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Shadowscream - what I do
Hey,
Very first post here! 'Been using eqtraders for a few years and it is the best around.
Anyways, the choice to use shadowscream as my path to higher level smithing was initially based on cost. After studying this site for the recipes and allakhazam's for the logistics, I felt that I had a neverending farming adventure ahead of me.
I play three accounts and therefore my farming abilities are much better than solo. My characters, all lvl 60, are a Warrior, a Shaman and a Cleric. As you can see, I am set up fairly well for farming with those classes. No, the warrior does not own an Earthsaker. = (
I detest farming greens (doh, greys), worst kind of farming to do, but I knew it was necessary to a point. I also didn't want to base the majority of my play-time around farming non-stop.
I'll break down the components of farming I have done and tell you what I did to maximize both drops per hour and xp (Yes! XP!)
Shrieking/Wailing Substances:
I hadn't fought in Hollowshade very much prior to this tradeskill endeavor. I read quite a bit about "the war" and had a fairly good idea about how to manipulate it. It took an hour or two to understand how the war works and in what order to kill named, etc.
When I go there now and noone is farming, I am able to get the mobs I want on the southern island in 10-15 minutes. Switching races mid-farming takes 20-30 minutes maximum.
I am able to grind out about 40 shrieking/wailing substances in an hour, after the switch is made. I could probably do more if it weren't so boring, I was higher level and my weapons were better (on the warrior.) Warriors get a riposte /disc that works great with a 2h long delay weapon and rampage aa (which I don't have yet.) I plan to camp the kobold in Sol B for the "Baby Earthshaker" and test that out. The shaman buffs and his pet kills runners while the warrior loots. The cleric has a wonderful pb aoe that takes over half their life and often kills many at once (I tend to train at least the one big island/penninsula and often the surrounding islands when furious refreshes 30-60 mobs.)
I found the bears are easier beacuse they don't get sow'd.
I have done this in few hours-long sessions and realized that it isn't so bad. It's kinda fun actually. My skill raised from 222 to 237 in two tradeskill sessions and about 180 final (money) combines.
I have found that this is extremely efficient and am willing to share more details on how I do this. I am also willing to take advice as to how I can be more efficient with the current class setup.
Swirling Shadows:
Farming these are actually more boring and repetative than the shrieking/wailing substances. And, contrary to what many do, I farm these in Maidens Eye from Xi's. At level 60, most of them con light blue with the new con system. I am able get some xp while farming. Before the TSS patch, xp was weak from the XI's. Now, I can actually see the aa xp bar move on each kill (~1%.) I have camped at the UP zoneline for all of my farming sessions due to it's safety, but, I am considering moving to the spires nearby for shorter pulls and more mobs. I often get non-Xi adds but it's not a big deal. I get xp to farm for the cheapest smithing route to 267. A 62 or 63 player (can't remember) said most Xi's were green to him. I can't remember if this was before or after the TSS patch. I can check my insanely long logs (that I forgot to turn off!) to confirm this information.
An ancillary benefit to getting the tradeskill drops and xp are bazaar-sellable spells.
I haven't made note, but I probably get about 15+ shadows per hour. I'll keep track next time. The cleric can nuke nonstop with the new ooc regen so I expect that to effect the drops/hour. I would need to farm at least twice that amount per hour to move to a non-xp location. Any advice?
Now, this method of farming probably takes a fair amount of time longer to get the desired amount. The pros outwiegh the cons to me. It may not make sense at higher levels, which most are.
This is the cheapskate method. I do many other things besides farm for smithing. I do this in between doing many other things and started this route at level 55. I intend to stay at or very near my current level of 60 until this smithing route is complete.
I should write a book titled "The Cheapskate Method." On most of my recent characters that tradeskill heavily, I have factored tradeskills into levelling so I can get the most xp benefit possible. I have also used this playstyle in conjunction with tailoring.
Long post /salute
Editted for typos/grammar - sortof
Hey,
Very first post here! 'Been using eqtraders for a few years and it is the best around.
Anyways, the choice to use shadowscream as my path to higher level smithing was initially based on cost. After studying this site for the recipes and allakhazam's for the logistics, I felt that I had a neverending farming adventure ahead of me.
I play three accounts and therefore my farming abilities are much better than solo. My characters, all lvl 60, are a Warrior, a Shaman and a Cleric. As you can see, I am set up fairly well for farming with those classes. No, the warrior does not own an Earthsaker. = (
I detest farming greens (doh, greys), worst kind of farming to do, but I knew it was necessary to a point. I also didn't want to base the majority of my play-time around farming non-stop.
I'll break down the components of farming I have done and tell you what I did to maximize both drops per hour and xp (Yes! XP!)
Shrieking/Wailing Substances:
I hadn't fought in Hollowshade very much prior to this tradeskill endeavor. I read quite a bit about "the war" and had a fairly good idea about how to manipulate it. It took an hour or two to understand how the war works and in what order to kill named, etc.
When I go there now and noone is farming, I am able to get the mobs I want on the southern island in 10-15 minutes. Switching races mid-farming takes 20-30 minutes maximum.
I am able to grind out about 40 shrieking/wailing substances in an hour, after the switch is made. I could probably do more if it weren't so boring, I was higher level and my weapons were better (on the warrior.) Warriors get a riposte /disc that works great with a 2h long delay weapon and rampage aa (which I don't have yet.) I plan to camp the kobold in Sol B for the "Baby Earthshaker" and test that out. The shaman buffs and his pet kills runners while the warrior loots. The cleric has a wonderful pb aoe that takes over half their life and often kills many at once (I tend to train at least the one big island/penninsula and often the surrounding islands when furious refreshes 30-60 mobs.)
I found the bears are easier beacuse they don't get sow'd.
I have done this in few hours-long sessions and realized that it isn't so bad. It's kinda fun actually. My skill raised from 222 to 237 in two tradeskill sessions and about 180 final (money) combines.
I have found that this is extremely efficient and am willing to share more details on how I do this. I am also willing to take advice as to how I can be more efficient with the current class setup.
Swirling Shadows:
Farming these are actually more boring and repetative than the shrieking/wailing substances. And, contrary to what many do, I farm these in Maidens Eye from Xi's. At level 60, most of them con light blue with the new con system. I am able get some xp while farming. Before the TSS patch, xp was weak from the XI's. Now, I can actually see the aa xp bar move on each kill (~1%.) I have camped at the UP zoneline for all of my farming sessions due to it's safety, but, I am considering moving to the spires nearby for shorter pulls and more mobs. I often get non-Xi adds but it's not a big deal. I get xp to farm for the cheapest smithing route to 267. A 62 or 63 player (can't remember) said most Xi's were green to him. I can't remember if this was before or after the TSS patch. I can check my insanely long logs (that I forgot to turn off!) to confirm this information.
An ancillary benefit to getting the tradeskill drops and xp are bazaar-sellable spells.
I haven't made note, but I probably get about 15+ shadows per hour. I'll keep track next time. The cleric can nuke nonstop with the new ooc regen so I expect that to effect the drops/hour. I would need to farm at least twice that amount per hour to move to a non-xp location. Any advice?
Now, this method of farming probably takes a fair amount of time longer to get the desired amount. The pros outwiegh the cons to me. It may not make sense at higher levels, which most are.
This is the cheapskate method. I do many other things besides farm for smithing. I do this in between doing many other things and started this route at level 55. I intend to stay at or very near my current level of 60 until this smithing route is complete.
I should write a book titled "The Cheapskate Method." On most of my recent characters that tradeskill heavily, I have factored tradeskills into levelling so I can get the most xp benefit possible. I have also used this playstyle in conjunction with tailoring.
Long post /salute
Editted for typos/grammar - sortof
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