So I’ve been having fun, testing different classes, reading up on some builds, but most don’t contain levelling guides. I just overheard that it is generally considered the best/fastest way to level to skip expansion content and switch to Elite/Ultimate ASAP.
However, after levelling a bunch of chars in parallel I wonder if that’s the case, or if you will “run out” of high level mobs if you switch too early?
I did some of AoM with my first char and switched to Elite at around lvl 55. The Mobs in Act 1 Elite were 54. However, I then did it faster with another char, switching to Elite at around ~40 and noticed the level of the monsters had “scaled down” with me. If that same character rushes through Elite, I guess I will fight a Loghorrean that is - at most - lvl 60 and then be stuck with farming lvl 60-80 mobs in Ultimate?
You won’t run out of high level mobs on Ultimate. Enemies start at level 75 on Ultimate and will always scale up with your level worldwide (even the first zombies around Devil’s Crossing will scale up with you to level 100).
Enemies on Elite can also scale up very high, but it depends on the region.
So, there is no problem in skipping or playing AoM on Normal. It really doesn’t matter which level you enter Elite/Ultimate. People say it’s faster to level up by skipping AoM on Normal and Elite, but I am not completely sure on that, since there are plenty of quests you will do and it’s also nice to start earning faction reputation so you can buy the augments sooner. Of course if you want better loot, then skip AoM, because higher difficulty = better loot.
In my opinion and experience, even if you are overleveled it doesn’t make you lose any exp. I often finish normal at level 65 - 70, monsters in elite range from levels 65 - 92 (95 if we count bosses) depending on the region (level 1 - 75 in normal). Ultimate doesn’t have a max level scaling, however monsters in devils crossing can’t go over level 100 or something like that. Basically, it doesn’t matter which level you start Ultimate, although it will be pretty hard to get level over 92 in elite.
Some more about overleveling:
if you finish Normal at level 70, you will fight monsters level 65 through the whole act 1 (they reach the max level of 72 or something around it in the end of act 1), but as the monsters are lower level, they take more damage from you (simply because your stats are higher than their), and they still will give you a decent amount of exp and make you slightly overleveled till Broken Hills. The higher level monsters grant you more exp, which make you follow up with level easier and lower levels give less exp. So, basically, if you finish normal at level 70 and get level 80 till the end of the vanilla game, the same result will be as if you started elite at level 40 and cleared the game the same way, because monsters will scale down but still be higher level through the whole game.
My advice is to do AoM on Normal/Veteran and skip it on Elite. This way you will be able to max out your Coven/Barrowholm reputation plus AoM on Elite is going to be kind of tough, especially in Lokkar’s set. I always do that and I run thru whole Elite bit overleveled which makes it a breeze even wearing Lokkar’s set. I reach Ultimate at character level 86-87, so it’s probably going to take just easier acts 1-2 to get to 94 equip end-game gear.
I like to finish out the extra quests and such on normal/veteran & elite and then start ultimate at 94+.
I’m sure it’s not the fastest method, but I like starting out ultimate getting drops for level 94+ gear. If I start ultimate at 85, the monster infrequents like the fire shoulders from Cronley’s Gang Arsonist, and the poison off-hands from the Death Clan Groble Witch-doctor are lower level. And I like the idea of starting endgame (ultimate) at endgame (top tier gear level monsters).
Additionally, it’s fun to play through the normal/veteran and elite dungeons around the intended lower level. And with bonus rep deeds (+100%) it and extra quests you get lets you max out most, if not all, of your faction reps by the time you get to ultimate.