Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Veteran MMOGs have the big benefit of having big worlds and this is certainly true for EverQuest II’s world of Norrath.  Through expansions and game updates, Norrath has grown by leaps and bounds since its release giving players more options for adventuring than ever. Along with the game’s land mass growth, travel has also gotten easier than ever allowing players to branch out and game in places that might have been hard to reach previously.

With all these options, how do you find the best places to go? Let’s take a walk through Norrath and explore the best spots, both well known and not so well known, to adventure and level your way through your character’s career.

Tier One and Two (level 1-19)

With Qeynos and Freeport no longer available to new characters, your options are to spend your first levels in Greater Faydark, Darklight Woods, Timorous Deep, or New Halas. Each of these starting areas will easily take you well past level twenty if you get in on all the content and do the local quests.  After these level is when you’ll want to branch out and explore more of the world.

Tier Three (20-29)

At level 20+ the best solo hangout will be Butcherblock Mountains. Nektulos Forest and Thundering Steppes are okay for mob grinding but they lack the quest content that Butcherblock has. For grouping, you need to hit Ruins of Varsoon and Crushbone Keep. These aren’t very hard dungeons so even a small group can run them and the experience is great.

Tier Four (30-39)

Butcherblock can take you through to your early to mid thirties, after that you can visit Enchanted Lands or Zek but you’re probably better off skipping over these zones and heading up to Feerrott and Steamfont Mountains. Steamfont is particularly nice and you can find lots to do at the Gnomeland Security Headquarters. For groups, Kaladim (previously a higher level dungeon) and Runnyeye are both very nice.

Tier Five (40-49)

After you’ve run out of content in Steamfont, hopping between Lavastorm and Everfrost works well. You can do the bulk of the quests in both zones to gain enough in level to start in on Desert of Flames content. Groupers can check out Klak’Anon, but I still personally prefer Permafrost and Solusek’s Eye. These classic zones are huge and mobs are spaced well for ease of movement. Have to love the classics!

Tier Six (50-59)

My favorites here are Lesser Faydark and Sinking Sands. Pillars of Flame has one good quest hub and I enjoyed gaining faction with the Ashen Order of monks, but it’s not well organized and questing takes forever so I’d skip it unless you really like exploring. Be sure to stop in at Maj’dul, there are some good quests in there. The Clefts of Rujark and the Shimmering Citadel are both a lot of fun for groups. Shimmering Citadel is one the earlier zones that manage to be somewhat challenging (at the time) and interesting. Silent City is also good and huge with plenty to do.

Tier Seven (60-69)

Approaching level sixty, you have to get into the Kingdom of Sky. Tenebrous Tangle is okay, its better part being its dungeon Sanctum of the Scaleborn, but there are a handful of good quests to get you started if you’re in your fifties still. The Barren Sky is really a great zone and still one of my favorites. Signature quests are available and if you have a few friends, Palace of the Awakened is a solid and still challenging dungeon to check out. Closing in on level seventy you’ll want to head to Bonemire, in particular, to the Drednever Crash Site for some nice questing. There are a couple of must see dungeons for groups in this tier: Obelisk of Blight and Halls of Fate. These are both instances that net the phat loots and experience for those in a hurry to get to cap.

Tier Eight (70-79)

Welcome to Rise of Kunark! This has been one of my favorite expansions. Not only is there quite a bit of content, but questing has gotten a lot smoother at this point. Fens of Nathsar and Kunzar Jungle are amazing zones. I’m not as fond of Jarsath Wastes but some do like it so it’s worth taking a peek. You’ll also find excellent group zones here; Sebilis and Chardok are both worthwhile. For the early part of your seventies though, take your friends into Castle Mistmoore or the Estate of Unrest from the Echoes of Faydwer expansion. These dungeons are particularly fun for those who played the original EQ.

Tier Nine (80-89)

For those who are just now playing through these levels, you are at a little bit of a disadvantage. The Shadow Odyssey expansion offered a lot of cap content (when cap was level eighty) allowing players to focus on other things such as gearing up with shard armor or piling on the alternate advancements. For those coming through here now, with the level cap higher, you have a whole expansion that is almost unnecessary. At this point you can either skip The Moors of Ykesha altogether going right into Sentinel’s Fate content or you can spend some time in the Moors.If you decide to hit the Moors I suggest locking your level and taking experience in AAs only at around level eighty-two. Gain AA and build a full set of good gear at this point because Sentinel’s Fate content is difficult for the under equipped. Groups should get into the shard awarding instances found in the Moors, Commonlands, and Lavastorm. 

If you’ve decided to push on to Sentinel’s Fate then you’ll be making your way to the Sundered Frontier and Stonebrunt Highlands. Unfortunately this isn’t a really big expansion so that’s about it for solo players. The questing has a strong and smooth progression but if you solo a lot you’ll probably fall a little short on gaining enough experience to ding ninety. Take some time on the faction, collection, and repeatable quests and make sure you’ve talked to every NPC! Instances continue to be a focus for groups and with so many scaling from level fifty to ninety it really isn’t difficult to find something to do. The newer dungeons such as The Hole, Vastly Deep, and The Research Halls always have groups forming up to get in so there is no excuse to miss out!

These are my favorite leveling spots, do you have some? Be sure to share your favorite zones for other players to check out on our forums.