Leveling up from 1 to 12 as an necromancer human - close to FREEPORT

[LordVictor]

I will be honest, I looked into many guides but they only give information PAST lv 12, like, everyone only mentions past lv 12 locations ( https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=332314 )

And is in this level range where I suffer the most and need help cuz I'm a noob in classic EQ. Only played live EQ(have a lv 66 necro there) and in Vaniki server which allows me to do the tutorial with Gates of Discord experience rate and after the tutorial go to the Fields of Bones, a place which I can't reach in p99(and don't wanna to play as an Lizard)

Sesserdrix's guide also skips this levels. Which is exactly where I'm having huge troubles leveling up, getting almost no xp

"These levels are slow and grueling, and there is really no perfect spot. I suggest finding whatever way through this you can. If you have access to power leveling, these are the levels to push through. You do not have the mana sustainability to effectively fear kite, you do not have roots, nor a charm. You're going to be blundering around getting any experience you can."

https://wiki.project1999.com/Sesserdrix%27s_All_in_One_Necromancer_Strategy_Gui de#The_First_12_Levels

I tried :


North Desert of Ro
Freeport sewers
East Commonlands
Restart in Qeynos
Qeynos sewers
North part of Qeynos


And the game continues being NOTHING but frustrating. I usually rage quit and delete my char to not start again only to try p99 again and be frustrated in a cycle.

Any way to get into Field of Bones without having to play as an Lizard and bind myself there?

If the awnser is not, sorry but I think that I will not play P1999. IS too frustrating in every place that I tried to play as an necro. And I already have enough frustration IRL.

[Jimjam]

Wizards and druids can take you to emerald jungle and bind you outside kaesora in field of Bone. Near the half elf is good. Be warned - its hard to vendor or bank. There is a gauntlet of mobs to run to get to pit.


Instead of field of bone have you tried Qeynos hills / black burrow?

[PatChapp]

If your finding 1-12 frustrating you won't enjoy leveling beyond that. 1-12 can be done just in ec very fast killing random trash mobs
It only gets slower after 12, p99 is not fast leveling like on live.

[LordVictor]

Wizards and druids can take you to emerald jungle and bind you outside kaesora in field of Bone. Near the half elf is good. Be warned - its hard to vendor or bank. There is a gauntlet of mobs to run to get to pit.


Instead of field of bone have you tried Qeynos hills / black burrow?

I will try there, I rather worship Innoruuk but if he can't give me a way to ascend my knowledge for the dark arts, I will find someone else who will teach me.



If your finding 1-12 frustrating you won't enjoy leveling beyond that. 1-12 can be done just in ec very fast killing random trash mobs
It only gets slower after 12, p99 is not fast leveling like on live.

The problem is not the low XP per kill. I can live with that, in fact, in Vaniki server, I"m lv 38 and the XP / kill in this server is just a BIT higher than classic.

My problem is only having low density areas with lots of "greens" and "reds" and nothing to kill. Also, necros only get poison bolt as an useful offensive spell till lv 11. Is in lv 12 where they can cast heat blood and a huge slow in the enemy. Before that, attempting to use an pet in any encounter isn't worth since the pet will outDPS you and eat 50% of the XP.

The guide which I posted mentions FoB as the greatest advantage of Iksar. Did you played as an necro? You will be using melee a lot in in the beginning, even in the ultra fast to level up live.

[eqravenprince]

Qeynos

Level 1-3 newbie ground, kill decaying skeletons.

Level 4-12 qeynos hills and blackburrow, collect gnoll fangs and turn them in for massive exp.

Freeport

Level 1-3 newbie ground

Level 4-12 kill single orc and wolf in East Freeport and collect belts, boring but easy. Or get into orc group in EC.

Gfay

Level 1-3 newbie ground

Level 4-12 crushbone or steamfont

Odus

Level 1-3 if evil in newbie ground

Level 4-12 leave odus, just need to learn how to get into the qeynos catacombs from boat and then exit in the newbie ground, get bound too.

Level 1-12 - If good, leave Odus, get bound in qeynos and use the qeynos leveling path.

[Jimjam]

Try get your hands on a decent melee weapon and a bunch of tanky gear. Really helps push thru the first 8 levels.

[magnetaress]

FP 1 -5 mass kill with lvl 4 pet in the southern part of FP with the orcs and wolf get lots of chips

then coytotes and kitties in N ro

then spiders beetles and undeads until like 12-18 or so once u can kill the big beetles and big spiders ur set

then oasis till 20

then go wherever you damn well please

this is the best way to experience the game

[Kich867]

If your finding 1-12 frustrating you won't enjoy leveling beyond that. 1-12 can be done just in ec very fast killing random trash mobs
It only gets slower after 12, p99 is not fast leveling like on live.

I don't think that's their issue. The issue is that East Commonlands is a garbage starting zone. The only redeeming quality is that you can frequently get huge buffs at the tunnel to kill the few mobs you can find that out-level you, but that's still a waste of time compared to any starting zone that has good early hand-in quests.

It has the same problem a lot of early zones have, the level ranges aren't gradual enough. Mobs are basically like, level 1 or they're level 6, so you hit these awkward gaps where things are either too hard to kill or they're giving virtually no experience.

Leveling in EC early on is a huge, huge waste of time. You level substantially faster in Butcherblock Mountains grinding Decaying Skeletons for bone chip hand ins and aviak talon handins (rarer), gets you to level 7 or 8 in a few hours solo unbuffed and a ton of spare coin.

Really, if you're not starting a character in an area with easy high XP quest hand-ins, you're going to have a pretty slow, miserable time starting unless you're twinked out, and from the sound of it, OP isn't twinked out.

Sadly though as a human necro I don't know of many good options for you. Dark Elves and Iksar have substantially better starting areas for Necromancers, by a wide margin.

[LordVictor]

Did the Qeynos fang quest and OMG. 4 Gnoll fangs for about 40% xp at lv 6. Finally found a good place to level up.

Another question. Does my conjuration skill increases the chances of conjuring an higher level mob? And when I reach lv 20, worth investing huge sums of money to get specialization - conjuration as high as possible ASAP?

[Kich867]

No, pets are summoned randomly within the level range of the pet spell. You'll have to get comfortable either not caring what level pet you summon or dismiss them and resummon them until you get the highest level one. Eventually you can't tell by conning them though.

And no, absolutely do not ever spend money on training things like Conjuration or Specialized Conjuration. They'll naturally max out because all you do is cast spells.

[Kurtanius21]

Necro only gets better the higher you get. I do recommend joining a guild. They can help you answer these questions in game. Steamfont is fantastic 1-14. Also lfay sister camp is excellent 12-18ish.

[LordVictor]

I"m doing the Gnoll fang quests, quite impressive. Got 2 levels relative quickly(8 at moment) and will probably get 12 and heat blood soon. About the randomness of pet level, if I'm lv 4 I don't care if my pet is lv 3,4 or 5. Now, if I"m lv 7 and summoned an "green" pet, I just send him away.

[LordVictor]

Other question. Blackburrow was an amazing region to level up. I got lots of XP in relative short time there but when I was adventuring there, from nothing an lv 12 grizzly bear appeared literally behind me, killed me, and when I attempted to re enter, he was literally in the door of the dungeon. How much time I have to get my corpses and tons of Gnoll fangs there? I just can't defeat or evade him.

I tried to use my skeleton as an distraction while use /corpse to try to drag my corpse, but it din't worked. Even the lv 9 skeleton dies in a couple of seconds. Any suggestion? I also don't have money to buy Gather Shadows spell... I would have if I could get my corpses...

[Kich867]

Other question. Blackburrow was an amazing region to level up. I got lots of XP in relative short time there but when I was adventuring there, from nothing an lv 12 grizzly bear appeared literally behind me, killed me, and when I attempted to re enter, he was literally in the door of the dungeon. How much time I have to get my corpses and tons of Gnoll fangs there? I just can't defeat or evade him.

I tried to use my skeleton as an distraction while use /corpse to try to drag my corpse, but it din't worked. Even the lv 9 skeleton dies in a couple of seconds. Any suggestion? I also don't have money to buy Gather Shadows spell... I would have if I could get my corpses...

just wait, mobs wander back to their spawn point eventually. The bear is at the entrance because someone dragged him there.

[LordVictor]

Yep. I did it and got enough "platinum" to buy my lv 12 sepells. Thanks a lot for the help. I also reached lv 10 relative quickly.

I also tried a bit high elf magician. OMG my lv 4 water elemental pet seems better than my lv 8 nec pet, he literally killed an lv 6 giant bat without losing half of his hp....

Two more questions, sorry if I'm being annoying :
1 - Does necro has "dire charms" in this game? In live I can dire charm stuff
2 - IS truth that at high levels, pets become weaker in relatoin to mobs?

Thanks a lot for the answers and help;.

[PatChapp]

No dire charm on p99,and yeah as you level your pet gets weaker in relation to mobs. Necro pets can't really tank well at high levels, necros can overcome this by fear kiting. Feared mobs don't murder pets.
Magicians are very strong at low levels,but their power level dies off at high levels, their pets are only marginally better than Necro pets but without the Necro abilities.

[LordVictor]

LV 13 now. Heat blood + Engulfing darkness is extremely good. Qeynos is extremely better than Freeport. About dire charm, I asked about dire charm cuz "enslave death" in the wiki doesn't have the "Breaks randomly." text description.

One last question. I putted an spell above my spellbook in the active bar and how I can put a /book command there again?

[although]

I made a gnome necro the other day (I'm a total noob). Spent two minutes trying to work out where I was on a map, then a merchant ran over and killed me...

I didn't realize it was a merchant until I tried to loot my corpse and saw the merchant run over and kill me again.

After the pile of bodies got up to four, I deleted that toon and made a different one :)

I'm obviously not ready to play a necro

[PatChapp]

Enslave death does not break randomly,but it is very short duration at 30 seconds. Useful for crowd control,perhaps.

[LordVictor]

I made a gnome necro the other day (I'm a total noob). Spent two minutes trying to work out where I was on a map, then a merchant ran over and killed me...

I didn't realize it was a merchant until I tried to loot my corpse and saw the merchant run over and kill me again.

After the pile of bodies got up to four, I deleted that toon and made a different one :)

I'm obviously not ready to play a necro

I got killed so many times by NPCs while traveling from Qeynos to Freeport to level up in Oasis...

Anyway, lv 19 now.

https://i.imgur.com/Jn9KPEf.png

And yes, playing p99 in ArchLinux + KDE.

So I will ask few more questions.

In live, I specialized in alteration. Should I specialize in alteration in p99 too?
Any way to avoid ambushes while playing in FP in open fields?
Does the DoTs of the same line stack in p99? Can I throw ignite blood + heat blood + boil blood in a single enemy?
Does the same applies to "lich" spells? Can I throw pact of dead + allure of death at the same time?
Intensify death requires research. I have read in wikia but din't understood exactly how I research. Any guide?
Is Befallen a good place to level up? I'm getting tired of this Oasis and never liked much deserts.

[Jimjam]

For the hot blood series the highest level spell (cast by the highest level necromancer) takes priority.

For the disease line they all stack. I forgot how/whether the poison line stacks. My inkling is they do?

If working with another necromancer you need to coordinate your spells with each other - you can't stack the same spell cast by multiple casters. E.g. if 5 necromancers cast disease cloud on a mob, only one copy of the spell will stick (the one cast by the highest level necromancer, which overwrites/blocks previous/future lower level casts).

[PatChapp]

Dots, buff lines do not stack. Befallen is a great spot, but kinda tops off around 20.
There should be a Necro research guide on the wiki,but research is very hard on p99. The words are all random drops so its not guarenteed to come across the ones you need,and doing research as you level has a pretty high failure rate.
Alteration is fine for a necro,you can always switch it for some po at the temple of sol to.

[LordVictor]

Got to lv 20 and got every single spell which I wanna except Animate Dead; would I be KoS in Grobb as an human necromancer who worships Bertoxxulous? IF yes, will I be killed in sight by the shadow knight's guild? What about Paineel city? I can reach there as an necromancer using gather shadows and traveling to Qeynos with no problem.

Which is the best way to get Animate dead spell.

Sorry for asking too many questions, but I can't find such info in guides.

[PatChapp]

I would first confirm it's available there, then get a friend to swap some plat to your new lvl 1 troll/erudite your using to buy it.
The wiki isn't always accurate on which merchants sell which items.

[LordVictor]

Other question. How I use the auction? The filters and everything else? I don't even know how to use the char properly, only that /g talks to the group.

I really wanna animate dead but seems too hard to get such spell. Research after I searched a bit in google, you find the words, put in a "book Book of Dark Bindings" and then click in combine. But I din't found in wikia where to find Words of the Extinct or A sarnak recruit...

[Tethler]

Other question. How I use the auction? The filters and everything else? I don't even know how to use the char properly, only that /g talks to the group.

I really wanna animate dead but seems too hard to get such spell. Research after I searched a bit in google, you find the words, put in a "book Book of Dark Bindings" and then click in combine. But I din't found in wikia where to find Words of the Extinct or A sarnak recruit...

The words for research drop randomly from mobs in the level range of the spell. There isnt really a good place to farm for them. A good strategy for getting research components is just checking a lot of vendors for the pages and maybe you get lucky and find the ones you need for sale.

[Anrath Bonewraith]

My problem is only having low density areas with lots of "greens" and "reds" and nothing to kill. Also, necros only get poison bolt as an useful offensive spell till lv 11. Is in lv 12 where they can cast heat blood and a huge slow in the enemy. Before that, attempting to use an pet in any encounter isn't worth since the pet will outDPS you and eat 50% of the XP.

The guide which I posted mentions FoB as the greatest advantage of Iksar. Did you played as an necro? You will be using melee a lot in in the beginning, even in the ultra fast to level up live.

Actually, disease cloud isn't bad at lower levels, plus you have clinging darkness and fear at level four. Put your pet on them, sink cloud and bolt, c.d. and fear, take a seat.

[Encroaching Death]

So I will ask few more questions.

In live, I specialized in alteration. Should I specialize in alteration in p99 too?
Sure, that's what my Necro is specialized in. It will affect your dots, fears, roots, twitches, and some of the buffs I believe.
Any way to avoid ambushes while playing in FP in open fields?
Not sure what you mean by FP, but there will usually be safe areas where you can avoid mobs. Keep an eye for others, as they will be sitting in safe spots (usually)
Does the DoTs of the same line stack in p99? Can I throw ignite blood + heat blood + boil blood in a single enemy? I've only tested this on my Shaman's dots and they do stack but I don't know if Necro is the same. Necros get so many different lines of DoTs that you probably don't even need to do it. 2 or 3 different DoTs usually does the trick per mob.
Does the same applies to "lich" spells? Can I throw pact of dead + allure of death at the same time? I don't think so. That would be awesome.
Intensify death requires research. I have read in wikia but din't understood exactly how I research. Any guide? https://wiki.project1999.com/Research Essentially, you buy a book at your Necro trainer called 'Book of Dark Bindings'. It opens like a container/backpack. Depending on the spell you're trying to make, you put 2 or 3 Words in the container and click the Combine button. If your Research skill is enough, you'll make the spell. Very few people take the time to level it up and instead buy them from other players. My skill is only like 130, but I made most of my own.
Is Befallen a good place to level up? I'm getting tired of this Oasis and never liked much deserts. Befallen is good. However, at your level I recommend killing Kodiaks in Rathe Mountains. It's sort of close to Oasis. If you've never made the run, it can be tricky but the bears are typically never camped and I soloed there from 19-23ish. They drop High Quality Bear Skins + other qualities. I would fill up like 3 bags full and make 700 or so platinum. Pretty good at that level. Then you can kill Aviaks in Lake Rathetear (they drop bronze weapons)