If you are trying to power-level in LEGO Horizon Adventures, you are going to run into the same wall most players hit: the story and Apex hunts get you close, but the last stretch to max level is where the real grind lives. The good news is that there is one repeatable activity that consistently outpaces everything else for raw XP, and it is simple enough to run back to back without much mental effort.
This guide focuses on the best place to farm XP and levels in LEGO Horizon Adventures, plus the exact setup that makes those runs noticeably faster.
How XP and leveling actually works in LEGO Horizon Adventures
Before picking a farming spot, it helps to understand why some methods feel amazing early and then fall off.
- XP comes from fighting machines, completing objectives, and finishing missions.
- Each playable character levels independently, so the “best XP farm” is really about repeating a loop efficiently with whichever character still needs levels.
- The maximum level is Level 20, and the final levels take meaningfully more XP than the early ones.
Because of that, the best XP farm is not the most fun mission or the shortest level. It is the run that reliably spawns high-XP enemies, rewards aggressive play, and can be repeated quickly.
The best XP farming spot: the second Expedition gate in Mother’s Heart
The single best place to farm XP is Expedition Mode, specifically the second Expedition accessed via its gate in the northernmost part of Mother’s Heart.
This Expedition is the top pick for one main reason: it very consistently throws high-value machine packs at you, including combinations like:
- Snapmaws
- Corrupted machines
- Shell-Walkers
Those enemy groups are exactly what you want for leveling because they give strong XP returns while still being fast to clear once your build is online.
If you only want one loop to repeat until everyone is Level 20, this is it.
When you should start grinding Expeditions
You can technically run Expeditions earlier, but the grind feels dramatically better once you have two things:
- Enough studs to buy the key XP upgrades from the All-Mother Tree
- A solid selection of gadgets and rare weapons so you can score “boosted” kills consistently
A practical approach is:
- Play through the story at a normal pace.
- Clear the Apex Machine Hunting Grounds as they unlock, since they are one of the best one-time XP injections.
- Then switch into Expedition Mode and commit to the second Expedition loop until the remaining characters hit Level 20.
The XP setup that makes Expedition farming much faster
The fastest XP runs are not just about where you farm. They are about what you buy and how you get your kills.
Prioritize XP upgrades at the All-Mother Tree
At Mother’s Heart, the All-Mother Tree upgrades are the difference between “this is taking forever” and “okay, this is manageable.” Focus on upgrades that increase XP for specific kill types, especially:
- XP for removing weak points
- XP for environmental kills
- XP for gadget and rare weapon kills
The last category matters most during Expeditions because it turns every gadget finisher into a chunkier payout.
Get in the habit of “tagging” kills with gadgets and rare weapons
If your build includes XP bonuses tied to gadgets and rare weapons, you want as many enemies as possible to die to those sources. The easiest way to do that without slowing down is:
- Use normal attacks to group or soften enemies.
- Use a gadget or rare weapon to finish the pack.
- Repeat, even if it feels slightly wasteful at first.
Once you do this consistently, your XP per run climbs without adding much time.
The best way to run the second Expedition efficiently
Expeditions are not endless wave modes. Enemies will not respawn forever inside the same fight. So the goal is not to camp, but to finish the run quickly while maximizing high-XP kills.
A reliable loop looks like this:
- Move aggressively through the Expedition, avoiding unnecessary backtracking.
- Prioritize corrupted packs and heavy machines over stragglers.
- Use environmental hazards whenever a cluster gives you an easy setup.
- Save at least one “big clear” gadget for a dense spawn, not a single target.
If you find yourself spending a long time chasing one annoying enemy across the arena, you are probably losing more XP-per-minute than you realize. Fast clears beat perfect clears.
Difficulty, accessibility options, and why speed matters more than pride
For XP farming, you are optimizing XP per minute, not proving anything. If a difficulty setting is slowing your clears, it is directly reducing your leveling rate.
A simple rule:
- If you can clear packs quickly and safely, raise difficulty only if it speeds up XP gain in your specific setup.
- If enemies are taking too long or you are getting downed often, lower difficulty and focus on clean, fast completions.
Even small delays add up when you are repeating the same Expedition many times.
The co-op leveling trick that cuts the grind in half
If you have access to local co-op, it is one of the biggest time savers in the game for the Level 20 grind.
- Use two players so two characters earn XP at the same time.
- The second player can stay mostly passive while the main player clears, depending on how your co-op behavior works in practice.
If your goal is maxing every character, this is the closest thing LEGO Horizon Adventures has to a legitimate shortcut.
A strong leveling plan for getting every character to Level 20
If you want a clean checklist you can follow, use this order:
- Finish the story normally while collecting studs consistently.
- Buy XP upgrades early, especially anything that boosts gadget or rare weapon XP.
- Clear Apex Machine Hunting Grounds as they unlock for large XP bumps.
- Switch to Expedition Mode.
- Farm the second Expedition gate in the northern part of Mother’s Heart until your current character hits Level 20.
- Swap to the next character and repeat.
- If you are using co-op, rotate characters so you are always leveling two that still need XP.
This approach minimizes wasted time and keeps your runs focused on the only activity that scales well into the final levels.
Common mistakes that slow down XP farming
A few habits make the grind feel much worse than it needs to:
- Ignoring XP upgrades and spending studs on cosmetics first, then wondering why leveling is slow later
- Getting most kills with basic attacks even though your upgrades reward gadget or rare weapon kills
- Over-clearing side paths in Expeditions that do not add meaningful XP
- Staying in one area hoping enemies will respawn endlessly
- Running a weaker Expedition because it “feels shorter,” even though the second Expedition consistently pays out better
If your leveling feels stuck, fix the kill sources first. In most cases, the spot is fine, but the XP multipliers are not being used.
Why this Expedition is the best XP farm in LEGO Horizon Adventures
When you combine consistent high-value machine spawns with XP upgrades that reward efficient kills, the second Expedition becomes the best leveling loop in the game. It is repeatable, predictable, and it stays valuable all the way to Level 20, which is exactly what you need when the last couple of levels start demanding real time.
Once you lock in the routine, the grind stops feeling random and starts feeling like a controlled checklist, one character at a time.