The Fastest Way to Level in AQW – Explained Properly
If you’ve just started Adventure Quest Worlds, levelling can feel weirdly unclear.
Most AQW levelling guides just tell you to go somewhere, kill things, and somehow you’re supposed to understand why it works. Half the time you get there and it either doesn’t make sense or just isn’t efficient.
So instead of that, I’m going to walk you through exactly what to do, why it works, and how to avoid wasting time.
I’m going to show you:
- Exactly where to go
- What quests to take
- Why certain spots work (and others don’t)
- How to level fast even with low damage
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How Levelling Actually Works in AQW
Levelling is a mix of killing enemies and turning in repeatable quests
The key detail most guides miss, you only need to hit an enemy once to get full rewards (XP, gold, loot).
That means:
- Your damage doesn’t matter early on
- Your goal is to tag as many enemies as possible
This is why AoE (multi-target) classes are so strong for levelling.
Levelling Snapshot
Level 1-5: Tutorial (Oaklore)
Level 5-75: /join shadowbattleon – Kill enemies & complete 3 repeatable quests
Level 75-100: /join icestormunder – Simply kill enemies
Level 75-100: /join icewing – Kill boss & complete quest
Best Starter Class
Start with Mage
Why?
- It has an AoE skill (Skill 4)
- Lets you tag multiple enemies quickly
- Speeds up levelling massively
- Strong shield for survival
You can switch classes later, this is just for efficiency early on.
General Rotation:
- 4 – 3 – 4 – 2 – Repeat
- Cast 5 for survival when needed
Level 1–5 (Oaklore)
Don’t overthink the start.
Stay in Oaklore and go to the third screen where the NPC is standing in front of the gate.
You’ll get a quest to “Slay Bone Berserker“.
Just sit here and repeat that quest until level 5.
That’s it.
Your only goal here is unlocking your 4th Mage skill so you can start hitting multiple enemies.
Level 5–75 – Shadowbattleon
As soon as you’re done, go straight to: /join shadowbattleon
This is easily the best levelling area in the game for a huge chunk of your progression.
Speak to Gravelyn and take all three quests:
- Shadow Hunt Medal
- Mega Shadow Hunt Medal
- Early Autopsy
From here, you’re just farming enemies but there are a few things that make this spot so good.
First, it’s always full of players, which means enemies die almost instantly.
Second, because of how tagging works, you don’t need to actually kill anything yourself, just hit everything you can.
And third, the quests stack. This is something a lot of people don’t realise. You don’t need to hand quests in straight away. You can build them up massively before turning them in, which makes levelling much faster overall.
If the area feels slow at any point, just switch instances using something like: /join shadowbattleon-1
This puts you in a different version of the same map, and usually fixes the issue instantly.
Don’t Ignore Classes While Levelling
One mistake a lot of players make is only focusing on their level.
Instead, you should also be:
- Unlocking new classes
- Levelling those classes at the same time
You’re already in one of the best farming spots in the game, so you might as well make the most of it.
Keep Your Enchantments Updated
Every few levels, go to: /join trainers
And upgrade your Enchantments for:
- Weapon
- Armor
- Helm
- Cape
Two important things here:
- Enchants apply to each class separately
- You can equip a class AND armor at the same time
A lot of players miss this and end up much weaker than they should be.
Get the Blade of Awe Early (Huge Boost)
At some point during this grind, you should go and get the Blade of Awe.
It gives you bonuses to XP, Gold, Reputation and Class points which makes everything faster.
Where to Start
Go to: /join museum
Speak to Valencia and start the Blade of Awe quests.
The Part Most Guides Don’t Explain Properly
Some of the items are easy, you just go somewhere and kill things.
- “Find the Stonewrit” /join lair – kill a Wyvern or go to the last room and kill the Dragon (this was faster for me)
- “Find the Handle” /join gilead – kill any Elemental
- “Find the Hilt” /join graveyard – kill any Skeleton
But two of them trip people up:
- “Find the Blade” (Mana Golem room at /join elemental)
- “Find the Runes” (Escherion boss room at /join escherion)
You won’t naturally reach these areas just by joining the map, they are locked behind long quest chains. Instead, you need to:
- Go to the area
- Open the player list (arrow in bottom right corner)
- Use “/goto <name>” to someone already in that room
This only really works on busy servers, so make sure you’re not playing on an empty one.
Final Steps
Once you have all the pieces:
- Return to Valencia
- Forge the Blade
Then go into the shop and pick up the Awethur’s Accoutrements version of the weapon.
After that, go into Awe Enhancements and pick the right one for your class.
If you’re using Mage, go with Wizard Enchantments. These enchantments are stronger than regular ones.
Come back and upgrade this every 10 levels.
Level 75–100 – Two Options
Once you hit around 75, you’ve got two solid ways to finish levelling.
Option 1 (Simple and Consistent)
Go to: /join icestormunder
This is basically the same idea as before:
- Lots of players
- Spam enemies
- No quests needed
It’s not exciting, but it works.
Option 2 (Faster, But More Effort)
Go to: /join icewing
Here, you’re killing a boss and turning in a quest every time.
It’s faster for raw XP, but:
- You have to hand in every kill
- It doesn’t level classes well
- It’s more effort overall
So it depends what you prefer. Ideally stay here if the boss dies in 15-30 seconds as it will be the fastest way to level up, especially from level 90+
Armor of Awe (Levelling Gear)
You can go for the Armor of Awe, but realistically:
Don’t prioritise it too early, you need to be higher level.
It requires:
- Rank 10 Blade of Awe reputation
- A lot of ultra boss farming (100–200+ kills per piece)
- Level 55+
- Several prerequisite steps
This is more of a later goal to speed up your level 75+ exp gains, not something you need super early.
When Should You Start?
You can start at level 55, but realistically level 75+ is the better time.
You’ll kill bosses faster and waste less time.
Make sure you have access to a strong defensive class so you don’t die.
Step 1 – Get Rank 10 Blade of Awe Reputation
You’ll already be part way there from getting the Blade.
Go to: /join museum
Speak to Valencia and take the “Find the Handle!” Blade of Awe Quest.
Go to:
- /join gilead
- Kill elementals
- Turn in and repeat
If there’s a server reputation boost active, this only takes around 30 minutes from rank 7–10.
Step 2 – Unlock the Armor of Awe Quests
- Speak to Valencia
- Go to Awe Passes → Buy the Armor of Awe Pass
- Then go to: AQW Hero → Quests
Now you’ll see all the individual fragment quests.
Step 3 – Farming the Armor Pieces
Pauldron of Awe
- /join gravestrike
- Kill Ultra Akriloth
- 15 quest turn-ins
- Total: 225 kills
Breastplate of Awe
- /join aqlesson
- Kill Carnax
- 100 kills total
- Turn in 10 times
Vambrace of Awe
- /join bloodtitan
- Use Goto → Ultra
- Kill Blood Titan
- Total: 225 kills
Gauntlet of Awe
- /join ultraalteon
- Kill Ultra Alteon
- Total: 125 kills
Greaves of Awe
- /join bosschallenge
- Select Void Dragon (55+)
- Kill Mutated Void Dragon
- Total: 150 kills
Step 4 – Crafting the Armor
Once you have all fragments:
- Return to Valencia
- Convert fragments into relics (1:1)
- Combine relics into the Armor of Awe
Don’t forget to enchant it.
Faster Progress Tip (Do This First)
Before committing to the full set, get the easier pieces:
Cape of Awe (Very Easy)
- /join doomvault
- Complete the full questline
- Return to the entrance
- Click the bookcase → fight Blinky
- Kill once → get Cape Shard
Then:
- Convert to relic with Valencia at /join museum
- Buy Cape of Awe
Helm of Awe (More Effort, Still Easier Than Full Set)
- Also in /join doomvault:
- Complete questline
- Find hidden hatch (screens 16, 22, or 25 via pressing candle)
- Walk the bridge 100 times
- Unlock final area at entrance downstairs
- Complete another set of quests
- Reach Undead Raxgore at the very end
- Requires: 150 kills, 10 fragment turn-ins
Final AQW Levelling Advice
If you follow this properly, levelling in AQW becomes very straightforward.
Focus on:
- Tagging enemies, not damage
- Farming in busy areas
- Stacking quests
- Getting Blade of Awe early
Do that, and you’ll level quickly without wasting time.
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