SK solo spots 50+

[nordbear]

Hey! Approaching 50 on my SK and looking for ideas on where to head next. Stuff I’m considering so far, not sure how good it is to fear kite at these location though.

Butcher block guards
Kelethin guards
Wakening lands dragons, goos
The Hole
Sebilis?
Charasis?

Any other ideas? Don’t mind the occasional group/duo but trying to stay away from KC

[Tewaz]

Bloodgill Goblins are still good to 51 and some people gut them out to 52. Super low HP and easy single pulls.

[Kaedain]

fear kiting the undead spawns near the EJ zoneline in TT was very nice and easy

[Jimjam]

Temple in CoM?

[Keebz]

Some good ideas in this thread. Here's a few more.

HHK nobles/bards/dyrna is very good to like 55. Get shrink pots if you're a large race. You can hold down both bards and nobles. At 55+ you can do dyrna and run upstairs to kill a noble/bard or two in between spawns.

Hole entrance is good for earlier 50's, while the upper castle is good higher 50's. I didn't like the fallen erudites camp. Not enough mobs for my taste and some annoying aggro issues with higher level mobs near by.

Speaking of higher 50's, rats in the maze in PoM are great, as are the 2 giants in Frontier Mtns. Lastly, Velks is good in a pinch. You can fear kite near the invisible wall.

As for the tar goos in WL, I found them pretty good mid 50's, but mostly just face tanked them. Fear kiting in those caves is super annoying, but the money is good. Also in WL are the geonids, which are doable 58+ but pretty beefy. EZ spot to get to though for grinding exp when short on time.

[Jimjam]

Consider the rotten skeleton and pained soul PH areas. May be slow by 50 but if you plan to sell MQs may be worthwhile.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

You can kill guards up to 55. That is when most of the good guard spots green out. I did WL goos until 57 I think. They are good money and XP, albeit a bit boring.

Howling Stones North/Basement is great xp in the upper 50s, that is where I am currently XPing.

[Toxigen]

Consider the rotten skeleton and pained soul PH areas. May be slow by 50 but if you plan to sell MQs may be worthwhile.

I always forget about this. Such a no brainer, too.

[mattydef]

I did Felwithe guards until about 54 i think and then moved on to Kelethin guards until 58 (there will be 4-6 guards that remain blue per spawn cycle)

[Sizar]

Mushrooms in the forest in PoM, then once 54 or 55 go kill in the rat maze to 60

[loramin]

I added everyones' suggestions here to the Per-Level Hunting Guide (https://wiki.project1999.com/Per-Level_Hunting_Guide). It had most of the spots already, but didn't have them all labeled as "Good for Shadow Knights".

Now that it does, you can click "Shadow Knight" at the top and see a nice list of places to hunt as a Shadow Knight ... at least from 40 on (the guide could definitely use some lower-level SK spots).

[Crede]

Hey! Approaching 50 on my SK and looking for ideas on where to head next. Stuff I’m considering so far, not sure how good it is to fear kite at these location though.

Butcher block guards
Kelethin guards
Wakening lands dragons, goos
The Hole
Sebilis?
Charasis?

Any other ideas? Don’t mind the occasional group/duo but trying to stay away from KC

Those places are all possible, CoM is pretty good as well. You’d be surprised how many close quarter places an sk can fear kite(especially if you can slam). I initially wrote it off as an annoying way to level but it’s pretty much essential 50+ for good solo xp. I can effectively go for hours if done correctly paired with the blood ember gauntlets/boots when I need to balance the mana from dooming darkness/fear/spook the dead. I do have a crown of narandi/fungi though, but I assume most people these days can obtain those items or just paying for a POTG every few hours is totally worth the xp boost once you figure out a good spot.

Also do not neglect the added damage potential of the 52/58 pet. The max level 52 pet is an 8 level jump from the max 49 pet. Get yourself a reclaim energy item to help with getting to max. It’s more than just a tiny dot, a good pet is capable of doing at least 1/4 your dps. Here’s a screenshot I took from the max 52 pet with strengthen death:

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/629517619673694218/991401402591088640/unknown.png

[Keebz]

The max 52 pet auto dual wields as well. I'd try for max almost every time. It really improves DPS. At 58, it's less essential.

[Danth]

The max 52 pet auto dual wields as well. I'd try for max almost every time. It really improves DPS. At 58, it's less essential.

On a mid 50's Shadowknight I recommend carrying some junk weapons or (better) torches. It's nice to get the max pet but you'll inevitably get strings where you can summon ten or more in a row without a max. Not too big a deal to torch something that hits for 35's instead of waiting for the 39 hitter. It's real nice to not have to worry about that anymore with the final pet spell at level 58.

It's true a lot of players severely under-rate the pet. I suspect it's because they get used to the crappy middle-level pets, mentally write them off, then never give 'em a second chance at high level. It becomes a very useful damage source. It doesn't hurt to use the Strengthen Death spell if you can spare the mana and buff bar slot. That also noticeably improves the pet, especially if you have a good one.

Danth

[nordbear]

Thx for all the suggestions! Tried both CoM and the spectrals at EJ zone line and both of them are good spots. Spectrals are easy but a bit more boring than CoM imo. One added benefit is that they are very close to each other to it’s easy to switch in case one of the camps isn’t open

[nordbear]

I did Felwithe guards until about 54 i think and then moved on to Kelethin guards until 58 (there will be 4-6 guards that remain blue per spawn cycle)

Any recommendations on where to fight the guards in Kelethin? Tried a few rounds but they keep running of the platforms when fear kiting which is super annoying :(

[loramin]

outside rogue's guild is a good spot to pull singles

The entry also links to another forum post (https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1617157#post1617163) ... but it's kind of Wizard-centric so I don't know how helpful it would be. Still, it sounds like "outside Rogue's Guild" is where you should try; that will at least get you singles, but you'll still need to be careful about where you pull (and use snare) to avoid the falling off part.

P.S. Here's a video of a Necro doing them (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPYBZTn9_yY) ... not quite the same, but close.

[Keebz]

I used to just pull them to the ground.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Any recommendations on where to fight the guards in Kelethin? Tried a few rounds but they keep running of the platforms when fear kiting which is super annoying :(

I haven't killed Kelethin Guards, so this is just some general advice that may help.

Have you tried using the first level Fear spell? When dealing with short fear runways, you want to use the Fear spell with the shortest duration so the mob runs the smallest distance. You also want to use your best snare. You can also bash/slam while they are running. Each time they are stunned they will stop running for a second.

If the tactic above doesn't work, you may need to just let them run off and then levitate down to finish them. Not ideal, but bad pathing is bad pathing.

Finally, you could try dispelling them before they fall off the platform. Definitely not great either, but it could work.

[Crede]

I did nobles/bards/isa on my SK until 55. But I think nobles are broke now with merchant aggro? Idk.

I messed around with Kelethin guards a bit on my SK, but it was way more tolerable on my wizard. I was pulling down to ground and fear kiting, but this was annoying as I couldn't keep a pet up when invis'n back up the lift. You could try short duration fears up top as DSM mentioned, you'll really have to watch pathing, perhaps there is a good spot up there to do it though.

[PatChapp]

I did nobles/bards/isa on my SK until 55. But I think nobles are broke now with merchant aggro? Idk.

I messed around with Kelethin guards a bit on my SK, but it was way more tolerable on my wizard. I was pulling down to ground and fear kiting, but this was annoying as I couldn't keep a pet up when invis'n back up the lift. You could try short duration fears up top as DSM mentioned, you'll really have to watch pathing, perhaps there is a good spot up there to do it though.
Merchant agro was fixed some time ago

[Vaarsuvius]

There are 4 guards & Nyzil in Butcher Block who will con dark blue all the way to 60.
Easy to split them or just kill one while fearing the add.
They respawn quite fast, drop dwarven axes and FS weapons that you can sell at druid ring, and as a bonus there are lots of roaming skellies to refiill your bone chip stock.
I usualy face tank them and only fear kite when they quad and Disarm will not work

It's very safe & steady xp spot when you don't feel like / play long enough time to join a group

[drfuzz]

I’ll throw in Cobalt Scar wyverns for early 50’s. Pull to the beach and fearkite. Also, Erudin dock guards - always good when waiting for a Hole raid to start.

[Jimjam]

Wyverns are good. They are on ToV faction so you can be non-KoS but they also don’t give faction hits on death so you don’t become kos after killing them.

Vendor in zone, bank next door. Good fishing. Lots of velious gems drop too if that is your thing.

Not tried them on a SK personally, these are my experiences on a wizard.

[Jimjam]

Update to CS wyverns for SKs:

I logged in to my 52 SK to give this a go on blue. Self buffs only.

Very easy fight, though I spent a lot of mana doing it.

I pulled the mob to the beach, tapping it's stats on the way in. Hit it with dooming darkness (which lasted until the wyvern was slow speed fleeing). Hit it with Invoke Fear at 100% and again at about 65%. Stepped back at 19% for dots to push it in to natural flee mode without it turning on me for a round once the second fear broke.

Most notable thing was fear did make the wyvern enter the water, so beware of that possibility. Didn't use pet.

Dropped a stinger and coral crescent. Mob conned dark blue. No faction hit.

Second attempt:

Used Reaver and pet instead of Sword of Pain. Was actually actually a little slower! Just dropped meat (and some pp, as before) this time.

Third attempt:

Found an xp green wyvern so there tried kiting a drake. Largely same strat (but had to split with fd/snare). Only difference is I feared it before doing my taps (drakes here have a breath not dissimilar to Lady Vox). Dropped nowt but cash.

Fourth attempt:

Spawns are pretty hotly contested between quaders and fearers. Beware of the named wyvern and drake, Yvolcarn and Azureake ... "these dragons are not for eating!" they can be quite mean and give faction hits. As a fear kiter you have an advantage as most quadders are reluctant to fight the cobalt drakes, due to the aforementioned breath weapon.

Edit:

Okay killed like 6 or 7 blue mobs in 25 minutes. It's a good pace and feels safe. Xp bar has moved to the right. Nice music. Try it out if you are craving a beach holiday! :D

[Jimjam]

I failed to submit an edit - I tried to toe to toe a wyvern without dots/fear/stuff. It did 60% damage, my SK did 100% damage. So don't be too worried about fear breaking or being resisted - you should be able to simply beat a single up the old fashioned way if needed.

[zelld52]

fear kiting the undead spawns near the EJ zoneline in TT was very nice and easy

second this, or temple in CoM. easy single pulls, and can fear kite them if needed. Good exp to 53

[nordbear]

Those places are all possible, CoM is pretty good as well. You’d be surprised how many close quarter places an sk can fear kite(especially if you can slam). I initially wrote it off as an annoying way to level but it’s pretty much essential 50+ for good solo xp. I can effectively go for hours if done correctly paired with the blood ember gauntlets/boots when I need to balance the mana from dooming darkness/fear/spook the dead. I do have a crown of narandi/fungi though, but I assume most people these days can obtain those items or just paying for a POTG every few hours is totally worth the xp boost once you figure out a good spot.

Also do not neglect the added damage potential of the 52/58 pet. The max level 52 pet is an 8 level jump from the max 49 pet. Get yourself a reclaim energy item to help with getting to max. It’s more than just a tiny dot, a good pet is capable of doing at least 1/4 your dps. Here’s a screenshot I took from the max 52 pet with strengthen death:

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/629517619673694218/991401402591088640/unknown.png

Any suggestions on where to fear kite on the walls in CoM? Got to lvl 55 now and it seems like CoM could be a good spot until 57 or so.

[nordbear]

Some good ideas in this thread. Here's a few more.

HHK nobles/bards/dyrna is very good to like 55. Get shrink pots if you're a large race. You can hold down both bards and nobles. At 55+ you can do dyrna and run upstairs to kill a noble/bard or two in between spawns.

Hole entrance is good for earlier 50's, while the upper castle is good higher 50's. I didn't like the fallen erudites camp. Not enough mobs for my taste and some annoying aggro issues with higher level mobs near by.

Speaking of higher 50's, rats in the maze in PoM are great, as are the 2 giants in Frontier Mtns. Lastly, Velks is good in a pinch. You can fear kite near the invisible wall.

As for the tar goos in WL, I found them pretty good mid 50's, but mostly just face tanked them. Fear kiting in those caves is super annoying, but the money is good. Also in WL are the geonids, which are doable 58+ but pretty beefy. EZ spot to get to though for grinding exp when short on time.

Think I read in your other SK related thread that you killed at CE balcony in the hole at higher 50s? Tried to find that place but wasn’t really able to. Got a rough explanation of where it is and do you think it’s doable at lvl 55? I assume as long as it’s a fear kiting spot it should be doable but not really sure.

[Keebz]

Think I read in your other SK related thread that you killed at CE balcony in the hole at higher 50s? Tried to find that place but wasn’t really able to. Got a rough explanation of where it is and do you think it’s doable at lvl 55? I assume as long as it’s a fear kiting spot it should be doable but not really sure.

The exact level range it's viable depends a bit on gear and know-how. 55 might be slightly low, but if you get some buffs you could try it out. You can also lure a rogue friend up there (they can sneak past everything) to help out.

As for directions, head straight into CE, into the back room, then take a left, follow the hall and take another left up the stairs, through a door, then up more stairs again. There will be a golem on the stairs you'll have to invis/flop past. Eventually you'll hit a corner with a hallway to the right, a pather, and a couple mobs in side rooms, leading out to a balcony. You can either methodically take the mobs between you and the balcony face tanking, or preferably invis/flop over to the far side of the balcony and clear from there. There's 2 pathers you'll mostly face tank, then the balcony is opened up for kiting. From there you just pull to the balcony, and you're golden. Nameds are the only annoying bit. You'll want a decent mana pool/clickies to power through those. Wall heals are also a thing, but generally on the balcony you won't have to deal with those, esp. after you break in.

The kiting area is the right side of "Castle Middle" on the The Hole map on the wiki. You'll also pull from "Castle Top" area as well.

Tip: You can get hit with a C from CE if you stand on the edge of the balcony.

It's a methodical break, but very relaxing once you crack it.

[nordbear]

The exact level range it's viable depends a bit on gear and know-how. 55 might be slightly low, but if you get some buffs you could try it out. You can also lure a rogue friend up there (they can sneak past everything) to help out.

As for directions, head straight into CE, into the back room, then take a left, follow the hall and take another left up the stairs, through a door, then up more stairs again. There will be a golem on the stairs you'll have to invis/flop past. Eventually you'll hit a corner with a hallway to the right, a pather, and a couple mobs in side rooms, leading out to a balcony. You can either methodically take the mobs between you and the balcony face tanking, or preferably invis/flop over to the far side of the balcony and clear from there. There's 2 pathers you'll mostly face tank, then the balcony is opened up for kiting. From there you just pull to the balcony, and you're golden. Nameds are the only annoying bit. You'll want a decent mana pool/clickies to power through those. Wall heals are also a thing, but generally on the balcony you won't have to deal with those, esp. after you break in.

The kiting area is the right side of "Castle Middle" on the The Hole map on the wiki. You'll also pull from "Castle Top" area as well.

Tip: You can get hit with a C from CE if you stand on the edge of the balcony.

It's a methodical break, but very relaxing once you crack it.

Awesome! Thx for the detailed directions. Gonna grind out 55 at kc and then give it a go

[Encroaching Death]

There are 4 guards & Nyzil in Butcher Block who will con dark blue all the way to 60.
Easy to split them or just kill one while fearing the add.
They respawn quite fast, drop dwarven axes and FS weapons that you can sell at druid ring, and as a bonus there are lots of roaming skellies to refiill your bone chip stock.
I usualy face tank them and only fear kite when they quad and Disarm will not work

It's very safe & steady xp spot when you don't feel like / play long enough time to join a group

Don't even need to split them if you're killing Nyzil.

You can target him through the building wall and send your pet after him, pet teleports through the wall, then Pet Back off to teleport him back through the brick wall. Doesn't aggro the others, if you pull from the back of the building.

[Chortles Snortles]

do you guys all play SKs post 50+ because you like it
real curious why you're all not Necros after reading this thread if you want to pwn mobs solo

[Trelaboon]

do you guys all play SKs post 50+ because you like it
real curious why you're all not Necros after reading this thread if you want to pwn mobs solo

I’m leveling an SK alt (currently level 50) and for me, it’s a lot of different things. For one I really enjoy that evil knight aesthetic. I’ve also just always found pure spell casters to be super boring. I also enjoy the challenge involved, as compared to that of a Necro. I also have a 54 Necro that bores me to tears because it feels so OP. I guess it just comes down to preference. More than anything I just like the feel and play style of a Tank hybrid.

[Chortles Snortles]

Just was curious, I too once loved SK until discovering I couldn’t solo Xalgoz at 51. Took me 5 SKs and 3 NECs to realize my preferred play style is caster.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Just was curious, I too once loved SK until discovering I couldn’t solo Xalgoz at 51. Took me 5 SKs and 3 NECs to realize my preferred play style is caster.

That mostly comes down to how much you like caster play styles vs. melee play styles. To be honest I love the melee play style in Everquest. My first level 50+ toon on live was a Warrior I mostly soloed with hehe.

However, pure melees tend to not have enough tools when it comes to soloing. That is why I picked Shadowknight as my first char on P99 instead of Warrior. You get the hard-hitting 250 damage melee swings of an SK, coupled with some Necro spells for more dynamic play. That is why I like playing my SK, even at level 58.

I think that is why I like Shamans a lot too. They are tanky, so they still have some melee play aspects to them, but they have more raw power due to them being a pure caster.

[Jimjam]

Just was curious, I too once loved SK until discovering I couldn’t solo Xalgoz at 51. Took me 5 SKs and 3 NECs to realize my preferred play style is caster.

Hit 52 and shelf on sk.

[Chortles Snortles]

sac’d to 45 a looookng time ago
i will say i throughly enjoyed leveling my SK (to 30s) during red era launch engaging in low lvl PvP was some of the most fun I ever had

[Jimjam]

PVP really is at it's best in the first half of the game.

[Danth]

do you guys all play SKs post 50+ because you like it
real curious why you're all not Necros after reading this thread if you want to pwn mobs solo

I'm kind of with you on this. I like my shadow knight plenty well (been 60 on P99 for a good ten years or more), but I mostly duo with the wife or have other friend(s) along. Solo is only of very secondary concern, just something to do when I happen to be online by myself once in awhile. It would not be my first class choice for a primarily solo character. Trying to build a primarily solo melee in this game feels akin to pounding a square peg into a round hole. You can do it but you're working against type.

Danth