Holic's Exp Guide
Welcome to my EXP Guide!
We will be concentrating on Mining for the sake of EXP farming, so grab a Pickaxe and get ready to breathe in the sweet smell of Coal dust! 
Let's start the guide as if you are level 1, and do not have the tools as of yet. 
First things first go farm some Gold from the Zombies and Ettin south of Aria until you have at least 600 Gold.
Once you have the cash you will want to leave Aria and head up 1, then right 1 and down 1 to Sacke.
You will want to buy a Fruit Pie and the Sickle. These are for later, trust me.
Next you will want to collect a Poppy. They will be 2 red flowers a few screens to the right of Sacke near Gombard.
You will only need 1 Poppy.
Now head back to Aria. 
From Aria you will want to head North until you reach Dondheim.
In Dondheim Castle you will find Thore who will sell you a Pickaxe. 
Once you have the Pickaxe head outside and start mining the walls of Hardstone above the castle.
You will quickly learn that you can only mine 6 times in one spot before it runs out. 
Moving 4 tiles away will let you mine again. (See Mechanics:Harvesting)
Get into a habit of mining in 2 spots close to one another and going back and forth.
You will not have to worry about Inventory Space for a while as Stack Limits on items are 10,000. 
As you level up your goal is to keep leveling STR (and CON as needed, but mostly STR). 
Why you ask? The higher your STR, the less of a chance to "Got Nothing" while mining. 
Less "Got Nothing" means more EXP and items which can be turned into EXP.
Once you reach 11 Mining you will want to head north through the Mountain Passage heading Left and Up where possible to get to Manheim.
Once you are in Manheim your goal is to enter the Manheim Tavern and click on the bookshelf in the top right near the bed.
Once you have read that book speak to Arne on the left to get the quest to unlock the Dwarven Language. (Follow the link for that guide).
Congratulations, you've reached Dovan Helm.
Now as you enter the main gates you have 2 NPC to speak to. 
Give the Poppy to the Dunik and the Fruit Pie to Gurdin.
Enter the Gates and head up 1 screen to the Forge and Anvil area.
Speak to Olior and take his quest Job's Worth. 
After completing it, you will have the Fine Pickaxe which will let you mine the walls indoors! 
Start hammering away at the Deep Stone and you're well on your way!
The final form of mining pre-Northlands is the Silver and Gold spots in the Shroom Town Cellar.
See Purple Stone mining.
You will need two pre-requisites to Mine here. 
First you must complete the quest The Orb.
Then you will speak to the Craggy the Witch in the Swamp
Then you must get the Slime Heart from the Stump Dungeon by killing the Mother Slime.
Bring the Slime Heart back to Craggy and take The Dark Arts to Toad in Shroom Town.
Once you have done this you can then enter the Cellar!
Crafting Gold Ore to Gold Ingots nets you 428 exp per craft at 3 Gold Ore and 3 Coal to 1 Gold Ingot.
Crafting Silver Nuggets to Silver Ingots nets you 500 exp per craft at 4 Silver Nugget and 4 Coal to 1 Silver Ingot.
In order to mine these new ores you will need a Mithril Pickaxe sold in Tolhain.
To get to Tolhain go to Gombard and head north along the coast.
The Pickaxe will be expensive, so start saving up!
While you are in Tolhain it is important to read the book in the Mage Shop near Ralph.
Once you have read the book you can unlock the best active Mining EXP in the game pre-Northlands. The Ruby Mines.
Head back to Dovan Helm and go inside the main Gates and speak to Drun about a Toast.
He will tell you about the Ruby Mines which can be found on the right-hand side of the Dark Stone room above the smithing room.
Be Careful as the High Ooze inside the Ruby Mines pack a punch.
Additional things to note:
You will need a number of recipes to reach a smithing level that will let you farm exp through crafting using your materials. 
- Iron Ingot (Sold by Thore in Dondheim)
- Mithril Ingot (Sold by Dolin in Dovan Helm) You will need Bear Ears and Giant Snake Fangs to complete the Quest before he will sell you anything.
- Cut Diamond (Sold by Luci in Sterlin)
- Silver Ingot (Sold by Thore in Dondheim)
- Gold Ingot (Sold by Harald in Manheim)
- Cut Sapphire (Sold by Abraham in S'thel)
- Cut Ruby (Sold by Seymour in Tolhain)
- Boar Armor (Sold by Singrid in Manheim)
- Gold Boar Armor (Sold by Singrid in Manheim)