Why the punishment for gathering Crystals?

[Sartori]

Hello

I hadn't been gathering any Wind, Fire, etc. Crystals because I have had a pretty good supply. Lately of course with some of the higher end recipes been using alot. So I went out to gather some/log and noticed that I wasn't getting any of the benefits/gathering +1, extra swing, etc. when a wind crystal would pop on the tree.

So why is this by design, makes no sense and why only random pops on the trees also??

[chidarake]

its just design, we have to suck it up and live with it...

[gornotck]

...crystals aren't random. Crystals show up on two of the four nodes, the same two every time.

[Eye_Gore]

Not a botanist, but mining, the +1's only show up on certain nodes, and they are not random. Its the same all the time.

[LineageRazor]

The level 30 Crystal nodes are pretty much the exact opposite of random. Not only are they the same all the time (two nodes have Crystals, one of the non-crystal nodes has gathering +1, the other one has nothing special), but all six types of Crystals have exactly the same node setup.

For the best results, rotate between the two crystal nodes and the one +1 node. Skip the nothing special node. You'll earn as many Shards as you do Crystals that way - and even if you don't need the Shards, they sell pretty well.

[Snugglebutt]

As a miner you have the ability to triple the amount you receive using your skills so I personally do not mind not having special benefits on the node when farming crystals since the skill for doing such makes up for it.

[Lyrinn]

As a miner you have the ability to triple the amount you receive using your skills so I personally do not mind not having special benefits on the node when farming crystals since the skill for doing such makes up for it.

400 GP for an extra 8 crystals every 5-10 minutes isn't exactly amazing. Crystal (and shard) farming is such a chore that I have my BTN retainer set to permanent crystal farming. At least that way I can do other things while maintaining a steady crystal supply.

[Grey_Cain]

400 GP for an extra 8 crystals every 5-10 minutes isn't exactly amazing. Crystal (and shard) farming is such a chore that I have my BTN retainer set to permanent crystal farming. At least that way I can do other things while maintaining a steady crystal supply.

Yep, retainers are good for getting crystals when you're not expecting to be doing any lengthy crafting sessions for a few days. Even though I, personally, am around 7.5x faster (I did the meth math >_> ), my retainer has gathered enough shards and crystals for my next couple major sessions that I'm now at a loss as to what to send him for next. My hunter has also sheared all the sheep and snurbles ever, and it's hard finding stuff for her to grab now too.

There's one other thing you can do to speed up the actual gathering a little if you only care about the crystals and not the shards. Start by farming the two crystal nodes, then head for the nearest third node, whether it's the +1 or the no-special. Open up the gathering menu, exit the gathering menu without gathering anything, and head back to the first crystal node. The nodes "respawn" such that there are always 2 fresh nodes, and you can ignore one node completely and still have the nodes respawn in the order that you check them even if you don't gather anything (map-hunting speeds up dramatically this way).