In the most recent batch of ninja nerfs, our usual farming spots have been nerfed into oblivion, be it by reducing drop rates, nerfing Tyrael for non ranged classes, or introducing a change game timer. We have had to move to new farming grounds for reliable farming.
If you already have the inferno staff skip down to the farming section.
In order to get to “the secret non cow lvl” you must make “the staff of herding”. Total cost of making this staff up to inferno = 1.85 mill + any time spent trying to get drops.
Obtaining the staff
The first item you need is “Plan: the Staff of Herding” (reasonably high drop rate, est 10 runs) - this drops from Izual in act 4, simply drop the game down to easy mode and run him a couple of times until this item drops. This is a WHITE item so don't miss it by accident.
Now that you have the plan you can train it to your blacksmith by right clicking on it anytime you are at the BS. Next you will need these following items in no particular order.
Wirt's Cow Bell (always spawns, very easy) – This item is obtained for 100k gold in Act 2 from “Squirt the Peddler” under the misc section of the shop.
Black Mushroom (average spawn, very hard to miss from just playing the game, est 5 runs) – This item spawns in “Cathedral lvl 1” in a corner section, very hard to miss.
Liquid Rainbow (low spawn, very frustrating, est 40 runs) – This item is one of the most annoying ones and complicated to find. Bump the game down to easy and pick a character that can run the fastest (pereferably DH with tact advan). Select any quest in act 2 that will give you access to the waypoint “Path to the Oasis”. Then scale the wall right/down till you hit an inlet (see screenshot below) where a man called “Zavren the Alchemist” sometimes spawns. He will open the door to “Mysterious Cave level 1”. in this cave there is a random spawn chest “Mysterious Chest” that will drop the “Liquid Rainbow”
Gibbering Gemstone (low spawn very fustrating, est 50 runs) – This one is the hardest by far to get.
Bump the game down to easy and select any quest in act 3 that gives you access to the fields of slaughter waypoint “The Bridge of Korsikk” be sure to use the fastest character you have. Out in the fields you are looking for “Caverns of the Frost lvl 1” there are 2 possible dungeon spawns out in the fields, you do not want to go into “Icefall Caves”. Once you are in Caverns of the Frost run through it until you hit lvl 2 of the dungeon. Now start slowly going through the whole level looking for “Chiltara” she is a burrowed yellow boss that very rarely appears in lvl 2, once you have killed her she will drop the gibbering gemstone
Leoric's Shinbone (average spawn, very easy, est 10 runs) – This item is very easy to get, simply startup act 1 “Imprisoned Angel” go to the waypoint “Leoric's Manor”. Head back through the manor down the stairs until you are in the hall, head up/right and go to the fireplace in the offshoot room, there is a random spawn pile of “Burnt Logs” in the fireplace that will drop the shinbone when touched. (see screenshot)
Now that you have all the pieces you can craft the staff of herding at the blacksmith which costs 50k.
How to Get Nightmare-Inferno versions – once you have the normal mode staff you need to go to nightmare mode and select the last quest “prime evil” once you are in the game go to the merchant “Gorell the Quartermaster” he will have the new plan for 1 gold (see screenshot). Once you train the plan you need your old staff and 200k gold to make the nightmare version. You must do this for Hell mode and inferno mode to get the inferno staff. Hell mode staff costs 500k gold, inferno costs 1 mill gold
Farming
(I would advise getting 5 stacks of NV BEFORE you go into the secret level for better drops)
Once you have the inferno staff select any quest other than the first one in act 1 and go to the waypoint “Old Ruins”. Walk back along the path until you get to an old skeleton of a cow (see Screenshot)
once you are in the the secret level there is a trick to being able to clear this place with any class. Ponies are your friend, seriously they are a complete joke to take out compared to bears/flowers you can use them to clog up paths and kill everything with AOE below is a screenshot of a “stuck spot” where all ponies will get stuck if they try to get through it. When you are going through this level keep an eye out for this. With a bit of practice you can lead a large amount of the guys on the map to this spot and kill them while they sit and watch. I found that this is actually easiest to do with a monk (although it probably takes the longest), they can have eternal knockback with good IAS and if you kill the ponies in front you wont have to run around balling everything up again.
The AI also completely sucks at going around in circles (makes mortar laughable), so if you have 12% movement speed boots on and decent slows, knockbacks or stuns on your character you can run around ponds all day long to deal with the elite flowers and bears as long as they don't have fast.
