Guides

Beginning Game Strategy (Levels 1-30)

How to leverage Crushbone's custom rules from character creation through mid-20s. Class choice, race fit, faction setup, tradeskill start.

Crushbone's Custom Rules — any class × any race × any deity, with AA-driven specialization emphasized because race and deity are flexible — reshape the first 30 levels in specific ways. This guide is what to do early to set up a strong mid-game and endgame.

Note: spell mechanics are canonical on Crushbone. Classes cast their canonical spell lists, and memorization is capped at the standard 8 slots. The custom rules affect who you can roll and who you can worship, not what spells you get.

Before you create a character

Spend 10 minutes thinking about class, not race. Because race-class locks are off, the question "what race best supports this class" is gameplay-flexible. The question "what class role do I want to play for 200 hours" is the one that matters.

Decision order

What role do I want? Tank / healer / DPS / CC / hybrid. Pick one you'll still enjoy at level 60.
Group-first or solo-first? Clerics, Warriors, Enchanters almost never solo. Necros, Druids, Shamans almost never wait for groups.
Then pick race. Race affects starting city, innate stats, and faction web — not what class you can roll.

Starting city tradeoffs

Because all class trainers exist in PoK, you could technically avoid your racial starting city entirely. Don't. The first 1-15 levels in your racial newbie yard give you:

Racial quest armor set (free no-drop gear).
Starting faction that shapes the next 50 levels of quest access.
Neighbors who group with you all the way to endgame.

Recommended combinations

Not because others are bad — because these ramp fastest:

Class	Best starting city	Why
Warrior	Halas (Barbarian) or Kaladim (Dwarf)	Stat curve + guild density.
Cleric	Qeynos (Human of Rodcet Nife)	Temple of Life + paladin buddies.
Paladin	Kaladim (Dwarf of Brell)	Entire city is your faction.
Druid	Surefall Glade / Kelethin	Grove bind + Forage synergy.
Necromancer	Paineel (Erudite) or Cabilis (Iksar)	Faction-aligned Epic starts.
Wizard	Ak'Anon (Gnome)	Library + travel network.
Monk	Cabilis (Iksar) or Freeport (Human)	Dojo access + race-appropriate.
Ranger	Kelethin (Wood Elf)	Forest from day one.

If you want an off-combo (Dark Elf Paladin, Ogre Cleric, etc.), read Faction for Custom Combos before rolling.

First 10 levels — the setup phase

Level 1-5: your newbie yard. Kill anything green. Complete the racial newbie armor quest.
Level 5-8: extend to yard-adjacent. Try a newbie armor quest if available.
Level 8-10: one of Blackburrow, Crushbone Keep, or Befallen. Learn how pulls and trains work.

Bind at level 5

Visit a Cleric or equivalent binder. Bind in your starting city. Never bind in a dungeon. Corpse runs back to your gear are already long enough.

Faction start (even if you don't know you need it yet)

Every mob you kill shifts faction with 2-8 factions. Early kills compound. A few practical tips:

If you think you might do your Epic 1.0 in a city you don't start in, start grinding that faction now. Killing Crushbone orcs raises Knights of Truth. Killing Bloodsabers raises Knights of Thunder.
Don't accidentally destroy faction. Killing Freeport guards because you took one hit will wreck weeks of later access.

Levels 10-20 — dungeon practice

Pick one dungeon and camp it. Don't bounce. The goal is to learn pull mechanics, camp-holding, and group etiquette — not to see the most content.

Best early dungeons

Crushbone Keep (8-20) — high ZEM, good loot, teaches you to pull patrols.
Blackburrow (8-20) — tight tunnels, teaches train avoidance.
Befallen (12-30) — undead, five floors of scaling difficulty.
Paludal Caverns (15-25) — if Luclin-reachable, best ZEM in band.

Casters: mem discipline matters from day one

By level 20, a Wizard has 5-7 useful spells (Firestrike, Bonds of Force, Gate, Fade, Fear, Ice Comet, etc.). The canonical 8-slot mem cap applies on Crushbone — you do have to pick. Standard loadouts:

Group DPS loadout: main nuke + backup nuke + stun + Evac + Gate + port + Fade + utility.
Solo kite loadout: snare + DoT + nuke + heal + root + Gate + Fade + emergency-utility.

Learn to swap mem in downtime. Gemming takes time; don't try to swap mid-fight. Plan your pull, mem for it, execute.

A strong discipline to build early: keep Gate and one emergency-utility spell always memmed. Everything else flexes with your current activity.

Levels 20-30 — first real progression

Graduate to Paludal, Sol A, Mistmoore outer, Upper Guk.
Start a tradeskill at 25+. Baking or Blacksmithing if you don't know which.
Scout your class's Epic 1.0 starting NPC. Confirm you can walk to them without getting killed by guards.
Toggle AA XP at 51, but know that AA doesn't start until 51. Plan for it.

AA pre-planning (even at level 20)

Because AA is where your build specializes, at level 20 you should already know:

What role you'll play at 51+.
Which AA tree you'll prioritize (see AA Specializations by Class).
The general direction of your Epic 1.0 (see Epic Weapons).

Grouping habits

Use /lfg and /ooc.
Say "thanks" when you leave a group. Say when you're leaving.
Don't ninja loot.
See Grouping Etiquette.

What custom rules mean for level 1-30

The two custom rules (any race × any class × any deity) mostly shape later-game play, because AA specialization doesn't kick in until 51. Early game is almost entirely canonical EQ:

Spell lists are canonical per class. Plan your 8-slot mem bar.
Faction works canonically — a custom-combo character (Troll Paladin, Gnome Necromancer, etc.) will face the usual hostility at any race-mismatched city. Start the faction grind early.
The payoff of rolling an off-combo (race innates + class AA stacking) comes at 51+. Early game is a faction grind and a level grind.

Common early-game mistakes

Rolling race for racial looks, ignoring faction. A Dark Elf Paladin who rolled for the aesthetic faces 80-200 hours of faction grind before Epic is accessible.
Skipping newbie armor. Free no-drop gear is worth the 1-hour quest.
Binding in a dungeon. The first dungeon death makes this obvious.
Attacking city guards to "test DPS." Faction loss is hard to recover.
Skipping the Plane of Knowledge books. At level 5-10, visit PoK. Learn the layout. Bank coin.

Move to Mid-Game Strategy (Levels 30-55).