Ranking Everquest Starting Cities From Worst to Best

[@komradeklutch6215]

I started EQ at 14 in 1999. I made a Human Ranger first and I remember spending 30 mins running through West Karana running for my life from a lion.

[@SageFreke1]

That is a hilarious memory 😂

[@MelZel7]

That's hilarious! The comment section on this video is so full of nostalgia! Love it!

[@Gukworks]

I got my 14 year old nephew playing EQ in 1999. Did you bash your computer with a plastic bat when loosing connection like he did?

[@cameronroberts4296]

My first character was Wood Elf warrior and man was that a mistake.

[@roboparks]

I think my 1st death was from my Guild Master . In those day they were active and could accidentally tarket them wrong LOL SO 5 min into game was my 1st death LOL

[@itfergs2420]

As an EQ oldhead I really enjoyed listening to this.

[@Based_Morty]

I started in the Qeynos, Surefall, Halas area. Doing blackburrow and the Karanas and all that. It was a lot of running. Through the huge plains zones, then up the mountain into the highpass zones, then into kith forest, and finally into the common lands to barter. That was such a journey as a new player. I loved it.

[@ChrisWhiton]

I fell in the hole as a newbie too lol. Being young and desperate I put in a petition for a GM to help. They told me "no" in a nice way and offered to give me a "starting kit" which consisted of a few basic weapons/armor for a level 1-2. I didn't necessarily appreciate the gesture at the time but looking back I'm really glad they took an extra step towards trying to help without breaking the rules.

[@graxthal]

One thing I like about Rivervale is how it feels like a secluded little haven that functions as a little passage between completely different regions of the world. Those areas feel so far apart, and I'd often go through Rivervale on that journey.

[@roboparks]

If you were a halfling it's a great city but if your Tall well?

[@SurpriseMechanics]

I started playing EQ just before Kunark launched, age 13. I was playing on a gateway PC, pentium 2 processor (333mhz), 8mb video card, 16 mb of RAM, and a 10 gig hard drive. Always stuck to dwarves and wood elves for their starting areas. I didn’t know it at the time but I was experiencing the golden age of gaming.

[@bmo5082]

It didn’t last long enough.

[@jerichorden6353]

This comment reminds me how little hardware/processing power it takes to make a forever memorable and genre-defining gaming experience. The good ol' days.

[@anthonykaye3292]

I started playing at the end of 99 (I was 34 ), and had the same PC you did, I loved that PC, I upgraded it, until it would upgrade no more😆

[@fadedtimes]

I am guessing you had a voodoo2 3dfx card, Riva 128, or TNT. I ran n 3dfx in Pentium 2 days, then went to nvidia tnt2, during pentium 3 era.

[@williamlinton3419]

I played in EQ Beta, and my first character was a Gnome, I spent a long time just trying to find my way out, finally gave up and rolled a Half-Elf Ranger

[@YTaccount11454]

i mean i am only at 7:20 into the video and i dont agree with you about the randomness where high level mobs can randomly appear in newbie areas, i think that is part of what makes everquest everquest. it gives the world a sense of danger, a sense of realness, overly polished games like world of warcraft you can almost feel how the developers were manually placing out the mobs in certain areas and there is never any surprises. to me that kills the immersion.

[@montecorbit8280]

At 23:20 Al'Anon water features.... I just thought of something while watching your video. There's a possibility that all that water flowing is a way of powering the city in various things in it. The gnomes tinker a lot, so maybe they tinkered up water wheels and stuff that you can't see under the water....

[@SageFreke1]

Steam power!

[@montecorbit8280]

@@SageFreke1 That would give it a steampunk vibe....but I didn't see the piping necessary, or the steam being vented. I just saw water falls everywhere. I'm going to have to play again when I get a new computer....

[@MitchAboutGames]

Wood Elf Warrior here. Played Kunark when I was 17 years old in high school in 2001. Mind was absolutely blown. Still playing EMU servers today.

[@michaelmorton6566]

I really wish they would remake this entire game now

[@CodeguruX]

They did, and they're going to again. Unfortunately, Brad McQuaid killed himself. So, yeah. EQ or a good MMO will never happen again.

[@michaelmorton6566]

@@CodeguruX im abit more hopeful then you are about everquest 3 Brad was only one person on the team who im sure is very missed but they can work with others to bring back the franchise with a new game version that is improved opon what they already had

[@RoadtoLunchbox]

Just throw everything in unreal engine 5 and call it a day. I don't want a remake, just a remaster

[@Tinfoiledhat]

Check out Pantheon rise of the fallen

[@swyzzlestyx]

I find it humorous that Grobb is considered the 13th-worst starting city of 14 in the game when the Troll players themselves petitioned the game by perpetually mob-killing the entire city after Verant took it away from the Trolls and gave it to the Frogloks in 2003. Verant did relent and gave the city back to the Trolls, but it made many other stupid decisions in EverQuest, like when it took the port of Firiona Vie away from the "good races" only to give it to the "evil races" and not do anything with the space.

[@JosephBurke-k4t]

Grobb is actually a pretty bad city. It is lacking in trainers and merchants, necessary for visitors to the city, and the quest lines are garbage. It's close proximity to Guk is it's only saving grace. Having to bind in Neriak or Oggok really wasn't so bad, and for some classes, it was actually better. I never understood the protests to return Grobb to the Trolls, when they had better options in Neriak or Oggok.

[@wingedhussar2909]

@@JosephBurke-k4t Well, it's a city for Trolls by Trolls. Instead of making it better by adding to it, they took it away, which is never a good thing.

[@MrSmithOriginal]

Man, It sounds like you actually pronounce Qeynos like I have since 99 though if I am honest nobody pronounces it correctly but I think our way sounds best and is the closest to the correct way among the most common mispronunciations. Thanks for the video!

[@balel1975]

Haha! My friend groups have always been divided on this! Key-nos VS. Quay-nos, it's always a light hearted jab/argument with all of us. 😅

[@Uradamus]

One thing you missed about Odus is the Warrens, which is one of the more fun places to level through part of the teens if you can actually find anyone to group with (which is admittedly, and quite unfortunately, rare). That is in my top 5 favorite low level dungeons. Other than your bashing of Cabilis , I mostly agree with this list. Halas and Qeynos were always my favorite starting zones, but I may be biased due to starting the game with a barbarian warrior.

[@montecorbit8280]

Felwith is the best starting City,. It is the easiest to get around, the newbies own outside is possibly the best in-game, and Crushbone nextdoor is possibly one of the better higher end starting zones. My first love for characters is a Wood Elf Ranger, I have to admit falling off those ramps was annoying.... FYI: my main character is a High Elf Cleric....

[@dtt719]

I have to disagree on Cabalis. The field of bone is an amazing newbie zone complete with one of the best first dungeons in the game with Kurn’s Tower. I had a blast leveling a monk and necro through these areas. Then there’s Warsliks woods with groups and the giant for and the brute caves (amazing non social static spawn camp, with good drops for plat)

[@SageFreke1]

I agree on both points! I praised FoB in the video and have done multiple videos on Kurn. I also caveated my critique of Warslik by saying I liked it for later levels, but not for 1-5ish

[@nikolasweischner3560]

He's right about West Cab though, although I enjoy all the water. Empty space isn't always wasted space.

[@cameronroberts4296]

Yeah Cabilis is terrible even for shaman spells. Field of bone is S tier and Cab is D tier or F.

[@SS-gu2tx]

Besides the city stupid ass city layout. Kunark in general is way more sane in terms of levels than the old world. It's hard for older players to get used to the idea, but when a new player picks up an Iksar and levels in Kunark it's really smooth.

[@ballinnickyc]

Cabilis horrible but the newbie zones good

[@Namn-2028]

Subscribed for your love of Snow Zones and Halas. I feel yah

[@salaufer]

It's possible they split Cabilis up to reduce the max visible polycount. I remember that, back in those days, EQ didn't have proper occlusion culling. It caused issues on low-end PCs in some other zones (e.g. Rivervale). Also Cabilis is really dumb and they could have put the entire city in field of bone, Kelethin style. If you're a druid, Rivervale is the only S tier city because it's the closest bank to a druid ring. If you're an agnostic human mage, those ghouls in Neriak will attack, and the guards will assist them. IMO the most important feature of a city is the bank, and Surefall Glade doesn't have one.

[@Singleballtheory]

Kaladim was a great newbie city. The layout was very intuitive and easy to navigate. Plenty of newbie quests like the scarab quests, skellie bones, Aviak talons, etc, to break up the usual monotony of early levels. It was always very easy to not only hit level 4-5 (when you can really start to branch out), but also get most of your armor slots filled up as well. It just really felt like Kaladim had a bigger emphasis on the quest aspect of Everquest.

[@hathi444]

Not even sure how this landed in my recommended videos but I sure did enjoy it. I started playing EQ in Beta I and ended up working for Verant (later SOE) some time prior to RoK's release for about five years. Haven't played since then, though. Your video brought back a lot of fond memories, thanks! Oh and you rated Rivervale WAY too low! 😀

[@SageFreke1]

What a cool job! Thanks for all your work. Did you work on Velious at all?

[@hathi444]

@@SageFreke1 Yes and then SoL. Moved to Star Wars Galaxies after that. 😊

[@Rekaert]

My nostalgic city has to be Kelethin. The music, the proximity of CB, and not one, not two, but three other cities within two zones. That was one lively hub. Faydwer felt like a community in and of itself. CB belt quests, players trying to take on the PoD near the lift to predictable grisly and hilarious results, giant chessboards, insane unicorns, shadowmen, faeries villages and nearly invisible brownies, and the Estate of Unrest. More trains served than any station on Earth. Yeah, I loved that entire continent, but the Kelethin music just instantly drags me back to 1999.

[@SageFreke1]

Me too brother

[@stephanebessette6471]

My very first character was a high elf cleric. Way back then (1999) you could heal mobs so naturally I would sometimes forget to switch target and heal the orc peon instead of healing myself 😁. Kelethin was quite a sight: platforms in the trees! But it was also very deadly, especially those downward ramps that did not have roped handrails. I disagree that it was easy to find your corpse. Early on we did not have an in-game map nor a compass. The world felt very big. In fact it felt HUMONGOUS. Moving around felt like a dangerous ordeal, it was so easy to get lost or never find your corpse again. There used to be many /ooc "Has anyone seen my corpse?"

[@carthage10]

Actually it’s four if you include Ak’Anon

[@Thatdude85]

I will always remember the first time I zoned into lesser fay... Fking Brownies man.

[@WRanger87]

@@stephanebessette6471 feel this, also there’s a hotkey to target your target’s target, and in the heat of battle I would frequently click it twice… luckily I was just a ranger and the heal didn’t change much 😆

[@bananafishbones5724]

I have never played Everquest in my life and clicked on this video just because I had the feeling it would be comfy. You delivered! Seeing all the footage of you wandering around the zones made me want to try Everquest '99 again. I made a character, logged in, was stuck in first person, tried every button on my keyboard to switch to third person, nothing worked, then I just sort of gave up.

[@SageFreke1]

Glad it hit the mark! And F9 didn't work?? Must've needed a remap

[@ghosturiel]

Hopefully you'll give it a retry, Just loaded up project 1999 again myself. Alt+O to acess the options menu so you can change the keybinds and so you can find the button to change views.

[@r4microds]

Never played EQ before till last night when I decided to try P1999 as a wood elf. The amount of accidental deaths falling from those tree platforms just looking for the bank.. It was actually a thrilling experience to search for my body at night to loot back my gear.

[@blanketfortrobot]

Hell yeah! So looking forward to this. Thanks for the incredible EQ content. So grateful for you and all the work you put into these!

[@SageFreke1]

Aw you're welcome. Hope you enjoy!

[@jatt4802]

You just spoke to my heart with saying you played on Tunare(might have spelt that wrong). I played an Iskar monk named Phryer Tuk. So many memories. Le sigh. Miss it so much.

[@mtsuga]

Let me start out by saying awesome video. Brings back a whole lot of good memories. Subscribed. When you got to #2 I was going through my head trying to figure out which city was left to be #1. When I realized the only one left was Halas I almost fell out of my chair. The city itself isn't so bad other than the annoying ferry to get out to Everfrost. I always thought Everfrost Peaks was a nightmare as a new player especially. No night vision wandering through those paths in the snow. The Vengeful guys wandering through leaving newbie carnage were always fun too. Not my favorite at all. I think either Kaladim or Felwithe would be my favorites. Your description of running across the Karannas reminded me of when I first started the game. I created my first character in Qeynos and my co-worker who got me into the game was playing in the Freeport area. So one night after work he starts running me from Qeynos to FP. I think we got SoW before we left but of course that ran out. So we are running and running for like 45 minutes or so and I got killed a couple of zones short of FP. It was tragic but I was in awe of the scope of the world at that point. I think the next night he paid someone to port me instead of trying that again lol. Good times.

[@SageFreke1]

That is such a classic EQ story! The developers totally intended it to be a social game to help make it feel less scary in those big new zones

[@prodesu8607]

Cabilis is actually my favorite city. I like that it's all messed up and non newbie friendly - and I had a greatr time doing iksar weapon questts in swamp of no hope. It's different and I get that it might not be everyones cup of tea, but for me it's perfect. And it's very atmospheric, with secret nooks here and there, it really builds that feeling that kunark is a dangerous place

[@michaelswenson6599]

All sorts of opportunity to navigate in the city to get swim skill to 200. I cheated on swimming skill and went auto swim in the nook in the halas pool. I feel like running on the ice in everfrost gave swimming skill, too; for my barb zerker.

[@HoopleBogart]

I vote for Cabilis too. That and Paineel are so fun to explore.

[@amosfamous7327]

The necro spells not being at the guild or anywhere near the guild is infuriating lol

[@williammclellan1334]

I started playing on Rallies Zen back in '99, as a Barb. This video sent me back big time. I miss the old world, and don't regret any time I spend playing, which was substantial. From when I was trying to figure out how to get from Halas zone to EFP over and over again because I couldn't see, to my guild being one of the few that killed the Sleeper, the journey was amazing. Thank you for this amazing video!

[@thomaseubank1503]

Do a countdown on the best EQ Dungeons please.

[@JasonfromEarth]

Great video by the way. This got me back into playing on P99 Blue. ;)

[@GC_Rallo]

The reason Erudin's port has a sign mentioning Velious is because EverQuest was supposed to launch with 5 continents, Antonica - Faydwer - Odus - Kunark - Velious. But time constraints and whatnot made them have to launch without Kunark and Velious. That's a big reason why both of those expansions, which featured HUGE amounts of content, were able to be released so quickly after launch, alot of the work was already either done or partially complete before EQ even launched.

[@alphadragongamingFTW]

lol Most common direction when asked. Follow the wall till you hit the first tunnel then go in and keep to the left side wall and follow it all the way through. lol Everything was done by following right or left sides. I had maps printed out and used them quite a lot. In fact I still have my map and quest binder for EQ.

[@Clippyclipper]

Qeynos is tied for my favorite city as far as aesthetics and "underground" goes...... the false walls to the rogue's guild and evil/corruption was so cool to me. Feels like an outcast city and kinda was. I also loved that it was a throwback to the original creators of the game (SonyEQ backwards). Then you add in the proximity to blackburrow and the train fest that place is, the gnoll teeth questline giving massive xp, the scroll quest from splitpaw too..... such a good city. Kelethin was my other favorite city for the community it included..... whether grouping up with other lvl 1's to rush those early 3-5 levels, then heading over to the orc hill and then clan crushbone; the progression of the zone was fantastically designed and certainly as someone who has had bad internet, the single zone for most of the early grinding and selling was so nice to have instead of waiting for zone loading. I also can't even begin to praise the devs on their music for the city as well, it is by far the best in the game and creates such a peaceful feeling being amongst the treetops. the whole city creates such a nostalgic feeling.... so good. thanks for your list!

[@tim1964x]

I like this review, but I would re-position four of the fourteen cities in the list for new players: (1) Freeport really ought to be #1 on the list for a new player (you put it at #4). The city has all the advantages you listed, is well travelled, well connected, has great places for new players to start their adventuring in very nearby, and ramps of difficulty all look like they have been carefully worked out. As a tradeskill hub and as a neutral city, it caters to most character classes well. I'd advise any new player to start their first character here. (2) Felwithe is the one that gets #2 on my assessment. It perfectly supports all classes that High Elves can be, supports tradeskills well, is fairly well connected, and has a great newbie area that ramps up towards and into the wonderful Crushbone dungeon nearby. You admit to liking playing dark elves and dislike high elves, but I think it has affected your review too much. Felwithe was my personal first choice when I started EQ (and it remains it now, >20 years later). It is not quite as new-player friendly as Freeport, but more than makes up for it in ambiance. (3) I personally would move Kelethin up a few places, putting it at #5 rather than #8. It has more character than Kaladim or Erudin, and shares most of the advantages of Felwithe noted above. (4) Halas is hugely overrated in your review. I'd put it at #8, not #1! Indeed some of the reasons you made it "good" actually make it "bad" for a new player. The city is nice enough in itself, but it is not integrated into the rest of the world, and into the rest of the game. There are many things that a new player cannot ever do in that city, and the travel from there to anywhere else is terrible. The newbie zone has deadly stuff nearby (an issue that made you drop many other starting cities low down the list). You admit to being biased, and I guess everyone is, but this was the most badly placed city in this review list in my view. Thank you for the great review!

[@durkeldwakanda1778]

The way i rank the best starting city is by convenience of spells, mobs and population. So freeport is number 1, 2 erudin and 3 rivervale. Just my atmosphere id say shar val, cabilis, oggok and innoruk

[@north306]

As a new player this was really fun to watch through and learn about all the other cities, especially as an ogre who isn't exactly welcome in most of them. Very comfy video too. Excellent job!

[@benjaminwatson7868]

How far are you as an ogre

[@xkallubar]

Ogre is life!

[@NeflewitzInc]

Yoooo!!!!!! Fellow Tunare player here. I found it so weird when I started playing P99 and everyone used the tunnel.

[@stephanebessette6471]

I think it was in 2000 when I made a Human Shadowknight following Innoruuk. Yes, a blind human. But when I went to Neriak, woah, all those neon signs were so beautiful. Dark elves may have ultravision but never truly see the beauty of Neriak like a human can. These videos are making me nostalgic and I want to start playing once again, after 23-24 years!

[@putonghua73]

@Stephane Bessette Project 1999 Green Server. Am playing 8 years after last playing on P99, and that was 13 years after I quit in 2002.

[@WRanger87]

Ooh. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Neriak through human eyes. Might be something for me to try.

[@MelZel7]

Same! This video is so awesome and the comment section is too. So many memories. Loving the nostalgia!

[@09lonedrone]

The server I started on had North Freeport for the auction zone.

[@Varaxis]

I hear a lot of complaints about Halas and Everfrost's difficulty and remoteness, esp with the lack of night sight, but I agree with your assessment of it. I personally am biased towards the music, and Kelethin's just gets me.

[@SageFreke1]

And those are legit critiques. I actually think it's easier to see in Everfrost than Tox Forest because the white ground reflects torches/lanterns better.

[@Merknilash]

Everfrost is actually quite newbie friendly and it has a linear element to it that makes it a great zone - you just slowly make your way out of the frozen hills Then you have blackburrow - it's actually really good.

[@chaseking9048]

So happy to see content from you, easily one if not my favorite EQ p99 content creators

[@Aabicus]

What about Shar Vahl? As the video went on I was getting increasingly impressed as it didn't appear in the lower tiers, haha

[@SageFreke1]

I have close to zero experience with that zone

[@alphadragongamingFTW]

I know I mentioned this on another video, but on Xegony the auction zone was Gfay at the wizard spire. It took me a while when I first started playing way back that Qeynos was SonyEQ backwards lol

[@Thertra70]

As someone who is new to EQ, and only done 3-4 cities Rivervale is by far my favorite so it being just "fine" was wild to me! I find it the only city I wasn't constantly lost in

[@olesideburns]

Right? Also the rogue guild is pretty fun

[@ruscfox]

This video took a ton of work and just cozy as you remembered everything from back-in-the-day, I don't agree with ALL of your picks, but I learned a few things too!

[@Dcw-rp6ib]

I started in January of 2001 and you started outside the city no idea what to do luckily I had a person give my Paladin bronze armor and a decent sword and led me to the guild hall. I have tried to pass that on but I started out in Butcherblock and loved it was very challenging at the time, Then we went toward Crushbone different story. The game used to be way harder and challenging.

[@westernbitterfish]

Started in 2001 just after Velious released. Dark Elf Shadowknight. Neriak was not easy for someone that didn't know where anything was - that first CR from 3rd gate was rough. But I came to love it, and I am glad you didn't rate it poorly. Easily hit 40 0before my first alt, a high elf enchanter. I hated everything about leveling there, luckily this was post Luclin so I could move elsewhere a little easier. I am curious where the classic Freeport would land on your list

[@SageFreke1]

I was rating the classic Freeport here

[@vilislacis3337]

1)I agree that starting city makes a huge difference for a newbie! Back when I start it , I first tried Cabilis and Freeport, both were too confusing for me. I was ready to give up, but then I tried Rivervale and loved it! 2) Warrens is a great dungeon for lowbie heretics and erudites, i’m surprised you didn’t mention it. 3) Where is the halfling spy in Neriak? You mentioned him, but I didn’t see him in the video.

[@zaatas]

Qeynos is the best, it is the most productive area for someone fresh on a server with no gear help or higher level friends. There are so many quests and upgrades(esp for int caster) in Qeynos, catacombs, Qeynos hills, and Black Burrow. The experience generation is great in every zone either through zems or quest drops, and the starting zone has the bonus of a npc that will heal you for bone chips or small coin donations. There is a boat that leaves Qeynos and stops at an island with the most lucrative lower level mob to farm in the game, wisps, with the highest density of them. If you started as an Erudite magician and migrated to Qeynos (easy boat ride), by the time you were level 16 you could very possibly have 160+int, and well over 500 platinum, which is just a gross amount for a low level to get, basically enough to bank roll all the important spells to 50 or buy some nice starting gear. Enchanters would get all that plus they could snag a quest part of the Stein of Moggok quest before they left. The only real issue is there is basically little reason for higher level players to be there other than to power level people or they are passing by to Everfrost from the druid port in Surefall glade, so you won't get as many bonus buffs, and it can be a pain to get to the better mid level zones if you have to cross the Karanas at a lower level with no travel spells. This is why I would say if you don't mind getting help and the server is established, it's probably a better experience to start near EC/WC, and ask for buffs from higher level characters. More likely to get gifted junk starting gear as well. The most difficult is probably a Erudite Shadowknight. You are already frail, low stamina/strength, which in general is not good but really not good if are relying on a bigger mana pool to shore up the difference. Unless you get an invis or port out you are pretty much SOL and leveling in one of the worst areas. The added hole drop and gate lock out is just icing on the poop cake for that character.

[@harlek1149]

I fondly remember Neriak, it was otherworldly and ornate, it had little secrets and one of my favourite features was the bar which looked out underwater. When training swimming I used to go down there and look in the bar hoping to catch a glimpse of all the random evil characters exploring the place. The music was memorable too, from creepy ambience to the bombastic theme of the Halls of the Dead. The dark elf king and queen hated each other (a recurring theme) and the lesser casters had their own faction which was literally called The Spurned. I mained a Rogue way back when (they were agile, dexterous, intelligent, had a natural hide ability and perfect night vision - that would make them the best choice right?) and the Ebon Mask was one of the best outfits in Norrath. Nektulous Forest had its problems, but the “newbie log” gathering point gave many a young dark elf their first taste of cooperation, and there were plenty of places to go afterwards. Hopefully the algorithm will drop this nostalgia bomb into more people’s feeds.

[@JunBoogy]

When I started in 2000 Qeynos was pretty busy. That whole western region was fun to explore. Busy enough to get groups together, but not so busy it was crowded. Back then, on the role-playing server where you could only have one character, Qeynos had a homey feel to it. You see the same folks everyday and it was easy to make friends.

[@Aeonfell]

This is the first region I logged into, and it blew me away... from blackburrow, surefall, and the terrifying catacombs beneath the city, the area really felt alive to me (Still does... leveling there in p99 now)

[@Solstyse79]

Ha, I love this. I also played on Tunare and am so glad someone else remembers when gfay was the auction house.

[@KayossSZ]

Was the same on Solusek Ro. :)

[@SageFreke1]

I loved it!

[@SageFreke1]

Ah I knew there was at least one other server that did it that way

[@RedBlueThing]

I am still a little shocked this was a thing. 😅

[@kingragnork]

Povar native here and there was an auction 'house' in GFAY for years all the way until the literal Bazaar came about.

[@TBKTheamazing]

Vallon Zek auction zone was gfay for “light” races and most of the server

[@Elderos5]

I remember Greater Fay Mart on Vallon! The Dark Team (best team) had their auctions in Nek forest. I remember once selling some items to a Dwarf in Kelethin bank with my DE enchanter with High Elf illusion on. I accidentally started to cast a spell on the dwarf. I was smashing keys to stop casting before it went off and broke my illusion. I managed to get it under control and completed the transaction.

[@novyxl9672]

"Grew up" in neriak still love it and know every inch of it

[@BerraLJ]

I spent 1 hour awing over Neriak 3rd gate when i started in May 2001 as a DE Necro, such a cool place.

[@SageFreke1]

I agree. And the music really sucks you in

[@EsrohNchainS]

This is amazing!

[@___Shawn___]

My order from favorite to least favorite: 01. Freeport - The iconic city of classic EQ imho. Large variety of stuff to do in nearby zones as well: Orc camps in wc,ec & oasis, derv camps in nro, crocs in oasis, undead in befallen. Just a lovely area with tons of stuff for newbies. Hands down my favorite starting region. 02. Halas - I love snowy zones. The dungeons blackburrow and permafrost are classic as well. Loved the frozen river. Only gripe is that it was easy to get lost trying to find blackburrow or halas. 03. Neriak - Awesome city. Nektulos forest is meh, but thankfully wc or nro is close enough. Many great dungeons nearby: befallen, najena, sola & solb. Lavastorm was cool as well. 04. Rivervale - Lovely town & Misty thicket is fantastic. Runnyeye is kind of meh, but thankfully highpass is nearby. Kithicor was horrible but Misty thicket makes up for it. 05. Qeynos - Overall nice city with solid nearby xp zones. Never got the hang of qeynos catacombs, but I feel like it could have been a great zone if it was slightly less complex and had better areas to group. I always lived to concept of the catacombs, but not the implementation. Also I never stopped searching for Pyzjn & the GBS. Never got it though. 06. Felwithe - Easy to navigate city that's close to CB. Was never a fan of High elves though. 07. Kaladim - Neat city. Close crushbone & unrest too. 08. Ak’anon - City was kind of dreary but I loved the clockwork theme. Steamfont was a great newbie zone. 09. Oggok - Nice design of the city. Newbie zone was kind of bad imho. Never cared for Temple of Cazic. Always lvl'd my ogres in uguk & lguk when possible. 10. Erudin - The city itself was nice, but toxx sucked. Until the warrens was added there was no great newbie dungeons on Odus unfortunately. 11. Cabalis - City design was bad, but boy did I love Field of Bones. Lake of Ill Omen was decent as well. A shame about WW & SoNH though. 12. Kelethin - The amount of time I got lost looking for the bank here incalculable. Or the amount of times I accidentally fell. Really loved crushbone though. 13. Grobb - Feels like the city was rushed. Bad newb zone, but uguk & lguk were great. 14. Paineel - Doesn't feel like much of a city tbh. The newb area included in the zone was decent though, as well as the warrens. Nothing makes up for the difficulty of figuring the key thing or falling into the hole though.

[@Falcon_Serbia]

I’m a new player to EverQuest haven’t played once until last week. Started as a wood elf Druid and I have to say this tree city is such a pain to navigate lol and it haunts me to know there are “worse” cities

[@Rk0ril]

Iksars found dead XD. I had a friend who played an Iksar necro and drowned in the blood pool in the guild. It's totally a nostalgic favorite for me though, great video!

[@thomaseubank1503]

Fantastic video man! Food for thought to be sure.

[@daethe]

So the troll warrior guild being where it is, is a problem, because they're not tucked away in some special cut out area? When like you also mention, they're important and the city guard. So kind of makes sense for them to be front and center right where they can immediately engage threats and defend the city requiring people to get passed them

[@RedSiBaron]

can confirm I started in 2000 as a woodelf ranger and yes, kelethin was magical and when I think of EQ music, it's the opening/loading song and kelethin music.

[@Sub423]

I played on Tunare as well in the good days. Glad to see your vids man. ~Tippin

[@SageFreke1]

I remember the name!

[@chrisrodman7928]

I also started on the tunare server. I was a half-elf paladin, kaledis, started in felwithe XD

[@markbay9275]

This was a fun and hilarious tier list. Thank you!

[@scottrowland2787]

Thank you! As a one year newb, I'm still on the low end of the learning curve. This gave me a lot of insight. ❤

[@sorenarica]

Do you know where I can download the music that plays in HALAS? Is it in the gamefiles cause I can't find it. I'm just playing my 1st ever character Barb Shaman on P1999 Green.

[@SageFreke1]

I'll look into these for you

[@sorenarica]

​@@SageFreke1yes, the music that plays everywhere in HALAS. I can't find the soothing flute music that plays in the shops. Isn't there a way to rip all music from EverQuest P1999?

[@SageFreke1]

Ok I found it how I have it. If you Google Ultimate EQ midi you'll find a guy who has set up all the game's music files for download. That's what I use. However, I just listened to all 11 Halas tracks and none of them are unique to Halas, they can all be found in at least one other city/area of the game

[@sorenarica]

@@SageFreke1 okay i will check it out. I love videogame soundtracks above all else. Thanks for letting me know. Usually i can find it myself but this time i couldn't. If it actually includes the shop music in HALAS i may upload it to my youtube channel because i love halas and this game is awesome.

[@sorenarica]

@@SageFreke1 do you happen to know which midi files in that folder play the three or four different music tracks in this youtube video? kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXrZn62HrbRsg7s i dont even know if they're in the folder but i figured out how to play those midi at least. so bad that noone turned the good parts into .mp3 or something

[@HenrykSzlangbaum]

I'd only ever make gnomes. I'm pretty sure I'll know where every single NPC is in there on my deathbed after I forget everything else.

[@roboparks]

Same I Played Ogre Shaman , Sk and War. Because I knew the City so well. Later I Started a Necro, Cleric and WIZ Dark Elves . As a Ogre I played in Nerick a lot and got familiar with the city.

[@estebanembroglio6371]

best thing to do as troll is go to feerrott from 1-5. next door, waaaay better noob zone than innothule, ogre merchants will sell to you

[@Skeezy727]

Right off the bat the Cabilis rant killed me. So good.

[@jbiwer32]

Kelethin higher on my list. The ambiance, being up above the canopy, the dark forest in all directions. i think they nailed the simple, all wood archetecture. Yes it's kind of a maze in the trees, but once you get used to it and know your way around, it's wonderful. And above all the music captures the mystic, hidden city in the forest essence so well. Takes me back every time i hear it.

[@justinsellers9402]

I played a lot of characters in Kelethin, of various classes and loved it. When the game first released, I wanted to play a monk, but all of my friends were playing elves, so I ran over from Freeport. That was an awful experience. To see the trail, I had to look straight down. Frankly, many of the starter zones are way too dark, but this one was terrible.

[@jbiwer32]

@@justinsellers9402 lack of infravision or ultravision was a serious disadvantage to the human class. And yes that was a dangerous run!

[@cameronroberts4296]

High level players used to pay us to have races through kelethin after they made us drink mead. I never won but I did have a lot of corpses on the forest floor. Was hard to run drunkenly through there back then.

[@sdsdfdsfs9639]

I love the Qeynos sewers so much it's too bad you kind of skipped over them. You can spend most of your time from 1 to 20 down there.

[@SageFreke1]

I do like those sewers as well

[@Flea_ip]

My very first character was a Wood Elf Warrior. And you're right, I LOVE Kelethin as a result. I love that city so much, it would personally be my highest ranked city, and it's fine that it wasn't yours, but man I love Kelethin. Also, I played on the Xegony server which also used Gfay as its trading spot. Most everyone gathered at the Wizard spires, I dunno about on your server, but that's where the trading was done. In hindsight, kinda sucks for evil characters, lol, but hey that's what it was. But I digress, yeah, Kelethin is #1 for me.

[@dalkrin]

Excellent ranking of the cities! Thanks for getting so much footage of them all! Qeynos area is among the best for me, I somewhat like that it is insulated from the rest of Antonica by the vast plains of Karana. Have you considered doing a ranking of the dungeons, either by nostalgia, or high end grouping adventure, such as Lower Guk, Mistmoore, Unrest, Befallen?

[@SageFreke1]

I had not thought about ranking dungeons, interesting idea!

[@Elderos5]

My first city was Neriak. I made a DE necro on Tunare around March of 2000. I got lost looking around the city, and then I fell in that tiny mote with bridge to those rooms with the troll in the back of 3rd gate. I drowned! That got me out of the city. I later moved to Vallon Zek, where I made a DE rogue. I had the idea that I would be picking the pockets of the opposing teams. I love Neriak and its atmosphere as well as the twists and turns and especially the secret tunnel to the foreign quarter from the commons. It has an ok newbie area in the zone outside the city. My next favorite is a tie between Qeynos and old Freeport. I desperately hate the revamped Freeport. Old Freeport had such style to it. The newbie zone was much better than Neriak, (No zoning to sell), and West Freeport had no surprise high-level mobs waiting to pounce you. When I first logged into Vallon Zek with my Rogue, there were no less than 80 people in each of the city zones, and the newbie area was over 100. Since I started on Tunare, I was a little familiar with the game I couldn't find any mobs to kill with so many people that I went to Travis Two Tone and grabbed a letter to the bards guild in North Freeport via the tunnel. I actually got to 2nd level with the quest. Since it was a PvP server, I got jumped my 3 human warriors. Exiting the bards guild, but since DE started with the ability to hide, I managed to escape the chase after I rounded a corner and hit hide. I was sweating bullets when they came around the corner. Back then, you got no message if you succeeded or failed to hide or sneak. I succeeded! The tunnels in west Freeport were brilliantly placed. The north tunnel allows the paladins to get to their guild hall as well as the bank, and the south tunnel ends in the evil guild halls to the left or you could get to the rogues guild or docks to the right. All this was underground out of sight, too. I exploited the hell out of this on the PvP server. Qeynos was just as good as Freeport, but it was the nicer city of the two. They had much better, friendlier quests than Freeport. The sewers and the rivalry of good vs. corrupt guards gave it more of the fantasy epic city feel. You could navigate through the sewers to the docks here, too, but with a lot more difficulty. You didn't need to leave the city walls to make it to 2nd level here with some quests! The newbie zone here is my favorite. There are only two mobs that will agro you that will kill a level 1. Once you figure that out, it's easy to avoid them. Again, no zoning to go sell, too! Qeynos has a more heroic adventure feel to it than the other starting cities. I guess I like it more than Freeport, maybe, but only by fractions.

[@michaelmorton6566]

Damn i could have used this video in 1999

[@ehliaskarim1520]

I started EQ back in 2000 when I was 9 as a Dark Elf, SK, so I strongly agree with this entire list. I would rate this as the best video I’ve seen on EQ starting cities (only partly because I subjectively agree with just about all of the rankings). Absolutely excellent video and perfect exploration of the important parts of EQ starting experiences. Truly fantastic work done by someone who clearly thoroughly played and loved EQ. 👏

[@theman6910]

Mmm there are several starting cities that have KOS mobs in them... akanon is another one just off the top of my head.

[@sakisaotome6753]

i do believe that Kithicore was once always a newbie zone but then they did the battle of bloody kithicore event and it became cursed after that point. So it made sense back then but afterwards .... not so much.

[@michaelbremmer23]

Everfrost was pretty good. I would move most close enough, say halfing even, to everfrost

[@xkallubar]

What made you think elves are the oldest and wisest playable race? Dwarves are the 2nd oldest race, after dragons. Friendly ghouls aren't just in Neriak, there is a ghoul assistant in the paineel library that helps organize books. The thing with Dark Elves, Ogres, and Trolls is that the trolls and ogres fear the dark elves, which tolerate them for their usefulness in their evil plans. A big chunk of Trolls even worship Innoruuk, mainly their Shadowknights and Shamans, which can choose Innoruuk as a deity. There's even a dark elf ambassador in Grobb which sends Innoruuk worshipping trolls off to Neriak to serve Innoruuk. But the Ogres see through the deceit of the dark elves. There is an ogre in Neriak who tells you that he wants to go back to Oggok because the dark elves are trying to trick him and are mean. There is an Ogre Warrior quest where you are sent off to intercept an orc runner which has a note revealing how the Dark Elves are ditching the Ogres in favor of an alliance with the Crushbone Orcs, to expand their reach in Faydwer. They are preparing to kill every Ogre in Neriak, and then invade Oggok. Upon showing this note to the questgiver, you are sent to assassinate the Dark Elven ambassadors in Oggok and Crushbone, and you become a Craknek hero. Trolls are more cooperative with Dark Elves, but the Ogres don't even worship Innoruuk at all. In Ogre society, Rallos Zek is above all, though a few Ogres worship Cazic Thule. A few ogres, such as Clurg and Marda, have become close in intellect to their race before their curse. Now time for me to argue with your ratings! If you haven't guessed already, I am an Ogre main, so I'll start with Oggok. The situation in Oggok is that there are 2 rival guilds, the Greenblood Knights and the Craknek Warriors. The Shamen of war are allied with the Greenbloods. Clurg, the famed creator of Ogre Swill and the Flaming Clurg, and one of the few smart Ogres, created the Bouncers after seeing them in bars across the lands he travelled, which serve as Guards, peacekeepers between the warring guilds, and of course they beat up rowdy drunkards as the name suggests. So for the levelling path, you have a lot in the Feerrott. 1-6 you can kill low level roamers. 4-7 you can do the lizard camps east of the river/bridge, 7-11ish you can do undead stone henges, roaming mobs, and lizard camps west of the river/bridge, 9-14 you can do the lizard island outside the temple of Cazic Thule (mobs will vary in level like 7-11ish I think), 10 - 13 you can do greenblood zombies swimming in the river, and 14-22 you can do crocs in oasis, 3 zones away. The Dark Assassin only roams the side west of the bridge, generally near the path to Rathe Mountains. There is a bouncer that will roam along the river and along the path to Rathe Mtns if you get in trouble. They will attack the dark assassin but usually die. There is another bouncer that roams along the southern area of the river, who will steamroll through the lizard island and kill a lot of the mobs up to the temple entrance guards, so you can get a free and safe escort to and from the temple by following this guard. I think it was recently discovered that the dark assassin was never kos in classic so on p99's next patch, they might no longer be an issue. South Qeynos was the first zone btw. Think that's all I wanted to say.

[@SageFreke1]

Good point about the dwarves! They were before Tunare put the elves on Norrath. Regarding the Oggok path: I agree it's viable, but I don't think it compares well to a lot of the other paths for new players. It's not the worst, but it's middle of the pack for me.

[@MelZel7]

This was amazing, thanks for sharing!

[@milat9287]

Dunno if it's the same in p99, but as long as you don't turn in your note to your paineel guildmaster in live timelockeds, you will be just Dubious to Erudin but Threatening in Qeynos. Assuming that's still the case, if someone were to mention it to a newbie, they could make a new and just forego the robe. Would still need to figure out how to safely navigate the sewers to get outta Qeynos safely though. Not great in either case, but at least you're a little less screwed that way

[@channnelname2559]

Oggok lizard meats and tails quests can get you quite a bit of money for low levels. I find Kelethin to be terribly confusing.

[@magusfire31]

Good video. Guess I am old school, anyone running around that isnt first person bothers me. Lol. I was always in first person mode and only switched a few times to see around me. Eq is a game that I have such fond memories of. This makes me want to go back to either p99 or the newer Oakwynd tlp

[@Valhondrian]

It is impossible to disconnect a city from its environment. Taking in account that, I get on the top : 1.- Kelethin+Felwithe 2. - Freeport+Neriak These 4 cities have everything to level newbies regardless of the class. Newbie zones, merchants , trade skill equipment , Guilds. Low level dungeons. And above all, people. On the bottom I put in no particular order : Qeynos, Halas , Rivervale, Erudin

[@cmdrfunk]

Everyone knows you start as a gnome for any class and then immediately go to Qeynos

[@benjaminwatson7868]

It’s a good day seeing a hour long video by Sage

[@SageFreke1]

Glad to see long-form content still has a home 🙂

[@curtwarkentin2887]

I started playing EQ late in the game so my first character was a vah shir from Shar Val. I didn't mind that as a starting city. The spell merchants and melee tomes were easy to find, banking was available and once you've been there 1000 X's it gets easier to run through without using the game map.

[@xtesi52]

Just finished watching the video , and the memories that came back was insane. Somehow I knew Halas was going to be number 1 as it’s my number one also … I remember barb warrior . Everything you said was so true walking out of the ice caverns to the frozen tundra. Seeing giant spiders and wooly mammoths … making your way to blackburrow. Some of my best times on a game. As for my least favourite I’d have to say oggok even the trolls city never care much for em .

[@axey7476]

My first time playing EQ was on P99 few yrs ago and a Barb Shaman was my first toon and I did the same thing in Halas First time running from Everfrost to Freeport was a journey👍

[@jayr7613]

The snow is cool but damn, Halas is waaaayyy out there. Nearest port is what, North Karana?

[@SageFreke1]

Yeah. It's isolated for sure. You can succor across WK but most people didn't know about that until later haha.

[@jayr7613]

@@SageFreke1 right! Lol. Every bit counts in this game though!

[@NarcolepticLTD]

Honestly I don't know why I have to point this out but... the POINT of West Cab is to give reference to EAST Cab ;) Yes I agree... it shoulld have just been one dayum zone. SoNH and WW are both pretty shitty newb areas, but also play a good role in putting the new player in way over their head really fast, showing you that there are in fact scary things everywhere (I loathed SoNH when I first started playing, but it's pretty exciting to scramble through once you start to figure out where the gems are). I'm completely agreeing with you btw... cab is definitely the worst. (I love cab and the surrounding zones, but that's the nostalgia speaking. )

[@Xeknu]

I loved Cabills, and its an evil brutal Vinice. I felt that it gave so much character to the iksar

[@magikot]

I agree with a lot of this, but I swap Kelethin with Cabilis. Too much trauma from Kelethin, being a high elf. Also would but Felwithe as number one

[@madprophetus]

OG Freeport is the best city any MMO has ever had, for a multitude of reasons. It's literally the center of the classic EQ world. One of the biggest mistakes the EQ dev team ever made was to revamp freeport and delete the original zone files. Idiots!

[@JustinT2]

I love that this guy says qwenos, because I always called it qweynos too.

[@bsherder]

39:40 I still remember the old layout. Good times. Glad i get to see it again in this video.

[@antondovydaitis2261]

"Ogurz! Meet the Ogurz! Dey iz Norrath's Stone Age Family! From the town of Oggok, Which smells like a sausage factory!"

[@Random49558]

Great list! It is low hanging fruit, but a listing ranking the Epic quests would be fun. Not necessarily the Epic items, but the quests & lore. Which ones had the best tie in with the lore of their classes. Which ones where fun, gave you some unique bonus rewards, and which ones where absolutely brutal. I'd focus less on the Epic Weapon rewards themselves, because everyone already know which ones suck and which are essential.

[@SageFreke1]

Great idea!

[@WRanger87]

Evil clerics also start in Paineel. In general, being evil is just harder, more of a challenge start.