Grimel "shortcuts" I didn't see mentioned

[Atlis]

If you are better at farming difficult items in the elementals than you are at farming masses of tradeskill items, the tailoring and fletching stages have shortcuts for you.

When I got to the tailoring stage, I realized I could make the Fire Undergarment Tunic without going to Aid Grimel. So I made one at 206 skill and kept it in the bank for a while. Bored one day, I was perusing allakhazam's web page and read somewhere that you could turn in the tunic and receive the next signet without having 220 tailoring. So I tried and it worked. Afterwards, I was able to get the fletching quest, but my skill was 226 at the time already. However, I can only assume that if some lucky bum made a signet featherwood bow with less than 220 skill, they could turn it in for the next signet, as well.
The final stage did require a full 7-skill check, though, as noted in the past regarding the smithing MQ. Since the NPC said that an unexperienced person such as me should not be in possession of such a trinket, I decided not to test my luck with the final turn-in until I finished the tailoring step.

This is just some info that I couldn't find using Search. If you're working on the earring and feel lucky, you can get #7 earring without 220 smithing, tailoring, fletching, and probably baking as well.

[Aethn]

This isnt a shorcut, its a bug I am sure. The quest is intended for persons 220+ in the respective skills. So if that really worked for you, it was not intended.

Going to make a robe on Test and hand it on an alt, if it works like this, I will show it to Grumbuk/Xeib. They will decide if its a sploit or a bug or ok.

[tnexus]

The problem with this is I don't think you can get the final hope stone hand in done until you have 220 in tailoring, as that NPC checks for your skills in tradeskills before he gives you the quest.

[Rissenn]

You can hand the items in, but since you in that case have not talked to Aid Grimel about it and been "ok'd" so to speak..wonder if you will get the full reward?

[Taushar]

On a related note. I have all my skills above 220 but do not have elemental access. I still need to kill RZtW and Sol Ro for full access. I was able to do all the steps up to the fletching part without the access. I made the robe and turned it in and got the earring. I also did the fletching part and got the earring back as well. However, the baking part, he refused to give me the container to make the combine. I already made the baking parts but am stuck until I kill RZtW. I have been at this for over a year now but am a bit frustrated atm.

My guild is still a few kills from the elemental. My attempt at open raid for RZtW has been 7 failures. There are people in uber guilds who spent relatively small efforts to get their skills to 220 has the earring. Here I am working towards 300 in all tradeskills, spent untold dedicated hours toiling away at tradeskills and since I am not in a uber guild, I can't finish this quest. I would have thought that the tradeskill quest should reward those who are dedicated to tradeskills, not those who can benefit from being in the "right" guild.

Taushar

[YurienStonebow]

EverQuest....you're in SOE's world now

[Tidiath]

There are people in uber guilds who spent relatively small efforts to get their skills to 220 has the earring. Here I am working towards 300 in all tradeskills, spent untold dedicated hours toiling away at tradeskills and since I am not in a uber guild, I can't finish this quest. I would have thought that the tradeskill quest should reward those who are dedicated to tradeskills, not those who can benefit from being in the "right" guild.

Please don't take this as an attack against you, but how you can justify in your head to say something like that. Your efforts to get 220+ are greater than the efforts of someone who has RZ flag? please, last time I checked 220 skillups per tradeskill was 220 skillups per tradeskill for every player not just you.

Meaning the whole effort things was brought up, you should pay some homage to old school tradeskillers like most of us who use this great site are. The ones that use to do thousands of combines 1 click at a time because there was no tradeskill UI. The ones that didn't have the luxury of skilling up to 60 for free while drinking beer and enjoying the breeze on the boat in Abysmal. The ones that had to spend incredible amounts of travelling (because druids/wizards were a rare find especially the ones that would port you for a reasonable amount of money) and there was no instant click travelling to various zones, time not only farming items but also pp to work these skills...back when pp was talked about in the hundreds, not the hundreds of thousands.

I understand your frustration, but you should consider yourself lucky that you had the resources and variety of recepies available to raise your skills so high *before* you have the flags.

[Mannwin Woobie]

I agree with Taushar. I think most of us look at this quest as a "Tradeskill" quest. What is the point of linking it to PoP progression?

And yes, I am from the pre-tradeskill UI era, with 300 in all skills. And I have 250 in all on alts because I am also from the pre-tradeskill AA era where you couldn't go above 200 on one character.

My guild is relatively small. We are only now progressing through Sol-Ro minis on the way to Fire. I don't mind requiring us to farm ingredients. But why put them in locked zones? Of course, the entire PoP expansion annoyed me for that reason....hehe