harvest update in Nek Forest is the biggest failure, epic scale mistake.

i search for dens and bushes along the side of eastern nektulos forest, i dont see any nodes, but very sparse ores or lumbers until i went up to bone lake, not very many nodes, took me over 40 mins to get starving halfling's 100 units i need.
i feel this Nektulos Forest's harvest eco-system need major overhaul, it need cleaning up and place where everyone can find them in region-wise like Kunark or DoF's, that also will help with Gathering Obsession series.
anyway, i barely found 1 shiney and that is worst zone to hunt for collecting sets.
pls change the den's textures to rocks/pile of dirt, those trigs are hard to spot due to environmental's texture and blending in make it harder to spot created more frustrations, it was suppose to be fun, but not time-sink.

I agree Nek is hard to spot.. but it is much better than it was a few years back. Best place to harvest is the low lands under N'Mars Ascent. As with all old zones.. you need to clear cut.. harvest everything. Cherry picking does not work.
It is hardly an "Epic" issue. A minor annoyance.

Supposedly it was revamped recently, but with a character that I took there post-patch I didn't really notice any difference. Though the changes to harvester speed does help when trying to avoid agro from local mobs.

Nek Forest has always been terribad for harvesting. I've never seen a forest so bereft from fallen limbs. Seriously it is a joke. I stick to Thundering Steppes which despite having almost no trees is positively littered with them.
Although I realize a certain child demands that they be harvested from a specific zone. Some day he'll reach a sticky end.

i was there near that N'Mar' Ascent, it was so barren, i saw no nodes, nothing there, just 2-3 lone wolves wandering, only i saw was few "spiteweeds, Innonuk rose, and hatespore".
there were nothing near the pond too, except randomly 3 nodes of dens.
i see some slimey goos, that was it when i checked and moved on seeking more density of nodes.
it used to have lot of nodes everywhere before nektulos got revamped years ago and that is bad move, i like original mob spots it made area look scary, now it is not scary, it just look so wrong.
i would say, Nektulos Forest zone need serious overhauling, for better visibility for new nodes, mobs new location homes.
here my concepts.../suggestions to devs
1. those fairies dont need relocating.
2. move all the undeads to south-west region where ruined thexian outpost as it should be as it is now currently is.
3. seperate those bears/owlbears, move those bears to aspillian fairy area as sort of gaurdian pet, owlbears should be up by Sullen fairies/bone lake.
4. keep those grinning aquagoblins as it, along the river to bloodline cave.
5 move those slimes to "pot pit pond"
6. those white glowing orb elementals should be sighted near newly build druid ring
7. relocate those spore-like fungus mobs to near wizard spire as it make sense for grotto events.
8. firebats need to be up near by that fire guardian warding the mysterious door.
everything else like golems near nek castle, and giants, spiders, wolves, snakes, beavers stay in same places.
thexians in north-east area dont need any changings due it connect to darklight woods tunnel.

Nek forest harvesting got generally broken back when the fix went in to get nodes down out of the trees. As far as I can tell the nodes got fairly evenly spread across the zone which means we no longer have the 'fields' of harvests that you can go and clear cut to get what you need. As a result finding any node is a bit like a treasure hunt now. And the even spread includes all those high places that were originally blocked off so don't forget to climb up there to look too. The recent harvesting revamp was for Rivervale, not Nek forest. However, node respawn was speeded up a bit in Nek as a workaround until it can be revamped properly and that does seem to help a bit. The place I usually go when I get to that bit of Qho is the area north and east of N'Marr's. If you follow along those paths and watch for agro you can usually find what you need.

It was a slogfest going through Nek Forest for sure - but I was told by a guildmate to harvest everything even if it isn't on my list of items I needed to harvest still for the Gathering Obsession quest.
It took a long time - but eventually I got it done. Though it was annoying, I later appreciated the joy of freely running willy nilly through the Enchanted Lands to pick everything and anything immediately and at will - and without harassment!
I think harvesting Nek is a Harvesting Rite of Passage!!! hahaha It taught me how to be sneaky when in dangerous areas. It also taught me to GO FOR IT!! Cause who knows when you will find another den??? - Who cares if there are 5 scary guys "guarding" around it? I'm gonna get that pelt/meat/rare?! etc lol.
No matter what!

here the proposal, here a pic.
http://s218.photobucket.com/albums/...estproposal.jpg

I disagree. Harvesters should be looking for nodes... not flying at 150 speed to "a spot" and getting whatever they want. There are too many areas already that require NO exploring and NO knowledge of how to look for things. t8 harvesting I can simply druid ring or fly to certain spots and harvest.. and never see 90% of that expansion on a harvester. May as well be in a box at the docks.
The problem with some nodes in Nek is contrast, blending with the environment.. worse if it is night and raining. Slow down and LOOK for them.
I've done gathering obsession on 3 chars since I returned.. and Nek Forest is certainly doable.. I spent more time on dens in SS actually, and as much or more in TT getting meats. As I said.. I found all I needed between N'mar and the Spires.
It is not "Epic scale" problem. It is, I repeat, a minor timesink in a quest full of timesinks.. that still rewards an item of far more worth than the effort taken to get it.

oh nek forest is my most hated also!! I have to walk around with the divining rod open hoping that a bunch of dens will pop up. Its such dark, dreary, closed in map sometimes it makes me motion sick.

At the risk of shooting myself in the foot, there are nodes up on the brown hills around Black Water Lake and no mobs at all. It took me very little time between that area and Bone Lake.

While it is true that the old 'best harvest area" around N'Marr's Ascent is now usually a big flop especially with all the agro in that area, I recently (Friday, I think it was) ran a level 15 adventurer/30some crafter through the nek portion of gathering obsession with no issues. I flew up to bone lake and had everything harvested fairly quickly actually. The hold up point was 2 stubborn steppes coffee beans. That area generally has very little agro other than a few of the annoying little mushroom guys and they aren't too hard to see from a distance if you make sure you have flora turned off.
Like another poster stated, I've also found quite a few completely safe nodes up on the hills we used to not be able to climb over easily.

When harvesting in the old zones it's for gathering obsession, I find it's always better to clear cut the area (harvest every one of every node) rather than cherry pick the ones I'm looking for. The older areas do not have set spawns of each type of node like most of the newer areas, and if you cherry pick you will run out of what you are after and end up needing to harvest the other stuff anyway.

Tyrus@Butcherblock wrote:

And if I am looking at your proposal correctly that would make harvesting in Nektulos quite a nightmare given how much agro is in some of those areas that would be specifically for certain things. The only thing I would wish for Nektulos is a slightly higher respawn rate of nodes.

I recently did the harvst cloak quest after the supposed Nek nodes revamp, I didn't find it any better. Still had trouble finding nodes, still ended up in my same areas which seemed no better or worse than past years.