At what level can one start to take on Freeport Militia Guards for experience?

[Loadsamoney]

I'm kind of fed up with Crystal Caverns at this point because, much like High Keep, the entire zone is overcamped to the point where I'm never able to get anything other than Stalag Terrors to fight. Geodes are practically on 24/7 lockdown, Orcs are no longer feasible for experience, and Spiders are very risky because of adds.

I'm game to go get myself a bow/Tolan's now and either hunt Frost Giants or take a crack at Freeport Guards, since my Freeport Militia faction is shot anyway (and they're evil, so I don't want good faction with them regardless). Are Freeport Guards soloable for a 45 Ranger, or should I look elsewhere.

Is 45 enough to solo anything that drops Thurgadin armor pieces in Kael?

[Legidias]

Technically the giants at WL exit -can- drop armor pieces (extremely rarely). If you are a twinkd 45 you could probably solo it but otherwise no.

[Loadsamoney]

Technically the giants at WL exit -can- drop armor pieces (extremely rarely). If you are a twinkd 45 you could probably solo it but otherwise no.

My gear:

Lamentation x2
Orc Fang Earring x2
65HP Ring x2
SCHW
Brigandine Tunic
Dwarven Work Boots
Crested Helmet
Dire Wolf-Hide Cloak
Hero's Bracer
Vambraces of Avoidance
Chipped Velium Amulet
Kylong Wrist Guards
Black Ice Leggings
Brawlers Belt
Sarnak Hide Mask
Banded Mantle

And I'm shopping for a Light Velium Bow, Fleeting Quiver and Tolan's Bracer now 6,000PP should be enough for all of this.

[ldgo86]

My gear:


Banded Mantle

And I'm shopping for a Light Velium Bow, Fleeting Quiver and Tolan's Bracer now 6,000PP should be enough for all of this.

Might as well get a Bloodstained Mantel for like 50p also

[Loadsamoney]

Might as well get a Bloodstained Mantel for like 50p also

Was shopping for either that or a Sebilite Scale Mantle, but nobody was selling one in the three days I was shopping for other gear in EC. =/

[jolanar]

I think you'd be fine soloing them, but not sure how efficient it would be as a Ranger with no Fungi. There are a couple major undercons you would want to avoid. You'll be better off fear kiting for solo exp, you can probably eek out another level or two in Overthere before fear kiting in Eastern Wastes.

Honestly at 45 you've hit the rock bottom of the Ranger power curve. Your skills haven't gone up in 5 levels and won't start rising again until 51. I would suggest grouping. At 45 you'll be an amazo puller in City of Mist and then Kurn's.

[Jimjam]

Loadsamoney doesn't seem to be into fear kiting or grouping.

With that aside, 45-55 grouping in CoM and then KC are such fun for a ranger. Especially KC. If you don't ranger in KC you are missing out on one of the best parts of playing the class.

[Loadsamoney]

Loadsamoney doesn't seem to be into fear kiting or grouping.

With that aside, 45-55 grouping in CoM and then KC are such fun for a ranger. Especially KC. If you don't ranger in KC you are missing out on one of the best parts of playing the class.

I'm fine with grouping, and I'm going to start bowrotting soon. I'm just not into kiting in general. That includes charmkiting and swarmkiting.

I know CC Geodes and Terrors can get me to 49, possibly even 51, it's just annoying to see the zone overcamped at times, much like High Keep. The idea after CC was to grind Geodes in WL with a group until 60.

[Trelaboon]

Fear kite raptors in WL and do your Ice Forged Shackles quest in the meantime. I think they’re still pretty solid exp st 45.

[Loadsamoney]

Fear kite raptors in WL and do your Ice Forged Shackles quest in the meantime. I think they’re still pretty solid exp st 45.

Are WL Geodes not an option for soloing or grouping?

[Lordgordon]

A ranger wont be able to solo geos in WL period.

[Loadsamoney]

A ranger wont be able to solo geos in WL period.

Even at 60? What about grouping for them?

[Gozuk]

At 60 they definitely can but they certainly are way tougher than the ones down in CC

[loramin]

The thing you have to consider is that there are generic mobs, and mobs that certain classes are good against. Soloing clerics really need to focus on undead for instance: it's not that they can't kill normal stuff with their smite (they can), but it's just faster/more efficient for them to focus on undead, because they literally get more damage per mana spent against undead.

Similarly root/rotters focus on mobs that don't summon. Bards focus on open outdoor areas with lots of mobs they can grab. Druids focus on animals so they can charm them, and rangers focus on animals so that they can fear them.

It's not that, as a Ranger, you can't kill non-animals, it's just that it's usually slower and less efficient to kill anything else. You might want to do so anyways, like killing geonids for cash or killing frost giants for faction. Heck, the frost giants in Iceclad (near the Eastern Wastes zone line) hit so weakly (compared to animals of the same level) that I literally just got my Ranger his last three levels, up to 45, on them (although he had a fungi; YMMV). I also killed some wolves there (and did the GD bears for a bit) using fear kiting, but I found that because those giants hit so weakly I could kill them just as fast (and not have to chase them all over the place) ... or if not quite as fast, then close enough that it was worth killing them anyways since I wanted faction.

But my point is, unless you have exceptional mobs (eg. the especially weak frost giants in Iceclad) or you're going for plat/faction instead of XP, you want to go for mobs that take advantage of your class's unique features, simply because you'll get XP faster that way. For Rangers, that means focusing on animals, because you can fight animals without taking damage (via fear kiting), and you can't fight non-animals without taking damage. And of course, damage = downtime = time not spent leveling.

[Loadsamoney]

The thing you have to consider is that there are generic mobs, and mobs that certain classes are good against. Soloing clerics really need to focus on undead for instance: it's not that they can't kill normal stuff with their smite (they can), but it's just faster/more efficient for them to focus on undead, because they literally get more damage per mana spent against undead.

Similarly root/rotters focus on mobs that don't summon. Bards focus on open outdoor areas with lots of mobs they can grab. Druids focus on animals so they can charm them, and rangers focus on animals so that they can fear them.

It's not that, as a Ranger, you can't kill non-animals, it's just that it's usually slower and less efficient to kill anything else. You might want to do so anyways, like killing geonids for cash or killing frost giants for faction. Heck, the frost giants in Iceclad (near the Eastern Wastes zone line) hit so weakly (compared to animals of the same level) that I literally just got my Ranger his last three levels, up to 45, on them (although he had a fungi; YMMV). I also killed some wolves there (and did the GD bears for a bit) using fear kiting, but I found that because those giants hit so weakly I could kill them just as fast (and not have to chase them all over the place) ... or if not quite as fast, then close enough that it was worth killing them anyways since I wanted faction.

But my point is, unless you have exceptional mobs (eg. the especially weak frost giants in Iceclad) or you're going for plat/faction instead of XP, you want to go for mobs that take advantage of your class's unique features, simply because you'll get XP faster that way. For Rangers, that means focusing on animals, because you can fight animals without taking damage (via fear kiting), and you can't fight non-animals without taking damage. And of course, damage = downtime = time not spent leveling.

So if I were to fearkite animals throughout my 50s, which ones are actually profitable to do? I need to save up 100k by level 60 to MQ my Epic. And come 49 I'm moving to Kael to bowrot some giants for armor pieces.

[Lordgordon]

You will not be able to solo giants that drop quest armor period.

[loramin]

So if I were to fearkite animals throughout my 50s, which ones are actually profitable to do? I need to save up 100k by level 60 to MQ my Epic. And come 49 I'm moving to Kael to bowrot some giants for armor pieces.

Honestly, camps in EverQuest tend to be either good for XP, or good for plat, but not both. There's a reason why I originally created two separate guides (see my sig) for the two things: the two lists are almost completely separate.

But that's not 100% true. Like I said, I just got my Ranger to 45, so I'm the wrong person to ask about the best Ranger-specific 46+ spots, but just in general I think you have two options to make plat while also getting XP as a ranger: solo and track or group.

There are multiple "cycles" in the game, where you kill mob A, and one of mobs B through M appears. You kill that and another mob from A-M appears. Most of those mobs are worthless (except for XP), but there's usually one or more on the cycle (eg. mob F) that drops something cool. Rangers are uniquely suited to get these items, because their superior track makes finding mobs on the cycle easier (plus they have SoW, Camo, Harmony, etc. which makes it easier for them to run through areas and get the mob they want without picking up fifty others).

At your level I think you could do the Frontier Mountain cycle, but as I recall the loot on it is kinda garbage (especially in P99's overly inflated economy). The real money cycle is Trakanon's Teeth, where you can get an Ikky BP (and some less valuable stuff too I think), but you'll need to be somewhere in your 50s to do that. There's also a Skyfire cycle, but A) I'm not sure if Rangers can do it, B) if they can it's definitely higher level, and C) you just get Kunark spells that aren't worth a whole lot.

To be clear, doing cycles will be slower XP than just fear kiting random animals. But at least it will be a way to work on plat and XP at the same time.

On the flip side, you can just group. Again, the good groups are going to be in places that are a little too high for you right now, like KC and Sebilis. But once you get into your 50s camps like CE in Sebilis open up, and you can win 20k+ items at such camps if you're lucky (heck, you even have a shot at a 80k+ Torpor dropping at CE in particular ... not a good chance, but a chance, and if you do the camp enough eventually you'll win something valuable).

My advice would be to focus on XP until your mid-50s, and then make TT/Seb your home. Do the TT cycles when you're soloing, and try to get groups in Seb when you're not. Both will give you XP and (potentially) plat too.

But really a very viable alternative option would be to just focus on XP until 60, and only then work on plat. It will be much easier to get good groups (or do cycles successfully) at 60 than at earlier levels, and for casters I pretty much always recommend this. Melee characters need gear upgrades more though, so while it still might be a good plan for them, I understand wanting to mix-in some plat earning too.

But more accomplished Rangers might have better ideas. I know that some Rangers just get a bunch of weight reduction bags and go on a killing spree in Droga or lower level goblin dungeons like Nurga, Permafrost, or Sol B. Apparently the Fine Steel and HQ ore piles up fast and that leads to decent plat earning, but I've never done it so I don't know how much you can realistically expect to make (especially in your 40s).

[Loadsamoney]

You will not be able to solo giants that drop quest armor period.

Um...I was told the entrance Giants on WL side can drop armor pieces, and they only have like 2k HP. As do the Adjudants.

[bigjeff100]

What about farming Haze Panthers in WL??

[Loadsamoney]

What about farming Haze Panthers in WL??

When do those green out?

[fortior]

So if I were to fearkite animals throughout my 50s, which ones are actually profitable to do? I need to save up 100k by level 60 to MQ my Epic. And come 49 I'm moving to Kael to bowrot some giants for armor pieces.

priority #1 is 60, levels are really great gear pieces

if you wanted to get your epic before 60 by leveling and earning plat at a casual pace you picked the wrong class

the TT cycle is good like loramin said, or you can try tracking ancient cyclops for his ring, but you're competing with every druid on the server for that one

[Loadsamoney]

priority #1 is 60, levels are really great gear pieces

if you wanted to get your epic before 60 by leveling and earning plat at a casual pace you picked the wrong class

the TT cycle is good like loramin said, or you can try tracking ancient cyclops for his ring, but you're competing with every druid on the server for that one

When I play Bard, I just want to be able to get my epic at all without having to sell my soul.

[loramin]

I need to save up 100k by level 60 to MQ my Epic. And come 49 I'm moving to Kael to bowrot some giants for armor pieces.

Wow, I almost forgot to mention something incredibly obvious: you do not need 100k to get your epic! There are these things called guilds, and if you join one (one that raids the planes I mean) you can get your epic 100% for free AND get tons of of better gear. Forget about getting crappy dwarf armor, with a guild you can deck your character out in superior Giant or Dragon armor ... almost for free (you have to buy some gems).

[Loadsamoney]

Wow, I almost forgot to mention something incredibly obvious: you do not need 100k to get your epic! There are these things called guilds, and if you join one (one that raids the planes I mean) you can get your epic 100% for free AND get tons of of better gear. Forget about getting crappy dwarf armor, with a guild you can deck your character out in superior Giant or Dragon armor ... almost for free (you have to buy some gems).

That would mean ditching my current guild, Castle, whom I really like. They haven't done me one iota of wrong. Are you saying I should hop guilds in the name of pixels?

[Jimjam]

I found the skyfire felia cycle pretty difficult on my ranger (60 with epics, haste clicky cloak, skyshrine armour and some ToV drops). Glimmers were a real pain in the butt. Gave up when I got immortals to drop for my monk.

WW geos are grouped on up to 60. I'm fairly sure I've given them a go with success. Really most mobs under 51 you can kill eventually whether by kite or rooted heal breaks(ie ones that don't summon. You can even solo 61+ ice borrowers with a bow kite if you have a spare hour or two on your hands).

Loramin you mention class advantages; I think the Giants you mentioned actually play to the class advantage. Rangers have low avoidance but high DS meaning they are very effective vs weakly hitting mobs.

Tigers in OT have excellent hides worth 20pp to wood elf tailors. You may be able to toe to toe brutes in DL for their HQ hides (worth a similar amount). Likewise SolDungB drops a lot of FS, bronze and poison ingredients worth pp I think he kobolds still give some XP at 45?

Edit: regarding epics, have you tried cutting a deal for a VSR kill as I mentioned before? You track and trigger for a stone. They kill for the other stone.

[fortior]

Bro, it's like this. If you want an epic gated behind a bottleneck like weekly spawns, fear golems, or whatever, be prepared to pay for someone else's time or put in the time yourself. What you want doesn't mean anything. Everyone wants their epic, wanting an epic requiring dragon scales is just unrealistic unless you raid a lot or can drop half a mil in plat.

[Loadsamoney]

Edit: regarding epics, have you tried cutting a deal for a VSR kill as I mentioned before? You track and trigger for a stone. They kill for the other stone.

I'm going to try once I get into my 50s. I'm more concerned with the PoSky drop.

[bigjeff100]

Hey man! I really only hop online for a few hours a week. Which i enjoy spending just helping others. So if there is anything I can help with on your journey, let me know!! I have a 57 Warrior, and a 60 Druid.. I have a 40 SK too but he's not gonna be much help to you..

Anyways. TLDR- Anything those 2 classes can help you with, just let me know man!!

[Gozuk]

You will not be able to solo giants that drop quest armor period.

This guy just really hates Rangers it seems. I wouldn't mind him

As for the PoSky item goes, don't stress over it. It's very common and can be MQ'd. I probably even have one for you when you're ready

[Loadsamoney]

You guys are too nice, really.

Well, one thing at a time I suppose. I still have to work on getting out of 45. Halfway through it, but 45 feels really bad compared to hell levels before it.

[fortior]

54 will feel even worse, don't worry

[Loadsamoney]

54 will feel even worse, don't worry

I think 45 only feels as bad as it does because I haven't seen any skill gains since 40.

[loramin]

That would mean ditching my current guild, Castle, whom I really like. They haven't done me one iota of wrong. Are you saying I should hop guilds in the name of pixels?

Sort of, yes :) A guild is a part of a game, not an unrelated social group (well, except for the fact that the whole game is just one giant chat room if you agree with Cecily ... and I mostly do). Why wouldn't you change your game-specific group to play the game?

I do get it though: I stay in my non-top-end guild (Anonymous) even though I'd like some top-end loot, because I like the people. Really I think you should just try and talk Castle into joining the AEGIS alliance (or into forming a new alliance with some other guild or guilds). It's the perfect way for small guilds to keep their members while also making it possible for people to get high-end raid loot.

P.S. AEGIS raids the planes, including Plane of Sky on a weekly basis :)

[fortior]

we can't tell you whether your goals are more important than the friends you made along the way.

[loramin]

we can't tell you whether your goals are more important than the friends you made along the way.

Heh, well changing guilds doesn't have to mean leaving your friends. It does depend on your guild's policies, but plenty of people take their highest character to more competitive guilds while leaving their lower level characters in "family" guilds. And even if you leave completely, if you do so on good terms there's no reason why you can't keep your friends.

There's some ex-Anon that left messily and I'll only be polite to, but then there's some that just wanted to go to a different guild for the phat lewtz. Those people I'm still friendly with even though they're not in my guild anymore.

If someone won't be your friend because you changed guilds, maybe it's them who cares more about goals then friendship.

[Loadsamoney]

we can't tell you whether your goals are more important than the friends you made along the way.

yes you can. Everything is quantifiable.

[ScottBerta]

Do not try to solo Giants in Kael you will get rocked.

[bradsamma]

54 will feel even worse, don't worry

I feel like level 54 took as long as 50, 51, 52, and 53 combined.

[Loadsamoney]

Do not try to solo Giants in Kael you will get rocked.

Even the ones that only have 2k HP?

[jolanar]

Even the ones that only have 2k HP?

If you are going off of wiki hp values they are probably way off.

[Loadsamoney]

If you are going off of wiki hp values they are probably way off.

It says the ones around Level 35ish have low HP. Like this one:

https://wiki.project1999.com/Adjutant_Skjell