Faster Scepter of Azj’Aqir (and other Archaeology rares)

[ihatejunk]

If you’re trying to get a specific Archaeology rare then here are a couple of useful tips. I have been trying for the Scepter of Azj’Aqir (hence the focus on Tol’vir) but the basic ideas remain the same and can transfer to other Archaeology items.

Attachment 4447
(Image from wowhead.com)

Tip #1: The 4.1 patch notes state “Players now have a much smaller chance of getting a dig site for a race for which they have completed all rare finds.”

What this means: Tol’vir sites only pop up in the Uldum zone at the southern tip of Kalimdor. Kalimdor has an overwhelming number of Night Elf sites so you’re going to see a lot of them. The list of Night Elf rares doesn’t have any ultra rare items like Zin’rokh or the Scepter of Azj’Aqir. This makes it easier to get all the Night Elf rares. Once you’ve gotten all the Night Elf rares, you will see a notable increase in the spawn rate of Tol’vir sites. So, don’t despair if you’re not seeing many Tol’vir sites because it gets better eventually.

Tip #1.01: Highborne Scrolls are generally cheaper than the equivalents of other races.

What this means: Always use the scrolls to solve Night Elf rares. It may still cost you some money but it will really speed up the process of completing Night Elf rares and get you to more Tol’vir sites faster. Also, once you’ve completed your Night Elf rares, you can begin to sell the scrolls on the Auction House and recoup some money.

Tip #2: Dig sites are more likely to show up for races for which you currently have no sites.

What this means: As soon as a Tol’vir site shows up, go survey it - even if it's the farthest site away. It will increase your chances of getting more Tol’vir sites. Following this method I’ve frequently had three or more Tol’vir sites pop up in a row.

Example: This example illustrates the benefit of following these first tips.

Even without Blizzard's change to make races for which you've completed all the rares less likely to proc, another way to think of this is to envision the total number of potential Tol'vir sites vs. the total number of potential dig sites of any race. For now, we'll make some assumptions. We'll assume 100 total sites, 10 Tol'vir sites, and we'll assume that all sites have an equal chance of appearing. In this example, I have 1 Tol'vir site and 3 Night Elf sites to dig from. Imagine I choose to dig the Night Elf site. Once that site is cleared, I have a 9 out of 96 chance to get a Tol'vir site. Let's say I get one to pop up and I now have 2 Tol'vir sites and 2 Night Elf sites. When I clear my next site, I now only have an 8 out of 96 chance to get a Tol'vir site - even if it was a Tol'vir site that I cleared (can't have the same site appear that you just cleared). You can see that my chances dropped to get a Tol'vir site.

This example, while clearly using incorrect assumptions, illustrates how your chances are affected without Blizzard's change. Once you factor in that Blizzard now weights the available sites if you have races for which you've completed all the rares, those 9 chances (out of 96) to get a Tol'vir site might triple and equate to something more like a 1/3 chance to get a Tol'vir site. Each available Tol'vir spawn location becomes much more valuable. This is why you should jump on any Tol'vir spawn as soon as it becomes available.

Tip #3: Use Archy. It will help you see the races of the sites you have up, track potential artifact locations and tell you how far to run for different color lights when surveying. It also has a bunch of other nice features which will make the grind easier.

Tip #4: Get your 310% flying. It’ll make travelling so much faster.

Tip #5: Go to indie rock cafe and discover new music while you grind out your artifacts. It’s an awesome site.

Tip #6: If you are Alliance, put your hearth at Nijel's Point in Desolace. Horde can use Thunder Bluff.

What this means: I hear you asking, "But won't this slow me down? All the portals (Hyjal, Uldum) are in SW/Org!" The answer is simple - Potion of Deepholm, Shroud of Cooperation or Wrap of Unity.

If your cloak is on cooldown, use a potion and run to the Stormwind/Orgrimmar portal that is in Deepholm. Sure, the potions can get expensive if you're using them a lot but I've found it really isn't too bad. It's pretty easy to make money these days and the potions aren't going to run you dry. Also, remember there is a Stormwind/Orgrimmar portal in Mount Hyjal now.

An alternative is to put your hearth at Fort Triumph in Southern Barrens. I haven't tried this but since there is a flight path there, I assume there is also a hearth location.

Extra: I found this macro on wowwiki or wowhead (can’t remember now). It is useful for showing you how many artifacts you’ve solved for each race.

/run print("Total artifacts") for x=1,9 do local c=GetNumArtifactsByRace(x) local a =0 for y=1,c do local t = select(9, GetArtifactInfoByRace(x,y)) a=a+t end local rn = GetArchaeologyRaceInfo(x) if(c>1) then print(rn..": "..a) end end

For it to work properly you need to open the Archaeology window and click on the solves tab. Then with it open, you click the macro.

[TehVoyager]

Very interesting. thank you!

[Snowee]

One Thing, n811 has a really rar item, the Doll. It has the same droprate as Zinrokh.
Still good Guide.

[ihatejunk]

While the doll is rare, it seemed to be less rare than the scepter or Zin'rokh based on the data I've observed. Mind you, that data is mostly founded on comments listed on various sites of people's experience and I have no hard data to back that up.

[gippy]

cleared all nelf and troll artifacts and rares and to be honest nelf sites seem to still spawn the same

[ihatejunk]

That's odd, once I completed the Night Elf rares, I saw a significant decrease in the number of NE sites that spawned. There are still plenty that spawn, for sure, but nowhere near as many as before. If you are clearing Night Elf sites while you have sites of other races still unsurveyed, you will be increasing your chance to get more Night Elf sites.

Even without Blizzard's change, another way to think of this is to envision the total number of potential Tol'vir sites vs. the total number of potential dig sites of any race. For now, we'll make some assumptions. We'll assume 100 total sites, 10 Tol'vir sites, and we'll assume that all sites have an equal chance of appearing. In this example, I have 1 Tol'vir site and 3 Night Elf sites to dig from. Imagine I choose to dig the Night Elf site. Once that site is cleared, I have a 9 out of 96 chance to get a Tol'vir site. Let's say I get one to pop up and I now have 2 Tol'vir sites and 2 Night Elf sites. When I clear my next site, I now only have an 8 out of 96 chance to get a Tol'vir site - even if it was a Tol'vir site that I cleared (can't have the same site appear that you just cleared). You can see that my chances dropped to get a Tol'vir site.

This example, while clearly using incorrect assumptions, illustrates how your chances are affected without Blizzard's change. Once you factor in that Blizzard now weights the available sites if you have races for which you've completed all the rares, those 9 chances (out of 96) to get a Tol'vir site might triple and equate to something more like a 1/3 chance to get a Tol'vir site. Each available Tol'vir spawn location becomes much more valuable. This is why you should jump on any Tol'vir spawn as soon as it becomes available.

Edit: Adding this example to the guide.

[Sklug]

Tip #5: Go to indie rock cafe and discover new music while you grind out your artifacts. It’s an awesome site.

This is a good guide but I am giving +rep just mostly for this! lol THX!

[ihatejunk]

I gathered some data and the average player got their scepter after 182 Tol'vir solves and their doll after 155 Night Elf solves. That equates to roughly a 0.5% and 0.6% chance respectively. Night Elf solves will be skewed a little higher because you can solve them before you can get the doll as a project. The difference won't be much but this shows the chance to get either of these is less than 1%. Both of these chances are actually lower than the number I came up with because I didn't include data of players that still were trying to get their item with 400+ solves.