A lot of players have contacted me about being a woodcutting-farmer and asked for advice. So it became apparent that this thread should be posted in forums to answer a lot of your questions and give you advice on how to best proceed.
As a background, I progressed through the lower forests and was established on Elven when Exrollia was launched. Heck I even joined Maggie at Bonewood (Skull) for quite a few levels. I moved from Unera to Penteza at level 47 woodcutting, and from Penteza to Khaya at level 78. The final move was from Khaya to Ammon at about level 110 woodcutting.
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Keep in mind, that there will NEVER be a balance between where you can chop and what you can plant UNLESS you are prepared to forego woodcutting experience to get the seeds you need to move through the levels and ultimately the seed types.
As a rule of thumb, I have never moved forest unless I could plant at least TWO seed types at the higher forest. This is where the sacrifice in woodcutting experience really hits home. But if you want to focus on your farming as well, you simply MUST do it.
I am sure that you are wondering who I have spoken to about this, and I am sure that they won't mind being mentioned here. They include: Truscot, Absolute Legend, Kevalaa, TheBeast, and a few more I can't recall right now. As you can see they aren't low level choppers or farmers.
Anyway, let's get into it.gif)
Starting out
- Don't go overboard establishing too many farms on the mainlands/Skull as you will most likely not work there for long once your farming level progresses. try to work with 2 farms with 400 slots. Keeping these stocked at low level is very easy.
- Farms at Isri, Lemo, Unera are good to start with while you work on Remer and Dearn. As you can't build more than one farm on Exrollia and none on Webbers, try to build your farms at port towns, or close to it if you choose this option.
- At low levels, you have to plant EVERY seed you get, and you will continue to do so until it becomes impractical to get larger quantities of the lower seeds.
- Try to use at least 2 farms nearby every forest (where you can) to maintain farming gains.
Woodcutting in conjunction with other skills
When you get to both level 40 and 55 woodcutting, where you chop depends a lot on your combat level. If you haven't attained a combat level of about 20 then Avinin is too dangerous to contemplate (the auto-attacks can be fatal as many have found out traversing Exrollia with a low CL), likewise with Aloria the quest to cut there involves fighting at Kaldra to kill 5 chippeway. But other nasties lurk there too. The gorgon cloaker and centaur pack a nasty little punch when confronted. So take the time to read Orange's Combat advice forum and structure at least your hit points to survive the quest.
Ammon (the level 100 forest) too has a quest to chop there. One part of the quest requires mining level 30 to clear the rocks, the other needs construction level 15 to build the bridge. Just a couple of other things to keep in mind in skill building should you chose to chop at the elite forest ;) You might consider getting these levels prior to launching your assault on the Anasco forests.
Choices at level 40 woodcutting
- If you are serious about being a woodcutting farmer, you will have to decide between 2 options once you get to level 40 woodcutting and are able to plant grain and strawberry seeds:
(1) head to Avinin (Exrollia) and have only one farm that is close, and but not where you work. Avinin has less wood and less crowding, but only one location you can build that is close. Auto-attacks may prevent you from choosing this option.
(2) head to Elven and have farms close at hand. Penteza Forest is quite crowded, but you do have a trading post and buildable land closeby.
- at this level woodcutting, you will still be needing to plant Unera seeds as well as seeds from the level 40 forests.
- if you can't plant strawberry then stay at Unera for as long as required. The reason I say this is because if you chose to move before you could plant strawberry it takes a TON of grain from the level 40 forests to get from Corn to Strawberry.
Woodcutting 55
If you are solely working woodcutting and farming (and haven't bought/traded for seeds) then by the time you reach level 55 woodcutting you will be nowhere near planting spinach.
This is where you need to keep the farming gains ticking over to progress to Aloria seeds and beyond.
What I have told everyone who has asked... STAY AT PENTEZA. At least until they have been able to plant up to at least spinach if not eggplant.
To move from Aloria to Khaya? Dilemma!
Yes I know, the woodcutting gains at Khaya are tempting, but you won't be working on farming for long if you move. Simply put, there will be no seeds you can plant from Khaya. So what I advise is staying at Aloria (or even Penteza) to get the farming level to plant both broccoli and apple.
Which way you choose to do it from here is up to you. I chose the Penteza route as I was able to get more farming experience per chop than I could at Aloria. I kept records of it to check. But if you think of it this way. Higher woodcutting level means lower timer. Lower timer means more chops. More chops means the chance of more seeds. The other reason I stayed at Penteza was not only the timer, but the proximity to a lot of players selling lower seeds. Ogre tradingpost isn't far away, and ogres drop a lot of seeds as well.
The massive gap between the woodcutting seeds Orange -> Pineapple
Orange is from Khaya and Pineapple is from Ammon (I've not included combat drops as you're a woodcutting-farmer, right?)
All I can say here is... prepare for a long grind at woodcutting. 3 ways to tackle this:
(1) Head back to Aloria for the lower timer , but seeds that you WILL be able to plant and have a steady supply of them from your work
(2) Head back to even Penteza Forest for an even lower timer, and a very steady supply of seeds (remember seeds are farming experience and that's what you're after)
(3) Stay put at Khaya and plant whatever you get, most likely 400 seeds per week.
Overall, Aloria is the best option here as you can switch back to Khaya should you choose to. Besides, once you get set up on Kanzo it makes sense to stay nearer your farms ;) Penteza is the second best option.
The seed market
I was fortunate to have been a farmer before the easter screw up a few years back which enticed more people into farming. I will NOT comment on seed prices here, nor should buyers or sellers use this as a tool to gouge more gold from each trade.
This bit is harder to get into as seeds are a top commodity and resource. Expect to get into bidding wars with other prospective buyers LOL It's not funny, but trust me, it happens much more than you think.
A few things I have found very useful and have shared with others (treat them as MY rules of thumb):
- Do NOT approach a woodcutter who has NOT advertised their seeds for sale. If they haven't advertised, then they aren't selling just yet.
- A lot of woodcutters have farmers in their clan and trying to pressure them may mean that you are "banned" from trading with that clan should you go overboard and beg them to sell.
- Use your wood and grown to trade with first. Always ASK if wood/grown is acceptable as payment, never expect that it is.
- Set yourself a limit on what you will pay for each seed type, and avoid overstepping your own limits. Farmers are a broke bunch, which I am sure you will find out
- Try to avoid being a 3rd party to a seed trade, especially when offering prices. You can and most likely will lose potential trades if you overprice or underprice when asked.
- DON'T SPAM TRADE CHAT I know of a LOT of players who have seed buyers on their ignore list. Remember, if they can't see you... you miss out.
- in trades involving trading lower seeds for higher seeds you will find yourself in some very interesting discussions. whether it be exp:exp gp:gp or grown:grown, pick which way you will do it and stick with it. Comparing an exp:exp deal with the results of a gp:gp trade often results in arguments. In seed
eed trades, be prepared to "lose" out on something once in a while. All I will say is... What goes around comes around
-----
Feel free to ask me questions about any of this
Please remember that this was written from personal experience, a lot of hard work and decision making. At the time of posting this I am level 158 woodcutting and 106 farming.
I hope this helps with your chopping and planting ;)
Edited on 30-04-2012 17:02
As a background, I progressed through the lower forests and was established on Elven when Exrollia was launched. Heck I even joined Maggie at Bonewood (Skull) for quite a few levels. I moved from Unera to Penteza at level 47 woodcutting, and from Penteza to Khaya at level 78. The final move was from Khaya to Ammon at about level 110 woodcutting.
-----
Keep in mind, that there will NEVER be a balance between where you can chop and what you can plant UNLESS you are prepared to forego woodcutting experience to get the seeds you need to move through the levels and ultimately the seed types.
As a rule of thumb, I have never moved forest unless I could plant at least TWO seed types at the higher forest. This is where the sacrifice in woodcutting experience really hits home. But if you want to focus on your farming as well, you simply MUST do it.
I am sure that you are wondering who I have spoken to about this, and I am sure that they won't mind being mentioned here. They include: Truscot, Absolute Legend, Kevalaa, TheBeast, and a few more I can't recall right now. As you can see they aren't low level choppers or farmers.
Anyway, let's get into it
Starting out
- Don't go overboard establishing too many farms on the mainlands/Skull as you will most likely not work there for long once your farming level progresses. try to work with 2 farms with 400 slots. Keeping these stocked at low level is very easy.
- Farms at Isri, Lemo, Unera are good to start with while you work on Remer and Dearn. As you can't build more than one farm on Exrollia and none on Webbers, try to build your farms at port towns, or close to it if you choose this option.
- At low levels, you have to plant EVERY seed you get, and you will continue to do so until it becomes impractical to get larger quantities of the lower seeds.
- Try to use at least 2 farms nearby every forest (where you can) to maintain farming gains.
Woodcutting in conjunction with other skills
When you get to both level 40 and 55 woodcutting, where you chop depends a lot on your combat level. If you haven't attained a combat level of about 20 then Avinin is too dangerous to contemplate (the auto-attacks can be fatal as many have found out traversing Exrollia with a low CL), likewise with Aloria the quest to cut there involves fighting at Kaldra to kill 5 chippeway. But other nasties lurk there too. The gorgon cloaker and centaur pack a nasty little punch when confronted. So take the time to read Orange's Combat advice forum and structure at least your hit points to survive the quest.
Ammon (the level 100 forest) too has a quest to chop there. One part of the quest requires mining level 30 to clear the rocks, the other needs construction level 15 to build the bridge. Just a couple of other things to keep in mind in skill building should you chose to chop at the elite forest ;) You might consider getting these levels prior to launching your assault on the Anasco forests.
Choices at level 40 woodcutting
- If you are serious about being a woodcutting farmer, you will have to decide between 2 options once you get to level 40 woodcutting and are able to plant grain and strawberry seeds:
(1) head to Avinin (Exrollia) and have only one farm that is close, and but not where you work. Avinin has less wood and less crowding, but only one location you can build that is close. Auto-attacks may prevent you from choosing this option.
(2) head to Elven and have farms close at hand. Penteza Forest is quite crowded, but you do have a trading post and buildable land closeby.
- at this level woodcutting, you will still be needing to plant Unera seeds as well as seeds from the level 40 forests.
- if you can't plant strawberry then stay at Unera for as long as required. The reason I say this is because if you chose to move before you could plant strawberry it takes a TON of grain from the level 40 forests to get from Corn to Strawberry.
Woodcutting 55
If you are solely working woodcutting and farming (and haven't bought/traded for seeds) then by the time you reach level 55 woodcutting you will be nowhere near planting spinach.
This is where you need to keep the farming gains ticking over to progress to Aloria seeds and beyond.
What I have told everyone who has asked... STAY AT PENTEZA. At least until they have been able to plant up to at least spinach if not eggplant.
To move from Aloria to Khaya? Dilemma!
Yes I know, the woodcutting gains at Khaya are tempting, but you won't be working on farming for long if you move. Simply put, there will be no seeds you can plant from Khaya. So what I advise is staying at Aloria (or even Penteza) to get the farming level to plant both broccoli and apple.
Which way you choose to do it from here is up to you. I chose the Penteza route as I was able to get more farming experience per chop than I could at Aloria. I kept records of it to check. But if you think of it this way. Higher woodcutting level means lower timer. Lower timer means more chops. More chops means the chance of more seeds. The other reason I stayed at Penteza was not only the timer, but the proximity to a lot of players selling lower seeds. Ogre tradingpost isn't far away, and ogres drop a lot of seeds as well.
The massive gap between the woodcutting seeds Orange -> Pineapple
Orange is from Khaya and Pineapple is from Ammon (I've not included combat drops as you're a woodcutting-farmer, right?)
All I can say here is... prepare for a long grind at woodcutting. 3 ways to tackle this:
(1) Head back to Aloria for the lower timer , but seeds that you WILL be able to plant and have a steady supply of them from your work
(2) Head back to even Penteza Forest for an even lower timer, and a very steady supply of seeds (remember seeds are farming experience and that's what you're after)
(3) Stay put at Khaya and plant whatever you get, most likely 400 seeds per week.
Overall, Aloria is the best option here as you can switch back to Khaya should you choose to. Besides, once you get set up on Kanzo it makes sense to stay nearer your farms ;) Penteza is the second best option.
The seed market
I was fortunate to have been a farmer before the easter screw up a few years back which enticed more people into farming. I will NOT comment on seed prices here, nor should buyers or sellers use this as a tool to gouge more gold from each trade.
This bit is harder to get into as seeds are a top commodity and resource. Expect to get into bidding wars with other prospective buyers LOL It's not funny, but trust me, it happens much more than you think.
A few things I have found very useful and have shared with others (treat them as MY rules of thumb):
- Do NOT approach a woodcutter who has NOT advertised their seeds for sale. If they haven't advertised, then they aren't selling just yet.
- A lot of woodcutters have farmers in their clan and trying to pressure them may mean that you are "banned" from trading with that clan should you go overboard and beg them to sell.
- Use your wood and grown to trade with first. Always ASK if wood/grown is acceptable as payment, never expect that it is.
- Set yourself a limit on what you will pay for each seed type, and avoid overstepping your own limits. Farmers are a broke bunch, which I am sure you will find out
- Try to avoid being a 3rd party to a seed trade, especially when offering prices. You can and most likely will lose potential trades if you overprice or underprice when asked.
- DON'T SPAM TRADE CHAT I know of a LOT of players who have seed buyers on their ignore list. Remember, if they can't see you... you miss out.
- in trades involving trading lower seeds for higher seeds you will find yourself in some very interesting discussions. whether it be exp:exp gp:gp or grown:grown, pick which way you will do it and stick with it. Comparing an exp:exp deal with the results of a gp:gp trade often results in arguments. In seed
eed trades, be prepared to "lose" out on something once in a while. All I will say is... What goes around comes around -----
Feel free to ask me questions about any of this
Please remember that this was written from personal experience, a lot of hard work and decision making. At the time of posting this I am level 158 woodcutting and 106 farming.
I hope this helps with your chopping and planting ;)
Edited on 30-04-2012 17:02
.gif)
