Best Challenge to Solo-farm Ingredients?

[cforce]

I haven't really touched the challenges yet, but with the upcoming challenge ingredient-exchange option, I may start spending some time there when I want a quick solo task without waiting around for a group.

What are the best challenges to solo-farm with a level 20 Pale Master for ingredients?

[brian14]

What ingredient-exchange option?

[LeLoric]

A post of mine from lammania forums.

I don't think you are gonna just wanna farm one challenge for all your items none produce enough. It may be somewhat viable per say to maybe run labor shortage over picture portals though as its much faster (3x) for similar amounts of shards. and convert them. I enjoy picture portals too much though and will still run it although less effective.


No and the epic xfers cost one token fragment also. Also keep in mind it's limited in which you can swap for just like cannith essences. For example I can trade scrolls for goblets, goblets for shards, shards for scraps and scraps for scrolls.

To just run one challenge to get the items you want would take way more ingredients than to just farm each one seperately.

To get the 600 goblets and scrolls just of running picture portals that I would need for a tier one spare hand you are looking at 5400 goblets. And then you still have to go get armor fragments which you cant get at all from picture portals. Then you can do the same for tier 2 and 3 plus 9000 more for the tokens for each slot and add another 1500 for the 5 tokens to make tier 3. So you got 19500 epic goblets and the 5400 regular goblets and then 600 regular scraps and 1200 epic scraps too.

[cforce]

A post of mine from lammania forums.

I don't think you are gonna just wanna farm one challenge for all your items none produce enough. It may be somewhat viable per say to maybe run labor shortage over picture portals though as its much faster (3x) for similar amounts of shards. and convert them. I enjoy picture portals too much though and will still run it although less effective.

Actually, I was talking about the lamannia release note that said there would be a 20 for 10 ingredient exchange for ingredients in the same level range.

[LeLoric]

Actually, I was talking about the lamannia release note that said there would be a 20 for 10 ingredient exchange for ingredients in the same level range.

This is what I was talking about too. Each type can only make one or two different other types meaning to just farm one single one and break it up into the other ones you need you could be looking at as much as a 16-1 exchange rate.

[cforce]

This is what I was talking about too. Each type can only make one or two different other types meaning to just farm one single one and break it up into the other ones you need you could be looking at as much as a 16-1 exchange rate.

Ah, yep -- I didn't see Eladrin's digraph until later! Well, that's disappoointing. Guess the Challenges will go back onto the "don't purchase" pack list for me until something else changes...

[redspecter23]

I was also very disappointed in hearing the full story after being so excited that I might be able to finally finish off a few items and consider upgrading them too. I just can't seem to find any real interest in farming these quests right now in order to get the ingredients I need. To answer your question, the mansion quests are probably the easiest to solo, as you don't have to do any babysitting of kobolds or extractors. As we learned many years ago, players tend to gravitate away from babysitting quests if at all possible. Silly Coyle. If the pathing issues of kobolds get fixed and the nerfs to marilith and lich bosses are reasonable, then extraplanar mining becomes much more solo friendly. Having kobolds run off away from the line to their doom is about as much fun as a root canal. Having them stand around and get nuked/sliced by the lich/marilith while you spend 3 minutes beating it down as fast as you can is as much fun as that same root canal... without any anesthesia. The boss hp in there is ridiculous.

I haven't tried kobold island on lam yet, but if the extractors can no longer be made invisible, I'm not sure it's possible to solo it, or at least not possible to do it consistently and without extreme frustration. Others may have more experience with that one.

[voodoogroves]

I was also very disappointed in hearing the full story after being so excited that I might be able to finally finish off a few items and consider upgrading them too. I just can't seem to find any real interest in farming these quests right now in order to get the ingredients I need. To answer your question, the mansion quests are probably the easiest to solo, as you don't have to do any babysitting of kobolds or extractors. As we learned many years ago, players tend to gravitate away from babysitting quests if at all possible. Silly Coyle. If the pathing issues of kobolds get fixed and the nerfs to marilith and lich bosses are reasonable, then extraplanar mining becomes much more solo friendly. Having kobolds run off away from the line to their doom is about as much fun as a root canal. Having them stand around and get nuked/sliced by the lich/marilith while you spend 3 minutes beating it down as fast as you can is as much fun as that same root canal... without any anesthesia. The boss hp in there is ridiculous.

I haven't tried kobold island on lam yet, but if the extractors can no longer be made invisible, I'm not sure it's possible to solo it, or at least not possible to do it consistently and without extreme frustration. Others may have more experience with that one.
The two I've done the most solo were the island ones and the extraplanar mining - both are definitely soloable. I pulled all I needed for my first set of stuff from the islands before I even heard about the invisibility thing - I've never used that tactic - just diligence.

[redspecter23]

The two I've done the most solo were the island ones and the extraplanar mining - both are definitely soloable. I pulled all I needed for my first set of stuff from the islands before I even heard about the invisibility thing - I've never used that tactic - just diligence.

I will have to check them out again then. My runs at kobold island so far have just been extremely frustrating with extractors being attacked all over. By the time I could run back to them, they are destroyed or so low that the next attack would surely take it out. I have had success soloing extraplanar mining, but I do think it could be much better once kobold pathing is fixed.

[voodoogroves]

You can get steady, constant returns on the island alone just focusing on the small extractors. You can absolutely do more in a good group, but you can succeed by your lonesome.

I've done most of the solo runs farming on a FVS 18 (since I get mats and a little XP - so dual benefit). I did/do use a hireling to do so.



A quick run-down here; some notes first
- Ignore the star conditions; you're farming for materials not favor
- I like the FVS 15 and FVS 19 hirelings as they have decent instakills and aren't shy about using them
- Don't immediately go defend extractors under attack; remember that when you upgrade them, they are respawned at 100% - so upgrading one at 1% will give you an upgraded one at 100%
- While soloing I ignore the archon and supply drops unless they are opportunistically placed

- Summon hireling
- Buff
- Jump off the left side of the boat (kinda north east ish) and then go up the hill killing kobolds on the way for scraps, ending up at the small extractor right east of the boat
- Start that small extractor (I think this is 1)
- Park hireling, turn to "active go crazy" mode
- Head to the south small extractor, clearing the way
- Start it (I think this is 2?)
- Head north, to the west of the boat and up the hill
- Clear and start the small extractor in the center area (3?) on the hill
- Jump down and head towards the far north extractor, clearing it and starting it (4?)

At this point, continue to circle clockwise or jumping to wherever there is a need.

- Once you get 75, upgrade extractor #1
- Upgrade others as you can
- Continue the circuit, with more focus on the upgraded extractors
- If you lose a base extractor, it's not the end of the world once you've got some mass going as you can turn it back on and immediately upgrade it AFTER you clear the area again

[TPICKRELL]

I find the kobold island series and the mansion series to be the easiest to solo.

The extraplanar and lava caves series are both soloable but I find them to be much more difficult to solo and get a decent number of ingredients. Both of these are runable for ingredients with a duo even before patch 1 comes out. After a bit of practice, my wife and I were able to make level 20 spare hands for each of us by doing these as a duo (with hirelings for heals) in a few evenings of play

Patch 1 looks like it should make both of these easier to solo.

[TPICKRELL]

You can get steady, constant returns on the island alone just focusing on the small extractors. You can absolutely do more in a good group, but you can succeed by your lonesome.

I've done most of the solo runs farming on a FVS 18 (since I get mats and a little XP - so dual benefit). I did/do use a hireling to do so.



A quick run-down here; some notes first
- Ignore the star conditions; you're farming for materials not favor
- I like the FVS 15 and FVS 19 hirelings as they have decent instakills and aren't shy about using them
- Don't immediately go defend extractors under attack; remember that when you upgrade them, they are respawned at 100% - so upgrading one at 1% will give you an upgraded one at 100%
- While soloing I ignore the archon and supply drops unless they are opportunistically placed

- Summon hireling
- Buff
- Jump off the left side of the boat (kinda north east ish) and then go up the hill killing kobolds on the way for scraps, ending up at the small extractor right east of the boat
- Start that small extractor (I think this is 1)
- Park hireling, turn to "active go crazy" mode
- Head to the south small extractor, clearing the way
- Start it (I think this is 2?)
- Head north, to the west of the boat and up the hill
- Clear and start the small extractor in the center area (3?) on the hill
- Jump down and head towards the far north extractor, clearing it and starting it (4?)

At this point, continue to circle clockwise or jumping to wherever there is a need.

- Once you get 75, upgrade extractor #1
- Upgrade others as you can
- Continue the circuit, with more focus on the upgraded extractors
- If you lose a base extractor, it's not the end of the world once you've got some mass going as you can turn it back on and immediately upgrade it AFTER you clear the area again

My solo run is pretty similar to this, with a few differences...

1: I park the hireling at small extractor #2
2: Once I am able to upgrade small extractor #1, I place a turret here
3: If it is possible I kill the archon when it first appears, as it gives you a big boost of shards and accelerates the upgrade process
4: If I hit 300 shards with more than 6 minutes left, I start Large Extractor #1, which is located near small extractor #1, it is much faster and will more than make up the difference if enough time remains. If I start large #1, then I place 1 or 2 turrets here. A lot more mobs come after the large extractor so it is more difficult to defend.
5: If I hit quota with a large running and more than 5 minutes remaining, I will upgrade large extractor #1, and upgrade 1 turret at large extractor #1.
6: If I have time, I destroy the 6 kobold totems, this gives you a star and improves your score, which increases the number of ingredients, but is much easier if you have a hireling and turrets to provide some of the defenses
7: Un-upgraded small extractors are cheap, so dont worry about one being destroyed, just try to get to it and restart it as quickly as you can. This is much less important if you get a large running, so once a large is running, I ignore the unupgraded smalls, unless they are convenient.

This is a pretty easy farm for low and mid level toons. I've farmed with melees at level 11, 15 and 20 and with a level 6 casting speced favord soul, and gotten good returns on ingredients.

[voodoogroves]

My solo run is pretty similar to this, with a few differences...

1: I park the hireling at small extractor #2
2: Once I am able to upgrade small extractor #1, I place a turret here
3: If it is possible I kill the archon when it first appears, as it gives you a big boost of shards and accelerates the upgrade process
4: If I hit 300 shards with more than 6 minutes left, I start Large Extractor #1, which is located near small extractor #1, it is much faster and will more than make up the difference if enough time remains. If I start large #1, then I place 1 or 2 turrets here. A lot more mobs come after the large extractor so it is more difficult to defend.
5: If I hit quota with a large running and more than 5 minutes remaining, I will upgrade large extractor #1, and upgrade 1 turret at large extractor #1.
6: If I have time, I destroy the 6 kobold totems, this gives you a star and improves your score, which increases the number of ingredients, but is much easier if you have a hireling and turrets to provide some of the defenses
7: Un-upgraded small extractors are cheap, so dont worry about one being destroyed, just try to get to it and restart it as quickly as you can. This is much less important if you get a large running, so once a large is running, I ignore the unupgraded smalls, unless they are convenient.

This is a pretty easy farm for low and mid level toons. I've farmed with melees at level 11, 15 and 20 and with a level 6 casting speced favord soul, and gotten good returns on ingredients.

Once you get more used to it, I'd say the archon can be a nice target - again, if you're not hurting yourself. Same with the totems - for new players starting out, ignore these and get your routine down first. Don't try to do too much each time and instead slowly expand. You should find you'll go from failure to completion to completion with extras (killing named for loot, archon for shards, starting larges).

For the base (non-epic) ingredients, my plan is to use it as a gap filler on any characters I have that are nearing cap when I'm bored of questing or just want to run some **** alone for a bit.

[brian14]

- Park hireling, turn to "active go crazy" mode

What exactly do you mean by that?

FTR, your method is nearly identical to mine except I keep my hireling with me. I had best solo results with sorcerer/FVS dilly toon and paladin hireling -- mobs mostly aggro on the extractors, so self-healing of these two is sufficient.

[brian14]

Once you get more used to it, I'd say the archon can be a nice target - again, if you're not hurting yourself.
Is archon lawful good? I only killed him once, with a Chaotic toon (rogue mechanic) using Anarchic bolts, but did not pay attention whether archon was taking chaotic damage.

[Kinerd]

Lava Caves: Time is Money is easy to solo. The trick is to never (or hardly ever) buy time, and accept that you will fail some runs. On a caster this barely matters - it will be obvious you're going to fail, ddoor, shrine, get kicked out, go right back in. I found I have about an 80% chance to get about 60 reward items on my caster. The key is that every run only takes 5 minutes, so I'm getting over 10 reward items / minute. When invis on Kobold Island goes away, that rate is going to be hard to beat (although I haven't done too much Rushmore, so maybe soloing can manage the same there).

[brian14]

Why? I mean, what's the drawback of buying time -- even once?

[Kinerd]

I've found the biggest drawback of soloing is you can only be in one place at a time. Keeping the line extremely close largely alleviates that problem. I can get 160 crystals in 5 minutes pretty easily, not least because the first 20 or 30 are gimmes always present in the foreman area. I need to get at least 96 crystals in the next 3 minutes to make the purchase worthwhile, and I've found that to be pretty difficult. Not only do I have to deal with the red name that spawns on meeting the goal, I have to go further afield, making it much more difficult to keep the entire line protected by myself.

[sirgog]

Lava Caves: Time is Money is easy to solo. The trick is to never (or hardly ever) buy time, and accept that you will fail some runs. On a caster this barely matters - it will be obvious you're going to fail, ddoor, shrine, get kicked out, go right back in. I found I have about an 80% chance to get about 60 reward items on my caster. The key is that every run only takes 5 minutes, so I'm getting over 10 reward items / minute. When invis on Kobold Island goes away, that rate is going to be hard to beat (although I haven't done too much Rushmore, so maybe soloing can manage the same there).

This.

Succeeded on 25 first try. 180 or so ingredients for 5 minutes.

Generally don't buy time, as most of your kobolds will die immediately after you get completion (to the Lich or Marilith that spawns then), so you might only get 5-10 more crystals, but you add 3 minutes to your completion time. Buy time only if you are close to failing from time expiring and still have kobolds alive.