Anyone will to share some non-meta but still good classic exp spots?

I'll be 6 boxing on Riz, and would like to bump elbows with other groups as little as possible while still getting decent exp.

I don't need to be the first 50 on the server, but I do want to keep moving at a steady clip.

I'd be particularly interested in hearing about the non-meta dungeons, aka paw, najena, permafrost, highkeep, runnyeye, kedge etc.

I recall there being a ton of healer mobs in perma, but I should have the tools to deal with it.

I mean you just listed the non meta spots. Just go there and kill.

Each spot has tons of considerations, mob density, respawn time, annoying casters, loot. Just cause a location fits a level range does not make it a viable, or even decent, spot.

Which is why I made the thread.

Steamfont NE - has near instant respawning mobs that are around levels 8-12
Erud's Crossing - also near instant respawning mobs of levels 7-11 for those on the western half
East Karana - Very high mob density and fast respawns for levels 17-23, there's a reason people go here to farm spider silks. Watch out for Tarbul
South Ro - Deepwater Goblins around level 35, very fast respawn with a decent number of static spawns on the southeast side of the lake. Almost never camped and an OK alternative to guk if you want peace and quiet.

High keep is kind of meta. It's insanely good for mid 20s. The goblins really only support one group and the level range can make it very tricky to deal with in the low 20s. The majority of the goblins up top are 23-25, and downstairs the mobs can go up to 34. Each of the spawn point in the warrior and raider rooms can also have the lower level mobs in them though so the difficulty of breaking the room spawns varies a lot.

With a strong group of mid 20s you'll probably need to start pulling guards in to not have downtime camping goblins. There is a set of 3 guards with a 5 minute respawn time in the jail area that is pretty easy to pull to the goblins. Captain Bosec is right there too and has a 5 minute respawn. He is pretty damn strong so whether pulling in guards works will depend on how easily you can deal with fighting him repeatedly.

In reality there will probably be a lot of competition for the guards here so I'd be surprised if you were able to pull them steadily while waiting for goblin respawns.

Splitpaw is the other zone I spent a ton of time in and I'm a huge fan of it when playing an enchanter. You really, really need stuns to deal with the amount of healing mobs. The caster mobs can also be vicious, especially the enchanter versions. Loot is generally trash except white hellebore (used for level 20 distillate potions) and Gnoll Hide Lariats (stun proc weapon for pets). Fun random fact is there are snakes in the lake near the center of the zone that are charmable by both druid and shaman. Really what the zone has is tons of mobs and low competition because of annoying mob types and bad loot. Could be workable for a group to do low 30s to 40 at most. There's a few level 40+ mobs in the zone near the ishva mal but their respawn is twice as slow as the rest of the zone.

Oh and Runnyeye pre Velious revamp seems pretty gross and bad. I didn't really explore it a ton but spawns seemed really sparse and low level.

Kedge kicks if you can pull the entire mermaid area and the seahorse cave. You'll get tons of deepwater ink that are very valuable during Kunark before velious opens SG and the bots flood that zone. This means you'll probably have competition here unless you outlevel the rest of the server at the start. The rest of the zone is way too spread out to support a whole group. The mermaids are all druid and ranger mobs so they come with annoying buffs and slightly annoying heals you can probably burst down. Seahorses can be ranger, cleric and wizard so you'll probably want a stun to deal with the clerics.

Mistmore is pretty good but no one goes there.

Splitpaw is OK around 20+ and if you can go past the entrance can be good. Problem is a lot of solo and boxers use the first stretch for leveling and are very proprietary about the area.

So far on every TLP server I've played, Runnyeye is a mess. Lots of farmers and trains. If you can sneak in a group and get an uncontested camp it gets a maybe.

SolB is also pretty good for leveling. Pathing and falling into the lava is a problem. You need at least one toon that can pull there.

Najena is a must if you have a Magician in the group. I have spent time there every TLP. Lavastorm is kind of one stop shopping for a Magician in that you can get your pet focus items and start your epic. I go there no matter how bad it can become.

Kedge, gawd I hate being underwater. I have taken a few Rangers through the Trueshot/Raincaller path and don't look forward to going back. It does have some nice drops there, just a PIA to find your way around and not drowned.

As a substitute if you insist on having a Ranger is SK looking for Coloth Meadowgreen & the Runed Oak Bow. I would predict you won't be happy spending time in SK with a 6 box just because the spawn is to slow and dilute. I can pretty much handle the KFC city their with a couple of characters around level 20.

Consider OOT. It takes you out of the mass hysteria spots like Blackburrow and I would almost describe it as underutilized. It has everything from gobbies, undead, and mermaids<sirens>. It goes all the way to Seafury Cyclops which can get you all the way to level 50. I'm not a huge fan of the area but if someone said I only had access to one zone to level from ~10-50, that would be OOT. You would need to have at least one good character in your group that can bind next to a merchant and sell loot. If I run a Magician it is always on my hit list since I can pick up Ice Giant, Fire Giant, and Hill Giant toes off Gornit for my pet focus items.

Once established<level 45+), I would go to near the bottom of Permafrost. The Hill Giants in Rathe Mountains is a circus of bad behavior. The Frost Giants at the entrance to Permafrost are permacamped. If you go to the lower levels there are Frost giants there that are pretty much uncontested. They are social and run to level 50 so have a character that can root. It should make up for the lack of loot you've been getting up until then.

Honestly if you just follow the traditional qeynos side you'll be in far less of the masses. It's just not as popular from the karanas to kfc to gnoll and paw... just really underutilized despite these strong nostalgia.

Mistmoore, SolB, OtT is the path less take.

Or just go to Guk for 30 levels.

In classic, get yerself a Gnollslayer and have the best weapon in Cladsic vs Gnolls (25/40) that will take you from 25 to 40ish. Get another non full gnoll slayer and you got a dual wield of 25/40 and 15/40 against gnolls.

I kinda wish they had more gnoll content in EQ...they never really did much with them.

Not worth giving up ownership of Baby Joseph Sayer, he will accompany me on all my adventures.

If you needed room to loot tbat cloak of flames....surely you would destroy that baby.

Oh god I hunted here with a druid/enchanter and accidentally aggroed Vox and died so many times. Her line of sight aggro just defies all logic that I could observe. Probably less of an issue during classic when there will be high competition for Vox in open world. Unfortunately the giants in there don't have above average plat drops if I remember right the spot really just offered rarely contested xp. Between the giants and wolves in the pit it was not bad as a duo.

It's also ironically why you really need to post more info. A lot of the non-meta "Secret spots" are only good when your group comp meets certain factors. For example CT Crocs become much better if you have a druid that is willing to charm, going to paw becomes more viable if you have a porter and open world zones like Lavastorm are much better if you're chanterless

Damn Bobbybick the type of guy to rescue a child from a vicious gnoll, only to then kidnap the kid.

You don’t want to see other people on an MMO.... ?

Why don’t you just play on your own stand-alone server lol.

That's a PoP quest.

5+ Blackburrow, is a long trek for most
10+ Befallen, people go to ec to trade
15+ Najena, for your mage army, will be packed but beneficial
20+ Goblins in oot are plentiful
25+ Whatever you can find alive... or undead lol
Everything will probably be fully camped though. I wouldn't even bother with guk/unrest/mistmoore/crushbone or hill giants.
Not sure how great this would be but it's what I would try.

Yes....sure it is. Heh.