[Feba]

Originally Posted by Yellow Mage

Wait until you get to the Jungle. It will bring you to your sha-na-naaa-na-na-na-na-na-naaanaaaana KATAMARI DAMACY.

What the heck.

[Yellow Mage]

Okay. I'll admit: I actually 'd from that.

[Ziero]

Honestly

If you have smart people in a good spot the dunes freaking rocks. Going after T-low ITs with no competition and you can pretty much chain your life away. Plus being right in the middle of so much, it's a very convienent spot to go to.

The problem is that *everyone* goes there and most suck at this game. The zone itself is great exp for a good 10 lvls, it's the people that ruin it.

[tebian]

I think SE had intended it to be either side, Dunes or Penn for this level range. Since the subjob guests and their related items are in mhaura or selbina. I have always said the same thing "why?" go to the dunes. With advent of the last two expansions and long time players leveling their new jobs all over the place, the dunes is more frustrating than useful now. I have seen a few guys from beginners ls I run actually just give up on the game in their first month, cause of no parties in the dunes. Keep in mind that my opinion is just from the Sylph server perspective.

Right now /sea all 13-19 gets 74 peeps and 10 are in dunes 7 are in the past leveling, the rest scattered among the area's mentioned above.

[Sabaron]

Originally Posted by tebian

...Right now /sea all 13-19 gets 74 peeps and 10 are in dunes 7 are in the past leveling, the rest scattered among the area's mentioned above.

Yep, I've noticed that a lot of older characters just don't do dunes anymore. I usually make a trip out at least once on the way to 20 because someone asks me, but in general, I've found that partying in the dunes nets me about the same xp/hr as soloing, so the only point of going there if you already have a subjob is to help new characters. However, since SE has adjusted the way XP works in small parties, the nooblets don't really need a full sextet to get going. Of course there might be something to be said for "doing your civic duty" and helping the noobs out...

[Vyuru]

If you have smart people in a good spot the dunes freaking rocks. Going after T-low ITs with no competition and you can pretty much chain your life away. Plus being right in the middle of so much, it's a very convienent spot to go to.

I dunno, I still think that Korroloka Tunnel beats Valkurm any day of the week for exp.

The worms aren't too bad, and if your whm is smart with the Silence, then the worms become jokes.

I'd also rather fight the mobs in Buburimu any day of the week rather than the ones in Valkurm.

I will say that Buburimu can be more dangerous than Valkurm, but the exp is so much better and the danger is negligable if you have half a brain for avoiding aggro and where to camp that it's almost not worth mentioning.

Oh, and let's not forgot the Shakrami Maze, that's another awesome place to exp.

One pet peeve of mine actually...

Alot of these places people won't go to because it used to take too long to get there, which is why Valkurm was so popular since it was inbetween two of the towns.

Nowadays with the OP warps though, it is completely trivial to get to places. You can warp to Buburimu or Valkurm at lvl 10. The Shakrami Maze is a 4 minute walk from the Buburimu OP, by all rights these places should be getting alot more parties in them now than they are.

Valkurm just sucks, period, especially with the GBH patrolling the shores and hogging about 50% of the crabs and 100% of the pugils to be considered a good leveling location anymore since it supports fewer parties now. I think this is especially true when you compare it to Buburimu where most of the mobs you exp off of are inland.

[secunia]

it's bad enough getting a pt in valkurm some days but at least we're all in the same location. I like valkurm. it'd be dead annoying to get a party invite to say mhaura, get there, and then it breaks up.
going back to dunes for me is like reconnecting with an old friend, plus u can use unorthodox subjobs and get away with it, ive no real interest in levelling war but Im gonna do war/whm just cos i can :D

[Zoltar]

I used to be all about Valkurm in the 10-20 range, but I personally found better xp in going solo in Konstchat Highlands and then partying @ 18 in Qufim.

Valkurm is only there for sj quest and follow-up sj quest for Tenshodo pass

[DakAttack]

You can solo in the dunes at 18.

[Ellipses]

I've been going for the worms outside Bastok [s] for soloing from 16ish to 20, after burning through whatever Campaign Ops credits I have at the time. Just sub WHM, pick up Sigil Regen and Refresh, and never stop to rest.

[Kitalrez]

It was weird. When I first started the game, if you were from Windurst, you leveled to at least 15 in Maze of Shakhrami, then you went straight to Penn. Didn't even bother with Dunes. It wasn't until a year or so later that Dunes really became the one place you *had* to level. I've done almost every job through the Dunes level range now, and I consider myself lucky, just wish they'd stop releasing new jobs, I have to keep doing this over again. Maze and Penn are way easier than Dunes for most of those ranges, I've never understood why people didn't just reset a HP in Windy or Mhaura and use them. So much less of a headache killing worms than lizards and sheep. Those lovely dhalmels are also full of gil heavy items.

[MrMageo]

I think the rock eaters is N gustaberg are closer to level 30, I was there with my SCH @ lvl 21 and was only able to kill them through nuke/dia/rest/dis/rest/dia/rest/nuke etc took about 5-10 minutes per for 200 XP a pop.

[Kitalrez]

Originally Posted by MrMageo

I think the rock eaters is N gustaberg are closer to level 30, I was there with my SCH @ lvl 21 and was only able to kill them through nuke/dia/rest/dis/rest/dia/rest/nuke etc took about 5-10 minutes per for 200 XP a pop.

Rock eaters there are higher, yes. The Stone Eaters a tier down from that are only 21 tops though, (wiki says 22, but I never saw any that level when I was there last night killing them). Wiki bestiary for the area says 32-35ish. Now, considering Tunnel Worms are 10-12 in North Gustaberg [s], WoTG just mad it possible to level RNG or BLM solo up to mid thirties on worms without ever going more than 1 zone from Bastok. North Gustaberg to 10ish as normal, dip into the past for North Gustaberg [s] nearest bastok, around 15 go down the ramp to Stone Eaters, then into the present and Korroloka tunnel, then back into the past, down the ramp, across the bridge and onto Rock Eaters to finish out. Or you could sneak over to Grauberg [s], which might give you a little more exp at the end of that on Rock Eaters.

Really, WoTG completely trivialized Dunes for any player that has access to the past. Stone Eaters in the past are basically an aggro free version of Maze of Shakrami. There's no reason to do the dunes anymore so long as you find people with the crags unlocked. Pretty much also just cut Qufim out of the picture.

[Prons]

I like dunes its where I learn to play.

[Chubsmgee]

I like the dunes when you get down to secret beach other than that I dont like it