Rogues: How to? Where to?

[Questors]

What is his not, a complaint.
What this is, a quest for opinions and ideas.

Basics: Level 20 Rogue with some items bought at EC tunnel, a combination all eras, including some basic studded leather armor and some items from Kunark or Velious eras, but not super geared or OP by any stretch.

Back in the day, I played a Wizard, SK, Ranger, Druid and Mage up to maximum level. Also played a monk to high level, but not maximum. I did the pulling, the charming, the porting, the healing, etc. I also did the raid leading and the guild officer thing and so forth. This go-round I want to play a character that is more basic. The rogue suits that need.

I managed level 20+ nearly solo for lack of groups. This is where the solo fun stops, mostly. I have gone to all the "popular" areas for level appropriate grouping. I have tried making groups myself in those areas and other "less popular" areas with very little success. How to do I level this Rogue? Where do I level this Rogue and do so without wasting immense amounts of time waiting for no group? Advice from experienced P1999 players appreciated.

[Toxigen]

find a twinked melee and offer to backstab for them

necro / bard are decent options too for duo (snare + fear)

/who all "insert class / level range here" is a good tool

unfortunately both servers are top heavy now...people blast through 1-40...but if you're polite and explain your situation some mega twinks will take you along for a duo session

[Questors]

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

find a twinked melee and offer to backstab for them

necro / bard are decent options too for duo (snare + fear)

/who all "insert class / level range here" is a good tool

unfortunately both servers are top heavy now...people blast through 1-40...but if you're polite and explain your situation some mega twinks will take you along for a duo session

Interesting. Thanks for the idea. I shall attempt this strategy.

[Videri]

Maybe join a guild and level with their alts or their new recruits.

[eqravenprince]

Leveled 20-25 in erud's crossing just soloing cats and sometimes going around killing all the trivial mobs collecting poison components, earrings off the erudite madman, lightstones, spider silk, and thin boned wands. It was a fun sidebar til I outleveled the cats. Now that I'm 25, I am trying out Gorge.

[Questors]

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

Maybe join a guild and level with their alts or their new recruits.

Considered that idea. It's on the table.

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

Leveled 20-25 in erud's crossing just soloing cats and sometimes going around killing all the trivial mobs collecting poison components, earrings off the erudite madman, lightstones, spider silk, and thin boned wands. It was a fun sidebar til I outleveled the cats. Now that I'm 25, I am trying out Gorge.

This is something I had not considered. Thank you for the idea.

[Zwieback]

blue is dead, merge now

[Swish]

You just need a friendly shaman pal. Great duo opportunities. Necro too if you don't mind chasing after feared/snared mobs.

[greatdane]

I leveled a rogue from 1 to 55 this year. It required a strict adherence to the established leveling route:

??-20: Crushbone/Oasis
20-27: Unrest
27-35: Highkeep goblins (or MM GY, but groups unreliable)
35-40: Mistmoore CE
40-50: City of Mist, any camp
50+: Karnor's Castle

Reliable groups are not available anywhere else, and unless you have a crew of friends that you can rely upon for hours at a time, it isn't worth bringing PUGs to any other zones because somebody has to leave every 30 minutes or so. You waste your time if you try to go anywhere besides the aforementioned zones, and there will be an awkward lull in the 30-40 range as there's only really room for one group at HK goblins and MM CE.

While exp in Karnor's is not amazing, it's the only place where you can realistically find groups on your own. You'll notice from the list above that these zones have one thing in common: they're all outdoors and you can train out. People don't want to grind in places where they can't have SoW/Jboots for easy skidaddling when the dad-gamers go AFK unannounced and shit falls apart. Everyone's old as shit these days and has to AFK all the time, and if that happens in the depths of Sebilis or someplace like that, it's a pain in the ass. Even as a rogue.

While you can drag corpses, groups always fall apart after a wipe. If you try to "bring your own group" to some unusual leveling spot, it's neat for an hour or two and then you're spending more time replacing people than killing mobs. It just isn't worth the hassle. No dungeon has a high enough ZEM to compensate for that. It's just easier to stick to the bandwagon zones. You'll get more exp/hour.

[Questors]

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

I leveled a rogue from 1 to 55 this year. It required a strict adherence to the established leveling route:

??-20: Crushbone/Oasis
20-27: Unrest
27-35: Highkeep goblins (or MM GY, but groups unreliable)
35-40: Mistmoore CE
40-50: City of Mist, any camp
50+: Karnor's Castle

Reliable groups are not available anywhere else, and unless you have a crew of friends that you can rely upon for hours at a time, it isn't worth bringing PUGs to any other zones because somebody has to leave every 30 minutes or so. You waste your time if you try to go anywhere besides the aforementioned zones, and there will be an awkward lull in the 30-40 range as there's only really room for one group at HK goblins and MM CE.

While exp in Karnor's is not amazing, it's the only place where you can realistically find groups on your own. You'll notice from the list above that these zones have one thing in common: they're all outdoors and you can train out. People don't want to grind in places where they can't have SoW/Jboots for easy skidaddling when the dad-gamers go AFK unannounced and shit falls apart. Everyone's old as shit these days and has to AFK all the time, and if that happens in the depths of Sebilis or someplace like that, it's a pain in the ass. Even as a rogue.

While you can drag corpses, groups always fall apart after a wipe. If you try to "bring your own group" to some unusual leveling spot, it's neat for an hour or two and then you're spending more time replacing people than killing mobs. It just isn't worth the hassle. No dungeon has a high enough ZEM to compensate for that. It's just easier to stick to the bandwagon zones. You'll get more exp/hour.

So basically, it isn't worth it? What is described here is not playing a game. It's conforming to an undesirable circumstance that one would rather not do and more pain than value. Ugh.