My leveling path

Midoo · #1 12-19-2019, 08:42 AM

Felt like sharing my normal leveling path with other people, partly to help newcomers reading the forums get a straightforward sense of where to go, and also because I'd appreciate any suggestions to improve it.

So when I first started playing Everquest in 2017 I rolled a barbarian warrior. I was scared and confused and everything seemed very hazy to me. I didn't know where to go, all the zones were very blurry because I had no idea where I was or where I was going. I was spoiled by ingame maps and fast travel from WoW and other games so actually having to alt tab to study a wiki page every minute was alien to me, but it felt like the proper challenge I've been craving my whole life from a videogame. I struggled with that warrior, I got my ass handed to me by blue con mobs and I wore banded someone gifted to me and a shitty rusty weapon all the way to level 16. Some Wizard ported me to Gfay and showed me Unrest but I didn't really know what to kill or where to go.

Then I rolled a Barbarian Shaman, and needless to say my experience was much better. I appreciated the wide array of utility spells provided to me that made crossing Norrath and exploring much less of a chore; levitation, invisibility, SoW, etc.. And that point I noticed that some zones give far more XP than others. That's when I thought of planning out a proper leveling path for my future alts. (I like being organized)

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The Guide
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1 - 6: Starting Zone. Whatever is your newbie yard. Kill everything that cons blue or preferably white to you. Make sure to visit your home city's p99 wiki page to see if there's any quests that would help propel you through the levels. Like the Kaladim Bone Chips quest (though its been heavily nerfed on Green/Teal).

6 - 10: Crushbone. The absurdity of the XP in this zone cannot be overstated. But to put it in perspective I would genuinely rather travel on foot for two hours from Halas to the Greater Faydark just for the blue orc centurion xp. If you're a good race save the belts to turn them in in Kaladim. Alternatively Blackburrow if you're a Barbarian/Qeynos Human is great XP as well and you can turn the gnoll fangs in for amazing XP.

10 - 15: Estate of Unrest (Yard Trash). You can solo if you're an anti-undead class like Cleric or Necromancer. But otherwise I would recommend finding a group camping either yards or the backdoor and slowly watch your XP bar fill up. Crossing Dagnor can be dangerous so make sure you get Levitate and Invisibility to fly across. Unless I'm wrong the Dwarf Rogue at the top of the mountain in the middle of the lake vendors to anyone.

15 - 20: Estate of Unrest (Main Room). Once the mobs outside start to go green, it's time to enter the building. Find a group camping the main room (the one before the stairs) and ask nicely to be invited if they have a spot. Anti-undead classes fare very well against the Ghouls and Skeletons of MR so they can take a break from healing or sending their pet to nuke every once in a while.

20 - 24: Upper Guk (Scryer Room). Aside from the absolutely insane loot you get for your level (really expensive gems, mesh armor and bronze weapons) the XP here is also very good. If you're solo and can break camps, farm the spiders right before the Scryer room. If you're in a group then camp the Scryer room itself. You'll be 24 in no time.

24 - 30: Estate of Unrest (Second Floor). "Ah shit, here we go again."
The second room, also known as the fireplace, is great steady XP if you can find a group and don't mind the boring trash drops. If you're feeling particularly daring you can pull mobs from even higher up into the mansion, but the ghouls in the room itself are pretty good XP.

30 - 35: Estate of Unrest (Basement). You can theoretically get the best, most stable XP in the game just camping this zone from level 10 all the way to level 40. It does get fairly boring quick though, so you could also farm Rivervale guards. But for more reputation-conscious, good faction players, Unrest is the fastest XP you can get at this bracket. Be wary of traps.

35 - 40: Estate of Unrest (Hag Tower). Alright, I SWEAR this is the last time I'm ever bringing up Unrest. But I have yet to find a camp that tops the XP the festering hags give. I soloed the hags from 35 all the way to 40. It's imperative that you solo (or duo the first couple of levels) because the XP thins out quickly in a group and they tend to go green for the last two levels. The trick is to split them (Harmony, Beguile, etc.) and NUKE THEM THE SECOND THE SPAWN. This is very important. They cast a shield (Rune) a few seconds after they spawn, but if you nuke them before they start casting it they won't, and then killing them is almost effortless.
An undead knight of unrest (and his pet) tends to spawn right in the middle of the tower, and he drops the Bloodstained Mantle and Tunic, which are pre-raid best-in-slot items for many classes. He's a Shadow Knight though, which means he Harm Touches once every few hours. If you can eat it and stay alive the rest of the fight is a breeze.

40 - 50: Oggok City Guards. Around this time I usually travel to the Feerrott. Invis or run past the two entrances bouncer guards as they're noticeably higher level. If there's someone else already farming them you can cooperate and take a half of the city each, or you can do the Spectres southwest instead. At 46+ you should do the Spectres instead.

This leveling path is meant to be simple, straightforward and quick, with the least zone-changing possible and the fastest relative XP, and is mostly hypothetical. Realistically speaking a lot of these zones will be camped to death during rush hours (US time) and if you actually want to have fun exploring or make money and loot, you should just follow your heart (and the per-level hunting guide). I just enjoy studying efficiency in progression-based games like an art form.

Suggestions and constructive criticism are welcome, I'm still learning!

Tecmos Deception · #2 12-19-2019, 08:51 AM

Pretty nice "low movement grouping guide" type of thing imo.

I don't think scryer camp has extra-special drops for the level. Level 16-20 aviaks guards, for example, drop lots of gems and bronze weapons and are outdoor, solo mobs compared to a higher-level, dungeon, group camp you're talking about.

Hags self buffs that are the problem are their HP buffs and rune. Maybe you're just calling the rune a "damage shield," but in EQ lingo a damage shield is a buff that hits back anyone who melees (you know, mages and druids get good ones, mage fire pets self cast a good one, feedback for chanters, etc.) But yeah, if you engage the hags asap they go down really easy.

You should mention the knight of unrest being in the hag tower. He's a bit higher level than the hags IIRC and is a shadowknight who will harm touch for a few hundred damage when you first engage, cast spells, and even have a pet summoned if you leave him up too long.

Depending on your play hours, you'll likely be in these zones during busy times and may be waiting on groups regularly.

Midoo · #3 12-19-2019, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tecmos Deception [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Hags self buffs that are the problem are their HP buffs and rune. Maybe you're just calling the rune a "damage shield"

Yeah my bad lol, meant Rune

Also I'm adding more stuff as I remember

Aaramis · #4 12-19-2019, 08:58 AM

I feel like 99% of the server does this route. CB - Unrest - Guk.

Thanks for sharing, but absolutely nothing groundbreaking here.

Midoo · #5 12-19-2019, 09:05 AM

This was information I wish someone told me when I first started though. Could have saved me weeks if not months of pointlessly running like a pinball from zone to zone if it was put to me in clear words what "99% of the server" does.

skorge · #6 12-19-2019, 09:07 AM

For 30-35 you mention Rivervale guards. I believe you mean Misty Thicket guards. The ones in Rivervale go up to level 39. The ones outside (not counting Budo) go up to level 30.

Midoo · #7 12-19-2019, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skorge [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

For 30-35 you mention Rivervale guards. I believe you mean Misty Thicket guards. The ones in Rivervale go up to level 39. The ones outside (not counting Budo) go up to level 30.

Yeah, mb. Thanks!

Midoo · #8 12-19-2019, 09:13 AM

Had to check the per level hunting guide for most of these because I forgot the names of the camps

skorge · #9 12-19-2019, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midoo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yeah, mb. Thanks!

Np. Good guide btw!

Tecmos Deception · #10 12-19-2019, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaramis [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I feel like 99% of the server does this route. CB - Unrest - Guk.

Thanks for sharing, but absolutely nothing groundbreaking here.

I mean. Yeah those are generally THE leveling places. But 99% is quite an exaggeration. Maybe more like 50%. Blackburrow, HHK, MM, a few outdoor spots like the commonlands and oasis and SK, these are all as popular as CB, unrest, and guk, ime. And it's not like NK, EK, sola, derv camps in nro/sro, bandit camps in WK, and a few other spots aren't regularly populated with people leveling solo or grouped.