Ultragamma
03-14-2021, 02:03 PM
https://i.imgur.com/jh6xxL8.jpg
Welcome to the completely infallible and correct Cities Tier list for Everquest P99 Cities.
Presented for your enjoyment is my impartial and empirically correct breakdown of the overall quality of your precious home cities.
Criteria used to determine the ranking of each city is as follows:
Accessibility
Starting Newbie Experience
Number of GMs
Number of Services
Faction Considerations
Proximity to Other Points of Interest
Efficient Usage of Space/Layout
Ak'Anon
C-Tier
The saving grace of Ak'anon is the Druid Rings in Steamfont mountains and Steamfont in general. While it has GMs for most major classes it is a nightmare to navigate for new players and non-gnomes alike. It has all the usual services but considering its one long cavern its not a very efficient town to visit. Its proximity to Mistmoore makes it an attractive lowbie pit-stop town. Finally, gnome faction is worth about dick-all in the grand scheme of things so this won't be a town you'll desperately need to ever visit.
Cabilis
C-Tier
Cabilis suffers majorly from being an Iksar only destination and it has no proximity to any travel ports. That being said it is a completely capable and easy-to-navigate town for the Iksars that do use it. It is proximate to content ranging from 1-60 within 1-2 zones. Making this an amazing 1-stop shop kind of town. For this unique and important reason I promoted it to C-Tier from my original thought of E-tier.
Erudin
A-Tier
Erudin is a high-efficiency easy-to-navigate city that suffers from a lack of variety. That being said Odus is arguably one of the best starting zones, made even better by the introduction of Paineel. It is proximate to both Druid and Wiz ports as well as having its own boat port. It is a direct conduit to Western Antonica which is a notoriously annoying area to access. Casters are likely to use Erudin often for banking and caster-class administration. For players looking to get a key to The Hole in the late game, this is an easy area to grind faction giving this city a small boost of late-game viability.
Felwithe
S-Tier
Felwithe is a winner in all categories of criteria. Super close to a wiz spire with 2 druid rings close-ish as well. Ultra high-efficiency design and smack-dab in the middle of Greater Faydark, an excellent starting area. It has a wider variety of GMs than Erudin and has walk access to other cities. While it is not so nicely positioned as others on this list to content and dungeons it is an ideal pit-stop for casters and priests.
Freeport
C-Tier
The ultimate Blah zone. Yes it is directly beside East Commonlands making it a massive banking hub, but for a city with 3 large zones its efficiency rating is trash. The vast majority of the city goes unused and its main uses are trapped behind multiple zone lines. Promixty to Nro Spire and WC Ring are a bonus and the zone offers a pretty decent new player experience, but certainly not the best. Overall Freeport is entirely average but would be D-Tier without East Commons
Grobb
B-Tier
Grobb. Grobb. Grobb. Well for starters as a new player you can be killed by another class' GMs while walking around in the city. So that's nice. Grobb is decently laid out and relatively efficient. Its dangerous and Innothule swamp is an abysmal starting zone. Promixity to Guk makes this a great mid-game stop for evil players which gives it a huge boost in its overall rating as Guk is incredibly popular and other alternatives for banking and sellings or binding for melee classes cannot compare.
Halas
F-Tier
Its cold, its far, it doesn't have much to it. Halas gets a decent rating for its efficient use of space but lacks considerably in all other areas. Halas boasts one of the worst newbie experiences you can conceive of, resulting in large numbers of players immediately expatriating to Qeynos (an E-Tier town). While its proximity to Permafrost might give it a slight edge I think that its overwhelming shortcomings ultimately put this city at the bottom of the list.
Kaladim
B-Tier
The zone that begs the question: 'why is it two zones?' Tiny compact and efficient, Kaladim is super easy to navigate and contains many services right at the entrance. It is proximate to the BB Ring and the Faydwer docks making its an ideal travel stop. Butcherblock also offers a very good newbie experience and is also directly beside Unrest and Kedge offering a new spread of content. Putting the bank behind a zone line is a baffling design choice that will haunt me 'til my last days, and for haunting me, this city is not A-Tier.
Kelethin
C-Tier
So much to love, so much to hate. Lets not be a bunch of rose-coloured glasses wearing 'oh but Sir Gamma, I remember when I was but a zygote and I first saw this magnificent city in the trees' kind of guys. No. We are dealing only with the facts here people. Get it together. Kelethin is at best a mid-tier city. While Greater Faydark offers an excellent newbie experience, falling off of a suspended wooden platform and losing your corpse under a city in a giant non-descript forest does not. While it shares the proximity to the Wiz spire that Felwithe does making it a good place to stop for classes without a GM in Felwithe, its tucked away location, lifts, wildly inefficient space usage and only nearby content being a newbie dungeon its a solid C, maybe even D if you're feeling spicy.
Neriak
A-Tier
This is a one-stop shop for all evil races and even some morality bending good ones. Its got everything you need and even stuff you don't so watch your step in the Foreign Quarter. Its directly beside a Wiz spire and also beside Lavastorm, an excellent content rich zone that spans many levels with tons of quests and a Druid Ring as well. A main travel stop for all classes. Nektulos also has a cometent newbie experience and is actually great when super populated during server fresh starts. Dark Elf factions have all kinds of benefits and detractions. Great job Dark Elves.
Oggok
B-Tier
The home of the Ogres is a very good home indeed. While its not the easiest to navigate it does use its space very efficiently. The starting zone of Feerott is decent and with proximity to Innothule and Cazic-Thule you can level up pretty handily for a while in this area. Being close to the Plane of Fear portal and a Druid ring makes this a convenient evil-race pit-stop. The guards are also great for higher level xp grinding. Overall above average in most regards.
Paineel
S-Tier
Godlike city. Despite its lack of GMs its boasts some of the highest ratings in other areas. Efficiency is top-tier. Faction here is of extremely high value. The guards are an infinite source of free cash. Proximate to both teleport options and one of the best newbie experiences in game. proximity to The Hole make this a must-go for the late game.
Qeynos
E-Tier
It suffers from being completely secluded but also benefits from being the only game in town. Qeynos has the same issues as Freeport, a lot to run by when trying to get to the services. Many zone lines and semi-confusing "residential areas". It offers a competent newbie experience and being next to Blackburrow helps to speed up the process of getting big and bad enough to go somewhere better. While it scores slightly higher for having almost everything available in terms of GMs and services. Its location so far away from all reasonable travel options make it a low tier.
Rivervale
D-Tier
Right in the middle of Antonica we have Rivervale. With a Druid Ring right outside and the main services directly at the entrance what is not to love? Well, a couple things. It is directly connected to Kithicor forest which has the upside of being great for travelers looking to continue on to High Keep and beyond. For newer players this is a horrifying death sentence with absolutely no warning. This is offset by the Misty Thicket experience being quite good. All that considered this city generally is an afterthought for all except druids as a hub for any major activity as its closest dungeon allows for binding, selling and banking within it. Just pretty meh. Used to be an a amazing source of entertainment when you could train the whole zone into the town square and watch them run around. Alas. Donglo Goobler.
Surefall Glade
Basement-Tier
This city is like 8 dudes hanging out in a forest. Barely any GMs, no services. Smells bad.
So what do you think? It doesn't matter because as I have already stated this tier list is infallible and correct.
Thank you for reading.
Welcome to the completely infallible and correct Cities Tier list for Everquest P99 Cities.
Presented for your enjoyment is my impartial and empirically correct breakdown of the overall quality of your precious home cities.
Criteria used to determine the ranking of each city is as follows:
Accessibility
Starting Newbie Experience
Number of GMs
Number of Services
Faction Considerations
Proximity to Other Points of Interest
Efficient Usage of Space/Layout
Ak'Anon
C-Tier
The saving grace of Ak'anon is the Druid Rings in Steamfont mountains and Steamfont in general. While it has GMs for most major classes it is a nightmare to navigate for new players and non-gnomes alike. It has all the usual services but considering its one long cavern its not a very efficient town to visit. Its proximity to Mistmoore makes it an attractive lowbie pit-stop town. Finally, gnome faction is worth about dick-all in the grand scheme of things so this won't be a town you'll desperately need to ever visit.
Cabilis
C-Tier
Cabilis suffers majorly from being an Iksar only destination and it has no proximity to any travel ports. That being said it is a completely capable and easy-to-navigate town for the Iksars that do use it. It is proximate to content ranging from 1-60 within 1-2 zones. Making this an amazing 1-stop shop kind of town. For this unique and important reason I promoted it to C-Tier from my original thought of E-tier.
Erudin
A-Tier
Erudin is a high-efficiency easy-to-navigate city that suffers from a lack of variety. That being said Odus is arguably one of the best starting zones, made even better by the introduction of Paineel. It is proximate to both Druid and Wiz ports as well as having its own boat port. It is a direct conduit to Western Antonica which is a notoriously annoying area to access. Casters are likely to use Erudin often for banking and caster-class administration. For players looking to get a key to The Hole in the late game, this is an easy area to grind faction giving this city a small boost of late-game viability.
Felwithe
S-Tier
Felwithe is a winner in all categories of criteria. Super close to a wiz spire with 2 druid rings close-ish as well. Ultra high-efficiency design and smack-dab in the middle of Greater Faydark, an excellent starting area. It has a wider variety of GMs than Erudin and has walk access to other cities. While it is not so nicely positioned as others on this list to content and dungeons it is an ideal pit-stop for casters and priests.
Freeport
C-Tier
The ultimate Blah zone. Yes it is directly beside East Commonlands making it a massive banking hub, but for a city with 3 large zones its efficiency rating is trash. The vast majority of the city goes unused and its main uses are trapped behind multiple zone lines. Promixty to Nro Spire and WC Ring are a bonus and the zone offers a pretty decent new player experience, but certainly not the best. Overall Freeport is entirely average but would be D-Tier without East Commons
Grobb
B-Tier
Grobb. Grobb. Grobb. Well for starters as a new player you can be killed by another class' GMs while walking around in the city. So that's nice. Grobb is decently laid out and relatively efficient. Its dangerous and Innothule swamp is an abysmal starting zone. Promixity to Guk makes this a great mid-game stop for evil players which gives it a huge boost in its overall rating as Guk is incredibly popular and other alternatives for banking and sellings or binding for melee classes cannot compare.
Halas
F-Tier
Its cold, its far, it doesn't have much to it. Halas gets a decent rating for its efficient use of space but lacks considerably in all other areas. Halas boasts one of the worst newbie experiences you can conceive of, resulting in large numbers of players immediately expatriating to Qeynos (an E-Tier town). While its proximity to Permafrost might give it a slight edge I think that its overwhelming shortcomings ultimately put this city at the bottom of the list.
Kaladim
B-Tier
The zone that begs the question: 'why is it two zones?' Tiny compact and efficient, Kaladim is super easy to navigate and contains many services right at the entrance. It is proximate to the BB Ring and the Faydwer docks making its an ideal travel stop. Butcherblock also offers a very good newbie experience and is also directly beside Unrest and Kedge offering a new spread of content. Putting the bank behind a zone line is a baffling design choice that will haunt me 'til my last days, and for haunting me, this city is not A-Tier.
Kelethin
C-Tier
So much to love, so much to hate. Lets not be a bunch of rose-coloured glasses wearing 'oh but Sir Gamma, I remember when I was but a zygote and I first saw this magnificent city in the trees' kind of guys. No. We are dealing only with the facts here people. Get it together. Kelethin is at best a mid-tier city. While Greater Faydark offers an excellent newbie experience, falling off of a suspended wooden platform and losing your corpse under a city in a giant non-descript forest does not. While it shares the proximity to the Wiz spire that Felwithe does making it a good place to stop for classes without a GM in Felwithe, its tucked away location, lifts, wildly inefficient space usage and only nearby content being a newbie dungeon its a solid C, maybe even D if you're feeling spicy.
Neriak
A-Tier
This is a one-stop shop for all evil races and even some morality bending good ones. Its got everything you need and even stuff you don't so watch your step in the Foreign Quarter. Its directly beside a Wiz spire and also beside Lavastorm, an excellent content rich zone that spans many levels with tons of quests and a Druid Ring as well. A main travel stop for all classes. Nektulos also has a cometent newbie experience and is actually great when super populated during server fresh starts. Dark Elf factions have all kinds of benefits and detractions. Great job Dark Elves.
Oggok
B-Tier
The home of the Ogres is a very good home indeed. While its not the easiest to navigate it does use its space very efficiently. The starting zone of Feerott is decent and with proximity to Innothule and Cazic-Thule you can level up pretty handily for a while in this area. Being close to the Plane of Fear portal and a Druid ring makes this a convenient evil-race pit-stop. The guards are also great for higher level xp grinding. Overall above average in most regards.
Paineel
S-Tier
Godlike city. Despite its lack of GMs its boasts some of the highest ratings in other areas. Efficiency is top-tier. Faction here is of extremely high value. The guards are an infinite source of free cash. Proximate to both teleport options and one of the best newbie experiences in game. proximity to The Hole make this a must-go for the late game.
Qeynos
E-Tier
It suffers from being completely secluded but also benefits from being the only game in town. Qeynos has the same issues as Freeport, a lot to run by when trying to get to the services. Many zone lines and semi-confusing "residential areas". It offers a competent newbie experience and being next to Blackburrow helps to speed up the process of getting big and bad enough to go somewhere better. While it scores slightly higher for having almost everything available in terms of GMs and services. Its location so far away from all reasonable travel options make it a low tier.
Rivervale
D-Tier
Right in the middle of Antonica we have Rivervale. With a Druid Ring right outside and the main services directly at the entrance what is not to love? Well, a couple things. It is directly connected to Kithicor forest which has the upside of being great for travelers looking to continue on to High Keep and beyond. For newer players this is a horrifying death sentence with absolutely no warning. This is offset by the Misty Thicket experience being quite good. All that considered this city generally is an afterthought for all except druids as a hub for any major activity as its closest dungeon allows for binding, selling and banking within it. Just pretty meh. Used to be an a amazing source of entertainment when you could train the whole zone into the town square and watch them run around. Alas. Donglo Goobler.
Surefall Glade
Basement-Tier
This city is like 8 dudes hanging out in a forest. Barely any GMs, no services. Smells bad.
So what do you think? It doesn't matter because as I have already stated this tier list is infallible and correct.
Thank you for reading.