Leveling is a major portion of the experience in Star Wars Galaxies. Some people dread it, others look to it as a full experience. Whatever your case may be, there is one aspect to the Star Wars Galaxies ground-grind that is perplexing to almost all: what's the fastest way to grind to 90?
So here it is, the definitive guide to grinding for Star Wars Galaxies, from level 1 all the way to level 90, and every trick and tip in-between. There are many, many guides out there that cover grinding from 1-90 in similar fashion, but I'm hoping to include in this one everything you need from 1-90, nothing you don't, and all the tricks that will shave time and effort. Note: If you are an experienced 'grinder' you can skip the first sections Parts One, Two and Three as they describe the basics to Experience gain in Star Wars Galaxies and related topics. For new players, you should definitely read those.
Leveling Synopsis
Before I get started, I would like to note a few quick references of what areas/ways you can or should grind depending on your level before I go into much depth:
Levels 01-10: Tansarii Station, spawns outside Eisley
Levels 11-20: Legacy Quest, Restuss Antenna Grind
Levels 21-30: Legacy Quest, Imperial Themepark, Miscellaneous Grinding
Levels 31-40: Legacy Quest, Miscellaneous Grinding
Levels 41-50: Legacy Quest, Kashyyyk (While Grouped), Miscellaneous Grinding
Levels 51-60: Space Grinding, Kashyyyk (While Grouped), Dathomir Tarpits (While Grouped), Dantooine Grauls (While Grouped)
Levels 61-70: Kashyyyk, Dantooine Grauls (With one Friend), Restuss, Random Dathomir Spawns
Levels 71-80: Dathomir Tarpits, Random Dathomir Spawns, Dantooine Grauls, Restuss, Mustafar (While Grouped)
Levels 81-90: Dathomir Spawns (East of Tarpits POI), Restuss, Mustafar, Azure Cabal, Rebel Themepark
Part One: Gaining Experience Points (for Beginners)
Leveling in Star Wars Galaxies is all based on something called experience points, which have three types: Combat Experience, Crafting Experience, and Entertainer Experience. Gaining enough of one of these types of experience will obviously allow you to gain a level. Most character class are based on Combat, and in turn, use combat experience: Commando, Spy, Jedi, Medic, Bounty Hunter, Smuggler, and Officer. The other two types of characters, Traders and Entertainers, use Crafting Experience and Entertainer Experience respectively. I will not be focusing on these non-combat professions in this guide, but will come back to them in the immediate future.
When you first begin playing, you will be at level 1. I highly recommend, for new players, going through the new player tutorial, as it will greatly assist you in learning the basics of the game. At Level 1, you will need a certain amount of Experience Points, to get to level 2. To get these Experience Points, you need to kill a certain amount of enemies, commonly referred to as NPCs, or Non-Player Characters.
Once you reach level 2, you will need to gain a certain amount of experience points to get to the next level, though it will be more than you needed to reach level 2. The amount of Exp. required to level continues to increase all the way to level 90. You can obviously see the pattern here. As you level, you will inevitably notice that your grind seems to 'slow down', even so much as to seem to stop altogether. Usually around level 35-40 players will notice their grind dramatically slows. This guide will be geared to helping you maximize those slow downs and not lose interest in the game.
At the bottom of your screen, there is a gauge, known as your Experience bar (in yellow). When it reaches the end of the gauge, you will obtain another level ('Leveling Up').
Each NPC gives your character a certain amount of XP. This is based on your level and the level of your opponent. The good news is, as you level up, the amount of Exp. you will receive from fighting monsters that are approximately your level will increase. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the Exp. received per monster killed goes up, the amount of Exp. you need to level will also increase, making each level harder than the next to level up.
Part Two: Levels 1-10 and beyond
As a level 1, you really don't have much of an option of where to level, but there are a few different ways to go about it at first. You're on a Space Station, known as Tansarii Point Station. You can choose to leave this station, and end up on Tatooine, before you reach level 10, where you stop getting Experience until you do so, or you can grind many of the creatures in the atrium. I would recommend doing all of the quests you can, though if you would rather not, I recommend going into the basement or the atrium and killing droids and animals until you are level 5. However, the quests will help teach you the basic mechanics and goings-on of the game.
Once you are level 5, head to Gamma Station via your own Spaceship (Obtainable by attempting Space Mission on Tansarii Point) or the Shuttle Terminal. Once at Gamma Station, head deep into it, and kill all of the monsters you can find. Make sure you 'loot' (Double click on the Dead Body) all of the items on the monsters. You get credits and can sell a lot of the items for several hundred to a couple thousand credits. Also, if you can, complete all the quests and tasks on the station to receive a badge: "Hero of Tasarii Point Station".
Once you are level 10, go to Han Solo and speak with him. If you have helped him repair his ship, you can leave. If not, you should do so, otherwise you are stuck on the Station until this is complete.
Once you talk to him, tell him you wish to leave. He will fly you to Mos Eisley, the heart of Tatooine, full of new players like you and veterans alike. This is the point in the game where you really enter Star Wars Galaxies, and boy is it big!
I would recommend going outside the city and killing all of the animals that you can find, until you reach level 12-15. This isn't required, but it would be my personal recommendation.
Part Three: The Legacy Quests
The Legacy Quests are a series of quests designed to take the Player from levels 10 through 45 without much trouble, and actually fairly fast. It starts on Tatooine and brings you to Naboo, Corellia, and finally ends on Talus. It gives you a lot of money and good weapons throughout. It starts with the 'Getting My Speeder' quest, which you will receive the moment you set your foot in Mos Eisley for the first time. Legacy is definitely not the fastest way to level, however it is more interactive and gets you into the quest style of the game. Don't worry, there will be plenty of grinding to do in the future. It has a story arc, and though it's not the most thrilling, it's certainly less boring than killing monster after monster.
My recommendation here is to 'grind Legacy spawns'. Instead of just killing required X-amount of creatures to complete a portion of a quest, try killing a few dozen each time. This will allow you to level faster than the Quest Experience will level you, and if you do this throughout legacy, you will end up at somewhere around levels 50-55, depending on how much you grind the spawns!
Part Four: Restuss Antenna Grind
This is certainly not a recommended way of grinding up, though I will present it to you as a viable option to getting level 22 and above. I previously wrote about this method of grinding in a Commando/grind guide, but I will present it in a different manner here for clarification.
Restuss, Rori is a PvP zone. That means level 80 and aboves, though mostly 90s, are fighting constantly. To enter Restuss, you must be either a Rebel or an Imperial. To join one of the factions, you must speak to one of the factional recruiters. There is a Rebel Recruiter in Anchorhead, Vreni Island , and Moenia. There is a Imperial Recruiter in Bestine, Bela Vistal, and Dee'ja Peak. At the factional bases, East and West of Restuss(?), you can get missions to do in the city. They are all repeatable. Each faction has 'Antenna' missions, which require that you go into Restuss and destroy an Antenna.
The Rebels may get these quests from Captain Voldez (4780, 5768 ). There are four Imperial antennas in Restuss, you may choose any of them. I would personally reccomend the one at the North end of the city, however you may use any of them (5476, 5778 ) (5462, 5638 ) (5355, 5555) (5384, 5854).
The Imperials get their quest from Captain Okto (5993, 5647). The Rebel Antennas are located throughout the city, like the Imperial ones (5191, 5762) (5185, 5542)!
To destroy these antennas, just begin attacking them. This can take some time, though it is well worth the reward! However, if you are a Commando, your life is much easier, simply radial them (The ~ Key), and select the third option. Wait until the timer runs out, and radial it again! This will blow up the antenna immediately. Return to your recruiter for 5,000 Experience points and 4 Rebel or Imperial Commendations. This is a fast way to begin leveling up, or to get to a level where you can do legacy without any complications.
I highly recommend Commando as any player's starting profession, not only because you can do the Antenna grind easily, but because many of your attack damages, armor, and combat effectiveness are greater than most other professions from the start, and it only gets more powerful as you level and unlock greater skills.
Part Five: The Kashyyyk Way
Most people have the Rage of the Wookies expansion, and can travel to the planet Kashyyyk. You may want to grind a little after legacy before coming here if you are below 60, or bring a friend that's about your level. I would recommend approximately level 60-65 to ease your Kashyyyk grind. Once you touch down in Kashyyyk, you will be in Kachirho, the only Starport on the planet.
If you wander out a little bit from the Starport Area, you will find a rather large tree in front of you. This is the Great Tree, and it has 3 levels. Each level has a good bit of quests for you to do, and I recommend talking to all of them, and then picking the quests that you feel suit you best, and do those, before progressing onto the other quests. I recommend completing all of these quests in the Great Tree before moving on, you should be about level 70-75 or so once completing them.
If you wander further into the wild forest of Kashyyyk , you will most likely stumble upon the Etyyy hunting grounds. This is a good area to get some Experience, but you first must gain entrance, by doing the 'Hunting Grounds Access' quest, which starts at (577 -639). Once you get into the Etyyy hunting grounds, complete all the quests that you can, six quest series in all. They are worth a decent amount of experience points, and you get some nice decorations for your house later on. Once you have mulled around on Kashyyyk a bit, preferably with a friend or two in tow, you should be nearing level 80 or so.
Part Six: The Burning Planet of Mustafar
Mustafar is a great place to get your level 80 to level 90 grind nearly completed. The planet is essentially its own "theme park", or in other words, a huge series of quests that are all connected around one theme: Aiding Obi-Wan in his quest for redemption (or not). Due to the atmosphere, most of the citizens stay at the Mensix Mining Facility, which is where you have to shuttle into. This means all of the quests start out of here, which keeps at least you search for quest NPCs to a minimum. Though, you do still have to travel across the Lava to get to the quest locations, of course.
For crossing lava, several vehicles and pets work that will not 'explode' on contact. A Lava Flea is the slowest of these mounts, however it is the easiest to obtain at the current time. The other vehicles are the Lava Skiff (obtainable by finishing Obi-Wan's quest arc), the Dune Skiff (no longer obtainable), and the Jet pack (created from rare looted components). If you do not have access to any of these, then your questing is going to be doubly-long, and you will be stuck with riding the default Lava Flea around. However, it's better than your speeder bike (or similar) exploding every time you try to cross the lava.
There are two main quest arcs on Mustafar. The first of these is the Obi-Wan quest arc. This is the easier of the two, and if you are level 80, you should be able to solo it with some difficulty, and, if traveling in a group, no difficulty. The second of these is the Champion of Mustafar quest series. I recommend these quests to a group of level 90 characters, and should probably not be attempted for leveling. The Champion of Mustafar quests are definitely not intended for sub-90 characters to attempt, so don't try.
The Obi-Wan quest series requires several quests in order to show. These quests will get you not only experience, but some of the best buffs in the game. These quests should probably get you anywhere from 3-5 levels. You can also grind some of the spawns on Mustafar for decent Experience. I will be putting together a complete "Trials of Obi-Wan Guide" very soon, which is desperately needed on Skryer. Until then, check this helpful site for at least some information on how to 'unlock' and start the quests of Obi-Wan:
http://swg.wikia.com/wiki/Mustafar
Part Seven: The Restuss NPC Grind
I previously pointed out the Antenna quest grind. In the same immediate area, there is a continuous spawn of high level NPCs of both factions. If you so choose, you can venture into Restuss at about level 60, while your faction controls the city. To find out if it does, simply ask around at the Restuss Starport, someone will tell you. Head into the city, and try to get into a group, if possible. It is very likely that while you are there, there will be several PvP battles, and you will die several times. Don't be discouraged, this happens to everyone, even the best level 90 players.
Before you head into the city, head over to the factional base and pick up all the (non-space) missions you can get. Most of your Experience here will come from killing the NPCs, however a little bit more here and there can't hurt. In addition, the commendations (or "comms") you receive can be sold or saved, usually for 20,000-30,000 credits per comm (i.e. if you save up, say, 100 comms just in a day, you have over 3 million credits worth of comms). If you choose not to sell the comms you can save them to trade them in for armor or weapons at certain factional NPCs. Most pieces of this armor or weapons cost a few-hundred comms each. In all, about 4,000-5,000 comms would be needed to collect an entire set of 'Restuss Armor". Just as a not, that many comms would go for upwards of between 100 Million credits and 150 Million credits. Your choice.
Once in the city with your group, kill every enemy NPC you can find. You will find that not only do you receive combat experience, but you also get GCW (Galactic Civil War) points as well. These will help you rank up in the GCW. This grind isn't the fastest way, however it does serve as one of the funnier ways, as you are able to communicate and have fun with other group members, and 'multi-task' your grind in many ways. I would recommend getting a smaller and smaller group as you level up, as the amount of Exp. you get will start to decline. Once you're at about 85, don't group at all, whilst grinding in Restuss.
Part 8: Dathomir Creature Spawns
Dathomir is probably the single best grinding planet in this game. If you land at the Science Outpost, head down to the 'Dathomir Tarpits' POI (Place of Interest, to the South/SW). You can activate this waypoint, by using ~ on it, in the POIs tab of your Datapad. This area has a lot of 75-80 beasts. These are great for either solo or group grinding, depending on your level. You can continuously kill these beasts, and you'll never run out, as they always are respawning.
For lower levels, you need to scout out the wilds of Dathomir, and try to find a spawn that's good for you level, they can be hard to find, however they do exist. Take your time scouting for appropriate level spawns, usually no lower than 5 levels below your level, and preferably around 5 levels higher than your level to gain the most efficient Experience Points.
Once you get to the point where the Tarpit beasts aren't yielding enough Experience, head West from the POI. The beasts will ever so gradually become harder, until you get in the 80-92 range. You can grind these beasts all the way to 90, although try not to aggro more than one at a time, as you will be overwhelmed and instantly killed in some cases. If you die, you'll have to clone (respawn) all the way back at the Science Outpost and make the many-kilometer drive back down there. This spot is also appropriate for groups of 2-3 level 60s, and will progress faster, though with a bit less Experience Points.
Part 9: Azure Cabal
Azure Cabal is a GREAT way to finish off your last 5 levels or so. It's the newest 'themepark'. Azure Cabal gives good rewards, and it's something new after killing countless monsters. You can start it by talking to the lady at -5147 4285, in Theed, Naboo. After you finish the first time around, you have a set of repeatable quests available to you, which also give good Experience Points, so if you wish, you can do those several times. There is a phenomenal guide for the Azure Cabal here:
http://swg.wikia.com/wiki/The_Azure_Cabal
Part 10: Factional Themeparks (Imperial and Rebel)
The Imperial Themepark starts at (2423 -3942) on Naboo. It is considerably more difficult than a few months ago, and I would suggest attempting it at no lower than level 35-40 for some of the first quests, and level 75 or above for the later quests. It is a nice break from Legacy, and if you're a bit behind, and don't feel like grinding the Spawns, its a fun thing to do. You receive a badge upon completing it. It has a total of 38 missions, and brings you to several important people in the Star Wars world, including the great Darth Vader, and the terrible Lord of the Sith, Emperor Palpatine.
The Rebel Themepark starts at the hidden Rebel base on Corellia, which is located at (-6508, 5985). Please note, the themepark has been revamped, and is for groups of CL 80-90 characters, and provides some great quest and combat XP. See my guide for the Rebel Themepark for more details.
Part 11: Space Grinding Equals Ground Levels (and fun)
As many readers here on Skryer know, I'm a big fan of the Space Game of Star Wars Galaxies. If you are interested in pursuing a future in piloting, you should know that you get a small percentage of ground XP for the XP you receive in space, meaning that if you grind all the way to Ace (Master Pilot) in one or more piloting professions, you can gain ground combat levels for it. This is extremely useful for levels 50-60, where you begin to run out of ground content before heading to Kashyyyk. I also greatly recommend piloting to 'break' your feeling of meaningless grinding on the ground, which can easily become the case.
Another thing to note is that you will receive 2x XP after master at least one pilot faction, 3x XP after mastering a Second, and 4x Xp after mastering a third. This also translates into Ground XP as well. I once grinded a character from level 1-90 (Ground Combat Level) by first mastering at least one squadron in each pilot faction (which at that point I was level 38), and then at 4x XP was netting about 5 levels a day to level 70, and then 2-3 levels a day to 90, and that was only about 2-3 hours a day for 5 days a week of grinding. Not too shabby. If you were to combine this with ground-grinding you could take a character from level 1-90 in a little over a week or so if really jamming away on it.
Part 12: Being Aware and Miscellaneous Grinding
Try to make a habit of being aware while you are wandering around a planet, and if you happen to find an area of NPCs that are approximately your level or a bit higher, attempt to fight and kill them. If you can, spend an hour or two at that spot, killing the NPCs. If you get bored, but want to come back, you can type /waypoint (or just /way) and the game will automatically create a waypoint for future reference to that spot. A few times here and there of doing this and you'll find yourself quickly gaining levels.
A Few Things to Keep in Mind:
• Many people overlook this part of grinding: Get an Experience Buff from an Entertainer. You can find them hanging out in the Mos Eisley Cantina all the time. Walk up to an Entertainer and target him/her and type /watch or /listen, depending on whether he/she is dancing or playing an instrument respectively. Not only can you earn 20% more XP for 3 hours, but you can also get HP/armor and other buffs that will dramatically help you in combat, especially at such a low level.
• Friends at times can be useful for quest, but if you are attempting a hard quest, bring a friend, however if you plan to kill NPCs about your level, try it alone first. Quest XP will always be the same regardless of the size of your group, but your Combat XP will not: Try to solo combat if possible.
• The Armor most professions get at level 22 is not very affective! When you get to the 45-50 range, do the "Avenging Mort" quest series. You get a nice looking, and very protective suit of armor, and a cool Hologram to decorate your home with. I highly recommend this, and it is easy as heck!
• If you're grinding at a spawn that you found, use /waypoint (or just /way) to mark it and comeback later. You can edit the waypoint name in your Datapad, as the default will be 'Waypoint'. Keep up with your waypoints: Be sure to name them when you make them, whether for questing, combat, or vendors. Otherwise, you will have many, many "Waypoints" filling up your Datapad that will confuse you. Also, delete unwanted Waypoints when needed to keep your Datapad "clean".
• While on Tansarii Point Station, when you finish a mission, don't complete it, just hit cancel. Gain up to level 10 just through killing things. Once you get down to Tatooine, you can complete the quests, and if you did all of them, and saved them, you can gain up to three levels simply through quest XP after the fact, resulting in you being level 13 right off the bat. This will save you a significant amount of time at the start of the game.
• Try not to buy any armor or weapons during the "Legacy period", you get good looted ones, and from quest rewards. There is no need to spend money when you get good armor and weapons and grow out of them every few hours.
• Invest in a Swoopbike rather than a Speederbike. It is as fast as even the fastest speeders out there, and it will help you with various Legacy quests, not to mention help you complete Legacy quicker. Swoopbikes are roughly 30% faster than Speederbikes and over 200% faster than the larger 'speed car' types.
Hope this helps address a lot of 'grinding' questions. Anything you feel should be added or cleared up please mention as such in the forums for this thread. Thanks a bunch, and enjoy!