Where to hunt*:
Before getting too far in, I thought it would be good to edit in BG's confirmation of the required size of realms for spawning to occur and the relevant level at the beginning:
10 x 10 is correct. Bear in mind, this INCLUDES the borders of the realm. Global critters spawn in Realms of level 25+.
What follows is a general list of "preferred" hunting grounds provided by many players throughout FS. The relevance of the "Just Elite" or "no creatures" (where noted) is simply because a player will not have to worry about hitting something else while using the number key to smack.
Ramdal Caves: Level 25 and the lowest level place they start spawning. Not my favorite, but it does cost less via portal to get here.
Iluore Dragon Pit level 92: 10 x 10 (no creatures listed). Thanks out to Rexarr.
Tepal Cave (Level 140): Just Elite.
Rarek Dungeon (Level 150): Just Elite.
Kozyu Crystal Catacombs (Level 225): Just Elite.
Vashku (Level 235): Just Elite.
Ragnok Lair (Level 260): Just Elite.
Trvons Clearing (Level 310): Just Elite. Thanks out to yghorbb for the info.
Sphinx Lair (Level 370): Just Elite... thanks out to yotwehc for the info. BG's favorite spot.
Xinderoth's Library (Level 421): No creatures. Thanks out to ironlegs for the info.
Key Lock (Level 460): No creatures. Thanks out to yotywehc. Quest locked. justinian9 suggested the area right before it that also has no creatures: Compound Gate.
Ralthien (Dark Corner) level 510: No creatures listed. Thanks out to TobiasRagg.
The Secret Kingdom (Keep): Level 530. Thanks out to crippla for the info.
Darkwater Lighthouse (Lower) (level 533). No creatures. Thanks out to ironcire. BG said it's quest blocked.
Satero Residence (level 930). Just Elite. Thanks out to zizzwyly.
*Please note on the above areas:
Sometimes the fact that an area is "quest blocked" is noted. After some careful thinking, I decided this is irrelevant for the general idea of the post.
My personal advice (since I don't have the necessary knowledge) is: Be sure to check your quest book (on left-hand sidebar under Character). If you are a player that tries to avoid doing quests, then simply avoid the areas near where a quest is necessary or ask around (or in this post). Not all of the above areas are my personal preferences. However, I ended up deciding to NOT exclude areas that "may" be quest blocked.
Global Booster:
On the left-hand sidebar under Upgrades (thanks out to Scoops1972 for correcting), click on Loyalty. Here you may find various potions for gold or Loyalty Tokens (I personally suggest purchasing for gold) for Global Booster.
This works like Doubler, but the nuance is pretty important: Global Booster ups the number of kills registered for an equivalent stam usage. This makes Conserve useful. HOWEVER, do NOT hit regular creatures while this buff is active. It will drain your stam like Doubler but it won’t do anything for your kills.
Besides the loyalty section, there are other various potions available with this skill in the Auction House (AH) if you select it in the “Grants Buff” drop-down and is also an option via Composing.
This pot will help you get more more kills at a stam cost that is equal to the extra kills. However, when your conserve activates, you will get the extra kills at zero stam cost.
“Essential” buffs (or potions**) to use:
Conserve
Lightfoot
Animal Magnetism
Reckoning
Other possible buffs/potions to use:
Summon Shield Imp- If you really care about your Kill Streak (KS). Crud happens, lol.
Unbreakable- If you care about your gold. This is relevant to "avoid" repair costs to a "large" degree. Also see the Item Use section further down for additional advice.
If you compose, these are highly recommended on events where frag stashes are dropped by the global creatures (please note that there is some additional info on this a bit lower down***):
Find Item (FI)- This is player-goal and GE dependent. Useful in frag GEs IF you compose.
Lady Luck- This runs in tandem with FI.
**If you are using potions (pots) then you should consider the following. Keep in mind that Global Booster is only available currently as a pot
Distil: This will increase the power of your pots. It should "theoretically" be used before drinking any pots.
Brewing Master will allow your pots to last longer. You need to decide whether this is relevant or not based on how long you will be smacking. With current maximum level 175 buff (not including the potion) a 30 minute potion will last 57 minutes when drunk after this pot is activated. 45 min = 85 and 60 min = 113.
In most cases (if you are planning on smacking for more than half an hour, you need to be aware of what is better for you), as soon as you are done drinking ALL your pots, you may want to deactivate both Brewing Master and Distil in order for Reckoning to work "better".
-Thanks to yotwehc for making me realize the above clarification was probably key (o0
Item use:
Since most GEs are level 25 creatures, it may be convenient to minimize the number of items worn to have stats enough to one-hit but fewer to save on repairs.
You need to weigh the importance of your KS and consider how efficient you are in paying attention to your tick in order to switch for your stam-gain items at the appropriate time.
*** FS options for when there are frag stash drops from global creatures:
You should know that there are two options that may be important for you under Character, then Preferences then User Interface. At the time of this edit, both are the last two under Miscellaneous at the bottom right of this screen.
1st: Auto Open Fragment Stashes: When you are smacking the global creatures that drop frag stashes, this will automatically open those stashes. The fragments go to your composing frags stash. This is extremely handy since you could have only one bp space open and it will suffice for your smacking. Since items are currently bound, I have had a hard time understanding (though there could be a reason current OR FUTURE) why you wouldn't have this box checked.
As of this edit, I can say that my investigations have shown that it opens only those stashes received as drops. I hope this continues that way. In other words, according to my experience, it does NOT open anything taken from the Item Mailbox. This is relevant because it means that if you find a frag stash in a chest somewhere, it is not opened when you take it from your Item Mailbox. It also does not auto-open the Frag chests given as prizes in some GEs. I would hope this NEVER changes because, though the Frag chest prizes are currently bound, the chests found in the realms that require a key and contain Frag stashes are not. Some may prefer to send to Guildies or sell.
Since the above has not been confirmed by HCS and "could" change, I'd suggest using this option ONLY during the frag GEs and deactivating (unclicking the boxes) afterwards, just to be safe.
2nd: Hide Fragment Stash Logs. The only thing this really does is alleviate the pressure on your log. What it means is that you will no longer receive log messages telling you how many frags you receive when you open a frag stash.
Any further discussion with expert opinion on adjustments is appreciated.
I tried to make it as simple as possible for all levels and also with a view towards it attempting to be “ever-lasting” (willie wonka reference). Hence, I wasn’t too interested in listing possible pots, ie., check out how vague I was on the Global Booster.
Edited by Egami, 06 March 2016 - 19:24.