Nicholas the Traveler – Week 28 – Forgotten Trinket Boxes

the-traveler-thumbnailEvery week, ArenaNet updates Guild Wars with a new adventure. Players are invited to find Nicholas the Traveler and embark on his scavenger hunt. For the week of October 26, the mission is to find 5 Forgotten Trinket Boxes and bring them to Nicholas, in Minister Cho’s Estate. Normally, I ignored these quests. But with the Halloween festivities increasing my interest in playing Guild Wars, I decided to give it another try. Besides, the rewards are great for title farming.

Here’s the official text…

“Do you know Mi Fai? She has inspired me to action, as I share her boundless compassion for the families of those poor unfortunates. I know from personal experience how hard it is to lose someone you love; Mi Fai evidently understands that too. I’d like to relieve some of her burden before she wears out from working so hard to comfort others. I plan to visit the families myself and make deliveries, so if you have gathered 5 Forgotten Trinket Boxes, I would see that they make it to the right hands.”

Of all the places in the world, why would Nicholas stand knee deep in water?
Of all the places in the world, why would Nicholas choose to stand knee deep in water?

What I liked about this week’s mission was the difficulty. It was incredibly easy. Just leave from Ran Musu Gardens and head into Minister Cho’s Estate. It’s a beginner area for new Guild Wars Faction players. The enemies are levels 5-14, not much of a challenge for a level 20 Elementalist. Simply beat on the Sickened people to collect the Forgotten Trinket Boxes. You will need 25 per account to max out the quest this week. To maximize the number of drops, I reduced my party size. It was just me and a healer hero. Elementalists are delicate, so it was just quicker with some healing. I was thinking that TANK, my Warrior / Monk, could easily have soloed this place.

The red dots mark the path to Nicholas and it also shows the areas to hunt for trinkets.
The red dots mark the path to Nicholas and it also shows the areas to hunt for trinkets.

It was a little embarrassing to get wiped out by a bunch of low-level sickly people. My mind tends to zone out when there isn’t a challenge. Although, I was satisfied with the way I dispatched of the sickly animals. Early on in the map, level 5 animals will attack you. It’s like they have rabies… grrrrrr… and they ran after me. After running the same map repeatedly, I didn’t want to waste a whole lot of time. I decided to run past them. They still tried to follow me. I turned around and pretty much cleared out the area with a single spell.

484 Damage x A LOT!
484 Damage times A LOT - Did someone call PETA?!

Is this what the life of a hero has become? I beat up on Dwarves, sick people and sick animals. No wonder there isn’t a Guild Wars cartoon on a major network. But seriously, I enjoyed the quest. I like to watch TV while I play Guild Wars. This mission wasn’t too much trouble. I’m thinking that ArenaNet consciously made this week’s quest easier. With the holidays, veteran players return to the game – like me. It’s a good way to motivate the community to explore the new content. Every week, Nicholas is somewhere new.

As for the spoils, I did well…

  • 10 Champagne Poppers
  • 5 Red Rock Candies
  • 5 Blue Rock Candies
  • 5 Mysterious Summoning Stones
  • 5 Mysterious Summoning Stones
To maximize the prize, get 25 Forgotten Trinket Boxes before Nicholas moves on.
To maximize the prize, get 25 Forgotten Trinket Boxes before Nicholas moves on.

Still no Gwen doll for me, but most of those items will help in the pursuit of titles. It also motivated me to blog about my experiences. What if I wrote about my traveling adventures every week? Are you interested? Just post up in the comments.