Fyrosfreddy
I don't use alts or spoiler web sites and the latter didnt exist at the time as we were "blazing the trail". ...
Your choice, and a respectable one. Yet, once advanced occupations are an issue, it is more that recommended to use 100% recipes, no matter how one gained them. Most guilds have them, anyway, so there is no need for spoiler sites. Btw. I consider riddles a logical and mathematical challenge - most of them allow for a formal way of solution.
And no, I am not discounting the alt's time. I am calculating 2-2.5 stacks for me in roughly an hour when I am out with my alt and we are gaining the equivalent of 4-5k crystals. Would I go alone, it would take longer and/or yield less result. Were we in a larger group, yield could be optimized even more, especially in kitin lair.
Mind I mentioned 20-30 minutes per stack (more exactly, 24-30 minutes), this refers to a single char, not two.
My 2nd problem is the overcomplication of the digging / crafting process. I have mastered all 5 lands and can dig anything in any one of the 4 racial lands and avoid aggro 99.5% of the time.
I am not completely done yet with all countries thus have to take regions as they are, this will improve in the future. Anyway, when digging alone, I hardly harvest more than 500-600 mats/hr. When I have my alt taking care, it is more, and less stressful, but here again, two chars are involved, not one, so the yield would have to be divided by two.
As for crafting, the extra steps you list are virtaully timeless. ..
You are calculating optimum values under optimum assumptions assuming conveyor belt style drop-leveling. Not that this is not possible, but it is not always realistic and definitely no fun. At last with me, interruptions practically always lead to additional delay because other issues pop up once one switches back to home apartment or stable.
But even if you assume only 5-15 minutes for building and being back for digging, digging 1500mats alone is a matter of hours. And still, using cats, produced in less than half an hour per stack, double the xp yield or, in other words, cut the time to gain xp to half. I fail to see that you are anywhere close to yield 100k xp in 20-30 minutes by simply digging/crafting or fighting etc.
Anyway, I am not challenging the way you or others are doing your jobs, have fun with and be happy. But I contradict the notion that there is no advantage from obtaining cats through advanced occupations.
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