Druid solo'ing at lvl 30 - weird gap

[PatriotPanda]

Hey All,

I just hit 30 with my druid and there seems to be a weird gap in the hunting guides. All the guides recommend killing mammoths in EF until ~32 - which would be great if the competition for them wasn't crazy. I find myself with HUGE gaps between kills b/c of the number of other people farming them. I went there several times in the last 3-4 levels, during off and peak hours, and found this to be true every time. I hit lvl 30 in WW at the giant fort.

I primarily (almost exclusively) solo on my druid, since I often play during the work day while working on the other monitor.

Are there any tucked away / lesser known spots to level a 30 druid at - even if the xp may be less efficient than EF?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts / experiences.

Panda

[RDawg816]

Go to GD. I believe you can kill the tizmaks at 30. As they green out you can work up to kodiaks, etc.

[Jimjam]

The double spawn of split paw gnolls near the hermit in south karana might be good (obviously you can find a big elephant to charm if you want).

Bind at south qeynos so you can hand in their skins when you have a full set of four (good quest xp up to 40s).

Always lot of snow cougars up in iceclad, not sure how many more levels it will be good for though.

[PatriotPanda]

Thanks for the input guys - think I may go give GD a shot.

[Pyrion]

Frontier mountains should be good xp and nice loot as well. You can root rot giants or join a PUG, very fast xp to be had that way. And starting at 34 if you insist to solo you can quad giants, if your mana pool is sufficient.

[Tuurin]

I think I charmed Grimalkins in LOIO around the windmill until around 31 or so, and then moved to Iceclad and charmed cougars outside of TOFS until they started turning green (maybe like 35-36?). Nice thing about the cougars is that you don't have to run around looking for them (like mammoths) which is such a waste of time. Pretty much nothing but dark blue cougars on the north end of the TOFS island, plenty of space to run around and you'll pretty much never get any adds if you use your head. And if the #$%^ hits the fan, just zone into TOFS and start over.

[PatriotPanda]

I think I charmed Grimalkins in LOIO around the windmill until around 31 or so, and then moved to Iceclad and charmed cougars outside of TOFS until they started turning green (maybe like 35-36?). Nice thing about the cougars is that you don't have to run around looking for them (like mammoths) which is such a waste of time. Pretty much nothing but dark blue cougars on the north end of the TOFS island, plenty of space to run around and you'll pretty much never get any adds if you use your head. And if the #$%^ hits the fan, just zone into TOFS and start over.

This is great, thank you. When you were charming, did you keep one as a permanent pet and or did you break the charm each time and take the "two-fer" bonus?

When I was in EK I broke the charm on almost every pull to avoid the pet taking 50% xp.

[Tuurin]

Yep, broke it after every charm to get full exp for both. That's the main reason why I really like this spot (the ToFS one) because the cougars are so plentiful and not mixed in with a bunch of other junk. Pretty much never run out of them. They run when under 20% too so breaking charm is easy and you don't have to take any hits usually.

Other added bonus: if you are in wolf form they are non-kos so pulling is that much easier.

[PatriotPanda]

Yep, broke it after every charm to get full exp for both. That's the main reason why I really like this spot (the ToFS one) because the cougars are so plentiful and not mixed in with a bunch of other junk. Pretty much never run out of them. They run when under 20% too so breaking charm is easy and you don't have to take any hits usually.

Other added bonus: if you are in wolf form they are non-kos so pulling is that much easier.

You're a gentleman and a scholar! Think I'll give this a try. The Tizmaks are proving to be very magic resistant.

[Lemonhead]

Iceclad is so great from now all the way till 40. Cougars, then wolfs by the port-in...You can also quad when there arent enough wolves 34+. Kite on the east shore (for the wolf part) Cougars are easy to find spots...go by the docks and vendors over there.

The mobs here do not have extra HPs, and in fact have less than many outdoor kunark mobs, definately less than giants.

[Aaramis]

^^ FWIW, I soloed from 29 or 30 to 35 in Iceclad on my Ranger, then did a combination of wolves there or random stuff in Overthere all the way to 39 / 40. The same rules apply for Druids, technically, although you'll be charm kiting instead of fear kiting (although you can always group with a Rogue and fear kite).

For Iceclad, the cougars are *amazing* xp until 32ish, then still in the "good" or "very good" category to 34/35. Safest spot is by ToFS. There's a long stretch on one side of the island (not the side with the drop) that's free of spawns. In 5 levels, using semi-careful pulls, I think I only ever got 1 add.
For wolves, I found over by the teleport rings to be reasonably safe if you pull to a shore.

At 35, another option is griffins/griffons in the Karanas, if you can find enough to charm - unless you want to root rot, which is an option too I suppose. Or quadding if you can find 4 up at once :p

[Gumbo]

You have to remember that Mammoths in Everfrost are split up in different areas. You have the easier Mammoths in the front of the zone and then you have the harder Mammoths more toward the back.

I would say the split between the Mammoths is the old Shaman temple with the Shaman who sells spells. Go pass him and cross the first ice covered river and these Mammoths are tougher.

Also have to remember that level 30 is the first hell level and it can be a pain if soloing.

[PatriotPanda]

Thanks all for the input. Holidays had me busy all weekend, think I am heading to IC to charm some cats tonight!

Was the money any good while you were out there? I think the cougar claw earring drops from there. Tizmaks in GD are slow and a pain, but the loot is pretty decent.

[Tuurin]

Loot is not too impressive (yes, rare cougar claw earrings)- mostly junk hides etc. Keep one LQ cougar pelt for this: http://wiki.project1999.com/Cougarskin_Sleeves_Quest
Easy enough to run over to EW and get some walrus meat to finish the quest. Nice little druid arms that have cool velious leather look.

Can also ask some higher level that's hanging around to help you kill Garou if you want too for club quest: http://wiki.project1999.com/The_Mighty_Garou Midnight spawns around there too, so you can get both of them while you're leveling up to get a nice little +7wis club.

But ya not a real cash camp. When I needed cash, I just turned off /anon and ported for a while :D.

[Aaramis]

Yeah, it's not a cash camp at all, unless you luck out on earrings. But it is a quick 30-34 spot, and levels > cash generally.

At 34, with your new spells, you'll have better options. Ports, solo camping gator legs, quadding, etc. all become possible.

[Ravager]

The double spawn of split paw gnolls near the hermit in south karana might be good (obviously you can find a big elephant to charm if you want).

Bind at south qeynos so you can hand in their skins when you have a full set of four (good quest xp up to 40s).

This one was my favorite on my druid. A set of 4 skins was worth a full yellow of exp around the low to mid 30's.

[Sorn]

IC cougars are the best, exp is crazy! Then dire wolves around the rings/near the EW bridge. Charm and fear-kite. You don't necessarily have to break charm every time (you can just chainkill forever and it's just as good) but the cougars in that spot are neverending so you can if you want. As a wood elf druid, I am dubious to them without wolf form, but they DO social. It's just easy to med. Watch out for the occasional wandering shadow guardian.

Another place to bridge the gap is OT. With fear kiting you can take on much higher level stuff than others. They really start greening out at low forties right by the SF ramp. By then you can hit CoM (ehhh, if you want) or EJ (more animal charming!).

OR, if you want to stay in Velious, go to EW and find the walruses near the Kael entrance. Similar to the IC cougars, there are lots of them and you can charm/fear-kite. These are KoS to you no matter what, so be careful with adds. They aren't QUITE as plentiful and the spawn time isn't as fast, but they also have a lot more HP and they're mean. It's a big open area full of walruses, can't miss it. For extra bad-ass points, charm a snow griffin and murder them all. There are lots of other animals in EW as well.

Walruses would take you to mid forties, EJ is pretty decent til about 50 (though not exactly the most efficient way of doing it). You can quad-kite wyverns in CS starting around 46 (especially if you have a lumi staff), but there's always a lot of competition for those and you get to AFK for 15 minutes after every quad or so.

If you're into doing weird stuff that isn't your standard quad-kiting or animal-charming, you can go to CS, charm a shark, and aggro-kite wyverns. :) Use ensnare and flame lick to keep aggro locked down.

[Gumbo]

IC cougars are the best, exp is crazy! Then dire wolves around the rings/near the EW bridge. Charm and fear-kite. You don't necessarily have to break charm every time (you can just chainkill forever and it's just as good) but the cougars in that spot are neverending so you can if you want. As a wood elf druid, I am dubious to them without wolf form, but they DO social. It's just easy to med. Watch out for the occasional wandering shadow guardian.

Another place to bridge the gap is OT. With fear kiting you can take on much higher level stuff than others. They really start greening out at low forties right by the SF ramp. By then you can hit CoM (ehhh, if you want) or EJ (more animal charming!).

OR, if you want to stay in Velious, go to EW and find the walruses near the Kael entrance. Similar to the IC cougars, there are lots of them and you can charm/fear-kite. These are KoS to you no matter what, so be careful with adds. They aren't QUITE as plentiful and the spawn time isn't as fast, but they also have a lot more HP and they're mean. It's a big open area full of walruses, can't miss it. For extra bad-ass points, charm a snow griffin and murder them all. There are lots of other animals in EW as well.

Walruses would take you to mid forties, EJ is pretty decent til about 50 (though not exactly the most efficient way of doing it). You can quad-kite wyverns in CS starting around 46 (especially if you have a lumi staff), but there's always a lot of competition for those and you get to AFK for 15 minutes after every quad or so.

If you're into doing weird stuff that isn't your standard quad-kiting or animal-charming, you can go to CS, charm a shark, and aggro-kite wyverns. :) Use ensnare and flame lick to keep aggro locked down.

Follow everything Sorn has said if you want to charm or kite but depending on how fast you want to gain XP. I would suggest root/rotting Specs in Oasis from level 39-49. Just slap 'em with a root, esnare and 2 dots and repeat... Most you have to worry about is either root ending or breaking.

[Canelek]

Is 27 too early for charming snow cougars? Seems the wiki is not entirely accurate when it comes to mob levels.

Completely sick of WW Forest Giants. Super-boring and crowded. It is a place that has sucked the fun out of everything since 2000. :D

[Gumbo]

Is 27 too early for charming snow cougars? Seems the wiki is not entirely accurate when it comes to mob levels.

Completely sick of WW Forest Giants. Super-boring and crowded. It is a place that has sucked the fun out of everything since 2000. :D

Level 27... I suggest SK for Elephants and then Everfrost for Mammoths.

[Canelek]

Level 27... I suggest SK for Elephants and then Everfrost for Mammoths.

The bull elephants should still be blue. I think the regular elephants green out around 23 or 24, however. Mammoths are certainly a good bet as well, but they can be quite contested at times. It may be worth planting a spotter in the zone to see if folks are killing them prior to porting and running so far.

Thanks!

[Aaramis]

Is 27 too early for charming snow cougars? Seems the wiki is not entirely accurate when it comes to mob levels.

Completely sick of WW Forest Giants. Super-boring and crowded. It is a place that has sucked the fun out of everything since 2000. :D

When I was there as a 29 or 30 Ranger (forget when I arrived), everything was white / yellow.
Maybe doable at 27, but you'd be fighting yellows / reds - up to you. Resists or early charm breaks could ruin your day.

[Canelek]

When I was there as a 29 or 30 Ranger (forget when I arrived), everything was white / yellow.
Maybe doable at 27, but you'd be fighting yellows / reds - up to you. Resists or early charm breaks could ruin your day.

Excellent, thank you for this information. It saves me a boat ride. Definitely not worth charming yellows/reds for sure. Charm would break in ~10 seconds if it lands at all.

I guess I am stuck grinding WW giants and mammoths for a while. meh.

[Caiu]

Stonebrunt Mtns for 25-40 is proving to be an excellent charm zone on my druid.

[Aaramis]

Stonebrunt Mtns for 25-40 is proving to be an excellent charm zone on my druid.

Just checked it out, and I agree. 30-40 seems to be the sweet spot, but there's some good charmables in the 25-30 zone, and even some blues still at 45 (plus there's the titans to deal with).
You run the risk of roaming adds, and xp seems slower than Iceclad cougars, but hey, it's a fun new zone and it's *different*, which is a huge factor for many.

I wouldn't go there expecting to score on the titans, or to do well with the various quests, though (i.e. Yuio's illness, or Heretic heads) - those mobs are very rare, and uber camped. But if you go to have fun and charm kill or root/rot stuff, with the occasional group (remember to charm a pet for extra dps), it's a great spot.
Only downside right now is that the zone is underutilized - haven't seen more than 10 people in zone at any given time. But that's a problem for a solo Druid ;)

[iamrabbit]

I hear you on the mammoth front, my Druid is the same level, I went there in the middle of the night, only about 3 people in the zone found maybe one or two fully grown mammoths. I don't know if all the other random crap walking around/baby mamms are place holders, but hunting was sparse..

[Canelek]

I tried to go to Stonebrunt, but met with an issue while trying to zone into Paineel. It kept saying "something along the lines of "please try again later. The zone is not available. Tested the last couple nights. I also reapplied the patch files to see if that would work.

Odd.

[RDawg816]

I tried to go to Stonebrunt, but met with an issue while trying to zone into Paineel. It kept saying "something along the lines of "please try again later. The zone is not available. Tested the last couple nights. I also reapplied the patch files to see if that would work.

Odd.
I was in Paineel this morning. Weird.

[Canelek]

I'll give it another go tonight. Oh, and it would "zone" me over the the Erudin ZL up north. Pretty much the same behavior you would see from an actual zone outage. I am guessing it has something to do with a bad file on my end.

[Xap]

I hear you on the mammoth front, my Druid is the same level, I went there in the middle of the night, only about 3 people in the zone found maybe one or two fully grown mammoths. I don't know if all the other random crap walking around/baby mamms are place holders, but hunting was sparse..

It's that wandering asshole Tundra Jack, his roaming path is right in the main thoroughfare of the mammoth paths, and he just runs east to west killing them. So frustrating.

If you follow him, he usually kills 5-6 mammoths in his normal pathing rotation.

[mskinkle]

When I leveled up my Druid in 2000 or 2001, I killed in Iceclad from 30 until around 40. Started soloing cougars then quaded them at 34. Back then I would run out of mana before final cast and had to time opening my spellbook and when they would come into melee range.

[ZiggyTheMuss]

The double spawn of split paw gnolls near the hermit in south karana might be good (obviously you can find a big elephant to charm if you want).

Bind at south qeynos so you can hand in their skins when you have a full set of four (good quest xp up to 40s).

Always lot of snow cougars up in iceclad, not sure how many more levels it will be good for though.

This. Gnoll skins took me to 38 very fast. A friend who was a little more obsessed than me insisted the exp was still good to 45 but I noticed it slow down a lot around the 38.

[Xap]

Which quest is the one for the skin hand ins?

Tanned Split Paw Skin
(https://wiki.project1999.com/Tanned_Split_Paw_Skin)

Gem Inlaid Guants, or Tesch Val Scrolls? And do you have to hand in 4 at once, or just 1?

[red_demonman]

Highly recommend Iceclad for at least your early 30's. Charming cougars may be a little rough (based on charm breaks) at the beginning but becomes very consistent shortly and the cougar claw earrings sell well. You can also choose to quad them at 34 with Lightning Strike, although charming will still be faster experience.

You can move to Dreadlands later 30's and quad yeti's. These are great exp and very easy to quad.

[Larkverdin]

Going to throw my 2c in with iceclad cougars at 30 as well. I started at 30, 29 saw too many breaks for it to be mana savvy. Just because I had a hard time finding the right spot, if you're facing the tower's IZ, to go the right and set up between the coast and the treeline. I went from 30-34 here very easily and managed 5 earrings in the process.

[loramin]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned:

https://wiki.project1999.com/Cazic_Thule_Alligator_Pit
https://wiki.project1999.com/Cazic_Thule_Alligator_Hall

I just took my druid up to 38 there and it's really great XP for animal charming. Plus the only time you see anyone else there is if some high-level is killing the alligators for mage focus items (and even then you can usually give them the mage focus items you've looted while leveling and don't care about to make them go away).