New Troll Shaman? Lvl in Ferret or inn Swamp? and other tips please

[deffas1011]

Hey all. i'm back to everquest from a near 13 year absense. Was getting bored of all the simple mmorpgs. Recently left Anarchy Online again due to money issues so here I am.. I created a DE Necro and got him to lvl 4, but wanted to make a class I had never leveled before (lvl 5 barb shaman was the most I had leveled a shaman back in the day). Time is very restricted for me so I wanted to choose a class that could solo decent but I also love to power level so wanted a class that could buff and heal too (druid was my main back in 2001), and i'm hoping buffing people as a Shaman is just as fun if not more than than buffing people as a druid. the only thing I hate is lack of ports.. I still may make a halfling druid again soon.. Anyways...

Due to a Wizard helping me on my necro I was given 20 plat and also had a few plat myself from lvling that necro a few levels.. I purchased all the shaman spells on that toon as well as a full set of cloth armor and a rusty morning star and worn great staff and transferred them to this shaman.. I am now lvl 2 almost lvl 3 lvling in innothule swamp.. However, I really do not like leveling here due to the water slowing progress down and overall dullness of the zone but would like to stay around this area at least till I can use my SoW/Levitate so I dont get reemed going back through RO.. Would Ferret be a better place to lvl up? I need a place thats going to have good loot so I can purchase my lvl 12+ spells too.. if anyone could give me a quick lvl guide or tips to get me to around lvl 20 I would really appreciate it.. ive read through dozens of topics but some of them are out of date or more geared towards either Kunark or Good factions.. The biggest thing is being able to solo as efficiently as possible as a shammy but making more than enough to purchase my spells and/or new gear.. After I get SoW I may head to EC and cast SoW for donations but from what I can see most the people there are AFK, and since I can usually only play a couple hours a day I need a solo guide with options for grouping here and there..

i'm not worried about lvling up as fast as I can, i did that back in 1999-2001 and missed so much of the zones and content that this time I would like to have fun with the journey... Thanks and sorry for the wall O text.

[Malone88]

I would move to Ferrott and level there until about 5 o 6. No water to worry about.
Then I would head to UGuk and kill the two frogs guarding the ent and the
wandering fisherman.
As you level, you can move inside UGuk and do the ent mobs until like 9 or 10.
I moved to EC then and did 10-15 there (Orc Camps mostly).

[deffas1011]

Slight change in plan. Just after I made this topic I Ran into an awesome Cleric and Druid combo in Innothule (Thank you SelsonBlue and Medra), who gave me enough plat to purchase all my spells up to lvl 14 and an axe to sell to the vendors for 80pp.. So i've got 100pp left over after purchasing my lvl 14 spells... They buffed and escorted me down to EC.. killing mobs whites and yellows insanely fast right now so probably going to stay in the EC at least till I out lvl this zone.. After that i have no idea.. I remember back in the day I used to group in Oasis around lvl 15ish but since i will mostly be soloing going to need a solo spot for 15+

Its players like that duo who makes EQ worth coming back to.. Earlier i couldn't even get a SoW without people demanding a donation

[Estu]

There are some money-making tips in this guide: http://wiki.project1999.com/Players:Newbie

It sounds like you're in decent shape regarding money, though. Once you're too high for EC, you have plenty of options. Can hit up Oasis, WC, or North Karana, for instance, to solo. 14 is a big level since you get Root, which lets you root-dot, which will be your most effective method of soloing until you hit 60 and get Torpor. Target humanoid/undead monsters in particular as they tend to have better loot to sell to vendors.

Once you get a couple hundred plat saved up, a good thing to invest in would be 5/55 rings (made by enchanters, these give 5 AC and 55 HP - they are Platinum Fire Wedding Rings). Beyond that, you'd want to look for +HP, +WIS, and +Mana gear. But the kind of gear you can get on your budget (other than 5/55 rings) won't make a huge difference anyway. Root-dotting is not exactly gear-dependent. Just hunt in outdoor zones and have fun.

[BlkCamel]

Since this was so long I made it it's own thread. http://www.project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=126844 with formatting and other updates.