Question re: Foraging

[Valquiss]

Hi all

Not being in beta currently (and that's probably just as well, gives me a chance to hope video cards come down a little more) I've been following these boards rather closely and as much as I think I understand most things quite well now, it's easy to get a distorted view of the most simple things when one isn't actually in beta. So here's the question. Does any class type (and by that I mean adventure class type) have an advantage in terms of foraging stuff from the wilderness, or is this simply a general skill that everyone acquires? I'm thinking in terms of EQI parallels right now (for want of others) but I've had no indication thus far there is anything comparable to your EQI druid that goes around finding stuff that other people don't find. Is everything foragable by everyone now, to the extent that it is?

Thanks for an answer, in advance, to what is really a pretty basic question.

Val

[Drucilla]

The basic answer is: Yes, everyone has the same chance to 'forage'. As far as I know (and correct me if I"m wrong) no class or race as the advantage to find more rares or nodes or what not.

It's now broken down into different categories, changed from EQ1. For now the categories don't seem to matter much but that may be just for beta. There's mining, foresting, fishing, and some others. As you adventure you see these little nodes. In Antonica, for example, there's Callous Ore (which nets iron and turquoise), Sandwashed Rock (which nets electrum), as well as others. As you adventure, hunt, look for mobs, wander you will see the nodes as part of the landscape. Callous Ore looks like a little rock. As you approach it, the little title "callous ore" will show indicating that you can harvest. Double click the little rock and you will get a 'timer bar' showing you are harvesting. In the lower levels you can harvest twice from each item (except rocks, those you get three tries) and at Tier 2 (commonlands and antonica that I know of, might be more) you get three tries to harvest (four tries off roots). Once you use up all of your harvest tries, the node disappears.

I like the process and Antonica is littered with things to harvest. At Tier 2 there's plenty of tradeskill ingredients. :)

[Niami DenMother]

I'll be doing up a foraging guide sometime this week, including some screenshots of some of the basic resource node types. One thing to note is that while it is not class-dependent, it IS level dependent.

Before folks get into too much of a tizzy, it makes sense when you think about it.

Tier 1 areas, with the level 3-9 resource harvests, have resource nodes that anyone can see. Even noncombatant artisans who want to do a bare minimum of combat can see the nodes and snag them.

After that, however, it is level limited (afraid I don't have the exact cutoff points, but will try to find out before launch).

Tier 2 areas, with the level 10-19 resources, have nodes that cannot be seen by a wee level 3. (I *think* they become visible around level 8 or 9, but can't be positive without deleting a character and starting over, which isn't a viable option given where I am in various tradeskill trees for testing) About the only thing a noncombatant is going to see out in the wilds of Antonica are things that want to eat them, be it quickly or slowly. We don't want unprotected noncombatants out there who don't know which end of a weapon to point at the critter. Frankly, even at level 14, Niami has her heart in her throat half the time as she harvests out there, and even my level 20 finds a few spots where she has to dance carefully. ;)

Rinse and repeat for tier 3, with level 20-29 resources (Nektulos, Thundering Steppes, etc.). I think nodes start becoming visible in the mid-teens, but it may be late teens. Will have to drag the hobbit out there to test sometime and see when she starts seeing them.

Of course, for those really and truly against adventuring, it's very handy to make friends with an adventurer who will scrounge goodies for you ... or keep a close eye on the market. For the rest of us, a nice mix of questing, tradeskilling, and running out to beat the beejeebies out of things to let off steam seems to work well. ;)