Left Goblin Ears  

Quest Started By:Description:
Where:
Who:
Rating:
*****
Information:
Time:1/2 hour
Level:25
Maximum Level:125
Monster Mission:No
Repeatable:Yes
Can Be Shrouded?:No
Quest Type:Quest
Quest Goal:
  • Experience
  • Faction
  • Money
Faction Required:
Highpass Guards (Min: Dubious)
Factions Raised:
Factions Lowered:
    Quest Items:
    Era:Original
    Recommended:
    Group Size:Solo
    Min. # of Players:1
    Max. # of Players:1
    Appropriate Classes:
    • All
    Appropriate Races:
    • All
    Entered: Mon Jun 19 15:51:06 2000
    Modified: Tue Dec 5 05:21:04 2023
    This quest begins with Captain Bosec in Highpass Keep. It can be completed with dubious faction. The captain is found at location 30, -275, -10 (near the bank, close to the steps down to the cellar).

    You say, 'Hail, Captain Bosec'

    Captain Bosec says 'I'm Captain Bosec, and I am the officer in charge down here. It's my job to patrol the prison and try to keep any [goblins] from getting into Highpass.'

    You say, 'What goblins?'

    Captain Bosec says 'Help us exterminate these vile creatures. They call themselves the [Pickclaw] Clan.. I call them annoying. I will gladly pay big money for the left ear of every goblin slain.'

    You say, 'What Pickclaw Clan?'

    Captain Bosec says 'A couple of months ago, Carson decided to add some more floors beneath the keep. During the construction, we came across these tunnels.. and these goblins. Work has been temporarily halted until we can completely clear out this Pickclaw infestation.'

    "Left Goblin Ear" drops from goblins in the cellar. Upon turning one in:

    Captain Bosec says 'Well done! We could really use the extra help around here.'

    Your faction standing with Highpass Guards got better.
    Your faction standing with Carson McCabe got better.
    Your faction standing with Merchants of Highpass got better.
    Your faction standing with Corrupt Qeynos Guards got better.
    Your faction standing with The Freeport Militia got better.

    Rewards:
    Experience
    Coin
    Rewards:
    • gold
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    Cash
    # Sep 07 2015 at 12:09 PM Rating: Good
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    211 posts
    6g 5s 3c
    Faction numbers
    # Jun 04 2015 at 12:05 AM Rating: Decent
    +2 to Highpass Guards, +1 to the rest.
    Faction numbers
    # Jul 08 2015 at 7:42 AM Rating: Good
    Avatar
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    183 posts
    Confirmed
    ____________________________
    Hope you enjoy (This recipe is a trademark by Nightmares Inc., all rights reserved.) :-D
    Bosec needs his ears cleaned!
    # Apr 19 2012 at 2:00 AM Rating: Decent
    I ran my Ikky monk into Highpass to see if I could get some faction bumps so he's not KoS to every good (or semi-good) guard and merchant around. Maybe a lost cause since with PoK and all the new zones like Crescent Reach they're all pretty much neutral, but call it nostalgia.

    Used to be I could invis a KoS character, hand in ears, reinvis them, then click the accept button to give the ears/scalps/whatever and just take the faction improvements. Not so now - Captain Bosec wouldn't accept anything I tried to give him, and attacked me every single time. So I ran in a good-aligned character. Apparently not good enough because he conned dubious. Captain Bosec typically stands at 31, -311 at base of stairs near the bank. He will, however, walk his patrol every so often around the corner to the left toward the two merchants and the guard who stand outside the entrance to the goblin basement at 23, -275. When I hailed him at dubious he came up with three or four witty retorts such as "Oh look, a talking lump of refuse. How novel!!" and "I wonder how much I could get for the tongue of a blithering fool? Leave before I decide to find out for myself." among other sundry insults. When I handed him a Left Goblin Ear he handed it back saying "I have no need for this [character name], you can have it back." He said this at both his main station and while pathing. At least he didn't attack me.

    I'm going to try to raise my faction with the guards by killing some orcs. I'll edit/update this more once I can get higher faction to see if that's the problem.

    *Edit
    This afternoon I ran in my level 67 Wood Elf Druid. He did a lot of leveling here back in the days when Highpass Keep was THE place to go (long before most of you reading this probably started playing), so his faction is amiable with the guards. Captain Bosec responded to his hail with:

    "I'm Captain Bosec, and I am the officer in charge down here. It's my job to patrol the prison and try to keep any [goblins] from getting into Highpass."
    (Please note: this is an old-world quest giver. You can't respond with just the trigger word or he won't respond)
    I said: "What goblins?"
    Captain Bosec says "Help us exterminate these vile creatures. They call themselves the [Pickclaw] Clan...I call them annoying. I will gladly pay big money for the left ear of every goblin slain."
    I said: "Who are the Pickclaw Clan?"
    Captain Bosec says "A couple of months ago, Carson decided to add some more floors beneath the keep. During the construction, we came across these tunnels, and these goblins. Work has been temporarily halted until we can completely clear out this Pickclaw infestation."
    (A couple months ago? Really? He said the same thing shortly after Highpass was added to the game and that was 1149 game years ago! "Temporarily halted" my patoosh!)

    When I handed in a single goblin ear at a time I got the following message (the coins given were also the same each time):
    You gain experience!
    You receive 3 copper from Captain Bosec.
    You receive 5 silver from Captain Bosec.
    You receive 6 gold from Captain Bosec.
    Your faction standing with Highpass Guards got better.
    Your faction standing with Carson McCabe got better.
    Your faction standing with Corrupt Qeynos Guards got better.
    Your faction standing with The Freeport Militia got better.

    When Bosec says "the left ear off every goblin slain" he's exaggerating somewhat. I killed approximately 12 goblins and got 2 ears, so it'll take some time to get stacks of these ears unless the loot table rolls are in your favor. Luckily the goblins respawn approximately every 11 minutes so by the time my monk killed down to the bottom, he could run back up to the top and start over again.

    You also get some faction hits for each goblin you kill. When you kill a goblin you get the following message:
    You have slain a pickclaw lookout!
    Your faction standing with Pickclaw Goblins could not possibly get any worse!
    Your faction standing with Guardians of the Vale got better.
    Your faction standing with King Xorbb got better.

    Please note that there is NO mention of Highpass guards in this one, so my Iksar killing these goblins to try to get better guard faction is just spinning his wheels. In order to increase your faction with the guards so you can do the Left Ears quest you need to kill orcs at the entrance to Highpass from Kithicor Forest. For each orc you get the following faction message:
    Your faction standing with Shralok Orcs got worse.
    Your faction standing with Highpass Guards got better.
    Your faction standing with Kithicor Residents got better.
    The orc's levels are in the low to middle teens approximately, and while there aren't many of them, they seem to pop approximately every 6 to 7 minutes. They pop so quickly that you need to beware if you're a lower level character who kills more slowly, since they'll often pop right on top of you.

    You can also kill gnolls to the North of Highpass Hold near the zone lines to East Karana and Blightfire Moors. They include the following faction message when killed:
    Your faction standing with Mucktail Gnolls got worse.
    Your faction standing with Highpass Guards got better.
    Your faction standing with Karana Residents got better.
    Your faction standing with Karana Bandits got better.
    You gain party experience!
    You have slain a gnoll brawler!

    I do not know how many faction bumps you get per kill for the orcs and gnolls. I do know that there are far more gnolls than orcs, so if you're a higher level character that is a killing machine, the gnolls should provide more faction hits than the orcs. After clearing both sets of mobs a couple times each, my dubious character was still dubious, so it'll be a long slog if you hope to get enough faction to turn in the gobby ears from dubious, let alone KoS.

    Three more quick observations it's worth making. The zone of Highpass hold is considered an outdoor zone, even though you're in the basement of a castle. All my druid's outdoor spells worked just fine. Also, the banker and the merchants inside HPH are dubious to even KoS characters so you can still sell and/or bank if you can get past the guards. None of the guards see invisible, but some have sharper sight than others and can see through a character's sneak skill to varying degrees.

    Hope this all helps someone else out! I've only seen one other person in the zone in the two days I was there so you should be able to kill and get faction to your heart's delight.

    Edited, Apr 19th 2012 3:25pm by HighReachWalker
    Quest Active/ Drakken
    # Oct 09 2011 at 1:52 PM Rating: Decent
    24 posts
    Been leveling my new SK here recently like I've done many times in past with other chars, notice Captain Bosec isn't responding to him, is quest dead or not working with drakken.
    change
    # Jan 06 2005 at 7:25 AM Rating: Decent
    *
    141 posts
    Today this quest did not display any boost to Highpass guards
    ____________________________
    Roommate's original account hijacked by Beahr
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    Destroyed them
    # Jun 11 2004 at 9:46 PM Rating: Decent
    aww i didnt know about this quest and i destroyed my goblin ears =P
    kos?
    # Jun 18 2003 at 12:31 PM Rating: Decent
    is captain bosec KOS to dark elves?
    RE: kos?
    # Jun 20 2003 at 4:18 PM Rating: Decent
    HEK YEH
    goblin ears
    # Nov 10 2002 at 7:21 PM Rating: Default
    these are now NOT NODROP?! nice now my twink lvl 1 ogre warrior might be able to fight here after a few turn ins of these ears
    Re: Rosedawn
    # Dec 01 2001 at 5:49 PM Rating: Decent
    This post is in response to the one involved in the Soulfire incident...

    It seemes as though you have helped someone do their "Soulfire" quest, in doing so you took a faction hit to the Guards.

    As much as I hate to say this: If you did indeed take the faction hit for helping someone else, your character is now permanently KOS to the guards. No amount of questing for faction will ever remove this. This is the way it has always been, and unless Verrant changed this, it is still so, and will probably always be so.
    Nah, it can be fixed now
    # Mar 18 2002 at 3:24 PM Rating: Excellent
    ***
    1,075 posts

    The only reason people used to think it could not be fixed was that old bug when one faction in a quest topped out at max none of the rest continued to raise. They fixed that months ago (possibly not at the time of this post)

    Now a faction hit tells you went the faction can't get any worse as well as when a faction can't get any better. The only time one can't get any better now is when you are at max allied.

    So if you are at scowl now and receiving faction pluses, you are moving faction. The soulfire hit on lucan just puts you at max scowl with the militia pretty much. Once max scowl, it takes tons of hits.

    What you really need is a murder hit to raise it, more than just these piddly lil faction quests. If you already have great faction with clerics and pallys of marr (nfp ones), its time to kill some north freep pallys to get good militia faction pluses.

    Another great mob to do this on is rephas in qeynos hills, while camping hadden. Killing him lowers arcane scientists (the freeport casters guild in west freep, only an issue if you get near it) and knights of truth. Usually by this time though your knights of truth is so high it stays way up there. My wood elf druid was threaten or glower dubious to freeport militia and I Killed rephas until he was dubious (so arcane scientists would be also) then Freeport militia was amiable. I was warmly with rephas when I started, from doing the rat ear quest long ago ( a quest which raises arcane scientists but lowers militia)
    RE: Nah, it can be fixed now
    # Dec 07 2002 at 1:09 PM Rating: Good
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    72 posts
    I agree with this post and i think there is a quick cure to the loss of faction on the knights and clerics faction after you get it down. that is to do the muffin quest. turn in about 2k muffins. it takes about 1hr to do but you can bring the faction back to ally with them.
    RE: Nah, it can be fixed now
    # Sep 24 2003 at 8:00 AM Rating: Default
    You guys are crazy 2k in muffins? a little costly dont you think? You need to check out the inert potion Quest for Fabulous Faction.

    But this one i think is the Best.


    Treebright BigRoot
    53 Druid of
    Erolissi Marr
    RE: Nah, it can be fixed now
    # Oct 10 2003 at 9:49 PM Rating: Decent
    Not 2k platinum spent on muffins. 2,000 muffins given to the guard. Pretty good quest. Got my human mage up to lv 4 after about 350 muffins. the silver and copper i got in return paid for at least half of the muffins.
    Rosedawn
    # Nov 14 2001 at 11:38 AM Rating: Default
    A level 58 Cleric still gets the exp although lol no bar movement ..funny that it even appears at level 58. As far as faction I've turned in 200 ears and still the guards scowl at me. Lost faction helping a friend get his soulfire..just didnt make it to the zone in time before he died.

    Taps the Faction Bar (roleplaying) it appears broken *Glares Evily at Verant* This is one of the reasons why folks leave the game and go to others lack of progress.
    RE: bad militia faction
    # Nov 18 2001 at 10:44 PM Rating: Excellent
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    148 posts
    Try the inert potion also: https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=141 . I understand from folks that the inert potion gives the best improvement since one need not purchase those ears (on some servers they sell for 5p, on mine 2p) and can do it the 500 to 1000 times necessary to become unhated in Freeport. This can take about 10-20 hours of your life to do. I plan to get my paladin to ally with the Militia beforehand, as folks report going from ally to dubious after a Lucan smack-down. I am afraid that 200 nudges on the faction-o-meter is not enough, you need a few hundred more.
    It takes time and lots of ears.
    # Nov 14 2001 at 9:22 AM Rating: Decent
    I have camped the Goblins for a week now and have turned in an excess of 50 ears and I just went from Dubious to Apprehensive with Cpt Bosec. I am a Pal so it is the only way I can get faction with FP without hurting faction with my guild. Its a time consuming process but worth it if you need faction.
    RE: It takes time and lots of ears.
    # Dec 07 2002 at 1:12 PM Rating: Decent
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    72 posts
    once again the muffin quest i think is the best way to get better with the knights of truth and the art keepers. kill a few of them to get the faction with freeport malitia up. then muffin quest to restore faction lost.


    Edited, Sat Dec 7 12:50:15 2002
    I got dissed at dubious
    # Mar 18 2002 at 2:49 PM Rating: Decent
    ***
    1,075 posts

    Weird... I'm dubious now as a dark elf cleric of inny, after MANY bandit kills, and turned in an ear to bosec and got the "not aid beings" line.
    Experience
    # Nov 02 2001 at 7:42 AM Rating: Decent
    Just remember, if you're in a group when turning in ears you will share the exp with the group. And, as someone stated earlier, these are really more for faction than exp.
    Disappointing
    # Oct 30 2001 at 1:07 PM Rating: Good
    This quest has been very disappointing to me to say the least. I have spent numerous weeks, collected and turned in over 20 stacks of gnoll / orc scalps & goblin ears. My faction is still KOS (ready to attack). I also receive no perceived increase in experience. The sad thing about the game is how lopsided the faction issue seems to be. It is extremely easy to ruin faction, and nearly impossible to improve some factions, especially freeport militia and corrupt qeynos guards. I realize that I ruined this faction by my own hand, but I wish that verant would make it a little more possible to make amends.
    RE: Disappointing
    # Oct 30 2001 at 1:22 PM Rating: Excellent
    24 posts
    Is it any surprise that it is easy to ruin faction and hard to raise it?

    If somebody came along and killed one of your friends with malice, what would you think of them? How many favors would you think they'd have to do for you before they got back in your good graces.

    Where Verant falls short, is making you realize the roleplaying reasons for faction and what it represents. Verant made a great game, but they're lousy story tellers.
    #REDACTED, Posted: May 19 2002 at 3:12 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Well.... Those who want to be masters of role playing can pretend you are KOS for killing a friend of some faction group. Just go wack a high level guard or two to prove to yourself how much they hate you.
    How many
    # Oct 27 2001 at 8:36 PM Rating: Default
    How many would a Iksar Necro, who has killed Orcs from 16-20, need to have for at least indiff faction? If killing orcs for 4 lvl's Helps at all I would still like to knowat what faction should I give the ears to the Captian.

    P.S. I haven't reached 20 yet but i'm saying this because i'm going to kill them until 20. Maybe 21 depending on my faction
    Correction
    # Oct 16 2001 at 4:40 PM Rating: Default
    Sorry, but the ears, orc scalps and gnoll scalps give NO exp. The yellow "you have gained experience" message does show up when you turn them in, but gives no exp that is noticeable. AT level 20 I turned in about 65 of these (had to wait til I was not KOS to the guards) and my exp bar did not move.

    These are strictly for factions only, and a few coins. Better deal is to sell them to those trying to raise factions. They sell for 1p to 2p, vs the 2-5 gold you will get from doing quest
    Nerfing
    # Oct 12 2001 at 11:44 PM Rating: Default
    i think people were twinkin there charaters with this quest (great exp.) so they "nerfed it" to only 20+

    Just my 2 CP.
    #Anonymous, Posted: Sep 30 2001 at 10:19 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) poeple buy theys for faction not exp you guys need to learn how to play the game
    #Anonymous, Posted: Sep 30 2001 at 10:15 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) I sell ears for up to 5 pp each cause poeple want them for their faction change it takes about 200-400 to go from 100% KOS to they like you but trust me its worth it if your just fighting there happily and are KOS with freeport or something.
    RE: You guys are idiots!!!!
    # Nov 07 2001 at 2:19 AM Rating: Default
    I know from experience that most people readily sell ears for 1-2pp. Also, it takes far more than 200-400 to go from KOS to even threatening. I have turned in over 30 stacks and still remain KOS. That is the main reason that people will not and should not pay more than the 1-2pp price. And btw...before you call anyone an idiot...look in the mirror and make sure that you are perfect first.
    POOR XP
    # Aug 28 2001 at 5:42 PM Rating: Default
    I started hunting here at level 22.
    Lot was FFA and being a warrior up front
    I got alot of ears fast. I handed in 1 stack
    of ears and got no noticable increase.
    Just me or did they nerf the quest?
    I get better XP turning in CB belts and pads.
    I play EQ for the quests, I'm not just a Quake player power leveling.

    Moblix Marblefist <Order of the Nameless>
    nameless server
    Faction can be dubious
    # Jul 26 2001 at 2:08 PM Rating: Good
    31 posts
    I am a high elf pally on Veeshan. I was grouped in the guard room last night and was asking those in my group if you needed to be indifferent to turn in ears. The consensus was yes and we had a designated indifferent character turn them in. I stayed in the basement and got party experience but no faction changes. Later on I thought I would try turning in one. I did as a group member and got the exp and the faction changes. I was dubious to Guard Bosec before and after turning them in.

    As of last night, YOU CAN BE DUBIOUS AND TURN THEM IN. Furthermore, you must either be the one who turns them in or be standing close to get the faction changes. Since the positive faction changes are the main reason for doing this quest it is important to know.
    still threateningly
    # Jun 19 2001 at 7:57 AM Rating: Decent
    Healed a cpl chars in west commons that were killing toll gaurds.Returnrd to
    fp and was kos,started the goblin ear quest at lvl 17(paladin) killed orcs and gnolls till lvl 2o enterd basement.i've handed in 30-40 ears bought some, fp militia went from glaring ready to attack to glare threateningly still kos, how many more ears till i can walk through the west gates of freeport again?
    Good little quest!
    # May 29 2001 at 8:09 PM Rating: Decent
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    71 posts
    Excellent for raising the more nasty factions without losing any with good ones!
    Still Dubious with Merchants
    # May 09 2001 at 6:58 PM Rating: Decent
    I am a Rodcet Nife Human Cleric - Still dubious with the merchants - how many until apprehensive. Need to Smith here.....
    To do the quest
    # May 08 2001 at 6:23 AM Rating: Decent
    To do quests you need to have apprehensive or better faction. If you are dubious, you can get around this by turning in the ears, but before you hit the Trade button, have a friend invis you. This puts you to indifferent faction, and will allow you to do the quest.
    Faction, and others
    # Apr 30 2001 at 11:15 AM Rating: Default
    There is no lvl cap you alway get EXP, no matter your lvl. It may be insignificant dut its there. And i am doing this quest as dubius and it works fine for me. It also does not matter if you kill the gobbies first or not. You can also sell these for about 20-35pp a stack to evil race players.
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