Guide to Item of the Week Farming

Background
Every week, Nicholas the Traveler requests a different item in exchange for Gifts of the Traveler. These items of the week end up being very valuable for a short period, since the gifts can usually be sold for – (and opening the gifts yields valuable items). Veteran players usually have no trouble farming the item using advanced (although standard) builds and they have access to the ideal farming locations. This guide, however, is designed to help every player of the game, including the relatively new player, who has fewer skills and might need to unlock the farming area.

Solo farming builds
These solo builds (from PvX) can be used every week to farm Nick's request item. (Rare exceptions will be noted in the guide.)


 * : 55 monk
 * : Terra tank
 * Any: Spirit spammer
 * : 130 dervish

Summary



 * Item: Alpine Seeds
 * Dropped by: Juniper Barks, Pinesouls, Succulent Juniper
 * Found in: Shiverpeak Mountains

Farming locations



 * Deldrimor Bowl

Your party must have a Prophecies character with Hungry Devourer from Master Saberlin in Beacon's Perch. Exit the outpost and talk to Old Mac, but do not speak with Joe (the devourer). Follow the path into the main valley and look for the Succulent Junipers across the bowl; if you can, avoid the centaurs, otherwise kill them to clear your route. The centaurs are tougher than they look and they sometimes have 2-4 healers in close proximity, so pulling might be necessary. Expect 4+ seeds per run. On subsequent runs, you do not need to talk to Mac again, as long as you do not feed Succulent Juniper Meat to Joe.

Threats & recommended skills

 * Threats: The Centaurs carry Distracting Shot and Winter; the Junipers have Pacifism and hex removal spells.


 * Tactics: You can use terrain (e.g. trees) to protect yourself from interrupts. Both groups are easier when separated, so pull the centaurs away from the junipers.


 * Recommended skills: Most anything will work against the junipers, however, the centaurs can be annoying for solo farmers. Bring heals and protection. Anti-enchantment skills (e.g. Shatter Enchantment) are very useful, as both groups will be enchanted most of the time. The junipers appear vulnerable to fire and resistant to cold damage.

Solo farming
The foes here are all under level 10. The normal solo-farm builds will likely work, but will generally be heavy in prot and heal, and weak in damage. Having a single decent prot skill and single self-heal skill should be enough to keep a solo farmer alive.