Mining Caps  

Received Malachite from 'a skeleton' as turn-in target. My previous post, the Hematite, was from the 'abandoned heretic pet'

A skeleton says, 'A skeleton's day is never done.'
A skeleton says, 'Yo ho. No sun!'

Abandoned heretic pet says, 'Speed up the digging my pets!'

A skeleton says, 'We are not your pets!'
A skeleton says, 'We will speed up when you return our mining caps. There are falling rocks all over this place! We could get killed!'

Abandoned heretic pet says, 'Blast you, skeletons! Why I ever resurrected you, I don't know!'

You have slain a kobold scout!
--You have looted a Useless Cloth Cap.--

Hand Abandoned heretic pet the Useless Cloth Cap

Abandoned heretic pet says, 'Good work. You should be running this operation instead of that Talrigar fellow. Have a small reward. A little bit of the gems I found while tunneling through this rock.'
Your faction standing with Newbie Monster has been adjusted by 5.
You gain experience!

Reward: Turquoise

Hand a skeleton the Useless Cloth Cap

A skeleton says, 'Aye... You cut out the middleman... I shall reward you... hmm... I have not found anything, how about... <CRACK! SNAP! RIPP!> How about something off meself?'
Your faction standing with Skeleton has been adjusted by 5.
You gain experience!

Perhaps Talrigar Eklorin used to have something to do with this quest? Couldn't find him.

Been killing kobolds for about a week. It's tough:

1. if you're not a ranger, you can't track the scouts, and they wander randomly
2. the zone has limited visibility (always foggy), and it's relatively large to be wandering around randomly
3. 1/10 (or so) of the kobolds I've seen are scouts
4. 1/10 (or so) of the scouts have the caps
5. 1/10 (just a guess) of the time, the shield drops; I created a Erudite necromancer to actually give the caps to the skeleton, and 3 times in a row I've just gotten zombie skins (before that with my human with low faction with Paineel, probably turned 10 of em in, of course no shield)
6. oh and finally, if a guard gets to a scout before you do, it's a goner; hope it didn't have a cap!

So that means on average I can expect to kill (or at least encounter) 1000 kobolds (1/10 * 1/10 * 1/10 = 1 shield per thousand kobolds) before the shield drops? Jeez...anyone happen to know of an easier way besides the bazaar to get a magic shield?

This is a bonus quest for a Low lvl Necro. It helps to get the money to buy your 8th Lvl spells. A+++++

I never got any weapons or shields from these skels, just a bunch of bone chips or low quality gemstones.

If there's a quest then they aren't useless are they? ;)

The Bone Shield also drops (rare) from a skeleton warrior (level 15) in Lavastorm Mountains as well as a Bone Spear 6/29 piercer (magic). Not too tough, killed it quickly with 13 war and 10 sk.

How many caps have to be turned in at a time?

I been trying to collect some useless caps but couldn`t loot any on the dozen scouts i killed in Tox... Even brought my ranger to track them but couldn`t get any.

My question is: can I get caps from scouts in Warrens or just the ones in Tox?

Ajenos

There is a hut on the Erudin side at 1200 -900 that contains four abandoned pet, they also give you gems for the caps and are easy for good erudites to get to without crossing the bridge. At indifferent faction i got 3 turqiouse 3 malachite a hematite and a lapis. At lvl 5, 8 caps gave me half an orange of exp, not bad since they can be purchased off vendors for 1cp each if players dont know what they are for and sell them. =)

I have been talking to a guy from Verant and have gathered that with a higher paniel faction the shield will be more prone to dropping.

So start those erudite necromancers !

Hope that helps

I have been keeping track of my caps turned in.

I have turned in 37 to the skeleton that gives bone chips and have gotten 8 fractured femurs
I have turned in 16 to the skeleton that gives gems and gotten only gems

To whom are you all turning in the caps to get the bone shield ?
Am I just really unlucky? If so,..I need a hug

Tox is really a nice little newbie zone once you get the hang of navigation. And if you spend any time at all in Tox, you *will* learn how to use your various navigation tools effectively. The loot from kobalds is pretty decent (boxes, backpacks, gems, hides, and small change), and there are vendors scattered through Tox (including one caster supplies vendor on the caster faction) so you'll only need to zone to town when your coin gets too heavy.

The skeleton miners are non aggressive, and there is no faction associated with the quest, so anyone can get the rewards.

I got the bone shield when I turned in my first cap. I've gotten malachite, hematite, lapis lazuli, and cat's eye agate as well. The investment return is phenomenal; for each 1 copper cap you can get several silver to several platinum in loot.

I have been doing this quest with my wood elf druid, turned in about 20 or so caps to the skeleton on the left and have gottend bone chips, skin, and two fractured femurs, but no shield.

I have noticed that some of the people that are claiming to have gotten the shield are Erudite, and some necromancers. I am wondering if faction plays a part in the reward.

The skeletons /con indifferent to me
What did they /con to those who have gotten the shield with no trouble ?

Any help is appreciated

Your reward is linked to who you give the cap to. Some skeletons ALWAYS give gems, while the skeleton that gives the shield NEVER gives gems (mostly bone chips / zombie skins).

I have personally received the shield, which is AC8, it has a small plus to disease save, and it's magic, which lets you bash wisps.