I’ve sunk over 120 hours into Enshrouded across three separate playthroughs, and my biggest regret from my first run is wasting 10+ hours grinding low-level wolf spawns for barely any XP. If you’re tired of slow progress and want to unlock higher tier gear, zones, and skills without the mind-numbing grind, you’re in the right place. This guide breaks down exactly how to level up fast in Enshrouded, with actionable tips I’ve tested myself to cut my total time to max level almost in half. You don’t need fancy exploits or to play 12 hours a day to make progress fast, you just need to know which tasks give the most XP for your time.
Prioritize These Quests First If You Want to Level Up Fast in Enshrouded
Not all quests are created equal when it comes to XP payouts, and picking the wrong ones can waste hours of your time for minimal gains. The first rule I follow on every new playthrough is to focus on main story quests first, no exceptions. Main story quests give 2 to 3 times more XP than random side fetch quests, and they also unlock critical progression milestones that make leveling even faster later on.
Flame altar upgrade quests are non-negotiable to prioritize, even if they feel a bit tedious to complete. Each upgrade extends your shroud timer, unlocks higher level map zones, and increases the XP bonus you get for kills in shrouded areas. I skipped two of these quests on my first run because I didn’t want to hunt for rare upgrade materials, and I ended up stuck earning 50% less XP per kill for 5 hours until I finally went back to complete them.
NPC rescue quests are another high-yield task you should never pass up. Each rescue gives a huge one-time XP burst, plus unlocks new crafting stations, skill trainers, and quest lines that give even more XP down the line. You don’t have to go out of your way for every random side quest you see on your map, but if a rescue quest is within a 5 minute travel distance of your current objective, it’s always worth the detour.
So if you want to make the most of your playtime, map out your main quest path first, and only stop for side content that directly supports that goal. You can always go back and complete low-level side quests later when you’re overleveled and can blow through them in 2 minutes each.
Optimize Your Open World XP Farming Routes
When you do need to grind a few levels to unlock a main story quest or gear upgrade, you don’t have to camp the first mob spawn you find. A little bit of route planning can double or even triple your XP per hour, depending on your build and current level.
Shrouded zones give a 30% base XP bonus for all kills compared to above-ground zones of the same level, so they’re always the best option for farming. Just make sure you stock up on shroud potions before you head in, so you can stay longer without having to run back to the surface to reset your timer. You should also stick to mobs that are 1 to 2 levels above your current level; mobs more than 3 levels above you will one-shot you most of the time, and mobs more than 2 levels below you give 50% less XP per kill.
If you’re playing a build with AOE skills, prioritize zones with clustered mob spawns, because you get a small stacking XP bonus for multi-kills. On my mage playthrough, I could pull 5 to 6 undead mobs at once in mid-tier shroud zones, burn them down with a single fire AOE spell, and earn a full level every 20 minutes of farming.
My go-to mid-game farming spots for all build types are:
- Reach of the Rot: Level 15-20 shrouded zone packed with clustered undead mobs, perfect for AOE builds to chain multi-kills for bonus XP, plus it drops rare crafting materials for shadow gear
- Pillager Camps (north of the starting plateau): Level 10-15 human mobs that drop extra gold alongside solid XP, plus you can loot their supply crates for building materials and healing items
- Ancient Vaults: Each vault clear gives a flat 5000+ XP bonus plus rare gear that lets you take on higher level content faster, and you can run them as many times as you want for consistent rewards
Ancient spire climbs are another quick way to get big XP bursts, plus they unlock fast travel points that cut down on travel time between quests. Each spire only takes 10 to 15 minutes to climb, and gives enough XP to fill half a level for most early to mid-game players.
Leverage Crafting and Base Building for Passive XP Gains
Most new players don’t realize that crafting and base building give consistent XP, even for small, routine tasks. You don’t have to grind mobs nonstop to level up; you can earn passive XP while you’re prepping for a farming run or waiting for friends to log on.
Bulk crafting high-use items is the easiest way to earn this passive XP. If you have a stockpile of iron and feathers, craft 200 to 300 arrows before you head out for a quest. If you have a lot of raw meat and vegetables, bulk cook stews and healing items. You get XP for every item you craft, and you’ll end up using all of those items eventually anyway, so there’s no wasted resources. I once crafted 500 iron arrows while waiting for my friend to finish a work call, and earned almost a full level from it without killing a single mob.
Upgrading your base structures also gives small but consistent XP bursts. Every time you upgrade a workbench, storage chest, or section of your base wall, you get a small XP payout, and higher tier upgrades give even more XP. Just don’t waste resources upgrading random parts of your base that you don’t need; prioritize upgrades that support your progression first, like workbench upgrades that let you craft higher tier gear.
That said, don’t craft random items you’ll never use just for XP. You’ll need most raw materials for gear upgrades and flame altar improvements later on, so wasting them on low-value crafts will slow you down more than the extra XP helps.
Group Up for Faster Quests and Higher XP Multipliers
You don’t have to play with other people to level fast in Enshrouded, but grouping up can cut your leveling time by 20 to 30% if you’re comfortable playing with others.
Full groups of 2 to 4 players get a 15% shared XP bonus for all kills and quest completions, as long as you’re within 100 meters of each other. Even better, quest objectives count for all group members, so if a quest asks you to collect 10 plant samples, each player can collect samples and they add to the same total. I once finished a main story quest that would have taken me 45 minutes solo in 12 minutes with a group of 3 friends, because we split up to collect objectives across the zone.
You don’t have to play with people you know, either. Random public groups are great for farming runs or vault clears, as long as everyone is focused on the same objective. If you join a group that’s farming a zone 1 to 2 levels above your current level, you’ll earn XP way faster than you would farming solo.
But there are a few caveats to keep in mind. You won’t get any XP for kills that are more than 4 levels above your current level, so don’t join groups farming endgame zones if you’re still level 10. Also, if your group is full of players who want to wander and explore instead of completing quests, you’ll probably earn less XP than you would playing solo. If that’s the case, there’s no shame in leaving and playing on your own.
At the end of the day, Enshrouded is supposed to be fun, and spending 10 hours grinding the same mobs to level up once kills that enjoyment for most people. By focusing on high-yield quests, optimized farming routes, small passive XP gains from crafting, and optional group play, you can skip most of that frustration. If you follow these steps, you’ll learn how to level up fast in Enshrouded without sacrificing the parts of the game you love, and you’ll be able to jump into endgame content far sooner than most casual players. I’ve used these exact tricks on every playthrough since my first messy run, and they work just as well for new players as they do for people who know the map like the back of their hand.