DE cultural data: 188-201

[MayakaXev]

Ding 49! Time to continue smithing...

Combines
188 4 / 4 (gorgets)
189 2 / 2
190 1 / 1
191 9 / 9
192 41 / 41 (boots)
193 20 / 21
194 4 / 4
195 1 / 1 (gauntlets)
196 8 / 8
197 33 / 33
198 21 / 21
199 16 / 18
200 15 / 15
201 12 / 12
202 50 / 52 (helms)
203 12 / 12
204 4 / 4
205 3 / 3
total: 18 skillups in 261 combines (1 in 14.5)

Trivial combines
blocks: 451 / 469
folded sheets: 440 / 451
pairs of rings: 137 / 142
jointing: 261 / 274
total: 1289 / 1336 (3.52% failure rate)

Drops
69 elf blood from 450 Sisters of Erollisi (1 in 6.5)
416 essence of shadow from 3454 Shadowed men (1 in 8.3)


Approximate cost (excluding padding and tempers): 5360p

All combines were done at 252 int and with geerlok. Elf blood has been turning up in the bazaar in good quantities, so I've not needed to farm any for some time. And big thanks go out to my guildies for helping out with the essence of shadow collection.


Edit 1: ding 201
Edit 2: ding 206

[Teyia]

Neriak Neckar

Sorry, been looking all over... I haven't been able to find Neriak Neckar anywhere... I am sure I am just looking in the wrong places, but any assistance as to it location would be greatly appreciated...

[Draqnor]

Neriak nectar is sold in a bar in 3rd gate. I can't remember the name of the bar but there is a brew barrel right next to the merchant.

[kiztent]

That bar is the maiden's fancy, but it's sold in more than one bar. It's also given out as a newbie quest reward.

[Dian]

how long did it take you to get the shadows?, this is starting to scare me.

I would enjoy the hunting of the sisters but those shadowmen seem dull dull dull and at 1 per 9 kills mind numbing appears to leap to mind.

[kiztent]

how long did it take you to get the shadows?, this is starting to scare me.

I would enjoy the hunting of the sisters but those shadowmen seem dull dull dull and at 1 per 9 kills mind numbing appears to leap to mind.

My wife AEd the LFay camp for 2 days, 8 or so hours a day to get 2 stacks of essence of shadow.

The problem is that you won't see more than 7 or so mobs at a camp and once you kill them, you wait for respawns. Bring a book.

[MayakaXev]

how long did it take you to get the shadows?, this is starting to scare me.

It should . The drop rate appears to be closer to 1 in 8 now. I'm planning to update my numbers when I reach 201 smithing, but at the moment I'm at 185 essence for 1495 shadowed men. I've been getting an average of five shadowed men per spawn, the spawn is six minutes, and my swifted dual-wielding Jebober takes up to a minute to kill the last pop. So on average, five shadowed men every seven minutes.

And that agrees with what I've observed on a larger time scale. I usually camp shadowed men in batches of 100. It always takes 19-21 spawns to get 100, and it takes me between 2 and 2.5 hours to do it.

[Naelia]

Can you drow offer opinions on 188+ smithing as a dark elf? I'm at 184 and am not sure wether to skill up on cultural or on shadowscream once I nail 188. It seems to me that elven blood and essence of shadow are both fairly easily obtained... and everyone seems to really hate camping shadowscream components!

I am a level 50 SK, in case that info helps you opine.

Is there a benefit/disadvantage to Shadowscream/Adamantite armor that I should know about?

Thanks in advance 8)
~Naelia

[Kramadon]

Naelia

Either way, you're going to be camping. I tried the shadowscream route, didn't like it, so am skilling up on old cultural. What really turned me off of shadowscream was farming the swirling shadows, the substances weren't that hard to get solo as a 60 cleric using my hammer of souls and a root. Either I had horrible days, or the swirling shadows drop rate is a joke. I'd much rather sit in Lavastorm and farm Essence of Shadows off Shadowed Men than go back to Twilight Sea or Shadeweaver's Thicket.

Old cultural is a bit spendier than shadowscream, very comparable to doing fine plate in my opinion if you're selling back to a vendor. I would suggest you try shadowscream before doing old cultural, perhaps get the humming mallet so you have something to "fall back on" if you decide you don't like Tier`Dal smithing.

Kramadon SoulStealer
60 Cleric

[Ihnanna]

If you are constantly killing the Lesser Shades in Shadeweavers Thicket, you can yield about a stack of Swirling Shadows per hour. Just to give you an idea. Mem Sense Undead if you have it.

[amphitryon001]

yea this sounds right..though i much prefer it to the no-rent nonsense involved with shadowscream

[Zeralenn]

Shadowscream no longer has a no-rent component. That was done away with some time ago.

I am (trying to) skill up on DE cultural, though I do some shadowscream in there occasionally (not atm; my tools got eaten by the forge when I went LD and I have not gotten them back yet).

I find the drop rate at the Lavastorm camp much better than anywhere else, though it is tedious. I also have found several on vendors on PoK for some reason lately. No idea why.

I prefer doing DE cultural because at least that sells reasonably well in the bazaar. I haven't sold shadowscream anything since the Great Frog Twink-Off of February 2003.

...Zera

[Nihixul]

Did you have a skill mod item while doing these combines? (thanks)

[Reflan]

Twenty swirling shadows per hour in Twilight Sea is about right. Sometimes I get 30 per hour, but sometimes I get some pretty extended stretches where I kill quite a few shadows and one or zero swirling shadows for it.

It's hard to judge anyone's progress in skilling up without being told what their strength or int/wis is, in smithing. Some people without maxed stats for their level could wind up doing vastly more combines to achieve the same number of skill ups compared to people with high level and/or great gear (or buffs). For instance, my friend with 325 wisdom was getting skill-ups every 17 combines at the same range in shadowscream that were taking me 48 combines with my 275 wisdom.

[kiztent]

The best path would really depend on your play schedule. Shadowscream yields more combine per hour, BUT there is huge overhead in getting the war to work, or you can block out time to check the war and farm it if it's up, but that means you can't commit to anything until you know the status of HSM.

Shadowmen are slow and dependable. If you have low play time (2-3 hours at a shot) and want the flexibility to farm at your leisure, not at the convenience of a zone that's BROKEN for going on 18 months, do cultural.

If you just want to be 250 YESTERDAY and play for 18 hours a day, go shadowscream.