Taking Full Advantage of Bonus XP Leveling

Now that my main character is level 50 and fairly well geared, I'm spending some more time exploring other classes and their class stories. The problem is that I have already done all of the side quests three times now! So although I am enjoying the main class story lines, which are fresh and new for each class, I'm finding myself not wanting to repeat the hundreds of side missions yet again. 

To avoid them I'm playing avatars at the same time and taking full advantage of rested XP. As you can see in the screenshot here, I have three quarters of a bar available in rested XP. The green outline indicates how much double experience I will get. The double experience applies to all NPC kills but does not include the actual experience you get from the quests or from space. With three quarters of a bar of rested experience I will be getting double XP for all my kills for up to three levels. This is allowing me to skip a lot of the side quests on most of the planets for all my alt avatars.

To get rested experience, all you need to do is log out in a cantina or on your ship. Rested experience will cap out at a full bar. 

Other things I'm doing to avoid side missions are the daily space missions, which are quick and profitable, and also PvP. Spending all my warzone commendations on gear for for my alt characters and their companions makes up for the loot that I missed out on getting by choosing to not do side missions.

No Level Restrictions on Companions

I'm constantly getting asked to include a level indicator for companions. People want to know approximately what level they will get their companions at. As an experiment I got together with a friend who was already level 50 while I played my level 15 Smuggler and we thought we'd try and get my 2nd companion, Bowdaar while I was still at level 15. Bowdaar ordinarily joins you at approximately level 21, or at least 21 is the level you need to be to complete the mission solo. But, we wondered, what happens if you have a level 50 drag you through all your class missions? To do this you will need to get your own spaceship first. Now, of course, you can get somebody to drag you through class missions to get your ship as well, but I already had mine. After that ...

The first hurdle was actually getting to my class missions while I was at such a low level. As you can see in the above screenshot, the mobs in the areas leading up to my missions were 7 levels higher than I was. This makes it impossible to solo. You can't hit opponents that are that much higher than your level. Every shot was a miss. But I had a level 50 gladiator dragging me along, so one-shotting these level 22 mobs was no issue.

Then obviously the missions themselves involved fighting elite level 21 mobs. If you're level 15 and alone then this in itself is absolutely impossible. Even if you work out a way to get to the mission, whether it be via stealthing or clone zerging, you'll have no chance to kill the level 21 elite at level 15. But there is nothing stopping you from bringing a friend. Rammy, my gaurdian, got one or two shots off; before this bounty hunter had a chance to blink he was dead.

I levelled from 15 to 16 in just a couple of missions, so our experiment to see if I could get Bowdaar at level 15 became moot anyway.

To complete all my class missions on Nar Shaddaa it took the two of us working together about 45 minutes. I leveled from 15-16 and Bowdaar became my companion at the end of the quest line on that planet. I was also pleased to see that Bowdaar's equipment was rated much higher than any standard level 16 equipment; in fact the mods in his weapon are level 21, even though he is only level 16. 

I have since gone back and completed all the missions on Corellia and Taris (both of which I had skipped for the experiment of teaming up with a level 50) and having an over-equipped tank has made the missions extremely easy.

There is absolutely nothing stopping you from powering through your class missions with the assistance of other players, even if your class missions are on space stations or space ships. Your group members can land and join you on those stations and ships to assist you in any fight. 

Obviously, as you complete your class missions, you not only get the benefit of higher level companions joining you, but you also get access to higher level equipment that is a class reward and usually has no level restriction. 

Although I don't recommend you do this for your first or even your second experience in SWTOR, once you have a few alts leveled up, this could be a quick and easy way to level an extra alt for crafting or different experiences.

Leveling Guide to SWTOR

I know a lot of people are asking about leveling guides and the fastest way to level in SWTOR but unlike older games SWTOR doesn't need a leveling guide. The Missions tells you where to go. If you compare it to World of Warcraft, in WoW you needed a specific third party mod to find quest objectives on a map. It took Blizzard four years to add these convenient tools into their actual game. It was the lack of these tools that made leveling guides necessary. With SWTOR, you are about to learn the easiest, fastest, and fun way to level ...

Do it with a friend!

For the last two days I have been leveling with a good friend of mine, Rammy (ingame name). Now although he's a dude in a dress, his avatar has saved my ass more than once. I would say that comparing it to my last leveling experience in SWTOR Beta where I was playing alone, leveling grouped with a friend has been three times faster and even more fun. 

There is no disadvantage of doing Missions in a group. You both get full experience. You both get to bring your Companions, and you end up killing stuff really fast, completing bonus Missions where you need to kill thirty of this mob and thirty of that mob, are done in minutes.

Not only that, but you also get social points for grouping with a friend. These social points unlock unique outfits like the slave girl outfit that Princess Leia wears in Return of the Jedi, or the beautiful white dress that you can see the healer Rammy wearing int he background of this screenshot. These social outfits are orange items, so they can be modified and utilized all the way up to end game.

So get a friend and go kill some stuff!