Most effective late-game XP farming?

Question

Spoiler warning! Don't read if you haven't completed the game!

I've completed Hell but am currently level 59 and farming xp as fast as I can to start Inferno. Because I'm a relatively squishy class (Demon Hunter) I can't quickly or easily run higher levels solo. I'm sure this is not the case or barbarians or monks, however. Currently my xp-farming plan goes as follows:

1. Start a new game, Nightmare, at the very end of Act III (Kill Azmodan/Heart of Sin).
2. Rush through the mobs (or take the time to kill rare spawns if you want).
3. Kill Azmodan for ~44k xp (on Hell this jumps to 105k xp).
4. Rush through the cutscenes to the beginning of Act IV (receive another ~44k xp, or 105k on Hell).
5. Kill the introductory miniboss Iskatu for several thousand xp (less than the prior rewards but still significant, exact numbers escape me at the moment);
6. Repeat

I'm sure a monk or barbarian could run this on Hell somewhat quickly for around 300k xp, however as a high-level low-survivability class, I need to run this on Nightmare for significantly less, about ~120k xp per run.

Does anyone have a better solution for quickly racking up the ~2mil xp needed for the high 50's and 60 leveling as a non-tanking class (or in general)? If you have the time/dedication, please try to put some numbers/estimates when making alternate suggestions. As a rough estimate as time goes, this takes about as long as the Diablo fight, if you watch all the in-fight cutscenes.

Answer 1

So, it turns out that I was wrong, and there's another faster way!

• Start Act 3 Quest 1. Go down into the Armory, through the town, and into the beginning of the next zone.
• You should be there with the Private who's about to have an unfortunate meeting with a meteor - mash the Spacebar to get him moving.
• You've got two choices here for dealing with the mobs coming down - pull them to where the meteor's going to hit, or AOE them all down yourself. Go for whatever's fastest for you, keeping in mind that a Massacre or Mighty Blow bonus here means extra XP.
• Once they're all dead, run back to to the portal, pass through it, and now you're technically In Town - leave the game..
• .. and resume it. You'll be right inside the portal again, listening to our poor unfortunate Private, and with a fresh pack of mobs running down the stairs.
• Rinse and repeat. It's tedious, but it currently boasts the best XP/hour numbers by a significant margin.

This method works in Normal and Nightmare, to boot, so it's good XP farming wherever you may be (as long as you can get a lift to A3Q1, anyway!)

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The below answer technically no longer holds the speed throne, but is preserved in case the above one eats a nerf or a hotfix -

Currently, the fastest way to pop from ~57 to 60 is the High Heavens rush, joining public games and stomping Iskatu flat in seconds. Essentially, it's like your method - worse loot, but notably faster due to a reduction in load times and the rapidity with which four players can melt Iskatu - especially if Archon Wizards are lurking around. For what it's worth, I personally used this method to get the last experience I needed, and it's very quick.. but around the twentieth time listening to Imperius, it gets a little tedious.

Answer 2

Based on my experience (working on leveling my 4th class) and my friends'...

For a Barbarian or Wizard, the fastest way to level (assuming you have the DPS using cooldowns to do so) is to still use the old "Meteor" spot at the start of Act 3, but to leap/teleport up the wall, kill them, leap/teleport back down and out.

You can still do about 3 runs per minutes, with good experience with bonus from Mighty Blow and Massacre.

An example barbarian strategy would be to join game, leap up, ground stomp to pull them all in, hit earthquake. Other skills to consider using: Wrath of the Beserker, Battle Rage, Warcry, Ignore Pain.

As a Monk, Demon Hunter, Witch Doctor... killing Iskatu at the start of Act 4 is still the fastest way to level.

Answer 3

After some testing last night, solo xp farming late game as a non-tanking class is most efficient when following the procedure I wrote in my original question. Not only do you gain 44.8k xp for Azmodan and the end of Act III's cutscene, you receive ~25k xp from Istaku, and the random creeps/champions/elites on the way to Azmodan reward you with another few thousand as well as some nice sellable/AH-able gear. This is on Nightmare, mind you. The time/deaths you'll encounter attempting to run this on Hell as a Demon Hunter, DPS Monk, Wizard, or Witch Doctor don't make up for the ~2.5x experience gain from the increased difficulty. For those interested in numbers, the best ballpark I could give you is ~140k xp every 10-15 minutes.