If you've spent any time viewing other users' profiles, you've probably noticed they have a variety of levels, with different numbers, badges of different colors and shapes and probably want to know what it all means. Well, you've come to the right place. We'll explore how to level your profile, why we do it and what you gain [or don't] from a higher level. I'll also point out some other neat tricks that'll help you along in your journey. So let's start with the basics, shall we?


These icons are shown in the upper-right corner of your Steam profile. They provide a couple of bonuses that you can use on your profile. Keep in mind that none of these impact your ability to use any function within the Steam client. What that means is a level 5 profile has the same rights and abilities as a level 100 profile. However, there are some added perks to having a higher level, but only marginally. Let's take a look at the bonuses you can earn first, shall we?

When leveling your profile, you'll earn the following:

• +1 Level - Every level increase will earn you +5 friend slots to your friend's list. This gives you the ability to add and have more friends at any one time. Keep in mind, you start out with 250 friend slots to begin with.
  
• +10 Levels - Every ten levels you'll earn one showcase to add towards your profile. You can earn a total of 16 separate showcases. After level 160 you'll still earn a showcase, but you cannot add anything to it. Empty showcases do not show up on your public profile.
  
• The top 6 friends with the highest Steam level will appear on your friend's list and on any public profile they are friend's of as well.

A breakdown of the leveling process is as follows:

• Level [1] - 100XP = +5 Friends Slots
  
• Level [2] - 200XP = +5 Friends Slots
  
• Level [3] - 300XP = +5 Friends Slots
  
• Level [4] - 400XP = +5 Friends Slots
  
• Level [5] - 500XP = +5 Friends Slots
  
• Level [6] - 600XP = +5 Friends Slots
  
• Level [7] - 700XP = +5 Friends Slots
  
• Level [8] - 800XP = +5 Friends Slots
  
• Level [9] - 900XP = +5 Friends Slots
  
• Level [10] - 1,000XP = +5 Friend Slots & +1 Profile Showcase

As you increase in level, you'll need to earn more and more experience to continue as shown above, but what you earn will remain the same.

Aside from these three items, there are technically no additional benefits to having a higher Steam level and why everyone does it will often be different. The great thing about leveling up is that it isn't a requirement, so if that doesn't interest you, then you have nothing to worry about; you're not missing anything else.

For those that want to progress in the ranks, or already know how, but just want to know how they go about doing so efficiently, we'll start exploring that now.

Let's take a look at what you need in order to increase your level.

In order to level up your profile, you'll first need to aquire trading cards. You can collect them several different ways: Trading for them, buying them or earning them as card drops. Let's take a look at each method.


When trading, there's a number of things to remember:

• Always trade within the Steam trading window [as shown below]
  
• Always verify what you're trading and what the other party is giving you before confirming the trade.

In doing so, you'll assure you'll never be scammed and that all trades are as requested. In order to trade with someone, select "Invite to trade" from the drop down menu in your chat window. Once you click it, you'll open a trade with the other user. Here you can select what items you want to trade and in return for the cards you need to complete a badge.

As you can see below, this is the trade window that you'll see. You can see the other user's offer, chat with them, and see what is removed/added to the trade offer in real time. Here I've traded a copy of a game [Space Farmers] and two passes to a MMO that never really existed. In return, my husband has offered me his favorite emoticon, three glorious potatoes. Once you both agree to the terms, select the check box in the middle of the screen and then "Begin Trade" to initialize the trade.


Another method to earning cards is to simply buy them from the marketplace, which can be found under the "Community" tab. Here you can search whatever card(s) you're looking for. When you find the one(s) you need, click it and then select "Buy". You'll be promted with the below window.

Cards are often sold for a range of prices. What you need to keep in mind is that the system will automatically buy the lowest priced cards for you. Even if you set your buying limit at $50.00 for one card, you'll buy it for the lowest cost, which is, in this case, $0.08.

Typically what I do is buy cards in bulk - sets of five at a time. Every badge has five levels, which makes buying each card in groups of five quicker, only needing to do the transaction once per card type. However, if you cannot afford to do all five sets, you can buy them in any amount you want as well.

The final method for obtaining cards is via card drops, which in turn means that by playing the game [or at least leaving it open], you earn a chance at a card drop. Each game as a static set of available card drops that, once depleted, do not return. Games require anywhere from 5-15 cards to complete a badge set.


Above, for example, is Game Corp DX, a title that requires 15 cards to complete. At this time I can earn two more cards as indicated above, but once that happens I cannot earn anymore by playing and will have to buy or trade for the rest.

Steam also has foil cards that can be earned in all the same ways as normal trading cards mentioned above. The only difference is the drop rate of foil cards are substantially lower, making them more difficult to procure. However, despite the lower drop rate, they still craft badges worth the same XP as normal trading cards [100XP].

Instead of the normal five levels for regular badges, foil cards can only make one badge per set for one game. Steam separates foil cards from regular card sets such as the example above. This helps determine what you need for regular cards and foil cards. Just remember, you can only create one foil set per game.

Some of you are probably wondering if and how you can obtain trading cards from Free-To-Play [F2P] games. While it is possible to earn cards from these types of games, F2P games work a bit differently because, as you'd guess, playing a game for free and then selling the cards isn't something Steam wants to happen. Here's the breakdown to how card drops work in F2P games:

Free-to-Play games operate differently. You instead earn card drops by spending money, either from that game's in-game shop or by buying the game's DLC in the Steam Store. The current rate of all Free-to-Play games is approximately $9 US per card drop, however, these rates may be adjusted as needed by Valve.

Another, more passive way you can obtain games, is by collecting them. The more you collect, the less experience you'll earn. The breakdown is as follows:

• 1-9 games: 100xp +5xp per game
  
• 10-24 games: 150xp +3.33xp per 10 and above
  
• 25-49 games: 150xp + 2xp per game 25 and above
  
• 50-99 games: 175xp + 1.5xp per game 50 and above
  
• 100-499 games: 250xp + 0.75xp per game 100 and above
  
• 500-2000+ games: No base XP/ +1 XP per game

You can check how much XP you've earned by going to your badge page and looking at your game collector badge.

There are unique specialty badges that you can earn from participating in certain events during the year as well . Each year Steam has both a winter and summer sale, which have special badges that you can craft during those times. These badges have no level limit and you can craft them as many times as you want.

They also have foil badges, which have a cap of five levels [500XP] insted of the traditional 100XP.
You can also earn badges from other community events, so make sure to be on the lookout for such occasions. Every little bit of experience can help you towards your goal!

Gems are earned from converting marketable items and turning them into gems instead of selling, trading or using them. Each item will be worth a certain amount. By clicking on the item you can see a lot about the some useful information about it, which you can use to determine if it is worth selling, converting, or hanging onto for the time being. when clicking on the item, focus on the following:

• Current value on the market.
  
• Amount of gems it is worth.
  
• How many of this item sold in the last 24hrs

You can use gems in two ways. One way to use them is to convert them into "booster packs", which are packs of three random cards from any game. You can create one booster pack, per game per day. It is wise to keep in mind that the three cards within the pack are random and duplications are possible. Booster packs can contain regular and foil trading cards. In order to use your gems, you'll want to go to your "Badge" page. Here you can see what games you can make booster packs from and what games you're already eligible for a booster pack drop, which brings us to our next point.


You're eligible for random booster pack drops from specific games. Clicking on the icon shown below. will give you a list of all the games you're eligible to get a pack from. You do not necessarily need to play the game to earn them, but you do need to log into Steam each week to maintain your eligibility. Steam's booster pack algorithm is as follows:

"Once eligible, your Steam Level increases your rate of receiving a booster pack drop:

• Level 10: +20% increase in your drop rate
  
• Level 20: +40% increase in your drop rate
  
• Level 30: +60% increase in your drop rate
  
• Level 40: +80% increase in your drop rate
  
• Level 50: +100% increase in your drop rate (i.e. the rate has doubled) Etc"

Remember, by clicking the above links found on your "Badge" page will show you what you can earn and create with gems.

As you level up your account, you'll need more and more experience to increase to the next level, as mentioned above. You can track how much XP you need to advance by clicking on your "Badge" menu under your username and looking at the bar at the top of the screen:

There are a plethora of helpful websites that can help you speed up the process and streamline what you need to do. Here's some that you might find useful:

• http://steam.tools/cards/ - Here you can view, manage and track anything and everything there is about cards from price, set size, booster percentage and even links to the card(s) if you need to buy them. A very helpful site so make sure to take a look!
  
• http://www.steamidlemaster.com/ - Idle Master will allow you to virtually idle games to earn card drops without actually playing the game. It also has the ability to idle multiple games at once. For more information on how the program works, check out the website. However, that is always subject to change and its use should be at the discretion of the user so I leave it up to you to decide.
  
  *Note - As of late, Idle Master is no longer being supported as of March 3rd, 2016. That doesn't mean it doesn't work, but it is no longer being updated so Steam may update the client in the future and kill the program's compatibility.
  
  
• https://github.com/JustArchi/ArchiSteamFarm - This is the new standard when it comes to card farming. Head over to the website for the release notes and download links.
  
  As with every outside program, I cannot guarantee it is safe and that you will not be VAC-banned for their use. Listing them here is in no way my promise they are as I do not use them myself, so use them at your own risk.
  
  
  

In the end, whether you want to level up your profile is entirely your call. As mentioned in the beginning, the perks aren't necessarily important unless you want to expand your profile, decorate it or increase your friend's list. If you choose to, have fun with it. There's no need to be higher than everyone else so find where you feel comfortable and make that your goal.

Should you see anything that is incorrect, needs to be updated or I need to clarify, feel free to comment or shoot me a message and I'll correct it. Thanks for reading!

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1304735272
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