Possible Returning Player - Is There a Newbie Zone besides Crescent Reach?

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Feldwebel87, Jul 18, 2019.

  1. Feldwebel87 Journeyman

    I played through Crescent Reach several times, and I am not very fond of playing through again. I want to start a new char and play somewhere besides CR for my first several levels. Does such a place exist?
  2. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    Long long ago in a continent far far away there was no Cresent Reach in EQ. We all had starting cities (which you can still choose if your a paying account) and after killing some low level mobs the we would venture out to the next zone and usually die:( . But we just kept at it and explored many zones.

    Yes there are tons of zones you can go to besides CR. Too many to go into but google can help. Also your in game map has a zone connection/guide button in the upper right. If you click that you will see every zone in EQ and to the right of it the suggested level - low and high.

    Have Fun!
  3. bigpapa Augur

  4. Feldwebel87 Journeyman

    Thanks! I will give those resources a shot.
  5. Feldwebel87 Journeyman

    Are any of the other starting areas on par with CR? As in population and/or opportunities for gear?
  6. Fluid Augur

    Nothing is like CR. The rest of the world is capable since all newbie areas like Freeport or Qeynos drop Defiant. Much more tougher to do things like get fully equipped or do trades. Good news is if you don't like them, you can click a book back to PoK or maybe get killed. There won't be anybody in the other newbie areas unless you brought them. I would estimate maybe 4 times as long to level.
  7. Bashiok Crownguard Augur

    Did you try the tutorial?
  8. code-zero Augur

    If you're f2p you default to CR and can't chose any of the others. If you have all access give some of the old newbie zones a go....personally I hate all of them though Shar Vahl is moderately tolerable. CR and for that matter all of TSS is pure genius compared to the stuff that came before
    Gana and Annastasya like this.
  9. Feldwebel87 Journeyman

    Yes, I've played the tutorial. I know I can go other places, but if you want to play as suggested, CR is your option. Just tired of that place. That's all.
  10. Shanarias Augur

    Pretty easy to just run to the PoK book outside of the CR boundary, and go to any beginner zone.
    Annastasya likes this.
  11. I_Love_My_Bandwidth Mercslayer

    Greater Faydark, Best.Newbie.Area.Ever.

    Freeport/Commonlands a close second.
  12. Teylana Elder

    Nothing like being a level 1 wizzy in GFay killing bats and hearing that first DING!
  13. Herf Augur

    Iksar, Field of Bone. Then Kurns to 20. 'nuff said.
  14. NameAlreadyInUse #CactusGate

    CR has quests that guide you along at a fast past and keep you geared up and focused on progressing.

    All of the other starting cities have very limited quest options, and almost none of the quest rewards will be worth the time to do the quests. If you don't start in CR, you will most likely spend your time mindlessly looking for blue/light-blue/green mobs to kill and wishing you had something to do and wishing you had other players to play with.
    Annastasya and code-zero like this.
  15. Old&Slow Journeyman

    Toxx was fun and you can run back to guards for help. Before CR, Shar Vahl was probably the most complete newbie zone that I have run across. (Not that I played all newbie zones). If you went in as a kitty, lots of newbie quests and then just outside, Shadeweavers Thicket with LOTS of npc help if you got in trouble.
  16. Annastasya Augur

    All of the races have a newbie zone outside their starting city, or in some cases inside the city walls. They each have kind of their own flavor and were well designed introductions to play the game in a different way with your newly made character.

    Troll, Ogre, Barbarian and Guktan starting areas are particularly unforgiving. Fun and friendly are how i would describe the starting areas for High Elf, Wood Elf, Dwarf, Gnome and Halfling. Human, Erudite, Iksar, Vah Shir, Half Elves and Dark Elves, i feel, have more complex and slightly more challenging starting areas - often having the choice of different zones depending on which city they start in or what exit they take from their city. For example you can leave Cabilis into 4 different newbie areas.

    Drakkin (Crescent Reach) is far and away the best if you are looking to play with others, have clear goals, good rewards and natural linear progression. The only weakness i've encountered with the Crescent Reach start is that there is no well designed low level dungeon nearby as some cities have. Stone Hive starts in the 30-ish range. However, Blightfire Moors covers much of this need, and is, in my opinion, one of the best designed zones in the game.
  17. Feldwebel87 Journeyman

    Thank you for the honest answer. I was afraid that CR was the only zone worth playing in terms of loot, options, groups, etc.
  18. Feldwebel87 Journeyman

    I hate how open CR is, but then again it's kind of charming as well. If it were more populated, I believe CR would feel more natural, but it can feel like a massive, open space with those annoying elevators. Sigh, I can see why a lot of people prefer it though.

    Several years ago I was fond of starting in Qeynos, killing the yard trash, and then moving on to Blackburrow. That area is very special to me.
  19. Scorrpio Augur

    Considering easy availability of Defiant, CR quests are not really worth it either. Except that CR is where one stands the most chance of finding other players of same level range. It also has a decent means of getting your tradeskills for free to 54.
    I would say only other 'universal' area for newbies is Luclin (Shadeweaver/Paludal etc). Other newbie areas can be unfriendly delending on class/race/deity.
  20. Bashiok Crownguard Augur

    Lake of Ill Omen (if it's a hotzone) is decent, I chose to do it from 15-25 but I might have gone earlier if I was an exploratory type. Once I got to the sarnak fort I noped out due to pathing.