Experience raises your character level, and each level grants Learning Points that you spend with trainers to lift attributes and unlock skills. The fastest early progress comes from feeding XP into the activities that pay best while making sure none of it slips away to other people's kills.
How XP and Learning Points connect
XP comes from defeating enemies and from completing quests. Accumulating enough of it pushes you to the next level, which is where the Learning Points you actually spend come from. Those points are the real bottleneck: trainers charge Learning Points (and often Ore) to raise Strength and Dexterity or to teach a skill, so every level you earn is fuel for the build you want.
Because higher attributes let you survive and out-damage stronger creatures, the loop feeds itself. Raise Strength and Dexterity first, then you can take on tougher enemies that hand out more XP, which buys more Learning Points, and so on.
Your starting difficulty changes how quickly this loop turns. Novice hands out XP faster, while Hard slows it down. Difficulty is locked the moment you begin a new game and cannot be changed afterward.
The most efficient early XP
Escort quests are the standout method in the opening hours. Normally you get no XP for a kill made by another NPC, but escorts are the exception: while an escort walks you between locations, you still collect the XP for every enemy they cut down. 
Baal Parvez (escort toward the Swamp Camp) and 
Mordrag (escort toward the New Camp) both fight along the way, so you bank XP and loot for fights you barely have to join.
Story and side quests are the other reliable source. Pushing the main quest forward grants XP directly, and reaching each new camp unlocks a fresh batch of main and side quests to clear. Once you can hold your own in a fight, a bow lets you soften or kill enemies from range, which makes hunting for XP far safer.
- Take an escort quest (Baal Parvez or Mordrag) and let your guide clear enemies while you collect the XP.
- Work through main and side quests as each camp opens new ones.
- Pick up the
Shortbow from 
Drax by handing him the 
Hunter's Knife, then hunt enemies at a distance. - Pour Learning Points into Strength and Dexterity so you can take on stronger, higher-XP creatures.
Don't leave XP on the table
Luring an enemy onto camp guards and letting them do the killing keeps you alive, but you earn nothing from those kills (escorts being the lone exception). Save the guard-bait trick for fights that would otherwise kill you, and land the killing blow yourself whenever you safely can.
Enemies do not respawn instantly in a cleared area, but they do reappear after several in-game hours and wander into ground you have already swept. That means you can farm XP simply by passing time and revisiting, without needing to advance to the next chapter. Clear as many enemies as you reasonably can in each area to bank the maximum XP.
Killing Mordrag after he escorts you to the New Camp grants his Ring and an extra 200 EXP, but the camp's guards turn hostile and help him fight, so only attempt it once you can win that brawl.
Early attribute targets
Aim for roughly 20 Strength and 20 Dexterity in the early game. 
Diego in the Old Camp raises both for Learning Points, and hitting these numbers opens up the better starting gear: several strong one-handed swords and bows sit right around those thresholds.
| Attribute | Early target | Trainer | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 20 | Diego (Old Camp) | Meets the requirement for early swords and maces; raises melee damage |
| Dexterity | 20 | Diego (Old Camp) | Unlocks early bows and faster, more reliable combat |
Spend Learning Points on attributes before sinking them into weapon mastery. Tougher enemies are where the larger XP rewards live, and you reach them faster by hitting damage and gear thresholds first.