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Project 1999 / Classic EQ Leveling Guide

Leveling in classic EQ takes a lot long than most modern MMO’s, but the leveling process feels a lot more like a part of the games compared to WoW where you nowadays usually rush to max level in a matter of days or even hours.

If you are new to classic EQ, just try to enjoy leveling and treat it as an adventure. If you are leveling an alt for the 10th time however you might be keen to speed things up a bit, in this EQ leveling guide I’m going to show you how to get to level 60 as fast as possible.

Project 1999 Leveling Guide Index

  • How long does it take to reach level 60 on Project 1999 / Classic EQ?
  • What’s the fastest class and race for leveling on Project 1999 / Classic EQ?
  • Powerleveling on Project 1999 / Classic EQ
  • Zones with EXP Modifiers
  • P1999 / Classic EQ Leveling 1-60

How long does it take to reach level 60 on Project 1999 / Classic EQ?

Leveling to max level in Everquest will usually take months. Many players don’t even reach max level after playing for over a year, so casual players shouldn’t be in a rush.

There are some factors that can level you faster though. You choice of class matters a lot, which we will be looking at further on in the guide.

How much plat you have or how much you are able to twink your character also matters a bunch, especially for certain classes. I know Shaman that have leveled to 60 in a few weeks with a JBB, Fungi Tunic, Epic and Torpor. That’s going to cost you a few hundred thousand plat though.

Bards can get to max level within a few week as well.

If you need plat to twink a new character, check out our Plat Guide for P1999 / Classic EQ.

What’s the fastest class and race for leveling on Project 1999 / Classic EQ?

EQ Race EXP Penalties / Bonuses:

  • Troll -20%
  • Iksar -20%
  • Ogre -15%
  • Barbarian -5%
  • Halfling +5%

EQ Class EXP Bonuses:

  • Rogue +9%
  • Warrior +10%

As you can see above. Some races have a experience penalty or bonus and a few classes have bonuses. This doesn’t mean that these are the fastest for leveling though, as these races have other bonuses that might make them better. Like Iksar having a regen that will decrease your downtime while leveling. Warriors and Rogues get a XP bonus but are not the best at solo play, relying on groups a lot to level up.

Fast Leveling Classes:

Bard: The fastest leveling class. It takes some skill to master the Bard though and it has a steep learning curve. You must learn to kite and not get hit, but you can basically kite entire zones. At later levels you can also powerlevel other players for fast XP.

Necromancer: One of the best leveling classes. Has a powerful pet, mana regen, charm and feign death.

Magician: Up there with Necro. Has pets, damage shields and nukes. Very easy and fast class to level.

Wizard: Can quad kite. Has powerful nukes and can port. Generally good leveling class.

Druid: Can quad kite for some very fast XP. Has more utility than the Wizard and can also heal. Also has ports which cuts down on traveling time.

Enchanter: One of the best soloing classes in the game. Has a ton of utility. Can charm.

Shaman: Very good leveling class but very gear / plat dependent. Needs JBB, Epic, Torpor and Fungi to really be good.

Powerleveling on Project 1999 / Classic EQ

Powerleveling is very efficient in EQ. You can speed up your leveling time tenfolds with a good powerleveler. The most common classes to powerlevel with are Bards or Druids, but Druids are mostly good for powerleveling quickly from 1-30.

You have two choices if you want to be powerleveled. Either buying powerleveling sessions, this will set you back a whole lot of plat though. You can check out the East Commonlands Tunnel Forum on P1999 for available powerlevelers.

Your other choice is to play the game, make friends and find a guild. People will often powerlevel friends and guildies for free. Remeber to pay it forwards when you get to level 60.

Zones with EXP Modifiers

Some zones have exp modifiers that will make you level up faster. For the entire list of zones with modfiers go here. In this guide I’m just going to list the zones with the highest modifiers as those are mostly the ones you want to pay attention to.

  • Befallen – Level 15-25 – 160 Modfier – Very overlooked zone
  • Upper Guk – Level 10-30 – 150 Modifier – One of the most popular zones in the game, great for grouping.
  • High Keep – Level 25 – 55 – 150 Modifier – Populated zone. Great for groups 25+. Higher level players can get XP on the guards and nobles on the top floors.
  • Najena – Level 15-35 – 130 Modifier – Great zone. Not as popular as many other in this level ranger.
  • Sol A / Solusek’s Eye – Level 20-40 – 130 Modifier – Popular zone, great for groups and making plat as well.
  • The Warren’s – Level 5-25 – 150 Modifier – Practiaclly abandoned, but still great for leveling fast.
  • Crushbone – Level 10-20 – 160 Modifier – Packed all the time. Awesome XP for low level groups. Turn in belts for more XP.
  • The Estate of Unrest – Level 10-30 – 130 Modifier – Popular zone for groups. Mostly undead making it great for certain classes.
  • Kurn’s Tower – Level 10-25 – 150 Modifier – Great zone, the only place you want to stay as a lower level Iksar.

When you get to higher levels, there won’t be any zones with high EXP modifiers.

P1999 / Classic EQ Leveling 1-60

For a complete list of most of the leveling spots in EQ, check out the Per-Level Hunting Guide on the wiki. In this guide I will only be listing what I believe to be the absolute fastest paths to leveling to 60.

Starting Out

The best area to start in for fast leveling is Qeynos. This is because of many of the available quests in the area that will provide you with bonus XP. Quests in EQ are not like in most other MMO’s and despite it being called Everquest, there are not too many quests. There are a few however that can be repeated for some great XP.

For the first 3-4 level you will mostly just want to stay in the newbie area where you spawn.

Quest: Level 1-12 Bone Chips – Kaladim – Hand 4 unstacked bone chips to Gunlok Jure in Kaladim – Rewards good XP up to around level 12.

Level 7-15 – Crushbone – Save belts and shoulderpads for quest.

Quest: Level 8-15 Crushbone Belts and Shoulderpads – Kaladin – Crushbone is one of the best places to level at lower levels. Keep the pads and belts and turn in to Canloe Nusback in South Kaladim for good XP up to 15

Quest: Level 1-10 Orc Picks – Freeport – Turn in 4 Orc Pawn Picks to Guard Valon in West Commonlands. You can sometime buy loads of these from vendors around Freeport.

Level 5-10 – Orc Camps in East Commonlands – For groups mostly. Get buffs at tunnel. Save belts for quest (see below)

Quest: Level 1-15 Deathfist Slashed Belts – Freeport – Turn two in to Cain Darkmoore in the Freeport Warrior Guild (Good) or Captain Hazran (Evil) in the Millitia building.

Level 5-22: Blackburrow – See Gnoll Fang quest info below. Work your way down as you level up.

Quest: Level 5-12 Gnoll Fangs – Qeynos – Gnoll Fangs are looted from Gnolls outside and inside Blackburrow. Turn in to Captain Tillin in Qeynos for XP. XP in Blackburrow is already very good, making this one of the best early XP spot. If you are leveling outside BB, combine with the quest below.

Quest: Level 5-25+ Rabid Wolves and Bears – Qeynos – Rabid wolves and bears spawn in the Qeynos Hills and in the Karanas. Turn in the Diseased Pelts and Fleshy orbs from the wolves and bears to Priestess Caulria in North Qeynos. This will provide you will decent plat as well. Early on combine this with killing gnolls outside BB as a bear and two wolves will spawn in the area. Later you can combine it with killing bandits for sashes around the farm in Western Karana. And then with wisps in Northern Karana. The quest will still award you some xp at level 25+

Quest: Level 9-20 Bandit Sashes – Qeynos – Killing Bandits in Western Karana is good XP. Turn the Sashes in to Chesgard Sydwen in South Qeynos for decent XP up to level 20 or so. Combine with rabid wolves and bears quest.

Quest: Level 9-30 Greater Lightstones / Lightstones – Western Karanas – Perhaps one of the best low level plat making methods, and great XP. Kill wisps in Erud’s Crossing on the island or in Northern Karanas around the Gypsy camp where you turn in the quest. Turn in to Mrysila in NK for plat and XP. At level 25 I was still getting over half a level for a 6 full bags of lightstones and greater lightstones.

Level 9-25 – Kurn’s Tower – If you are leveling in Kunark you wan’t to stay here these levels.

Level 10-20 – Befallen – Not many players here usually. Start at entrance then move inwards.

Level 10-40 – Estate of Unrest – Good for Clerics, Paladins and Necromancers due to undead mobs. Often packed with groups. Move from outside to inside and eventually downstairs as you level up.

Level 15-20 – Highpass Hold – Gnolls or Orcs at either end of the zone. Usually a few groups here.

Level 15-23 – Oasis – Crocodiles and caiman along the coast, or Orc Highway.

Level 15-38 – Upper Guk – Start around entrance. Huge zone with a lot of groups usually. At higher levels move to Ancient Croc spawn.

Level 20-28 – South Karana – Aviaks around KFC (aviak tree village)

Level 20-38 – Mistmoore – Start at entrance. Popular for groups.

Level 28-37 – Splitpaw – Save scrolls for quest (see below)

Quest: Level 24-35 Tesch Val Scrolls – Qeynos – Drops off gnolls outside and inside Splitpaw. 4 different ones, all lore. Turn in one at a time to Edvard Tommels. If you turn in all 4 you will get less XP.

Quest: Level 27-45 Drolvarg Teeh – Firiona Vie – Hand in four to Captain Nealith in FV. Good bonus XP if you are already killing Drolvarg.

Level 30-40 – Sol A – Good XP for groups. Good for plat.

Level 30-45 – Crystal Caverns – Geonids.

Level 35-50 – Lower Guk – Good XP and some decent drops for Plat.

Level 35-50 – Guards Freeport, Oggok, Grobb, Kaladim, Felwithe or other Cities – Good for plat and XP.

Level 39 – 45 – Temple of Droga – Remeber that you can’t exit the same way you came in, so getting out is a bit tought if you can’t port.

Level 40-45 – Eastern Wastes – All over the zone. Walruses, Orcs and animals all over the zone.

Level 40-50 – Dreadlands – Yeti Caves and Mobs around Karnor’s

Level 40-60 – City of Mist – Start at entrance and move further as you level.

Level 42-50 – Oasis Spectre Island / OoT / Plane of Fear zone line in Ferrott – Spectres are good for plat as well as XP.

Level 42-60 – The Hole – Huge zone, popular with high level groups. Start around entrance.

Level 50-60 – Karnor’s Castle – Popular Kunark zone for 50’s leveling

Level 50-60 – Kael Drakkel – Popular for mid to high 50’s groups

Level 50-60 – Sol B / Nagafen’s Lair – Good classic zone for leveling.

Level 51-60 – Howling Stones – Start around entrance.

Level 55-60 – Chardok

Level 55-60 – Permafrost – Giant Polar Bears

Level 58-60 – Siren’s Grotto

Thanks for reading our Classic EQ / Project 1999 leveling guide. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below.

Michael

Monday 8th of February 2021

https://wiki.project1999.com/Quench_Lasen%27s_Thirst

Water flask quest. I hear with 50-60pp, you can lvl from 1-12 in a few hours turning in flasks,

Bixby

Tuesday 6th of October 2020

This is a great guide, thanks.

CD

Tuesday 11th of February 2020

This is not a great guide, no offense

Daneril @ MmorpgTips

Tuesday 11th of February 2020

Thank you for your reply. We try to update our guides when we can so there might be an update in the future with some more detail on the zones, but there really isn't much of a secret to leveling in classic EQ.