The MouseHunt Thread: Episode V

[fantasia]

Well congrats on the Shattering Charm at least stwin. That's most of the battle. I think King Scarab is the easiest to get out of the three. I always maxed out my meter, though I don't think everybody does that.

I'm getting very excited for the new area. I really hope they open it up soon.

Goodness yes. I was resisting hanging out in Muridae today and then I got a M400 cheese assignment that required quite a few mice there. Of course, it dawned on me later that today is Canada day, so there's no way they're going to release new content unless it's JUST ordering the new map pieces from the Cartographer and it takes a week to fill (or something like that).
At any rate, based on their FB hints, I'm expecting it to be within the next 7 days. We'll see if I'm right. If it comes out this week, I definitely won't be able to focus on it much. But next week will be back to normal and then it's like "BRING IT ON!!!" (I still want it to come out this week. )
In the meantime, I've been farming Rift potions. Dunno if I'll need them or not, but it seemed like a good idea. Working on M400 stuff when bored.

[daughter of the King]

The Sunken City has been discovered. It looks like the area will be quite extensive after they add more to it. There are two new Hydra traps. I wonder how they compare to the Chrome POWN. I'm tempted to not bother with the new area for now and just continue farming essences. But I couldn't resist taking a quick peek so I'll decide if I want to go back to the Living Garden later.

[fantasia]

Thanks for the heads up Dot! I don't know how long it was open before I found it, I was outside painting my house. But it wasn't too terribly long, so that's good.
Looks like the first step will be a long, slow grind according to the News (unless you donate to get a basket o' goodies). They recommend 100 Oxygen Canisters, so that's what I'm going for. I have 18 so far.
Dot, I think the whole area is out. It looks like all of the mice and fish are available now, and they're already working on the next Year of the Noble area.

So two observations right off the bat.
~The price on that Hydro trap and upgrade. Whew! That's pricey. We'll see how far along I get farming the rest of the parts needed. Maybe the mice further along will drop lots of gold.
~Makes me think of the Iceburg right off the bat. Hopefully it's more fun/less boring.

[Gymfan15]

That trap looks sweet. Although it's a strange feeling to have to actively farm points again; I haven't done that in probably a year and a half.

I'm SO close to finishing the LG, though, I'm going to get my last Shattering Charm and craft my Rift Base first. I might end up wanting the extra power, anyway. And, next Toxic Spill I'll be actively hunting in the top area...sigh, I hate the Toxic Spill but it's one of the best places for points.

I'd also like to do more M400 assignments. And cash in on all of these Ancient Relics I have and restock my Map supply, lol. Plus I will need to make a trip to Furoma at some point and restock my gold; probably soon since I don't have enough gold to buy my Rift Base yet.

ETA: For Stwin, I did my LG Bosses in the order of Dark Magi, Shattered Carmine, King Scarab. It was largely due to timing, though. When I got my first Shattering Charm, I had time to babysit my horn which made picking that boss easy (since he's not "hard" to catch but you have to do it in batches of three hunts, which requires monitoring your horn so you don't waste Graveblossom). I was out of Duskshade at the time and didn't have any Pours in the Twisted Garden, so I couldn't go after the Shattered Carmine. I did my SC second because I had 12 Lunaria and wanted to see if I could get her quickly so I could spend the rest on Twisted Carmines.

King Scarab will be last; I just have to make sure I salt all the way once I get close to that last Hix. I'm 6 Gurs away from my last Shattering, so I've got a ways to go. Shouldn't take too long, though; I'm thinking I need 24-30 Lunaria + related Essences to make it. I dunno; I've had good luck with Twisted Carmine's lately.

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

My thoughts on this new area are mainly positive.

On a whim, I went ahead and dove with only 22 tanks of Oxygen. With 10 tanks required to dive, that left me with twelve tanks (12 hunts). The mice here are gorgeous!

Based on drop rates, it looks like this area is going to take a LONG time to complete. . . we're talking like 6 months or more. You'll also need at least 60ish tanks to get all of the ingredients to craft that new cheese.

Although. . . to be honest, it looks like if you wanted to go through this whole area without ever crafting the cheese, it could (in theory) be done. I think this will end up being akin to "You can do the warpath with no charms if you want! A run might take 2 months, but you can do it."

We'll see. So far I like it a lot!

[fantasia]

@DiGs, I'm curious how much Fishy Fromage you were able to acquire during your dive? (Or even just the supplies for it.)

Some additional observations from me this morning. My catch rate and item drop rate seem to be exceptionally good. Yesterday, both my sister and husband were here and we were all playing MH together so I could really compare and contrast.

My setup - C.POWN, Rift, Snowball, Gouda, GS, Rank: Grand Duchess
Hubby - C.POWN, Rift, Snowball, Gouda, No GS, Rank: Grand Duchess
Sister - C. POWN, Horse Jade, Snowball, Gouda, GS, Rank: Duchess

My husband's catch rate is very good, but definitely not as good as my sister's and mine. I have yet to FTC a mouse (and I'm sure by saying that, I'll jinx myself) and my sister has FTCed one mouse.
My item drop rate is a good deal higher than the other two. My husband's seems to be a bit higher than my sister's.
So the extra luck from the golden shield definitely seems to make a difference in catch rate, and it's hard to tell this for sure, but it seems like the higher rank + luck gets you more canisters? Or maybe my sister is just really unlucky cause DiGs seemed to get them quite quickly yesterday.

Currently up to 61 Oxygen. Aiming for 100.

This does NOT seem to be a very profitable area. The Treasure Troop looks like the only group of mice with a significant amount of gold. I may be heading elsewhere to farm the necessary monies for the traps. We'll see. Boy am I glad I didn't spend all my gold at Ronza's this year! LOL

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

@DiGs, I'm curious how much Fishy Fromage you were able to acquire during your dive? (Or even just the supplies for it.)

The dive area is similar to the way the iceberg is broken down. You're in the coral reef zone for 300 meters, then a "school of mice zone" for 300 meters, etc.... I only made it 320 meters before I ran out of O2, but in that time I got 45 damaged coral and 17 mouse scales. I did not make it far enough to get any barnacles, but the drop rates are very generous down there

I also got 3 sand dollars.

[shastastwin]

Average Oxygen Canister loot drops for the mice in the City:
City Noble: 0-1 Canister (low chance)
Sunken Citizen: 0-1 Canister (seems to be about 40-50% chance)
City Worker: 2 Canisters (100% for me)
Hydrologist: 0 (the one catch I've had, but I think he tends to drop 2 or more when you catch him for others)

The MH forums say that the different areas you get on each dive are random and may or may not have consistent lengths, so I think I may try for 150-250 Oxygen before diving, to give myself a better chance of loot while I'm down there. There also seem to be a couple of areas that are great for farming all the stuff you need instead of one type at a time. Empowered Anchor Charms help you stay in a given area longer than usual.

[Varnafinde]

The MH forums also say that you get a lot more Oxygen Canisters when hunting with Fishy Fromage in the City.

I've only done less than a dozen hunts there yet, but I like it already. With currently 210 million points and just over a million gold, I have a long way to go in this area ...

I haven't finished my first run of LG yet - I'm still in Twisted Garden. I'm going to need the CPOT, I will need a strong Hydro trap for many months before I can get the traps of the Sunken City. (The upgrade is cheaper now than when Ronza sold it.)

And I just spent almost 5 mil on the Crystal Tower ...

[fantasia]

Thanks DiGs! I'm up to 83 O.C.s so ... hopefully soon? My drops have slowed waaaay down.

Average Oxygen Canister loot drops for the mice in the City:

Between your catches and my catches, here's what I've come up with...
City Noble: 0 or 1 Canister, usually 0
Sunken Citizen: 0, 1, or 2 Canisters, usually 1
City Worker: 0, 1, or 2 Canisters, usually 2
Hydrologist: 0, 2, or 3 Canisters, usually 3

The MH forums also say that you get a lot more Oxygen Canisters when hunting with Fishy Fromage in the City.

Yeah, that was in the news post as well. So I think what you're supposed to do is be patient at the beginning, stockpile a lot of Oxygen so you can get a lot of Fishy Fromage, and then you can go into a self-sustaining pattern in the area where you don't have to use Gouda and SB again. We'll see if that turns out to be the case.

I'm wondering about using Empowered Anchor Charms on my first run to slow my speed through the first areas and collect as many cheese supplies as possible. Has anybody seen this suggested anywhere?

[shastastwin]

Yes, I think EACs are the preferred method of maxing out supplies, especially if you're in an area where more than one kind will drop.

Also, it's recommended that you not use Fishy Fromage on your dives. I think it's supposed to have a horrible attraction rate in the ocean.

[fantasia]

Also, it's recommended that you not use Fishy Fromage on your dives. I think it's supposed to have a horrible attraction rate in the ocean.

Oh yeah, I did know that. I apologize if my previous post was unclear. I meant no more Gouda/SB in the Sunken City where it takes forever to gather Oxygen tanks.

92 Oxygen. So close! So excited! Ready to grab more new mice.

ETA: Got 101 Oxygen and have taken my first dive. I did go ahead and armed the Empowered Anchor Charms for a few hunts. Hopefully that isn't a mistake.

In case people are interested and haven't seen this elsewhere, a regular successful hunt moves you 30m and one with the EAC moves you 10m.

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

I really hope that diving runs really are self sustaining, because I'm really hating farming O2 containers The dive area is so exciting though. I can't wait to get back underwater. I've only got 44 right now. I'm aiming for 100, but impatience will probably win out

[fantasia]

^^ I hear ya DiGs, but patience may pay off (read: be required ) here. I'm 44 hunts in, about half of my initial 91, and I have looted 114 coral, 10 scales, and 62 barnacles. If the last 47 pieces of cheese don't even out my scales a bit, I'm going to have to collect even more oxygen a second time around.

Thus far the Coral Mouse and Seadragon Mouse are my favorites. Super pretty.

ETA: I am wishing I kept track of the locations I went through and the distances. I noticed DiGs has at least one mouse that I haven't been able to attract yet, so I wonder if the areas you explore are randomized?
I think mine went Shallow Shoals -> Coral Reef -> Rocky Outcrop -> Coral Reef -> Shallow Shoals (where I am now) -> Rocky Outcrop -> School of Mice -> Feeding Grounds -> Carnivore Cove -> Shipwreck -> Coral Garden.

Oh yeah, don't use Empowered Anchor Charms at the beginning at least. They just slow you down in areas where the drops are pathetic.

[starkat]

I'm only up to 35 O2 canisters. Due to a crazy schedule this week, I'm thinking I'll stay put and farm 02 canisters probably through next Friday. I know that won't net me much in the way of gold, but with my intermittent hunting, I'm hoping to get to at least 100 by then.

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

Yeah, Eli mentioned earlier on that the locations are randomized.

I was hoping that Fishy Fromage would increase loot drops of O2, but it hasn't (true I only got three pieces from Larry, but still. . .)

That much fun, FK, eh? I guess farming O2 it shall be I've got 68 thus far