A Gathering Obsession is a Signature quest that can be obtained by both adventurers and crafters. It was released to the public on November 18, 2008, when the Shadow Odyssey expansion was. It is the first signature quest that is available to both adventurers and crafters alike. This questline had the starting level requirements changed after the quest was released to the public. You can now obtain the first quest for tier 1 resources at 5(?), and progress through the quests as you progress through the tiers. The final quest in the series, however, will require tier 8 harvesting, so you will still need to be in your upper 60s, at the least, in order to complete the final quest.

But wait! There's more!

Starting with GU61, extra steps are taken to make sure nobody misses out on this unique opportunity. The moment you make your first successful harvest, you get a notice that you have unread mail in your mailbox. When you check your mail, you find this letter.

Oh? What�s with this potion? You fetch the potion and have a look.

Aha! A bit of added inducement. Well then, what are we waiting for? Of course, this will be old news if you already started (or finished) the quest, but in that case the potion is a nice bonus.

This quest starts in the Village of Shin (on the Isle of Mara), and results in coin, crafting experience, achievement experience (for all of the steps but the first one), guild status, and a Cloak of the Harvester.

Since not all crafters are familiar with how signature quests work, here are a few obligatory warnings, so I can plug my ears and say "I told you so" later on! {grin} As with all Signature quests, it is comprised of several sub-quests that must be completed in order, each with their own reward. Also, as with all signature quests, it is meant to take a significant amount of time. If you are easily bored or frustrated, scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the details on the quest reward before you start investing time in this. This isn't meant to discourage folks, as I know many of us will be doing the quest repeatedly to get our various alts the cloak, but more to give due warning to those short on time or patience that this is going to take a goodly chunk of time.

This quest requires a considerable amount of running around and harvesting (and in each case, you must personally harvest the items while on that specific step of the quest). It is strongly recommended that you have a set of harvesting tools to speed things up a bit. In addition, if you are a level 50+ crafter, and have not completed the quest for your Wantia Artisan's Satchel, this might be a good time to look into that as well.

You will not want to have a harvesting quest from Duggin going at the same time as this quest. Doing so may make you not get your meat and food updates for this signature quest until you have all 100 units of food that Duggin has requested.

A Gathering Obsession, Part I

You begin by speaking with a young boy named Qho Augren in the Village of Shin. Well, to be more precise, he's bobbing about, fully clothed, in the pond at (-35, 11, -109), apparently trying to work on his harvesting skills.

You have to give the little guy an "A" for effort, but there isn't a lot more about harvesting he can learn from that little island, and he's not big enough to be going out into the great big world harvesting on his own just yet.

Which is where you come in, of course!

He'd love to have samples of harvested resources from other regions, and has asked you for help.

Harvest of 5 each of the following from any tier 1 zone: Severed Elm, Jum Jum, Black Coffee Beans, Rawhide Leather Pelts, Roots, Baubbleshire Cabbage, White Tea Leaves, Frog Legs, and Sunfish in order to claim your first reward.

A Gathering Obsession, Part II

Now, isn't it great to have a demand for all those unwanted dens that have been cluttering up the landscape?

A Gathering Obsession, Part III

Before you roll your eyes, he actually is coming up with some variations on the idea this time.

He's hoping that resources from different geographic regions will tell him a bit more, so he wants you to bring back resources from both Thundering Steppes and Nektulos Forest this time. (Ok, now you can roll your eyes!)

This time, harvest 10 of each of these in Thundering Steppes and an additional 10 of each from Nektulos Forest: Severed Ash, Steppes Mountain Beans, Belladonna Roots, Rough Agate, Seafury Mackerel, Sweet Onions, Gold Clusters, Pig and Lion Meat.

Again, the reward for completing this step will be crafting experience and "at least" 17g 22s 36c.

When you hit your 70th pelt and still aren't done collecting those 10 pieces of pig meat, you might stop thinking that dens and meats are "too common."

A Gathering Obsession, Part IV

This time, head out to Enchanted Lands and Zek, the Orcish Wastes, and harvest 15 of each from each zone (EL and Zek): Severed Briarwood, Green Tea Leaves, Tussah Roots, Rough Opaline, Shark fins, Cucumber, Velium Clusters, Griffon meat and Bear meat.

Again, the reward for completing this step will be crafting experience and "at least" 17g 22s 36c.

I really don't know what I was thinking, whining about the pig meat like that. Obtaining fresh griffon meat, now that is a true challenge!

A Gathering Obsession, Part V

Apparently the bears in Zek are tougher and stringier than the ones in Enchanted Lands, which makes sense given how harsh and unforgiving a region Zek is. On top of that, you've brought him so many wonderful resources that his folks made him tidy up his room. Since he moved all the harvests out into the storage shed, though, it means he has room for ... yep ... more harvests!

This time, you are to harvest 20 each from Rivervale and 20 each from Feerrott: Severed Teak, Pu-erh Tea Leaves, Strengthened Leather Pelts, Rough Bloodstone, Nerius Trout, Browncap Mushrooms, Diamondine Clusters, Cauldron Blowfish, Wyrm Meat and Owlbear Meat.

Again, the reward for completing this step will be crafting experience and "at least" 17g 22s 36c.

Goodness knows, I would never editorialize or put in humorous side-comments in a quest writeup, but I feel the need to comment that this boy's "edumacation" is sorely lacking if he thinks owlbear meat is easy to find in Enchanted Lands! I had enough pelts to clothe a small army before I had enough of it to satisfy him, and by that time some of the earlier meat was rancid! When I finally reached the Feerrott, I was ready to run up and hug those bigger-than-a-halfling dens that were scattered all over the place ... until they perversely wouldn't give up the wyrm meat that I needed!

A Gathering Obsession, Part VI

Again, the reward for completing this step will be crafting experience and "at least" 17g 22s 36c.

I came very close to finding the nearest gnolls, putting them out of my misery, and claiming that the resultant meat was wild-trapped sabertooth, but I suspected the little brat would know the difference. Goodness knows I wouldn't want to get all the way back there with the wrong thing and have to come back out to this hot, dry place!

A Gathering Obsession, Part VII

Again, the reward for completing this step will be crafting experience and "at least" 17g 22s 36c.

I am a harvesting goddess! Shrubs tremble at my approach! Fish flutter their little fishie fins in fear as they see me ready my net! Fear me!!

A Gathering Obsession, Part VIII

Again, the reward for completing this step will be crafting experience and "at least" 17g 22s 36c.

I'm out of tiers! I can't believe it! There's no T9, right? Can it be? Am I done?!?!

{best Monty Python voice} I feel happyyyyy!

A Gathering Obsesssion, Final Errand

Finally! It is ... prezzie time! Gimme!

In addition to the lovely cloak, crafting experience and AA, you will also be rewarded with a solid amount of guild status. (Guild status was added to the quest after the fact, to make it more in-line with other signature quests.)

At crafting level 90, you can then pick up "The Return of a Gathering Obsession" and earn a lovely pack pony that can bring back harvestables.