So I've noticed that NPC characters tend to have much more hit points than player characters, and player characters generally tend to hit a lot harder (offensively).

I am not new to the game, technically. I've played off and on for the last 10 years at least, though never as dedicated as some others may have been. I believe the highest I ever ranked was around level 35, and that's only because I tagged along in a group with 2 other characters who knew what they were doing, and I just racked up the experience with them.

My main question is: Is there a way to rank up to 51 without the aid of others? Not because this is how I want to play the game, but because I figure this is a good way to learn the game. When you're just following some guy around as he kills NPC's to gather keys to open locked doors, picks up mysterious items that are necessary to gain access to areas or bypass gatekeepers, guardians, etc, it can get pretty confusing as text just scrolls up your mudclient at inhuman speeds.

I like Rangers because they can hide from the largest percentage of other players, and Assassins because they can see hidden and invis characters. I like mages because they can identify items and help my combat themed characters understand what to use.

After around level 25, I no longer know what areas to go to in order to rank on my own. It almost seems as the NPC characters begin to get too strong at those levels to take on by yourself without a group, or rather, the gear and weapons necessary to be tough at those ranks require a group to obtain them.

Is there a solo path in CF or do I just die a million lives before I finally become strong and wise?

If an expert is bored, could you possibly post some recommended areas to seek out every 5-10 levels starting at around level 30? I know there is a helpfile for this, but for some reason I always go to those areas and only find creatures too easy to kill or too hard to kill on my own.

I'll go against the grain here and recommend you play chaotic evil rather than good,
since that will give you more options for both ranking areas and also behavior
in game (you can kill anyone you want).

Since you want to learn to solo rank there's no point in grouping with others.
Both ranger and assassin can solo rank fairly easy to mid 30s, dextrous
ranger all the way to low 40s. After that it gets time consuming (still possible) so if you're easily bored it pays to have a group.

You *don't* need to rank to hero though, and in fact, I don't recommend you do, since you're a new player. There is lots of fun to be had with both classes below level 40.

One thing that is different in CF than in most other muds, is that some classes gain nothing from ranking to hero and in fact lose a lot of their power by heroing (due to
a combination of other classes reaching the pinnacle of their power at hero, getting no good skills, other players having more health, gold, preps and being more skilled in general and so on).

Ranger is one of these classes. Unless you want to lead a cabal or are badass enough to have killed enough people to distend (meaning you enter the PK range of players a lot higher level than you), you should not hero a ranger period. Rangers are at the pinnacle of their power around 35 (when they get wilderness familiarity) and for *some* combinations at mid 40s. Beyond that they're progressively weakened.

Also, some ranger combinations (this also applies to other classes e.g. thieves and shapeshifters)
are completely useless for certain things (such as playerkilling) so keep that in mind. I would suggest
forester/survivalist felar to start with. Stay away from mariners, bedouins, plainsrunners and caverndwellers.

So if you play another ranger, make it your goal to solo rank to 35 and get wilderness familiarity. Then you can play around more with the class and have some fun, solo or with others.

If you play another assassin, rank to 35 and experiment with stalk/assassinate.
Then 40 and play with owaza.
Then 44 and do the same with martial trance.
Then you could try to hero an assassin since it's not as bad as ranger at hero.

For assassin i'd recommend felar or human.

When you're in group with someone more experienced, don't space out - watch, log, analyze. This way you'll learn much faster than by exploring alone.

Not to mention that there are some web resources publicly available that are dedicated to answering your questions like places to rank in, basic equipment to wear and stuff.

Excellent.

Yeah I used to log my entire session. But then it became cumbersome scrolling through hours of "hide, hide, hide, sneak, sneak, sneak who where drink canteen" before I get to the meaningful moments in groups.

Then I realized, oh wait, just start logging on the moment of departure within a group, and then stop logging whenever we hit the sweet spot and start grinding"

Problem solved.

Thanks! Are the websources you're talking about something other than Deoxide's? I'd like to check them out

The two classes you outlined, the ranger and the assassin are probably indeed the best two in terms of solo ranking. Let's assume you go goodie (for request and easier ranking path) assassin (because they're strong across all terrains and levels and at hero). Join Fortress, they do allow newbies in. You'll get protection from evil at least. For race, arials are best tanks, felars are strong with claws and backfist, and humans are the probably the fastest to level.

25-30+ Mausoleum. Get some flaming and/or silver weapons. Talk to the guy in Voralia above the pit.
30sh-40sh Spiderhaunt woods. Talk to John the Lumberjack in the Weald.
30sh-40sh Eil Shaeria.
40sh-45sh Organia
40sh-45sh Aran'gird
40sh-51 Skeletons on the Mount Calandaryl

Sources of ranking eq:

Early: Complete the Academy quest, buy light things from the Bramblefield road vendors, grab two opal rings, flame sword in Seantryn Sewers
Bit later: Kill goblin general in Emerald

Mix of Bramblefield/goblin eq is good enough to rank to hero honestly, as long as you can request quality weapons along the way. Other eq recommendations are fairly specific, but being in Fort you'll manage to have lots of things just incidentally.

Aim to always have less than half your total max weight on you to maximize dodge and you'll be golden.

Thanks! That's definitely a good nudge in the right direction. I've heard before that armor AC isn't really that important (for whatever reason) after low levels, and was just wondering how people managed to utterly destroy me anyways when they are decked out in gear I've never seen before (aside from other people wearing it) and I just have platemail gear from Galadon or something of the sort.

I've been blessed before with a suit of Midnight Dragon armor from hero characters and that's fun but also makes me a moving target whenever a veteran player sees what I'm wearing and decides he wants to take it from me :)

But I will seek out those areas IC and hope for the best.

Thanks again!

Galadon platemail is plenty enough to get your melee classes to level 51 solo. Augment with gear from the Bazaar (just north of eastern crossroads) and you're set. Good enough to kill mobs and bad enough most people won't loot any of it.

Ranger, assassin, or sword warrior will be your easiest options for solo leveling imo. Preferably with high dexterity and no metal vuln. So, arial or human with dex prime stat.

As for areas to use. Isildur and others have made guides available on the two wikis:

http://www.carrionfields.net/CFwiki/RankingGuide

And for rangers:

http://wiki.qhcf.net/index.php?title=RangerRanking

Some of the ranger areas are not in the right spot level wise, so try ones in the next level bracket up or down if you aren't doing well.

You'll need patience to level solo, but it's easier now than it has ever been thanks to experience bonuses when the who list is short.

Thanks!

In regards to Warriors, I theorized that a Duergar polearm or spear spec would be a nicely well-rounded character?

Detect hidden to null surprises from Assassins and Thieves, Warrior-strong melee abilities, get some blue flowers and you can stare right back at everybody else (except rangers but just don't lounge in the woods)

Swords are good defensive and offensive, and are also very abundant. Am I wrong to think that polearm and spear are better for defenses and tanking? They may not be as abundant but I'd be willing to take that as one of the cons. Polearm seems to me to have the offensive capacity of axes and the defensive capacities of a staff or spear, just heavy and less popular.

For PvE. It's hands down the best mix of offense/defense for killing mobs.

Dying to players does not take away experience, so I wasn't factoring in PK survivability. However, the trick to all PK survivability if your goal is to hero quickly is to flee immediately. Flee and quaff a return or teleport potion. Bonus for teleporting is you get a chance to find your way home and learn more of the mud.

There is a free teleport/invis potion in the sewers of Galadon.

Polearm is terrible for tanking mobs. Spear is great for tanking, but unless you go felar your damage output suffers too much compared to sword for it to be worth it in terms of mob killing.

That's precisely the kind of insight I was looking for. Thank you sir