Keepers of the Glade

Well Met! For those of you who remember me, boy you have been here awhile, for those of you who have never met me I am the soloing Paladin. Yep, they said it could not be done but I just love proving folks wrong. HEHE. Anyway, I write this as a helpful guide to those of you who have not had some of the experience leveling that I have, especially for those anoying lowbie levels.
I will start off by saying the new armor quests are well worth a few extra hours of your time to acquire. I was able to get a full Kelethin bard suite by level 10 and a full suite of the Ranger set by level 10 as well. The bard armor did me well until level 20. So, where to begin? How about with the best quest in the game up to level 10? Yep, if you never knew why folks saved all of those bone chips you will now. I always used to hunt skeletons in Steamfont till level 5(prior to the newbie armor quests). It is still an option, and Steamfont because they drop more chips. Usually this will net you at least 5 stacks of chips.http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=366 This shows details of who and what you need to do. You can continue doing skeletons by hitting the Butcherblock ones at level 6 and then on to the Skeletons in Steamfont by the Mino cave at around level 8 or 9.
The second best quest is the next one we will go to. The crushbone belts quest is also well known and is close to the bone chips in xp and money. Since you will be hunting them anyways(if your an elf, dwarf, or gnome at least) for your newbie armor this is an added benefit. By level 5 you can solo at the CB entrance or right outside with a group. Good xp and loot for this level. By the time you make level 8 you should have enough belts to skip level 9 and as a bonus you could have a full suite of the newbie stuff.http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=294 There is the link for the belt quest.
By level 10 it is time to move on. Hit the boat and get bound in Freeport. It is wisp hunting time. Yep, from level 10-16 kill all the wisps you can and save the greater light stones. I have had up to 4 backpacks full of GLS's to turn in over these 6 levels or over 200pp worth if you do this quest and sell the books.http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=374
For an example my level 11 ranger on MM has 12 hours played and already has 5 GLS's, he has a full set of Newbie armor and a PGT and quest weapon with no twinking or PLing(with help) this is all solo.
I usually stay in East commons because the wisps drop more GLS's but an alternative is Wisp ilse(Eruds crossing). Either one is good for this.There is a small amount of xp and the loot is second to none especially if you do not twink like I choose not to.
So around level 16 I hit CB and finish up to about 18 off the Legionares, collect lego pads and turn them in for super xp all the way to 20th, although I usually stop at 18 for the next stop because the loot is better.http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=631
At 18 it is time to head over to the Nektous Forest, and seek out the low level dark elf guard who guards the Lavastorm entrance. Super xp killing the guard till about 21 AND a garaunteed bronze longsword every kill, that is over 2 plat every 5 mins, plus rolling xp, a definate can not miss stop.Very safe because of the nearby zoneline, might need SOW or invis to get there if a non caster but definately doable.Only considerations are for bards and enchanters for faction with dark elves if they want to use illusions later.
for level 20-22 it is Reaver Hill although if your dark elf is busy you can head here as early as level 16. Which, I must stress, these ideas are for solos, if you have a group the really best thing to do, is to hunt bandits for the xp and sashes for this quest, they are all over the Karranas.http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=499
Very hard for most classes to solo bandits except for certain spawns and druids I would not recommend it.
Ok so I hear folks yelling what about Highkeep pass? Or Oasis of Marr? Well I hate both of those places. If you can get into a group they are ok but between the higher campers and KSers you do better of following my guide...I hunt where other do not. Another point, if you can stay in a zone or two for several levels you can maximize your gain by reducing travel times. I learned this the hard way on my first character(he is still level 18 and a wood elf ranger BTW) over 18 days played.
Between 22 and 24 is a rough area, I think I ususally hit sythe beetles in NK and make the first assaults on the aviaks in SK. This is where druids and bards really separate from the pack in leveling. The melee classes are being hit hard and need to break to heal if solo, the casters are empting their mana and need time to med back to full.Ideally if you can get into a group in High pass Keep doing goblins, I have made 3 levels in 8 hours there before it is great. Which is why it is usually packed. Netherbithian is good for groups but the mobs have alot more hp and hit harder.
Best place is aviaks in South Karrana until 26 or so, then the spires outside of Paw till about 28.
Another option if you want you can do Tizmaks in Great Divide. If your not killed zoning into the spire location and actually make it you can do fine on them. They are the same range as Harriers and Avocets and drop a little less loot but are less camped.
Then if you have not already ,it is time to pack your thermal underware and head over to Velious, and Iceclad. Cougars can be soloed if your careful (I did them with my underequiped paladin at this level). Just be sure they con blue cause they hit really hard but you can get a couple blue a kill so it makes it worth it.Of course again a group is nicer and makes the xp fly. You can do cougars up to level 35 or so. Once I hit 35 I hit the dires either in GD or IC by the dragon bridge, and do them to level 40. One note, my new favorite place is the Ulthorks in EW. They are 32-36 and are great xp from 38-42 plus they drop ulthork tusks for this quest.http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=962
Between 40 and 46 I wholeheartedly suggest SolB or Nagafin's Lair. I was able to solo the zone lines making obscene xp and cash off the Kobolds, and if you can get into a KPC(King, Priest, Champion) group you will be amazed at the xp you will get. Again, another option is the Bloodgills in LOIO which you can do as well or from 46 to 50.
Footnotes: Heironilin is level 52 with 45 days played, Aureallisi is 39 with 22 days played, Elamar(42 Bard) has 9 days played, and my druid on FV is 43 with 15 days played. If you want to level reduce traveling, solo as much as you can stand or have to, and do not die! I remember Heironilin's last non guild raid death was at level 36 when he thought he might be able to solo a frostgiant........ NOPE!