How do you level past lvl 85 ?

Hey guys,

I got 2 lvl86 characters, but I really struggle to level more...
I ran out of my 74+maps, and now only got like 2 or 3% experience per shitty 70-72map.
Is that the way it should be ?

Should I buy maps ?
Should I run them all with the Hordes affixe to maximize experience ?
Or should I Alchemy them to maximize map drops ?

Any advice will be appreciated :)

"

iSkiv wrote:

Is that the way it should be ?
Should I buy maps ?
Should I run them all with the Hordes affixe to maximize experience ?
Or should I Alchemy them to maximize map drops ?

Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.

The game is artificially prolonged with the diminishing xp you get from maps.
In order to get to 90-100, you need to play endlessly, and most of the time in high level maps.
If you actually want to get to 100, prepare for an endless xp grind. (*)

The best way is to buy maps (75-78), then group up with some friends and play them. Once you are running out (you most likely will), another one contributes his maps until he runs out,... repeat.

hordes/magic monsters are the best xp affixes, and probably also the best loot affixes (more rogue exiles, double bosses and rare monsters also isn't too bad).

Ideally you want to "craft" high level maps via alchemy/scouring into:
*pack size
*"difficulty" mods for high quantity that do not really affect you (like "monsters have 75% fire resistance" if you are playing an arc witch).

---

(*) There's actually no real reason to play on after 85, you don't get price money or even forum fame for it. ;)
If you feel the character you are playing is fun and really want to play on, do so, but do it because of "playing", not because of "growing". Otherwise it will be a very ugly game experience.

Thanks a lot for this detailed answer.

Actually, the idea was to get a couple more Passive Points in order to be able to fight Atziri.
I currently have a IB Facebreaker with 35k DPS, 15k armor, 5k HP, 75% block, 37% spell block, caped resists, and I can't even pass the Boss trio... this is very frustrating...

Maybe this is just Infernal Blow not being the right skill for that... I don't know...

Looks like I'm back to my MF Incinerator farming Chaos/Fus to 6L my pledge of hands :(

I'm in complete agreement. Not enough higher maps drop to stop you from having to buy them, sad to say. However, with Zana things have changed a bit for the better. More maps, some higher level, for free! Since the EP I have not had to buy any maps. Hopefully I will be lvl 87 this weekend but to me, at this point, it is more about leveling up gems again after GCP'ing them and seeing how high I can get the dps. That's more fun than just going up another lvl just to get one more passive point!

Things get a lot more difficult when you hit 85-90 and even more so afterwards (only brought one char over 90 so far myself). At level 87 you will only get about 10-15% exp from 77/78 maps and at 91+ even much less.
Your best bet is probably to find a group of people that you enjoy playing with and even more so if your builds synergise well. What really gets your progress going are not necessarily the 77+ maps but the ability to chain run after run after run. Better chain three 75-78s with a good and fast group of people who know what they are doing than spend the same time trying to clear a 78 RIP map in the hope of sustaining your 77+ pool.
Most public groups take a fee for joining high level maps, some for profit and others to roll good maps since that can get quite costly. Some even make free groups but when doing 75+'s you should still consider helping them out with a little donation of a few chaos/alchemy and/or chisels once every few maps.

Besides that i fully agree with kolyaboo: it's very fun to relevel your gems with quality (just don't use your main spell in the recipe ;P) since after the initial severe DPS drop wen doing the recipe for many gems at once you will get an insanely fast progress quickly overtaking the DPS you had before.

lvling is easy now

im lvl90 still gettin 1-2% on 73-75 maps... either you're new or nothing can appease you

"

_wuv_ wrote:

lvling is easy now

im lvl90 still gettin 1-2% on 73-75 maps... either you're new or nothing can appease you

Then you hit 91 and a lvl 73 map gives less than 1% xp. Good times.

Unless you play with friends, there's not much of a reason to go beyond 91 or so. It's such a nasty, repetitive grind and it's hard or expensive to keep a steady flow of maps above lvl 73. If you have the currency, go ahead and buy high level maps, but it won't be cheap.

I almost always Alch maps that are level 72 and above. If I had a big pool of a certain lvl of map, I'd probably just Transmute then Alter them instead to save currency. Trying to roll pack size/more magic monsters all the time is crazy for most people because of the cost. With Alch'd maps, try to get something above 80% qual/quantity that you think you can run without dying and hope for the best.

I thought with some patch or other the absolute minimum will always be 2%? But you are right anyway, what's 2% of the ridiculous amount you need to level up? My highest level character is 86. I think it's hard to level up because of the cost of maps. I also alc maps that are over 72.

^ thats not min 2% xp per map, thats a min of 2% of the xp the map has to offer, which could be 0.1% of the xp you need for your next level depending on the map you are playing and what level you are.


The grind is long at the end, I usually plan builds to around 89-93 depending on what nodes I want. that last little push is a real slog I must admit if you are going for like 92+.

Ive never bought a map ever in this game and never will on principal, but Ive had some horrible dry periods as a result.

Thanks to all for the feedback, I really appreciate.
Have fun with the game !