Once again, thanks to several sources (eqmaps for the comments / some locations, mapfiend for the polygonal data I used to create the maps, folks on the raid with me for information).

Here are some things we learned from our first trip to the Dragon Necropolis. I'll split the info into sections below, but I'll list the maps first for those of you who are just looking for those.

Dragon Necropolis Upper Level
http://doccus.dragon.cx/Necropolis.gif

Dragon Necropolis Lower Level
http://doccus.dragon.cx/NecropolisLower.gif

GETTING THERE
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Dragon Necropolis is entered from the Western Wastes. The only known path to the Western Wastes at this point is: Cobalt Scars -> Sirens Grotto -> Western Wastes. When you enter Siren's Grotto, hug the wall to your left IMMEDIATELY, and you will not aggro the high-level Bulthars guarding the zone line. Have your friendly druid cast Succor to get you to the other zone line. Turn 90 degrees right immediately and run. You'll zone out into the Western Wastes in about 5 seconds.

Stay at the SG zone end of the Western Wastes tunnel for safety. Nothing roams down the tunnel. LEVITATE (this is important) and see invis / invis everyone. Do not stop to combat anything that attacks a group member on the way there. There are HUGE chain-aggro problems in WW. You will wipe out your party by attracting the attention of named dragons, ice wurms, and velium hounds by the dozens.

Exit the tunnel (invis, levitating) and head slightly left. You will quickly encounter a ridge / dropoff to the ocean. Follow the ridge until you see a sort of circular area with a black rock in the center. This is your landmark to head at a 45 degree angle inland (away from the ocean). You will quickly encounter a huge gorge, with four black towers on your side of it. Float quickly to the towers and click on them. You'll zone into Dragon Nec.

If anyone dies on the way, do NOT stop. Form a minimal recovery party INSIDE Dragon Nec, and zone out to recover. That way, the rest of your raid parties are safe. The zone area in DN is safe, with no wanderers. The zone is two-way, meaning you can also zone out. If you zone out un-invis, be prepared to aggro everything around the gorge lip, which is usually too much to handle for 5-6 full groups. IMHO, the aggro in WW is broken ... the aggro areas for each MOB are too large.

We're In ... Now What?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
There are only two main factions in Dragon Nec. Paebala and Chetari. We picked the Chetari (micemen). All cute flully mice must die :) Consult the maps, so you know which direction you want to head toward. I'm not sure if both of the races are generally KOS, but the Chetari sure hated me upon first sight. Alternately, you may be here to kill Zlandicar. If this is the case, good luck, and have fun :) I haven't done this yet.

Traps
-=-=-
You brought a rogue, right? You better have. This zone is literally FILLED with traps. And these aren't "you take 15 damage, ow" traps. These are "ha ha, I just spawned 10 2000HP biting beetles on your ass" traps. They also spawn Dragon Constructs ... which are fairly nasty monstrosities. They are worth a ton of XP, though, and drop some nice items. All of the piles of bones scattered around the level are traps. There are also many traps that are undetectable except by the Sense Traps skill of rogues and bards. This is usually followed by the Disarm Traps skill, and a quick run through by the party. Disarm Traps does not last very long (less than 30 seconds).

Upper Floor MOBs
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Aside from the constructs you may trigger, you will see a ton of Phase Spiders on the upper floor. These are levels 49-52, and randomly teleport your group members a short distance away. This is bad if they land on traps. We dispatched 'em fairly quickly, though. They sometimes drop a Phase Spider Carapace (very nice piece of armor), or more frequenly, Phase Spider Blood (one charge of Improved Invisibility).

Also on the top floor is the Shade of Jaled'Dar. He's behind a locked door that our two rogues couldn't pick. He takes GREAT exception to anyone nearby with a werewolf illusion, we found out. Like Cazic Thule, he calls your name, points his finger, and you die. Ouch. The good thing is, he stops after he kills the offending party member, and doesn't just clean the zone. I believe the shade is the quest giver for the key to sleeper's tomb. I read that somewhere, not sure if it's true or not, or if my memory is accurate.

Chetari Area
-=-=-=-=-=
You'll descend a steep hole into the ground to get to the Chetari (area 1), or navigate the Paebala section and drop down (area 2 on the map). You will encounter your first Chetari on the ramp down, in addition to Carrion Bats, and any sprung traps your puller (ROGUE) trips. We got stuck here, and only figured out the problem right before the raid ended (this was our first time down). I'll explain what happened at the end, under Recurring Vision.

Turn left at the T intersection. There are THREE back-to-back traps in this area. It is very very very hard for your rogues to catch and disarm them all. We got beetles (2 sets) and a Dragon Construct outta this. Oh yeah, and a very dead rogue, which the construct then camped until we could arrange the (10 minute) CR with our other rogue. Couldn't do the CR with anyone else ... or we would have re-sprung the traps.

I've been told that the micemen have a fairly large city past the T intersection. Like I said, we got stuck. We did, however, manage to get an Aged Velium Claidhmore (30/37 2HS) off a Chetari Dominator, and a Recurved Velium Bow (30/39/110) off a Chetari Hunter. In addition, we scored a flawless diamond (Velious BP quest armor gem), several lesser gems, and a ton of (junk! risk v. reward my butt) regular velium weapons. We also got several spells. IF ANYONE FROM VERANT IS READING THIS ... TAKE THE SPELLS THAT ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE (teleports, etc) OFF THE MOBs. It's disgusting to loot a spell you can buy for 17p. I'll be writing them a letter about this, as well. They need to re-do the spell loot tables :)

This ramp has been outlined as THE best place to have a single XP group in DN. The XP in this dungeon is FANTASTIC, easily blowing away Howling Stones. Your single XP group must consist of 6 very good folks, 55+, with both an enchanter and a rogue. Anything else will get you dead quick. Have your cleric hang back a bit on the ramp, and camp out (for CR / rez) if things go bad. You know the drill :)

Recurring Vision
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I promised you a section about "The Vision". One of the things that Verant has pushed for ages (and never got right) is the "Dungeon Crawl". This is where teams of mighty adventurers constantly push forward in a dungeon. Well, they got it right in Dragon Necropolis. There are so many patrolling Chetari, and the ever-present danger of hitting traps, that you MUST keep your groups moving. Once you slow down / stop, you will most likely be stuck wherever you are for a time, while you laboriously re-clear the wanderers and traps. We didn't know ... and never got past the intersection. One rez, and everything had respawned. Twice, and we just decided to sit there and make the best out of it until the raid ended. We were almost at the end-time of the raid, and folks were starting to trickle out.

One of the reasons that crawls work in DN is that, 99% likely, you will be the only adventurers in the zone. The combination of teleport tooth requirements (CS), key requirement (CS also, from named drake in Skyshrine), distance from nearest bind city (Skyshrine, or Kael), and the chance of dying almost instantly on the trip through the Western Wastes dissuades many folks. I'm telling you, the trip is worth it :) Go now, before this place becomes Lower Guk :)

Raid Makeup Suggestions
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
If you're experienced, or Uber, feel free to disregard this section :) This is just my take on your party selection / chance of survival.

XP Group, Phase Spiders and Ramp
1 group 55+, enchanter, cleric, rogue required
2 groups 53+, cleric, enchanter, rogue required
3-4 groups 50+, heavy on warriors if caster levels low, enc, clr, rog required
(there's a pattern here :)

Loot Group, Deep Chetari Penetration
4 Groups, 53+, well balanced. One cleric per group. At least one ENC. Two rogues suggested.

Zlandicar
??? We didn't do it. Probably 5-6 good groups.

When moving, your rogue is the most important person in the raid. When stopped, the enchanter(s) are the most important asset in your raid. Use heals accordingly.

I hope this helps some folks. If you're trying to start your own raid, I suggest placing a raid notice on www.everquestraids.com at least 2 weeks in the future to get the best mixture / most number of folks signed up. Good hunting!

-Doccus

I just skim read and noticed that you mentioned the tomb of Jaled'Dar -- he's a huge ghost of a dragon sitting atop a raised platform; very impressive! He's beta neutral in faction, and so indifferent to everyone (you've not been killing Wenglawks I trust!).

Access to his tomb is via a quest with Zlandicar or Neb, depending on which side of the rat war you've opted to side. For 95% of people, that will be against Zlandicar as he drops some interesting equipment! Jaled'dar himself you can talk to, and he gives you a quest for the key to the Sleeper's Tomb (which is not soulbound, six soulbound keys would be just too much!) I'll post some screenshots from inside Sleepers once I've converted them. :)

WTB a soulbound keyring!


Toodlepip,
--
Lotusfly Stewnicely
KTF
Prexus


***

Zlandicar: His lair is where you have the big question mark in the lower area. He chills in the last round room there. Theres a trap or 4 on the way there and in his lair btw.

-Ziann

***

One thing we learned while there is that you might not want to avoid all traps, particullarly the beatle ones. Here's what we would do. Get to the first beatle trap on the way down the tunnel, have EVERYONE (even clerics) load up point blank AE's, have tank trigger trap and run back to group, wipe out the beetles. At that point you have 27 minutes (I think that's the respawn) before the trap fires again.

Much safer than trying to get everyone to avoid a trigger rock or run through during a disarm...there's always one person who was afk that spawns the trap 30 seconds after you're past anyway :) We even had one group of six decide to just sit on two traps for a evening, they made quite a pile of xp and the beatles drop a 10/19 non-magic 1HSer.

Defintitely a very fun place that will only become more popular as succoring druids become more common.

-Gillail Bramblepaw


***

something to note. . .

dragon constructs and beetle swarms are not technically traps, so they cannot be disarmed or sensed by a rogue using those skills. . .think of them more like ambushes =)

-Khardan

***

My guild (the same one Gillail is in) has logged some time here as well. Actually for Phase spiders and DCs you don't need a lvl 55+ group. A group of low 50s can handle the area easily. You would probably want a more tank heavy group and one damage shield casting class and obviously a competent cleric.

I suggest fighting near the entrance closer the zone out obelisk (obviously not close enough that you accidently get zoned out) so that if anyone gets ported by a spider it is not that far out and it limits the chance of being ported into a trap or wandering spider. The Phase Spider Carapaces are VERY nice although quite rare (who knows maybe 1 in 100 spiders). The weapons from the Constructs is nice and they also drop the scrolls for Kale quests so all of you giant lovers can get some nice xp and gear from looting the scrolls.

Mithandriel Fireforge
53rd Level Dwarven Vicar
Foundation Rathe
Meaoldar Thistlethorn
35th level Wood Elf Druid
Slaggoth Swiftfury
32nd level Iksar Monk
Everlasting Alliance
Tulvarian Randall
20th level Half Elf Rogue

***

hehe a little tip on hunting phase spiders (weve done this a few times when there were only 3 of us or so in the zone) is to pull them into one of the buildings with doors and camp there. The TP proc they use wont shoot you across the zone and limit you to the 10 feet or so inside the building. Makes xping off them in a pinch very easy and doable.

-Elial

***

Great guide. Just a couple clarifications (nitpicks?! hehe).

When you come out of the tunnel in WW, if you go straight out and to your left a hair you will run smack into the pit where Klandicar lives. If Klandicar is up, you can drop down into the pit (levitating of course) and follow the wall to the monoliths you click on to zone in, without aggro'ing him.

Bards can sense traps and disarm them as well as rogues can, but they do CR better than we do.

The Jaled Dar's shade is a fun sort... on the Upper Level map you provided, the area just to the right of where you have marked as the spawn point of the Shade of Jaled`Dar, has been known to spawn those little beetles. If you happen to trigger this spawn, do NOT use ae spells.






as Farlen can attest, it's not very comfortable. I think we lost 2 or 3 clerics and at least 1 enchanter to DT's that round.

This is a wonderful and very dangerous zone. I predict that this zone will not become anything like Guk or Karnor, as it's not very easy to get to, and CR is atrocious for the single group looking for exp. The gukkies hate zones like this, they are too much like work.

Once again, great information and maps, thanks for posting them. :)
Tulaz Blackmoore(58) Temple of Innoruuk

***

I can give a little info on the traps....

Most of the traps are random and move. This time, it's a poison dart here, next time either it's a little farther away, or is a Pillage Enchantments trap. Sometimes there are 4 or 5 in a row, sometimes there is nothing.

And the swarmer (little death beetles) and dragon contruct (little dracoliche) are undetectable, and they see invis/sneak. They are not really traps, but more of an ambush. Do not expect your rogue to disarm them. Just accept them as ambushes and love the fun. ;)

Zyvalla Kwikfingers
Assassin of House Arcanum
Bristlebane server

***

Couple of points to add (have spent 50-100 hours hunting in DN)

The Dragon Constructs only spawn if you step in one of the many piles of dragon bones, so you can leave them be if you don't want to fight them by avoiding the bones (unless you get unlucky and get 'phased' into a pile)

Many of the spiders and rats are immune to snare and root (based on MoB lvl) rats will run so be ready to nuke hard at 1/4 life or there abouts. The bigger problem with this are the big snakes, goos, and bats they seem to run faster and sooner.

The bats are non agro unless you are in a fight, then they jump in against you.

The rats called Dominators and Dustshapers and some of the Chelaki are close to if not impossible to mez, kill them 1st and be ready to switch and/or have a tank take your original pull solo if one of them adds (especially if original is doted)

There are VERY few fixed spawns in the Chetari rat area and the roaming range is huge but there are a few side alcoves off the main path that you can pull to. Getting in one of those alcoves makes the raid much more managable.

Most of the traps are annoyances, debuffs, hit for a fair amount of damage ect. but 1 is a royal pain if not prepaired. It levitates 1 person and slowly kills them. We had people stuck for up to 5 minutes, until we finally thought of annul magic which took the affect off too.

This zone is very difficult but if you have a good group you can do the upper areas and have a chance to survive deep in. I would strongly recomend 2 groups to go in deep until you get a feel for the zone.

If you like new and different zones this one can be an absolute blast and there are some very nice random rewards too. Think ahead, be prepaired and DN is a hoot but if you go in casually it can be a looong CR nightmare.



Beowolfe
Luclin

***

A few of us have been to DN and stayed for a relatively long time with 1 lovely group...

Ench, Monk, Pally, Ranger, Cleric, and Druid (me!)

Instead of having a rogue find traps, our monk goes around and sets them off, run far, and FD (if beetles). The beetles will despawn in 30 sec, which is all good. Another note, always let the Monk get the Phase Spider Blood for your ever ready CR (in case you get a gating rat!).

We spent 8 hrs at DN one day and had gotten the following:

Brawl sticks: 30/39, 30/40
1hs: 10/23, 10/24
2hs: 30/37 (2), 30/40
2 Flawless diamonds
1 Melee emerald (forgot name)
2 Black Marbles
5 Jaundice Gems
2 Crushed Onxy Saphires
2 Paebala Flayed Tunics
2 Shields (something like AC 19, sv fire 10, can be worn on back)
2-3 no drop scrolls/tablets for Giants quest (which result in random items of Circle of Vallon, Book of Strategies, and a nice +7 int, -5 cha int caster bracer)

Tons of spells, and some more items, but forgot at the top of my head

Very doable with 1 group, although the evac-er should be 57+ for in zone succor.

-Ellysia

***