2011-07-24, 10:56 PM
My personal preference if I'm leaving mules permanently and need variety is El Nath. Eastward, you have a 5 (Emerald, Gold), 6 (Aquamarine, Red), and an 8 (Black, Purple) in relatively small easily cycled maps. Westward, you have a 3, so in the span of those maps you have every ore needed, unless you are after the super low end ores. The monsters are also the lowest leveled collection of monsters available for the variety. If you have momentum based travelling skills like my characters do (DW, Gunslinger) travel is that much faster on the ice.
Now if you're like me and specifically need Aquamarine Veins for their Smithing mule to reach Level 10 there is no place better than Ariant/Magatia. There are 6 maps within shouting distance (1-2ish maps) from a town containing said Veins. For the lulz, try to mine something on a conveyor belt, much fun will be had. For this reason and for the other veins located centrally around, this place would be #2 in my book if it weren't for the high level your mule would have to be. One more super Aquamarine Vein location is the collection of Grupin/Lioner/Cellion maps. Both Jr. and Sr. version of the monsters end in 6, so all the maps and even mixed maps will contain them. This area gets knocked down a peg because there is too much climbing in many of the maps, still a good alternative though.
I need a little help with Gold/Emerald though, the only decent place I can cycle, i.e. run all channels for one map then another and come back with ores respawned is the two Moon Bunny maps in KFT. I think this is the only pair of maps that cycling for exclusively Gold and Emerald can occur in without having to go to the middle of nowhere (5 maps in or somewhere crazy remote) or go between non-adjacent maps. Best place so far for me, what do you got?
Now if you're like me and specifically need Aquamarine Veins for their Smithing mule to reach Level 10 there is no place better than Ariant/Magatia. There are 6 maps within shouting distance (1-2ish maps) from a town containing said Veins. For the lulz, try to mine something on a conveyor belt, much fun will be had. For this reason and for the other veins located centrally around, this place would be #2 in my book if it weren't for the high level your mule would have to be. One more super Aquamarine Vein location is the collection of Grupin/Lioner/Cellion maps. Both Jr. and Sr. version of the monsters end in 6, so all the maps and even mixed maps will contain them. This area gets knocked down a peg because there is too much climbing in many of the maps, still a good alternative though.
I need a little help with Gold/Emerald though, the only decent place I can cycle, i.e. run all channels for one map then another and come back with ores respawned is the two Moon Bunny maps in KFT. I think this is the only pair of maps that cycling for exclusively Gold and Emerald can occur in without having to go to the middle of nowhere (5 maps in or somewhere crazy remote) or go between non-adjacent maps. Best place so far for me, what do you got?