I have a friend whom I am introducing to AO. I need to get him to max level as fast as I can because of his impatience. How should I do so
Tell him to ignore the stepstones level recommendation
if you do that make sure you’re there to help with elius
save every castaway you can (on his ship), do every diving spot you see, let him turn in every sealed chest, do the easy lvl 70 quests such as cernunno’s, munera garden’s and the shell ones and that’s it i think
don’t listen to anyone that dares say that you should make him party leader then complete treasure charts for him (i think the feature’s broken so he won’t get the exp)
- Pick up all the cargo, gunpowder barrels you can, kill ships to get sealed chests as well, and funnel all that to him once you’re past the Ravenna gauntlet and he needs to get to 119. You want to wait until he needs levels because they scale with level, while quest experience does not. Get in a party with him, so he can take things off your ship. While he’s unloading, drop things next to the shipwright so he doesn’t have to make as many trips.
- Make sure you got maximum speed on your ship, or as close to max as you can get with your deckhands. It will certainly be faster than his rowboat.
- Burn down bosses for him as well as bounties if you’re planning on doing the dodge reflex quest. He should not hit the bosses until they are low on health.
- Since he is impatient, I’d skip Edward since that’s fishing and scout out Goso Jungle to see if there’s watermelons for Enizor before worrying about that quest.
- If you know how to do so, show him how to climb Mount Othrys instead of going through the cave, it’ll probably be less frustrating.
- Agility/energizing burst potions would be good, as well as some for diving as well if you find diving spots. They will need to be burst since you may not be able to trade with him early on.
- If there’s quests nearby he can do, and they don’t require extensive traveling/rely on finding items (the coconut quest at Frostmill is easy since you can find plenty at Palo Town, but the tomato quest at Ravenna I would skip because the locations are few and far between), he should do them.
- Alternating moves is important to learn, so he can put out more damage in the fights you can’t help with.
- If you’re not skipping the story past getting his awakening, then have some 120 gear to trade him for the Forest of Masts Quartermasters/Phase 1 Maria fights (if he can be traded then).
- Use power/energizing/healing burst potions for fights that you can’t help with (like Phase 1 Maria). Good deployable meals with health regeneration may also help for these fights.
- You could potentially use a Wind Knockback Mage to quickly get to the various sky islands, though it may not be reliable horizontally, especially with a new player.
- At Fort Talos, I recommend walking except when jumping across a gap, so it’s easier to control.
2 Likes
theres a high chance he just sees ao as a bandit beater
dont bother
unlike everyone here who agrees to catering to your friend, I say tell the shit head to enjoy the process, AO is an experience meant to be relished 
6 Likes
main character always has a different opinion
I like how detailed this is.
aura recognize aura 
I agree actually, when you get to max level things become a lot more boring. At that stage you either grind or do pvp.
Taking the slower way makes you feel your progress and is much more fulfilling.
Also exploring and finding out lore isn’t efficient for leveling but i’d rather do that than Speedrun it (unless i get tired of that at my 11th new file)
I got too sidetracked in my new file that i hot lvl 140 before fighting carina, and got the dodge reflex.
(Calvus still kicked my ass because i have skill issue)
I totally took 40 hours to max out my first file on purpose… (I got stuck at every boss possible and probably died a bunch getting distracted by random npc ships.)
The search for a fortified ship that isn’t a ketch was what sidetracked me to sink ships, i sunk 2 of them and it didn’t count till the third one, that girl is picky
Tell your friend to stop being a bitch and be patient please 
3 Likes
You don’t. What good is getting him to max level gonna do if he’s impatient. Bro gonna be in for a shock when he needs to start grinding for his ideal armor set and doing dark sea runs
Kidnap him irl and make them snort crushed hecate shards while you force them to watch the latest Q&A and force Vetech bromance art down his mind to become a vessel for our lord Vetex
If he’s impatient then he won’t enjoy ao
Don’t bother
You see, there is this weapon called “gun”.