Wholesaler gathering questsFollow

Please forgive my newness; I have been searching several websites and have not been able to find an answer. I suspect I already know though... anyway, here goes:

I got a quest for a wholesaler in Freeport who wants 15 roots. I already have about 40 roots (saved from Isle of Refuge), but there is a counter in my quest log that says 0/15. I assume that means I have to find 15 new roots...? Is that how all these quests work, you have to find the item after receiving the quest, and not before?

If you can give me a link to a site with more information about these, please let me know. Thanks for helping out a beginner!

Roots are very handy though, as an Artisan you need them a lot on the Alchemy side of things, so keep them.

Thanks for that info guys! But now I have more questions (I wish there was a page I could read about this).

Last night when I turned in my 15 roots, it said I received 100 status points. What good are these? Also, now they want me to go get some electrum! I haven't seen any electrum yet, so I don't know where to get any. Should I switch the item I need? If so, how do I do that?

Thanks for all your help!

EDIT: I found out that Electrum can be found in the Commonlands. Should I get a different item anyway?

Edited, Wed Feb 9 10:40:04 2005 by Herbnosis

Electrum is a tier two resource and as you noted can be found in either Commonlands or Antonica.

You can flip the quest by going back to the guy and using one of the right click context menu options. I can't remember how it's labeled but you'll know it when you see it. When you choose it, he will complain and then give you a different task after asking you not to make a habit of this! Only problem is that the new task you get can be even tougher then the one you dumped!

I flipped one from my craftsman society that was for a complex item I had never made before. The new offer was for a different even more complex item that I also had never made. Out of the frying pan and into the fire!

Regarding status points: I'm not exactly sure what they are *good for*. They may figure into the pool that determines which raw materials and subcombines will be available from the merchant in your wholesale house. (Not all places have the same selection of merchandise.) They could also factor into what you get paid for filling future contracts and job orders.

Here's what I've had so far, and it's been somewhat disappointing:

Roots x 15 completed
Electrum x 15 exchanged for...
Electrum x 15 (!!) exchanged for...
Electrum x 15 (!!!) exchanged for...
Turquoise x 15... don't know where to look.

I tried venturing out in the Commonlands as a level 11 Bard, and I didn't know where to go. I saw several types of yellow enemies ahead in the directions I went in... so I'm still in need of an area to harvest these things (I probably need a guide in the server or something). Ah well, someday I guess.

/confirm - both Electrum and Turquoise come from wind blown rock (or stone?). - These small flat stacks of sandstone-like rocks and can be easy to miss.

The two items are both common forage for tier 2 and should be easy to get. I am also working on a 15 collect of turquoise right now and have made it to 14 in 2 evenings. Couldn't find that "one final rock" last night to save my life!!!

The electrum looks just like lead or iron except it is light brown in color and the turquoise looks like bumpy little light blue rocks.

Here is a link to every wholesaler in both main cities:

http://eq2.eqtraders.com/articles/article_page.php?article=g24&menustr=040000000000

They should show up on your map when you put the mouse over the yellow circle-triangle icon. The link above shows the wholesaler, as well as the societies for outfitters, provisioners and scholars.

The 100 points you get per quest done is not for personal use. It's used to level the crafting guild you belong to. All of them start out at level 1, the more of these quests everyone does, the higher level the merchants get in the tradeskill instance and the more they offer you. At the lowest level you can't even get cheap water, but as the merchant levels, the more items you will find on him. Eventually he will get high enough you can get tier 2 gathered items on him, some pre-made items as well. These cut down on the time you spend out there gathering your own materials.

Sometimes you don't have the recipe yet for stuff the Workshop asks you to make. Very annoying.

You will get tasks for Rare objects every now and again.. Decline them after waiting the time. You get paid as if they are normal and its a total waste of rares. ;)