Actually, it's not that hard to hit 34 week one. I'm just a casual player and I hit 34 last night. I think it's just RNG luck. I have 3 characters. I did PoE 28 with each of them and got 2 etheric light. I ran PoE 32 once and got an armor core. So I leveled up my exotic helm, bought the gauntlets and leveled up the chest and boots with etheric light. Poof. Level 34 without trying hard.