Luminous Stone/Farming

2009-10-12: Luminous Stones[]

Item: Luminous Stone x1
- Found In: Istan, Kourna, and The Desolation
- Dropped by: Mandragors

Suggested Farm #1: Exit into Arkjok Ward from Yohlon Haven, heading north towards the Marga Coast portal. Say "hey" to the priest at the rez shrine, so you can get bounty. Follow the path on the map, which leads you to about 20 or so groups of 3 mandragors, including a boss. If you are careful, you can avoid any other foes. Move slowly: about half the mandragor are hidden beneath the surface and seemingly pop-up when you have aggro'd 2-3 other groups already.

Threats: The mandragor triplets are L22 and almost always composed of a Necromancer, a Warrior, and a Elementalist. The necros remove enchantments, steal health, and can transfer conditions; the elementalists can cause weakness and will knockdown weakened foes; the warriors interrupt, daze, and remove stances. In short, this is the anti-buff team of your nightmares. The good news is that they don't bring much else.

Any team that can succeed against the mandragor can also survive the plants, insects, and great beasts as long as you don't aggro too much at once.

Tactics: The mandragor can be reasonably handled in groups of 3; in larger numbers, they can easily overwhelm even strong parties. Move slowly through Arkjok, being careful to avoid aggro'ing the Iboga, Ntouka, and Beetles. If you get caught by multiple groups, run to fight another day unless you feel confident you can carry the day.

Recommended Skills: Because they mandragor are heavy on debuffing, they are vulnerable to parties that don't depend on buffs: hexes, degen, aoe damage, and wards. Shouts, chants, and spirits are also more useful than enchantments. As with any farming, a balanced group gives your best chances of success: some healing (and conditional removal), some area damage, and some spikes. Anti-caster skills such as interrupts are convenient, but not required. Spirit healing and buffing is very useful, but also not required.