Yeah, you can level through WvW PvP only. I gained like 4 or 5 levels there. It's slower than PvE leveling, but it seemed suitable to me.
It also largly depends on how well your side is doing. If you just go through and mash a bunch of keeps and defend well the whole time, your xp seems to go up fairly quick.
Is PvE 2 times faster, 3 times faster, 10 times faster? What magnitudes did you experience? How did you measure? Did you check your exp meter and use a clock to time? Or did you not do any accurate measurements, which would be understandable since not everyone is interested in doing such research, and are just using your subjective memories as grounds to try to form an opinion?
Based on my experience as an engineer I would say PVE was about 5-6 times faster. They need to adjust the rewards from WvW. THere was about a 1 hour period where it was a decent pace, but that was only because I was part of a huge zerg taking multiple keeps.
A large battle where a keep/location isn't captured doesn't really net you anything...since kill XP is only granted to one person per kill (instead of everyone who participates in dmging that opponent). So aside from the big "bonuses" if you succesfully cap a point...you are basically gaining nothing. For me that evened out to be about 5-6 times slower than normal PVE. THat was over about 12 hours of WvW versus the rest of the weekend in PvE.
Your mileage would definitely vary though. At the very least I think everyone could agree that WvW is WAY WAY WAY more variable, as opposed to PvE which can be fairly steady and consistent.
The answer is it depends. Not only does it depend but can swing wildly.
If you turned an entire zone into your servers color with no opposition its apparently some of the fastest bestest XP in the game.
If you are fighting back and forth between one keep and then another and get multiple events as you push to one the get pushed back. This seems to be similar to doing DE in PvE.
If you fighting at one keep for a long period of time without either side gaining much ground I think this turns out to be fairly crappu XP.
I agree with this...
And in my experience point 3 occured WAY more often than points 1 and 2. Maybe I was just unlucky.
I share the same experience some described here: SPVP gives you a hefty amount of EXP, perfectly comparable to very objective PVE. WvW is slower because there are many more downtimes, travel times, standstills, repositioning, etc. Still, the pace is not 'slow' by any means.
Also, PVE EXP is highly subjective. If you strive for a maximum levelling curve, you can achieve it quite easily with a combination of some key Exploration waypoints (which give a LOT of EXP) and hopping through a densely-populated DE area.
Of course, you will be missing a LOT doing that, for the sake of a few extra levels. You'll lose many Skill Points, a lot of gear opportunities, exploration, etc, etc. Not really worth it. But the chance is there, if that's what someone wants.
I would argue that the pace could be very "slow" in many situations in WvW. At least one play session over the weekend I spent about 4 hours in WvW and gained 2 bars of experience (2/10 of a level?). My team was the underdog and we just kept trying to push one of the smaller keeps but couldn't. You get essentially no rewards from that.
I would argue that the pace could be very "slow" in many situations in WvW. At least one play session over the weekend I spent about 4 hours in WvW and gained 2 bars of experience (2/10 of a level?). My team was the underdog and we just kept trying to push one of the smaller keeps but couldn't. You get essentially no rewards from that.
Yeah, I can see that happening. I was in WvW for a while, and I had some periods where I gained next to nothing. However, even though we were a small band of merry men that got whomped quite a bit (wrong time, wrong place, wrong choices), I managed to get a fair bit of EXP.
It's really hard to make EXP gains in WvW even across all possible scenarios, since there are so many variables. I am curious to check what pace changes Anet made for the next BWE.
Probably still being tweaked, but in an interview several months ago on reddit they claimed that their goal was that you could gain rewards (XP, loot, karma) at about the same rate in PvE and in WvW.
You can level to cap in PvP, yes, but it's considerably slower than leveling in PvE. At least, for the moment it is. Look at it this way, in about 4 hours of WvWvW, I went from a fresh level 30 to 1/4 away from 31. Meanwhile 4 hours of PvE would have easily gotten me 2-3 levels.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Probably still being tweaked, but in an interview several months ago on reddit they claimed that their goal was that you could gain rewards (XP, loot, karma) at about the same rate in PvE and in WvW.
I would assume it would be tweaked so that on a good WvW run you get more than PvE and on a bad run you get less than PvE thus making it about even with PvE. Plus have a better chance of getting better gear in PvE. WvW drops gear from players but getting a loot on it and so forth i think PvE comes out on top.
So I only did WvW. As soon as I hit level 2, I joined my guild in PvP, after 35 hours of total time played, I was Level 27. The Exp depends on what you take over, so the least amount you would get and that was IIRC defending or killing the Dolyak to the most being taking over stonemist castle. This coming beta I will write down all the different ways to earn exp and how much according to what you do.
The only thing that is not yet finalized is how fast you can get your skills in WvW. It is extremely slow and is suggested to get your skills in PvE and then move to WvW.
The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true.
Problem is that in WvW you are auto scaled in lvl to max lvl of 80 but you dont have the skill points, elite skills and gear to match it. So really what happens is that a lvl 2 in WvW scalled to lvl 80 is a joke to a lvl 30 scalled to lvl 80. For WvW seems like best thing to do is grind pve for a while and than switch. Xp in WvW is decent if you are capturing a lot of points or doing a dynamic pvp quest like thing defending a locationg, defedning the supply etc. Once you get bogged down in WvW not capting points etc it slows down fast. Sadly your also going to be facing a big issue in effectiveness if you are WvWing against lvl 30-35 despite what the devs say.
I disagree.
At the very least, you will have 5 weapon abilities and 1 self heal ability. Meaning that you are lacking 3 utility skills and 1 elite. You get the three utility skills by the time you reach level 20, and you get your elite skill by reaching level 30. All of which is pretty early into the game.
Furthermore, the way WvW works by having lots of objectives, its not always about competitive killing, there are plenty of PvE tasks that low level players can assist with, or simply contribute in a larger group. While they might not be able to take out a level 80 1 vs 1 they can certainly turn the tide of battle.
Problem is that in WvW you are auto scaled in lvl to max lvl of 80 but you dont have the skill points, elite skills and gear to match it. So really what happens is that a lvl 2 in WvW scalled to lvl 80 is a joke to a lvl 30 scalled to lvl 80. For WvW seems like best thing to do is grind pve for a while and than switch. Xp in WvW is decent if you are capturing a lot of points or doing a dynamic pvp quest like thing defending a locationg, defedning the supply etc. Once you get bogged down in WvW not capting points etc it slows down fast. Sadly your also going to be facing a big issue in effectiveness if you are WvWing against lvl 30-35 despite what the devs say.
I disagree.
At the very least, you will have 5 weapon abilities and 1 self heal ability. Meaning that you are lacking 3 utility skills and 1 elite. You get the three utility skills by the time you reach level 20, and you get your elite skill by reaching level 30. All of which is pretty early into the game.
Furthermore, the way WvW works by having lots of objectives, its not always about competitive killing, there are plenty of PvE tasks that low level players can assist with, or simply contribute in a larger group. While they might not be able to take out a level 80 1 vs 1 they can certainly turn the tide of battle.
The thing about leveling WvW is it's much more dependent on everyone around you. In PvE you can get a nice steady flow of exp regardless of whether you are solo or with other people. If you log in for an hour you can be pretty confident that you will gain at least a certain amount of expected xp towards developing your character.
In WvW you can log in and get next to nothing, or log in and blast through levels. While maybe "overall" it equals out, if the equaling out is spread out over days that just doesn't work. It's no fun to put in an hour or two towards a game and get really nothing out of it. If you log into WvW and your team is driven back just pure PvP combat on the battlefield offers piss poor rewards. While I do agree with the current system that objectives should over the lionshare...I think it would at least go a long way if they would make it so XP rewards for player kills are shared across all who damaged...some way for everyone to at least get a little bit. As it stands now you can whail on a guy and then have someone else get the kill and you get nothing. In the heat of battle it just all seems random...You're smacking down an enemy and get nothing, and next thing you know you get xp when you weren't really even targetting anyone (because some AoE happened to pick someone off). Same with loot in WvW. In 2 hours I will barely fill a bag (in fact I won't even get close). PvE? I will have salvaged several bags worth in that time AND replaced some equipment. WvW you don't really advance your gear at any level.
In general they just need to tweak the rewards from pure combat (while keeping objectives as major bonuses). That way you can fight a battle and at least feel like you gained something even if your team lost. In PvE you can lose a Dynamic Event and the game STILL rewards you...WvW not so much.
Comments
Based on my experience as an engineer I would say PVE was about 5-6 times faster. They need to adjust the rewards from WvW. THere was about a 1 hour period where it was a decent pace, but that was only because I was part of a huge zerg taking multiple keeps.
A large battle where a keep/location isn't captured doesn't really net you anything...since kill XP is only granted to one person per kill (instead of everyone who participates in dmging that opponent). So aside from the big "bonuses" if you succesfully cap a point...you are basically gaining nothing. For me that evened out to be about 5-6 times slower than normal PVE. THat was over about 12 hours of WvW versus the rest of the weekend in PvE.
Your mileage would definitely vary though. At the very least I think everyone could agree that WvW is WAY WAY WAY more variable, as opposed to PvE which can be fairly steady and consistent.
I agree with this...
And in my experience point 3 occured WAY more often than points 1 and 2. Maybe I was just unlucky.
I would argue that the pace could be very "slow" in many situations in WvW. At least one play session over the weekend I spent about 4 hours in WvW and gained 2 bars of experience (2/10 of a level?). My team was the underdog and we just kept trying to push one of the smaller keeps but couldn't. You get essentially no rewards from that.
Yeah, I can see that happening. I was in WvW for a while, and I had some periods where I gained next to nothing. However, even though we were a small band of merry men that got whomped quite a bit (wrong time, wrong place, wrong choices), I managed to get a fair bit of EXP.
It's really hard to make EXP gains in WvW even across all possible scenarios, since there are so many variables. I am curious to check what pace changes Anet made for the next BWE.
Probably still being tweaked, but in an interview several months ago on reddit they claimed that their goal was that you could gain rewards (XP, loot, karma) at about the same rate in PvE and in WvW.
What can men do against such reckless hate?
You can level to cap in PvP, yes, but it's considerably slower than leveling in PvE. At least, for the moment it is. Look at it this way, in about 4 hours of WvWvW, I went from a fresh level 30 to 1/4 away from 31. Meanwhile 4 hours of PvE would have easily gotten me 2-3 levels.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
I would assume it would be tweaked so that on a good WvW run you get more than PvE and on a bad run you get less than PvE thus making it about even with PvE. Plus have a better chance of getting better gear in PvE. WvW drops gear from players but getting a loot on it and so forth i think PvE comes out on top.
So I only did WvW. As soon as I hit level 2, I joined my guild in PvP, after 35 hours of total time played, I was Level 27. The Exp depends on what you take over, so the least amount you would get and that was IIRC defending or killing the Dolyak to the most being taking over stonemist castle. This coming beta I will write down all the different ways to earn exp and how much according to what you do.
The only thing that is not yet finalized is how fast you can get your skills in WvW. It is extremely slow and is suggested to get your skills in PvE and then move to WvW.
The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true.
Carl Sagan-
I disagree.
At the very least, you will have 5 weapon abilities and 1 self heal ability. Meaning that you are lacking 3 utility skills and 1 elite. You get the three utility skills by the time you reach level 20, and you get your elite skill by reaching level 30. All of which is pretty early into the game.
Furthermore, the way WvW works by having lots of objectives, its not always about competitive killing, there are plenty of PvE tasks that low level players can assist with, or simply contribute in a larger group. While they might not be able to take out a level 80 1 vs 1 they can certainly turn the tide of battle.
The thing about leveling WvW is it's much more dependent on everyone around you. In PvE you can get a nice steady flow of exp regardless of whether you are solo or with other people. If you log in for an hour you can be pretty confident that you will gain at least a certain amount of expected xp towards developing your character.
In WvW you can log in and get next to nothing, or log in and blast through levels. While maybe "overall" it equals out, if the equaling out is spread out over days that just doesn't work. It's no fun to put in an hour or two towards a game and get really nothing out of it. If you log into WvW and your team is driven back just pure PvP combat on the battlefield offers piss poor rewards. While I do agree with the current system that objectives should over the lionshare...I think it would at least go a long way if they would make it so XP rewards for player kills are shared across all who damaged...some way for everyone to at least get a little bit. As it stands now you can whail on a guy and then have someone else get the kill and you get nothing. In the heat of battle it just all seems random...You're smacking down an enemy and get nothing, and next thing you know you get xp when you weren't really even targetting anyone (because some AoE happened to pick someone off). Same with loot in WvW. In 2 hours I will barely fill a bag (in fact I won't even get close). PvE? I will have salvaged several bags worth in that time AND replaced some equipment. WvW you don't really advance your gear at any level.
In general they just need to tweak the rewards from pure combat (while keeping objectives as major bonuses). That way you can fight a battle and at least feel like you gained something even if your team lost. In PvE you can lose a Dynamic Event and the game STILL rewards you...WvW not so much.