Looking for a place to quest now that you are finally out of the level 1-10 newbie areas? Commonlands is the place to go. With a wide variety of quests The Commonlands brings a lot of fun to new and old players alike who are trying to level up a lower level character. The majority of the quests you will find in the Crossroads, which can be found just west if you follow the road out of West Freeport. However there are a couple of quests upon exiting West Freeport that will get you started in that general direction. There are so many quests, in fact, that you might find you don't have the time to do them all before you are ready for a couple of instances just off of The Commonlands! (The Fallen Gate & Wailing Caverns). Every quest that I have encountered in this zone from the NPCs can be soloed, so this is a great place for low level characters who just want a place to play alone or who might not be able to find groups. You can start getting some of the quests as early as level 10, 11 and 12. As you continue to level in this zone, more quests will start opening up to you until you reach level 20. If crafting and harvesting is your first love this is an excellent zone to get your lower level harvesting skills up, as the zone is so big.


Sidora
Level 70
Crushbone




The Commonlands (CL)
Zone best suited for levels 10 to 23.
Good solid zone for Soloing and Duos. Full Groups will plow through this zone.

There are probably a good 100 quests located in the Commonlands. The nice thing about them is that no matter where you start with the quests you will eventually come across them all.

Starting right when you zone to the Commonlands Dock, from any Freeport (FP) racial slum, you will be offered a quest from Brandus Levine. He offers a series of quests ranging from level 10 to 18. For his first quest he sends you to the gates of West Freeport. Here, you will not only update your current quest but also have the opportunity to start on another Quest Line. This one is offered by Mooshga..

If you are or going to become a Provisioner, then meeting Mooshga will be very important to you. This is one of the few quests that a Provisioner can do to acquire a different recipe than the standard Essential Recipes. She is a Provisioner of Note and will send you on several food gathering runs. If you aren't a Provisioner, never fear, she is willing to feed you along the way. While not as good as Provisioner made food/drink, they can be a very welcome addition to anyone starting out with limited funds, plus her quests will intersect with several more quest lines of the zone leading to even more quest rewards.

The general feeling of the zone is of a Savanna. Large swaths of grass hide many predators. There are lots of critters to kill and to watch out for in this zone. Not only do you have to worry about the occasional annoying wasp but you also have an occupying Orc Force not too far from the Gates of West Freeport, who show no signs of leaving. They play an integral part in over 2 dozen quests in this zone.

There is no shortage of Named Mobs in this zone but if you are looking to pad out your Alternative Achievements (AA) you will be disappointed with over half of them. On a rough guess there is probably over 30 named mobs in the Commonlands. Ranging from the Regular to the Rare.

The Loot in this zone, as a whole, isn't really anything of note. The rewards for the majority of the quests are pretty standard and the actual drops of the zone are at best rather random. Good for the Player just starting out and Good for Transmuting if you aren't new.

Some of the more interesting things that you can occasionally get as a drop is a Quest Starter. These Quest Starters can either be a quick quest with a decent reward or can lead to a very long and involved quest that will end with a very good reward. Some Quest Starters are good purely because they will lead you to other places that intersect with the Commonlands. The FSRs come to mind here.

The Far Sea Requisitions Orders are quests that will require you to travel to one of the 2 major dungeons located in the Commonlands, in order to fill their orders of supplies.

The Wailing Caves (WC), in the NE part of the zone, is good for levels 12 to 20. And, while grouping is recommended for both dungeons, there are a few Solo mobs mixed in the front of Wailing Caves. Here a good group could not only do their FSRs but also travel through entire dungeon in probably 1-2hrs. There are several Named Mobs in this zone as well as a small ring event at the end of the zone.

Fallen Gate (FG), in the NW part of the zone, is good for levels 16 to 30. Grouping is mandatory for this zone! The Thexians and Undead creatures of this zone are fierce in their fighting. They take a "no prisoner" attitude. There are lots of Named Mobs and good to great loot here. This zone can take several hours even with a full group as this zone is packed with heroic mobs, static and wandering.

There are several other smaller dungeons located off of The Commonlands. 2 of which can contain Epic creatures.

There is The Bloodskull Valley (BSV), located in the SW area, which has several different pre-programmed instances, that are used for a couple different reasons; a Small Group / Grouped & the Actual Epic version, depending on your current quest. The Grouped version is recommended for 18- 23.

The Tower of Zarvonn, in the NW, is also a multi use zone that can house a Solo/Group & Epic version, again depending on your current quest. The Grouped version is recommended for levels 18 – 23.

The other dungeon off of this zone is The Valley of the Rogue Magi, located in the SW. This requires a quest to gain access and future trips into the zone require purchase of a special potion sold conveniently at the zone entrance. This dungeon is perfect for the soloer or small group, levels 15 to 20.

Whew! The Commonlands pack quite a punch! Amazingly, there is still even more that could be discussed. But, why? Go out and discover it for yourself. Happy Questing!

Kaisha Triol
Level 62
Permafrost




Ah yes – the Commonlands – the Antonica for evil people. Home to the Bloodskull orcs, Blackshield pirates, and every four legged animal to keep a zoologist busy until Frostfell – with connections to Nektulos Forest, Wailing Caves and Fallen Gate, and a portal up to Tenebrous Tangle.

Hope that you brought your Chuck Taylor's if you plan on getting around this zone. Even though there are three separate griffon towers, they are not well positioned for getting around. On the bright side – Commonlands is a flat as an off tune Vhalenic bard so auto-run is the best way to traverse this expanse.

There are plenty of great quests to do here including the heritage quest for the Greater Light Stone. Qeynosians beware though – some dropped starters lead to NPC's in Freeport that won't give you the time of day.

There isn't much opportunity to be heroic here as most of those encounters have been thinned out in favor of a kinder, gentler, more soloable Commonlands.

If you are feeling extra adventurous, there is always Ladon, a level 22 x2 epic drakota that spawns here as well. You'll probably be hard pressed to muster a raid force to tackle him before a high level player comes along and tries to prove their worth solo against an epic mob.

So in summary, this zone lives up to its name – Land of Commons. There is nothing really unique or spectacular about it. One would think that Lucan's front lawn would just have bit more pizzazz.

Dellmon
Level 70
Unrest



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See another good review at Average Joe Blog in response to a participation challenge by Kendricke.