Most underrated and overrated zones?

[Roth]

I'm a level 23 iksar shaman named shenethax as my main on this server but I've played on and off over the years on a bunch of different characters. I like to go out of my way to visit places that nobody really goes to... I feel like part of the eq experience to me is completing the places that are a bit out of the way. With that said, a lot of zones I found to be correctly rated by the community, but others are highly overrated or underrated.

As far as underrated zones, I think najena topped my list by far. There was really amazing loot(elementals, mage items) and a great camp further in for a level 20ish party. I was able to come out of here with around 500p just from selling loot in ec, and the zem was really nice considering how good some of the camps were once I learned them. With a bard or chanter to aoe mez goblins were pretty easy to farm without any deaths. The best part though I believe was the location. It's close to lavastorm(a great solo area) and ec, so forming parties, selling loot, or just soloing the pass the time were all easy options.

Most overrated I think is unrest, for a few reasons. First off is the location. If you go to unrest, good luck finding anywhere nearby to go. If you're there at level 15 or 20 you're basically stuck there since there's nowhere nearby to hunt besides dagnors cauldron. Next, this place was way way overcrowded. Even if I formed a party, there was no way to get a good camp during peak hours. This wasted a lot of time and I didn't feel like it was efficient exp. It was also difficult to form a group because there wasn't usually anyone available nearby the zone to ask. I didn't think this was a good spot to level in.

Anyone have any others to add to the list?

[Hollywood]

Most overrated = Karnors Castle
Most underrated = too difficult to pick one, however I'd say Warrens or the Hole are high up there.

Your reasoning for Unrest being overrated is odd. You say it's hard to find anywhere nearby to go - which to me suggests it's isolated and remote - which of course you think is part of the EverQuest experience ... ?

[Roth]

Originally Posted by Hollywood [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Most overrated = Karnors Castle
Most underrated = too difficult to pick one, however I'd say Warrens or the Hole are high up there.

Your reasoning for Unrest being overrated is odd. You say it's hard to find anywhere nearby to go - which to me suggests it's isolated and remote - which of course you think is part of the EverQuest experience ... ?

I feel like you misinterpreted what i said a bit. I'm saying underrated/overrated as just the value in leveling there, but even aside from that to me an out of the way zone would be one that is considered unpopular or not often used, not somewhere physically isolated but still highly popular. For example, I would consider mistmoore and unrest to be more mainstream zones even though they're physically not that easy to travel to in a lot of cases. Cazic-thule would be more out of the way because it's not highly used, even though it's fairly easy to get to.

[Haystacks]

Kedge Keep and the Hole most underrated

[Peekae]

I found sol a to be amazing for the level range however it is often empty

The hole beats kc any day but kc is just more convenient for pugs. Though a good basement group may be an exception

[raitheon]

shenethax you and I actually hit Najena together one evening on my mage Xerker. I can agree on your sentiment.

to add to this list: Lake Rathetear - Underrated; no one was here at all and great xp
Overrated: Crushbone - Although I found myself normally soloing the Legionaires in the little camp near the slavers at a decent pace - I found it tedious to try and find a group that would take a higher level as most of the spawns (save Oracles, Legos, Emissarys and the Warlord) all con green.

Underrated: Eastern Karanas - one of my favorite spots right now; save for the bards kiting an entire zone.

[Atmas]

I think Kaesora is an awesome but underrated zone. You do have to bring a group there and it is out of the way, but I think it's a lot fun and a cool dungeon.

[Hobie819]

I enjoyed West Karana, but as my mage I played in East Karana and Beholders Maze. Being a mage with the summoned bags, the clay that drops from Beholders was fantastic money and made getting pottery skill leveling quite fast and cheap.

Going off of solo places (and this was all as my mage back in the day) I enjoyed everfrost mammoths and ice giants. The Hole was fantastic, especially if you have anti-summoning spells. I remember playing in Najena a lot but I think it was primarily for the mage focus items. Lavastorm was a good place for the baslisks. I remember playing in Kedge Keep for awhile while waiting for Undertow to spawn. I also remember leveling in Lake Rathe and South Karana.

In short, I was like you and enjoyed getting out and exploring, especially back in the day when there were no ports. I never explored Kunark too much, mainly stayed in classic until Luclin came out and when I did visit Kunark it was the normal zones (lake of ill omen, dreadlands, sebilis). I remember taking out the golems in city of mist in my 60's but that was well past classic EQ.

[Sirken]

underrated = Kedge 35+, Hole 45+ , OoT 15-30, CT Temple, blackburrow

overrated = Karnor, Crushbone, CSHome

[Swish]

Underrated:

1. Chardok (fantastic XP, fairly easy... just bring your own group with some CC in it).
2. The Hole (as mentioned, its a shame they put the elementals at the zone in...some great solo potential in there).
3. City of Mist (while some areas are popular, others such as the top floor really aren't camped as often as they should be, good for the discerning mid-50s gentleman to duo/trio)
4. Steamfont (on/around L13, be there! Mino cave and trash outside it - you'll lap it up)
5. Kurn's Tower (probably location more than people hating on it, but it really is underpopulated for how much can be done in there)

Overrated:

1. Karnor's Castle (yeah, slow XP, trains, grief, camp stealing... 4 hybrids in a group. Trashes OT outpost faction. Not much that's nice to say about it)
2. Crushbone (yes, I said it! If you ever get involved with a full group in there, its like watching paint dry waiting for spawns, CB belt quest nerfed, ninja looters on every legionnaire)
3. Lake of Ill Omen (only zone with a negative ZEM? horrible without a sow, mobs have lots of HP, hit harder than old world mobs of similar level, bring your own group or don't bother)
4. Rathe Mountains (no good reason to hate on it, just never liked it - better ways to spend time than kiting hill giants)

Quiet zones that people don't bother with because it's too buggy or just frickin' annoying:

1. Cazic Thule ("lizardman begins to cast a spell, yourmob feels much better")
2. Temple of Droga (can be done if you know the zone inside out, but the pathing generally is horrible in there and a recipe for deaths...many deaths)
3. Kaesora (not great, would be better/more popular if it didn't trash OT outpost faction)
4. Najena (100 keys later you feel like you're starting to get somewhere, enough to put you off rolling a mage)