158+ Cost vs. Return on Combines

[Ravensteel]

My Thoughts

When i was around 53, I hunted with a group in Acrylia Caverns. Alot of different types of acrylia droped for me. make sure you have some weight reducing bags, and enjoy the exp.

[Pockets FullOfGold]

At level 53, I know you can get exp hunting in Grimling Forest (GF) and farming Acrylia at the zone to Acrylia Caverns (AC). It is a difficult prospective though. The only mobs that I know of in GF at the AC zone that drop Acrylia are the Grimling Miners. At level 58, the Miners were Light Blue to Green. There are alot of other Grimlings around so you would have to be careful with pulls.

The Acrylia drop rate seems to be on a par as with Tenebrous Mountains (TM), but it's alot easier killing level 35 Green's in TM than light blues to green in GF

Pockets FullOfGold

[Velurian]

As far as the solstice robes: it very much depends on the market for robes on your server and whether you have access to a Tunare druid/cleric and a GM jeweller. The market is still reasonable on E'ci for robes, and I've managed to about break even (through 10 points of doing robes) despite a bad run on the gem studded chains when I was starting out. But I'm a GM jeweller, have a Tunare cleric alt, and farm most of my silk (or buy when I see them for 2.5pp each or less, but that's not often). So I've got something of a best-case scenario for starting robes early.

(For the record: 101 robe attempts, 5 successes, 10 skillups from 162 to 172.)

If any of these factors don't break your way, robes might not be as attractive, especially if you can level while farming acrylia and rockhopper hides. (You might still want to do some robes to supplement your acrylia studded, but unless you've got a good combination of factors, I wouldn't do them as a primary skillup path.)

[Flintforge]

Thanks!

Hmm, will try those hunting spots

As to the soltice robes data for around 158 thanks Velurian. That was exactly the info I was looking for. Even at extremely far below the trivial, there are still too many successes for me. I think I will stick with Acrylia.

I am just worried at how many hides and studs I am going to need.

[Velurian]

At a rough guess, I'd plan on 300-400 combines from 158 to 188. So 300 to 400 superb hides. Studs would depend on the path you decide to take. If you do masks (which will not sell, so if you're buying components, you're losing big money, though if you're farming everything, they're more reasonable), 300-400 studs -> 900 to 1200 small pieces of acrylia. (At E'ci prices, that's almost 100k spent if you want to buy all of that in the bazaar -- 50pp per piece => 45k to 60k, 100pp (at least) per hide => 30k to 40k. So I'd really only do masks if you're rich or willing to farm a lot.)

I'm personally more inclined to do tunics and cloaks, on which I've actually made a profit in addition to getting a few skillups, but I'm doing robes as my primary skillup path, so I imagine that this would be unbearably slow if you were concentrating on the studded as your path. (I haven't actually been trying to farm acrylia, I've just been exp'ing in Tenebrous, so I use whatever acrylia I pick up there and buy superb hides in the bazaar.)

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[Meirril]

If you've got a tailoring skill at or above wu's, it's not that hard or expensive to work JC up to 160 (somewhere around 2k-3k selling back all successes, and not bothering with imbunes). After that, working up smithing to around 150 dosen't seem all that bad (figure a cost of about 1k. maybe 2k). Now that you've done this hunting geonids in WL for xp (decent xp before PoP, bad xp after you reach 55), coin (they rare drop gems upto and including BDs), and unrefined gems for the 8th coldain prayer shawl. After you get a few gems (hopefully unrefied diamonds, but any will do. get a few, you don't want to bother doing this without a few), head off to WW and hunt velium hounds for fur. Hey, this stuff dosen't trivial till 178. Too bad its no-drop when ya combine in into soft fur padding. Now what to do with that soft fur padding and these no-drop gems? Head to CC, kill enough orcs to become apprehensive to the dwarves. Hmm, do ya think people sell blocks of velium to the merchants down there? I do. Start using blocks of velium, coldain temper, soft fur padding, and the gems you'll refine to make imbuned royal velium armor. Not ready to do your 8th shawl yet? Np, put it into the good ol' JC bag one more time and click. You'll have sellable engraved royal velium armor. Perfect for twinking Paladins, Rangers, SKs, and clerics. The bp and greives sell for about 4-5k. The rest sell for less, but they still sell. After you sell your first BP you've recooped all that cost and now your on the way to paying for the rest of your trade skills (or spell drops).

BTW, just for the record, the best way to get your spell drops is to trade spells. Your 63, go out and get some spell drops. That means spectrals and parchments (or patterns/molds, they trade/sell well). If you can't get into a group that can get the drops, you probably don't need the 63 spells anyways. Its harsh, brutal, and sounds like a flame but I don't intend it that way. Its just being honest. If you still think you need the 63 spell, make some friends that can help you get it. Honestly, EQ isn't so much what you can do, but what you and your friends can do together.

[kekenewah]

How bout with new LOY recipes

How does this cost comparison change with the new LOY recipes? Thanks.