New Druid Advice from the experts

[bcbrown]

Originally Posted by DeathsSilkyMist [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm glad to see you took the XP + Plat leveling path for the most part, and was able to afford a Lumi Staff at 46. That is why I suggest doing that path.

Yes, I did, and I regretted it so much I moved to green, rerolled a new druid, and charmed straight through from 20-40. I've tried it both ways and especially if someone specifically wants to roll a druid in order to charm, they should... level by charming and not worry about money.

Originally Posted by kjs86z2 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

is porting for money not good anymore? not enough people playing?

Ah right, forgot about porting. I was trying to think where I made my money on that druid and it wasn't adding up. Pretty sure at least half of 40-46 was in CoM, and that couldn't have netted more than a couple thousand. I must have made several thousand porting, maybe as much as half of that toon's lifetime earnings of ~10k. I just looked up the thread I made about porting and your advice there, like usual, was spot on:

Originally Posted by Toxigen [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Bind at "Hammer Hill" in Overthere.

Make a /ooc macro advertising ports. Try to get a potg or C2 (gift of pure thought while you're underleveled) from a friendly 60 druid or enc.

Keep leveling in OT (root rot/nuke is pretty good with big boy buffs, but I highly recommend charming animals). Hit that /ooc port macro every so often. Eventually hit level 44 (will probably have to venture elsewhere as it'll green out...I highly recommend charming in gator pits in CT), get Cobalt Scar port. Stop there and port for cash and stack dem chips til you're able to fund your first alt with a full set of twink gear.

[loramin]

How long will it take a low-level Druid (without a ring) to level from 17-22 ... ten hours? The wiki reports list nine players who got their ring in under ten hours, and the majority got it in five hours or less. The less lucky ones needed 6, 8.5, 10.5, 18, or 50+ (!) hours, and there are also reports (all ten hours or less) where no ring was acquired.

The right thing to do would be to put all those reports into a table and do some math ... although that would still be flawed, because some reports are for single spawn points, and some (most?) are for the double spawn. Instead, since there seems to be roughly the same number of ring/no ring cases, let's just double the time of the ring cases. Now it's 10 hours or less for the majority, but the unlucky ones will need 12, 13.6, 21, 36, or 100+ hours.

In other words, most will get the ring while they're still getting XP, and if they stick around a few hours longer, even the 12/13.6 guy will get a ring before they leave. But, if you are that unlucky person who needs 100+ hours, you will level out of LOIO long before acquiring a ring. Like everything in EQ, it's a chance.

Still ... even in that worst case scenario, all you lost by going to LOIO was a minuscule amount of plat (I can't believe the plat drop difference between LOIO and Warrens is that significant), and a similarly small amount of faction (remember, a high level character can clear the Warrens in about half an hour, so at most it will take them maybe an hour to match the guy who leveled from there 17-22).

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Originally Posted by loramin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

How long will it take a low-level Druid (without a ring) to level from 17-22 ... ten hours? The wiki reports list nine players who got their ring in under ten hours, and the majority got it in five hours or less. The less lucky ones needed 6, 8.5, 10.5, 18, or 50+ (!) hours, and there are also reports (all ten hours or less) where no ring was acquired.

Prices tend to be more accurate than the wiki. If Goblin Ring was a 5 hour camp on average for higher level players, that means it is a camp where you make 1000 plat per hour on average.

1000 plat per hour is a great camp. Especially a camp that can be done at level 20 by any caster class, including Mages. For lower levels you would say 500 plat per hour with the 10 hour average. 500 plat per hour is still a great camp, especially for that level range.

If there's one thing I've done a lot of, it's buying and selling things in EC. If people knew of a camp where they could make 1000 plat per hour at level 40 or 500 plat per hour at level 20 with any caster class, it would be permacamped. Trust me when I say P99 plat farmers don't miss stuff like that. Especially a camp that's been around for 10+ years.

Now, take a look at two items like Silver Chitin Handwraps vs. Flowing Black Silk Sash. On green FBSS is 2k, and SCHW is 700pp. In most cases, SCHW is better than FBSS, but SCHW are still cheaper. Why? Because Frenzy was permacamped, the gloves weren't a particularly rare drop, and the market got flooded.

Goblin Ring would have followed the same path as SCHW if it was that easy to get. Like FBSS, the price of Goblin Ring is inflated due to rarity.

Even Fungi Tunic, probably the most popular item on P99, has dropped from 100k to 35k due to supply. Fungi Tunic is almost certainly a more common drop than Goblin Ring, and you need to be high level to do the camp. If Fungi Tunic isn't immune to a price drop due to supply, Goblin Ring certainly wouldn't be.

[Jimjam]

Originally Posted by loramin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

How long will it take a low-level Druid (without a ring) to level from 17-22 ... ten hours? The wiki reports list nine players who got their ring in under ten hours, and the majority got it in five hours or less. The less lucky ones needed 6, 8.5, 10.5, 18, or 50+ (!) hours, and there are also reports (all ten hours or less) where no ring was acquired.

The right thing to do would be to put all those reports into a table and do some math ... although that would still be flawed, because some reports are for single spawn points, and some (most?) are for the double spawn. Instead, since there seems to be roughly the same number of ring/no ring cases, let's just double the time of the ring cases. Now it's 10 hours or less for the majority, but the unlucky ones will need 12, 13.6, 21, 36, or 100+ hours.

In other words, most will get the ring while they're still getting XP, and if they stick around a few hours longer, even the 12/13.6 guy will get a ring before they leave. But, if you are that unlucky person who needs 100+ hours, you will level out of LOIO long before acquiring a ring. Like everything in EQ, it's a chance.

Still ... even in that worst case scenario, all you lost by going to LOIO was a minuscule amount of plat (I can't believe the plat drop difference between LOIO and Warrens is that significant), and a similarly small amount of faction (remember, a high level character can clear the Warrens in about half an hour, so at most it will take them maybe an hour to match the guy who leveled from there 17-22).

What level are these players? I know it is a popular spot for encs and bards to farm. Will a teeny druid keep a single spawn turned over anywhere near as fast as an enchanter pet or bard is killing 2+ spots? I also wonder what reporting biases there are for ring acquisition times.

Originally Posted by Goregasmic [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yeah that's the part that is tricky, ph will be hard to find around level 20 as there's a dozen possible PH and probably 30+ mob in the area. Without AE you basically have to hope there's already a courier up or just kill random stuff and hope you get a courier eventually but you probably won't get many that way and it is about a 3% drop rate.

I was 44 when I did it, not sure how the exp is around there. Worth a shot if it is decent but I'd bolt the second it slows down and come back in the late 30s or even 40s.

Considering there's 6+ actual PH, I wonder if the best way to farm it would be bard swarming everything or have a wizard just gflux everything and PBAE every 30 sec.

There are a tonne of spawn points where the courier can pop. Just because a courier is up and you kill it doesn't mean the respawn will happen at a point you are familiar with.

Originally Posted by Goregasmic [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Goblin you have to kill 120 mobs per hour and you can't go take a piss without risking having to start over.

mobs will attack you for 10 mins before they get bored, so if you need a pee break, take the PHers you have identified to a quiet corner, give them a bonk to reset their aggression timer, make sure your pet and DS is down and enjoy your quick break.

[Goregasmic]

Originally Posted by DeathsSilkyMist [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If Goblin Ring wasn't rare, higher level druids with track would have gotten good at the camp and min/maxed it for quick cash,

That's not how this camp work, track is of minimal help. Classes like mage is probably the best for the double spawn.

Originally Posted by Jimjam [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

There are a tonne of spawn points where the courier can pop. Just because a courier is up and you kill it doesn't mean the respawn will happen at a point you are familiar with.

No but if it is a courier you know 100% he's on the courier cycle so technically the next repop after 30 sec on top of track is on the cycle. You can hunt that guy down until you find his spawn point.

Originally Posted by Jimjam [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

mobs will attack you for 10 mins before they get bored, so if you need a pee break, take the PHers you have identified to a quiet corner, give them a bonk to reset their aggression timer, make sure your pet and DS is down and enjoy your quick break.

That's why I said risk. I've done it with root but you risk having a goblin KS you and lose your ph. Or have another mob of the same type aggro and and mix them up and lose your timer. Single spawns aren't too hard to restart but getting the double going can be tricky.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Originally Posted by Goregasmic [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

That's not how this camp work, track is of minimal help. Classes like mage is probably the best for the double spawn.

It honestly doesn't matter which class is best, that class would have figured out the optimal strategy for Goblin Ring in the past 10 years and flooded the market with Goblin Rings. That's how players on P99 work for all good items. Clearly that didn't happen, which means the Ring is rare.

OP is a druid, so if the camp isn't great for a Druid, they also are probably not getting the Ring.

I am not sure why people keep trying to claim getting Goblin Ring is going to be easy to get. The price data shows otherwise. If the item was easy to get, the price would have dropped by now like most items.

I am curious to know why other people think Goblin Ring prices have remained mostly the same for 9 years on Blue and 4 years on Green if it isn't a supply issue.

[Snaggles]

Originally Posted by DeathsSilkyMist [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

OP is a druid, so if the camp isn't great for a Druid, they also are probably not getting the Ring.

The OP has the plat to buy one now, just isn’t sure if they should. I’d rank ease of acquisition at 1/10.

Originally Posted by DeathsSilkyMist [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I am not sure why people keep trying to claim getting Goblin Ring is going to be easy to get. The price data shows otherwise. If the item was easy to get, the price would have dropped by now like most items.

I am curious to know why other people think Goblin Ring prices have remained mostly the same for 9 years on Blue and 4 years on Green if it isn't a supply issue.

The camp sucks. The ring trivializes leveling any charm class. People have more alts who “demand” a tool to level with than there is “supply”.

If you are a p99 tryhard you will have a need for at least one if not four rings while you level up. You might not sell these as they still serve some purpose at 60. If you are an uber nerd you might level up another enchanter, bard, etc. This lets you cover more raid locations with a class you like to play. Or lets you go farm while keeping your main parked. I.E. you need more rings.

Few items have an immediate result of making a class much easier to level. This is at least as helpful as a fungi is for all who can wear it but 1/5th the cost. If you see one for sale you don’t haggle…you are just glad you don’t have to rot your life away in LoIO.

[Goregasmic]

Originally Posted by DeathsSilkyMist [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I am not sure why people keep trying to claim getting Goblin Ring is going to be easy to get.

You're either fighting windmills or moving the goalposts, I don't think anyone said this? The killing is easy but it's 3-4% drop rate at an average of like 3 couriers per hour at the double spawn IIRC so of course it's rare. We also all explained to you that the camp sucks ass, which should also greatly contribute to rarity.

Never hurts to try especially if you're getting decent exp.

[loramin]

Yeah, it makes way more sense to make inferences based on the economy (of a server that's been locked in Velious for years) than to actually look at the reports of players (which don't happen to align with your "talking points") [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Originally Posted by loramin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yeah, it makes way more sense to make inferences based on the economy (of a server that's been locked in Velious for years) than to actually look at the reports of players (which don't happen to align with your "talking points") [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You do realize the market is informed exclusively by players?

More people use EC than edit the wiki too.

You can choose to believe the market, which is influenced by literally the entire playerbase.

Or you can choose to believe the wiki, which is often wrong and edited by only a few people.

I'll pick the market every time.