If you’ve ever played an MMORPG, then you’re likely familiar with the term “grinding.” Popularized by World of Warcraft, the mechanic has become ubiquitous in the genre, so understanding how to grind properly is crucial to all aspects of gameplay. By grinding effectively, you can fast-track your progression and get to more engaging end-game content faster without farming sub-optimal mobs.
With a simple grind, you can tune out and go on autopilot, but there are also many tough grinds where you have to micromanage every step of the process. The last thing you want is to let the grind turn your favourite game into a day job. Despize boosts are one way that many players keep their favourite MMORPG games fun and fast-paced.
What Is Grinding?
In short, grinding is a way for players to quickly gain experience in the game to level up their MMORPG characters, acquire powerful gear, or make a lot of in-game gold by repeatedly performing a single task or set of tasks.
By definition, grinding is a time investment. Whatever it is you’re doing, you’ll want to check online game guides. This lets you be sure you’re sure you are doing the most efficient activity with the highest returns for the amount of time spent, whether that be in terms of experience gained, gold earned, or materials gathered.
Exactly what you need to do to grind will differ depending on what game you’re playing, what level you are, and what goal you are trying to achieve. For the most part, since you’ll be doing the same thing over and over and over again, pretty much every grind will come down to something rather mind-numbing and monotonous.
Grinding Methods
There are various common grinding techniques that most, if not all, MMORPGs share. Depending on what you’re trying to achieve – whether that be getting to max level or getting the best-in-slot gear for your class or role, you should identify which of the different methods of grinding you need to use.
Questing
For lower-level characters in most games, the best way to progress is most often by accepting and completing quests given by non-player characters. If you’re brand new to the game, this grinding method can also be highly engaging and enjoyable as it lets you learn more about the MMORPG game world and the different characters and factions that inhabit it.
Solo PVE Monster Killing
PVE stands for Player Versus Environment and refers to fighting versus computer-controlled enemies as opposed to other players (or PVP). When grinding via PVE, you’ll want to check out guides online to figure out which enemy will give you the most amount of experience or gold for the time it will take to defeat it, which will differ depending on your level – for some games, your in-game faction.
Group PVE Dungeons and Raids
For higher-level characters, this can be the most rewarding, and at the same time, engaging grinding method. MMORPG games typically include end-game content that is either impossible to complete solo. And if such content is possible to solo, doing so is likely to be an extremely inefficient use of your time.
By working in a group, whether made up of random players or members of your guild, you can quickly progress to higher levels by defeating enemies that would usually be too difficult for you to defeat. This style of gameplay also encourages players to work together, which can be a lot more fun than playing for hours on end.
Beating the Grind
When you’ve been playing for long enough, you’ll inevitably get a bit bored doing the same dungeons/raids and killing the same enemies again; it’s tedious, after all, it’s called “grinding” for a reason.
If you find yourself having a hard time mustering the will to get through the grind, here are a few pro-gamer tips to make the process a little more bearable.
- Watch a TV Show. With a TV nearby, or even by minimising your game window, you can watch your favourite shows as you grind to keep things interesting.
- Listen to music. Hearing the same sound effects, again and again, can grate on the nerves fast. Consider turning off the in-game audio and listening to music instead.
- Talk to people. You can talk to fellow players in-game about anything under the sun. Or, go beyond the game and call up someone else in your life. Everything is more fun with friends.