Torrigan Mines

[Redmarrow]

Good times to be had for soloing in Torrigan!  I entered from Dulak and Invised to the bridge.  Cleaned that out and then entered the finished looking area  near the Nadox zone line.  
 The trolls go down easy, often my warder and I both were over 90% health after each kill.  Adds were not generally a problem in this area.  I did have 2 mobs several times but was never in any danger of dying or running to the zone.
 I did catch two named, Scryer Xvasol who came with a freind and The Broken Skull Mercenary.  The Broken Skull Mercenary came single and was an easy kill.   I didn't notice she was a named at first, and was wondering why it took so long to put her down.  Once she dropped Etched Zxrathil Pauldrons  I cought a clue.  She hit no harder than the other mobs, just noticebly more hitpoints.  
 Scryer Xvasol was mildly tougher.  He spawns near a small pool with 3 other luggald freinds.  I ended up pulling 2, then tried to get the 3rd single.  Scryer Xvasol wasn't having it though, so I ended up with them both.  He spent most of his time trying to mezz me, and once I tossed ferocity up, it wasn't happening!  He dropped a Band of Woven Flesh.
 Once I ventured in further I met a tougher brand of troll,  Broken Skull Deathguard or Dreadguard, not sure which.  Shadowknight with a nasty 500pt harmtouch.  Had alot more trouble pulling singles here.  Still looks like nice duoing though.
 I picked up 1 aa in about 2 hours here.  I was moving slow, exploring, and checking things out.  I'm positive that aa rate can be improved with a bit of knowledge.
 Loots were ok on coin and vendor loot.  Note that Image of Innoruk sells for 50pp to vendor.  
 Zone was empty except for one bard swinging through.  He told me the place is rarely camped.  Overall this is a nice place to AA on a slow night!

[feralize]

This is one of my favorite zones and I frequent it often. You can build up your plat reserves quite quickly with a few lucky drops here. The zone is rarely populated and most of the time you do see someone else they're after a LoY spell quest item.

Since the big I-stick-to-trees patch last month you cannot enter the zone through Nadox anymore by walking through the elevator in the temple. You have to go through Dulak now unless you have a wizard or druid with you who can evac you across the zone which puts you right next to the Torgiran zoneline (very convenient and you don't take the lava damage).

I usually have either my ranger or wizard grouped with me so I'm able to chew through about 4 or 5 more mobs per cycle than I would if I was soloing. There is a nice map of the zone here which lists the rare spawns points:

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/amici.noctis/images/torgiran.jpg

None of the mobs on the cycle are casters. The named pops do hit harder than regular mobs, 180 vs 150 doubles max. Regular mobs (Broken Skull Bloodguards) give just over 1% aa per kill but you should be able to take them down within a minute. The named mobs give about 3% aa per kill and have about (estimated) 50% more hp but imo it's well worth it. All mobs re-pop in around 25 minutes.

I have a rotation of 20 mobs here I can get through by the time the first ones start popping. I make my camp just outside the room where the Broken Skull Defender spawns (see the map).

If you zone in from Nadox invis up and go through the fake wall and passed a few rooms till you reach the door at the end of the hallway. Go through this, down the steps, through the next door and all the way to the end of the hallway. You will pass two mobs on the way, one is static at the end of the hallway at the top of the stairs, the other spawns at the other end of the passage and roams up and down this hallway. This will be the first mob to kill. Wait until he is not right next to the static spawn and kill him.

Then take a left at the end of the hallway to the dead end which is the Defender spawn.

There are 5 pops in this room including one roamer who spawns at the front of the room then wanders off down the hallway towards where the dreadguards/deathguards spawn. I usually locate this guy first and kill him.  Then I will kill all 4 mobs in the room. They spawn from left to right so lets just call them mobs 1, 2, 3 and 4 going from left to right. It is possible to pull all 4 singularly if you pull the mob 1 before you pull mob 2. If you pull the mob 2 with the mobs 1, 3 and 4 up he will add as you will not be able to position yourself without radius-aggroing mobs 3 and 4. However I usually pull mob 4 first (which is either the Defender or it's ph) so as to maximise the possibility of the Defender popping, then mob 3 who you are almost facing when looking into the room, then mob 1 I just mentioned before, an finally mob 2 in the corner. Occasionally, after killing the Defender/ph or the mob after him the room will pop another 3 spawns possibly containing a Broken Skull Treasurer. I would estimate that you will get these three "adds" around 1 in every 5 cycles. If the Treasurer does not pop you'll just get three Borken Skull Hoarders. If this happens (and if it does it almost always happens after you kill the Defender/ph spawn) you will have two double-pulls to contend with. The three adds pop inbetween mobs 1 and 2, inbetween mobs 2 and 3 and the other will spawn to the right of mob 4 (Defender/ph) but you should have killed him anyway so the Hoarder/Treasurer there can be single-pulled. If you choose to kill them, pull the add on the right first who will come single. Then pull the add who spawns directly facing you as you look into the room, just to the left of mob 3. Both of these mobs will come unless you're really lucky and you've killed mob 3 already before the adds spawned. If that's the case you'll get him single. That will leave you with mobs 1 and 2 in addition to the final add inbetween them. Go into the room where mob 4 spawned and pull mob 1. The final add will also add but mob 2 will not add. Usual rules regarding double-pulls apply. If the Treasurer pops he will more than likely be the mob between mob 1 and 2, although I have seen him in the other two spots as well. I would estimate that the Treasurer pops about half the time you get three extras. Once you've cleared those two you can kill mob 2.

I'm assuming that Broken Skull Hoarders count as rare or named mobs as the xp gained from them is about the same as you'd get from a named., although they drop no loot to speak of other than coin. From this first room, if you get the three extra mobs, you can make roughly 15% aa xp in about 10 minutes. Note that if you choose not to kill the extra spawns they will de-pop within 5-10 minutes.

The Broken Skull Defender drops the http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=21022">Broken Skull Clan Crest (rare drop) which goes for about 50k in the bazaar (on Luclin anyway). Useable by pure casters and healers it's stats are very mediocre but it has the Mana Regeneration+1 effect which makes it one of the most obtainable Mana Regen items outside the Earring of the Solstice. I'd say it drops about 1 in 10 times from a spawn which pops at a similar rate. Its common drop is the http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=22322">Defender's Cloak.

A Broken Skull Treasurer always drops 6 random gems and some pp. I've also seen him drop the http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=19704">Tattered Hide Cloak once in what must be between 20-30 kills, although Allakhazam does not confirm this. I know it did drop from him though as I've never killed a Broken Skull Slaver that Alla says drops it. He can also drop up to 33pp in coin as can the Hoarders though sometimes they can drop just a few gp.

Take a look at the map again and make your way towards the Bloodlord room. Do not step onto the square marked A on the map as this is a trap. Take the long way around the corner but bear in mind when you do this a luggald of some type will agro on you through a one way fake wall when you are outside the room on your left that you pass on the way to the Bloodlord room. This room will very rarely spawn some Broken Skull Suppliers in addition to the three mobs within it. If it does one will probably agro on you as you pass the room as it spawns in very close proximity to the door itself. If that is the case you will probably have one Supplier and one luggald to contend with so be prepared. The best thing to do is just hug the wall of the tiny room the luggald spawns in and you will probably not agro any Supplier that way. The agro radius in Torgiran is very small. If you see the Suppliers you might just want to leave this room alone as they will despawn after 5-10 minutes, though they are good xp like the Hoarders, and will usually drop some decent pp. If you want to handle the two or three double pulls here then go for it. 95%+ of the time though you will not get the Suppliers if you do the cycle I do. So most of the time you'll just want to clear this room, taking middle spawn first, then the right spawn and finally the one on the left. I usually skip this room completely if I get the Hoarder/Treasurer spawn from the Defender room so I can keep up with the cycle, or if I need to go afk for 5 minutes.

Head on down to the Bloodlord room which is the next door on the left down the hallway. Another 3 spawn room and again each will come single. Kill the one facing you as you open the door first, then there are two adjacent to the left wall. Kill the one closest to you first. I usually pull it out into the hallway so that any pet push will not take it within agro range of the other spawn. The final spawn in this room is the Bloodlord or, more likely, it's placeholder. If he pops, killing him will result in either a http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=21349">Grobb Hide Belt (rare drop) or an http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=20916">Etched Zraxthril Greatsword (common).

Go back to where you killed the first mob down the hallway that leads back towards Nadox and kill the spawn in the lone room on your right just before the door. I've found that this spawn is as likely to drop a http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=19278">Grobb Hide Cowl as any other regular Bloodguard. According to Alla this item, the http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=19256">Grobb Hide Mask and the http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=19255">Worn Zraxthril Gauntlets are rare drops off of any Bloodguard. However I am convinced this is not the case. I know for sure I've never seen Cowl drop off of a female bloodguard, and from what I recall I believe the Masks do drop off of the females. I am not sure about the Gauntlets.

After you've killed this guy, take out the static spawn at the top of the steps in the hallway leading back to Nadox. Then take the 10 foot walk to the two rooms facing each other both of which can contain a rare spawn. The room on the left can contain the Broken Skull Mercenary. He spawns in the middle of the room and will come single so he, or its ph, is the only thing you have to pull from this room. If you kill the Mercenary you'll get either the http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=19590">Etched Zxrathil Pauldrons or the http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=20098">Gold Pin.

The final room in the rotation is one opposite the Mercenary room. In the right hand corner of the room is the ph of or the actual Broken Skull Warlord himself. To his left and to your right is another mob you won't see until you're almost right on top of him. It is possible to single-pull him first so that you can get the Warlord/ph single but I find that too much hassle, sometimes you will get the mob facing him to add when you're exiting the room. It's easier to just pull the Warlord/ph and deal with both of them. Killing the Warlord will net you one of three items: http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=20412">Bracer of Forgotten Wars, http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=21548">Etched Zxrathil Warblade or a http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=19893">Veil of the Warlord.

If you have time and the first mob in the Defender room hasn't popped yet you can kill the first mob in the room just a little further down the hallway leading towards Nadox. Sometimes mob 2 in this room will be right in the doorway. He walks from his spawn spot in the room to the doorway and back again. If he's there kill him, then kill the guy in the corner of the room that you can see if you descend the first set of steps leading into this room. This mob has dropped a Grobb Hide Cowl quite a few times for me.

[Fruud]

Nice Post Feralize. I initially came to the mines for the spell quest. Spent too much time trying to get the strange black powder that I started to loathe Torrigan. XP <solo> wasn't that great in the high 50's though I did ding once.

I enjoy going to Nadox and Torrigan now. Normally empty and at 65 I have hardly any trouble with mobs.

I just wish it were easier to get to.

[Rumtum Tugger]

I enjoy going to Nadox and Torrigan now. Normally empty and at 65 I have hardly any trouble with mobs.

Well, won't be so empty again for a while I am afraid, not after it became a HotSpot.  Ah well, off to greener pastures?

[feralize]

We'll see  :lol:  People are still lazy having being spoiled by PoK books so unless you're commited to (/gasp) a 15 minute run (not much less even with a Stonebrunt port) I doubt there will be a drastic increase. If there is, I'll just go to Hate's Fury, most will need to bring a group to be able to handle the mobs there anyway.

[Rumtum Tugger]

Hatesfury is a bit harder to get to.  What with the live/dead mixture as you get to the zone, Lots of nasty mobs there.

[Redmarrow]

It will be interesting to see if my new solo sweet spot gets overrun.  I hope your right Feralize, about the 15 minute run keeping the lemmings out.  I havn't checked out Hates Fury much.  Anyone have any insite into the zone?

[Gremkin]

Popped in HF the other day to check it out.

Getting around isn't really an option, as undead mobs are mixed in with the live mobs.  I solo'd some at the zonein, the usual mix of luggald and trolls with the odd zombie and rat thrown in the mix.  Apparently there are a goodly number of named that spawn in here, plus an event involving the captain of the HF.

Mobs were typical LoY fare... highish hp's but nothing too serious to handle.  I didn't spend enough time there to get a really good feel for cash and xp, but after about a dozen mobs it looks like just under 2%aa per kill.  Plat drops are on the higher end as well... had 14pp drop off one mob.

Like some said, biggest pain is getting there.  I have the IVU earring from VT, so makes it a bit easier.  You can regular invis to the tunnel that leads SW into the western mine area, then throw up IVU to get by the zombies and such that are in your way from that point on.  Alternately, you can just train the whole works of em to HF.... odds of finding anybody else there are gonna be slim to none. :D

I'm gonna try it tomorrow with the xp bonus and see how things look, but I would imagine that you will see min 2% per kill with it.

[feralize]

Well I checked out Torgiran mines yesterday and there were 7 people in the zone, which is actually quite a lot  :lol:

Most of them were in the mines area though with just a wizard camping the defender spawn by himself, not killing any other mobs. Now obviously that screws up my rotation completely so I decided to head down the hallway to kill the dreadguards and deathguards just to check out how the xp was different. Taking into account that these mobs are slightly tougher than bloodguards (higher level, bit more hp) I would estimate that the xp is about 30% better than it was before. It is noticeable. Not drastic though and I'm really not convinced that other will feel it's worth it to go there just because of that when they can probably get better xp in a BoT group. I did learn something though. Killing the deathguards/dreadguards in the four rooms at the end of the hallway leading from the defender room will sometimes cause three "an elite Broken Skull dreadguard"'s to spawn. These gave 3% aa per kill, and that was while I was grouped with my ranger so soloing these would have netted abour 5-6% per kill. Not too shabby. I was getting a consistent 1% per mob grouped per kill on the regular dreadguards/deathguards. When I go back I'll find out exactly how much it is.

Hate's Fury - never really hunted too far past the zone-in here but the xp per mob pre-hotspot wasn't too much better than in Torgiran. Efficiency-wise it's worse than Torgiran because the mobs have about (est.) 30-50% more hp. However, I was nicely surprised that in the first room you hit (where you will get multiples on your first 2 or 3 pulls excluding the rats who come single) I got a Visor of Ambition which goes for about 10-15k in bazaar on Luclin. This dropped off of a Luggald Harpooner I believe. After clearing the first room I went up the steps, killed the two mobs on the landing (which come single) then started pulling from the next room just after the landing. Again, multiple mobs will come first time around. I was able to kill around 14 mobs before they all started spawning again. It's more hassle than Torgiran where the mobs are really dumb (very low agro radius) and a lot of mobs in HF are shamans/wizards/sk's which adds to the annoyance but it is a nice secondary spot if Torg is camped and doable solo with little downtime if you're geared out competently.

And yeah, it's very hard NOT to train the HF zone in Nadox because of the undead/non-undead mix of mobs on your way. Just make sure you have SoW up to minimize the hits on the way.

One word of warning if you go to HF without a wizard/druid who can port you out of there. On your return to Gunthak the problem with undead/non-undead mobs in Nadox can be much greater. The issue is that if you take the lava river route back to Gunthak the mobs chasing you (and I've had some kick-arse trains on my tail while doing this) can catch you up while you're swimming in the lava. To add to that, the three fire elemental spawns will start beating on you too. My ranger (don't laugh) died while taking this route once. The easier way is to train half the zone to the secret Gunthak entrance at the back of the temple through the illusionary wall. You used to be able to go to Torgiran and zone but now you can't open the trapdoor from the Gunthak side of Nadox since the patch last month (unless someone has figured out a way around it).

EDIT: Finished the guide at the top also.

[Noriko]

The defender room spawn is not quite right.  I was doing my cycle last night.  Pulled the SW single, NW single, N single.  Then 2 hoarders, 1 treasurer AND the Defender poped.  Obviously I've been keeping the room clear.  The Defender pop is right on schedule.  So the hoarders/treasurer were apparently spawned by the death of the 3rd (the north) bloodguard, not the Defender/PH.... at least in this case.

Must have killed about 10 Defender over the past weeks.  2 Crests so far.

[feralize]

Yes the hoarders/treasurer can pop after killing the north mob too. In my experience it's much less likely though. And you're correct there is no relationship between when the Defender can spawn and when the hoarders/treasurers spawn. I just never do that room in the order that you do it  :lol:

I've tried to figure out the relationship between what bloodguards you kill and when the hoarders/treasurer pop but I to no avail. I just know that when you clear the room in the order I do it, it's (almost) impossible to get the hoarders/treasurer after killing the NW and SW mobs.