Talk:Guardian Moss

Drop research
Observed Drops for Guardian Moss

Farming
Finally one dropped! I was doing a run of four (including boss Seacrash) Island Gaurdians from Bai Paasu Reach over and over again in both NM and HM. Then I switched to doing the run of three Isalnd Gaurdians from Boreas Seabed outpost and one dropped on the third run. Guess I should farm near a collector huh? ;P Sardaukar 17:08, 23 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Just did 1 run, in Pongmei Valley. Got 2 Guardian Moss'. Guess just a case of bad luck for Sardaukar. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:81.205.174.47 (talk).
 * These prove to be some of the hardest ingredients to get for the Cantha New Year Festival. They just don't want to drop for me :( DustScorpion 11:22, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

I'd say, I've spend the best part of today, killing the 4 in Pongmei Vally, in HM and NM. and still havent had one. i mean i've got 30K faction from it all but not one Moss drop. :'( Brother Belial


 * It really just does not drop, I've spent over 4 hours farming them and have killed nearly 100 guardians and I've gotten one moss drop. :( It's absolutely ridic. Oh and for anyone wondering, I think there's 6 of them in Pongmei Valley. [10:50, 1 June 2009] -Mantreese


 * They do drop, just very very rarely. I collect the stuff for Canthan New Year throughout the year, and it almost always takes the entire year to collect the 8 needed for the finale events, and that is with my enitre alliance looking for them as well. I think this year we had one extra. --[[Image:User Wynthyst sig icon.png | Wyn's Talk page]] Wyn 06:22, 2 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, they are a rare drop, but on a Double Faction weekend, a lil while back, I learned how to Wtank (aka Wollow Tank) with my monk to do MQSC (Mount Quinkai Speed Clears) in Hard Mode, and managed to get 4 total that weekend. I'm not sure how many Island Guardians I've killed to get them, but I remembered to keep them instead of salvaging for plant fibers. so that's 4 less I'll have to farm for Nick, for this week of 11/9/09. I'm greatful for that. My only explanation for anyone that's getting a bad drop rate is this: If you've over-farmed any area, on that particular character, you're likely to have bad drops for quite some time. However, new characters have a better drop rate because they havent been detected by the game to be a farmer, atleast yet. Another reason you might be getting a bad drop rate is if you go out to these areas with heros and henchmen. its a proven fact that heros and henchmen "Nerf" your drops, because items would drop for them, if they were real people, which is why you should find a build that works to "solo" or "duo", or go out with a party of human players to kill these, and other such creatures, so the drops are at a higher rate, and will drop only for you (and your partner, or party of players). This is also why, when you pick up an amount of gold, it says "Your party shares [blank amount] of gold." even though you're only out there with heros and henchmen, and why whatever items drop for you are reserved to your name, as opposed to when you "solo", and and the item -usually- isnt reserved for anyone, when it drops. [5:00pm, November 9, 2009] Angel Serrenity
 * This post is based on urban legends stated as facts. Yes, the drops are rare, enough said.
 * I'm inclined to agree, no matter how long you farm an area, the drop rates are static. Though there is some speculation on how total farming across servers affects the drops, it is still just that. Speculation. It is true however that while heroes/henchmen are within radar range, they will take their own share of drops, hence in a full h/h party of 8, you will recieve only 1/8 of the drops. This has always been so, the only thing that has changed is that soloing no longer gives you the benefit of 8x drops ever since the nerf. Bringing fellow players along, as suggested, will offset this. Keneth 14:35, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I have had some luck farming Scourgewind, Elder Guardian in Silent Surf. 2 moss in 7 runs with my monk running the norn fighting torunament spirit spammer build. I've actually had 2 more from him, but with at least one hero. I found Seacrash, Elder Guardian too hard to farm because he killed my spirits too easily. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by TinaraHarper (talk).

Drop rate after solo killing 80 Island Guardians in normal mode:  2 guardian moss 10 drops of gold (average drop = 104 gold) 3 blue weapons 5 white weapons 2 gold weapons 1 Luxon key 2 drops of plant fibers (14 fibers each) 2 drops of spirit planks (5 planks each)  Conclusion: Roughly 2% chance of moss drop per solo kill. -- Casano Frankenstein (Nov. 11, 2009) --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.251.184.9 (talk).

It is easily farmed vs It can be farmed
So, we have Casano (above) who found only 2 moss per 80 kills, but he didn't mention where he farmed. My experience, when Nick was requesting them, was, at worst, 1 moss per 5 minute run. I suspect that where you farm can have a powerful effect on the drop rate (and how easy it seems).

Generally speaking, though, I agree with removing editorializations (e.g. it can be easily farmed), since that almost always depends on outside factors.

For those looking for farming alternatives in preparation of the finale, check out Guild Wiki's Moss Farming guide; the original wiki also has suggestions for almost all of Nicholas the Traveler's requests. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 17:40, 3 February 2011 (UTC)