EQDiva

First, Paludal Caverns are great experience but the downtime can offset it if you go in before you're level 18. I know this beause I just went through it very recently. Getting in a full group at one of the Bandit camps can help. Next, the phlarg fiends give you the Spreading Crud. This can be a real pain and really increase your downtime. Next, once you've hit 25 Paludal Caverns is done. Once youve dinged finish up whatever you're fighting and move on. Going to Marus Sera before you're level 25 is a lot like going into Paludal before 18. You will find yourself running for the zone a little too often. Some of the critters like the greyhopper, lightgrabbers and rockhoppers are really fast, you need to have a drum in your hand to outrun them reliably with Selos. That's about all, I spent more time going from 16 to 17 in NRo camping Dervishes than I did going from 19 to 24 in Paludal.

If your not worried about faction hits, Upper Guk has a pretty nice exp mod on it. Can do spiders there fairly easily before heading to Pal Caverns if you ARE worried about faction, but look at the options in Guk before Marus Seru personally. Not sure what levels the shrooms are but they are another option there. Can get to mid 30's in Guk fairly easily - Have powered at one of the zone lines over near AC where theres about 10 frogs in easy distance to kill. Bonus is that the zone is generally deserted as well, unlike Pal Caverns. There's no exp mob in MS from what I've seen so you'll be slower.

I may try heading down to Guk this weekend if I can get my PC at home running right again. How is the hunting in High Keep? I've been told that it was once a pretty good spot to go to. Another tip I've figured out in the meantime, just because people are good friends outside of Everquest doesn't mean that being in a guild with them will be a good idea. From my recollection there wasn't a single guild event that I attended where Pem didn't die. Dying ain't fun :( More to the point, I was grouping with a guy I've know since high school who has a Kitty Warrior, he didn't want me to do anything but play HoR without instruments and melee. Of course I snared runners and slowed and did a bunch of other bardly things anyway. He casually mentioned that the leader of the guild was still around and level 29. That's not much higher than when i dropped out for about 9 months. Weird...

It is possible to fight in Paludal from level 5. You just have to know which part of the zone to hunt at what level. Starting at the Shadeweaver zone you can slowly work your way through the zone to Shadowhaven.

Yeah, thats right disco. Plus there is a exp bonus if im not correct for fighting at PC. So you can level up 15-20 levels real fast in PC, might not even take a day or two depending on groups there.

You get a good PC group at a bandit camp to yourself you can go from 16 - 22 in about 4 hours np. if you all are twinked and buffed then you can start as early as 14 at a bandit camp and get lvls very fast.

Counterpoint... Or you can go to Unrest or LoIO or Kurns or HK during those levels and have fun, make plat, learn your class and level ....of course if you enjoy the way PC works...have at it.

I'd second unrest, at 12 (13 now) im doing AE kites around the gazebo side of the house, tormented dead sometimes drop bronze weapons as well as zombie skins that can be sold to poison makers, and a bit of coin loot too. Easy exp too if you dont mind a little risk, i went from 12 to 13 in 3 kites and about half an hours work (only because theres some issue with getting skeletons in the kite because they run faster than the TD/deathbeetles and essentially you need to run a kite for the skeletons on their own before you get down to AEing the rest of the pack which takes more time). Once you level up a bit you can go into the house and take some mobs conventionally, just be damn careful of kiting ghouls - i could damage red ghouls w/ chords at level 12, but the problem with ghouls is their root, and they run with the skeletons, not the slower tormented dead, so the chances of gettign hit and rooted are alot higher. if you get rooted during an AE kite, you die and thats about the end of it ;) btw a combine lute (bought in katta) is a must, bumps your chords damage up to 11 a tick and allows you to heal while running at an efficient rate, youll need sow potions too if you want to kite

At lvl 4 I go to Blackburrow. At lvl 7 I go to the Shadeweavers Thicket Side of Paludal Caverns. At lvl 15 I head over to the other side of Paludal. I can almost guarantee no faster way to level up non-PL. There might be other places similar, but not overall as good as paludal when it comes to being able to get so many levels in one area. I can go from 1 to 25 in less than 8 hours played NON-PL using the Blackburrow, Paludal route. Just gotta know where to go in paludal at what levels.

I agree with Haard, although i usually go to PC at 5 on shadeweavers, at 10-12 i go to the hollowshade side, and at 16 i either go to bandits or i fight the bugs around the giant mushroom.