Bad Ogre, Naughty Ogre (Attention Alchemists 2)

[Skaelz]

I can also confirm that the Hearty Goblin Blood drops in the southeast corner of the zone from green con goblins. I first killing light blue & dark blue mobs going in a circle from zone in to Runri, etc and did not get any bloods to drop after about an hour. I then made a circle of all the green con goblin camps and got 12 to drop in 1 full cycle (probably about 45 min 2-boxing a monk & shaman).

[Ngreth Thergn]

Hearty X drop from level 45 to 50 mobs and 25% drop
Robust X drop from level 50 to 55 mobs and 10% drop
Exceptional X drop from level 55 to 60 mobs and 5% drop

Yes there is crossover, and yes you can see a mob drop both, if it is appropriate.

These mob ranges are around the player level we arbitrarily set for certain trivials, and an approximate player level for the intended potion. (not all will have the same required level, sometimes we just wanted things to be rarer)

I am not happy with exceptional shade essence and my be changing the item, or finding a similar but slightly less appropriate mob race to move it too.

[Gaell Stormracer]

Well, that certainly explains my initial frustration with the Hearty Goblin Blood, the entry area from Frontier Mountains is all LB/DB at 70 (i.e. 55+) whereas the mobs near Nurga are 40-50.

About the Shades -- there are a number of other zones that have them, such as Mons Letalis, that might be more appropriate? Or maybe the empty caves in the Netherbian Lair could spawn some of the right level, and since it's no longer a hot zone, it won't simply be used by higher level folk for grinding....

[Ngreth Thergn]

well.. it looks like people are finding it ok in Greigs, and deep in akheva... so I may not need to change it.

My initial problem, that I jsut did not have time to fix becuase I was under a SEVERE time crunch (I had like 2 hours). Was that there are alot of shades in Vex-Thal, which is of course keyed. But it seems they are available enough outside of vex-thal to just leave it as is.

[meows]

what is the recipe for spikskin iX and X?

[Ashwith]

Exceptional Shade Essence

Just an observation to add in case you're still considering the Exceptional Shade Essence drop.

I have about... 6 hours... of hunting into Griegs (4 hours) and Akheva (2 hours), all in groups of 2 or 3 level 70 raid-equipped characters -- e.g. we wipe out spawns GUD! I have 8 Robust Shade Essences -- most of which came from the wailing & chanting shades in Akheva. I have no Exceptional Shade Essences.

My husband and I (enchanter) tested levels on the Akheva mobs (using stuns) because we were concerned when we weren't finding drops and we did note that there are a mix of 56+ and - ... in what seems to be about equal proportion.

Given the proportion of time in Akheva where the Robust drops were the most common and we did our testing -- and based on relative drop rates of 5% and 10% -- I'd expect to have 2 exceptional essences. (We can confirm, fortunately, that Robust essences dropped only on <56 mobs.... which made us happy... in a way!) Of course, a sample size of 8 drops is small and drops can be random so perhaps having none is bad luck.

Meanwhile, I've seen a single Exceptional Shade Essence in the bazaar for 5k.

This is *not* meant as a complaint. Per the above, I'm happy to allow time for things to correct themselves, and besides -- ultimately I just need to find one of these buggers to complete my GM trophy. It is, however, intended as additional input so you can see one person's real life play results.

Thanks for your watching over these issues so closely, Ngreth. Its a real pleasure to see you interacting with the community and considering the results of your changes. =)

-= Ashwith

P.S. For those tradeskillers interested in drops:

I can confirm that Exceptional Shade Essence drops in Griegs ... at least via word of mouth. A friend pulled one out there with a few hours of hunting.

I started my focus on Griegs, thinking it would be fastest since I knew the mob that dropped his. Nice theory. After 4 hours of Grieg, I'd had enough and I moved to Akheva.

The drops in Akheva (again, at the wailing/chanting section mostly... the Xi Xaui's just have too many hp, are by traps, and are highly magic resistant making them a p.i.t.a.) were far more common for me. Unfortunately, no go on the Exceptionals yet.

[Catmandew]

Spent about 4 hours hunting GE last night, and came away with 7 Exceptional Shade Essences. Found them hunting near the gate area (a belligerant guardsman, a shadowy figure, etc). The robust were more common in the front courtyard (a shrouded willsapper). My current rule of thumb is that if the mob has beady red eyes on the bugger, chance to have Exceptional, no eyes means Robust.

[Vashan]

2 Hours on Cazic in GE and no ESE. *sigh*

Update: 3 hours, one ESE. Failed the combine for the old GM bag though. Think I will give it up until I can buy em in the bazaar. 3 hours+ of farming for one item for a potion that is level 60 or lower seems a bit out of whack.

[Cyro]

spent 2 hours in GE on Tunare, most of GE was camped so had to go in deep to find a spot, got 2. Robust Shadow Essence.

[rogbait]

Alchemy Trophy

as a 36 Shammy, Alchemy skill 145, I was given the following task (among many others) for the Alchemy trophy test.

Create 2 Distillate of Regeneration IX.

Rumor has it that it will take Exceptional Shissar Blood from Ssra. I was wondering if this assignment was normal. I've checked, double checked and rechecked. Even did a screenshot so i can continue to test my eyesight. That IS one of the tasks.

Questions:
Is this normal?
Should I abandon the quest and restart it after the patch?
Are there negative ramifications associated with abandoning a quest?
Should I quit alchemy until I hit level 70 into SSra? (not being mean here... this is a viable option for me.. just asking for opinions of others)

Constraints: I will NOT join a high level guild and take advantage of them.

[Ngreth Thergn]

I think I have adjusted that element of that task. Check again after the patch (which looks like it was moved to tomorrow 3/15)

[rogbait]

Thanks

Your timely reply has impresses me. It reinforces my belief that the dev team cares about us, perhaps more than ever. One thing I forgot to mention my previous post is that I initiated the quest at some time after 9 PM EST, March 13th.

I will check after the patch and post my findings.
Thanks again.