Levelling without leaving the continent

[necrosaurio]

OK, so my plans to level with a friend fell out, so it's all solo for me from now on. After my last adventure trying to get through Highpass, I got druid-envy (hey Nagash) and decided to level one. After playing it to level 8 and loving it, I've noticed that there are too many zones to play and too few levels (specially if you count travel time), so I've decided to play a char in each continent, without leaving the continent until level 50, if possible.

The chars are going to be:
- A halfling druid, to be levelled in Faydwer. OK, he started in Antonica but there are lots of half-height drops in there so it made sense to me to get him there. This is my main char :)
- A dark elf enchanter, to be levelled in Antonica. Having illusions really helps here, so I can play Freeport.
- An iksar necro, to be levelled in Kunark. I love necros and I love iksars. And it names my account. Shame I deleted my account on a death related rage, so it's restarting from 1 time again.
- An erudite wizard, obviously, in Odus. I prefer gnomes but it makes more sense to play an erudite in Odus.

Despite all the chars being casters, all of them play a different way (the druid will mostly be doing root rotting, just to keep it different).

I am not worried about the levelling and I know it is going to take a long time, specially with my schedule. Also, it will be stupidly hard to pass equipment/money across, being in separate continents with only one char having access to EC, so it's all non-twink work (except for the druid, I managed to buy some equipment, thanks to Nagash again and to the kind druid who gave me a +20mana ring the other day).

My bard (and my ranger) will have to wait until the hybrid penalty is removed. Or, for the bard, until swarm kiting works.

Is this possible or will I hit levels where it is impossible to level up without leaving the continent? Am I completely mad?

Completely unrelated question, how much exp do you get from the orc scalps in Highkeep at level 8? This is for my druid and I might make an exception just to get through to level 9.

[Tinedor]

Good luck going 1-50 on Odus..most boring, empty place in the game.

[Vondra]

Antonica is probably the easiest to get into the low 50s. Most of the classic stuff people visit is in Antonica anyway. You've got your usual outdoor leveling spots, then you've got upper and lower guk along with sol a and sol b to easily get above 50. Certainly possible to get to 60 but it'll be boring near the end.

Kunark has everything you need to go from 1-60. This is probably the fastest. Standard iksar newbie leveling, then you've got the various kunark dungeons, the overthere, dreadlands, no problem at all.

In Faydwer expect to be sitting in Unrest and Mistmoore an awful lot. You could go from 10-50 in just those 2 zones, probably a huge PITA finding a group above low 30s though. I guess you need kedge keep to get to 60, probably would involve a lot of killing green mobs hoping blues pop in their place, pretty boring.

I don't recommend trying to do this with Odus. You'll just be playing in Kerra Isle alone. Doesnt sound fun.

[Daldaen]

Unrest 14-30 and Mistmoore 25-35. Then Kedge 35-60 for Faydwer :P.

Odus will be rough. Once you get 40s you can do 40-60 in the Hole... 1-10 in Toxxulia... Mabye 10-15 in Erud's Crossing... But 15-40 would be rough, I guess Kerra but that would be pretty close to impossible I'd think.

[oddibemcd]

What about Paineel guards?

[Daldaen]

The Warrens were good for 15-25 but that was a late Velious addition I think? Or mabye it was even later I don't remember exactly.

Stonebrunt was decent for 25-35 as well, another Velious addition as well I believe.

tl;dr Odus wasn't well thought out in terms of mid-upper level dungeons and was remedied as the game progressed but it was too little too late IMO.

[sox7d]

I'm leveling my iksar shaman exclusively on kunark, already level 40.

[MrSparkle001]

Odus without Warrens and Stonebrunt is terrible.

I really hope both are added at some point. They may not be "classic" but they're both zones added to the "classic" map that are sorely needed (meaning they weren't added to an expansion content, but to Faydwer/Antonica/Odus).

[necrosaurio]

OK, so nobody thinks this is a mad idea, apart from the Odus bit.

Well, I think that the erudite wizard is out and the gnome wiz is in :)

Thanks a lot guys! Not having played the game back in the day this is all new to me.

[Estu]

Honestly, Odus might be doable with some creativity and gumption. It's an interesting idea and would be a nice bragging right. If I were you I'd do a bit more research about your options (I think it would go something like toxxulia to erud's crossing to kerra isle to paineel guards, and then to the hole; you might actually need to resort to erudin guards at some point) before tossing the idea. I rather like the concept of leveling characters solely in various continents. (I'd never do it though!)

[yraapt]

I think it is a great concept! I have often wondered to what extreme I could level in a particular zone, while I sat medding...

I think Odus would be real tough, but very interesting to investigate.

[necrosaurio]

Odus seems tough, indeed. I started the Wiz and, after not much play, I find the place to be quite empy, even the newbie area in Toxx, so I will be going to Paineel to kill some skellies.

It also looks to be very bereft of newbie quests but hey, I can kill the same decaying skeleton a million times ;)

I think it is a great concept! I have often wondered to what extreme I could level in a particular zone, while I sat medding...

I think Odus would be real tough, but very interesting to investigate.

[burkemi5]

you can level in toxx forest until maybe level 8 but as far as i know you will be stuck in that range. low paineel guards are in the mid teens and kerra isle is mid 20s iirc. however, if you manage to get into the teens, you can kill guards in paineel for a long time and switch over to kerra isle when you get bored.

[necrosaurio]

OK, one question. I've been trying to find newbie erudite quests and I haven't had much luck.

I tried doing the bone chips quest in Erudin but the indifferent-con NPC will not give it to me and, when I've gone to check how to raise the faction, I've found that there is now way to do so... this really makes me think twice about the erudite. I don't care that much about the fast levelling but getting decent-ish gear really helps.

Any suggestions, please :)

[Nirgon]

I wouldn't really focus on quest item rewards being the draw for which race you choose here. There's tons of good and cheap items for a starter character esp with Kunark having been around so long.

[necrosaurio]

Well, the idea is to level without leaving the continent, so getting the stuff from Antonica doesn't come into the plan.

I don't know, I am torn about this. I really like the idea but it's starting to look like it's going to take far too long in Odus... that gnome wizard is starting to sound tempting again and I love small races.

[Korisek]

OK, one question. I've been trying to find newbie erudite quests and I haven't had much luck.

I tried doing the bone chips quest in Erudin but the indifferent-con NPC will not give it to me and, when I've gone to check how to raise the faction, I've found that there is now way to do so... this really makes me think twice about the erudite. I don't care that much about the fast levelling but getting decent-ish gear really helps.

Any suggestions, please :)

There's a level 8 heretic by the bridge in Toxxulia that -should- give you faction with Erudin. There's another heretic by the waterside towards Kerra Isle that should do the same, but I don't remember his level or name.

[Nirgon]

Making a port class and not leaving a continent... have fun. All of the 39+ wizard spells are sold in Odus. I'd avoid that class option.

[Estu]

Oh, I see, I thought you meant you'd never EXP outside the continent; I didn't think you'd literally never leave the continent. Still, though, wizards are extremely gear-independent until you start quad-kiting, and you're not going to have quad-kiting options in Odus anyway, so whether or not you're naked, it's not going to make your leveling any faster past like level 10 when you're still doing a lot of meleeing. I think you have the wrong idea of how EQ gear works for casters.

[jerok88]

Wizard won't do too well in Odus, I'd go enchanter or necro for Odus, wizard could easily quad kite in the other continents though

[Estu]

Wizard's honestly a pretty shitty choice in general. Possibly the worst class in the game.

[necrosaurio]

Well, Odus is out. It was a neat idea but, obviously, it's not going to work :)

I will re-arrange the choice of exp areas and make a gnome wizard.

Why a wizard? Well, I like the porting, the kiting and the nuking and I want to try all the casters apart from the cleric and magician, which I can't stand and the shaman, which I don't see as interesting.

I know that casters don't need that much gear, but I like being able to resist a hit or two when things go wrong, which is always due to my lack of skill :)

[mwatt]

I'm leveling my iksar shaman exclusively on kunark, already level 40.

Curious as to what you do about banking.

[GETINMYVAN]

Rumor has it there's a bank in cabilis that iksars can use.

[mwatt]

Rumor has it there's a bank in cabilis that iksars can use.

May I just say, "doh!".

I read want I wanted to read, completely glossing over the fact that he said Kunark.

I want to play my Iksar SK in the old world and would love to find a way to bank there. Maybe Runnyeye? Ideal for me would be Neriak but Oggok would work. I have heard there some faction work you can do for Neriak but not sure Iksars can do it.