Getting Started

Leveling 1–20

Where to go and what to kill for the first twenty levels. The foundational band.

Levels 1–20 are the foundational band. Your character is finding its feet, your gear is nothing special, and your spell or discipline book is bare. The goal is to learn pull mechanics, get to 20, and graduate to real dungeons.

Levels 1–5 — Your newbie yard

Stay close to your starting city. Kill the lowest-con mobs in the immediate outskirts — rats, bats, snakes, skeletons. Build your weapon skill up to 100 (the cap for your level). Cast your starting spells to keep Magic skill and Meditation skill climbing.

Exit criteria for 5: you can fight two mobs at once without dying, and your bind is set in your starting city.

Levels 5–10 — Extended newbie yard

Move out to the yard-adjacent zone. Wood Elves push deeper into Greater Faydark; Humans into Qeynos Hills; Dwarves into Butcherblock; Iksar into Field of Bone. Start pulling singles from small camps.

Group option: pickup groups start appearing around level 5. If you're a Cleric, Enchanter, or Warrior, you'll be invited to most groups you ask about in /ooc.

Levels 10–15 — First dungeons

Graduate to the first dungeon that matches your race-continent:

Faydwer (Wood Elf, High Elf, Dwarf, Gnome): Crushbone Keep — the classic.
Antonica (Human, Halfling, Barbarian, Dark Elf): Blackburrow or Befallen.
Odus (Erudite): Toxxulia Forest (extended), then The Hole for Paineel.
Kunark (Iksar): Field of Bone to Kurn's Tower.
Luclin (Vah Shir): Hollowshade Moor, then Paludal Caverns.

Dungeon groups teach pull mechanics, camp-holding, and train-safety. Every level past 15 is easier if you've camped a real dungeon.

Levels 15–20 — Real XP zones

Move into the second tier of dungeons or start the Commonlands / Oasis outdoor crush:

Paludal Caverns (Luclin, 15–25) — many consider it the best 15–25 XP zone in the game. Getting there requires a Nexus port or a boat from Shadeweaver's.
Unrest (Faydwer) — undead manor, great for Paladins.
Najena (Antonica) — djinn and clockworks.
Ocean of Tears — outdoor, boat hub, high level variance.

Exit criteria for 20: you've pulled and camped in at least one dungeon, you've learned what training means (and how to avoid it), and you have a class-appropriate weapon or spell set for your role.

Cross-class tips

Caster — always keep a full mana bar before engaging. Meditate between pulls.
Melee — keep weapon skill capped for your level. Swing at easy mobs to level slow skills.
Tank — learn the Taunt skill's limits. Taunt is not enough past level 25; you'll need gear aggro too.
Healer — don't overheal. A tank who's hit once needs to keep aggro; topping them off every pull steals hate from them.

What NOT to do at 1–20

Don't bind in the Plane of Knowledge. PoK binds don't help with corpse runs — you lose your gear inventory on the floor of Crushbone, not near PoK.
Don't solo to 20 if you're a Warrior, Monk, or Rogue. These classes need group XP at this range; solo XP is painfully slow.
Don't buy end-game gear from vendors at these levels. Save your plat for real spells and weapons.

At 20, you're ready for the 20–30 band. See Leveling 20–35 (in progress).