Best approach to unspoiled nodes?

[Skapoc]

OK so I just got my botanist to 50 and got it outfitted to hit all the sweet spots for gathering(600 gp, 340 gathering, 321 perception) and I was wondering what is considered the best way to approach an unspoiled node.

For clusters its easy to activate a Ward hit field master 1 and grab 15 clusters from the one you want. For the other nodes I am looking for advice on how to get the best yield from it. I usually just activate Toil then Leaf Turn 2 and hope I chain 4 together to guarantee a HQ item on the last hit(and get lucky and get some on other swings) with Brunt Force.

Is it better however to skip Toil use Blessed Harvest 1 or 2, Leaf Turn 1, and Field Mastery 2(if you used blessed harvest 1) and guarantee more normal quality items? I am almost positive that going for the HQ item is much better choice but I don't have any high level crafting professions to really get a grasp if botanist HQ items are useful or not. Any advice?

[Maku]

HQ items are the only way to go. The market for NQs is over saturated and there is hardly any demand for NQ. What I do (I do not have melded gear yet just HQ Artifact stuffs) is Toil then Leaf 1 and FieldM2. I usually get one HQ swing normally and then I always get my for sure HQ swing on the last hit with Brunt Force.

[Castillan]

My approach is this:

You know which slot it's at (the thing that you want), so no need to use Toil. 1 pick will clear it.

Leaf Turn II
Collect twice
Ageless Words
Collect 3 more times
Activate Brunt Force for last collect (assuming all 5 collects were successful)

I'm actually 50 miner/49 bot atm, but that's what I do with miner, I just replaced the abilities with the equivalent Botany ones.

Generally I'll get at least 2 x HQ gathers per node. If I'm lucky, 4.

If you've got >=630GP (using food and more melds) use Field Mastery I at the start as well for a 95% gather chance, and activate Ageless Words after the 4th pick when your GP comes back up to 300.

[Maku]

My approach is this:

You know which slot it's at (the thing that you want), so no need to use Toil. 1 pick will clear it.

Leaf Turn II
Collect twice
Ageless Words
Collect 3 more times
Activate Brunt Force for last collect (assuming all 5 collects were successful)

I'm actually 50 miner/49 bot atm, but that's what I do with miner, I just replaced the abilities with the equivalent Botany ones.

Generally I'll get at least 2 x HQ gathers per node. If I'm lucky, 4.

If you've got >=630GP (using food and more melds) use Field Mastery I at the start as well for a 95% gather chance, and activate Ageless Words after the 4th pick when your GP comes back up to 300.

Ageless Words and Toil have the exact same GP cost so why not just use Toil? You also are not getting 100% success and the RNG in this game is stupid. I would rather have the sure thing and get generally (same as you) 2 HQ swings a node.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

Presuming you know what you want ...

Field Mastery 2 (or Sharp Vision 2), King's Yield 2 (or Blessed Harvest 2), and then just whack away at the item I want. One swing clears it, and I then get 5 swings at +2 over the base yield. That's 25 Spruce Logs, or 35 Prickly Pineapples, or however many of whatever item I'm gathering.

There is ZERO point in going for HQ. Serious crafters are taking NQ materials and making HQ finished products, so it is better to go for NQ quantity than to go for HQ.

[Maku]

Presuming you know what you want ...

Field Mastery 2 (or Sharp Vision 2), King's Yield 2 (or Blessed Harvest 2), and then just whack away at the item I want. One swing clears it, and I then get 5 swings at +2 over the base yield. That's 25 Spruce Logs, or 35 Prickly Pineapples, or however many of whatever item I'm gathering.

There is ZERO point in going for HQ. Serious crafters are taking NQ materials and making HQ finished products, so it is better to go for NQ quantity than to go for HQ.

Really? My servers boards when you look at sale history is all HQ sales and hardly any NQ sales. However, I totally agree with you if that is the case on your server.

[Maku]

Snip

Math was never my strong suit but that makes sense. My point is that you could miss a swing and not get the for sure HQ at the end at all and potentially no HQ at a node at all. So i guess it is just if you are a bit of a gambler or not and it can make more HQ or nothing, while my way is the safe way to get a for sure HQ swing in.

[Castillan]

HQ items are the only way to go. The market for NQs is over saturated and there is hardly any demand for NQ. What I do (I do not have melded gear yet just HQ Artifact stuffs) is Toil then Leaf 1 and FieldM2. I usually get one HQ swing normally and then I always get my for sure HQ swing on the last hit with Brunt Force.

Let's assume a base 2% HQ chance.

Your way gives 5 gathers at 12% HQ chance at 100% success, plus 1 gather at 100%, or on average => 1.60 HQ gathers per node

My way gives 5 gathers at 32% HQ chance at 90% success, plus a 0.9^5 = ~59% chance at a 100% HQ gather chance at 100% success, for 5*0.32*0.9 + 0.59 => 2.03 HQ gathers per node.

If you want more HQ's per gather, on average, then do it my way. Statistically it works out better in the long term.

[Castillan]

Math was never my strong suit but that makes sense. My point is that you could miss a swing and not get the for sure HQ at the end at all and potentially no HQ at a node at all. So i guess it is just if you are a bit of a gambler or not and it can make more HQ or nothing, while my way is the safe way to get a for sure HQ swing in.

I know what you mean. You want a guarantee. Sometimes a guarantee isn't the most efficient way, long term. If you absolutely HAD TO have an HQ gather NOW, then do it your way. If this is a long term deal, then it's more beneficial to take the gamble.

[Mikita]

Presuming you know what you want ...

Field Mastery 2 (or Sharp Vision 2), King's Yield 2 (or Blessed Harvest 2), and then just whack away at the item I want. One swing clears it, and I then get 5 swings at +2 over the base yield. That's 25 Spruce Logs, or 35 Prickly Pineapples, or however many of whatever item I'm gathering.

There is ZERO point in going for HQ. Serious crafters are taking NQ materials and making HQ finished products, so it is better to go for NQ quantity than to go for HQ.

Shhh.

I usually go for gathering HQ items to sell on the market since they bring in a fair bit more gil.

I use the 'leftover' NQ materials for myself since HQing during the crafting process is ridiculously easy.