West Karana - Classic EQ Leveling Guide
West Karana is another place where you can level up. Starting out I only recommend killing the bandits here but you can eventually move on to the ogres at 3 if you would like to.
The bandits are—well, bandits. Low teens, rusty weapons, and an occasional bronze. Their configurations are also predictable, and require some way to break their spawns unless you’re killing three at a time or find a roamer. And if you’re already killing three at a time, really, what are you doing reading this?
If you decide to make WK bandits your home for a few levels, I recommend camping between camps 1 and 2, since depending on your efficiency, you can almost always guarantee a mob available to kill. There are four bandits at camp 1 and two at camp 2; if you’re killing fast, though, you’ll want SOW or another movement speed increase, since the map is deceptive about how spread out the camps actually are. The bandits are just one staple of the zone, however. Its real character lies elsewhere.
This zone has a special significance for a number of long-time players for its place as the starting point for the six minute bard diet, due to one ever lovable presence: Misty Storyswapper. Like many bards, she is on a six minute timer, drops like a rock, and is staggeringly delightful to watch perish.
Misty drops a mandolin every time in addition to an occasional rawhide piece, so if you’re struggling for early cash, you can basically guarantee yourself just over a plat every six minutes around level 12. She’s just slightly overconned, so unless you’re playing a class that has no business soloing in the first place, she’s pretty manageable from 12-13 on up until 16, at which point you might begin to wonder if you could be doing better elsewhere. If you’re already in the area and the bandits start getting slow (they’re a few levels lower than Misty), she’s a good next step without a lot of travel.
But wait, it gets better! If you find yourself heavy burdened with mandolins and rawhide, the merchant directly behind the house where Misty spawns will buy them off of you unless you’re an evil type. AND! If you're inexperienced with kiting, this is THE perfect place to practice. There's plenty of room to run around, and a close zone line if you run out of mana. I learned how to kite on my druid at Misty, and would commend her corpse to anyone wanting to learn.
She spawns in front of a house in the northwest corner of the zone, due west of camp number 4. If you’re coming from Qeynos Hills, just zone in, hang a right, and follow the zone wall up to the north and you’ll find her. From NK, follow the northern wall and eventually you’ll see the houses in front of the zone corner. She’s accompanied by a very low level guard who’s well outside assist range, and Brother Estle, who is completely harmless by the time you get there to kill Misty.
The downside, I guess, is that killing her lowers bard faction—if you care about that kind of thing. But! The League of Antonican Bards is only a problem in a few places in the world (unless you’re a bard), of note Surefall Glade and the actual bard guilds. Even so, you can raise it back up to manageable with great ease by spending an hour or two in Mistmoore.
If you are soloing in your early teens, I strongly recommend camping Misty; it may seem like it isn’t the fastest exp in the game, and yes, you will have a little downtime between spawns, but it’s safe, steady, and one of the few places in the zone I know where you can sit your character down, leave the house for a few hours, and come back to reliably find him/her still sitting there alive when you get back. For this level range, better experience can only be found in an efficient group. Once you get there and start to work on her, you’ll find it well worth your while.
Depending on how long you stay on bandits/Misty, you may be able to proceed directly from them to the ogres at 3. The ogres are attached to the Rallos Zek faction—not the same as the Oggok factions, and not used for anything else of import, so feel free to kill these guys. You might only hesitate if you’re a Rallos Zek worshipper and have some misgivings about displeasing your lord.
If you decide to throw caution to the wind with respect to the Warlord and attempt to handle these guys, however, be very careful about controlling your pulls and keeping the camp broken. It’s an excellent spot due to the frequency of repops and number of mobs, but if you’re soloing, it may be difficult to keep the higher level named from coming to rescue your otherwise hapless prey, and a resist on a paci/lull can easily be fatal.
While the ogre guards are in their low 20’s and pretty standard fare for the level range, the shaman are a few levels higher, and they have a good chance of being SOW’ed before you’ve broken the camp. Additionally, especially if you’re kiting, be aware that they have and will use the expected complement of shaman spells, including debuffs, dots, and root.
Chief Goonda is 34, and while he isn’t noteworthy for anything other than his loot, a fight with the chief, his pet, and an added shaman healing him can quickly get out of hand. Also of note is that unlike the other ogres at the camp, Goonda is attached to the Clurg faction (Oggok bartender) and Green Blood Knights (ogre Shadowknight guild).
If you're an ogre or another evil race, I wouldn't advise camping him inordinately long unless you're prepared to do some faction repair work. He is definitely worth a little time investment, though, because he drops some exceptional focus items for low-mid level casters. A good mid-20’s group can easily handle the entire camp while all the ogres are still worth exp, though in the lower 20’s it may be hard to land spells on the chief.
That said, much like all the other zones in this level range, you will probably only be soloing here. It is very unlikely that a group will come along for you to join. You could always try making a group though by asking people in /lfg, and if you’re in the right level range, explaining to potential groupmates the fantastic drops that come with camping the chief can be very motivating.
Additional Information
- Players can reach West Karana from either Qeynos Hills or North Karana.
- This guide wasn't written by me but it's incredibly descriptive so I've kept it all these years.