Qeynos Catacombs Guide - by Makx

Qeynos Catacombs Subsection Analysis I - Froglok Area See EQ Atlas for the complete map

Recommended Character Level	XP Bonus
1-10	20%
Pros	Cons
Close proximity to the guild, bank, and other shops. Relatively small area. Little to no other players ever in this entire zone. Injured creatures, that run, will come back and won't train. Easy to practice swimming, sneak, sense direction, etc here. Very few MOBS that will aggro on you. Various stackable spell components drop here.	Must swim down/up vertical columns of water entering or exiting. Frogloks will gang up on you, if aggro'd. Injured creatures will swim away at supersonic speeds. You will not make it to a zone if you are overwhelmed and dying.

Comments

This sub-area is excellent for newbies. The zone rarely has anyone else in it. It can be hunted easily from level 1 to 10, although very little experience will be gained at level 10 as nearly all the creatures in the area would be high greens at best. With the bank being directly above the area, selling loot, visiting the bank, etc, are a breeze. Also, the sub-area is nicely sectioned off such that you'd have to make an effort to get to the more dangerous parts of the dungeon. Ie, you'd have to swim a nice ways through some of the tunnels cropped off the image above.

MOBS wander, in various directions, about the paths shown in red above. If injured, they will attempt to flee via one of the blue paths, based on their proximity to the given path. NOTE: An injured MOB can swim at SOW speeds in the water, unless it is VERY low on health. To get your swimming up, I'd recommend swimming after them a short distance. But, the moment you get the "xxx is out of range" message, turn back and get back to your camp spot. After a few moments, 10-15 seconds or so, the MOB will return to greet you.

For monks, the frogloks are most welcoming. They randomly drop pieces of netted armor that are very light weight. At the lower levels, it is imperative that you bring a friend, but from level 5 and up, you should be able to take the loks without *too* much hastle, assuming a good spawn :). Unlike the Frogloks of Guk and other places, there is no faction hit for killing these. For that matter, there is no faction hit for killing any of the creatures listed in the table below, with the beggar being an "unknown" exception (as noted).

Beggars will sometimes spawn in place of the MOBS. I hear tale that it is bad faction with the Qeynos Guards to kill them, but I don't know first hand. I've left them alone.

The only MOBS that showed any outright aggression was the Frogloks, mangy rat, piranha, and Cuburt. Even then, I had to nearly trip over them to get them to aggro on me. Everything else seems to ignore you, even if you are sitting. The most convenient place to setup camp is the white area directly above the frogloks (#11 on the map above).

Killing the miscellaneous MOBS that spawn on the surface (ie, not underwater) will cause Cuburt to occasionally spawn. Cuburt occassionally drops a "tattered dress". The dress is a quest item that can be turned in to Zamel (near the pool by the bank in South Qeynos) or to a guard (see Allakhazam for more info...) Rewards vary but can be as good as a +3 INT earring or a Golden Locket with +5 charges of courage, depending on who you decide to turn the dress in to.

Another plus to the area is the various spell components that drop. Fish scales, Snake scales, Bat wings, and Fire Beetle eyes are relatively abundant over a given period of time. It's easy to save them in the bank until you have a stack or three, then sell them to your local Druid, Shaman, Magician, etc.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Level 1 - 5, grab a partner and head down (solo not bad either :)). The two of you will have a blast. Level 6 - 9, solo is fine, a partner is better as the two of you can destroy the area. Once you hit level 10, head out to other parts unknown. I only tried a group larger than 2 here once, and XP seemed to creep along. Keep it solo or a partner and you'll see the xp move right along.

As a point of reference, I did this as a non-twinked newbie. My played time from level 1 to 25 was 7 days. Levels 1-10 were spent mostly in the Catacombs with some jaunts out to Blackburrow to break the monotony. Levels 11-14 were split between Blackburrow and Bandits in West Karana. Levels 15 - 20 was spent at the Gorge entrance in East Karana. Levels 20-25 I varied between Unrest and Splitpaw spires.

Makx
35 Monk of Tholuxe Paells

PS: Visit the reference sites listed below for more info on the entire zone.



MOB	Level	Aggro	Drops	Notes
A Bat	1-1	No	Wings	Save wings for you local levitation caster.
A Beggar	5-5	No	Unknown	I've heard it is bad faction with the Qeynos Guards to kill these guys, but have no proof.
A Fire Beetle	2-2	No	Legs, Eyes	Save the eyes to sell to Druids or Rangers.
A Fish	1-1	No	Scales	These little guys can easily get in your way while swimming. Save scales for those Enduring Breath casters.
A Froglok	2-4	Yes	Netted Armor, Undead Froglok Tongues, Coins, Rusted Weapons, Blunt Weapons, Containers, Alcohol, Food, Water	Group aggro, especially if there are blues are higher in the group. EQ Beastiary shows these as level 2-4. I've seen blues at level 9, so I'm guessing these are more like in the 2-5 range.
A Gelatinous Cube	4-20	No	Various Non-Magical Rings, Coins, Various Non-Magical Earrings	Casts an area affect short duration root. EQ Beastiary shows these as level 4-20. I have yet to see one that wasn't green to me at level 10.
A Giant Rat	2-4	No	Teeth, Whiskers, Ears, Meat
A Green Snake	1-1	No	Teeth, Scales, Eggs	Stackable Scales are good for Serpent Sight, or brewing.
A Large Piranha	10-14	Yes	Teeth, Scales, Fish	Attacks anything it sees. BIG NOTE: From level 5 to 9, I met with various Large Piranha that were blue to white. At level 10, every Large Piranha I've seen here has been green.
A Large Rat	1-1	No	Teeth, Whiskers, Ears, Meat
A Large Snake	3-5	No	Teeth, Scales, Eggs	Stackable Scales are good for Serpent Sight, or brewing.
A Large Spider	3-4	No	Silk	Save these for swatches.
A Mangy Rat	?-?	Yes	Teeth, Whiskers, Ears, Meat	Attacks anything it sees. Unsure of the level, but all have been green to me since roughly level 6 or 7.
A Piranha	?-?	Yes	Teeth, Scales, Fish	Attacks anything it sees. Unsure of the level, but all have been green to me since roughly level 5-7.
A Sewer Rat	3-3	No	Teeth, Whiskers, Ears, Meat
A Snake	1-1	No	Teeth, Scales, Eggs	Stackable Scales are good for Serpent Sight, or brewing.
A Wimpy Skeleton	2-4	No	Bone Chips, Coins	Give 2 bone chips to Lashune Novashine for some xp, healing, and faction... or save these for those /auction'ing Necro's and SK's.
An Injured Brigand	6-6	Unknown	Unknown	No details on this guy really. He's fairly out of the way. Everything I've read on him mentions nothing of significance so I've let him be.
Cuburt	3-5	Yes	Bone Chips, Coins, Tattered Dress	The dress is a quest item that can be turned into Zamel (near the pool/bank).

References

Map subsections are from EQ Atlas
Base MOB table info is from EQ Beastiary
Items, quests, other info from Allakhazam

Qeynos Catacombs Subsection Analysis II - The Sewer Run

See EQ Atlas for the complete map.

Comments

The Sewer Run *should* be no problem from level 1 on, although some of the mobs may be a bit too high just yet. Safest bet is to hit the run from level 5+. From level 10, little to no experience will be gained, but the items make it worth the effort. With the Bank being at one end of the run and the Gates being at the other end, "The Sewer Run" is well suited for those runs in from BlackBurrow or back out to BlackBurrow. The path is nicely sectioned off such that you'd have to make an effort to get to the more dangerous parts of the dungeon.

On the map above, various rats, snakes, spiders, bats, etc spawn around the site marked as 1. Vin Moltor, a Quest NPC, can be found here as well.

Around mark 2, Bait Masterson can be found, although it is more common to find a skeleton or wimpy skeleton.

At mark 3 you can acquire a Limestone Ring from an Undead Knight. He is actually swimming in the niche. His placeholder is typically a fish. The Limestone ring grants +5 hp. He was green to me when I first encountered him but appeared to be similiar in power to a normal skeleton.

Mark 4 is where the "a small alligator" or "a bloated alligator" spawns. No real significance that I've seen.

The "Alligator Tooth Earring" is found on "an injured rat" at mark 5. This is a two spawn location that seems to vary between the "an injured rat" and "a large rat". Either are easily killed. Spawn rate seems to be about 5 mins. The "an injured rat" always dropped one earring.

The "a shady mercenary" (drops the Thick Black Cape) and "a mercenary" are at mark 6. They con'd indifferent to me, an agnostic monk. I didn't attack as they were green, I wasn't sure of the faction hit I'd take, and really don't care to have the Thick Black Cape. The "a sepsis rat" spawns here as well, but poses no threat.

Three rats and a gelatinous cube congregate at mark 7. The "a nesting rat" drops the Golden Locket. The "a large rat" will sometimes show as a placeholder. The rats and the cube seem to be on different spawn timers. The rats spawned after roughly 5 mins, the cube seemed to take 10 or more. A zombie walked up on us while we were killing the rats once. He showed no aggression. We attacked and took him out with ease. He dropped "a sealed letter" that is lore. The note goes to Wolten Grafe at the South Qeynos Paladin Guild.

**See the Qeynos Catacombs Subsection Analysis I - Froglok Guide for more info on the Froglok Area.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Level 1 - 4, if solo, run the path, but only hit the "An Injured Rat" and Cuburt if they con within your range. During those levels, two HP +5 earrings and/or a +3 INT earring are nice to have or sell. If grouped, add "A Nesting Rat" and the Frogloks to the hit list. Level 5+, wreak havoc :), just be careful of 3 "blue" Frogloks.

As a point of reference, I did this as a non-twinked newbie. My played time from level 1 to 25 was 7 days. Levels 1-10 were spent mostly in the Catacombs with some jaunts out to Blackburrow to break the monotony. Levels 11-14 were split between Blackburrow and Bandits in West Karana. Levels 15 - 20 was spent at the Gorge entrance in East Karana. Levels 20-25 I varied between Unrest and Splitpaw spires.

Makx
35 Monk of Tholuxe Paells

PS: Visit the reference sites listed below for more info on the entire zone.