Guide to Item of the Week Farming/Previous Tips

Week of August 10, 2009: Krait Skins

 * Note: This was for the first location that Nicholas appeared this week. He was moved to a second location after an update.

Summary

 * Item: Krait Skins
 * Found In: Arbor Bay and Magus Stones, dropped by Kraits

Getting to Nick
Nicholas the Traveler is a near-straight shot southwest of Vlox's Falls in Arbor Bay. Watch for a Krait patrol just outside the outpost.

Farming for Krait Skins
A large number of Kraits are found along the eastern side of Arbor Bay. Be sure to bring condition removal, since Krait Arcanoss use skills that inflict Blind and Cracked Armor quite frequently. Also, if you have Livia or another necromancer hero, bringing that hero with a minion master setup can make this run easier.

Summary

 * Item: Skalefin Soup
 * Found in: Zehlon Reach from Chef Panjoh in exchange for 2 Skale Fins
 * Skale Fins are dropped by: Istani Skale (Razorback Skale, Ridgeback Skale, Skale Blighter, Frigid Skale, Skale Lasher), found in various zones in Istan.

Getting to Nick
You can start from Jokanur Diggings or The Astralarium, then head to the tip of the peninsula that lies north of the eh in the word Zehlon Reach on the map. Starting in the Astralarium allows you to exchange your fins for soup before heading out. Map

Farming for Skalefin Soup
There are half a dozen zones that spawn the skale that drop the right type of fins. Any of these areas should be easy enough for L20 characters, no matter which profession. Spikes or AoE skills are more efficient, but nearly any skillbar will get the job done this week. Note: expect more fins drop in NM; hard mode drops tend to be worth more than 5.


 * Suggested Farm #1: Exit west from Jokanur Diggings to Zehlon Reach and knock off the first 6 insects. Then, navigate through the swamp water (see map), avoiding any non-skale that might slow your progress. If going solo (recommended), bring a healing skill or hex removal; just about the only serious threat is the degen skills of the necromancers. Expect 8-12 fins per 10 min run.


 * Suggested Farm #2: In Fahranur, there are a large number of easy skale near the city's entrance. The narrow passages make them easy pickings for AoE damage.


 * Suggested Farm #3: Exit east from The Astralarium into the Plains of Jarin. Turn north and then east around the large hill. There will be 3 skale there. Kill them, then resign. The entire run using a IMS takes around 45 seconds to complete. If desired from there the player can turn south and continue along the water way.

Summary

 * Item: Herring
 * Found in: Riverside Province from Gruhn the Fisher in exchange for 5 Bog Skale Fins
 * Bog Skale Fins are dropped by: Bog Skale, Bog Skale Blighter, Bog Skale Icetooth, found in various zones in Kryta (see below).

Getting to Nick
The fastest route to Nick starts from Fishermen's Haven heading northwest through Stingray Strand into Tears of the Fallen, west along the border to the nearby portal into Twin Serpent Lakes and hugging the east border until you reach Nick. An alternative route starts in Riverside Province; it takes a longer path to Nick, but has the advantage of passing by Gruhn to exchange fins for herring. Start from Riverside, stay left until you reach Gruhn, then cut across the zone to reach Nick. Whichever route you take, be prepared to deal with conditions and hexes; bring hex and condition removal.

Farming for Herring
As noted above, you must collect Bog Skale Fins, exchange them with Gruhn for Herring before visiting Nick. The fins drop from 3 types of skale and can be found in nearly a dozen zones across Kryta, allowing for any number of possible farming areas. Regardless of where you farm, you will have to deal with the Disease, Poison, and Corpse exploitation of these necromantic casters. Be sure to bring plenty of Hex and Condition removal. The enemies in these areas tend to bunch up (especially if you pull them), so they are vulnerable to AoE damage. Although not essential, Interrupts and fire damage can also help.


 * Suggested Farm #1: Scoundrel's Rise rezoning from North Kryta Province
 * Begin at the Gates of Kryta and head west towards North Kryta (red dots). Just before you reach the portal, head south to a small cul-de-sac (yellow circle) where some skale are waiting for you to farm. Use the NKP portal to rezone and repeat.


 * Suggested Farm #2: Twin Serpent Lakes from Riverside Province
 * Exit Riverside Province into Twin Serpent Lakes. Just outside the exit is a group of Bog Skale Icetooth and Mergoyle. This is a faster area to farm, but slightly more dangerous. It makes up for this by allowing a group of 6 to zone in and out quickly killing and then zoning. It also brings you close to Gruhn and Nick.


 * Suggested Farm #3: Tears of the Fallen, starting from Fishermen's Haven
 * Exit Fishermen's Haven heading northwest through Stingray Strand to Tears of the Fallen. Circle the zone counterclockwise and attack red dots wherever you find them, as about 55 of the 5 dozen foes are skale. Rezone into the Strand or Twin Serpent Lakes (the portals are close). A party of four should see 3-5 bog skale fins drop per run and each run takes about 5-10 minutes; even non-veterans should be able to collect 25 fins quickly.

Summary

 * Item: Charr Hide
 * Found in: Old Ascalon, The Breach, and Eastern Frontier
 * Dropped by: Charr

Getting to Nick
Start in Piken Square and leave through the southern exit. You will be in The Breach. By heading directly south following the path you will come to a fork. To the west is a deep valley with tar, to the east the path continues south. You will follow this path all the way to Nicholas the Traveler.

Farming for Charr Hides
The easiest place to farm for them is inside The Breach. When you exit Piken Square there will be several groups within visual range. These groups can easily be solo killed, and then you can rezone to start over. There are only 5 required. This is probably the fastest and easiest desired item yet. For those wanting a bit of a challenge this can be done in Hard Mode. This will make the challenge a bit more fun, and offer a chance of better drops. This will however lower the amount of Charr Hides that drop. If you choose to do this in Hard Mode, and you have Rebel Yell activate it for boost to defense and energy gain.

An alternative farming location is Nolani Academy. Start the mission, activate the lever to open the door and destroy the mob of Charr that rush in, then quit the mission and repeat.

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 &amp; 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 &amp; 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 &amp; 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.