Adventurer's Guide to the Exploration Collections

Adventurer's Guide to the Exploration Collections

General Info

Levelling your adventurer skill and obtaining the clothing items is done by completing the exploration collections. There are three types of exploration collections:

Each town has a collection, which is a list of locations that are important points of interest. To complete the collection, simply visit the listed points. Often these points will be collected in the course of normal questing and play, without even trying. Important towns have a detailed map which is a big help in finding the points of interest; open the atlas and click on the town's icon to see the detailed map. There are a couple of collections of warpstones as well.
A few of the collections are made up of lists of other exploration collections and are automatically completed when you've finished all the collections on the list.
The Rare Exploration Collections provide the main source of challenge and enjoyment to Adventurers. Completing these collections is done by finding moving sparkling coins, many of which are cleverly hidden away in obscure locations. To collect, click the coin. Most of this guide is devoted to the Rare Exploration Collections.
Coins associated with towns look like the icon for the town. The Sanctuary and Wilds coins use the Sanctuary tree logo. While the coins are hard to find, you know when you've got one, unlike some normal exploration where the trigger spots can be a pain to find even though you know you're in the right general location.

Names often provide hints to help find the location. The Wilds Northwest, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest collections are relative to Sanctuary as the central point.

In-town locations are often behind, inside, or underneath. Out-of town locations require lots of running, climbing, and looking around. Sometimes you can see the coin and have to figure out how to reach it, which may involve some route plotting and a jump in just the right spot. Some require swimming, but are always on top of the water, never below.

Spotting the coins: A number are in plain sight, so keep your eyes peeled. You can see the sparkles from farthest away, but they won't be moving. As you get closer, the sparkles will start to animate and the coin will pop into view. The specific distances may depend on your graphics settings. You could try testing the spotting range a bit on a coin before clicking it to see how it behaves on your computer. The lighting can make spotting harder as well -- night spotting is easier than hazy sunny daylight.

Climbing, jumping, and invisible walls: Many of the rare exploration coins are up high and require climbing. When seeking them, you really need to try climbing everywhere! (You'll get some nice views on the way, too.) Jumping can be key to reaching some of the higher peaks. The best technique: stop running, start a jump, and press forward while in the air - this is more effective on a slope than jumping while already running. You may need to turn while in the air as well. Many areas which don't look too steep to reach are blocked with invisible walls. If there's an invisible wall blocking your way, take it as an indication that you don't need to explore further in that direction -- all of the coins are easily reached without encountering an invisible wall.

When you get stuck, and you will, click the gear in the upper right near the minimap, Help & Support -> Teleport to Safety.

Unlike item collection piles which are first come, first served, groups of players can retrieve rare exploration coins without a problem. If you don't have the coin, you are guaranteed to see it and be able to collect it. You needn't be in your Adventurer job to collect exploration (although you'll look cooler) -- you'll automatically switch jobs to Adventurer when an exploration point or coin is collected.

Completing the various exploration collections will allow you to reach Adventurer level 18. In the process you will receive full sets of adventurer clothing: the Seeker, Traveler, and Pathfinder sets. Experience and items are awarded immediately upon the completion of a collection. Adventurer clothing is appearance only, with no meaningful stats.

The first player to complete all the regular and rare exploration collections after launch was Kyle Beckett.

The first versions of this guide appeared at the end of beta with input from Jaf, Heppy, Rohkzhar, seasleepy, and ZhanZuo, and Johnathon after release.

Don't get stuck in a rut! With the hard-to-find coins I noticed that I would re-search the same places over and over, while skipping other areas entirely. Don't keep looking in the same spots! If you need help, check out my new guide Rare Exploration Coins: Hal's Hints for the Desperate!

Remember, as I always say, if yer not gettin' stuck yer not doin' it right!

Happy hunting!

-Hal Hillstrider

Spoiler warning: Since the names of the coins can give hints about their location, the text below can be considered a spoiler -- purists beware!

Listed below are the Rare Exploration collections, followed by the Exploration Collections, and lastly, Metacollections.

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The Rare Exploration collections (marked with a coin)

Blackspore Rare Exploration

Gravestone Peek-a-boo
Mortal Resting Place
Sinking Hopes
Ghastly Mining
Beyond watchful eyes
Briarwood Rare Exploration

Gather Round the Campfire
Xandril's Nook
Scouting the Pathway
A place to Pond-er
Spore Falls
Merry Vale Rare Exploration

Rooted grip
Under the over
A Sunny Harvest
Sanctuary Rare Exploration

Break My Fall
Darvon's Spot
Break Free
Pixiewood Mist
A Royal way in
Over the Rainbow
Seaside Rare Exploration

Behind the Weeds
Beach Bum Storage
Bridging the Gap
Seaspray Hideaway
Under the Boardwalk
Shrouded Glade Rare Exploration

A Shrouded View
On a Boat
Lost and Found
Snowhill Rare Exploration

Beyond the Spring
Between the Peaks
Perry's lookout
Penguin point
Smitty's Hiding Place
Wilds Northeast Rare Exploration

Troll Scope
Perfect Robgoblin View
Rushing Twin Falls
Rocking the River
Swimmer's Haven
Wilds Northwest Rare Exploration

Tin Man's Nest
Bridge View
A Path Less Traveled
Merry Notch
Gazing Beyond
Wilds Southeast Rare Exploration

Wildwood Shroud
Serpent's Climb
Atop Spore Flow
Peace of Mind
Pixiewood Stare
Wilds Southwest Rare Exploration

Shepherd's Watch
Spying on Bandits
Ancient Dig Site
Tent Dent
Towering the Toll
Wugachug Rare Exploration

Two Trees
The Ledge of Relaxation
Snowy Peaks
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The Exploration collections

Blackspore

Splortata's Camp
Mucklewhump's Ferry
Relic Excavation Site
Blackspore Pet Adoption Center
The Quagmire Quarry
The Sinking Cemetery
Oberyn's Retreat
Briarwood - Briarheart

Briarheart Castle
Briarheart Caverns
Briarwood - Bristlewood

Gorg's Camp
Brambleback's Farm
Darrel's Hut and Mini-Frog Storage
Lazi's Pig Farm
Snorg's Camp
The Quarry
Briarwood - Nettleseed

Sperry's Spore Farm
Chugilda's Kitchen
Glimmer's Expedition
Soldier's Outpost
Briarwood - Thistlerow

The Hidden Gate
Thistlerow Maw
Treeleaf's Retreat
Crossroads

The Brawler's Pit
Crossroads Cafe
Crossroads Animal Park
Forest Troll Village

Grosh's Hideaway
Forest Troll Camp
The Mystic Circle
Burgl's Quarry
Wuga's Well
Highroad Junction

Pet Center
Dance Party
Bear Cave
Lakeshore

Lakeshore Docks
The Little Kitchen
Rainbow Lake
Major Warpstones

Sanctuary Warpstone
Snowhill Warpstone
Briarwood Warpstone
Shrouded Glade Warpstone
Wugachug Warpstone
Seaside Warpstone
Merry Vale Warpstone
Blackspore Warpstone
Merry Vale

The Merry Vale Mainstage
The Midway
The Sunflower Patch
Queensfields

Sanctuary Pet Adoption Center
Greyli's Mansion
Seafoam's Mansion
Sanctuary

Jacque's Cafe
Ayani's Pride Hospital
Sanctuary Town Hall
Sanctuary Post Office
The Heartseed
Royal Guard Barracks
Seaside

Seaspray Inn
Post Office
Luxurious Oceanfront Homes
Fisherman's Shanties
Piers and Docks
Ocean Treasures Cafe
Cray Caves
Tide Pools
Shrouded Glade

Gardener's Hutch
Druid Academy
The Wishing Well
Headmaster's Hut
Daybreak Falls
Snowhill

Snowhill Stage
Singing Crystal Mines
Snowhill Hot Springs
Snowhill Post Office
Valley View Point
Widow's Peak
Lookout Below
Penguin Training Facility
Stillwater Crossing

Pet Center
Cursed Graveyard
Stillwater Party
Warpstones

Crossroads Warpstone
Lakeshore Warpstone
Briarheart Warpstone
Lavender Coast Warpstone
Highroad Junction Warpstone
Stillwater Crossing Warpstone
Wugachug

The Party Tent
The Sasparilla Brewery
The Chugaroot Patch
The Thoroughfare
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Metacollections

Briarwood Explorer

Thistlerow Complete
Briarheart Complete
Nettleseed Complete
Bristlewood Complete
Newbie Explorer (note that the word Newbie is omitted in the referenced collections)

Crossroads Newbie
Highroad Junction Newbie
Stillwater Crossing Newbie
Sacred Grove Explorer

Snowhill Complete
Sanctuary Complete
Blackspore Complete
Seaside Complete
Briarwood Complete
Wilds Complete
Wilds Explorer

Forest Troll Village Complete
Queensfields Complete
Shrouded Glade Complete
Lakeshore Complete
Merry Vale Complete
Newbie Explorer Complete
Wugachug Complete