The Best Way to Level Alts Fast in Odin: Valhalla Rising
Leveling alternate characters has become one of the biggest long-term grinds in Odin: Valhalla Rising. Once players establish a strong main character, attention naturally shifts toward building alts for farming, account progression, extra dungeon entries, and future class flexibility. The problem, however, is that reaching level 70 efficiently is not nearly as straightforward as it first appears.
Right now, the community seems divided between two major leveling philosophies. One side believes the fastest and most efficient method is rushing story progression deep into later zones like Z4 and even toward Z5. The other side argues that players should stop much earlier, unlock Underground Prison as quickly as possible, and rely heavily on B7 grinding combined with weekly reset timers.
Both methods work. The real question is which one offers the best balance between speed, efficiency, Odin Diamonds, and time investment.
For many experienced players, especially those managing multiple alts every month, that distinction matters more than anything else.
The Two Main Alt-Leveling Methods
The first strategy revolves around pushing the main questline aggressively through multiple zones. Players progress through Z2, continue through Z3 and Z4, eventually entering Alfheim and nearing Muspelheim progression. By the time the character reaches those later story chapters, the accumulated quest EXP usually places them close to level 70 naturally.
On paper, this method sounds extremely attractive. Story quests provide reliable EXP, gear upgrades, unlocks, and progression systems all at once. Players also avoid waiting around for weekly resets because progression remains constant as long as they continue questing.
However, there is a major downside.
Going all the way through Z4 takes a tremendous amount of time.
For many players, completing that amount of story content can consume nearly two full days per character. If someone is leveling several alts each month, that time investment becomes enormous. Instead of farming efficiently on a main character, the player is stuck running quest chains, traveling across maps, and clearing objectives repeatedly.
That leads directly into the second strategy.
The Underground Prison Method
The alternative approach is much more focused and arguably far more efficient for players who prioritize long-term account growth.
Instead of fully progressing through every story zone, players rush only until they reach Z2 Chapter 3. The goal is simple: unlock Underground Prison as quickly as possible. Once B7 becomes available, the leveling strategy shifts entirely toward grinding.
Here is how the process generally works:
Rush the alt to Z2 Chapter 3
Unlock Underground Prison B7
Use the free 8-hour grind allowance
Wait for the weekly reset
Use another 8-hour session
Finish remaining levels with Hourglasses if necessary
For many players, especially optimized builds, this alone is enough to reach level 70 without ever needing to complete later story zones.
The biggest advantage is efficiency.
Rather than spending days manually questing through Z4 and beyond, the character spends most of its leveling time passively grinding EXP in one of the best farming locations available.
This drastically reduces active playtime.
Why Many Players Prefer B7 Grinding
The biggest argument in favor of the B7 method is not necessarily raw speed. Instead, it is about opportunity cost.
Every hour spent pushing an alt through late-game story progression is an hour not spent improving your main character.
That matters a lot in Odin: Valhalla Rising because the main character's progression impacts nearly every aspect of the account:
Gear farming
Upgrade materials
Gold generation
Collection completion
Enhancement progression
Endgame grinding efficiency
Power ranking progression
If pushing one alt through Z4 consumes two full days, leveling four alts in a month could cost roughly eight days of valuable farming time on the main account.
That is an enormous sacrifice.
By comparison, the Underground Prison strategy only requires around 16 to 20 total hours per alt spread across two weeks due to the reset timer system. While technically slower on a calendar basis, it demands far less active engagement.
For players balancing work, school, or multiple games, that difference is huge.
Weekly Resets Change Everything
The only major weakness of the Underground Prison method is the weekly lockout structure.
Because players rely heavily on the free 8-hour grind sessions, progress becomes tied to weekly resets. That means you cannot instantly rush a character from start to finish in one nonstop grind session unless you spend additional Hourglasses.
Some players dislike this limitation because it delays completion.
Others view it as a strength.
Why?
Because it allows the alt to level mostly in the background while the player continues focusing on their main character. Instead of dedicating entire days to questing, players simply rotate the alt into B7 farming sessions whenever the timer becomes available.
This creates a far more relaxed progression cycle.
For highly active players, Hourglasses can accelerate the process further. Spending a few extra hours grinding after the second reset often finishes the climb to level 70 without requiring extensive story progression.
Class Choice Makes a Huge Difference
One important factor many players overlook is class efficiency.
Not every class performs equally inside the Underground Prison. Some builds clear mobs dramatically faster, making the B7 strategy significantly more effective.
Sniper builds, for example, are especially strong in this environment because of their exceptional basic attack scaling and attack speed bonuses.
With skills like Blessing of the Bow, Snipers can maintain extremely high DPS while farming efficiently with minimal skill usage. Instead of relying on expensive rotations or cooldown management, they can simply auto-attack through enemies while maintaining excellent clear speed.
That efficiency lowers resource consumption substantially.
Some players can farm effectively using only minimal food buffs, such as:
Hand Vein
Reindeer Roast
Combined with temporary buffs and an EXP-focused loadout, the gains become surprisingly strong despite relatively low investment.
Even if the raw EXP numbers do not appear massive at first glance, consistency matters more than burst efficiency over extended farming sessions.
EXP Loadouts vs Combat Loadouts
Another interesting optimization many experienced players recommend is separating farming builds from normal combat builds.
A traditional combat loadout may maximize damage output for bosses or PvP, but an EXP-focused setup can often generate better long-term leveling gains.
This includes:
EXP stat bonuses
Farming accessories
Attack speed improvements
Sustain-oriented gear
Consumable optimization
In prolonged B7 sessions, even small EXP percentage increases add up tremendously over time.
For alt leveling specifically, maximizing survivability and uninterrupted grinding usually matters more than peak burst damage.
This is another reason why the Underground Prison method has become so popular among efficient players. It rewards consistency rather than active mechanical gameplay.
Is Questing Through Z4 Still Worth It?
Despite the popularity of B7 grinding, the story progression route still has legitimate advantages.
Players who fully progress through later zones gain access to:
Additional map unlocks
Side quest rewards
Better gear opportunities
More account progression systems
Zone completion bonuses
Extra materials
For newer players, especially, rushing directly into Underground Prison may leave the character underdeveloped in other areas.
There is also the simple reality that some players enjoy questing more than passive grinding. Spending hours auto-farming in B7 is not particularly exciting gameplay for everyone buy Odin Valhalla Rising Diamonds.
Meanwhile, progressing through Alfheim and Muspelheim at least provides variety, exploration, and story progression.
So while the B7 strategy may be more efficient mathematically, efficiency is not always the only goal.
The Real Answer Depends on Your Priorities
Ultimately, there is probably no universal “best” leveling method.
The better question is:
What are you trying to optimize?
If your goal is maximum account efficiency while preserving main-character farming time, then stopping at Z2 Chapter 3 and grinding Underground Prison is probably the superior option.
If your goal is fastest immediate completion regardless of active playtime investment, then pushing through Z4 and later zones may still be worthwhile.
The distinction comes down to whether you value:
Active speed
or
Passive efficiency
For many veteran MMORPG players, passive efficiency usually wins in the long run.
Why the Meta May Continue to Evolve
One important thing to remember is that alt-leveling strategies in Odin: Valhalla Rising are constantly evolving.
As players optimize builds, discover faster farming locations, improve gear quality, and experiment with different classes, entirely new methods may emerge.
Future patches could also dramatically alter EXP rates, dungeon efficiency, or progression pacing.
If Underground Prison EXP gets nerfed, story progression could become dominant again overnight. Likewise, if new farming zones appear, players may abandon current strategies completely.
That is why community discussion remains so valuable.
The “best” strategy today may not remain the best strategy next month.