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Sarnak Courier Guide
Contents |
Camp Goal: Goblin Gazughi Ring
This guide is designed to help you acquire a :
MAGIC ITEM
Slot: FINGER
AC: 1
SV MAGIC: +5
Effect: Invisibility versus Animals (Must Equip, Casting Time: Instant) at Level 5
WT: 0.1 Size: TINY
Class: ALL
Race: ALL
Classic Note
Some aspects of the courier on Project 1999 are not the same as they were on live. Since very few players fully understood how the courier worked on live, the P99 devs will most likely keep things this way (similar to how they keep other "mystery" mobs like Quillmane unclassic) ... but how this camp works could change in the future (either to become more classic, or to become less classic, but more classically confusing).
Area
The courier can potentially span in the area which starts north of the windmill and goes just past the goblin ruins (but not up as far as the river to Firiona Vie). This area is drawn (approximately) with a red box on the map to the left.
Rarity/Faction Issues
While the courier is rare, he's not as rare as many other rare mobs. What makes this camp so hard is the fact that he's both a somewhat rare spawn AND only rarely drops the ring.
Also, because he is at risk of being "KS'd" by the goblins in the area (who are on an opposing faction), players not only have to get him to spawn, but also have to race against the goblins to kill him first.
Placeholders
A Sarnak Courier has the following placeholders:
- a goblin brawler
- A Goblin Skirmisher
- A Sabertooth Cat
- A Sabertooth Tigress
- A Sarnak Flunkie*
- A Sarnak youth
- an iksar brigand*
- an iksar marauder
- Greater scalebone
- Greater Skeleton
- A Greater Skeleton
* Brigands and Flunkies both have spawns in this area that are place holders, and spawns which aren't (brigands have even more spawns that aren't than flunkies). While you might want to prioritize these mobs less when clearing, because they could be placeholders you still have to clear them. (Editor's Note: Is this still true?)
Spawning The Sarnak Courier (on Project 1999)
There are several spawn points for the courier or his placeholder around the goblin ruins in the Lake of Ill Omen, northwest of the windmill (just north of location 9 on the Lake of Ill Omen map, around loc -350, -2000). One of the easiest spots to farm couriers is the ruins near the lake highlighted in the below picture, as there are two spawn points for the courier very close to each other that can be camped simultaneously. As indicated above, the courier has multiple possible placeholders, but the correct placeholders will all respawn 30 seconds after dying, either as another placeholder or as a sarnak courier. By camping the spawn points for the courier, it is easy to determine the correct placeholders to kill to maximize your chances at a courier spawn.
To find the correct placeholder, gather up all of the potential placeholders (see the above list of potential placeholders) in the field and ruins area and drag them to the point highlighted in yellow in the photo below. Kill them all with AoE spells so they die at roughly the same time. After approximately 30 seconds, assuming you gathered all of the placeholders, one placeholder (or courier) will spawn at each of the two points highlighted in red. They begin wandering immediately after spawning, so make sure to tag them quickly - these 30 second respawns are the correct placeholders for the courier. Additionally, there is a stationary iksar marauder near the yellow mark that is NOT a placeholder - it is safe to ignore the stationary one.
Once you have the correct 30 second respawns tagged and know where they are spawning, I suggest staggering your kills to about 15 seconds apart, so you will always have time to be able to face in the direction of the next spawning courier placeholder. It is easy to 'miss' a placeholder if you are facing the wrong direction, as they begin to wander in a fairly random direction as soon as they spawn, so be on your toes.
There are other spawn points for the courier in this area, but I feel that sitting on this double spawn is faster because there are two campable spawn points within easy reach of one another. Using this method, I was averaging a Gazughi ring every 2-3 hours on my bard. (6-8 hours per ring may be a more realistic time than 2-3) (or, I camped it for 30 hours and didn't even get one)
So, to summarize: gather all the potential placeholders and drag them to the yellow mark in the screenshot. AoE them down simultaneously. If you tagged ALL the placeholders, new ones should spawn every 30 seconds at the two points marked in red in the screenshot - these are the correct placeholders for couriers.
If the dual spot is camped, consider camping the other 30 sec spawn location shown below (-38,-2642). Other single spawns are at -940, -2585 and -1300, -2980, -1061, -1967
