Question about nodes

SeaGtGruff · June 2021

Whenever the topic of semi-looted nodes and chests comes up, someone eventually mentions that nodes and chests respawn on a regular basis whether or not they were fully looted.

What about unlooted nodes? If I open a node, then close it without looting anything, will it eventually respawn?

If so, is there a visual indication? For instance, do existing nodes despawn right before they respawn?

I guess you all can guess where I'm going woth this-- water nodes in Shadowfen.

Colecovision · June 2021

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

Whenever the topic of semi-looted nodes and chests comes up, someone eventually mentions that nodes and chests respawn on a regular basis whether or not they were fully looted.

What about unlooted nodes? If I open a node, then close it without looting anything, will it eventually respawn?

If so, is there a visual indication? For instance, do existing nodes despawn right before they respawn?

I guess you all can guess where I'm going woth this-- water nodes in Shadowfen.

I'd like to tack on a question regarding the shadowfen node nonsesne. If someone looks at a node and doesn't touch anything, is the chance of a lead fresh for the next person? When people open chests and leave stuff, it's only the stuff they left that is available, so why would a lead be able to appear?

SeaGtGruff · June 2021

I wondered about that, too. People have suggested that leaving the node unlooted lets other people check it, but is the lead in the node or is it somehow tied to each player? If I see the lead but don't take it, will other players see it, too? If I take it, will they still have a chance of getting it? If I didn't get it, can they possibly get it from the same node?

Varana · June 2021

I would guess that the content of a node is specific to every player, but I'm not sure.

That should be testable, though:

Get a friend to come with you and open a node. Then let that friend check that node.
The amount of materials should give a clue.
That might work best with Enchanting nodes - the composition of these nodes can be quite specific.
For better results, try to get a node with additional stuff - furnishing material or the DLC style material - and check if that's identical as well.
For even more information, check it with two characters of different level, different crafting level, and different harvesting CP.

If opening a node sets the content for everyone, then a cp160-crafting10 character with full harvesting CP opening a node should enable a low-level character to get max-level materials with the additional bonus. I don't think that's ZOS' intention.
(It could also be that the level of the materials and the CP bonus is determined on the fly. That should still leave the same kind of materials, e.g. Ta+Rakeipa+Mundane Rune+Viridian Dust.)

So if the content is player-specific, you should be able to get leads from pre-opened nodes.

Unless ZOS did something weird with it, which is totally possible.

SeaGtGruff · June 2021

The normal contents are set by the player, meaning if a L1 player opens the node but doesn't loot it, a CP150+ player who opens the same node afterward will see L1 contents.

But leads aren't normal contents, hence my questions.

RedMuse · June 2021

Going by my own testing some months back.

It is the interacting with the node, not actually taking anything from it that starts the countdown timer for the despawn and subsequent drespawn BUT taking all the loot causing an immediate despawn will speed things up.

As for loot being individual to players, no it's not. If a lowbie (say someone who gets jute out of a clothier node) opens but does not take its content, then that node will now give jute to whatever players comes subsequently to loot it. Loot is generated upon first opening it, by whoever opens it. It doesn't change until the node respawns. (I figured this out after getting jute in nodes in starter zones in spite of having the crafting skills fully levelled. Tested with friends later on. Unless they've changed it in the last six months or so that is.)

Whether or not leads count as normal content I have no idea. But I see no reason why they should act any differently than anything else as they can and do drop for all players, whether they have access to Greymoor or not.

SeaGtGruff · June 2021

Well, if the lead is treated just like normal contents, then leaving the node unlooted so others can try for the lead is hogwash.

If the lead is treated differently, then leaving the node unlooted might be a valid suggestion.

How do the event boxes work-- the purple ones that can drop from nodes? If I loot a node and find a box, I can' find another one for at least something like 5 minutes-- I forget what the actual cooldown period is-- and after that I again have a chance of finding a box. That seems to suggest that the box is tied to me, not to the node itself, if you see what I mean.

I'm trying to figure out if I should just loot the water node when it appears, or leave it for someone else to try their luck.

Elsonso · June 2021

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

Whenever the topic of semi-looted nodes and chests comes up, someone eventually mentions that nodes and chests respawn on a regular basis whether or not they were fully looted.

What about unlooted nodes? If I open a node, then close it without looting anything, will it eventually respawn?

If so, is there a visual indication? For instance, do existing nodes despawn right before they respawn?

I guess you all can guess where I'm going woth this-- water nodes in Shadowfen.

It is the act of looking in a node that starts the timer, not whether anything is removed from it.
There is no visual indication that I am aware of that a node has started a countdown to being despawned.
The node despawns a few seconds before it respawns.

SeaGtGruff · June 2021

Elsonso wrote: »

It is the act of looking in a node that starts the timer, not whether anything is removed from it.
There is no visual indication that I am aware of that a node has started a countdown to being despawned.
The node despawns a few seconds before it respawns.

Okay, that's what I was hoping, and the bit about a node despawning briefly fits what I think I've seen, although that was once in a blue moon so I wasn't sure.

So if I check a node as soon as it spawns, and leave it there until it despawns by itself, and everyone who checks it after me also leaves it there, people can keep checking it.

That still leaves the question of whether the lead can appear for someone new even if the node's already been checked by several people.

Elsonso · June 2021

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

It is the act of looking in a node that starts the timer, not whether anything is removed from it.
There is no visual indication that I am aware of that a node has started a countdown to being despawned.
The node despawns a few seconds before it respawns.

Okay, that's what I was hoping, and the bit about a node despawning briefly fits what I think I've seen, although that was once in a blue moon so I wasn't sure.

So if I check a node as soon as it spawns, and leave it there until it despawns by itself, and everyone who checks it after me also leaves it there, people can keep checking it.

That still leaves the question of whether the lead can appear for someone new even if the node's already been checked by several people.

I remain unconvinced that the lead is specific to the player and that multiple players opening the same node, but always leaving something, can generate multiple leads.

On Live, I would be amazed if people can be trained to leave something behind. Some people will always take everything.

Nagastani · June 2021

My two cents on this.

Regardless of what is or may be, sometimes its about whether or not a player is willing to do the right thing.

So if you access a node, the idea is for you to take its contents. A problem with this can arise if your inventory is too full, but other than that I think its up to the player to care enough to just take whatever the node offers and let it reset.

While I can't prove this, in my way of thinking, I suspect that if you open a node or take some of its contents, then that overrides whatever global timer setting was established for the node to reset on its own. Basically meaning, if the game thinks that you're waiting to take the loot, then its going to hold that node in a 'reserved state' for you so it won't reset quickly.

In short... be kind and courteous, just take the loot and move on. Otherwise you're quite possibly screwing over other farmers waiting for the node to reset.

Stevie6 · June 2021

After spending three days in shadowfen going from one node to another, I gave up. I tried both autoloot on and off to no avail. Instead, I just started doing missions in the area and got the lead from a water skin. I believe it’s chance based and not tied to any character/player. So, setting autoloot to off probably won’t work. Harvesting the node might drop the lead eventually. Good luck.

SeaGtGruff · June 2021

My observations so far:

If I completely loot a node as soon as it spawns, it respawns fairly quickly-- as soon as just a couple of minutes.

If I open it as soon as it spawns but leave it unlooted, and no one who checks it after me loots it, it will remain spawned for several minutes before it eventually despawns, after which it seems to take several more minutes to respawn.

So completely looting it as soon as it appears seems to give the quickest respawn rate, but it also prevents anyone else from having a chance to check it.

I don't know whether the lead is glibal or unique to each player, but if it's global then leaving a node for others to check seems like it might be a cruel tease, raising their hopes when in reality they don't have a chance.

So I'd love to know for sure whether the lead is global or unique to each player.

Nagastani · June 2021

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

My observations so far:

If I completely loot a node as soon as it spawns, it respawns fairly quickly-- as soon as just a couple of minutes.

If I open it as soon as it spawns but leave it unlooted, and no one who checks it after me loots it, it will remain spawned for several minutes before it eventually despawns, after which it seems to take several more minutes to respawn.

So completely looting it as soon as it appears seems to give the quickest respawn rate, but it also prevents anyone else from having a chance to check it.

I don't know whether the lead is glibal or unique to each player, but if it's global then leaving a node for others to check seems like it might be a cruel tease, raising their hopes when in reality they don't have a chance.

So I'd love to know for sure whether the lead is global or unique to each player.

Unique. It would have to be. Why?

Because if you look at your CP Tree, there are 'unique' bonuses that provide extra rewards in the loot sampling for you. Obviously, it can be said then that the loot reward quality can be different from one player to the next which further could be said that each reward sampling is pulled differently per character, which there is no reason why this could not also include leads.

So if you pull a chest, then the game has dispersed -your- rewards and cannot issue new rewards to a different player because that loot has already been generated based on data taken from your character at -that- time.

SeaGtGruff · June 2021

Yeah, but that's not what I meant by unique. I meant whether the leads-- or, in the case of events, the purple event coffers-- are part of the normal contents of the node such that, once set by opening the node, they'll be globally visible by any other players who open that already-opened-and-determined node, or whether they're separate from the normal contents and determined on a per-player basis.

Consider that once you find a particular lead, you might not be able to find it again, ever-- such as leads for valuable one-time treasures-- or you won't be able to find it again until you've excavated the one you've already found and completed the item it's a part of, or if it isn't for a fragment of some item then you still need to excavate the one you've already found. So if you open a node and see one of those leads, but you decide to leave it alone for some reason, you're thinking that the next person who comes along and opens that node which you've already set in stone so to speak is going to see that lead you left there even if they've already found it and can't find it again? Are you thinking it's going to be inside the node but just be invisible to that player, or is it not going to be there at all? How can it be inside the node on a global basis if its ability to be found at all is tied to some sort of per-player condition? Do you see what I mean?

Nagastani · June 2021

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

Yeah, but that's not what I meant by unique. I meant whether the leads-- or, in the case of events, the purple event coffers-- are part of the normal contents of the node such that, once set by opening the node, they'll be globally visible by any other players who open that already-opened-and-determined node, or whether they're separate from the normal contents and determined on a per-player basis.

Consider that once you find a particular lead, you might not be able to find it again, ever-- such as leads for valuable one-time treasures-- or you won't be able to find it again until you've excavated the one you've already found and completed the item it's a part of, or if it isn't for a fragment of some item then you still need to excavate the one you've already found. So if you open a node and see one of those leads, but you decide to leave it alone for some reason, you're thinking that the next person who comes along and opens that node which you've already set in stone so to speak is going to see that lead you left there even if they've already found it and can't find it again? Are you thinking it's going to be inside the node but just be invisible to that player, or is it not going to be there at all? How can it be inside the node on a global basis if its ability to be found at all is tied to some sort of per-player condition? Do you see what I mean?

Ok. I have my loot manager auto pickup everything so yes.

However, even still... I dunno. The water's kind murky from that perspective. Only thorough testing will tell the tale. Could try checking patch notes maybe but sometimes they say one thing but it isn't what we think it means. Either way, maybe an idea I could contribute to this is turn on auto loot so your leads automatically get picked-up. Otherwise then yeah anything is possible at this point.

SeaGtGruff · June 2021

Yeah, murky is right. I wish we (the community) could answer the question conclusively so we'd know whether to just loot everything, or leave the nodes unlooted for other people to open and check.

At least 1 user in another thread said they got the lead from a secondhand node, but without video evidence showing the node being checked by someone else, then being checked by the recording player and having the lead in it, the claim is essentially unproven anecdotal evidence at best. And as inflexible as some people's attitudes are, even video evidence would probably be disputed with accusations that it was probably edited and faked.

If indeed the first person to open the node is setting all of the contents-- even special contents like purple event reward boxes and antiquity leads-- then the most reliable tactic would seem to be to camp by a node and loot it as soon as it appears, since running around and looting any nodes you come across offers no guarantee that the nodes weren't already opened and set by someone else. The only way to know for sure that you're checking a fresh, unopened node is to be there and see it spawn with your own eyes.