Zones
Misty Thicket
The Halfling outdoor zone south of Rivervale. Newbie yard, bandit camps, and the gateway to Runnyeye.
- Rivervale
- Runnyeye
Misty Thicket is the Halfling outdoor zone, sitting south of Rivervale and forming the corridor down to the goblin fortress at Runnyeye. The zone is forest and meadow: low fog, scattered farmland, bandit camps along the road, and the recurring Halfling militia patrols that mostly help if you are not on the wrong faction. For Halfling starting characters it is the canonical newbie yard. For everyone else it is the friendliest 1-15 outdoor zone on Antonica — bindable, faction-clean if you do not pick fights with militia, and within walking distance of a real dungeon. On The Last Camp, the any-race-any-class doctrine means an Ogre Druid or a Dark Elf Cleric can start in Rivervale and use Misty Thicket the same way a Halfling Warrior would.
Content
- Bandits — scaling 5-15, the primary humanoid camps along the central paths.
- Goblins — light goblin presence in the central zone, 8-15.
- Halfling militia patrols — friendly if your faction is intact; hostile if you have been hunting bandits incorrectly.
- Wildlife — wolves, snakes, beetles in the open ground.
- Runnyeye gate — the south pass to the goblin fortress dungeon.
- The Wall — the iconic militia wall fortification across the Runnyeye corridor.
Why bother
Misty Thicket is one of the most forgiving Classic outdoor zones for the 1-15 range. The bandit and goblin camps give clean newbie XP without the pull-train risk of dungeons. The militia presence makes the zone safer than its level range suggests — patrols will engage hostile mobs if a player draws the wrong attention. For The Last Camp players the zone serves a wider audience than vanilla EverQuest expected: any new character starting in Rivervale, regardless of race or class, can level here through the teens. The proximity to Runnyeye makes it the natural staging zone for the next dungeon stop.
Field notes
The militia is friendly to Halfling-faction players and helpful in cleared corners of the zone. That help vanishes if you tag the wrong patrol or take a hand-in that shifts your standing. Watch faction text after kills; bandit-related quests can edge militia faction in unexpected directions. Bind in the zone if you plan to use Runnyeye for serious leveling — the dungeon does not allow bind, so a Misty Thicket recall is the corpse-run shortcut. Pull bandits off the central road so militia patrols do not chain into the fight. The zone is wide; do not med far from a clear sight line on the road. The Wall is a useful staging point for groups heading into Runnyeye. A short rest at The Wall before committing to the dungeon saves more wipes than it should. The militia will not follow you into the goblin fortress; from there, you are on your own.