Talk:Guide to Item of the Week Farming

About Formatting
I really like the way formatting was going awhile back. So I am going to post what I think would make a good template for the page. It isn't like a regular template at all, just something that if I disappear or TEF does then the template will be around for others to keep posting items. This isn't set in stone, like all things I hope we can discuss what changes to make, or if things need to be moved. One point to remember, and this has been important from the beginning is that this article isn't written for the uber player. It is written more for casual players to have an idea of what to expect, and give them ideas on what to try. For that reason it should be more concentrated on getting the general farming information in before solo builds etc.

Summary

 * Item: item neededs
 * Found In: locations item or mod that drops item are located
 * Dropped by: what drops the items

Getting to Nick
Nicholas the Traveler is located at [location] [brief directions] (see the map for more details).

Farming for item neededs

 * Suggested Farm #1: suggested farm here, including locations, special things like statues, or blessings.

Threats & Recommended Skills

 * Tactics:important tactics, for example pulling, choke points etc


 * Threats: general threats like hex, condition, environmental effects etc.


 * Recommended Skills: skills like anti-kd, hex removal etc

Solo Farming

 * information for solo builds goes here, not in the above section which is for general farming or balanced groups

Nicholas the Traveler link formatting
I've reverted the emboldened link to Nicholas the Traveler for a couple of reasons: If a consensus of other contributors believe that this is a good time to deviate from the relevant style guides, I'm happy to reemphasize the link. Thanks. &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 04:18, September 30, 2009 (UTC)
 * Rules of style (here and generally) prefer a single stylistic emphasis, i.e. there's usually no need to use more than one of these: italics, "quotes," offsets, color, bold-face, different font , underlining , and so on. The link already stands out because of its color.
 * Nick bears no special importance in the context of the page: it's most likely that people have the page bookmarked or have jumped here from the Gift of the Traveler or Nick Traveler articles. Those readers do not need special attention called to nick over any of the other referenced articles.
 * No, the revert is correct, bolding links should be avoided where possible for exactly the reasons outlined. --Wolfie [[Image:Wolfie_sig.jpg|19px]] (talk|contribs) 05:01, September 30, 2009 (UTC)
 * Gotta tell you, awesome job keeping this up to date man. I am so busy I don't have time to do much online anymore. Great to see you keeping it up to date and everything. Maybe during the small break coming up I can actually play again, instead of just reading about others playing. [[Image:Spikeicon.png]]Tenetke 08:34, October 1, 2009 (UTC)
 * Sorry to hear that you have slowed down on GW; glad to hear you have a RL :-) Looking forward to seeing you take over again.  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 09:14, October 1, 2009 (UTC)

Week of November 9, 2009: Guardian Mosses
There a few statements on there that I disagree with based on my experience. I used a spirit spammer and farmed the 3 outside Boreas. &mdash;Dr Ishmael 16:13, November 11, 2009 (UTC)
 * 1) "Either way, take advantage of the terrain: place rangers and spirits on the tops of hills. If you set up carefully, your team will be out of aggro range of the guardians; this makes it easier to take out the guardians without worrying about their allies."
 * For the 3 by Boreas, that doesn't really help. The first guardian is on top of a hill itself, the second is out of longbow range from said hill, and the third isn't near any hill of significance.
 * 1) "run from the wallows (they won't follow far)"
 * Oh yes they do. I've had wallows follow me all the way from the third guardian back to the res shrine, and that was after I had all the spirits up to distract them.
 * 1) "Rot Wallows tend to spam their skills on minions or spirits, ignoring the players."
 * If the wallows aggroed while I was setting up spirits, they would focus on me. Even if I had a good pull and then stayed out of aggro range of the spirits/wallows, a wallow would occasionally break off and target me.  I had to run nearly a full aggro bubble away to keep them from coming after me.
 * 1) "If you choose to take down the guardian, target it with your wand or staff so that you reach optimal range; if you stay at that distance, you often won't suffer any damage at all."
 * Wand/staff range is the same as spell/signet range (unless you are at a higher elevation, which doesn't apply to the 3 at Boreas). If I aggroed one with my staff, it always responded with SoJ on me.
 * For me, the key was taking a healing skill to fight the degen. (My choice is Mend Body and Soul). I target the wallows first, which is a far easier combat. In many cases, depending on where you farm, you will find two groups of wallows that can be targeted separately, further limiting damage. Generally I can hex them with Painful Bond, move away, and they usually engage the spirits. Even if they focus on me, my healing kept me up. There was almost no danger. The pain was just with the low drop rate. My personal farm spot was Silent Surf, taking on Scourgewind,_Elder_Guardian. As a boss I thought the higher drop rate (more than one drop for a boss) might help. It was still a very low drop rate. But, I found the area easy to farm as the wallows do a predictable patrol. And, all my smite heroes have a green... --Alphastream 17:23, November 11, 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict)
 * @Ish: Our experiences differ. (See below.) I have tried to make some adjustments that compromise between the views. My only serious change from your edit is that I don't think the primary frustration is the low density of Guardians; the 3 outside of Boreas are quicker kills/hour than for many previous farms. The problem is that they only rarely drop anything of value, let alone the desired moss.


 * Standing atop the first hill near Boreas matters a lot; with spirits, I can consistently kill Guardian #2 without retaliation and w/o it running. The second hill (eh, more of a gentle slope) is helpful, but not consistently; if you walk-then-attack, you can step back in order to be outside Guardian #3's perception range. For Guardian #1, I usually have to clean out 4-5 Wallows (not 7-8). For #2: I usually don't have to clean out any; for a valued drop, I can get away with clearing 5-6. For #3: one third of the time, I don't need to touch the Wallows; most of the remaining occasions, I'll need to clear out 3-6.


 * I've never had a wallow follow me as far as you describe; they are always bogged down by spirits, minions, or go back to their group. (Eh, to be fair, it happened once, but then I let all the spirits die first.) In any case, the point is to move on if the Guardians failed to drop something valuable; I think it's worthwhile to encourage people to avoid spending the extra time killing Wallows.


 * "If the wallows aggroed while ...setting up spirits." Maybe I'm misunderstanding how to run a spirit spammer. I setup the spirits beyond aggro range, then either pull the enemy and/or shadow step the spirits, and then run/hide; I've never had the problem you describe (in this particular farm).


 * "If you choose to take down the guardian, target it with your wand or staff..." Bad plan; agreed. That was a left-over copy/paste from Rot Wallow week. For the 3 at Boreas, it turns out I have been able to target them with a bow; the spirits are still able to attack (especially #2, but even #1).


 * Re: SoJ. I find if I start to fire, then shadow step the spirits, fire, then step back...the SoJ misses me entirely. Using a bow, it's usually not an issue even in HM.  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 17:27, November 11, 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm not altogether convinced that I did a good-enough job of amending the text based on Doc Ish's experiences. It's also possible that my experiences are relatively unusual and that the reader is better served by more conservative play than I originally suggested.


 * @Alphastream: I've added a stub for your suggested farm; maybe you could expand it (and/or add a map). Thanks!  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 17:46, November 11, 2009 (UTC)


 * The "low drop rate" is only perception. The drop rate for trophies on nearly all monsters is ~10-15%, in my experience, and that's what I saw on the guardians - 35 runs of 3 guardians for 105 kills, 10 mosses.  My wife had similar numbers.  Of course it's going to seem like a higher rate on more populous monsters, like wallows - you'd get an average of 1 tusk per group of 8.  3 tusks per 1 run vs. 1 moss per 3 runs would make it seem like a much lower drop rate.
 * Bah, I never realized that spirits' attack range equaled longbow range, which is why I didn't even try hitting #2 from the hill and why I aggroed the guardians with my staff instead. I'm guessing most people will be like me, so I'm adding that to the article.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 18:04, November 11, 2009 (UTC)


 * I am sure that you are right that, regardless of the true rates, moss gets the worst reputation because of the few trophies per hour; it's no doubt exacerbated by the fact that often they drop nothing at all. I'm not convinced that trophies drop consistently 10% of the time, though. I think some beasts drop them more often (and a few less often). My recall is better for pre stats (since there are not so many monsters/trophies to consider): I get 3-5 skale fins from 30 skale (10-15%) whereas I get 4-9 spider legs from 25 spiders (~25%, not to mention, I also get 4-9 Webs).


 * BTW: I've noticed that if the toon c-spaces with long/flatbows, they still end up too close. I c-space, then step back 2-3 paces, then shadow step spirits, then fire bow; that seems to keep characters and spirits out of perception range even on flatter surfaces.  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 19:55, November 11, 2009 (UTC)


 * Adding to Alphastream's farm advice from an IP
 * "55hp necromancer can solo Scourgewind by pulling him and avoiding the wallows. (A build that works very well is OANEQsNd+JVPoC9GQTmSISoPIPA .)" (moved from main article).  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 20:12, November 13, 2009 (UTC)

Should this article be moved?
Did y'all mean to formally suggest the ? I don't see any pressing need to rename an article that's been happily minding its own business. On the other hand, if peeps think it important, I don't see any problem with moving it to bring it more in line with standard grammar (by adding the definite article). &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 20:20, November 13, 2009 (UTC)


 * It also needs to follow GW:ULC, i.e. "Guide to item of the week farming." I'd prefer making it more specific, as "item of the week" is kinda vague.  Yes, there's only one thing it can really apply to in GW, but new players wouldn't have any idea what it means.  What about "Guide to Nicholas the Traveler farming," or, if you'd rather not be ambiguous about harvesting Nick himself, "Guide to farming for Nicholas the Traveler"?  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 21:21, November 13, 2009 (UTC)


 * I prefer something that includes the (almost) clever turn of phrase, "Item of the Week" (which would be a title, hence capitalized). I don't think it matters if its unfamiliar to new players, since all jargon will be...well, jargony to those just starting out. Of course, it would be good to avoid a capitalization discussion...


 * How about the slightly-less-elegant compromise, "Weekly guide to farming for The Traveler?" (without, obviously, the question mark)  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 00:50, November 14, 2009 (UTC)


 * Guide to Farming the Traveler's Item of the Week?--War_Pig5 21:01, November 16, 2009 (UTC)
 * Either would be good, I just get annoyed when I see the title like this in RC  Random  Time   22:24, November 17, 2009 (UTC)


 * The problem wasn't capitalization or whatever, it was the fact that "the" wasn't in the name the way it should be. This problem has now been fixed, so feel free to continue arguing about capitalization or whatever, though the Move tag is gone --Gimmethegepgun 00:55, November 19, 2009 (UTC)


 * When did we reach consensus to move the article? Did we reach consensus on whether there was a problem or what the problem was? I see one person posting a move tag, one person vaguely opposed to the move, one person asking for a different title altogether, and some suggestions for alternative names. What was the rush?  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 07:11, November 19, 2009 (UTC)


 * GW:BOLD? Quite frankly, something like a little grammatical article problem is not one that needs debate, it's simply a matter of fact that the grammar there was wrong. A little math example: consider the problem y = (x + 1) / (x - 1). It would be blatantly incorrect to state that, say, y = 4 for all x, because quite frankly it's wrong. Something more up to debate would be if the solution to a problem was said equation, but perhaps the person didn't simplify and got y = (x2 - 1) / (x - 1)2. There is no variation in the result of the 2 answers, not even another disallowed x value, but a teacher may like the simplified version to the non-simplified answer. The discussion now, since y = 4 has been crossed out and remedied, is what set of capitalization is the "simplified" answer given above that is more pleasing to the teacher ... --Gimmethegepgun 07:28, November 19, 2009 (UTC)


 * (1) Not everyone agreed that there was any problem; the term "Item of the Week" and "Item of Week" were invented by players, so there's no rule about how to spell, capitalize, or whether it includes a the or not. (To be fair, the well-known phrases, Flavor of the Month or Queen for a Day do include articles, so it the original title certainly looked odd without one.) (2) Not everyone agreed that the issue was grammar. Some suggested that we avoid jargon, and remove  the "item of the week" formulation altogether.


 * Language is not mathematics; there are plenty of clear-cut rules, but also plenty of situations in which there is considerable variation. Sometimes, there are no clear guidelines. Evolving terminology fits more closely with the last category; none of us gets to decide what correct grammar is for a phrase that people made up. (See the discussion about Backup; no one here likes the phrase "BU," but we're stuck with it because that's what peeps use in-game.)


 * And finally, what was the need to rush a change? The article had been patiently doing its job for over 4 months under its original name; the discussion to change the title has been up less than a week. Presenting a move as fait accompli prevents further discussion and agreement. I am surprised that a veteran chose to make a unilateral change of something under discussion, especially since folks likely would have come to agreement soon anyhow.  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 12:07, November 20, 2009 (UTC)
 * I stand by the fact that if something is blatantly incorrect it should be fixed. The missing "the" article in that sentence IS blatantly against grammatical rules, even the notoriously dodgy English grammar rules. That was also the PRECISE nature of the move tag, the missing article, and so I felt that removing it was justified. Though I did immediately come to the talk page and tell you guys to "continue arguing about capitalization or whatever", as seen above. If you think the problem was the removal of the Move tag, by all means, replace it with one more fitting to your suggestion or something. And to be perfectly honest, guys, is it really WORTH shouting up Drama Mountain in hopes of causing an avalanche over something so minor as a definite grammatical article? --Gimmethegepgun 11:41, November 21, 2009 (UTC)


 * Seems to me like you and Ernie are the ones "shouting up Drama Mountain" here. I made one suggestion and then backed off.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 15:18, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

Notes on Mursaat Tokens, Week of 11/23
So it might not be important, but just by doing Ring of Fire/Abbadons Gate with Disco and henchmen I got a good amount, that when I first did HP, I didn't even pick them up. Even just doing the mission with Heroes/Henchmen, or even with other people, it's pretty easy to get them. Duct Tape 02:25, November 24, 2009 (UTC)
 * I farmed the first groups with 4-man team(discord and me, derv) in the Ring of Fire mission. the drop rate is pretty low, sometimes i didn't get a single token in 4 runs(~90 mursaat killed) and sometimes i got 2 in one run. Fleshcrawler   Soban  11:58, November 24, 2009 (UTC)

Several ways to farm frosted griffon wings
You can find alot of blessed griffons just outside Camp Rankor in Snake Dance.


 * 1) 600/smite can farm all the griffons from the starting point on both normal and hard mode. Bring pain inverter or IAU for the azures.
 * 2) Spirit spammer is a good alternative to farm the griffons. However, pulling too many may result in your spirits dying from symbol of wrath.
 * 3) Any profession with stoneflesh aura with silver armor can farm the griffons on normal mode. Aggro a couple of groups to get the best out of silver armor.

Enjoy! 18:50, November 30, 2009 (UTC)


 * Converted your list to wiki-code fer ya. ;) You don't really need anything special for the azures, just watch for when they use SoJ and cast around the knockdown.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 19:17, November 30, 2009 (UTC)

Several ways to farm shiverpeak manes
You can find alot of shiverpeak longbows/warriors/protectors all out the Deldrimor Bowl region.


 * Almost every class can solo this week easily. Be sure to bring adequate blocking or healing. Target shiverpeak protectors first.
 * Specific setups/builds:
 * Spirit spammers will have no difficulties farming this region. Bring spiritleech aura/disenchantment to counter vigorous spirit on several shiverpeak warriors/longbows.
 * 600/smite can farm most of the region on hard mode. Bring shield of judgment instead of spell breaker.
 * a Renewing Smash/Gladiator defense warrior can take down the warriors and longbow pretty quick with little to no downtime.
 * Elementalists with 16 earth magic, Stoneflesh Aura, and a +20% enchanting mod can ball as much shiverpeak warriors as possible. Follow up with silver armor or, more effectivly, Echo/Arcane Echo and then Shockwave.

Enjoy! -- 10:03, December 8, 2009 (UTC)
 * Nice suggestions, and I think the threat analysis on the front page is well done this week as well! One more thought, there are going to be so many spirits of Winter that Spirit Spammers might want to bring Gaze of Fury to turn them against their casters. Mesmers might have fun with Spiritual Pain.--Alessar 14:19, December 8, 2009 (UTC)

Several ways to farm stone grawl necklaces
The type of grawl you're looking for are only found in Sacnoth Valley. Or in Grothmar Wardowns when you have the quest "Be very, very quiet" active. LUL I'm ELMER FUDD


 * This week is alot more difficult to farm completely solo (and with solo I mean by yourself). Although it's still possible. When farming these creatures, be sure to kill the dark priests first.
 * When going solo, the run to Sacnoth Valley is pretty straightforward. Leave from Doomlore Shrine and follow the path to the right. Kill off the Charr Seekers there and find the siege devourer. Capture it and use it to run to Sacnoth Valley. You should have no difficulties running there on NM.
 * When going with heroes, activating your ebon vanguard title can be beneficial due to several charr you encounter along the way.
 * Specific setups/builds:


 * 600/smite, once again, is a good choice. When fighting groups of grawl and charr at the same time, watch out for Savage Shot.
 * Permasilver with BU's. If money is no object, that is.
 * Terra tank. Bring a speed boost to run to Sacnoth Valley. Use Silver Armor to kill off the grawls. However, in order to make it effective, you need to ball up quite a bunch of grawl to outdamage the Dark Priest's heals.
 * Discord/sabway heroes. You can farm groups of grawl as soon as you enter from Dalada Uplands with the Siege Devourer. Be careful when pulling groups, overpulling may likely result in death.

This list is subject to be updated.

http://ultraxs.com/image-690B_4B269DC2.jpg - The route you can follow to kill as much grawl as possible.

Enjoy! -- 20:31, December 14, 2009 (UTC)


 * Is the self-heal on the devourer sufficient for soloing the Grawl?  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 23:04, December 14, 2009 (UTC)
 * It depends on the size of the group you're fighting. Groups of 4-5 grawl with 1-2 priests or less is possible if you know what you're doing. Farming with the siege devourer alone limits your freedom in picking the groups you want. It's recommended to bring sabway or discordway if you're going to farm while inside a devourer. That way you can take on the 2 bosses south of Sacnoth Valley aswell. This strategy works best on NM. I haven't tested it on HM. --[[Image:Maxxbrazuca-sig.jpg‎]] 23:23, December 14, 2009 (UTC)

Several ways to farm ancient kappa shells
All the Kappa (Kaineng City) can be found in the undercity. If you have a canthan born character, leave from Vizunah Square (Local Quarter) to avoid all the monsters.


 * Professions that utilize spell protection have the advantage this week. I suggest using a monk, assassin, or a dervish to farm this week's item.
 * If you're a foreign character. Leave from Nahpui Quarter (Mission) and bring at least one speed boost to avoid any Am Fah.
 * Kappa in the undercity are always found in the sewers of the city. Rarely above.


 * Specific setups/builds:
 * A dervish maintaining Vow of Silence is an excellent choice. Make sure to bring one speed boost and one source of healing. Such as Natural Healing.
 * An assassin mainting Shadow Form is another option. However, the 33% reduced damage output can affect your speed in killing the kappa. If you still consider using this method, bring zealous daggers of enchanting.
 * A 600/Smite has been suggested earlier. Spell Breaker can not be maintained without either Quickening Zephyr or Serpent's Quickness. To increase droprate, bring Serpent's Quickness in your optional slot instead of a ranger with Quickening Zephyr.
 * A Ranger/pet can work aswell for small scale groups of Kappa. The ranger should bring heavy damage attacks and a source of healing for both himself and his pet. Since the pet will be tanking most of the kappa's, it is essential to take out the kappa's fast.

This section is subject to change.

Enjoy! -- 20:59, December 21, 2009 (UTC)

Spirit Spammers
Is this just blindly recommended every week? I'm finding it quite difficult to farm Roaring Ethers with this build due to the AoE damage from Ethers and Djinn, along with the mild energy denial. I won't bother removing this suggestion this week, but I'll be keeping an eye out from now on. If there are any variations needed to make a build work, they should be noted. 22:50, January 5, 2010 (UTC)
 * I use a spirit spammer on my dervish without problems, Vampirism Bloodsong Pain Signet of Spirits Armor of Unfeeling Painful Bond Summon Spirits Essence Strike, no big problems with the djin, just walk backwards and keep using summon spirits when needed to keep spirits alive, use Painful Bond on djinn first to get them down quickly. oh btw that is the spirit spammer build I always use [[Image:FlowSig.png|floWenoL]] (Talk to me)  01:40, January 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * For those (like myself) who are visual learners, floWenoL's code applied to W/Rt is: OQgiAyiM5DWO9NdNBNVNRDuMB.  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 03:04, January 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * For those (like myself) who are visual learners, floWenoL's code applied to W/Rt is: OQgiAyiM5DWO9NdNBNVNRDuMB.  &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 03:04, January 7, 2010 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I tried that today, and I wasn't having any trouble either. (My build was as above but with Spiritleech Aura instead of Essence Strike, I didn't have any energy problems.)  You have to use the "retreating wall" technique (what Flowenol described), since they'll all get nuked if you leave them bunched up.  You also have to be very careful when pulling so they don't target you, otherwise you'll die pretty quickly.  Thanks to Ernie for lernin' me on how to pull properly with this build back when Nick wanted the Guardian Moss. ;)
 * I tried it with my 600, but the micromanagement required for Frozen Soil was just too annoying.
 * I also tried the permasin/degen build, and I liked it, but I can't decide if it's really better than spirit spamming. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 05:01, January 7, 2010 (UTC)

Using the Template
I would like to emphasize that when using the weekly template, the threats/recommendations/tactics lines need to be filled in. Usually they've been left blank. Keep in mind many people using this are casual players, just listing key points is fine, it's going to be helpful.--Alessar 19:08, April 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * this might be a template issue. threats are ok since it affects all players, but recommendations and tactics vary with profession/build. maybe thats why most leave it alone. -- Bottle130 01:38, April 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * Also, there usually isn't much point. Spirit spam can farm >75% of the game with very little risk, so it's usually a waste of time to point out any threats/tactics if the targets can be spirit-spammed.  As Bottle said, recommendations/tactics are usually build-specific.  With that said, I'd recommend removing that whole section, and just leaving notes in the template to include those points in the farming and/or build descriptions.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 01:47, April 8, 2010 (UTC)

Just buy the Jadeite
Lol, you can just buy the Jadeite Shards from a rare material crafter... Funny! Now it is really stupid that you can only obtain 5 of them :p--  Jorre 22225  08:28, April 14, 2010 (UTC)
 * It's the same as Amber Chunk week. the rare material trader only stopped trading for a day i think and was trading the rest of the week. but yeah not much for farming :p BOttlE130 10:59, April 14, 2010 (UTC)


 * Yep, since amber/jade drops are so ridiculously rare (I've probably vanquished the equivalent of 200 zones farming faction, and haven't seen a single one), there's hardly any point in trying to farm them directly. It's easier to farm faction instead and exchange it for amber/jade, or buy it from the trader.
 * Speaking of which, what's the price for jade right now? It was 700g immediately after Nick was spotted on Monday, so I'm wondering how much it got spiked this week.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 14:20, April 14, 2010 (UTC)
 * Last time I've checked... 850g, and the rare material trader kept me saying he was run out of stock! I could finally buy 15 of them after a while. --Guildwars signature pic.png  Jorre 22225  18:06, April 14, 2010 (UTC)

Roaring Ethers
Is it really valid to link to the old Roaring Ether farming tips? Perma/sliver farming is pretty much dead (due to the Sliver Armor bugfix/nerf), and perma farming in general isn't what it used to be. 600 builds are also dead (I think?). About the only things listed previously that would still work are terra tanks and spirit spam. &mdash;Dr Ishmael 01:19, May 25, 2010 (UTC)


 * Linked for the sake of locations. Agree, builds are another story.  Bottle  03:22, May 25, 2010 (UTC)


 * Right, the locations and threats/etc. would be the same. Still, as recent discussions have shown, people don't like extra clicks, so it would probably be a good idea to copy that info back to this page.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 04:04, May 25, 2010 (UTC)


 * Done. To be fair, this artical is a bunch of extra clicks until it's built up; after Wednesday sometimes.  Bottle  04:38, May 25, 2010 (UTC)

Modniir manes
Easily solo-able with a spirit spammer build. First go at formatting this so lets see if it works.

or code: OgglchZCIGqiKVO9N5DeN1JWNBNtJC. A +energy wand, +energy off-hand with either half skill recharge of communing or channeling is recommended along with full radiant armor with attunement mods. Start with signet (move forward a touch), Bloodsong (forward again), Pain (and again) then vampirism (need I say it?). Cast armor and spiritleech and then aggro the mob using Painful bond. Run back behind the spirits and cast agony. The spirits should target the bonded modniir and take it out before it recharges. At that point re-cast painful bond on the next one. Keep re-casting spirits as needed/available and keep spiritleech and armor of unfeeling up as much as possible. Move backwards when renewing spirits to keep yourself out of the way and to avoid knock-downs. Cyberhythm 19:14, June 15, 2010 (UTC)

Why solo?
This may be a rather stupid question, but how can farming collectables work after the loot scaling upgrade? Surely, if the drop rate is going to be the same, you just want a party of 8 to kill as fast as possible? &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.145.49.109 (contribs).


 * Well sure, if you can get 8 actual people together to farm stuff &mdash; heroes/henchmen eat their share of the drops, remember &mdash; and have them agree to give you all the drops, that might be quicker (although you probably won't notice much difference between a solo spirit-spammer and a spirit-spammer in a team). A lot of people don't have 7 friends, and they understandably don't want to go with PUGs, so solo farming is still very popular.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 15:31, June 28, 2010 (UTC)


 * The loot scale nerf (Loot_scaling read Gaile's comments, the article's summary is incorrect as of this writing) did not make farming solo the same as farming w/8 other people. It changed you getting 8 times the drops to something like 2 times the drops available. So it is still more profitable to solo farm, just not as profitable as it was before. An additional problem with farming with a full party of 8 live players is that, most likely, everyone else will want their share of the drops to get the gifts, so there's no drop benefit to doing the farming with large parties. If you can solo at a decent pace, you're better off soloing, or joining with small groups of friends.BladeDVD 08:46, August 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * Blade: nice explanation of the impact of loot scaling on solo farming. (Are you sure about the 8x vs 2x? or was that merely illustrative?) &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 01:48, August 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks. The numbers were a summary of what Gaile wrote in the link I posted. BladeDVD 07:45, August 17, 2010 (UTC)

Ono Onis!
Side note; There's actually 4 Oni spawn points in Boreas Seabed that can be reached without aggroing any other enemies. -Rolin Mori 68.155.126.230 http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/y337/RolinTM/oni_spawns.jpg
 * Cool. That makes the Seabed competitive for most efficient route. Maybe you would like to update the current images? &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 15:21, August 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Last night I found a fifth spawn located just over the "S" in Seabed. I'd post a new map but I'm too lazy. -Rolin Mori 68.155.126.120 19:59, August 11, 2010 (UTC)


 * Eh, it's a little too far away from the other spawns to be time-efficient, especially since you have to either 1) fight through a group of Kraken Spawn to the north, or 2) weave your way through a bunch of naga to the south. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 20:36, August 11, 2010 (UTC)
 * In terms of ease of location and speed of run, MQ is still the best. It takes longer to wait for the Wallows to move than it does to kill the Oni ;) 74.13.68.123 01:51, August 12, 2010 (UTC)


 * btw: Nice work by Ish displaying four farms and four charts to be usable by all. (Is there any use in updating the template? It doesn't happen often that we have more than two farms, so mebbe not.) &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 01:53, August 12, 2010 (UTC)


 * @Anon: How long does that take you? The best time I could get was just over 3 minutes.  However, I can farm Boreas in n average of 5 minutes, which makes it more efficient (5 minutes / 4 groups = 1.25 min/group; 3 minutes / 2 groups = 1.5 min/group).
 * @Ernie: Thanks. I don't usually feel qualified to do image annotation like that, but I decided the benefit of only having to manage 1 image was enough for me to try anyway.  And I'd say update the template anyway: "Suggested farm #x" really doesn't add anything meaningful, especially since the header already says "Farming locations."  Also, some readers might think that because a certain location is listed as "farm #1," that automatically means it's the best/easiest farm.  I thought that listing the farms by the area name would 1) make it more obvious where each farm was located, 2) avoid any perceived subjectivity of enumeration, and 3) simply look better, because it's a definition list.  Like I said, though, I was just "trying out" this new format, so any suggestions are welcome.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 02:23, August 12, 2010 (UTC)


 * Sorry for this unsigned comment in advance. But has no one but me been farming outside of breaker hollow? Just south of it, kill that single mob. Then head up the hill towards the jade arena, oni spawn 3-4. It's not many oni, but they are literally right outside the zone. Perhaps not the best route. But I found it easiest. Seeing as the only mob besides the oni that you need to kill, are rather easy to kill with the same farming builds used on the oni. &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.252.245.23 (contribs).


 * Just tried that, after doing it once to figure it out, the second time took me almost 2 minutes, which isn't very efficient (2 minutes / 1 group = 2 min/group, worse than even Qinkai's 1.5 min/group).
 * With all this timing I'm doing, I figured I should at least check Maishang, and it only took a hair over 2 minutes (2 minutes / 2 groups = 1 min/group), which makes it slightly more efficient than Boreas. However, you have to rezone more often, which could make it take quite a bit longer if you have a lot of lag.  I might check Rhea's if I have time later: you have to go through 3 other mobs to reach the oni, but then you get 4 groups of oni in quick succession, so it might not be that bad overall.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 12:58, August 12, 2010 (UTC)

War on Kryta
There is an enforcer road block from Beetletun. And when a friendly NPC spawns there are no hump drops. Has any1 else witnessed this.  Bottle  23:37, August 31, 2010 (UTC)


 * The lack of drops is simply bad luck - I've had humps drop with WiK active. But we should mention the roadblock.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 01:13, September 1, 2010 (UTC)


 * I farmed with and without another character who didn't have WiK active. The Ettins spawned the same on the E/W route from Beetletun to the village; they dropped humps at about the same rate (although my sample size is too tiny to measure that). &mdash;Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 02:52, September 1, 2010 (UTC)

Spiritwood
Since yall seem to be late on the farming location/map, I'll help you out: -Rolin Mori 184.46.68.202 21:19, September 6, 2010 (UTC)

September 20, 2010: Carapace Farming video
Originally posted by Richy m. -- ◄mendel► 08:44, September 24, 2010 (UTC)
 * This farm is too damned simple to need any video at all - that's why I was convinced that the video wasn't worth keeping even without watching it. However, I've gone and watched it now, and I can confirm that it adds absolutely nothing to the guide.  He's using a build tailored for high-end areas, which makes it very inefficient at farming low-end areas.  From the standpoint of a "noob," to whom that guide is supposedly focused, this video tells me that I need a LOT of healing/armor (Mending + Healing Breeze + Armor of Earth + Stoneflesh Aura) in order to survive against these foes, and I have to wait around and make them ball up so that I can kill them all in one big burst, none of which is true.  He could have swapped most of the heal/armor skills with more damage skills in order to farm faster.  From starting the mission, it took him 1:30 to kill off the first two groups of devourers; I threw together a fire build and was able to kill them in half that time.
 * The only way this video *might* be useful is in showing where all the popups are located, but you can do that much more easily with a map. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 14:20, September 25, 2010 (UTC)
 * For videos in general, they don't stand as complete information. The weapon set, armor level, and runes/insignias used are never described. - Bottle  19:41, September 26, 2010 (UTC)

Oct 25th, Shadowy Remnants
Graven Images is perfect. Short walk, few enemies in the way (there's a few wimpy Skale that might get in your way during the quest), easy, good amount of required enemies. --Vipermagi 17:20, October 25, 2010 (UTC)


 * He's bugged, and it's probably not the right location/item. Remember what happened in Arbor Bay with the Krait Skins back in August '09?  Looks like the same thing here.  Even if it's just a text bug and not a location bug, I'd wait until Anet pushes a new build to start farming.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 18:07, October 25, 2010 (UTC)


 * Warwick already got his/her gifts (farmed for him/her as well), and I only need 2 more till I'm getting mine. --Vipermagi 18:20, October 25, 2010 (UTC)

Week of January 24, 2011: Stormy Eyes
For the Week of January 24th, I found that farming the stormy eyes in the circular region of the Pockmark Flats, just SE of Serenity Temple, was the easiest. The first run I got (5), 2d (9) and the 3rd (12). I farmed with a Spirit Spammer.--TinaraHarper &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.81.182.197 (talk &bull; contribs) 3:14, 26 January 2011  (UTC).

Week of January 31
Not even going to pretend I know how to add things in for the main page, and would rather not mess anything up. I'll just throw the information I have here.

Leave from Amnoon Oasis, head through Prophet's Path going south.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/3575/nicholasnm.jpg

That's a decent path, has lots of scarabs and a few devourers which are dodge-able for the most part. Watch out for dust and fire traps.

67.233.147.170 17:33, 31 January 2011 (UTC)Deesturbed
 * Thank you! I'll leave it up to another to edit the guide. :-) Ariyen 17:39, 31 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Decided to just go ahead and figure out how to make the page. Was a success. /flexDeesturbed 18:38, 31 January 2011 (UTC)Deesturbed


 * Nice work.! /cheer /clap /woot! — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 21:13, 31 January 2011 (UTC)

You are all terrible
Just saying. "KaySay is nearly impossible to defeat with a solo spirit farmer" Seriously? He doesn't even have hex removal. Also, before someone says it, this isn't a personal attack on a person, this is quite blatantly a public generalization. 70.181.72.216


 * Duuuuude... come over here, let's step inside my time machine and head back to the 80's so you can chill out, maaaaaaan. Seriously, though, you got any tricks you'd like to share?  My personal experience was that KaySey and the other Scuttle Fish easily out-healed my spirits' damage, even with both Painful Bond and Spiritleech Aura.  I wasn't able to kill a single enemy before they wiped my spirits.  Thus, I thought it was a pretty valid assumption to say that's it's "nearly impossible" to take out his group as a solo spirit spammer.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 13:55, 16 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Just for the record, are we talking about HM? --JonTheMon 14:05, 16 March 2011 (UTC)


 * No, why would anyone farm trophies in HM? Maybe I just got a really bad pull or something (although I'm pretty sure I didn't), but since there are plenty of other Jade Fish in the area, I never bothered to attempt KaySey's group a second time.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 14:32, 16 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I used painful bond, anguish, SoS & vamp -typical SoS, right? But forget spiritleech and bring 'Sin Support. Took care of that pesky KaySey three runs in a row.70.181.72.216
 * I agree with this Ip. I didn't have an issue with the bosses, but that was due to the sin support that I always bring along with my sos now. Ariyen 22:45, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

farming dragon roots
My guild found out if you take "A new escort" at the brauer acad. then map to saint anjeka's shrine. 2 groups of dragon moss will spawn outside. but must be careful not to pull the wardens nearby. could help J1j2j3 21:11, 21 March 2011 (UTC)


 * It's actually 3 groups of 4 dragon moss. However, for some reason, even after killing them with a friend about 6 times (that's 72 dragon moss killed) we didnt recieve a single root. So we decided to change locations. Outside of Amatz is a warden group, and then directly next to it is a group of moss, undergrowth, and an assassin boss, where we were able to get a root every other run. Either we were terribly unlucky, or the moss that spawn for the new escort quest, do not drop dragon roots.216.174.21.45 05:18, 22 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Did they drop anything at all? — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 07:49, 22 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I managed 6 dragon roots in one run of Drazach Thicket. Mostly sos with assassin support, but I hardly used the support or my heros that I had with me. only times I used heroes mostly was on the bugs and the wardens. The rest I pulled with. Even solo killed the two Eaters by pulling one of each. So, it can be done... However, I make sure to keep the heroes out of my bubble and just barely out of the compass. It helped, I believe with the drops in normal mode. Ariyen 10:15, 22 March 2011 (UTC)
 * They did drop normal drops if I am remembering correctly (amber wands and the like) But no roots at all. I think perhaps we just got incredibly unlucky at that spot.216.174.21.45 21:20, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Farming locations for Berserking Minotaurs
Only found 4 Berserking Minotaurs outside Olafstead; none in Bjora Marches or Jaga Moraine. Am i missing something? -bottle 07:50, 13 April 2011 (UTC)
 * They run in patrols with a wide range. Hang in the same spot for a bit. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 08:09, 13 April 2011 (UTC)
 * was fried. i only found 4 groups consisting of Berserking Minotaurs. The rest of the groups are mixed, bison only, or wendigoe only. -bottle 09:25, 13 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Oh, I misunderstood. But why would you want to farm just the Berserk Minos? All of these guys drop the horns. (I'm assuming that's what you want, since you posted on the item-of-the-week farming guide.) — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 10:03, 13 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Minotaur only groups are imo the easiest farmed by a variety of player builds and also annon is stating they exist everywhere in the artical. -bottle 23:00, 13 April 2011 (UTC)


 * (edit) the artical has been changed. -bottle 23:03, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

Builds from PvX (Behemoth Jaws)
Pvx has several builds for Behemoth Jaws (due to Toterm Axe drops), but i only listed from the 'Great' catagory here. Should all the builds be listed here or just the ones from great? -bottle 10:23, 10 May 2011 (UTC)


 * I punted the question by linking to a pvx search. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 15:48, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Builds from PvX (Solo builds)
Some anon has gone and bloated the list at the top of the page. That list is supposed to be for general-purpose builds that can be used to farm most (>75%) of the items, but some of those look like they have serious restrictions about what enemies they can farm, and thus wouldn't qualify as general-purpose. However, I don't feel qualified to de-bloat the list, since I no longer pay much attention to the farming meta. If someone else could clean that up, I would appreciate it. &mdash;Dr Ishmael 04:17, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * I culled the list to only builds rated great and that I have used (or could imagine using) for general soloing. I imagine someone else could thin the herd some more. A couple of the builds were narrow in usage; a couple that remain have specific-sounding names, but are/can be generally useful.


 * The contributor also put --/Rt under Rit instead of under Any, so I adjusted that, too. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 06:49, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Thank you, that looks good. Mostly I just want that list to remain  short and concise with the best recommendations that would be easy for most people to use.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 12:25, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Agree.


 * I wouldn't mind seeing at least one build per prof, for those readers who only have 1-2 primary toons (more players than we might think). In theory, the combination of 11 builds (1/prof + 1 generic) should be setup so it's enough to cover every farm we publish. However, for the meantime, short/concise is better than listing all possible farming builds.


 * As a note for future reference, if the build is awesome...for a specific item, then please add it to the specific farm rather than to the generally useful builds that appear at the top of the page. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:46, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * The only problem with 1-per-prof is that some professions probably don't have any viable general-purpose farming builds. Paragons in particular are extremely difficult to farm with - PvX only has 3 P/* farming builds, only 1 is Great, and all are very specific.  Warriors can usually farm melee/physical foes easily, but have trouble with casters.
 * In any case, "Theme and Variations on Spirit Spam" is all anyone should need for 90% of these farms, at least until Anet nerfs it. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 17:03, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes, which is why the culled list doesn't include solo builds for half the professions. (ANet probably doesn't really need to nerf SoS farming, b/c it's too slow and tedious for most ppls.) — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 22:13, 12 May 2011 (UTC)

The waiting game
I experimented heavily farming Behemoth Jaws and found that waiting about two minutes drastically improves the trophy drop rates. Here's a rough outline of the data, based on targeting five Root Behemoths at the southeast corner of Dry Top by rezoning through Tangle Root.
 * No waiting: three drops of any sort or less; 1 jaw in 3 runs.
 * Waiting around a minute: mostly 3-4 drops of any sort; just under 2 jaws every 3 runs (about 20 minutes worth).
 * Waiting around two minutes: minimum 4 drops, often 5; always at least 1 jaw, mostly 2, and sometimes 3.

Even if the killing/looting/rezoning bit takes only one minute, the two minute wait changed the drops significantly enough to make it always worth while. For extremely short runs, two minutes of waiting better than doubles the trophies/hour rate. For slower runs, it can triple it. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 18:04, 18 May 2011 (UTC)

Death With Honor quest - Nicks location week of 2011-08-15
The conclusion of the quest is at Nicks location, according to the star on my map. Thought it was interesting to note:P Aloha, Mauirixxx 22:03, 16 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Lol, I usually end up with the bird side of the quest. (dunno y I got signed out so quickly) 72.148.31.114 03:04, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Does Hard Mode reduce trophy drop rates?
I see in the official wiki entry for Hard Mode that: "Foes are more likely to drop rare or hard-to-find items, e.g. bosses are more likely to drop greens. As a corollary, they are less likely to drop low-end items, such as trophies." In the GuildWiki entry for Hard Mode, it says "Both rare and uncommon items (including rare crafting materials) drop more often in hard mode. However, area- or monster-specific loot, like Globs of Ectoplasm, still only drop where they do in normal mode." It seems to me that even if GuildWiki is correct that the drop rate for trophies doesn't change, you should always farm in normal mode anyway since you can kill normal monsters faster. --Triplehammer 18:51, 26 August 2011 (UTC)


 * I wouldn't agree with the GWW article, as the rarity is simply a property of the item and shouldn't affect its place in the drop table; i.e., a specific creature has an x% chance to drop an equippable item (weapon) and a y% chance to drop a trophy, and if it drops the weapon, then the weapon has a z% chance to be gold. For HM, the z% would be increased, but that wouldn't affect x or y.
 * Regardless, I agree with you - there's no point to farm trophies in HM. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 19:39, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

List of builds (update)
I've updated the list of builds so that it again only includes good/great-rated PvX builds, the names conform (more/less) to the title in the PvX article, and the links are active. I made an exception for the Paragon build (it's archived, but (a) it's the only para build and (b) the specific farm for which it's designed is no longer profitable, but the build is still workable+).

Now that that all the item-specific farming notes are with the item articles (ty, Dr Ish!), it's become more important to ensure that the build list stays current and useful, i.e. imo the list should remain limited to those that are heavily used and/or highly efficient (rather than become cluttered with everyone's personal favorites).

It might be worth adding a few single-player/one-hero teams, for people who want an easy farm without having to get the timing down precisely (as required for some of the builds). (Or perhaps even just adding a viable hero build or two as backup, e.g. a defensive and offensive spirit spammer to accompany SoS, 1-2 bonders, an NeRt, and a protter.) PvX doesn't usually cater to this, b/c adding a hero almost always reduces efficiency, but that limitation of PvX's mandate shouldn't necessarily apply here. (After all, one of the reasons for creating this page in the first place was the lack of help available for the self-identified non-elite player.) — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 21:15, 16 January 2012 (UTC)


 * I rarely play GW anymore, much less do any farming, so I can't really contribute other than to say that I agree with your proposed direction for it. &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 21:57, 16 January 2012 (UTC)

IotW farming in the second cycle
I would like to propose a new structure for the Item of the Week farming tips:
 * Redirect Guide to Item of the Week Farming to the #Farming section of the current week's request.
 * Include a link to Guide to Item of the Week Farming/General tips from the Nicholas the Traveler part of the box.

This way, links to the guide still work and automatically go to the actual farm notes (this is of interest to everyone following the links). The non-item notes (builds, generalized suggestions) are only of interest to some people some of the time...and continue to be available via other links.

This would require including a specific farming section for a few items that don't really need one (the mats and ale) and a few modifications to the current main page text (instead of  it would be   /  . Similarly, Nick's article would have an extra link in the first bullet under See also/farming guides.

This level of automation is only possible thanks to Ish's current automagic Nick/predict system and his work to move the specific item farms to the specific item articles. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:02, 19 March 2012 (UTC)


 * What if we just moved the "Current week" section to the top on this page and pared down the rest of the text? That seems like the simplest solution that achieves your goal of emphasizing the specific farming info over the generic info.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael Diablo_the_chicken.gif 20:04, 19 March 2012 (UTC)