The Autumn Harvest Festival started late last week and folks have been busy helping out Atrophinius and his minions prepare for winter. So far the event seems to be a success, with the new spectral mount rewards arguably being the biggest draw for participants. However, shrewd collectors and Auction House players have also been enjoying a bounty of artifacts from the event’s Autumn Eyes potions.
The Potion of Enhanced Autumn Eyes grants you 45 seconds of artifact gathering within the Realm of the Autumn Harvest zone in exchange for giving 10 Autumncap Fungus to Rollo the harvest helper. (There are lesser options available for fewer Fungus, but why bother?) The artifacts seem to mostly be those you would usually find in the open world, from every zone and level range. Collectibles that are only available in raid zones or any of epic or higher quality do not seem to be included in the event, although it’s not out of the question that they could exist but be extremely rare.
45 seconds isn’t a lot of time, so you want to position yourself and make sure you have about 12 free bag slots before using a potion. Turn on autolooting as well if you haven’t already! The artifacts tend to appear at the base of rocks and trees, so don’t waste any time with grassy areas. There are two spots in particular that seem to be the most efficient: one cluster of trees near the East portal, and one in the enclosed hedge area all the way at the other end (see the map). The artifacts frequently respawn within a few seconds so keep an eye on places you’ve already looted.
Congratulations, you are the owner of a full bag of sparklies! Now what!?
The obvious answer is to take the collectibles and, well, collect them. Save up Lucky Coins for Storm Legion, or get yourself some fun items now. A few collections have fancy rewards, like a pet or a portal to Iron Pine Peak so some of the artifacts can have pretty tangible benefits for your character. The Auction House is also flooded right now with extra artifacts from players if you’re looking for a particular item. Serious collectors would probably benefit from waiting until the last weekend of the event when the market will be the most saturated and sniping any rare artifacts they need to complete sets.
Fortunately all these players being in a collecting mood is keeping the value of unusual artifacts higher than anticipated with such increased supply. In particular, blue artifacts and greens that belong to multiple sets were selling quickly for solid prices over the weekend. If you’re feeling particularly industrious, consider sending any random green- or white-level artifacts that you don’t need or want to an alt character with lots of bag space. Sparklies from older areas will probably go up in price after Storm Legion arrives and people move on to the new zones.
Judging by general chat on my server this weekend, lots of people are getting into the mood to collect, sell, and trade sparklies. The Autumn Eyes potions and their associated artifact collection boost is a lot of fun, a great way for players to catch up on collections or platinum, and a smart thing for Trion to add to this final event before Storm Legion.
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