Everquest House of Thule Leveling Guide 1 - 50
It's a common trend in Everquest during the later expansions for people who are just starting out to be overwhelmed by all of the changes in the game and how much progress they have to make in order to catch up. Luckily though it doesn't take nearly as long for you to do the lower levels anymore and with the addition of Mercenaries and Defiant gear you'll breeze through these levels really quickly.
You can also drastically increase the speed of which you level by making sure your account is gold (meaning you're subscribed to the game) and also by playing more than 1 account at a time; something commonly refered to as boxing. Boxing can be a rather controversial topic in Everquest since many people dislike that it gives you an advantage over other players. It's just like every other hobby - the more time and money you're willing to invest into it the more you'll get out of it.
I strongly feel that boxing is the best way to enjoy Everquest. If this is something that interests you please check out my guide for getting started as a new boxer. Regardless of your decision to box or not the following guide assumes that you're just a solo player with a Journeyman Tank Mercenary.
Although my guide assumes you aren't Free to Play you can still use them if you are. Just instead of leaving each level location at the levels I suggest you may want to stay there a level or two longer since your merc is weaker. With the release of The Serpents Spine most players start out in Crescent Reach, which is where this new leveling guide will start us.
Follow the link below to be taken to a more indepth guide about each location for that level range.
(Fastest) Crescent Reach
(Easiest) Crushbone
(Most Money) Paludal Caverns
15 - 35 Blightfire Moors // Gorukar Mesa
15 - 25 Paludal Caverns (Most Money)
10 - 30 Unrest (Weakest Mobs)
20 - 35 Castle Mistmoore
35 - 50 City of Mist
30 - 45 Gorukar Mesa
30 - 50 Lower Guk
45 - 55 Nagafen's Lair
46 - 60 Old Sebilis
46 - 60 Chardok
35 - 55 Ocean of Tears (Weakest Mobs)
45 - 55 Dulak's Harbor
That just about covers it for all the locations 1 - 50! The next batch of locations are going to be a bit tougher for you and you should check The Bazaar for any gear that's available for you to use as well as turn on your Auto Grant AAs which you can find in the AA window in the top right. All of these locations should be easily possible as 1 character and a Mercenary.
If you can't Autogrant AAs along the way you'll need to stop and grind them otherwise progression will get really hard later. Levels being more important than AAs "always" is complete nonsense at this point in the game, without at least the most important AAs for your class you'll end up getting rolled. Luckily though, as far as I understand it, autogrant AAs should always be a part of Everquest now even on Special Ruleset servers.
House of Thule Leveling Guide 50 - 80
The next few locations are mostly going to be focused on providing you with a decent amount of platinum from both vendor loot as well as raw plat drops. You should have been able to hodge-podge together a set of Defiant gear from mob drops by this point.. but we're going to need more.
Gearing your character is going to become extremely important over these next 10 - 20 levels. I want you to understand that getting platinum for gear and to pay for your Mercenary is just as important as getting experience for levels at this point. We're not going to be able to depend entirely on our Tank merc anymore so it's important that your character can start holding their own.
50 - 60 Old Sebilis
50 - 60 Chardok
55 - 70 Crypt of Decay (Boxer/Group; Undead Enemies)
50 - 60 Veksar (Harder Difficulty; Undead Enemies)
55 - 60 Howling Stones (Boxer/Group Only)
50 - 65 Grieg's End
50 - 63 Acrylia Caverns (Best EXP/Worst Money)
50 - 60 Siren's Grotto (Best Money/Slightly Annoying Zone)
60 - 70 Plane of Fire
65 - 70 Wall of Slaughter
60 - 70 Crypt of Decay (Boxer/Group; Social)
60 - 65 Siren's Grotto (Best Money/Lowest EXP)
60 - 65 Dragon Necropolis (Boxer/Group; Decent Vendor Trash; Antisocial)
70 - 80 Dragonscale Hills
70 - 80 Riftseeker's Sanctum (Boxer/Group)
70 - 80 Muramite Proving Grounds (Boxer/Group)
70 - 80 Icefall Glacier
70 - 80 Direwind Cliffs
House of Thule Leveling Guide 80 - 90
Now is when it starts to get much tougher! You'll need to value gear just as much as you value experience from now on. Hopefully I don't have to go into massive detail and explain how important gear is in EQ to you - but basically if you keep running around in defiant at this point you're not going to get anywhere.
Heroic Stats come into play from now on and play a large role in the future progression of your character. Armor class is still extremely important and if you're someone whose taking hits from enemies at all you should put some focus into increasing yours with each gear upgrade.
Loping Plains (Solo/Boxer/Group) Social - This zone is fantastic for players of all types. The alligators along the southern beach can easily be kited as well as many different enemies throughout the zone. There's undead by the Hills of Shade entrance for any Paladins and then the slam dunk camp of this zone is the Worgs which are found in the western portion of the zone along the southern beach's peninsula-type area.
Oceangreen Hills (Solo/Boxer/Small Group) Social - Oceangreen Hills is the easiest zone released in Seeds of Destruction. You'll find relatively weak mobs scattered throughout this zone which is what you should hunt if you're unable to handle a regular enemy. The castle in the northeastern portion of the zone has a bunch of different tasks you can do in this zone as well that reward experience as well as the alternative currency Chronobines.
Oceangreen Village (Solo/Boxer/Small Group) Social - This zone is just south of Oceangreen Hills and is basically just more Oceangreen Hills. There are relatively weak animals for you to kill here as well as a few larger camps of enemies such as the Bertoxxulous Cultists and some Undead.
Field of Scale (Solo/Boxer/Group) Social - This zone has a bunch of relatively weak mobs across the northern and northeastern edges. Depending on how many people are playing on your server this would make a great location for someone who wants to collect rots while at the same time getting some EXP from the relatively weak enemies.
Bloody Kithicor (Solo/Boxer/Small Group) Social - As with many of the other SoD locations, you'll find relatively weak enemies in Bloody Kithicor for you to kill. This zone also has a decent amount of Obliteration enemies which provide great locations for boxers/groups to get EXP and plat.
Blackburrow (Boxer/Group) Social - *Requires Key* This zone is found just off Oceangreen Hills and won't be very friendly to anyone without a group or without any boxes.
Old Commonlands (Solo/Boxer/Group) Semi Social - There are tons of Obliteration enemies for you to kill here - it's very wide open and flat which makes it great for those looking to kite. You'll have to be wary though, it will be hard to get single pulls here.
Kaesora Library (Boxer/Group) Semi Social - This zone is one of the most famous zones of the entire expansion. Shadow Knights used to love this place since Swarming was one of the best ways to level up and most fun ways to play the game. Now this zone is really just one massive dungeon crawl. There aren't many single pulls or "easy" camps in this zone so make sure to bring friends!
Toskirakk (Solo/Boxer/Group) Social - Toskirakk is the only tier 4 zone in SoD that has Relatively Weak enemies in it. The boars in the center of the zone that are mixed in with the ogres con Relatively Weak but it isn't entirely safe to hunt them since there are some other enemies in the area, not Relatively Weak, which will agro you when they see you.
Korascian Warrens (Solo/Boxer/Group) Extremely Social - If you can handle mobs that aren't Relatively Weak then Warrens will probably be the best location for you There's quite a few single pulls in this zone for soloers or small groups as well as a few different areas if you're looking to group up and pull more. The Tier 5 Journeyman Mercenary quest also takes place in this zone.
Rathe Council Chambers (Boxer/Group) Antisocial - This is probably my favorite zone in this expansion pack and my favorite camp. In the far south of Rathe Council Chambers you have a wide open field. A beautiful field packed with tons of mobs for you to kill. You can camp around the edges of the wall but not many locations are actually safe. You'll definitely need to be well geared and prepared to hunt here.
Feerrott The Dream (Field Killing) Social - This version of Feerrott is a completely revamped and remodeled zone. There is a northern hub in the zone, which is where you start as a Heroic Character and also where you enter from PoK or the guild portal from. There are single enemies you can kill all over the zone; usually safest to pull them near the House of Thule ZL. The pyramids in the south, also near the HoT ZL, are great for groups and high level rangers.
House of Thule, Lower Floors (Field Killing) Extremely Social - The most grouped location in House of Thule is right here, in the Courtyard of the Lower Floors. For this expansion and at least 3 expansions to come it's almost impossible to zone in and not find a group in one of the two corners of the Courtyard. There are kill tasks for you here as well as tons of enemies to kill - plenty to go around.
The Grounds (Field Killing) Extremely Social - Another one of the most well known hunting spots in HoT is none other than The Grounds! This zone has enough room for 5 or more groups and multiple safe locations to pull to. If you're in a group or a boxer hunter here is likely the best EXP you can get during this expansion.
Morell's Castle (Field Killing) Social - *Flagging Required* Morell's Castle is off of the House of Thule, Upper Floors which will require a little bit of flagging to reach. Unless it's CoTF or later when you're reading this in which case the flagging has likely been lifted. In Morell's Castle there is a place commonly known as "Candy land" you'll see why when you get there - this is the best location to hunt here.
The Library (Dungeon Crawl) Antisocial - The Library is a really compact zone with a lot of enemies packed together. If you aren't careful with AoE abilities you'll end up with a lot more than you bargained for here. That aside though, The Library offers a great location for boxers or groups and it's likely to be a neglected zone by the general populous too!
Want to see a list of all the zones I have guides for sorted by expansion? I've updated the Everquest Index page of my website and made it extremely Ctrl + F friendly; it's now sorted by expansion and has a list of every zone in the game - the ones that I have guides for are links. This page will provide an alternative to people who are max level and just looking for information and want to avoid the traditional Leveling Guide format that I use.