Leveling and Progression
Leveling & Progression
Unlike most MMORPGs, Soulbound does not use general EXP to level your character.
Instead, character progression is measured by:
- Gear – Average level of Weapons and Armor equipped
- Skills – Affects which gear you can equip or what materials you can gather or craft. Each Skill has its own EXP pool
- For EXP per Skill level, see: EXP Table
- Upgrades – Upgrades provide permanent boosts to Weapons and Abilities, and influence Relic paths in dungeons
Other key progression milestones:
- Number of Quests completed
- Achievements gained
- Leaderboard position
🧭 General Advice
✅ Stick to the Main Questline
Progress through the main storyline to unlock essential items and key locations. Many mechanics are gated behind quest completion, making early leveling much smoother.
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🎒 Stock Up!
- Buy accessories from Farok in Virelda
- Buy cheap Healing Vials from the Gear Vendor on Tutorial Island
- Craft potions at the Witch Doctor
- Cook Beef Burgers and other foods at Granny Smith's or an Apartment Kitchen
- Loot respawning chests for materials (re-spawn every 3 hours)
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⏫ Level Up!
- Level Combat Skills
- Upgrade your Weapons and Abilities
- Use Gearforging or trade to improve your equipment
- Unlock new abilities: e.g., Healing Pulse from the Witch Doctor questline or Gleam Twins from Aster in Virelda
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🌀 Don’t Be Afraid to Use the Home Portal
Soulbound has rogue-like mechanics:
- Failing a dungeon can result in the loss of gear or items
- Harder dungeons = higher risk, but greater rewards
Use the Home Portal to extract safely before overextending.
“Discretion is the better part of valor.” – Sometimes the smart play is to get out with your loot!
⚔️ Leveling Skills Faster
Combat Skills
To level a Combat Skill faster:
- Equip Abilities tied to that Skill
- Set Weapon mode to Manual via the hotbar
- Fight enemies in lower-tier dungeons
Simultaneously farm crafting materials, quest drops, and Pioneer Guild Contracts for extra EXP.
Tip: Farpoint T3 offers the highest EXP gains per kill.
Recommended Pioneer Guild Contracts:
- Kill Green Bots
- Kill Desert Sphynxes
- Kill Rockydillos
- Kill Scorched Sphynxes
- Kill Pyrodillos
- Kill Cactolings
- Kill Scorched Lizards
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Gathering Skills
Community Events often allow competitive leveling for Gathering Skills like Foraging, Mining, and Fishing. These can be combined with Contracts for bonus EXP.
Leveling is more fun with friends!
🪴 Foraging Routes
- Virelda Outskirts
- Seabreeze Pass → Needlepoint Pass → Everdune Ruin
- Hollow Rock → Clifftop Pass → Farpoint
Recommended Contracts:
- Gather 10 Plants
⛏️ Mining Routes
- Virelda Outskirts
- Seabreeze Pass → Needlepoint Pass → Everdune Ruin
- Hollow Rock → Clifftop Pass → Farpoint
Recommended Contracts:
- Mine 10 Coal
- Mine 10 Iron Ore
- Mine 10 Copper Ore
Speed-Leveling Strategy (Mining):
- Accept a mining contract from the board in Virelda
- Complete it via the mining routes above
- Return and earn 250 Gold
- Use 50 Gold to refresh the contract board
- Repeat to earn 500 EXP per cycle
Energy Recovery Food Suggestions (Buy from Farok):
- Grilled Cheese (25 Stamina / 20 Gold)
- Salad (25 Stamina / 15 Gold)
- Onigiri (20 Stamina / 30 Gold)
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💻 Hacking Routes
Recommended Contracts:
- Hack 10 Nodes
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🎣 Fishing Routes
Recommended Contracts:
- Fish 5 Fish
- Catch a Bream
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Artisanal Skills
Rare community Events offer competitive leveling for Artisanal Skills like Cooking.
🍳 Cooking
Craft useful Food to level Cooking:
- Salad – Restores Stamina
- Beef Burger – Adds Health for dungeons
- Cheesecake – Reduces Cooldown in dungeons
Recommended Contracts:
- Cook French Fries
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🧱 Crafting (Fabrication)
This will level naturally as you make materials for Gearforging.
Common items:
- Iron Bar
- Copper Bar
- Cloth (from Fibre)
- Yokulite (from Yoku Shard)
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⚒️ Gearforging (Smithing)
Focus on either cheap or progression-relevant items:
- Cheap to craft:
- Desert Hoodpiece
- Desert Chestpiece
- Sandstorm Leggings
- Progression items:
Recommended Contracts:
- Craft a Refined Katana