POOFY'S HANDY DANDY GUIDE TO MAKE THAT EXP THING GO UPWARD.
I'm going to write this pretending you're a level 19 character who just finished the tutorial. I will also be breaking this up between ranged classes (Archer, Mage, Gunslinger) and not ranged classes. (Monk, Swordsmen, Thief, Merchant, Taekwons) Ninjas and Super Novices can fall into either or depending on build. Despite breaking them up, assume that all ranged classes can also level where melee classes except for some places for casters where I'll note otherwise. I'll also have a special one for specifically Acolyte which levels differently than everything solo.
Also so I don't kill myself, while giving directions to a map I'll be using N, E, S and W for north, east, south and west. I'll be giving directions like "E E N of Prontera" which would mean going 2 maps east of Prontera and one map north of it after.
General AdviceYour buildIf you are not a ranged character you are going to want some way to survive. Most ranged classes can get away with going full damage and then kiting everything but obviously melee cannot. This means either vit or agi is needed to survive. 95% of the time agi is the cheaper, more effective way to live. Avoiding damage simply means healing less of it while having vit just means more health to heal even if you initially die slower.
Buy healing itemsThis is especially true if you're a melee class. In early levels Meat is your best friend. It can be bought cheap from an NPC called "Butcher" located in Izlude and Prontera. It is more efficient to buy meat then actual potions from the tool dealer and their weight has been reduced on this server so there's little reason not to just go for it.
https://i.imgur.com/jrRUEJ1.jpg - Prontera location
https://i.imgur.com/RNUUzDt.jpg - Izlude location
SP healing on the other hand is tricky. The cheapest option starting out is probably to buy Grape Juice off of other players. They often go in between the prices of 160-170z a piece. If you are within a town you can type "!shopjump Grape Juice" to automatically be warped to the cheapest player ran shop selling Grape Juice amongst all towns. Most classes won't need this as the ones that get int to do damage will also have the best regen and the ones who don't will most likely level auto-attacking. That doesn't mean there isn't exceptions, so if you find yourself hating life and wanting SP, this is the best way I've found to get it on the cheap while leveling.
Buy fly wingsSeriously, if you're not playing an Acolyte who has the skill teleport, learn to love fly wings. Need to get to a map quicker? Fly wing close to the entrance you want. Something spot you that you can't take and it's going to mess you up? Have fly wings on hot bar and get out of there. Fly wings are sold at all tool dealers too on the cheap. They weigh a fair amount though so don't pick up too many at a time.
Play in a partyAssume any of these listed gets much easier in a party and SIGNIFICANTLY easier if any of said people are playing an acolyte who can heal. Leveling gets extremely dynamic with a party and starting level 70 and beyond a lot of maps open up that are just not reasonable to solo but are amazing with a group.
I'll fund expensesSeriously... if it's potions, general consumables or basic gear zeny is a non-issue for me so I can dump starting stuff on anyone who'd like me to.
AND NOW, FOR LEVELING LOCATIONS.
The Quest BoardThere is a monster hunting quest board that can be found in Prontera in the center of town. It's located here.
https://i.imgur.com/ZE3IMKX.jpg
This board will always give "kill 100 monsters" quests based off of your level. It's not perfect; sometimes you'll get a monster that's a little too easy and sometimes you'll get something that's basically impossible but it generally gets really close to something that's alright to grind. Upon completing the monster requested you get a nice chunk of experience and 25 bronze coins. So this poses two questions...
Where can I even find this monster I was assigned and why do I want bronze coins.
"Where do I go to kill this." is a tricky one because it doesn't really give any direction on where to find it. Given the age of the server I think they just decided to not include that (because the hunting board is custom) which is a little silly but alas. This site is a fairly complete database of monsters, maps, locations, items and other things. It's not completely accurate for TalonRO, but the monster locations should be.
http://ratemyserver.net/
Basically just slap into the "monster" box what it asked you to hunt. So let's say you slapped in Metaling. You should get two different mobs that pop up, "Heavy Metaling" and the one you're looking for below that. Under "On Maps" it'll state the name of the map and the number that spawn on that map. Still using the Metaling example, it shows ein_fild07 has 60 spawn on it, so you can click on that and it'll give you a detailed explanation of the map. FROM THERE on the detailed explanation map you should find the text "Where is this?" Clicking that will take you to a world map view with where the map in question is flashing. If you hover adjacent maps looking for one that's strictly a city name and doesn't include words like "field" you should be able to warp to it from the warper NPC under cities. From there congratulations, you should be able to deduct how to get there.
Sound like a giant pain the ass? That's because it kind of is and I wish they just gave directions for the monster assigned. Alternatively you can go "hey Poof, where is this?" if I'm around and I'll probably know... Earl also seems to know his way around the world map. If you are not a class that can teleport home I advice buying butterfly wings (can be bought at any tool dealer, the main one being in a building next to the central Prontera fountain up-left of it) which can teleport you back to your last checkpoint city if you get lost.
On to the second point, bronze coins! By the fountain there is a rental NPC that rents gear for bronze coins, usually in the 80 to 110 coin range to rent something for 7 days. Depending on your class this can be INCREDIBLY helpful though as they actually rent what can be considered low tier max level end game gear... they're seriously insanely good. It's an easy way to have a competent weapon while you're too broke to do anything about it.
Ranged OnlyLevel 20 - 30A stationary mob can be found E N of Prontera called Mandragoras. Although good for any ranged class, they're especially great for casters because so long as you're out of their range they simply will never be able to attack you as you burn them down. While using spells keep in mind they are weak to fire.
Level 30 - 40If you went to the Mandragora map instead of one of the "melee character" listed maps, you can continue on one more map N to the Flora map. This is another stationary mob you have free range on. Run away from Argiopes (you can outrun them) and be careful about Male Thief Bugs (they are manageable but you'll either need to be quick on your toes or have potions) as they are both aggro.
I'm going to throw an odd choice out there in Golems, which are S E of Morroc. They have a lot of health, are cast sensitive, (meaning they become aggro just by being targeted by a spell, whether it finishes or not) and have tons of defense, meaning they're no good for archers or gunslingers but fine for Mages and magic Ninjas. You'll have to use spells low enough level to be able to indefinitely kite them, and it's all sorts of a pain in the ass. So why suggest them? An NPC named Private Jeremy is located on the map who will give quests both for killing them and giving him their loot. This might not be the most efficient place to go in terms of effort vs exp, but if you want something difficult here you go.
S E E of Payon is a map with Greatest General, another stationary mob which you can beat up on from a distance without them retaliating. If you don't have a strong damaging skill maxed yet (Rapid Shower, Double Strafe, Colt Bolt or Lightning Spear of Ice depending on your class) then it might be very slow going at first. They are very weak to water damage but are immune to fire so if you don't have many skill points yet and took max firebolt this is not the place for you. This map has a very, very low count of a mob called Nine-Tails, which are aggro and will totally mess you up. Avoid them at all costs.
Level 40 - 60Welcome to Geographer purgatory, the ultimate mob to kill when you want to be afk. They can be found N of Einbroch. These guys are stationary but can heal anything taking damage within their range (besides themselves) so make sure to find them isolated. They have a large amount of health but give a large amount of experience so get ready to auto-attack on a ranged character or cast a level 10 spell (they're weak to fire) and walk away while you wait for them to die.
Mi Gaos are located one S of Louyang and they give similar experience to Geographers but are less boring. As a physical ranged class you'll want to save your SP to spam down Mantis while auto-attacking Mi Gaos who are much slower. As a magic class you'll want Firewall as a Mage or Fire Formation as a Ninja to block off Mantis as you cast at them. Mi Gaos are cast sensitive and will charge you once they're targeted, so make sure to put a firewall/fire formation between you and them. Seriously though, this map is basically "hard mode" Geographers. The rate in which you can kill them is faster so they can be considered better, but not by enough if you're fine with Geos and find yourself struggling.
Ice Dungeon is a nice location where your target is Siromas. As a ranged physical attacker you're basically kiting them. They have the mob property so if one hits you everyone who sees that will come after you so get ready to get good. If you're a caster on the other hand and for some reason you have Lv10 Lightning Bolt there's a decent chance you can kill them in a single hit. If that's you, congratulations, this is a great leveling spot for a good while.
If you're still bored and have Firewall, the dungeon Clock Tower is a good place for you. There is no warp directly to this place, but you can get there simply by going into the building at the center of the town Aldebaran. Once you're inside you have a very short walk to the second floor;
https://i.imgur.com/wsumUlK.jpg
Floor 1 is actually harder than the one you're trying to get to so despite the walk being short you're going to walk to pray there is nothing in your way along the path that you can't run or you're going to have a bad time. Once you hit the floor it's Clocks you'll be killing. They're cast sensitive but not aggressive before that so stick a wall between you and them and bolt them down. Physical ranged will have a slightly harder time but should be able to kite them.
Level 60 - 80Pinguiculas going E of Splendide are insanely good and can be straight up done until level 85. They drop both Sharp Leafs AND Huge Leafs which are used in repeatable quests. Huge Leafs would be a waste to use on a character of this level so you can pocket them for future characters, using them as soon as Lv36 with the NPC Lella E of Ayothaya. The Sharp Leafs themselves you'll want to use immediately in sets of 50 with the NPC located N E of Comodo.
Stings give a ton of experience and have an excellent drop table at the same time. If you can double strafe or firewall you're good to go. Gargoyles will present problems against casters as they are ranged, don't really miss and will interrupt your cast. Avoid them entirely if you can looking for specifically Stings. Have fun getting to the map and bring flywings as you can, it's somewhat elaborate and long-winded so enjoy a picture instead on how to get there. Start by warping to Glast Heim Churchyard under the dungeon list;
https://imgur.com/a/JOz2u
Melee ClassesLevel 20 - 30Payon Dungeon (located in the dungeons section of the warper) is a common choice to knock out the earliest levels because it's easy enough to not require much in the way of potions or anything fancy. You'll be killing Skeletons and Familiars here, where you'll then quickly be comfortable with killing Zombies after a few levels.
If you want a different location for the earliest levels that won't require much in the way of healing items, Rockers are located on two different maps; S W of Prontera and W W of Prontera. Both maps contains one mini-boss called Vocal. You can identify him easily because he's surrounded by a ton of Rockers. Run from him, you can't take him but you can outrun him. Although W W of Prontera is the more awkward map, it has mobs you can kill for future levels which you'll find in the next level bracket.
S of Payon you can find Spores which are great for your first few job levels as well as a couple base levels. This is my personal favorite because it goes right into killing one of my favorite mobs, wolves which are one more map S and will be in the next level bracket.
There is a short quest to gain access to the "Prontera Culverts". The quest starts at a building at the very top left of Prontera:
https://i.imgur.com/UoJWRCR.jpg
Inside this building there will be an NPC called "recruiter". Tell him you want to volunteer. He will warp you to the map one W of Prontera next to an NPC called "Culvert Guardian". Now that you have volunteered he'll allow you access to the map. Inside you'll be killing Thief Bugs, but what you really want to go for is Thief Bug Females that are abundant on the second floor. Have potions ready if you venture any farther, as mobs get stronger and are also aggro.
Level 30 - 40If you leveled in Payon Dungeon you can continue on to the second floor. Skeleton Bones you gathered on the first floor sell for good starting zeny and can help with a potion budget for this floor, which gets significantly harder... in fact, you'll probably want to be closer to 40 than 30 when trying here. Soldier Skeletons and Skeleton Archers are your main targets. Avoid Eggyras entirely. They're not aggro, don't give good experience and are a total pain in the ass to kill.
W W of Prontera there is an NPC named Laertes who will ask you to kill Creamies as well as collect "Powder of Butterfly", one of their drops. Although it's not great for that long if you decided to level at Rockers during your earlier levels and have potions, it's a great way to transition into something better.
N N of Geffen you can find a quest giving NPC called "Nutters" and "Yullo". Nutters will give a quest to kill Cocos while Yullo will give a quest to kill Caramels. Even better, Yullo will also take 25 Porcupine Quills for experience; these drop guaranteed from Caramels. Caramels are harder but give better experience, both from killing them and the quest.
S S of Payon is wolves. I love wolves. They drop two different types of healing items as well as an SP recovery item that you can use as you grind or stockpile for the future as well as give good enough experience to stick around at for quite some time.
Bibilan Dungeon's first and second floor is pretty decent for a while and everything is killable... although Cornutus are a pain in the ass.
Toy Factory is also a good place to level at. Cookies are easy while Christmas Cookies pose a bit more of a challange but are manageable. They also drop consumables and while they're not as good as meat... free healing items!
Level 40 - 60If you stuck it out at Payon Dungeon you can go to even farther floors. Third floor has Bongun and Manuk which are decent enough. It's once you get a few levels out of them you can continue on to floor four with Sohees. Here I'd definitely have potions as it's a long walk and they can wear you out pretty quickly. There is one Nine-Tail and one Giant Whisper on this floor, both you don't want to mess with either of them, run if you see them. On the off-chance you get a Sohee Card congratulations, you just made like 4 million zeny.
You can stick at wolves for a decent while into these levels if you so desire for the consumables and if you're already there. Their experience doesn't completely taper off yet at these levels... but it definitely starts waning.
You might be able to do this much sooner than 40 but be prepared to bring potions if you do. An NPC called "Shone" and "Lemly" can be found S S E of Morroc. Shone will ask you to kill Hodes as well as collect their drop Earthworm Peeling for exp while Lemly will ask you to kill Frilldoras as well as turn in their drop Frill. Hodes are much easier to deal with than Frilldoras. Be careful on this map, while Hodes are not aggro, Frilldoras are and can also cloak, meaning they can just show up and hit you. They make a distinct noise whether you can see them or not so it's good to recognize when one might be on your screen. Eventually you'll be able to kill the Frilldoras comfortably enough, whether by enough potions or levels.
S E E of Payon (the same as the Greatest General map) has an NPC named Li located on it who will give you quests to kill Dokebis as well as turn in their horns. Stay away from Greatest Generals if you're not ranged and stay away from Nine-Tails if you're anyone.
Head E of Ayothaya and speak to Lella on the map who will ask you to hunt Leaf Cats. Leaf Cats are not located on this map however, so once you've done that return to the Warper and head to Ayothaya Dungeon. Leaf Cats are strange as they give a retarded amount of job experience in exchange for giving next to no base experience at all. Repeating this quest really makes up for it though, as it gives a decent amount of both job and base experience. Run from Wootan Fighters on this map. They're not impossible but they'll absolutely suck you dry of potions. As an added bonus, Leaf Cats drop Huge Leafs which can be given to Lella in sets of 50 for even more experience.
If you went to Bibilan Dungeon you can continue to the third floor for Obeaune. Although so-so for experience they have a pretty good drop table for zeny. Hold on to Heart of Mermaids that they drop as they sell to players on the market for about 700z a piece; much more than their NPC amount.
If you went to Toy Factory you can continue on to the next floor and fight Myst Cases and Cruisers. Myst Cases are the real winners here as everything they drop is worth quite a lot of zeny. Despite it being a healing item, try not to eat the cake they drop as they sell for 1500z a piece to NPCs which is basically 30 meat.
Level 60 - 80Alligators which are E E of Comodo are great for a handful of reasons. First is there is a quest giver on the east side of the map who both gives experience for killing them and for turning in the item Anolian Skin in 20 that they drop. Second, if they drop their card you just made like 6-8 million zeny.
One of the best places to level is stuck behind a quest wall. The quest is also rather extensive, so I'll just post this external guide that should be accurate here;
http://irowiki.org/wiki/Finding_The_Moving_Island_Quest
This allows you to access Moscovia Dungeon. If you decide you want to do this quest and head there you'll be fighting Les. They give moderate experience for this level, and as a ranged class you can actually start here much sooner. N E of Comodo is an NPC named Lilla who accepts 50 Sharp Leafs (Les drop these) for a butt ton of experience. Doing this quest eventually is worth it as almost all of Moscovia Dungeons maps are stupid lucrative at different points in the game.
Alternatively if you don't want to do the quest you can just go N E of Comodo and kill Dryads. They're significantly harder than Les for not too much more experience but they also drop Sharp Leafs. The Sharp Leaf quest really is that good.
You can continue to the 4th floor in Bibilan Dungeon where you'll fight Swordfish and Marc. This place has a lot of mobs and a lot of them are aggressive so it's good to walk slowly. This place isn't cutting edge experience but it's good enough if you happened to be in the area. Come the later half, if you're a flee monster or you have a lot of health and a lot of potions and this place becomes easy for you, you can head to the next floor and fight Merman and Strouf... just come prepared as this place is pretty hard and you will probably just get raped walking in at a fresh level 60... in fact it might be more suited saying it's a 80 - 99 location but it's sort of on the cuff.
Groves are a strange place to level at as you'll mostly pick this place for the abundance of healing items they drop. S W N of Hugel is the best map to fight them at, although S W has a good number too. Novuses are super annoying and present on both maps, just skill spam them as you see them or worse case scenario fly wing away.
Hillwinds can be found N N W of Lightalzen. Their drops are worth tons of zeny and while they have high damage, they have very low defense. You'll want to be on the higher side of levels (probably in the 70s at least) but if you're reading this as a ranged character... this place is completely undoable as a caster but doable basically as early as level 60 if you're an Archer.
High Orcs can be found W of where Orc Dungeon drops you off and just give a whole lot of raw experience. Save the steel as it's something players will buy at higher than NPC value though. You'll want to avoid the Orc Archers on the map if you can and not run around too much as it's easy to get mobbed on this map. It's a little tough if you go there as soon as you hit 2nd job but not impossible... just be ready to use healing items.
Acolytes and Priests OnlyI would like to take a moment by saying you CAN have a str>agi>dex Acolyte and you CAN then follow the guide for leveling areas for melee characters, but my protip is don't do this unless you absolutely, positively hate yourself, wish you were dead and really wanted to reinforce that. Yes you can heal yourself but it's really, really, really, REALLY slow going.Level 20 - 30Heal bomb things at Payon Dungeon until you hate yourself... but honestly it's not that bad as once you get the first levels done your options open up a little.
Level 30 - 40The skills you want to charge for especially if you're doing this solo is Lv10 Heal and then getting Pneuma. (by getting teleport, warp portal and ruwach) You can go to floor 2 of Payon Dungeon as soon as you do. Using Pneuma where you stand blocks all ranged damage so Skeleton Archers can't hurt you and when you see Soldier Skeletons just run in circles from them using heal until they're dead. If you mess any of these things up though you're probably dead.
If you want a change of scenery though you can head to Orc Dungeon, going into the building behind you as you warp in. Inside you'll be heal bombing Orc Zombies and Orc Skeletons.
The only other place I can think of if you want variety is E of Comodo where you can heal bomb the floating zombie fish Megalodons.
Level 40 - 60Glast Heim Prison is pretty much the best place you can go to. Find a solo Zombie Prisoner and just spam heal on it until it's dead. If it doesn't make you level you're likely out of SP. A common technique is when you're out of SP use teleport to go back to your saved city. Talk to the healer, pay to get your SP back, go back to Glast Heim Prison and repeat. Cheesy but it works well.
If you're feeling super adventurous you can try for Firelock Soldiers. It requires a quest, isn't any faster than Zombie Prisoners and is even harder but if you're looking for an adventure then look no farther.
http://ratemyserver.net/quest_db.php?type=70000&qid=70001
Completely ignore step 1, the warper can take you to Amatsu without having to pay the zeny for a boat ride there. The rest you do need to complete though. Once you get there Firelock Soldiers you'll want to use Pneuma to block their attacks; they're all ranged. On top of that, they're undead. So basically make sure Pneuma is up at all times and heal them to death.
Level 60 - 99It would be more appropriate to call this section "when you become a priest" rather than have level amounts. Once you become a Priest rush skill points into Turn Undead until it's maxed. You can continue to do Zombie Prisoners with it but now with a decent chance to autokill them at a small amount of mana rather than spamming heal at a large amount of mana. You do this until...
You can do Anubis. The typical Anubis killing build has agi>=int=dex, all being relatively high but none of them exactly being outrageous. Avoid everything that's not an Anubis, shift+click Lv1 Bless on them on sight (blessing undead significantly reduces their int and dex, which means their spells do less to you and they miss you a lot) run in circles and spam Turn Undead until they die.
You're a Priest! Find someone who can level somewhere more interesting and support them. You really enable characters to go pretty much anywhere so even strangers will be happy to have you so long as you got a decent hold on how to support. All that leveling garbage above this? That all really goes out the window once a Priest is involved. You can go literally anywhere so long as a party backs it. Kind of a copout but Priests are essential to a party that functions.
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I haven't really gone out of my way to do 80-99 yet because no one is really even Lv80 yet and all these level breakpoints might not be accurate. As Danna put it, post it first, fact check it second!
