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Leveling an alt - tradeskill style.
Hi there, I believe this is my first post…but I wanted to post because I found farming for specific materials both tedious and frustrating. So, I guess I should title this Alt-alternative Leveling for tradeskill materials.
I have many alts, one for alchemy, one for enchanting, one for tracking, one for spell research, and even two for foraging (two accounts).
Well, I recently decided to try and level an alt focusing only – and only – on tradeskill materials that I often use/have limited time to farm myself. I made a ranger, and went to work! I opted for a ranger for forage and for snare.
Note: While leveling, I always had Temperance, DS Potions, and healing potions available. If you are on Luclin and need some DS Potions, I will make them at vendor-cost for you.
Level1-10, I went through the tutorial (it offers great starting gear, I don’t have the plat budget to ‘twink’ effectively, so it works out great).
Level10-13(can be done until 15, depending how many pelts/puma skins you desire) I killed Pumas in Crescent Reach. There is an entire cave with an extremely fast respawn rate (I think I clocked it at just 1minute 30seconds until respawn). Get some DS potions and go to work – it cuts through the fast attacking cats like nothing else. The cave is the ‘center’ cave between the 3 caves in the middle of the zone.
Yield: 7 HQ Cat Pelts; 22 MQ Cat Pelts; 15 LQ Cat Pelts; 11 Puma Skins.
2nd Alt leveled here Yielded: 9 HQ Cat Pelts; 6MQ Cat Pelts; 11 LQ Cat Pelts; 20 Puma Skins.
Level14-18 (can be done until 20, same respawn time as the pumas) Same zone, the cave is located North of the cat cave (the 3rd cave in the center of the zone). Bears hit a bit harder, which was a bit annoying, but overall it offered some great results with HQ Bear Pelts.
Yield: 8 HQ Bear Skins; 17 MQ Bear Skins; 22 LQ Bear Skins.
At 20, I went to the next zone (Blightfire Moors) which is also a hotzone at the moment. There, aside from being attacked by the cluster of overaggressive rat infestation, I killed snakes at the zoneline until 24 for Snake Eggs. The Experience gained in this zone is rather crazy, I believe I was getting almost one yellow per kill until twenty two, and I was still getting three blues per kill when I left snakes at 24.
Yield: 32 Snake Eggs.
At 24, I found a nice amount of cats bedding along one of the Southern ridges. Because I can’t describe the location, how I initially found it was I went to the center camp (Quests available) and then headed south until I passed the small pond, then headed South West until I found the cats. I stayed there until 27.
Yield: 3HQ Cat Pelts; 5MQ Cat Pelts; 2LQ Cat Pelts (slow drops).
At 27 (and a half), I went to fight wolves which are located on the North East side of the ‘half moon’ structure (the swamp) in the Moors. This was probably the most disappointing experience I’ve had in a long time to be honest. I found the wolves frustrating, and for some reason I opted to stay because I had such a high need for HQ Wolf Skins needed for the new colored bags.
These wolves resisted just about every spell I threw at them, they took off like a bat out of hell at 20 percent life left, they often pulled multiples, each name represents the class that you will be fighting(the shamans are the worst), they were often impossible to ‘see’ until you were standing on top of them (even with tab-targeting), and they have a creature named the ‘Green Witch’ that drifts around the camp (she killed me a few times while leveling and at 40 I thought I would seek revenge...and she still killed me and I had decent gear for my level).
I got so frustrated with them resisting my snare I logged on my 70 druid just to see if it was a fluke, and sure enough I got the first two casts of snare resisted. Don’t do these unless you really, really, really need wolf skins. There will be more opportunities to find some. I stayed here until 32. I don’t know why I would put myself through such torture.
Yield: 2 HQ Wolf Skins, 4 MQ Wolf Skins, 1 LQ Wolf Skins
At 32, I decided it was time to start fighting griffons. These drop griffon feathers and griffon eggs. I also snuck(sneaked?) in a few extra kills on wasps (they yield about 1yellow in the 30s per kill, and don’t run). Some of the griffens were yellow or red/rather difficult to kill, but these half birds commonly dropped two griffon eggs or feathers.
Yield: 52 eggs, I had a mistake where they were the first available food for a few levels and didn't notice until it was too late (I'm not sure how many I ate).
Around 37, I decided it was time to go try the zone North of griffons (the Goru’kar Mesa). This place is a pelt/silk collectors dream. If there is a heaven for EQ-tailors, this is the zone.
I targeted wolves, bears, and spiders. Things do not agro here, which makes it perfect for my kill-and-afk method I enjoy.
Mobs to avoid: a mesa alpha wolf. These guys have an ‘AA ability’ like most pet classes, and summon a large group of wolves to attack you. I got killed my first time fighting because they run as fast as SoW and I could not make it to the zone. These also agroed when I pulled wolves near them, which lead to another death.
The mesa mother bear – has a bear cub, I couldn’t bring myself to kill the cub. You might not really care though, I think they also drop pelts.
Bears 13HQ Bear Pelts, 22MQ Bear Pelts, 11LQ Bear Pelts. Also drops Shiny bear tooth(25pp).
Wolves: 9HQ Wolf Skins, 7MQ Wolf Skins, 12LQ Wolf Skins. Also drops Wolf Pancrase(35pp).
Spiders: 12Spider Silks(appear to be rare); 246 Spiderling Silks*. Also drops spider mandibles (7pp) and carapace (21pp). These also drop 'ores' of the appropriate level.
Total cash value: I continuously purchased healing potions (HoTs), and have still made above 4000pp in vendor fodder.
*The spiders here have the unique ability upon death. Sometimes, not always, they 'explode'(not literally, but I like to think of it that way) and create 4-6 spiderlings in a circular pattern around the corpse of the spider. These WILL agro if you start attacking another creature (they also appear to have a rather large agro radius when you do).
Another important, positive thing I found was that these have a chance at dropping ornate defiant gear (which sells nicely), and there are various quests which target these mobs/offer decent rewards. There is also an augmentation and a class-varying ring that drops in the zone.
I’m currently level 44, and I split my time between griffons and the Mesa Plateau, I will keep updating – if anyone cares – on where I go and what I do. My next target will likely be Dulak because all of the ‘humanoid’ mob types drop ore, skins, silks, sunshards, and various dusts for the level that I will need next in my tradeskilling adventures!
Coffees of Luclin (and a plethora of other characters/classes/levels that I won't post here).
p.s. Anyone have any tips/comments for locations? Thanks!
I have many alts, one for alchemy, one for enchanting, one for tracking, one for spell research, and even two for foraging (two accounts).
Well, I recently decided to try and level an alt focusing only – and only – on tradeskill materials that I often use/have limited time to farm myself. I made a ranger, and went to work! I opted for a ranger for forage and for snare.
Note: While leveling, I always had Temperance, DS Potions, and healing potions available. If you are on Luclin and need some DS Potions, I will make them at vendor-cost for you.
Level1-10, I went through the tutorial (it offers great starting gear, I don’t have the plat budget to ‘twink’ effectively, so it works out great).
Level10-13(can be done until 15, depending how many pelts/puma skins you desire) I killed Pumas in Crescent Reach. There is an entire cave with an extremely fast respawn rate (I think I clocked it at just 1minute 30seconds until respawn). Get some DS potions and go to work – it cuts through the fast attacking cats like nothing else. The cave is the ‘center’ cave between the 3 caves in the middle of the zone.
Yield: 7 HQ Cat Pelts; 22 MQ Cat Pelts; 15 LQ Cat Pelts; 11 Puma Skins.
2nd Alt leveled here Yielded: 9 HQ Cat Pelts; 6MQ Cat Pelts; 11 LQ Cat Pelts; 20 Puma Skins.
Level14-18 (can be done until 20, same respawn time as the pumas) Same zone, the cave is located North of the cat cave (the 3rd cave in the center of the zone). Bears hit a bit harder, which was a bit annoying, but overall it offered some great results with HQ Bear Pelts.
Yield: 8 HQ Bear Skins; 17 MQ Bear Skins; 22 LQ Bear Skins.
At 20, I went to the next zone (Blightfire Moors) which is also a hotzone at the moment. There, aside from being attacked by the cluster of overaggressive rat infestation, I killed snakes at the zoneline until 24 for Snake Eggs. The Experience gained in this zone is rather crazy, I believe I was getting almost one yellow per kill until twenty two, and I was still getting three blues per kill when I left snakes at 24.
Yield: 32 Snake Eggs.
At 24, I found a nice amount of cats bedding along one of the Southern ridges. Because I can’t describe the location, how I initially found it was I went to the center camp (Quests available) and then headed south until I passed the small pond, then headed South West until I found the cats. I stayed there until 27.
Yield: 3HQ Cat Pelts; 5MQ Cat Pelts; 2LQ Cat Pelts (slow drops).
At 27 (and a half), I went to fight wolves which are located on the North East side of the ‘half moon’ structure (the swamp) in the Moors. This was probably the most disappointing experience I’ve had in a long time to be honest. I found the wolves frustrating, and for some reason I opted to stay because I had such a high need for HQ Wolf Skins needed for the new colored bags.
These wolves resisted just about every spell I threw at them, they took off like a bat out of hell at 20 percent life left, they often pulled multiples, each name represents the class that you will be fighting(the shamans are the worst), they were often impossible to ‘see’ until you were standing on top of them (even with tab-targeting), and they have a creature named the ‘Green Witch’ that drifts around the camp (she killed me a few times while leveling and at 40 I thought I would seek revenge...and she still killed me and I had decent gear for my level).
I got so frustrated with them resisting my snare I logged on my 70 druid just to see if it was a fluke, and sure enough I got the first two casts of snare resisted. Don’t do these unless you really, really, really need wolf skins. There will be more opportunities to find some. I stayed here until 32. I don’t know why I would put myself through such torture.
Yield: 2 HQ Wolf Skins, 4 MQ Wolf Skins, 1 LQ Wolf Skins
At 32, I decided it was time to start fighting griffons. These drop griffon feathers and griffon eggs. I also snuck(sneaked?) in a few extra kills on wasps (they yield about 1yellow in the 30s per kill, and don’t run). Some of the griffens were yellow or red/rather difficult to kill, but these half birds commonly dropped two griffon eggs or feathers.
Yield: 52 eggs, I had a mistake where they were the first available food for a few levels and didn't notice until it was too late (I'm not sure how many I ate).
Around 37, I decided it was time to go try the zone North of griffons (the Goru’kar Mesa). This place is a pelt/silk collectors dream. If there is a heaven for EQ-tailors, this is the zone.
I targeted wolves, bears, and spiders. Things do not agro here, which makes it perfect for my kill-and-afk method I enjoy.
Mobs to avoid: a mesa alpha wolf. These guys have an ‘AA ability’ like most pet classes, and summon a large group of wolves to attack you. I got killed my first time fighting because they run as fast as SoW and I could not make it to the zone. These also agroed when I pulled wolves near them, which lead to another death.
The mesa mother bear – has a bear cub, I couldn’t bring myself to kill the cub. You might not really care though, I think they also drop pelts.
Bears 13HQ Bear Pelts, 22MQ Bear Pelts, 11LQ Bear Pelts. Also drops Shiny bear tooth(25pp).
Wolves: 9HQ Wolf Skins, 7MQ Wolf Skins, 12LQ Wolf Skins. Also drops Wolf Pancrase(35pp).
Spiders: 12Spider Silks(appear to be rare); 246 Spiderling Silks*. Also drops spider mandibles (7pp) and carapace (21pp). These also drop 'ores' of the appropriate level.
Total cash value: I continuously purchased healing potions (HoTs), and have still made above 4000pp in vendor fodder.
*The spiders here have the unique ability upon death. Sometimes, not always, they 'explode'(not literally, but I like to think of it that way) and create 4-6 spiderlings in a circular pattern around the corpse of the spider. These WILL agro if you start attacking another creature (they also appear to have a rather large agro radius when you do).
Another important, positive thing I found was that these have a chance at dropping ornate defiant gear (which sells nicely), and there are various quests which target these mobs/offer decent rewards. There is also an augmentation and a class-varying ring that drops in the zone.
I’m currently level 44, and I split my time between griffons and the Mesa Plateau, I will keep updating – if anyone cares – on where I go and what I do. My next target will likely be Dulak because all of the ‘humanoid’ mob types drop ore, skins, silks, sunshards, and various dusts for the level that I will need next in my tradeskilling adventures!
Coffees of Luclin (and a plethora of other characters/classes/levels that I won't post here).
p.s. Anyone have any tips/comments for locations? Thanks!
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