I've been wondering what the mechanics of shiny spawns are. Let's use an example of 4 sets in one zone: Sets A and B are ground spawn only, in different areas. Set C is ground spawn and mob drop. Set D is mob drop only. If I run around the zone picking up shinies that I see, and I pick up one from set A, does another from set A spawn? Or could the replacement be from B or C? Is there a maximum number from each set up at a time? Do shinies carried by mobs affect the quantity of ground spawns at all? What's the time between me picking one up and another one spawning?
And then there are the ones that spawn half way thru the HA's. Unless it certain Bixie HA's which spawn before the halfway point. Ground spawns don't seem to have a set group that spawns. I have seen 4 or 5 of the same ones up at the same time. Then after picking them up again the same ones can spawn again. The spawn time seems to be about 20 minutes but I think that varies per zone. And they can spawn elsewhere in the zone. If you do some goggling you can come across info like this that may help: https://eqresource.com/board/index.php?topic=1576.0
>>If I run around the zone picking up shinies that I see, and I pick up one from set A, does another from set A spawn? Yes >>Or could the replacement be from B or C? No. >>Is there a maximum number from each set up at a time? Yes. >>Do shinies carried by mobs affect the quantity of ground spawns at all? No. >>What's the time between me picking one up and another one spawning? Not sure, but I think it's a few minutes. You can sort of analyze the respawn system for collectibles / shines in Katta Kastrum: The Deluge NPC/underwater library and Tempest Temple's zone in area. The shinies for those two groups are fairly densly populated and you can quickly collect all of them and then watch them respawn.
You might need some more input on this subject as I do not think anything list above or below is 100% accurate. In most cases, there are 4 sets per zone (2 from ground spawns, 1 from mob kills, and 1 from HA which can be ground spawns and / or mob dropped). *** There are several different variations to this rule which have been applied over the expansions. CoTF has a large amount of variations because of its general design and how it was released in stages. Also smaller zones like Gates of Kor Sha do not have 4 total sets, but instead the set here is found under the Kor Sha regular zone. RoS has many variations also. From what I have heard over the years the info goes as following: 2 Ground Spawn Sets (from regular zone only) - There is a combined limited number up in the zone at any time. When 1 shiny from set A or B is picked up, another will spawn within a couple minutes in the zone. Which set the new spawn comes in is totally random. The best example of this is from the Neriak 4th gate (CoTF expansion; variation with 3 ground spawn sets). The Flora & Fauna set found in the large open area of the tunnel is extremely common and easy to get. People run past these and avoid picking them up because they are worthless. However, the other 2 ground spawn sets are found in different building areas and still carry value. After a while of searching for the 2 rarer sets, you will eventually not be able to find any more in their areas unless you go and clear out the Flora and Fauna sets. Doing so, will cause some respawns into the other 2 sets (as well as new Flora and Fauna). If you stay in the open area and continue to clear flora and Fauna until there are very few, you can return to the buildings and there will be lots to pick up. 1 set from mob killing - This is pretty straight forward, kill a mob, it has an independent chance to drop the collection item. There are of course variations of this rules. Some zones have 2 sets from mob killing. These sets are usually mob or area dependent. Zones within the RoS expansion vary a lot to this general rule of 1 set from mob killing but are area or mob dependent with each set. 1 set from HA - Again, lots of variations, but in general the set can be picked up via ground spawns or drops from mass killings within the HA. In CoTF, there can be 2 sets from HAs which are dependent of their type (ground or killing). While in other expansions there are no HA collection set for the zone. For TBM through current content, the best way to get the set from the HA is to do mass killings of everything within the zone instead of completing the tasks to win the HA.
From my experience with static zone ground spawns (everything completed for the evolving shoulder): when you pick up a shiny from set A, it does NOT necessarily spawn another one from set A. It definitely looks like there is a total maximum number of ground spawns, but it's shared between all sets. When you pick up one from set A, it's just as likely to spawn another one from set B as from set A. You need to keep picking up all ground spawns from all sets.
It's not entirely incorrect. I believe different zones have different rules to this. The example you mentioned of Katta only spawns one set at the zone in area. The other set is elsewhere. The same with Skyfire. One set is one side of the lava, the other set on the other side. Then there are zones where this is incorrect. Yesterday I got 2 shinies from different sets from the same spot in Aalashai
I think there are some areas that seem to overlap. Valley of King Xorbb is one that seems to overlap two areas near the Minotaur fort and the river. I would be willing to be mechanics are different for each zone, but *most* of the time picking up one ground spawn does not guarantee that another ground spawn from the set will show up -- I know I've cleaned one area and had to go pick up another area to get the first area to repop shinies.
Very much depends on the zone and expansion. TBM (ground spawn) collects are specific to certain parts of the zone, mostly. Sul Life/Decay has very segregated collects depending on whether it's above ground or below ground - no chance at two different sets of collects at the same spot. Other zones it's clear the shinie spawns share two different sets. Not sure there's a rhyme or reason to it. Just varies.
Hm, being different in each zone kind of makes sense. I've noticed in some zones where the sets are in distinct areas, it seems like I kind of depopulate one area if I only try to pick up its spawns and not the other set's. I'm not sure if that's universally true though.
Pre TBL there were deffinatly seperate areas for the ground spawns with a few overlapping.. I believe a different person did the collects for TBL and both sets are mixed in together, sharing the same spawn spos and it wouldn't suprise me if they shared the same spawn table. I prefer the pre TBL collects.
Embrace your inner explorers and spelunkers and accept the fact that the collections can vary. There are other examples of shared spots. I'm fairly sure Howling Stones and Veeshan's Peak spawns are shared across the two ground spawn sets and are not location-based. I haven't gone so far as to pinpoint an exact spawn point and watch it to check, but certainly I've seen an item from the two sets within the same room/area. Some observations, somewhat summarizing what others have said: There seems to be a zone-wide limit to the number of spawns that are up at any given time, regardless of sets, locations, etc. If you clean one area up you'll eventually stop seeing new pops and will need to clear other locations (especially true if you are the only one picking them up). Not all zones are equal - some share spawns, some are location specific. In some zones/cases, mobs drop the same sets that may spawn and to make things more confusing, some can be in an HA and the static zone. The are certainly some sets that only come from ground spawns in HAs (Bixie Warfront is one example). ZAM's collection descriptions are a good start if you're working on the shoulder evolving requirement. RoS is unfinished for some reason, but I have been tracking those locations myself. Examples of shared ground spawn locations: Argin-Hiz (any house interior) - 2 sets Howling Stones (basement, upper, doesn't matter) - 2 sets Veeshan's Peak (fairly sure) - 2 sets Examples of specific locations: Droga - 1 set in temple area, another in the kitchen area Tower of Rot - 1 set in the upper floors, 1 set in the lower (static zone) Various HAs (Neriak/Rozz HAs: potions, Lark HAs: family symbols). Combine Dredge - at the two boats only for 1 set. I actually like this challenge even though I've had to run some Bixie HAs a LOT of times (that Violet Beetle was super rare). It's somewhat like solving a puzzle even if some of the clues are given to you outright from other explorers.
