How to level from 128-130?

I ran 100% exp potions for almost every turn in of signature line quests and at the end of the signature line I was 129 and maybe 12%. To get to 130 you have to do all of the dropped quests and POI quests, do daily dungeons each day, and mix in quite a few repeatables. To push out the last few %s on each of my alts I would run the repeatable in the charred vale over and over. It gives .9% with no bonus (and it's not worth running an exp pot while doing it either, only bumps the exp up to about 1% instead).

Yeah, sadly the exp pots only work on the experience from killing mobs and sometimes a small percent of the quest reward. If you turn in a quest you'll either see 123456 experience gained. Bonus of 12345. You gain 123456789 experience. They added that last line as a bypass to ignore experience bonuses of all types. Some quests just have that last line that ignores the bonuses but a lot of them have like 5 to 10% of the experience on the first line being bonus eligible and the rest on the no bonus line of experience.

I have to say. Getting the last 2 levels has been the worst experience I've had with this game in 20 years. I positionally hate that we can't get XP from killing mobs. If they Main Sig line is not going to get me to 130, let me grind it my own way.

Sad thing is most of the side quests are a requirement to continue the signature quest line. So you don't have many extra quests leftover other than the drop quests once you finish the signature.

Yes, this is what I'm saying. I can't get more quests, I can't kill mobs. It's ridiculous. Not fun.

I'm going to run through this again soon with a character. I do believe there were a couple of quests that did not reward any experience, if so I am going to /bug them and post in the bug forum. I think both adventure and Tradeskill should net you max when you finish the signature line with their new style of leveling. The tradeskill quest line I told them way back in beta and they still never fixed it. We'll see how quick they ignore the adventure side quests once I find them.

You get a nice dollop of XP from doing the overland weeklies, and these open at level 126. I have a level 130 troub who has barely even started the sigline -- 4 researched XP pots to get to 126, then overland weeklies and a few zones

In general I very much dislike the grind of the last couple levels. I finished the signatures on my Beastlord intending to run through on my Conjuror and then eventually my Berserker and Monk.

Was so disappointed with just trying to get my first toon to 130 he's now parked at 128 and the other three I won't even attempt it. NOT FUN for me. (this is just my opinion - others are welcome to feel different)

I enjoyed taking six toons to max in VoV, then four toons to max in RoR, now NO toons to max BoZ...

Glad to know it's not just me. I enjoy the expansions, but it sure seems like they are killing off any ability to have even a small stable of alts more so with each successive expansion. I can't play this game 8 hours a day 6 days a week. Oh well...

At this point I enjoy rolling new toons and bringing them through old school dungeons more than trying to keep my high level toons up to current. I gave up on BoZ and am now working on a new Paladin. IF (and that's a BIG if) I buy the preorder premium next expansion it would only be to get the bonus goodies and celestials - not to even attempt to get my team up to max. Not if they keep going this direction.

this expansion has the feeling of Sentinals Fate for me -- NO quests !! getting to 90 was awful !
that was one of the worst expansions -- ever <shudder>
yea, not even going to bother with exp potions this time at all -- not enough difference in just doing it
the old way ... and I thought QUESTS were the way to lvl, smh -- now they do this ?
like someone has already said -- let us grind mobs again (still do that in Everquest) -- if combat is giving us the exp ..

To be honest I found it refreshing to not sneeze and be at max level, yes they could lower the XP needed a little I guess but on my first toon through I did the sig line, side quests, solo dungeon quest, POI quests and dropped quests and I dinged 130, no need to repeat anything and it was all solo content no heroics needed. I burnt a couple of pots early on but realised that they don't do a thing so didn't bother after that. For to long it has been hand in a quest ding 2 levels hand in another quest ding to max, when the game started it took ages to get any levels far longer than it has in this expac really. Personally I'm glad that we do not have to go somewhere and kill mob after mob after mob just to level all while loosing the will to play, at least now you can actually do the content they have provided and level to max without having to sit for hours grinding xp from mobs, but that's just my view (I have something like 9 toons to 130 so have done it a few times) everyone enjoys different aspects and play styles I guess.

believe it or not -- I have some very fond memories of grinding --
getting my friend Yerkich to lvl 80 in the Boneyard -- "I'm never going to make 80!" "YES you are ! "
(he did, in the wee hours of the am ) ... "Eli what ARE you doing out there ?" "Grinding to 50; killing lava lizards. I am going to get there tonight !"
great conversations during grinding -- getting to know your friends ...

anyone remember "play your way" ? yea, I know - gone ages ago --
THAT's what I want for EQ3 --- if in our pipe dreams we ever get it ...

All play styles are valid and yes killing mobs with friends could be fun and rewarding, however we have to do the best we can with what we got, killing mobs still rewards XP however the amount rewarded vs the amount needed makes it nigh on impossible to use it as a means to level, this was changed back in Planes of Prophecy I think to move it to levelling via quests (pretty sure you will probably find lots of posts from then saying it's great and brilliant, while also a lot saying they hate it!).

I got no ideas what EQ3 will bring, maybe we won't even have levels! that's if it ever appears

If you have 9 toons at 130 then you have a lot more time to play than I do. Or maybe I just really suck at playing and haven’t realized it for 20 years, lol.

Glad someone is “finding it refreshing” though. I’m not.

I get what you’re saying about levelling too fast but BoZ is definitely too slow imo.

No worries though, I have moved on to playing parts of the game I still enjoy for now.

LOL -- then I must not have enough time -- 10 toons -- think I'd better sick to 2 from here on ..
except for crafting, which I love
I think I overstepped my limit there -- or I suck ... which no one does, but you have to have a sense of humor in this game

I think it should be set so that when you finish the sig line you are at the max level for the expansion, all the other quests are then things to do if you want rather than need to do them for levelling.

I find this slightly annoying on my alts, as Farming the Drop Quests is irritating.
But Doing the Sig Line and the overland quests with 1 of the repeatable for the achievements, Meant that I made 130 During the Drop/POI quests
Make sure that you do pick up the Daily/Weekly as they become available

A sense of humor is a must - not just in the game but real life!

Yeah I have three accounts full of toons (only play on one of the accounts any more) plus over the years I have even deleted old toons (some even from 2003 and 2004) to make room for new ones. AND I’ve purchased several extra chracter slots and have 13 toons on this account alone. Yes, I have an alt problem lol. I often try to focus on one toon as my ‘main’ but like to switch around.

I didn't feel like it was extremely hard getting to 130. I agree with Miaga. It was nice not leveling so fast and the sig line with the poi/drop quests really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be when I actually got started on it. My first time through I felt overwhelmed by it, but once I was almost done it wasn't so bad.

I didn’t feel overwhelmed. I was just disappointed. I prefer some things to be optional like dailies/weeklies and poi’s. As I’ve said before, I’m glad others are enjoying it. Now back to having a blast in lowbie dungeons.

Leveling past 100 is frustrating and no fun in EQ2.
There's no quest helpers on the map, the exp is slow and you cannot grind mobs for it, cannot fly in new zones until late in quest chains, solo dungeons requiring help (that's not solo).

I would never want to level another character again. The 1-100 experience is great, but after that it's torture. It really needs to be addressed.