Guild Wars Guru

Are smite crawlers profitable?

2 pages • Page 1
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clbembry
Ascalonian Squire
• #1
I've been soloing smite crawlers for a day, just thought I'd try something new. The only problem is I don't seem to be making any money.

If they are profitable, how much money per hour should I be making?

ALSO, can they drop perfect Storm or Eternal bows in NM?
wetsparks
wetsparks
Desert Nomad
• #2
smites should be dropping you ectos so they are fairly profitable
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clbembry
Ascalonian Squire
• #3
Hmm... I must just be unlucky. I've done around 5-10 runs and the best item I've gotten was a shield which i merched for 200 gold.
lordheinous
lordheinous
Krytan Explorer
• #4
Quote: Originally Posted by clbembry
Hmm... I must just be unlucky. I've done around 5-10 runs and the best item I've gotten was a shield which i merched for 200 gold. I hope you're not merching your ectos...that could take away the profitablity of the farm pretty fast
Marty Silverblade
Marty Silverblade
Administrator
• #5
Quote: Originally Posted by lordheinous
I hope you're not merching your ectos...that could take away the profitablity of the farm pretty fast I didn't get an ecto until about my 15th run. I cleared all the smites each run. Some people are just really unlucky I suppose.
_Nihilist_
_Nihilist_
Will Bull's Strike for $!
• #6
First off, what prof are you using?

2nd, are you killing the Smites one at a time or are you dealing damage to them all at once with AoE spells or attacks?

I can honestly say that if you are looking for profit and don't have money to burn on 1k trips through UW in search of Ectos, a build that will kill the Smites 1 at a time yields infinitely better results *per run*, but not per hour, as the runs take longer to complete.

I farm the Smites with a solo build that kills 1 at a time, and about half of the enemies I kill yield a drop. Some are the pathetic 4 Piles of Glittering Bull****, some are Remains, some are weapons/offhands, and some are Ectos. Some runs you will get no Ectos, some runs you could get upwards of 4 or more Ectos.

Hope this helps!
Luminarus
Luminarus
Furnace Stoker
• #7
Its a tossup, the best way to kill things for drops (imo) is aoe, with some single target damage. This lowers all foes hp fast, then u drop em one at a time for more drops.

Also have to consider, killing all at once IS faster then 1 at a time. U may get twice as many drops killing single, but if it takes twice as long, you havent really gained anything, especially since ectos arent effected by that.
okashii
okashii
Krytan Explorer
• #8
IMO :

Farming smites is profitable if you are using a A/E Sliver build on Hard Mode
Marty Silverblade
Marty Silverblade
Administrator
• #9
Quote: Originally Posted by Tyrael_Eveningsong
I can honestly say that if you are looking for profit and don't have money to burn on 1k trips through UW in search of Ectos, a build that will kill the Smites 1 at a time yields infinitely better results *per run*, but not per hour, as the runs take longer to complete. This isn't true. Drops from AoE kills = drops from one by one kills. It's been proven.
_Nihilist_
_Nihilist_
Will Bull's Strike for $!
• #10
Quote: Originally Posted by Luminarus Its a tossup, the best way to kill things for drops (imo) is aoe, with some single target damage. This lowers all foes hp fast, then u drop em one at a time for more drops.

Also have to consider, killing all at once IS faster then 1 at a time. U may get twice as many drops killing single, but if it takes twice as long, you havent really gained anything, especially since ectos arent effected by that. Good points Lumi. I was just trying to point out a few things that he could give us more info on so that we could provide more info to his specific situation, as well as his OP.

My runs take an average of 35 minutes, but I'm fine with that. I farm when no one on my Friend List is on, otherwise, I have a lot more fun with the game, and consequently don't burn out as fast on farming, when I am just getting cash-flow from Mish/Bonus, HM Vanquishing, and Dungeon running.

Currently I have been focusing more on my Treasure Hunter title, so Chest Runs or Kilroy runs have been decently profitable. That and selling my gold drops as unid's...

Quote: Originally Posted by Marty Silverblade
This isn't true. Yes, it is Marty. I think I know how much I can get per run better than you can guess, the same as I am quite sure that you know your drop rates better than I could guess. I'm not saying you aren't knowledgeable, I follow your posts, and they always have accurate information, but you don't know the specifics of the runs that I have done. If you did, we would have been on a duo run, which has never happened.

Also, I'm not talking about the Ecto drop rate, which is unaffected, as Lumi pointed out, I'm talking about drops period. When farming with an AoE build I get less drops total; when I farm with a single-target build, I get more drops total. Ectos are always a toss-up, anywhere from 0-4 per run on a Smite run for me so far, but again, Ectos aren't affected like everything else is in farming drop rates.

Sorry if I made it seem like I was talking about the Ectos dropping, that wasn't my aim.
C
Chucky333
Academy Page
• #11
Quote: Originally Posted by Luminarus
Its a tossup, the best way to kill things for drops (imo) is aoe, with some single target damage. This lowers all foes hp fast, then u drop em one at a time for more drops.

Also have to consider, killing all at once IS faster then 1 at a time. U may get twice as many drops killing single, but if it takes twice as long, you havent really gained anything, especially since ectos arent effected by that. Wasnt that already proven to be bullshit?
oh well..
Anyway, to the OP: IIRC, the chance of smites dropping an ecto is somewhere around 2%, meaning it might take you ages to see an ecto drop.
With the value of ectos today i wouldn't bother, really.
Consider FOW or UW clears on HM, DoA runs, Chest runs, even vanquishes will net you piles of money and also make progress on the respective title.
Tender Care
Tender Care
Desert Nomad
• #12
If for profitable u mean: ECTOS, the answer is NO.....i must be unlucky, but in many runs i don't even get an ecto so far, nor a gold (even common), nor much drops to get back the 1k u pay to enter.....I don't farm smites anymore.
Better to clean the Chaos Plains with a sin or whatever u want...more ectos, a bunch of golds and a bunch of drops u can merch and recover like 3/4 k (or materials) per run!!!
zelgadissan
zelgadissan
Forge Runner
• #13
Back before *easily done* perma-sins I did the smites a few times. I got three ectos on my very first run, then didn't see another for probably 15 tries. I did get 3-4 golds in those runs though, plus 2-3 UW scrolls, which for normal mode I was pretty happy with. Oh, and a gold from a Dying Nightmare

All depends on your luck, really. It's not near as profitable compared to the Chaos Planes just due to the sheer numbers there, but it's a nice change-up now and then, and probably done a litter faster since the anti-farm changes.
My Lipgloss is Cool
My Lipgloss is Cool
Krytan Explorer
• #14
@Tender; it must be your luck, because I don't believe I've ever been on a run where I havn't made back my entrance fee.
F
Fay Vert
Desert Nomad
• #15
Quote: Originally Posted by Marty Silverblade
This isn't true. Drops from AoE kills = drops from one by one kills. It's been proven. I have seen NO PROOF

I have seen, and can provide plenty of proof to the contrary. Rate of kill lowers drops. The smites themselves are easy proof of this. Trap them and pull two lots, you get maybe 1 drop out of 10 kills. Touch them to kill one at a time and you get at least a drop out of every other kill.
Lord Zion
Lord Zion
Academy Page
• #16
Quote: Originally Posted by okashii
IMO :

Farming smites is profitable if you are using a A/E Sliver build on Hard Mode just curious, how can you survive to all the zealots fire damage from smites? Is shadow refuge or any other regen skill available to a/e able to counter that damage?
okashii
okashii
Krytan Explorer
• #17
Air of Superiority + Feigned Neurality
Lord Zion
Lord Zion
Academy Page
• #18
Quote: Originally Posted by okashii
Air of Superiority + Feigned Neurality ok tyvm! will try this tonight.
okashii
okashii
Krytan Explorer
• #19
dont thank me, thank rezdog
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clbembry
Ascalonian Squire
• #20
I just wanna say thanks for all of the replies. I'll look into the Chaos Planes and FoW.

Quote: First off, what prof are you using?

2nd, are you killing the Smites one at a time or are you dealing damage to them all at once with AoE spells or attacks?

I can honestly say that if you are looking for profit and don't have money to burn on 1k trips through UW in search of Ectos, a build that will kill the Smites 1 at a time yields infinitely better results *per run*, but not per hour, as the runs take longer to complete.

I farm the Smites with a solo build that kills 1 at a time, and about half of the enemies I kill yield a drop. Some are the pathetic 4 Piles of Glittering Bull****, some are Remains, some are weapons/offhands, and some are Ectos. Some runs you will get no Ectos, some runs you could get upwards of 4 or more Ectos.

Hope this helps! I'm not merching the Ecto's, I havn't gotten one yet.

I'm using a Warrior/Dervish.