Below we’ll walk you through the best sources of XP in New World, from Main Quests to Town Missions; and we’ll also go through small things that you can do to boost the XP you gain over time. We’ll also explain how to improve your weapon masteries as efficiently as possible.
Fastest New World leveling methods
Leveling up in any MMO is rather a long and daunting task which requires you to grind for dozens if not hundreds of hours to reach the level cap. Fortunately, in New World there are some tricks that you can employ to speed up the leveling process. Below are some of the fastest New World leveling methods we’ve found for gaining XP quickly:
Complete Town Missions as often as possible
The XP gain of Town Missions has been nerfed since New World was in closed beta, but despite this, the abundance of these missions and their relative ease makes them a powerful tool for fast leveling. You can view available Town Missions by looking at the Town Project Board in the town you’re in, and you can activate up to 12 Town Missions at a time. Make sure you prioritise the missions with the highest XP reward. Some of these Town Missions are incredibly simple and will net you a nice amount of XP in no time at all.
Rest in a settlement to gain the Well Rested XP bonus
On those rare occasions where you have to stop playing New World for a while, make sure you park your character in a settlement before logging off. This way, when you return, you’ll automatically be given the Rested XP status effect. Take a look at your XP bar at the bottom of the screen. If you have the Well Rested effect active, then there’ll be a grey portion of the bar at the end of the filled portion. Until this grey portion is filled, you’ll earn extra XP for any tasks which give you any kind of character XP. It’s a small benefit, but it really adds up over time.
Use the most efficient means of travel from place to place
The land of Aeturnum is pretty massive, and quests can be rather spread out. To level up as quickly as possible you’ll want to minimise downtime and increase efficiency while travelling - and the best way to do this is by making use of New World’s fast travel options. There are no mounts to speak of in New World, and you can’t increase your base movement speed, so fast travelling is essential.
Complete the main quests as soon as possible
Your greatest source of XP as a low-level player will be completing the main quests as soon as you’re capable of doing so. Obviously pay attention to the recommend level for each quest to ensure you don’t bite off more than you can chew, but the main quests will net you a huge amount of XP compared with almost any other XP source available to you at the beginning. You can also play it smart by completing side-quests along the way as your journey to your next main quest destination.
Increase your standing in various territories
Different territories have different recommended levels, and the XP you gain in these territories scales with their difficulty. Below is a list of the territories in New World and the minimum recommended levels:
Level 5: Everfall, Firstlight, Monarch’s Bluffs, Windsward Level 25: Brightwood, Cutlass Keys Level 30: Weaver’s Fen Level 40: Great Cleave, Restless Shore Level 45: Mourningdale Level 50: Ebonscale, Edengrove Level 60: Reekwater, Shattered Mountain
So not only should you prioritise gaining XP in the highest-level territory you can manage, but you should also prioritise increasing your standing in said territory because doing so will increase all XP you gain within that territory, including Town Missions, Side Quests, Faction Missions, and more. If you need help surviving in higher-level environments, it might be an idea to play New World with friends.
Pick up every document you find
If you see a piece of paper, book, scroll, or other document with a faint blue glow to it, be sure to interact with it. This will allow you to read the document straight away, or save it for later. Either way, that’s a morsel of delicious lore added to your Journal, and a neat little XP bump for your trouble. The base XP rate for picking up a lore document is 40, but that increases by 10 with every 10 documents you collect and no apparent upper cap, so it’s worth keeping a weather eye out for them.
Hit enemies that are being fought by other players
A small tip, but useful to know: while you’re out adventuring, if you see another player fighting an enemy, take out your weapon and hit that enemy once. You’ll both gain the maximum amount of XP (both player XP and weapon XP) for the kill, so you shouldn’t feel bad about doing it because you’re not depriving the other player of anything.
PvP missions are fantastic for weapon XP
PvP is the way to go if you want to increase your weapon mastery as quickly as possible. It’s also a good way to level up your character in general, but it’s particularly potent for giving you weapon XP. The amount you gain when you kill another player is based on how long that player has been alive, so the rewards are variable, but sometimes you can net an enormous amount of XP for winning a fight.
New World leveling rewards
As you level up your character in New World, not only will you be able to upgrade your core Attributes but you will also unlock various permanent rewards at certain level thresholds. You can view these thresholds at any time by hitting “K” to bring up the Character screen, selecting the Attributes tab, and then clicking on “View Leveling Rewards”. Here are the milestones and leveling rewards in New World:
Level 5: 2nd Weapon Slot Level 10: 1st Bag Slot Level 15: 1st House, and 3rd Quick Slot Level 20: Ring Slot Level 25: 4th Quick Slot Level 30: 3rd Weapon Slot, and 2nd Bag Slot Level 35: 2nd House Level 40: Earring Slot Level 45: 3rd Bag Slot Level 50: Invasions Level 55: 3rd House Level 60: Outpost Rush
Aside from this you will also unlock certain quests at particular level thresholds, such as the Survivalist quests which you must complete in order to upgrade your Camp in New World.
