Fire Mage: Sulfur and Fire Dust Scarcity

[stoicfaux]

So... is it just me or are Sulfur and Fire Dust too scarce?

Personally, I'm having difficulty leveling up a fire mage due to the lack of Fire Dust (only have two of the level 10 spells) and Sulfur (now that I have skill 22 Fire Magic.) I'm punching below my weight due to the inability to learn spells at my level.

Fire Sheep don't seem to drop Fire Dust and I have yet to see Sulfur in game either as a drop or from a vendor.

Is this a known issue, am I just special, am I missing something, etc.?

[sudostahp]

Sir Arif in the Serbule Crypt usually has a nice stockpile of fire dust, sulfur, and saltpeter. It's definitely more expensive than farming it yourself, but it's convenient. Fire Spiders in Eltibule drop plenty of fire dust. You'll find plenty of sulfur in the Eltibule Goblin Dungeon (though it may be a bit hard to hunt there at your present level).

[Crissa]

Fire is not a skill meant to be leveled first. So yes, fire dust is rare and annoying.

If you can get to pop the exploding sheep (higher the level, higher the chance to drop) or the fire spiders, you got it.

But it is something that is on my 'hoard' list as a non-top-level player. (I need it for Alchemy leveling)

[ShieldBreaker]

Fire Sheep definitely drop fire dust, Fire Spiders are even better for dropping fire dust. Pretty sure tigers and wolves rarely drop fire dust as well. Might also want to beat up a few Skeleton Mages.

Sulfur you might want to try Cold Elementals, Misery Yaks, and Baby Slimes.

Be sure to check the used tab on vendors, you might luck out and find some for sale there as well. Vendors in caves, and ones that buy everything or things like sulfur are the ones to keep an eye on.


hope this helps

[BetaNotus]

Sir Arif in the Serbule Crypt usually has a nice stockpile of fire dust, sulfur, and saltpeter. It's definitely more expensive than farming it yourself, but it's convenient. Fire Spiders in Eltibule drop plenty of fire dust. You'll find plenty of sulfur in the Eltibule Goblin Dungeon (though it may be a bit hard to hunt there at your present level).

This is all good advice. Sulfur is fairly rare, but can be found once you know what actually drops it. Here are a few other ways to get Fire Dust:
Skeleton Fire Wizards around the outside of the Serbule Crypt - Fire Sheep (although you said you weren't having any luck, they're pretty much my fast source for dust) - Goblin Archers in Serbule Hills and Eltibule's Goblin Dungeon -
Deinonychus (small chance, but it does drop).

Here are a few sources of Sulfur:
In Eltibule, Feral Cows and Feral Bulls can drop Sulfur. From my experience, 1/15 or so should drop it. -
Cold Elementals and Misery Yaks in Serbule Crypt.

If you find a group, you could potentially... Reach the lower level of Kur Tower and farm the Striga Shamans.
They can drop Fire Dust, Sulfur, and Saltpeter.

[Daimes]

I'm not the most learned player in the game, but one thing I do know is that fire magic is very hard to pick up as a new player. It is extremely costly compared to other starting combat skills due to level ups being bought directly from Velkort instead of acquiring new skills as you progress through the levels and requires supplementary items to level with, such as the fire dust, saltpeter, and sulfur. I'm not telling you to drop the skill, of course, but just be aware of what leveling fire magic will take.

When the game leaves alpha and enters beta, the cost should drop a bit, since more players will be getting drops necessary for fire magic. For now, I'm sure you can refer to everyone else's comments about where good spots are to acquire the necessary drops.

[evangelinajulie]

I have taken a character to Fire magic skill 30ish but due to scarcity of saltpeter in shops, trade bots and even asking in the Trade chat the mage is currently using only lvl 25 Fire Magic spells. I did have trouble getting even enough sulfur to learn lvl 20ish spells. There is a dungeon where one can mine saltpeter nodes but you must have a mid-level-range Mining skill (and probably also be in a group) to do so. Very frustrating as combat skills such as Sword & Archery have no such requirements to upgrade learned skills.

[Mikhaila]

I tried to start with fire magic and had a bit of a hard time as well, but very quickly I got what i needed, and now have a ton of extra sulfur, salt peter, and fire dust.
-Fire Sheep do drop it, just not every time.
-The goblin dungeon in Elt is great for sulfur. Not fast, but if you keep at it you'll get what you need.
-Saltpeter seems to drop randomly and i found a lot in shops.

Checking NPC's is a good way to find it.

[takatoka]

another great source of fire dust is to use the billboard outside player market.. ask for 30-50 and offer a decent price.. my order was always filled within a day or so

[Flexarc]

I chose Fire Magic for my first and only character(so far) as my primary skill as soon as I got to Serbule and found Velkort. Here is what I did:

Fire Dust:
For early Fire dust I farmed the deer that appeared when mining the Red Crystals by the lake. The fire dust drops fairly consistent if you keep spawning the deer. There is a quest in Serbule that gives you the tool for this.

Sulfur:
I farmed the Baby Slimes in the sewers for Sulfur. Have to be somewhat cautious there cause the Deinonychus can be tough for a new-ish character. EDIT: Also bought Sulfur from NPCs and some player vendors if the price was right.

Saltpeter:
For saltpeter, I bought mine off of the player vendors and some from NPCs. Check them all often, because the price and availability can vary.

EDIT: All of these items will get easier to acquire as you progress in the game. I also buy/acquire the items I need for the next level up early so I would be ready when I did buy the level up.

[Madmatx]

In all fairness, Velkort does warn you straight up that it usually takes 20 years to learn fire magic. It's supposed to be hard.

[Crissa]

Tho I do have a bunch of levels in Fire just from hanging around Velkort...