The Discerning Crafter : The North Downs

Guide to Resource Gathering

By Darkgolem

The North Downs is in many ways a paradise for resource gathering for tier 3.  However, it really has to be, because there is so many materials to be gathered to gain mastery in tier 3 resources that your going to need all the help you can get.  The only truly weak spot for resources in the north downs are tier 3 scholar products.  There are not that many, the only good place for these here are in the ruins just north of Meluinen in southern Kingsfell, and even then, that isn't that good.

Aside for that flaw, the thing that makes the north downs so good for resource gathering (especially tier 3) is that you can multitask.  There is, for example, a deed involving killing over 270 wargs.  Kingsfell (and anywhere east of Esteldin) is just full of wargs, and all give sturdy hides.  This makes this area outstanding for doing this deed and gathering those hides.  On top of that, there are 3 quests which involve defeating wargs, and 2 quests for defeating the massive hoar-mantles here.  So if you wish to gather hides for tailoring or sale, you can multitask nicely.  Similarly, ore gathering is good here. Make sure to head to Esteldin and Othrikar before starting to mine rich iron and gold near Esteldin and Othrikar.. both locations have quests to defeat many of the creatures you will be running into as you run around gathering ore.

For tier 2 resources, your better off heading to Bree-land.  The eastern bree-fields are out of the way but better for tier 2 skins and ores, and nothing beats Andrath for tier 2 scholar products.

North Downs Resource Chart
Name	Ash	Yew	Barrow-Iron/ Silver	Rich Iron/Gold	Medium Hides	Sturdy Hides	Farming	Tier 2 Artifacts	Tier 3 Artifacts
Dol Dinen		Fair (2)		None		Good (3)	None		None
Rhunenlad		Fair (2)		Fair (2)		Good (3)	Poor (1)		None
Nan Amlug West		Good (3)		Good (3)		Excellent (4)	Fair (2)		Poor (1)
Kingsfell		Fair (2)		Excellent (4)		Excellent (4)	Poor (1)		Poor (1)
Annundir	Good (3)		Good (3)			Poor (1)	Poor (1)	Fair (2)
Fornost	Poor (1)		Poor (2)	Good (3)	Fair (2)	Fair (2)	None	Poor (1)
The Greensward	Fair (2)		Fair (2)		Good (3)		Good (3)	None
Nan Wathren	Poor (1)		Poor (1)		None		None	None
Meluinen		Poor (1)		Fair (2)		Poor (1)	Poor (1)		Fair (2)

Dol Dinen: Assuming you don't mind the ever present wargs, orcs, trolls and goblins, Dol Dinen is a moderately fair place to find tier 3, excepting scholar items.  But the inhabitants make this place problematical, to say the least.   However, all the wargs here make it, like much of the North Downs, a good place to get sturdy hides.  There are no farming products here, and ore is very rare.

Rhunenlad: Rhunenlad seems like the kind of place that would have a lot of yew wood, but this isn't the case.  It has a fair amount, but it is not particularly noteworthy in this respect.  There are many hides here to be gained, but the only the wargs are worth getting sturdy hides from, the hoar mantle's are signature animals.  Blueberries, green onions and raspberries can be found in small quantities here.  Ore is rare here.  North, at Nan Amlug East there is moderate (at most) amount of ore, all tier 3.

Nan Amlug West: An outstanding place to gather hides due to the many wargs here.  There are fewer of other enemies, so as long as you can handle a 31 warg, you should be able to gather as many hides as you wish.  There is more yew wood here to be found, also, though some parts of this large area is less fertile for this sort of thing than others. Of note, north of Othrikar among the Dourhand mining camps is a poor place to gain wood.  Honey, blueberries and green onions can be found here in fair amounts.  Toward Othrikar you can get a fair amount of rich iron and gold ore, and it is less heavily farmed then farther south.

Kingsfell: The first area where you will find tier 3 resources as you head east, Kingsfell is the best place to get sturdy hides, simply because the creatures here have these hides, but are not as tough in other areas.  Also, your close to Esteldin, so you can get repairs and so on done easily enough and have access to crafting equipment and a bank.  Yew wood is less common here than to the east however, though still present in small quantities.  Honey and green onions can be found here if you search.  You can find some artifacts at Dol Nendir in the south here, and this is a good place to pick up tier 3 artifacts while grinding for warg skins and so on.   There are many, many nodes of rich iron and gold here, and while this area is heavily farmed, on a slow day you can get about 20 to 30 ores just doing a circuit along the rocky areas of kingsfell.

Annundir: Just on the border between tier 2 and tier 3, you can find something of both resources here.  However, tier 3 products are less common, or just absent.  The wargs here sometimes drop tier 3 sturdy hides, if you defeat one of about 24th level.  But these creatures are mixed among weaker, medium hide dropping animals.  Ash is found here fairly often, but no yew wood.  You can find honey, green onions and blueberries, here, but not a lot.  The ruins near the road here have some tier 2 artifacts.

Fornost: The Fields of Fornost are not a bad place for resources, excepting artifacts.  The entirety of the eastern side has a fair amount of tier 3 ores (rich iron and gold) plus sturdy hides from the creatures there.  Other areas have some silver and barrow iron.  However, the west and Fornost proper should be avoided.  This areas is a good place to gather resources while getting ready for harder places, like Kingsfell.  Don't be shocked that the tainted fields of the dead do not have any farming products, at all, to be found.  Very surprisingly, Fornost is a horrible place for artifacts for scholars.

The Greensward: The greensward is a fairly good place for all the tier 2 items.  The animals here drop medium hides, barrow iron and silver are available.  There is also found some ash.  No tier 3 items are here.  You can find farming products here, such as taters, raspberries, blueberries and green onions.  There are no noteworthy artifacts here.   Tier 2 ore is fairly good here, and for some reason farming ore here isn't common.

Nan Wathren: Nan Wathren, aside from being awash with orcs, is a poor place for gathering ash, which is almost absent.  Nor are there any hides to be found of any tier. There are no farming products here.  Artifacts are absent from this area.  Ore is almost completely absent from here, don't bother.

Meluinen: This swampy area has no farming products, most creatures here have no hides to drop, and there is very little yew wood to be found.  There is a little rich iron and gold ore here, but not enough for special trip, with the Kingsfell so close.

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