EverQuest II Leveling Guide

Tier 2 - The Tween Years

Guide By: Savanja

So you've managed to pack on the experience and you are now ready for the big, bad open world. You leave the safe haven of the newbie zones to explore and adventure like a big kid!

Tier 2 generally describes the levels 10-19. These are the levels in which you will venture away from the city a bit more, but home is still no more than a short run or a call away.

Qeynos Tier 2 Zones:

• Antonica
• Blackburrow
• Stormhold
• Greater Faydark

Starting at level 10, I happen to favor Blackburrow for leveling and loot.
It has a good combo of solo mobs (found on the top level) and heroic mobs (found lower inside). Down the mine shaft, you will find level 12/13 one up solo mobs that make for some challenging solo play, mixed in with some 13ish heroics of various difficulties. It's fairly easy to start at the top and slowly ease your way in without grabbing too much in the way of adds. I spent a good amount of time here with my alts, plowing through my early teen levels with ease. There aren't many quests inside Blackburrow, but shinies are everywhere, which makes it a dream come true for those shiny hoarders. Also remember to use those totems and gnoll pieces for the gnoll language quest and gnoll Lore & Legend book quest!

For the upper teen levels, I've always enjoyed Stormhold. Now keep in mind, under level 20 you will really want to stay on the top level. Venture any further in than that without a full, good group, and you will get hurt in bad ways. If you make your way through the front, then hang a left at the last door, after a couple twist and turns, you'll come out at the chessboard. This is a great area to camp with a group and just repeatedly clear. Just keep your group along the wall, and send the tank in for whatever roams about! The top level of Stormhold will get a group to level 20 in no time at all.

If you're solo, you'll want to stick with the open skies of Antonica. In the early teens, hanging out in the front of the zone along the path is a wise move. You can go between the path and the Claymore and slay furry woodland creatures repeatedly, and they just keep coming back for more. Mid to upper teens, I happen to enjoy slaying the undead just east of the Windstalker Village, and around the Ruins of Caltorsis. There are also a lot of those furry woodland creatures around this area too, but I always hit the undead first for the Hunter of Undead title, and skeleton and zombie Lore & Legend book quests.

If you have the expansion, Echoes of Faydwer, you might be a bit disappointed in the variety of mobs for this tier. Basically, if you follow the quests from the nursery into Greater Faydark, you'll end up breezing through these levels, but for actual grinding out mobs, T2 mobs are scarce! We found some going up towards Crushbone Keep, and this seems to be the most concentrated area of T2 mobs in the zone. Honestly, if you aren't a fae, I'd stick to the older zones to play in.

Freeport Tier 2 Zones:

• The Commonlands
• The Wailing Caves
• The Fallen Gate

The Commonlands have undergone a whole plethora of changes as of late. There are a lot less orcs, and a lot more yard trash!

For soloing, you'll really want to stay out in the open areas of The Commonlands. It's a big zone, and it works like more of the other zones do, smaller, less mean mobs up front, meaner and bigger mobs further in. I suggest that at level 10, you stick close to the entrances of The Sprawl and the West Freeport gates. Just outside The Sprawl, there is the Turmoil Cemetery which is a nice little spot to solo early on, and outside of the West Freeport gates there are emerald beetles and scorpions roaming about. For a bit of solo challenge, there are one up, level 12 spiders on the hill beyond the cemetery. Being the kind of girl that likes to kill 2 birds with 1 stone though, I tend to like to hang out around the southeastern river and slay orcs for experience, language and L&L quests. Be sure to check out the zone guide for quests in the area that you can pick up as well. Questing along with killing will always be the most effective way to level.

For early grouping, The Wailing Caves is just perfect. You can get really nice loot, and the layout allows for you to move through the zone smoothly with few adds. With a good group, you can quickly level through your early-mid teens in here. The only problem I ever had in here was filling up on loot too quickly, so make sure you have plenty of empty bag space!

For good mid-teens content, solo I happen to like the fallen crusaders around the outside of the Ruins of Valmarr. You can also find level 18ish silt eaters and the dervish in the southern end of the Yapping Maze. You can find some quests for the dervish, making them very worthwhile to hunt. Leveling any higher than those solo, and I'd suggest heading on into Nektulos Forest.

Mid-level grouping, your best bet is still The Wailing Caves, you need only to delve deeper into the dungeon for more level appropriate mobs. If you are feeling brave, and have a good group in tow, levels 18 and 19 can venture into the Fallen Gate. Crowd control is a must in here, so take care otherwise you'll be bringing an entire room of mobs on top of you. If you rather be in an open area, the vulriches, found along the outside wall of the Yapping Maze are level 18ish heroics. It's a great spot to camp and pull.

And there ya go! Hopefully, with the help of this guide, you are now inching towards level 20 and just about ready to move on to the next tier. Good luck and happy hunting!

If you have anything you'd like to add; tips, tricks, favorite hunting grounds, please e-mail them to me, and you will get honorable mention!