is why I posted in the 60-64 forum...I'm looking for help on how to get them from mid-high 50s to low-mid 60s.

I was thinking once they both hit level 62 I can take them to HoH and i just DC a nice kitty (no offense...lol) And we all go to town on the suits of armor. But since velks turns cruddy after level 60 I hear. I wanted to get a good idea of where we could go after velks caps out. Or even stay in velks? I heard about the gargs or whatever past the hidden wall are good exp? Or is that the stuff we need to kill to get to 60? We're all trying to level up enough so we can Trio the Beastlord epic...I hear that is possible? Would a 65 Druid, 65 SK and 65 Beastlord be able to trio the Beastie epic? Thanks!

Any info is apprichiated! Mind you (been flamed before heavily for this, so, that's why i say it) both my brother and friend have main characters that are over level 60, and know how to play their class, as well as knowing about the crappy skills you get when PLing and will take care of it, etc. So i just wanted to ask if you could keep the flames down on this subject (not saying you would, but, i've been HEAVILY flamed for "PLing" and not knowing what im doing etc...)

Thanks guys! Any info would be awesome and I cannot wait to hear what you guys think!

[Thaeliun]

How fast is the beast actually leveling with this strat?  If he isn't getting a level every 30-45 minutes then I would suggest changing your leveling strat up just a little until you get the bst to level 43 (at which point he can group with druid).  If the bst is getting 45 minute or better levels then just keep doing what you are doing until he hits 43.

If not, you can easily get that with 3 other methods that will work for your 3 toon combo:

1)   First is by porcupining with druid (not my preference for a melee type but it works).  Just use your best DS combination/PoT9/replenishment etc and pull the mobs with snare like you are doing now.  Then you tank them while the bst gets a hit on each mob just like he is doing now.  The difference is that the SK isn't getting any of the XP.

2) Second is my preferred method for melees, which is to just buff the beast up DS/Regen/SLN (temp preferred) and heal him while he and pet fight.  At level 37 this should be an easy 45 minute per level or less in the right zone with shield of thorns on.  To make it even faster, have the SK help finish the mobs when they get to 30%.  This can be tricky until you figure out how much damage the bst is actually doing as compared to the DS.  Obviously, the SK can adjust to whatever % is workable once you figure out how effective the bst's DPS is.

3) Third might be the fastest to 43 but it really depends on how good the SK's gear is.  With the SK and BST grouped together go to a zone where a lot of the mobs are green/lightblue to the SK (maybe the front of nagafen's lair?).  Then the SK ravages every mob in site (very easy fighting greens with your heals/regen/DS on him).  Every green the SK kills = 100% XP to the bst just as if he was soloing.  The LBs aren't as good but they mean that you're fighting in the right level range and they go down so fast it's still effective.  Even the occasional DB you would run into in a place like the front of CoM for instance doesn't hurt and gives the SK a little more xp for his trouble.

I used methods 2 and 3 to level my bst quite a bit.  Let me tell you when my 57 or so warrior friend was chewing through the mobs in CoM I had a hard time hitting the assist button fast enough to help out.  Meanwhile the XP was flying.  Once you get the bst to 43 it's faster to group with the druid and increase the overall DPS of the group.  Remember, as long as the mobs you fight are green to the druid you will be getting full xp for the other 2 anyway. 

Most of the people I talk to seem to think that fighting higher level mobs is the fastest way to XP.  I think this is largely dependant upon many factors such as average group level, gear, classes, overall DPS etc.  I know for instance that there are zones where your group can crush 7-10 mobs for every 1 mob you can kill in UP.  Sure the per kill XP is much higher in UP but depending on the situation, you might prefer to kill 7 easier mobs and net the same amount of XP all while increasing your chances at loot maybe 7-1.  In the case of a large level disparity such as yours, this becomes even more true.

[Hereki]

Velks actually isn't a bad spot for this, for the beastlord at least.  Deep Velks has higher level mobs, but it's a pain getting in to them, and there are far better spots to level.

Do what Thaeliun says; get the beastlord up to 43 at least.  If all three of you are actually playing your chars, then there are lots of interesting places where they can level fast, but you really want them at closer levels so that you can make sense of it, and you can close the gap much faster if you take the beastlord seperately.

At 46, you might as well take then through PoP - Justice, Disease if PoJ is busy, etc.  Charm in PoD or PoN if you group with them.

When they are both 55+, take them to PoS and charm frogs.

My personal preference is to play all three characters (rather than afk exp) and level a little slower - but I'd still split out the beastlord until he was 43, then group and kill for him.  I'd probably also rush them through Nurga for at least a couple of levels, because it's fun as well as fast.  I don't like putting the DS on the druid, although I acknowledge it is faster; and trying to balance out amount of damage from ungrouped characters is way too hard for me.

[Tillath]

Have never really powerleveled a lot (the occasional char that comes along while I farm greenies to suck up the exp but that's it), so not gonna post on the PL aspect.

As far as the epic question goes - yes it can be trioed at 65 with those classes.  I did 3 of my scouts with 64 bst, 65 dru, 67 SK and was easy.  The final fight was done with 66 SK, 66 dru, 65 bst, 65 dru and was overkill.  The TD fight was also easy - had a full grp and was overkill - at 65 the images can be single pulled and druid is more than enough healing power with either an SK or bst tanking (66 SK and I were both tanking those ones).

[Goldenpine]

Wow...Awesome guys! Good job Thaeliun, the 3 things you mentioned are basically what we've done/doing. Up until now (And I cant do it effectivaly now in velks) I've been the porcupine :) From PC, to Whatever zone it is outside Shar Vahl with the aliens, then SolB till now. He is now level 39, in SolB, me porcupining, we're getting about a level an hour, which is getting longer. In velks, we did good with the 3 of us, exp was a blue a kill for the BL and we could probably do a level in under an hour if we kept rolling. We'll have to try number 3.

Once my friend gets to 46 I figured PoP would be the best choice. Although, we're thinking velks could be good till 60 also. I never did PoS charming, but i'm sure i could learn (That would be INSANE exp at level 46 wouldnt it?) I really wanna try nurga, it looks cool and fun. Think we could go there now at 39/55/65? or wait till he is 43 so he gets exp from my killing too?

The only thing I could ask for now is, zones, what zones should I level him up? I heard some good suggestions but we like flare and change :D so, toss everything at me!

Thanks!!!!!!

You've been awesome so far!

[Beestyall]

To be honest, if PoS on your server is like PoS on Brell, it's camped more often then not.

Once the beast hits 45, I'd either:
1) Quad in PoD
2) Quad in PoN
3) PoI Factory
4) DS Expeditions, I believe the SK can reasonably tank 57 lead expeditions (I offer some plat to the right level of folks to start the expeditions, then kick them out  :evil:) but I'd just as soon kite the mobs in the expedition.  The downside is that it is indoors, but with shrew or run AAs you can outrun any of the mobs in the firepit one.

Eventually it'll only make sense to have SK tank full-time, so at some point I'd look into working his defense up with pet duels.

[Thaeliun]

Lol, my last post was prob too long to be effective so I'd like to reiterate the point of my last paragraph.  I have experimented with a wide variety of 2 box combinations based on level.  I've also invited a lot of lower level toons along to test how PLing in full groups works as opposed to 2, 3 and 4 person groups.  I've tried PLing in places where the high level guy had to work for every kill but the per kill XP was excellent (UP, PoV etc) and I've tried places where the high level guy could walk through greens non stop.  By far I've found that having the higher level guy crush greens that drop easy is the fast track to PLing.

In my most recent case, my 62 bst was PLing a 41 SK in CoM.  On the ground floor of CoM, most of the mobs are green to the bst and give full XP to the SK as if he was soloing.  They go down so fast, one day a level 43 warrior that came along asked if he should even bother trying to assist me!  This was by far the best way for me to PL my 41 toon.  I often work my way up onto the wall where there are mostly DBs to my 62 beast and there the XP for the 41 slows down immensely even though the mobs still die fast.  This is because the higher level beast is now sucking up a good chunk of the XP.

In UP the per kill XP for the beast is much better then CoM but for a 41 toon grouped with him it's not worth it because the kill rate is so much slower and the XP is always split between them.  In your case CoM may be similar with the SK at 57 he will run into a lot of LBs even on the ground floor and that slows things down for your lower level bst.  The key for you is to find a zone (prob the front of naggy's lair) where the XP modifier is good and the mobs are green to the SK while DB to the beast.

[Hereki]

By far I've found that having the higher level guy crush greens that drop easy is the fast track to PLing.

Agreed.  I have to endorse that.

However, your explanation (in my opinion) is wrong.

This is because the higher level beast is now sucking up a good chunk of the XP.

Exp is always split, even when killing greens.  You can test that with a low level in a place like Paludal; ok, with 2 low levels :).

The reason is that exp for reds is effectively capped.  I don't know if there is a real cap, or the way the exp scales up is screwy - but as the reds get higher, the increase in exp becomes vanishingly small.  The reason greens are better is because the time to kill green vs light blue vs dark blue increases disproportionately; basically, because SOE have mobs scale much faster than players.

It is the difference between the scaling of mob power versus exp that causes this effect.

[glaurung]

I found that a good spot to level up through the 40s to about 50 or so is city of mist, there is a good exp bonus and its not like the mobs are thin on the ground :) PoP certainly has its merits, but on the killrate CoM is still pretty tasty.

[Goldenpine]

Wow...great suggestions just keep coming  :-D I apprichiate it a ton!

Please keep the suggestions coming...I had a few questions also..

1) Whats a DS expedition? :)
2) At level 43 the Beastlord can group with me and I could basically train all of SolB ontop of myself and blast the heebeebajeebies out of the pups with my PBAoE?
3) My level 39 Beastlord friend has decided to play his rogue a little, he is level 53 rogue, so now, its 65druid, 55sk and 53rogue...Any suggestions on where to hunt with this trio? Hunt or Powerlevel...
4) I now have Command of Tunare and can charm level 62 or lower animals, so charming PoS frogs is now an option, is exp on frogs good? could I park their little butts on a wall or something and charm kite PoS frogs for good exp?

we just upgraded them, my bro now has 1,053ac and 2700hp unbuffed, while my buddy's rogue is now about 970ac with 22/2300hp unbuffed. Prior, my bro was under 1k ac and 2100hp and rogue was under 900ac and under 2k hp unbuffed, so we substantially upgraded both of them. If that matters at all :)

Thanks guys! Please keep the info coming! we're having a blast so far!

[Dakat]

1) Whats a DS expedition?
2) At level 43 the Beastlord can group with me and I could basically train all of SolB ontop of myself and blast the heebeebajeebies out of the pups with my PBAoE?
3) My level 39 Beastlord friend has decided to play his rogue a little, he is level 53 rogue, so now, its 65druid, 55sk and 53rogue...Any suggestions on where to hunt with this trio? Hunt or Powerlevel...
4) I now have Command of Tunare and can charm level 62 or lower animals, so charming PoS frogs is now an option, is exp on frogs good? could I park their little butts on a wall or something and charm kite PoS frogs for good exp?

we just upgraded them, my bro now has 1,053ac and 2700hp unbuffed, while my buddy's rogue is now about 970ac with 22/2300hp unbuffed. Prior, my bro was under 1k ac and 2100hp and rogue was under 900ac and under 2k hp unbuffed, so we substantially upgraded both of them. If that matters at all

1.  DS expedition is Dranik Scar expedition. If all of you have OOW expansion. These expeditions are actualy a good place to PL a lower level character. I know once I took a level 54 Cleric in an expedition with me and I was 70. Apparantly I have no clue if there is a level restriction gap like in LDON.  Just have the lowest person in group get the expedition and all mobs will be as tough as the level of the person who got the expedition.

2.  Yes that could be an option. Getting the beast to a higher level alone before grouping with the other 2.  You did mention that the beast was playing a rogue. When the beast gets to 49+ he will be able to slow a little better, with rogue theres not much of a slow unless someone has a procing weapon. Get the Beast to 51 and do is epic 1.0 there you have the best slow he gets till 65. It procs often.  Using Avalanche or those other PB aoes would be great to level him fast if you both can group.

3. This combo you can go anywhere that the SK feels comfortable to tank, sadly though that SK will not be able to tank in most all POP zones regardless of gear with this current setup. No slower.

4.  Sorry to tell you, the Rogue or the Beast can not zone into Plane of Storms. Their is a level limit of 55 unless they have obtained a flag from one of the Plane of Justice trials. Executioner's trial is the easiet of them, definately the most popular. You can't even zone into plane of Tranquillity until level 46. And only PoNightmare, Disease, Innovation, Justice are the only zones you can get into at 46 without a flag until level 55. Then CoD, Torment, PoS, PoV can be entered. Once your others reach 62 you can enter HoH, Tactics, BoT. The rest of the zones in POP require flag access before enering. The lowest level range of mobs in POP is Plane of Justice. Any other zone in POP the average lowest hitting mobs are hitting for 250s+ and need to be slowed. Your mana would be gone real fast and downtime to severe to be any effective in POP.

[Goldenpine]

We all have OoW, guess we'll try that.

Yeah, my friend has a locustlure on his rogue, so, its a mini slow if we need it, and thats what we wanna do, get his beast to level 51 and start/finish the epic. Me and my friend solo'd his whole epic minus the general, and we had a blast, now with my bro in the loop, etc, it'll be awesome to do the beastlord epic.

Yeah, i said it like i wanted to take them to PoS now, *bonkers* I *know* they need to be 55 but wasnt even thinking when i typed it, been used to my bro being able to get in. But! at level 55, would they get good exp in PoS while i charmed stuff?

Thanks guys!!!

[Thaeliun]

By far I've found that having the higher level guy crush greens that drop easy is the fast track to PLing.

Agreed.  I have to endorse that.

However, your explanation (in my opinion) is wrong.

This is because the higher level beast is now sucking up a good chunk of the XP.

Exp is always split, even when killing greens.  You can test that with a low level in a place like Paludal; ok, with 2 low levels :).

I'm sure that you are more knowledgeable then I am in most aspects of this game.  However, in this case you aren't.  I've spent a lot of time experimenting with this and CoM provided me with the perfect environment to do it.  There is a great mix of mobs that are green/db to a level 60. 

1) When my BST was 60 and my mage was 53 the mage got more per kill experience when the mobs were green to the BST. 

2) The difference in difficulty between LBs and greens in CoM, if there is one at all, is trivial.  The LB mobs die so fast with a mage/bst combo banging on them it simply isn't a factor in determinging whether greens or LBs are more profitable.  However, the net gain in XP for the mage after killing 10 LBs is significantly less then that after killing 10 greens.  I can only attribute this to the fact that the BST isn't taking any of the XP away when the mobs are green to him.

3) I've spent a lot of time grouped with a friend on the wall in CoM.  He would 2 box a 64 druid/ 60 war together with my 60 BST/ 53 mage.  The mobs on the wall and above are nearly all DB to a 63.  They go down like so many dominos, yet the mage actually leveled much faster when I 2 boxed mobs that were green to the BST.  Again this is because in the 4 toon group noted above, the mage was sharing XP with 3 other toons.  Even the increased kill rate couldn't make up the difference.  Conversely, when the 4 of us would go crush the greens on the ground floor the mage's XP bar moved like the gas gage in my car when it's filling up.

I imagine I would defer to you on any other topic here Hereki.  With your 800+ posts I am sure you have made many contributions to this site.  This time though I must humbly disagree.