Farming Decorative Wax, any tips i should know?

TheOriginalMrT · October 2020

So, I've been trying to find good farming spots for Decorative Wax. I had plenty for basic crafting needs but as i've progressed in the game and started decorating i've sorta depleted my supplies.

I know you can run through delves looting urns. sacks baskets - any lootable container seems like and stumble across a few but what are some common good spots to hit up?(if you don't want to share your secret ones)

And what are peoples avg number of wax per hour? cause 0 in 15mins feels more like random luck on getting wax per hour. i realize 15 mins of farming is nothing but just to get an idea, if u farm for 15 -30m and get nothing, i wouldn't waste an hour+ there for just a handful.

My researching and asking around has led me to these:
Cold Habor - Hollow city - my 1st clear thru & nothing. 20mins wasted.
Hoarver pit (delve) in Malabal Tor - swept whole delve once- zero wax.
Farmed Hoarver's at the lake just south of there for 30mins- got a couple before i set my timer, but during the 30mins nothing.
swept that delve just out side of daggerfall gates in glenumbra- nothing again.
Farming Dreughs in Stonefalls @ Vivec's Antlers - zippidy zero

Also in the process of checking
-Old Orsinium - heard it was a good spot 3 years ago

-stealing from capital cities: looting cupboards/cabinets, baskets, sacks, - delves also for this (but which?)
-doing dungeon runs

I mean when i'm not looking for it i find it much easier then this.

Plus, I see new stacks of overpriced Decorative Wax each day on GT's, people are farming some place, where would that be?
because the best methods i have so far is waiting until prime time and running around to GT's and buying overpriced stuff

TheOriginalMrT · October 2020

i can't edit my original post? hmm
2nd clear - of Coldharbor - Hollow City (13mins) full clear 1 Decorative Wax.

3rd toon partial clear- doesn't have full access but 3 in 10 mins.

but still 6-10 an hour- that seems bad.

katanagirl1 · October 2020

I also depleted my stocks and am trying to pick some up, but you only get a few from urns and barrels.

It does drop from Wasps, Assassin Beetles, and also spiders I think. Again that drop rate will be pretty low too.

I just plan to do some provisioning runs at least once per day every day for a while to restock.

TheOriginalMrT · October 2020

Beetles are def the best thing i farmed so far- thanks

Test #1 - Assassin Beetles in Alkir Desert South of Sentinel - 18 Decorative Wax in 1hr.
(future tests in Malabl Tor & Greenshade or Reapers March?)
There still must be someplace better and if group farming probs get more.

I guess all the online articles saying Old Orsinium is the place to go to loot urns is outdated because 6 Decorative Wax in an hour sux!
I did some brief testing of Craglorn scorpins and i got about 1 every 10 mins (only did it for 20mins was getting tired)

I thought there'd be a wikipedia or something that told where Decorative Wax dropped from, but only thing i found was this: https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Furnishing_Materials & https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Furnishing_Materials#Decorative_Wax not very helpful at all

Still to test:
Wasps anywhere
more delves for food provisions

redlink1979 · October 2020

I get it mostly from crates, barrels, etc. (where food ingredients are found)

Araneae6537 · October 2020

As mentioned, I have found it in crates, barrels, and sacks but rarely. The other day I got some from a moth and a mudcrab (both in Summerset), but that is the only time I can recall that happening and I haven’t found more that way since.

madman65 · October 2020

Don`t forget that Wasp will drop the wax as well.

ZomZom · October 2020

Stealing from ships has produced the best results for me, but that’s not saying much. Assassin beetles have not dropped much at all for me.

TheOriginalMrT · October 2020

madman65 wrote: »

Don`t forget that Wasp will drop the wax as well.

but where, which maps? and routes within those maps you know of? I know wasps are all over the place but some areas drop wax more it seems or maybe peeps have spent more time farming certain spots which yield more drops. Cause when i farm for wasps in Betnihk its kinda hard to not just farm everything which kills the wax per hour ratio. but that's also because I hardly see any wax drop, but more testing needed there. I've also tried the west side of Craglorn but drops also seem low. I need to do more thorough testing there too.

TheImperfect · October 2020

I noticed it drops from thunderbugs on Khenarthi's roost tonight.

katanagirl1 · October 2020

TheOriginalMrT wrote: »

madman65 wrote: »

Don`t forget that Wasp will drop the wax as well.

but where, which maps? and routes within those maps you know of? I know wasps are all over the place but some areas drop wax more it seems or maybe peeps have spent more time farming certain spots which yield more drops. Cause when i farm for wasps in Betnihk its kinda hard to not just farm everything which kills the wax per hour ratio. but that's also because I hardly see any wax drop, but more testing needed there. I've also tried the west side of Craglorn but drops also seem low. I need to do more thorough testing there too.

I don’t think drop rates vary for enemies like wasps from zone to zone, it might just seem that way.

This is just one of those items that you have to regularly farm to have enough if you don’t want to buy. You can’t go to one specific area and stock up in a short period of time.

deleted221106-002999 · October 2020

I think stacks 'appear' on traders because the price is relatively high and I think players are just shifting stuff they have rather than farming, as such. Same as heartwood, mundane runes and other furniture stuff. If you've been casually farming since this stuff was introduced and not using/selling much then you'll probably have a few thousand of each. Although some resellers are possibly buying in zone then marking up for re-sale.

But I find most comes incidentally: clearing a delve for completion/skyshard and emptying every container. Randomly found mudcrabs for leather and chitin(for alchemy dailies), beetles for scuttle....etc.

Once you do that on a number of characters you'll probably notice you've accumulated a fair bit. But I wouldn't personally go kill alik'r beetles and expect to be farming anything other than beetle scuttle and xp for lowbies; any decorative wax ( or other stuff) is a bonus.

For example, levelling a lowbie from ~40-50th played a bit of cyro, looped around the alik'r beetles a few times, bangkorai bears(also has mudcrabs) & spiders, a few delves and some overland skyshards in different zones probably found 85 decorative wax* from some of these activities over a few hours but wasn't really looking for anything other than levelling some skills and getting some other mats (leather & chitin as mentioned before, for example). No idea which of these activites yielded the most.

Just my observations and maybe not helpful in the context asked. Unless you count the Zen-like 'find it by not looking for it' as a tip (trying but failing to avoid inevitable "wax on...wax off.." quip).

*found furnishing mats:

regulus: 5
bast: 19
clean pelt: 118 (by the billion bears of Bankgorai!)
heartwood: 10
alchemical resin: 60
mundane rune: 25
decorative wax: 85
ochre: 15

and since I have the data anyway, other stuff found:

mudcrab chitin: 117
spider eggs: 212
dwarven ore: 38
iron ore: 86
ebony ore: 24
fell hide scraps: 484
raw jute: 91
raw spidersilk: 94
rawhide scraps: 782
thick leather scraps: 288
raw ebonthread: 35
rough hickory: 60
rough maple: 58
rough yew: 33
copper dust: 37
pewter dust: 59
beetle scuttle: ~120 (didn't note start figure so estimate)
levels: 10
ap ranks: 1 [6-->7 alliance skill rank]
ap: ~140k

renne · October 2020

The spiders on Bleakrock seemed to drop a bit and they have a good respawn rate (I was farming a furnishing lead at the time).

Bucky_13 · October 2020

I dunno any spots for them, but i kill mudcrabs whenever I see them for the Mudcrab chitin. They also drop decorative wax though not as frequently as the chitin, along with raw leather. So I do get most of my wax from them thanks to my chitin farming.

CaffeinatedMayhem · October 2020

Things that drop decorative wax:

Mudcrabs, wasps, spiders, hoarvor anything with a chitin shell (dreugh and dunerippers occasionally)
*I farm mudcrabs for the best wax drops rn

Barrels, urns (NOTE Nchuthnkarst/Black Reach PD was nerfed! The urns here no longer drop wax)
*always steal from barrels!

Sack/baskets, but much more rare than barrels/urns

If you use an addon like Junk Buster to manage stolen items, be sure to save Dec Wax and flour!

The_Glaive · April 2021

So far the best place I have found to farm decorative wax is the Direnni Acropolis in Summerset. The place is filled with Urns. I usually find anywhere between 5 and 15 Waxes on a run, as a bonus I also usually find 1 blue Furniture plan or food and recipe plus a ton of lock pics. It takes me about 15 mins to Do a run I wear stealth gear so I don’t have to wast time fighting the Mobs. Also the Urns reset about 15 mins after you leave the Acropolis. Hope this helps and happy farming and may RNG be on your side!