It is possible to level really fast in Guild Wars. You can get a new character to level 20 in about five or six hours without using tomes or consets. This guide is for people who have created and played their first character, and done levelling as part of the learning process. After that, most people want to get to level 20 as fast as possible. (Some players pay powerlevellers to do it for them.) It's also designed for people who actually want to play the profession and have some fun.
What you need is Factions and and organised approach. Eye of the North is helpful, but not essential.
When you start Factions, you can choose to do the basic training or skip it and go to the monastery immediately with Master Togo. Whichever option you choose, you will be level 2, with some basic skills, when you start the storyline. You will also get a starter quest from a Headmaster, which involves finding your first teacher somewhere out in Sunqua Valley.
On the way out, pick up the "Forming a Party" quest from Ludo, and invite at least one henchman into your party. If you're playing alone to get started, take three, including a healer. Ludo will be waiting for you outside the door and you can collect your 1,000 experience points (XP) quest reward for no effort whatsoever.
Follow the arrows and star on your compass or mini-map (press U to get a mini-map) to complete your starter quest. Do the quest the teacher gives you, to advance to level 3. Then take the second quest, to find a second teacher, and do that. Don't worry about fighting anything that doesn't attack you, unless you're particularly bloodthirsty or want to practice your new skills. When you find the second teacher, you will get another quest which you must do. The teacher will then send you back to Master Togo, who will offer you 7 quests at 50 XP each. These simply involve talking to the other headmasters about a secondary profession, take them all. Speak to each of the headmasters and take each of their quests. You don't have to equip the skills they offer, just choose one you like the look of and stick with that for the moment.
On the way out, pick up the quest from Neing the Tanner and do it first, to get a belt pouch and a good push to level 4. Then do each of the first secondary profession quests to end up well into level 6. You will need to equip the mesmer skills after locating Mei Ling to do the mesmer quest, which involves hex removal, unless you have a person with hex removal in your party. All of these quests are in Sunqua Vale, so press L, change quests and watch your star move on the compass or minimap to find your most efficient route. Getting to level 6 takes less than an hour.
From there, do the whole series of secondary profession quests. They clump together in areas as well, so use your quest log to see which others are nearby. Each of these quests will be followed by a quest to see Master Togo: wait until you have finished all the quests before returning to him. Collect all the quest rewards from him, then choose your secondary profession, and accept the quest to the first mission. By now you should be level 10, and not two hours into playing.
Do the mission in the fastest possible time, (Masters) to get the maximum XP from it. A level 20 friend or guildmate, or even just their heroes, can be a great help here. You will end up at Ran Musu. Collect the quest from Raitahn Nem which will give you 15 attribute points and 4,000 XP as a quest reward. The quest is quite long, so you can skip it if you're in a hurry for level 20. Follow only the primary quest line to the second mission, which gets you to Zen Daijun. Once again, a level 20 friend or guildmate can help you through this fast, so you get maximum XP. By the time you finish the second mission, you will be at least level 13.
There is another attribute point quest worth 4,000XP in Seitung Harbour, from Zunraa (An Unwelcome Guest), but you can skip that for the moment too. It's another long one. Just collect it so you don't forget about it. You should also collect, but not do, the Insignia quest from the Instructor Ng in Shing Jea Monastery. Having them in your quest log will remind you to do them later.
Speak to First Mate Xiang for the quest A Master's Burden, then take the boat for the mainland. You will land in Kaineng Docks, where you need to speak to Headmaster Greico, before going through the door into the Marketplace. Pick up a team of level 20 henchmen, and head north through Bukdek Byway for Kaineng Center. There are two quests along the way, but you may not see them both. One is given by Bryan (Going Home), the other is to help a little lost girl, Aiko (The Missing Daughter). The lost girl quest needs immediate attention, as you have to take her home and she follows you. You can ignore her quest until you do the other quests in Bukdek Byway later, or you can do it immediately. Try and get Bryan's quest on the way up as it's an easy quest to do, at the docks just outside Kaineng Center, and you can collect the reward when you return to Bukdek Byway.
Once in Kaineng Center, buy maximum armour, then go quest hunting. Kaineng quests are worth 3,000 XP each, and are nicely grouped together so that you can return and collect multiple rewards at once. Good heroes can be very helpful, so take the quest to EoTN (Minister of Maintenance Raiugyon) if you have the option, and do it first to collect your level 20 heroes. Don't forget to give them proper skillsets. If M.O.X. is waiting for you outside Kaineng Centre, collect him too. The quest to Nightfall (Imperial Guardsman Linro) is only worth doing now if you want to level up those heroes with you. Don't adventure with them yet, just swap them in when collecting quest rewards so that they level up. If you want a survivor title, the quest to Nightfall is most likely to kill you, and that could be a reason to skip it now.
If you have EoTN, accept the quest "Charr Invaders" from Mullenix. It's worth 10,000 XP so it's worth going up to Gunnar's Hold and doing it. Then go back to Kaineng Center and make sure you have all of these quests:
*The Emperor in Peril, from Guildmaster Luan. Start the quest cycle with the first part of this quest, which takes you to the Emperor's Hand in Raisu Pavilion. He will give you the quest Captured. The rest of The Emperor in Peril is in Bukdek Byway. *The Search for a Cure, from Imperial Agent Hanjo. The first part of this quest is speaking to Bujo in Kaineng Center, so that's quickly done too. The second part is Wajjun Bazaar. *Feed the Hungry, from Imperial Guardsman Kintae. Bukdek Byway Quest. *The Afflicted Guard, from Imperial Guardsman Kintae. Bukdek Byway Quest. *Drunken Master, from Barkeep Mehoro. Bukdek Byway Quest. *The Xunlai Agent, from Xunlai Agent Honlo. Bukdek Byway Quest.
Now go into Bukdek Byway and do all the quests in one expedition. Grouping them together like this saves a lot of time, and you can probably get them all done in about an hour. If you got Bryan's quest on the way up, do it as a quick detour before starting so that you can collect your reward here at the same time. You can also look for Aiko if you didn't catch her on the way up. Also pick the up the quest Passing The Buck, from Minister Tahlen. Then go back into Kaineng Center and collect all the quest rewards from the completed quests. Guildmaster Luan will give you a follow up quest (The Plot Thickens) which is quick to do, and after that a quest (It Ends Here) which takes you into the Undercity.
Next, map to the Marketplace, and go out into Wajjun Bazaar. Keep your eyes open for questgivers as you go.
Do these two quests first: *A Master's Burden. (Headmaster Greico, Kaineng Docks) *The Search for a Cure (Imperial Agent Hanjo, Kaineng Center) which takes you to Guardsman Pah. He gives you another quest, Medical Emergency. Right near Guardsman Pah are two questgivers: *Kaya (Little Lost Bear). This is very close by so you may as well do it now too. *Paomu (Problem Salving). You can do this later.
Take the Jade Brotherhood capes back to Bujo to get the follow-up quest Seek Out Brother Tosai. Collect the quest reward for A Master's Burden and get the quest Mayhem in the Market from Headmaster Greico in the process. Get the quest Capturing the Orrian Tome from Minister Jaisen in Kaineng Center.
Map back to the Marketplace, go back into Wajjun Bazaar. The going will be easier now that the Am Fah are no longer hostile.
Complete these quests:
*Mayhem in the Market (first half) *Medical Emergeny (Guardsman Pah) *Seek out Brother Tosai (Bujo, Kaineng Center) *Paomu (Problem Salving). Part of the Problem Salving quest will take you to Budo. Get back on the main path after talking to him to find Saito and the quest Assassination Attempt if you haven't already found it. *Passing the Buck (Minister Tahlen, Bukdek Byway) *Assassination Attempt (Saito, Wajjun Bazaar)
The quest cycle will take you to Officer Chitaro, who also has quests for you. The first is Luxury Goods, which is in Bukdek Byway. You don't need this quest now. You can pick up Guardsman Tang's quest, Assist the Guards, and do that when you go into the Undercity next.
When the Wajjun Bazaar quests are complete, head towards the the Undercity, where you have the following quests active:
*Assist the Guards (Guardsman Tang, Wajjun Bazaar) *It Ends here (Guildmaster Luan, Kaineng Center) *Capturing the Orrian Tome (Minister Jaisen, Kaineng Center) *Captured (Emperor's Hand, Raisu Pavilion) *Mayhem in the Marketplace
Guardsman Tang will give you another quest, Straight to the Top, when you collect your quest reward. Minister Jaisen will give you a follow up quest to use a Signet of Capture (Minister's Test). Straight to the Top requires you to kill a monk boss, Quufu, which may be useful depending on your primary or secondary professions.
If you took the Charr Invaders quest in EoTN, you will almost certainly level up to 20 before all completing the Kaineng quests.
You can now go back to Shing Jea Island to knock off the attribute and insignia quests with ease to round your character out. Total playing time will be five to six hours.
If you want to start a non-factions character, such as a Paragon or a Dervish, you can still use Factions to level up fast. Follow your primary quests and do the missions. Don't waste time with secondary quests. When you have completed The Time is Nigh, take the quest from Funwa Shento in Kamadan that gets you to Kaineng Centre. (You can ferry to Consulate Docks, but you may arrive in Kaineng too low level to get to level 20 with all the quests.) You can buy maximum armour from either place, depending on which armour you like most. All of the quests except those from Headmaster Greico and the Orrian Tome will be available to you, and you can treat them in the same efficient way to level up in a couple of hours. You can also run up to EoTN for your level 20 heroes and the Charr Invaders quest.
Using the henchman Talon Silverwing may help speed you along, as he has the skill "Charge". Also, once in Kaineng, you may use scrolls to increase the experience you earn from killing monsters: the test here was done without them. Caustic Soda Pop (smiting monk) did it in just 4 hours and 49 minutes, with help from a level 20 guildmate. A less experienced player will take a little longer.