I'm concerned that I'm leveling too fast, making the game content out of balance. I still have a couple missions left on Taris, plus the Athiss FP and I'm about to reach level 27. I'll conceivably be closing in on 28 by the time I hit Nar Shaddaa. I don't like being significantly overleveled as the game doesn't present a challenge and things get boring.

 

From what I've read, leveling slows down dramatically once you get into the 30s. That said, will I be permanently over-leveled for the rest of the game?

 

Are there any tips or tricks to control leveling? I realize that skipping missions will do it, but I'm a completionist and don't like leaving unfinished things behind. I'm thinking that maybe skipping the space missions or leaving them until the end may help as they seem to operate independently from the level system.

 

tl;dr Level is increasing faster than mission difficulty. Any advice?

Edited April 1, 2014 by NYYankee

Because of Rested XP and an XP bump for being a sub you will overlevel content pretty quickly, especially as a "completionist." As I see it you have two choices:

 

- un-sub and go premium: no rested xp and reduced overall xp will slow down the process.

- stop being a completionist: do not worrry about "leaving stuff undone" so much because if you level an alt (which is part of the game's design), you will have plenty of opportunity to see every quest.

 

Knowing that replay-ability is in my future, when leveling a given character I will break up a planet's level range into three categories: low, middle, and high. Depending on where in the range I start the planet I will do specific sets of quests with the intent of being at the low end for the next planet:

 

Low end: I do everything

Middle: I do the planet and class stories and skip side quests

High end: I only do the class story.

Edited April 1, 2014 by psandak

Unfortunately, the only way to slow down leveling is skipping missions.

 

And I understand the completionist approach, I am the same way.

 

One thing you could consider. If you ever plan on running another class story, you can skip some planetary quests on your current toon, and pick them up on another toon. The main quests are different for each class, but the planetary quests are shared and are the same for everyone.

I'm always subbed and i always follow the same path for leveling. I also never use xp or any other kind of boosts and during xp weekends i stop playing my alts and i focus on my high level toons since i want to level naturally.

 

I do every mission, every bonus objective, no heroics unless its grey and i just need to farm planetary comms and no flashpoints unless its grey and i want comms from those too. The only bonus series i do are Taris/Balmorra (low level), Tatooine, Balmorra/Taris (high level), Belsavis, Voss, and Corellia. Pretty much if the bonus series is immediately after the main planet mission (assuming i'm on level) then i do the bonus series. If the bonus series requires me to come back in a few levels like Nar Shadaa, Alderaan and Hoth, then i skip those. The only time i will touch those bonus series is if i start to fall behind in levels from skipping mobs (which i try to avoid) or by stealthing around too much. If i start to fall behind i could also just do a few ship missions.

 

Also i almost always use a full custom gear set and i always upgrade at the same intervals...level 15-19-23-27-31-35-39-43-47. And even though i can get the mods at fleet i just stay on the same planet and buy them there. But the reason those 4 level intervals are important to me, is because they would also remind me when it was time to leave a planet. Level 15 i upgrade and by 16 i leave Coruscant/DK...at 19 i upgrade again and by 20 i leave Taris/Balmorra. Upgrade at level 23 in Nar Shadaa and by 24-25 time for me to leave and go to Tatooine.

Edited April 1, 2014 by swtonewbie

Best I can suggest is not to worry, this game is all about alts, your legacy is server wide, so anything you do on your alts counts towards your main as well! I just finished the BBA faction myself, using 10 different characters, took me 2 events to do it from start to finish. If you did that with just 1 character it would take you a lot longer...

 

Myself, I will level 1 character just off planetary quests, the next one will just do flashpoints, the next one WZ, next one space stuff. Next one will be a mix of some of those. Keeps the game fresh, and keeps you from worrying to much about missing one thing over the other. Most people skip every other planet, and use exp potions / rested. You can always go back at 55 and clean up achievements if you really wanted. Myself, I will just make another alt, and hunt a few more achievements long the road to 55

 

To be honest, a level locking ability would be pretty nice, at least for some of us...(or mentoring system like in EQ2)

From what I've read, leveling slows down dramatically once you get into the 30s. That said, will I be permanently over-leveled for the rest of the game?

 

No really... My marauder is around half way through Alderaan (28-32). It slows downs quite a bit after Hoth but only if you don't find all quests on Hoth.

 

1) skip Heroics (or if you want to do them with friends then move to 2)

2) try to skip as many side quests that aren't tied to planetary quest chain

3) skip space missions (they are kind of useless in current game, only do them if you really need that one level)

4) only do FPs for daily comms reward

Thanks for the good advice, everyone. It sounds like I need to change my mindset from completing all the content in a single run through, to completing it all in a single Legacy. I'm going to do what many of you suggested and start saving some of the content for future alts.

IMO, it gets really boring seeing all the same damn quests every damn time. Personally, skip the planet quests unless it's your first toon on that side (imp or pub) and just PvP/Flashpoints to level 47 - 55, if you stop at level 47 do Belsavis Dailies (NOT Section X, the Belsavis Bonus Series) to level 50. Then resume leveling to 55 with PvP and Flashpoints. It's an overall more enjoyable experience because with PvP you never know what the outcome will be, and with flashpoints you get an overall more preparing experience with later flashpoints and even ops.

Are you logging out in your ship, on fleet, or in a cantina? If so, stop doing that. I THINK it'll slow the amount of rested you accumulate.