Humming Orbs

[Vishino]

Do you all think that :?: Humming orbs :?: would be an effective and cheap skill up idea from around 120 to 160 ( or what ever they trivialize at) if you have any information on this subject please post it

thanks
Vishino

[Vigeant]

Re: Humming Orbs

Do you all think that :?: Humming orbs :?: would be an effective and cheap skill up idea from around 120 to 160 ( or what ever they trivialize at) if you have any information on this subject please post it

thanks
Vishino

I'll say yall camp em enuf at 188+ but sure ya can do to skill up

[Bennan]

Cheap skillup path, yes very much. In fact you will make money from drops such as perfect owlbear pelts. Thats assuming you are killing in Hollowshade moor

Effective, thats player dependent. If you have your heart set on skilling up using Shadowscream (when you get higher skill), you may also feel after doing the first run, that you only want to do humming orbs when you can use them for skilling up (its not very exciting).

On failure rates, at 168 Smithing I only experience a 5% failure rate, at 165 I still only experienced a 5% failure rate, would be interesting to see the results of combining these at 120 skill, perhaps a higher failure rate could be reasonably expected. But whatever that is, will it be acceptable is the question. And that will differ on a player by player basis.

In the long term, the time you spend making these Humming Orbs can save you time, as compared to implementing other recipes which while they will give you the skill ups, they end there. Humming Orbs will leave you with a legacy of items that will assist in skilling up, further down the path.

So, if the failure rates experienced making Humming Orbs turned out to be acceptable for myself (starting at skill 120) then I would say yes.

They also triv at 168.

[Okotona]

I tried that...

just one problem...

They don't stack =p... hard enough as it is being a pack rat

[Kradlum]

It would only be worth it if you have a pack of mules to put the Humming Orbs on to save them until you have skill > 188. Since they don't stack, they're a pain. But if you can handle a pack of mules, then it's a good idea, since it's a cheap way to skill up, and you will have plenty of raw materials ready for when you trivial fine plate.

[mrjimorg0]

Humming Orbs

I've been thinking about this as well, and I came up with 2 thoughts. 1- I wish humming orbs were stackable so I could put a TON in the bank when getting to 168 then use them to get past 188, but you know what they say - "If wishes were fishes everyone would have enough to eat". But, 2nd is an interesting idea. There are a lot of aspiring smiths out there. Perhaps if you found a 188+ smith you could sell him the humming orbs (droppable) and swirling substances. Most smiths would be willing to pay for possible skillups.
Just my 2c
-Marie

[Eumerin]

The only reason I could think of to work on humming orbs early is if you wanted an item that cast a DS on you. But since they don't stack, and because the duration of the DS is so short, I don't think its really worth it.

[ChaseFV]

Different range

I don't know if I'd start them at 120. I would strongly recommend doing needles until 132 at the very least. Whether you do any ornate chain or not will depend on your finances. Ornate chain is a fast way to burn through a K or 2.

I am actually using the humming orbs to skill up right now. I did use various ornate chains to get me to 146 before I started on the orbs. As a multi-skiller, I have practically no space (1-2 bags worth open at any given time), but there is a Dwarven smith in my guild who is working on finishing up, and bought them from me happily. He's looking forward to my next batch. If you can find a market for your orbs, do them. They will more than pay for the time you have to spend in the Moor.

Data:
WIS 221
30 attempts, 21 success
Skill at start: 146
Skill at finish: 155

I did take my first 3 successes to do the turn-in for the humming luclinite mallet which seemed to improve my success rate on the orbs significantly (failed 5 of 8 with regular luclinite mallet, then went 18/22 to finish).

[Sethlic]

I say its a great idea as long as you have a second account to put them own. If you do load up about 5 or 6 characters with Toolboxes in 23 of their 24 slots. Then fill them up. The great thing will be that all you'll have to hunt is shadows later on down the line. :twisted:

Each mule can hold 230 wiht one conatiner slot open for food and such

[aradin]

Humming Orbs Usage

Now - since the Humming Orbs have a castable DS on them, can you use the DS cast, then use the Orb in the smithing? Or is the orb not usable in the smithing if the cast ability is used?

Just curious.

[Eumerin]

Casting the DS does not destroy the orb. I've finished the entire quest series up to the point that you can create Shadowscream armor, and I created an extra humming orb, which I then used to DS myself. The orb is still sitting, without charges, in the bank at this time, until I finally decide to start working on my smithing.

[Bigotes]

Main issue: Running around

The problem with humming orbs not being stackable is that, after all the farming time, bear/wolf wars, waiting for shade island to be free to then spend your own time farming swirling shadows (unless you farm them by minute numbers in ME or Shadeweaver's), at any time, without the ability to two box and even by leaving your inventory free of food and drink, you can do a maximum total of 36 combines before having to run back to the bank to pick up more shrieking and wailing substances, swirling shadows and metal rings.

The other option is to keep a couple of backpacks full of the latter and sticking by a merchant that sells the molds you need, reducing further the combines you can do in a single run.

Cheaper, yes, more convenient... well... depends on your ability to control your own temper. Can often lead otherwise, to damaged keyboards, damaged furniture, temporarily disabled pets, deaf children, offended partner, offended neighbours, constabular confrontation...

Just a warning

[ChaseFV]

Holy necro-post, batman!

3 years later than my original post, and I'm (sadly) finally getting back around to improving my smithing beyond 200 and I'm back on shadowscream. I have discovered that I'm entirely too impatient to do the Aid Grimel quest path to 227, so I just sucked it up and shadowscreamed it. While competition for the swirling shadows farms isn't so stiff on FV at the moment, it's far from an expeditious process. Almost bad enough to make me go back to trying to get my last 9 points of fletching.

Yes, having humming orbs not be stackable is an inconvenience, but I believe that Ngreth has posted within the last few months that because they have the clicky effect on them, it would require a major code change to remedy that. I'm not sure I fully understand the vagaries of that, as potions are technically just stackable items with a clicky-effect.

[Shrea]

I have recently started using humming orbs as a path for skill since my plat supply is quite limited. I have found that parking a boxed mule next to me or at the banker makes it tolerable to stash them away till later.

I am currently at 150 unmodified skill, and average about 80% sucess rate on combine. I figure its a little easier to use these to 168 vs ornate steel. I don't mind camping the drops, and being a necro makes it simple.

[Nolrog]

Do you all think that :?: Humming orbs :?: would be an effective and cheap skill up idea from around 120 to 160 ( or what ever they trivialize at) if you have any information on this subject please post it

Check into your cultural to see if that's a better option for you.

Humming orbs are cheap to do, but very time consuming to farm, and don't stack (which is a problem.)