list your best no nonsense grind XP zones

[Nyrod]

if i wanted to do nothing but grind solid experience what are the best zones? i know the wiki has a good list but as it says we dont know for sure the ZEM of every zone and some are changed. im working with freaking max penalty (iksar sk) and dont want to be stuck in a zone that is slow as hell. im currently lvl 21

what zones do YOU use to PL and or solo the best XP etc etc?

[Nocte]

kedge keep

[Nyrod]

ya for like lvl 40+?

[Nocte]

It's good exp until the early 50s if you have the right group makeup.

[Harrison]

Kedge if you can deal with the bugginess.

[Dr4z3r]

Skyfire.

Gonna be tough to get in on if you're not a 54+ Wiz/Ench, or 51+ Bard/Cleric, though.

[Galanteer]

You can start soloing Kedge entrance at about 30 (at least for mages) and a little higher for charm for enchanters. (they have low mr so charm tends to stick)

note: my experience stems from live, not high enough here yet.

edit in: at 21 your likely best in MM, there is generally a bunch around there to group, and enough easy pickings to solo. There are other good places like Uguk and Loio that have some people about if your looking to group.
edit in: you could try Oot for a bit -gargoyles (good money and exp) then goblins.

[Odeseus]

Most underrated zone is the paw. Solid ZEM, almost always empty, good plat drops for the level (although named aren't going to drop anything worthwhile), two areas with nothing but solo pulls, can bind in the arena (which is actually VERY close), can port to NK (which isn't that far away), and merchant close at the aviak tower in SK.

As a mage, i solo'd from about 24-45 in the paw. Could go higher but after 45 your returns won't nearly be as high.

[Anger]

Most underrated zone is the paw. Solid ZEM, almost always empty, good plat drops for the level (although named aren't going to drop anything worthwhile), two areas with nothing but solo pulls, can bind in the arena (which is actually VERY close), can port to NK (which isn't that far away), and merchant close at the aviak tower in SK.

As a mage, i solo'd from about 24-45 in the paw. Could go higher but after 45 your returns won't nearly be as high.

I agree with this. Once you get to know the zone, you'll find where you can just plop down and grind for hours. Just watch out for the casters - they can be brutal.

[falkun]

Most underrated zone is the paw.

And farm your own stun whips (http://wiki.project1999.org/index.php/Gnoll_Hide_Lariat) while your at it!

[bulbousaur]

And farm your own stun whips (http://wiki.project1999.org/index.php/Gnoll_Hide_Lariat) while your at it!

Are these worth anything?

[falkun]

Are these worth anything?

Pet classes will pay about 25p for each one. They make amazing pet weapons with the stun. Most PCs don't use em, but I'd think they are good pet items at least, and I've been thinking about acquiring a pair for interrupting on the bard (but that's a ton-o-aggro).

[Anger]

Are these worth anything?

Quite useful for pet classes. And I believe they can drop off any gnoll in the zone. You'll see them holding a whip if they have it.

[Striiker]

A must for you to go to is SolA. I leveled up my enchanter there to about 32 doing some soloing and grouping. I am currently in there with my SK (Lvl 33). It's a great zone. Lots of Fine Steel drops. Close to Nerriak for a bind and East Commons (to find people LFG) and is off of Lavastorm (for druid ports). The XP in this zone is GREAT. Start with the areas which look like tunnels etc. Once you level up and are in a group, you can hit the castle. There are some nice drops in the zone which sell well.

[mwatt]

A must for you to go to is SolA. I leveled up my enchanter there to about 32 doing some soloing and grouping. I am currently in there with my SK (Lvl 33). It's a great zone. Lots of Fine Steel drops. Close to Nerriak for a bind and East Commons (to find people LFG) and is off of Lavastorm (for druid ports). The XP in this zone is GREAT. Start with the areas which look like tunnels etc. Once you level up and are in a group, you can hit the castle. There are some nice drops in the zone which sell well.

Wow nice post Striiker. You make me want to check it out. I have barely stepped foot in SolA for all these years. Thanks.

[Mustaza]

Kunark gave us two great underused dungeons for grinding out 30-45. Droga has some fantastic XP & loot, specifically try bringing a high 30s group to dining hall or Soothsayer camps.

Kaesora also has some great XP and loot for the same level range. The library camp has a wealth of named, and 25% WR bags can drop off the trash down there.

Good luck!

[Atmas]

Kaesora also has some great XP and loot for the same level range. The library camp has a wealth of named, and 25% WR bags can drop off the trash down there.

Good luck!

Yeah did some Kaseora the other night. It's good xp and loot if you have the group for it. It's kind of a pain to assemble a group there though. But thats classic =P

[Curmudgen]

Off topic, but can shaman pets equip stun whips like any other pet?

[quellren]

Off topic, but can shaman pets equip stun whips like any other pet?
Yes. and the 39+ pet will Dual Wield if given 2 weapons.

Edit: it might actually be 44... I don't remember. but the 44 does for certain.

[Nyrod]

ok these are all good replies.

i have noticed things are a bit different on this server than other emu's.

in my previous experience solA was just a train fest and too many wizards around. plus being bound in neriak as an iksar sounds shitty lol.

paw sounds good just wonder how i would do soloing with sk there.

kaesora is a nightmare getting out of if your in trouble not to mention the shitty CR.

definitely want to try droga when im higher although there are lots of casters and its also a bitch to get out of in a hairy situation.

i know im being picky but how long did these spots take you to lvl? what was your downtime?

i have been fear kiting blues in lake of ill omen and even though i only have to med for mana i get impatient with the downtime. guess if im going to have downtime i want it to be really worth it. on vztz people knew the spots with the mobs who had the lowest HP's, best exp return, lowest downtime etc. its just not the same here i know.

how does lower guk go for hp of mobs, solo ability and exp bonus for being a dungeon?

how about solb?

during classic was everyone in solb/lguk? and it sounds like kedge is a hot spot too.

also not interested in drops, just want max xp output minimal downtime with the ability to solo if groups arent to be had.

ill make a guide for iksar sk lvling after im done with this :P so far its field of bone till 12 kurns till 22 (although i left at 21 and wished i hadnt till i ground it out, ended up dieing like 5 times in lake before i started fear kiting)

[falkun]

A lot of the replies are geared towards grouping or PLing, not soloing. Fear kiting is not recommended in most dungeons, for that you are best off doing it outdoors, and most outdoor zones do not have ZEMs worth noting.

For soloing, find a place with mobs you can single pull and a clear place to fear-kite at. OT has a lot of that for the 20-46 range, but you will have to fight against bards for mobs. FV is decent in the 30-40 range as well I'd imagine.

Basically, fear kiting is much different than grouping/PLing, you need ROOM to fear-kite. Please don't get pissed at these posters when you follow the recommendations to grind in dungeons and then die when you fear and end up training yourself.

[Loke]

Sol A from like 20 until 35 or 40
Sol B from 35 or 40 until 60.

[Striiker]

A lot of the replies are geared towards grouping or PLing, not soloing. Fear kiting is not recommended in most dungeons, for that you are best off doing it outdoors, and most outdoor zones do not have ZEMs worth noting.

If you are looking to solo with fear kiting, you DO need to stick to outdoor zones. As a Shadowknight, I have never solo'd. Tank classes are frequently in demand so it's a question often of tossing up the old LFG tag and while waiting, start trying to assemble a group for the zones mentioned. The Kunark dungeons mentioned are great spots for grouping as well. I've just found that it can be a challenge getting a well-rounded group together WITH crowd control. You will really want CC in these places (especially Droga (closely placed mobs = multiple pulls and lots of casters) and other zones which force you to go further into the dungeon before you can access an exit (Droga, Nurga etc.) Cazic Thule is another great place for XP however you also really do need CC there as well. SolA I know doesn't need crowd control.

[Nyrod]

i was simply saying that i was fear kiting. not looking to continue that ;)

i know what im doing ive lvled, PLed, played and geared countless race/class combos to lvl 60 in classic/kunark/velious and led guilds of 20-30 players raiding all end game content in classic/kunark/velious in just the last 3 years BUT it was on vztz and things are a bit different here most specifically the experience gain.

and agro is weird here.

and FD....

honestly just looking for something to do till i get a GD PL lmao

ill try solA/solB ive done them before and i can deal with being bound in neriak. maybe ill try lguk ive lvled so many toons in there clearing live side 35-45 and the whole dead side around 45-52. the mobs had lower HP and didnt hit as hard as solB and kunark shit at those lvls but not sure how it is here.

[Messianic]

Sol B from 35 or 40 until 60.

ill try solA/solB ive done them before and i can deal with being bound in neriak. maybe ill try lguk ive lvled so many toons in there clearing live side 35-45 and the whole dead side around 45-52. the mobs had lower HP and didnt hit as hard as solB and kunark shit at those lvls but not sure how it is here.

This is it, pretty much...I pretty much soloed a monk on live to 60 (little bit of grouping here or there). Lguk and Sol B were very kind to me in that regard...Lguk in the first part of my 50s, Sol B during the latter part, doing LDCs, etc...

[Nyrod]

ok so im in solA and i can do about 2 to 3 goblins before i need to rest at lvl 21 but i can handle the casters which i wasnt sure if i would, just need to time my bashes and use my FR/CR gear. if they were all young goblins would be a different story.

it still is a train fest because i just zoned at 1% from the biggest fucking train. already noticed a few pathing bugs when i pull the goblins to solB zoneline, they can often pop out of the wall behind me and this instance i pulled a goblin from the first door to the castle and ran back and somehow he pulled like 30 other goblins by the time he got to me. >_<

sadly there is no one else here so its not as fast as it could be but i def see a larger exp amount for dark blues in here.

[Taminy]

Best no nonsense grind xp zones are the ones you don't tell other people about :).

There are 3 very, very good ones esp for solo and duo that have not even been mentioned. I did some grouping and duoing with my warrior, but also soloed from 51-55 (getting just as good xp as group or duo). Oh and might I add: no fungi tunic, no fungi staff, non-troll, and buggy bind wound (could only bind to 50%). The bind wound cap and buggy damage tables hampered me from soloing 55-60 though

[dusk883]

Best no nonsense grind xp zones are the ones you don't tell other people about :).

There are 3 very, very good ones esp for solo and duo that have not even been mentioned. I did some grouping and duoing with my warrior, but also soloed from 51-55 (getting just as good xp as group or duo). Oh and might I add: no fungi tunic, no fungi staff, non-troll, and buggy bind wound (could only bind to 50%). The bind wound cap and buggy damage tables hampered me from soloing 55-60 though

Awesome contributing post, thanks!

[Taminy]

Awesome contributing post, thanks!

It is contributing. It tells anyone smart to figure good zones out then not go and tell everyone and their grandmother.

[Messianic]

It is contributing. It tells anyone smart to figure good zones out then not go and tell everyone and their grandmother.

I only tell everyone after i've used that location to death :)

[Arkanjil]

When your 40+ CoM has some nice soloing spots. It also has a great ZEM and good loot/gem drops.

[Pyrocat]

Off topic, but can shaman pets equip stun whips like any other pet?

Yes but they're pretty much worthless once you hit 50ish+, your pet stays around the same level but you keep fighting higher and higher level mobs. Since your pet is so far below the mobs level the stun proc will never land, even if you lower the resists with malo, because of the +/- 6 level rule*.


* iirc the formula is a little more detailed than that, but I don't recall what it is.

[Yinikren]

It's level x 1.25. So a 40 pet could cast on a 50 mob.

[SearyxTZ]

Sweet fucking God, EXP on this server is slow to the point of being masochistic.


Two hours to reach level 3.

Part of me wants to continue because the newbie levels always suck and the gameplay gradually improves, but another part thinks I'd rather take a sledgehammer to the balls than auto attack another spiderling or lizard to death.



Can one of the devs here at least implement /guildwar so we have some more incentive to endure this shit? Fuck.

[Nyrod]

dude it sucks even at lvl 25 and it took me 4 days played...

you either commit to lvl 50+ or there is no reason to continue my friend, its just brutal grind and it only gets worse post 50

what are you playing iksar monk? :P

[Ennoia]

Sweet fucking God, EXP on this server is slow to the point of being masochistic.


Two hours to reach level 3.

Part of me wants to continue because the newbie levels always suck and the gameplay gradually improves, but another part thinks I'd rather take a sledgehammer to the balls than auto attack another spiderling or lizard to death.



Can one of the devs here at least implement /guildwar so we have some more incentive to endure this shit? Fuck.

Have a friend get you Brazier of Elemental Summoning. It helps the low levels go by really fast, especially <10. That pet is a beast. They're relatively easy to get (upper guk summoner camp).

[Pyrocat]

It's level x 1.25. So a 40 pet could cast on a 50 mob.

If you summon a max level pet, with your level 55 pet spell, it can cast on a max level of 48.75. By the time you're 55 you will most likely be killing mobs that are 49+

They're good for shamans if you want to go rape casters in lower level dungeons though.

[Zuranthium]

I wouldn't recommend SolA unless you have a Bard, personally. I find it to be rather inefficient and way too dangerous unless you have their AoE mez.