Nicholas the Traveler

This article is about the post-Searing NPC. For the younger, pre-Searing NPC, see Nicholas Sandford.

Nicholas the Traveler
Affiliation	Tyrians
Type	Human
Service	Collector
Level(s)	20
Campaign	Core
Image(s)
Route to Nicholas's location in Boreas Seabed (explorable area).
Concept art by Katy Hargrove.

Nicholas the Traveler provides Gifts of the Traveler in exchange for various items to those that can find him. His location and requested item changes weekly, which occurs at 15:00 UTC (7:00 AM Pacific Standard Time) on Monday.

Each account is limited to 5 Gifts of the Traveler per week at each location; this resets every week on Monday, at the same time he moves.

Background

Nicholas Sandford (born 1035 AE) is an Ascalonian traveler, a craftsman and a writer.

Nicholas met his dolyak friend, Professor Yakkington, during a snowstorm in the Northern Shiverpeaks. The two managed to survive by huddling together for warmth and they have been together ever since.

Due to the Searing, Nicholas lost his parents, friends and beloved Mary Malone. After having mourned in seclusion for years, his hair grown white, he started to travel the world and dropped his last name in favor of the moniker "the Traveler".

He has made many friends, including Gwen and Durmand, and is often seen collecting items to aid them (especially Durmand or Zinn) in some form, or catering to Yakkington's whims.

A true craftsman, Nicholas is able to make various tools and even small sculptures out of various items he finds. Once he helped Vael by making a disguise out of Quetzal Crests so Vael could spy on the Tengu of Cantha.

In exchange, he has gathered up a hefty supply of exotic and unique items to put in his Gifts of the Traveler, which he trades with adventurers in exchange for the items he needs.

Nicholas is very interested in local folklore, in fauna and flora. As a writer he has written a novel entitled "There with Yakkington: A Traveler's Tale.".

He also claims to be a gourmet chef, thanks to the various different foods he has tasted throughout his travels, which his friendship with Imperial Chef Yileng may suggest to be true, and a medic, as he is often seen trying to come up with some remedy to counteract various poisons (notably those inflicted by Dryders or Rot Wallows).

Locations

As a collector

For the week beginning 25 November 2024 (Click to refresh this if this is not the right week; future appearances are documented on the cycle page)

• Factions
  • The Jade Sea
    • Boreas Seabed (explorable area) (collecting 2 Kraken Eyes per gift)

Reminder: The Traveler often will not appear if local spawns are affected by active quests and/or quest chains.

Other appearances

• Beyond
  • Hearts of the North
    • Far Shiverpeaks
      • Olafstead (explorable area) (during The Wedding)

Dialogue

Collector dialogue

His dialogue changes each week depending on the item he's looking for. The current one is:

"Have you ever been to a Luxon wedding, friend? The dancing, the drinking, the fighting...it's quite the sight to see. The most amazing thing about them is the Kraken Eyes they use for jewelry. A young couple I know has asked me to bring them 2 for their betrothal rings. If you have any available, I'll gladly compensate you for them."

I have some right here! (If you have enough for at least 1 Gift of the Traveler.)

"Hmmm. I'm sorry, but it appears you don't have quite as many as I need." (If you dropped the item from your inventory and select "I have some right here!" with less than the minimum number of the required item he will accept.)

Let me get back to you on that!

"Ah, it appears you have <total number of the required item you have> of those. How many do you want to give me?"

You can have <maximum accepted number> of them!

"Thank you, <character name>. May our paths cross again soon!" (You receive 1...5 Gifts of the Traveler.)

How about just <minimum accepted number> of them? (If you have enough for 2 or more Gifts of the Traveler.)

"Thank you, <character name>. May our paths cross again soon!" (You receive 1 Gift of the Traveler.)

Let me get back to you on that!

I'll let you know if I find any!

Once you have exchanged the maximum number of the required item he will accept:

"Thank you, <character name>. May our paths cross again soon!"

Previous dialogue related to his role as a collector can be seen on the dialogue page.

Guild Wars Beyond

Olafstead (during The Wedding)

"It feels like only yesterday that Gwen was chasing after adventurers outside of Ascalon City. I'm glad that she has finally been able to find a bit of her own happiness, especially after all that she's been through. By the way, I was thinking of giving her some handmade hairpins as a wedding gift. If you could find me 3 Berserker Horns I should be able to fashion a nice set for her.

Just kidding! I got a few from one of the Vanguard scouts a little while ago!"

Notes

• Nicholas sometimes fails to appear in his expected location:
  • Active quests can alter spawns in the area. To fix this, complete or abandon the local quests before returning. Alternatively, visit the area with a different character without the relevant quests.
  • Some areas have variable spawns (e.g. Pockmark Flats); rezoning a few times will address this.
  • He has sometimes failed to spawn due to the War in Kryta (e.g. in Kessex Peak (War in Kryta)); if not previously fixed by ArenaNet, you can work around this by using a character who has not started WiK or dropping any relevant bounties for characters that have finished WiK.
  • Winds of Change might have a similar effect. For example, for the week of Putrid Cysts, you must not have Winds of Change active. To temporarily undo Winds of Change, take Memories of Purity from the Herald of Purity in Kaineng Center (requires completion of Cleansing Morostav Trail).
• Nicholas does not exchange items for gifts in two situations:
  • If you enter an area before Nick's scheduled move time, but do not reach him until afterward, Nick will not speak to you at all.
  • He attends The Wedding as a guest of Gwen, but not as a collector.
• Nicholas has occasionally been found facing a random object, obstructive landscape, or a wall.

Bug.Sometimes his greeting and/or reward text is not translated into one or more non-English languages. Please report any issues at the localization bug feedback pages so that they can be quickly resolved.

Farming guides

• GuildWiki's farming guide and farming section of the currently requested item
• PvXwiki's farming guide (incomplete, see the archive for other entries)
• Nick Gift Farms (YouTube video, featured in the official community news)

Trivia

• Introduced in the April 23, 2009 update.
• Trivia related to Nicholas' dialogue can be seen on the dialogue page.
• Nicholas' novel, "There with Yakkington: A Traveler's Tale," is a reference to "There and Back Again: a Hobbit's Tale" by J.R.R. Tolkien.
• According to John Hargrove:
  • Nicholas the Traveler was known internally as "Project Wumpus", a reference to the early computer game Hunt the Wumpus.
  • There are 137 possible "haunts" for Nicholas when he was introduced, translating to 2.6 years of travels.
• In the week of August 10, 2009, Nicholas mistakenly appeared in Arbor Bay requesting Krait Skins (with "Trophy greet text here." as his dialogue), instead of in the Wilderness of Bahdza. 116 weeks later, he re-appeared in Arbor Bay requesting Krait Skins at a slightly different location (original location), ending two years of speculation about whether his initial appearance was part of the original (first) cycle or not.
• His location within a zone has changed seven times between the first and second (and current) cycles:
  • Saoshang Trail: January 30, 2012 versus February 14, 2011.
  • Raisu Palace: February 25, 2013 versus November 15, 2010.
  • Magus Stones: May 27, 2013 versus November 1, 2010.
  • Kinya Province: July 22, 2013 versus November 8, 2010.
  • Sparkfly Swamp: November 25, 2013 versus May 31, 2010.
  • Dry Top: December 9, 2013 versus January 3, 2011.
  • Dragon's Gullet: May 19, 2014 versus January 10, 2011