Some thoughts and data after killing 100 Rainbows

General Discussion
21

I agree. A few years ago, I started a Spreadsheet where I tracked all the same maps as above over 100 runs, and recorded each goblin found in each zone, and I came to the same conclusion. The area is not related to the type of goblins that spawn there with a few exceptions. I DO feel like Rainbows spawn more frequently in the Caverns of Frost, Defiled Crypts, and the Mysterious Cave. By that, I mean that the Rainbow to Normal Goblin ratio is higher in those areas, but I could be wrong.

However, there is a huge variation between the goblin spawn rates per map. Some maps spawn goblins very frequently, and other maps have a horrible spawn rate. That is how I settled on my current route.

One more thing to factor in is the map size and ease of navigation. For example, the Fields of Misery has a very high spawn rate, but the map is so large that it is still inefficient in terms of Goblins found/time spent looking for them.

Also for the Eastern Channels. There are about 3x as many dead ends as the Eastern channels and the map is 2x as large, but it has the same spawn rate as the Western Channels. It is still a good place to farm, but I get frustrated with all the dead ends, so I choose not to farm there. Same for Cathedral 4. too many dead ends, and the map is 2-3x as large as the others, but it has the same spawn rate.

I agree with everything in your post, and that has been my experience exactly, with the exception that I came to the conclusion that the spawn rate was 1%. But after only 100 runs, it is likely that either of our numbers is off. Also, I stopped recording data after 100 runs since it takes more time to type it all in than it does to actually find them.

Also, I noticed that I got a lot more Vaults from Blood goblins than from other types of goblins.

22

I had a strategy I did with a friend that was pretty effective until he got wings while I was offline.

Carry a very low damage weapon and make sure you donā€™t have any damage range rolls. So swap out your off-hand weapon/source/mojo/phylactery. And make sure you donā€™t have damage range on jewelry. Staff of Herding works really well for this because it has really low damage and will swap off your off-hand too because itā€™s a 2-hander.

Farm separately. When one of you finds a rainbow, you pause and invite the rest of your group. When they are ready to join, you unpause and use the low level weapon to keep the goblin from escaping without killing it until they join and zone in.

It worked better for us than split-farming the same game.

Iā€™m kind of a loner so I didnā€™t bother to find a new partner after the other guy found his wings, but it was fairly effective for the time I did spend doing it.

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23

If this is consistent, which would need to be tested, then it seems the absolute best places are Defiled Crypt and Cave of the Moon Clan 1+2.

If I get desperate for something to do in Diablo 3, I might start farming just those areas.

24

Yep, that works well if you have friends that like to farm.

In the few months just after they introduced the Cosmic Wings, there was no loot to speak of in Whimsydale, but you could kill the Rainbow, and still invite others and they could enter.

That made sharing Rainbows a lot easier since you could just kill them, and then invite afterward.

My strategy was to not bother inviting others until I had actually found Lillian, because there was not really any point other than the Spectrum or Hamburger xmogs.

When I actually found Lillian and posted on the community, I had many, many people offering me real money to invite them, and it quickly became like a live auction on the community. I think the top bid was at $200 before I put an end to it.

I ended up just inviting the players with the lowest paragon that had not offered me anything in return, but had just asked me nicely.

From what I had heard, people were botting for Rainbows and selling the service online. You would pay someone to bot rainbows for you with multiple accounts, and when they killed a Rainbow, they would invite you for a chance to get the wings.

After that, Blizzard made it so that you had to be in the game when the Rainbow was killed in order to enter, but they increased the loot so that you had a reward for hunting.

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25

I used to offer up rainbows in one of the hunting communities, but it got pretty bad at the end.

You could tell there were a handful of bad faith players who just camped in the community chat and waited to leech other peopleā€™s rainbow goblins without actually farming any of their own.

I was kinda glad that they changed the goblin mechanics, it started out as a nice cooperative thing, there were people who would make sure to reciprocate back to you, I made some friends that way and weā€™d share back and forth. But ended up kinda toxic in the end. You could tell the ones who never farmed on their own. Or at least never shared back to the community and just kept theirs for themselves.

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26

Thanks for the report and research. I was actually going to do this because ethereals have a chance to drop also. Plus i do the xp pool thing too. Combine all 3? VICTORY!

27

I have been here from day 1 and I still donā€™t have the Wings. But I donā€™t farm the Goblins. On my other account that has not been here from day 1 does have them. Plus on that account to I have got them twice.

28

Welp. Found a goblin shrine, like 9 green ones, a few gem, normals, a manage and a full pool of xp and bounty mats. No rainbows yet :frowning:

29

Is this something proven?
Guess I was lucky enough to get the portrait frame years ago after a few tries. That is after storing the staff back to my stash after opening map. so I was farming it with zero Staff of Herding in my inventory.

Right now, Iā€™m hoping to obtain that very elusive cosmic wings.

RBG donā€™t spawn in goblin shrines.

30

I think you must not have read the whole sentence that I wrote. I said that I made the suggestion a few years ago. It was a suggestion. Are you asking if I can prove that I made the suggestion? I did not say that this is a game mechanic.

Are you asking if Blizzard kook my suggestion and implemented it? Highly unlikely. They seem to frown upon taking player suggestions even when it is in their best interest to do so. How long has it taken for them to add a few simple quality of life changes even after years of players begging for them. Then when they add a few, they act like they came up with the idea on their own.

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31

I did not know bandit shrines did not spawm them.

32

I have been on a rainbow farming kick lately, so this was very informative to me. Although, I have some stuff to add actually.

So, I ran certain maps for a short period of time before I said screw it and started running every map besides the ones that were added at later dates in diablo 3 - only maps included in the storyline would be the best way to say that I suppose.

I found most of my rainbow goblins in Gardens of Hope Tier 1 and Tier 3; Leoricā€™s Passage; caves, crypts, and miscellaneous levels like fortified bunker; and between Tower of the Cursed and Damned.

To add, I have actually found two rainbow goblins in Old Ruins, right in the tiny area surrounding the waypoint, two in Royal Crypts, and two in Stonefort. Lastly, I also found one in Skycrown Battlements.

I am 99.9% sure that goblins have a percent chance to spawn in place of a rare or elite pack, which is determined as soon as you create a new game. Then, each goblin type has a percentage to spawn in each of those areas that successfully spawned a goblin in place of a rare or elite pack. I am also 99.9% sure, from all the runs I have done so far, that it is 100% RNG as to where and what type of goblin spawns.

So, in conclusion, a rainbow goblin can likely spawn on any map in the game that has the ability to spawn goblins. I donā€™t think there is any way to say that rainbow goblins spawn more in one area over another. I believe there is a cap though on how many goblins can spawn on one map, which is two. I havenā€™t ever encountered a map with more than two goblins (I continue to clear these maps just to be sure - AKA OCD lol). I have been in several games where I found more than one rainbow goblin in the game, although, the second rainbow goblin you kill does not spawn another Whimsydale portal since you already cleared it in that game. So, for this, once you find a rainbow goblin in your game, it is safe to reset and start a fresh game.

For the OP, my answer to your question about the possibility of rainbow goblins spawning more in certain areas over others would be no because I have even found two goblins that have spawned in small cave/crypt/bunker maps (always first level or if it is a single level) - this is what led to my conclusion that goblins have a percent chance to spawn in place of where an elite, champion, or even a rare would spawn in that game.

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33

I have been keeping eyes out for rainbow goblins while I get xp pools. Iā€™m pretty sure they are just rare goblins. Wherever you find goblins, outside of grs, rifts, they feel to be like a 1% chance of becoming rainbow.