Some info on newbie areas

[Altair]

Based on my experience etc, not comprehensive etc, changes happen etc, please insert here the rest of the usual disclaimer.

* Best place to start, if you're a total newbie:
Valkyre (Newbatia), and go up to the Newbie College. DO read the signs; they aren't just for decoration. Many things are common to tons of worlds, but not all.
Other areas for lowbies in VK:
Chessboard (some knights assist or attack, get a map because those invisible walls can be ugly) - nice eq too. Even better if you're not a thief, I stabbed myself dead a couple times
Little mobs in town/guilds
Fens (south of town and then head west, past the entrance to the circus) - not much eq.

* Thordfalan/Bal Harbor:
has the problem of being full of Big People, some of whom confuse newbies with pebbles.
Lowbie areas:
Kobolds (west of town and take the first south)
Park (east of town and take the first north)
Little mobs in town
Sewers
Goblin Mountain (east of town and go straight until you start seeing goblins)
Some mobs fight each other in/around town; sometimes you can find mortally wounded mobs caused by one of those fights. Be careful not to kill other people's kills, though!

* Thule/Aisholm:
has the problem of never finding anybody to group with and few newbie areas; less rudeness problems than BH
Penguins (north and take the first west) are easy and have some nice eq; the other penguins (south, to the beach, be careful to avoid underwater rooms) are also easy but sometimes you run into token-hunters there, who can be very rude.
Little mobs in town.

*Niebelung/Settlestone:
Don't even think of killing anything in town. Either it will be bigger than it looks, or it will get assisted, or... just not worth it.
Grymlyns are the easiest area. The old grymlyn at the well is harder than he looks. This area is west of town, head south after the ticket seller.
The beach also has many small mobs. Remember to use con, be careful with underwater rooms.
Fairy forest is next. Careful with the squirrels of doom. Fairy tree is right at the forest.


I usually start in either AH or SS (for tranquility in the first few levels and eq) and then move to VK or BH (better leveling once I'm dressed up), but that's me: like I said before, the best place for a true newbie is VK.

[Ender]

Basic additions:
BH, AH, and SS are fantastic places to shop. Those 'Big People' often sell items that they consider to be completely useless, which are huge boons to Valkers. Sometimes these Big People will also take the time to look at your equipment and donate useful objects. In particular, -AC and +hit items are useful, powerful weapons are also much more abundant, such as mithril axe, Staff of the Elven forest, blue glass dagger, etc. These represent a tremendous advantage over blackened blades, katanas and short swords.

Holy items tend to be precious to Valkers. If you're finding competion, you can sometimes find an off Valk temple that's easier to get the item you want simply because many Big People don't use themx. Easy temples to get to include Nia's, Jake's and Balrog's (Krom's) on BH, Alana's on AH and if you're up for the boat ride to the island every time you long on, Lorraine's and Enea's on the island.

There are rude Big People, but don't let this discourage you from taking advantage of the benefits they may provide.

[Altair]

In AH, Alana's temple seems to be more popular than Judge's. So I tend to use the Holy Dagger of Judge until it gets grooves

And yes, the Big People in general are helpful and nice. It's only that I tend to run more into the few bad apples in BH - and I don't like to whine for help when I can get rid of Mr Pain In The Rear End just by moving someplace less crowded.

The Unhelpful Big People aren't necessarily big in absolute mud-terms, either. I've had encounters with under-21s who were hunting for tokens and yelled at me to "get the **** out of my area". I know about buying houses, but... "my" area?

If someone is hunting for tokens and I'm not, I'll be perfectly happy to give them any I happen to find - so long as they show some manners. "Get out of my area" has actually [u:fps3n4wz]cost[/u:fps3n4wz] some people a couple tokens