by Karen Hertzberg on Mar 18, 2007
By Polkadots
You are coming into
your own as a
Necromancer, and if you haven't yet, you will begin to take on multiple
mobs, work with your crowd control abilities, and shine overall in both
groups and solo play. You probably don't need to group yet, but feel
free to. The more grouping you do, the better you will hone those
skills, making you an even more valuable asset. Once we begin to hit
the mid teens, you will have more group options, as your level takes
you into new places with more people. You can solo or group your entire
way through the teens very efficiently if you want. For the most part
though, your best gear is going to be coming from the exchange or
group-based quests/encounters as you progress.
This is a level range at which you should be done or coming to the end
of your journeys in your starter area. Even if you are grinding mobs
while doing your quest lines, its about time to move on from the
starting chunks. There really isn't anything new to do here. Before you
venture forward, make sure you have saved enough money for your level
10 mount. This can also be accomplished through diplomacy quests, but
if you have been at all thrifty with your coin you should have more
than the 12.5 silver for at least the horse.
A nice place to level in this range is the Jharru Flats (east of the
Temple of Dailuk, which is directly South of Khal in Qalia) and the Qa
Riverbank, at the Neamsog bunkers (ESE of Khal). From there you can
head to Zabadi Landing for some quests as well. You can also try the
Dark Horse Downs area for quests. Dark Horse Downs is located in the
Temple of Dailuk chunk, south of Khal.
We get some new spells at this level, so let's take a second and go
over these. We didnt bother with level 12 as you didnt get anything new.
Devouring Shadows
- This spell
is your lifetap damage over time spell. It will do x amount of damage
to your opponent and it will also return 1/2x to you in the form of hit
points. This spells is a great way to keep your hit points near full
while also killing your enemy. Nothing better!
Death Incarnate
is your pet
buff. The spell increases your pet's damage and speed and prevents him
from being feared. It has a 5 min cool down, so don't waste it right
before a really tough fight.
Ritual Animatus
- This spell
is often viewed by many as worthless. Let me assure you that it isn't.
"Situational" may be the better word for it. This spell will raise the
corpse of a recently killed mob. Granted, the pet only lasts about 10
seconds, but it can add some burst DPS to a fight. If you don't need
the
corpses for another use, or they have no loot and will despawn, that is
a perfect opportunity for this spell.
One area you can level up in will be the Beacon of Al'Hafeez, in the
same ToD chunk Dark Horse Downs was located in. This beacon is located
south of Khal and can easily be found by following the river south
while checking your map for the beacons. You can see some of the
beacons from the water. You'll find plenty of quests in this area as
well as mobs to grind on if you so choose. Once experience slows down
here head NW to the quests in Evendusk Fortress.
An area in NE Thestra you can try would be Renton Keep. Once at the
Keep, if you leave heading north (off road), you'll see a tall boulder.
Run past the rock with it on your right hand side. Once over the hill
you'll see a camp of goblins. These are level 15 two dots, all pullable
solo. If you go past the first camp you'll find a second nearly
identical.
Even though we didnt get any new spells, you are coming closer to a
great level, level 18. Keep chugging along!
A really nice place to level about this time is the Mekalia area and
the Angoer Bunkers in Qalia. There are plenty of quests and missives in
the area. By the way, a missive is just a repeatable quest that yields
experience and a random item. Mekalia is east of Khal, and east of the
river. There is also a camp west of the Western Angoer Bunker that has
quests.
Level 18 is a great level for spells! A staple spell is always a nice
addition, be it an upgrade or a rank 1 spell.
Transmogrify
- This is your
conversion spell. Its how you generate your energy. Trasmogrify takes a
small percentage of your life and replaces a small percentage of your
energy. An efficient way to use this spell is to keep your life full
with Devouring Shadows while letting Transmogrify keep you topped off
with energy.
Soul Trap
is your basic crowd
control spell--a spell you use to render a mob useless for a period.
You can mez any undead (one max) mob with Soul Trap, which lasts for a
period of time (seems to be random between 45-65 seconds). Now I know
you're thinking that there aren't that many undead, and you're right.
But
at level 26 you get a spell that turns any mob undead. We will go over
that combination later though.
Dark Rebuke
- This is a lovely
spell. It really is. Dark Rebuke is an instant cast direct damage
spell. It also does more damage versus an undead mob, so at level 26
this spell gets a nice ancillary bonus.
A few really fun areas around this level range were Skawlra Rock and
Misthaven crossing. Skawlra rock is off the far NE coast of Qalia and
was great for soloing crabs and turtles on the beach. In addition to
the grinding mobs you have some quests from the Upside Defense Garrison
to do while you're in the area, boosting that experience a little.
Misthaven Crossing is located to the East of Renton Keep in Thestra. If
you go ENE and around the mountains that surround Leth Nurae you will
come to Misthaven Crossing. This is a cool little zone with plenty of
quests that you can run through solo. The completion of the quest lines
also sends you to a new area that will easily tide you over until you
are level 20.
Welcome to level 20! Congratulations, for all that hard work you get to
quest for a spell instead of buying it off the trainer. But guys, its
worth it. A spell this good shouldn't be given to you. The spell is
Feign Death. Feign Death is a spell that tricks mobs into thinking you
are dead.
This spell is a life saver, but can also be used to lower your aggro
while another is tanking. The
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=582">quest
walk-through for this spell will tell you all you need to
know. Even though thats it for new spells, this one spell will save you
more heartache then any other.
A couple really nice areas to grind at this level are back again on
Skalra Rock or Misthaven Crossing. While you are in the same general
location for Misthaven Crossing, Skawlra Rock changes a little. Instead
of grinding on the same crabs and turtles, you can group up and make
your way through the inner areas of the island.
One other area that was my personal favorite was in Qalia. The Tauthien
Delta is a chunk off the NE coast almost directly east of Khal. There
are a lot of quests in this area, and even more from the southern
portion of this chunk in the many bunkers here. This doesn't apply to
dark elves right off, but you can easily grind nearby mobs for the
faction. I especially enjoyed the largest island in the NW of the delta
area. The shores are surrounded by level 18ish 3 dot turtles. They have
no social aggro and you can just Fear / DoT them and let them run away
and back to you with no worry. There are also no pats here. Just move
in a large circle and you should be fine.
That's it guys! You made it through your teens and are really
beginning to experience what your chosen class is all about. You will
really begin to define yourself over the next ten levels. I look
forward to the journey. Have fun, and remember one thing: you level
faster when you don't die. Don't try to be a hero. Use FD as often as
you
need. It will not only save you heartache and experience, but it will
prevent a lot of stress. Trust me.