Archaeology - And all it's dusty little secrets!

[settlersxp]

An other hint would be;
If you are looking for Zin’rokh, Destroyer of Worlds consider not solving any Troll project before 450. Dig as many Troll dig sites as you can but level from 100 to 450 by using all the other races. I am not sure if it goes slower then using Troll during leveling and not saving them. I guess is the same more or less but you don't waste them on common items during the period when you can't uncover Zin’rokh, Destroyer of Worlds anyway.

my guess is that the "find rate" is so low because you do waste about 20 projects on the way to 450 also.


have fun and buy chocolate for your younger brothers. It does help.

[kilometer18]

No sir, 0.0001% = 1 in 10,000.

Also, if you read the forums of mmo-champion and world of warcraft, you'll see that a lot of people have solved more than 150 and they still got no sword. Just a small percentage (and really small) lucky players got them before 100 solves. Personally, I'm in my 195 solve without getting the sword. From my perspective, the drop rate is definitely not 1%.

>implying solving more than 150 and not getting the sword means the rate is closer to 1/10,000 than 1/100,000

[Deleted]

Very good guide

[Noakh]

No sir, 0.0001% = 1 in 10,000.

Wait, What? 1% is 1 in 100. so, .1% is 1 in 1,000. By extension, .00001% is 1 in 1,000,000... which I agree is clearly not the case, but math fail, sir, math fail.

[Thistlefur]

Just to add I remember a Blue post or a discussion with a GM in game where that last icon was stated as in and that you "should keep digging" I'm thinking that u must solve all the rares and commons to unlock. So far im down to just rares for every race and besides having solved the Troll commons 10x ea now still no dam sword but the other big pain in the butt is Nerubian which due to the HIGH rate of troll dig sites is quite difficult to move along.

[Tokru]

either the information in this guide regarding uniqueness of rare artifacts is not correct, or a bug happened to a spriest in my guild. he found zin'rokh twice. yes, twice. got a lot of hate from all the dks, warriors and rets ^^

[Souper friend]

Pretty nice, I do have one question though. If i have both the fossilized raptor and hachling, would it be smart to not finsih anymore commen fossil projects? the reason why i ask this is because it seem logical to hold on to the all the peices so when blizz dicieds to update the arch content i can just spam the bazillion peice i have to get somthing quick

[Immanio]

Just a quick note on the statistics:
If there's a 1% chance of getting the sword, then 39.5% of players should get it within their first 50 solves, 63.4% of players should get it in their first 100, and 86.6% within their first 200. In other words, more than 1 in 10 would need more than 200 solutions to get it.

With a 0.1% chance, the corresponding numbers would be 4.9%, 9.5% and 18.1%, so then 81.9% of players would need more than 200 solutions.

With a 0.0001% chance, 0.02% of players would get the sword in 200 tries or less.

Edit to reply to the poster above, who has since deleted his post:

omg what are you trying to say?

1/100 = 1%

Correct.

1/1,000 = 0.1%

Also correct.

1/1,000,000 = 0.000001% not 0.0001%

...no. 1/1,000,000 = 0.000001 = 0.0001%
Allusions to stones and glass houses are tempting.

[Subliminal]

About The Innkeeper’s Daughter:

The first time I used this item I noticed that a female dwarf ghost was following me around.
Her name was "The Innkeeper’s Daughter" (surprise) and it said it was my companion.

Since then I've never seen her anymore though and she ain't on my companions tab either.

How about you guys? Have you seen her more often than just the first time you used the item?

---------- Post added 2011-01-03 at 04:09 PM ----------

Pretty nice, I do have one question though. If i have both the fossilized raptor and hachling, would it be smart to not finsih anymore commen fossil projects? the reason why i ask this is because it seem logical to hold on to the all the peices so when blizz dicieds to update the arch content i can just spam the bazillion peice i have to get somthing quick

I'm holding on to all fossil fragments until Blizzard adds some new fossil things to discover. It's pretty useless to keep solving them if you have every artifact.
Same thing for night elf btw since I've finished those too. I put the night elf keystones on the AH.

It's funny to use Bones of Transformation and right after Highborne Soul Mirror btw. :P
But I'm not sure about something, do other people also see the Highborne Soul Mirror effect?

[Alys]

Also intersting to note, Druid and Priest Statue Set used in combination with an enrage or "last stand" turns the beam a vibrant.. yet bloody red.

[Arthzil]

good guide. I'm deep in archaeology already, but many people starting on it may find it useful

but just a little heads up about Zin'rokh:

this is just unnecessary exageration, the "drop" rate is probably 1%, maybe a little bit higher, 0.0001% would imply a chance of 1 in 100000, which is definitelly not the case. the "rarity" in large part is due to having to work SO much time on it in EK hoping for troll digsites for a CHANCE of it appearing. I got it on my 51th solve, I've seen people take longer, or even get it as soon as their 3rd or 4th solve, the same way people can get lucky to get a rare mount drop on the first kill of a boss

In math terms 0.0001% is quite close if you take that as chance of obtaining while digging in EK. Even if chance of getting this from troll tree is 1% you have to count quite low chance of having troll dig site (yeah yeah, have friends doing dwarfs and having trolls all the time, that's why it's called "chance"), it's higher now since they've removed stupid underwater digs. All things considered... after making over 100 troll artifacts I surrendered... no point of wasting days over sword that will be exchanged in next tier or even when guild gets to farming current content...

[yawn]

Just a quick note on the statistics:
If there's a 1% chance of getting the sword, then 39.5% of players should get it within their first 50 solves, 63.4% of players should get it in their first 100, and 86.6% within their first 200. In other words, more than 1 in 10 would need more than 200 solutions to get it.

With a 0.1% chance, the corresponding numbers would be 4.9%, 9.5% and 18.1%, so then 81.9% of players would need more than 200 solutions.

With a 0.0001% chance, 0.02% of players would get the sword in 200 tries or less.

Edit to reply to the poster above, who has since deleted his post:
Correct. Also correct. ...no. 1/1,000,000 = 0.000001 = 0.0001%
Allusions to stones and glass houses are tempting.

ye was still waking up, brain wasn't working properly, I tried to delete before anyone noticed lol

was trying to be polite wasn't getting what he was saying was hardly throwing stones

[Alys]

The Keldorai Wind Chimes actually play a wind-chimey sound effect as well! Still not that exciting but a small inaccuracy anyway.

and you will "hold them up to the rain" not wind, if its raining .... I know right, no one could of survived without that lil fact. T_T

[Deleted]

good guide. I'm deep in archaeology already, but many people starting on it may find it useful

but just a little heads up about Zin'rokh:

this is just unnecessary exageration, the "drop" rate is probably 1%, maybe a little bit higher, 0.0001% would imply a chance of 1 in 100000, which is definitelly not the case. the "rarity" in large part is due to having to work SO much time on it in EK hoping for troll digsites for a CHANCE of it appearing. I got it on my 51th solve, I've seen people take longer, or even get it as soon as their 3rd or 4th solve, the same way people can get lucky to get a rare mount drop on the first kill of a boss

chances will stay chances. I know people that have +200 solves now and each time they see green equipped deathknights with the sword they rage my ears in vent.
If 100.000 people would do it once and one of those got it then 100.000 to 1 is correct. Now lets say you have 2000 people doing it and the average solve for it is around 50 as it was for you thats 100.000 to 1 aswell. If it were 1% many more would be wielding that sword.

[phoenixbow]

In math terms 0.0001% is quite close if you take that as chance of obtaining while digging in EK. Even if chance of getting this from troll tree is 1% you have to count quite low chance of having troll dig site (yeah yeah, have friends doing dwarfs and having trolls all the time, that's why it's called "chance"), it's higher now since they've removed stupid underwater digs. All things considered... after making over 100 troll artifacts I surrendered... no point of wasting days over sword that will be exchanged in next tier or even when guild gets to farming current content...

No, .0001% is not close "in math terms" or any other terms. Clearly you never saw the chart listing the percentages of when and where dig sites appear. After 450 skill, troll sites still appear at a rate of ~36% in EK. The drop rate of Zin is most likely 1%, which was pretty well explained by Immanio. So, if you take it as a 1% rate from Troll, and a 36% rate to get troll sites, it is more like a .36% chance when you consider all of your archy digs.

[qog]

The Canopic Jars can drop the alchemist Recipe: Vial of Sands.
It is one of the more sought after items and I can't seem to find mention of it.

[dbl219]

It's a lot easier to farm Kalimdor for Alliance players (or high level ones, at least) than you'd think. Here's a trick I use to expedite things:

Set your Hearthstone to Stormwind. Make sure that you have portals to both Hyjal and Uldum available at the Eastern Earthshrine. Port to Hyjal if most of your digsites are in the northern half of Kalimdor, and to Uldum if most are in the southern half. Farm every digsite for whichever hemisphere of Kalimdor you're on (until all of your digsites are on the opposite half of the continent), then hearth back to Stormwind and take a portal to the proper location.

[Deleted]

An other hint would be;
If you are looking for Zin’rokh, Destroyer of Worlds consider not solving any Troll project before 450. Dig as many Troll dig sites as you can but level from 100 to 450 by using all the other races. I am not sure if it goes slower then using Troll during leveling and not saving them. I guess is the same more or less but you don't waste them on common items during the period when you can't uncover Zin’rokh, Destroyer of Worlds anyway.

my guess is that the "find rate" is so low because you do waste about 20 projects on the way to 450 also.


have fun and buy chocolate for your younger brothers. It does help.

Will definantly keep this in mind as well.

Just to add I remember a Blue post or a discussion with a GM in game where that last icon was stated as in and that you "should keep digging" I'm thinking that u must solve all the rares and commons to unlock. So far im down to just rares for every race and besides having solved the Troll commons 10x ea now still no dam sword but the other big pain in the butt is Nerubian which due to the HIGH rate of troll dig sites is quite difficult to move along.

Wow I haven't been able to find a post on that but if that's true it's no wonder no one's unlocked it yet! I hope we'll find out what it's all about soon. o:

either the information in this guide regarding uniqueness of rare artifacts is not correct, or a bug happened to a spriest in my guild. he found zin'rokh twice. yes, twice. got a lot of hate from all the dks, warriors and rets ^^

I haven't heard of that before, I'll have to investigate. :>

The Canopic Jars can drop the alchemist Recipe: Vial of Sands.
It is one of the more sought after items and I can't seem to find mention of it.

I completely forgot to mention that you're absolutely right, my character isn't an alchemist so I hadn't really stopped to think.

Also intersting to note, Druid and Priest Statue Set used in combination with an enrage or "last stand" turns the beam a vibrant.. yet bloody red.

Oh that seems pretty neat too, I suppose anything that changed your character's "color" changes the beam too.

About The Innkeeper’s Daughter:

The first time I used this item I noticed that a female dwarf ghost was following me around.
Her name was "The Innkeeper’s Daughter" (surprise) and it said it was my companion.

Since then I've never seen her anymore though and she ain't on my companions tab either.

How about you guys? Have you seen her more often than just the first time you used the item?[COLOR="red"]

I think the female dwarf only appears when you use the stone to hearth to Ironforge or at least that's something I read. I haven't actually found the rare on an alliance yet so I couldn't check and so didn't put up there either.

Pretty nice, I do have one question though. If i have both the fossilized raptor and hachling, would it be smart to not finsih anymore commen fossil projects? the reason why i ask this is because it seem logical to hold on to the all the peices so when blizz dicieds to update the arch content i can just spam the bazillion peice i have to get somthing quick

I think holding on to them would be a wise, at least that's what I'm doing. After you've found all the (well 2) rares and commons from the fossil tab there really isn't much use in solving them anymore.

[Stonebald]

I'm holding on to all fossil fragments until Blizzard adds some new fossil things to discover. It's pretty useless to keep solving them if you have every artifact. Same thing for night elf btw since I've finished those too. I put the night elf keystones on the AH.

It's funny to use Bones of Transformation and right after Highborne Soul Mirror btw. :P
But I'm not sure about something, do other people also see the Highborne Soul Mirror effect?

Same here. Saving all frags from the races I have already completed all the commons and rares with. But knowing my luck, they will add a new race on one or two of the main continents and make it as hard to get as Tol'Vir... but I'm getting the jump on em anyway in case they are added to the existing. Plus, why keep solving 10sp trash over and over?

Highborne Soul Mirror is seen by everyone and with the Bones first usually leads to a WTF?!?! or a hasty AOE by a jumpy PUG.

[hythos]

No sir, 0.0001% = 1 in 10,000.

Also, if you read the forums of mmo-champion and world of warcraft, you'll see that a lot of people have solved more than 150 and they still got no sword. Just a small percentage (and really small) lucky players got them before 100 solves. Personally, I'm in my 195 solve without getting the sword. From my perspective, the drop rate is definitely not 1%.

Ouch Is there any belief that some players have better %'s than others, based on some "invisible" matrix? (Ah-la StarWarsGalaxies' Jedi "Unlock"?) On an unrelated note, I did unlock Jedi on Bloodfin very easily - 3rd holo was silent.... Though, I still don't believe in luck.....





I feel bad for all you poor SOB's
took about 6? researches befor the L80 1hd axe, and once I got to 450, @7 for Zin'rokh. Got the raptor mount @ skill150 and Azshara's robes early on too.
I'm now searching for the Scepter of Azj'Aqir...