I've decided to finally get around to getting my tradeskills up, and while I've already saved up a ton of supplies, I'm going to need a lot more, and it's going to require farming. For stuff like excellent/fine silks/pelts or whatever, I'm trying to find the best zones for mass killing stuff to get 300+ tradeskill supplies. Does anything matter other than level range? I read something about only humanoid mobs dropping them, but EQ is full of weird rumors so I have no idea if that is accurate. What have you found as the best zones for farming this stuff?
silks from spiders and humanoids I dont think there are any of the right type that drop them more than any other. Your best bet is find a zone where its easy to gather a crapton to slaughter.
Fine most likely from mobs 58-62. Excellent most likely from mobs 63-67 So, find zones with humanoids in those level ranges, and you should be able to get some to drop.
You could go here: https://eq.magelo.com/ Type in what you are looking for and see where the things in question are most likely to drop.
I recommend shard's landing for your silks/pelts (Naeya and whatever else), can farm fletching stuff at the same time. But that only gets you to 300, not 300+, so I'm a bit confused by the way you phrased your question. For post 300 stuff, you basically have to go everywhere since most stuff only drops in a few zones and you need specific recipes instead of high volume drops.
Take a look at Overseer, you may find you can get some of what you need from there, I found it useful for RoS combines (Conflagrant).
Like Nennius mentioned, MAGELO is your best friend when it comes to farming. And keep your Overseer going as much as possible, this can help greatly in many instances. Good Luck in your hunt, it can take mad skills to skill up in then end game content. Happy hunting.
Magelo statistics are awful. They shouldnt even show percents because its just embarrassing. When you see half the mob listings showing item drops 1 out of 2 kills you know there is something basically wrong. Zam also shows what drops what, but it doesnt do percents either so its about the same. (Some dont like zam cause ads)
It is true that the stats on Magelo can be grossly misleading. However, as one who has maxed his Artisan's Prize with all of the time and trouble that went with that, the stats there can give a player clues and leads as to where to hunt. With the RNG in mind, any player might have to try several zones to get what they need. If one zone isn't giving you what you need, try another zone. I took about three months to max out my tradeskills as a paladin save research. I am stuck at 331 there because I just got plain bored. When my boredom fades I will likely max that too. It does suck to be a completionist at times.
