Guide to Item of the Week Farming/Previous Tips

Summary

 * Item: Feathered Avicara Scalps
 * Found in: Talus Chute and Mineral Springs


 * Nick's Location: Mineral Springs

Getting to Nick
The only way to reach Mineral Springs is by going through the Granite Citadel. First you will need to leave east to Tasca's Demise. From there you will continue east, then turn north east. You will find the exit to Mineral Springs. From here there are two possible routes you can follow, as shown on the map to Nicholas the Traveler. The easiest path is to turn right after entering the Mineral springs and follow that path. It will bring you to him on the eastern part of Mineral Springs. There are several groups of Avicara along the path, including bosses. Something to prevent Knockdown is very helpful.

Farming for the Feathered Avicara Scalps
You can find a short run just outside the west exit of Droknar's Forge. You will exit into Talus Chute. Below is a map showing the fastest path to several groups. The groups are marked in blue. After finishing off the last large group, simply resign and restart the run. This run can be soloed using a 600/smite build, a 55 monk build, or a Shadow Form sliver build. If you are going as one of the monk builds you should bring something to prevent interruption. The Avicara Braves have Savage Slash. The Avicara Wise are mesmers, but mostly geared for anti-melee with no interrupting skills. The Avicara Guile have the skill Strip Enchantment which can be a problem for enchantment based farming. If you go with a Shadow Form build you will need some type of healing because the Avicara Fierce have the ability Ignite Arrows. This will cause damage to you even through Shadow Form.The map given is for one group of spawns, they will spawn in a few different areas. This one is the easiest and you can zone until it is the one you want. The others are usually a bit longer, but offer more Avicara to farm. With just a balanced party of 5 players this area can be easily taken. This is faster than solo runs, and over time yields about the same amount to all party members as a solo farm would.

A longer run takes you past Nick's current location. If you follow the a clockwise loop through Mineral Springs, beginning by going left after exiting Tasca's Demise, you will encounter perhaps a dozen flocks of 6-8 Avicara plus the half-dozen bosses. Rezone repeatedly until you have sated your lust for scalps. Consider bringing some Signets of Capture as many of the elites are unique to the springs. If you are well prepared for the Tengu, you should have little trouble with the 3 other groups encountered in the loop: 3-4 triplets of Tundra Giants; 2 pairs of Ice Imp/Siege Ice Golem/Pinesoul; and another set or two of the Pinesoul.

Threats & Recommended Skills

 * Threats: enchantment stripping from Avicara Guile, interrupts from Avicara Brave, Maelstrom from Ice Imps, knockdowns from Tundra Giants
 * Recommended skills: interrupts (vs imps), condition removal/resistance (vs Avicara), speed or knockdown prevention (vs Giants). Hexes are heavy in both areas, so a good way to remove them is recommended. The Avicara Ardent are also healers that use the skill Shield of Judgment, a party is advised to bring along something to remove enchantments.
 * Alternatives: AoE spellcasters can lure foes into narrow passages, corpses are plentiful for Minion Masters, and the Avicara tend to clump in threes conveniently for many Dervish builds

Summary

 * Item: Stone Carvings
 * Sources: Stone Guardian (Factions)
 * Found in: Arborstone (explorable zone) and  mission


 * Nick's Location: Arborstone

Getting to Nick
The only way to reach Arborstone is through completing the Arborstone mission, which means completing the five prior missions (and relevant primary quests). The shortest route to Nick is from Altrumm Ruins: exit the outpost and head left, following the map.

Most Efficient Farming
You can find 21 enemies that might drop the carvings just outside the ruins. Exit the ruins and head left towards Nick, but take the second right through some double doors. You'll find 3 of the 4 Stone Guardian bosses. Finish them off and head back towards the outpost, passing the portal and head up the top of the ramp. (You can choose to run past the various wardens.) Now head back to where the bosses were to find 3 sets of 6 guardians. (The second ramp triggered the appearance of the 18 extra carving sources.)


 * Total time: about 5-10 minutes for 21 possibles, depending on your team. Teams of four can expect about 1-2 carvings/run.

Threats & Recommended Skills
The most serious threats to your party are large groups of wardens and the elementalist boss; prepare yourself for them and the other opponents are easy enough. As always, only aggro as many monsters as your team can handle.


 * Wardens: bring some anti-melee skills (blocks or slow downs) and some AoE attacks. Some condition removal is also helpful, as their traps cause bleeding, slowness, and poison.
 * Zarnas Stonewrath: his elite skill, Shockwave causes a lot of damage to its target but even more damage to nearby party members. Backfire & Interrupts are ideal, but if you don't have a good Mesmer, bring as many earth damage protections as you can (armor upgrades, skills, etc). Keep your party far from the boss, unless they are tanking; protect the tanks with damage reducing skills.

Note: the Guardians are resistant to Knockdown, Bleeding, and Poisoning; they remain vulnerable to other conditions.