Areas by Challenge Rating
Challenge Rating (CR) is used on NS4 to determine experience points awarded for killing a particular creature, and is an indicator of creature difficulty. Killing creatures of higher CR will award more XP. Killing creatures of lower CR than your character level will award proportionately lower XP, down to no XP award for much lower level creatures.
The CR level range of area also roughly indicates the intended level for parties adventuring in the area. Note that bosses have CR ratings higher than the overall average, in most cases 2-4 levels. Bosses in high level areas routinely have CR >40, but are still killable by appropriate parties and/or PC's.
The areas adjacent to Faction cities are generally suitable for adventuring from Level 1 to Level 7 or slightly higher. Jobs are designed to help with initial leveling.
Higher level areas are tabulated below. Locations of non-planar areas can be discerned on the Maps page.
| Area | Avg CR | Min | Max |
| Icy Flats | 7 | 6 | 9 |
| Bandit Headquarters | 8 | 4 | 11 |
| Ogre Pass | 9.5 | 9 | 10 |
| Haddon Mirk | 10 | 7 | 12 |
| Minotaur's Lair | 12 | 11 | 14 |
| Snake Pit | 12 | 10 | 15 |
| Catacombs | 13 | 6 | 16 |
| Mountain Trail | 13 | ||
| Haddon Mirk: Crypt | 13 | 11 | 16 |
| Haddon Mirk Ogres | 14 | ||
| Giant Mountain | 15 | ||
| South Road Tower: Depths | 15 | 14 | 16 |
| Frozen Waste | 16 | 15 | 17 |
| Troll Cave | 16 | ||
| Gnolls | 16 | 14 | 19 |
| Ash Mountain: Mezzoleths | 17 | 11 | 19 |
| Undersea City | 20 | 18 | 21 |
| Ice Trolls | 20 | 19 | 21 |
| Ice Efreets | 23 | 23 | 24 |
| Icy Crypts | 23 | 22 | 25 |
| Isle of Dreams | 24 | 21 | 25 |
| Ice Giants | 25 | 23 | 25 |
| Underdark: Caverns | 25 | 24 | 26 |
| Amazons: Upper | 27 | ||
| Skara (Day) | 27 | ||
| Dwarf Home | 30 | 28 | 32 |
| Skara (Night) | 30 | ||
| Plane of Fire | 30 | 28 | 31 |
| Plane of Earth | 31 | 30 | 32 |
| Plane of Air | 32 | 31 | 33 |
| Plane of Earth: Molemen | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Forest Home | 32 | 31 | 33 |
| Halls of Death: Outer: | 33 | 32 | 35 |
| Plane of Water | 33 | 33 | 35 |
| Halls of Knowledge | 34 | 33 | 34 |
| Plane of Shadow | 34 | 31 | 39 |
| Dwarf Home:Stairs | 35 | 34 | 35 |
| Elyssium | 36 | 33 | 37 |
| Halls of Death: Inner | 36 | 34 | 38 |
| Dragon Eyrie: Outer | 36 | 34 | 39 |
| Positive Plane | 37 | 36 | 38 |
| Demonweb Pits: Outer | 38 | 36 | 40 |
| Dragon Eyrie | 38 | 33 | 41 |
| Negative Plane | 38 | 36 | 41 |
| Illithid Colony | 39 | 39 | 40 |
| Celestia | |||
| Abyss | |||
| Tu'narath | 45 | 43 | 46 |
