The Hidden Forest

So, I finally got the "Giant Slayer" title the other day. It wasn't something that I was actively trying to do, it was just a byproduct of trying to gear out my toons.

In all this time in Kael, I've not once seen the Avatar of War. I've taken out Vindi, Idol, Statue, and Tormax many times and I've always wanted to see how I would fare versus AoW. I know this particular npc is needed for the epic 2.0 and probably some other quests, but AoW seems to be awol, at least every time I go to Kael. It's not for a lack of trying, most of the times I go to Kael i end up crawling all the way back to see an empty AoW spawn spot.

What's the secret to this mob? Is he that contested? Or does he have some crazy respawn that I'm not aware of?

It's very random. I have gone a few weeks of popping in and out and he's not up. Other times I have bumped in and found it up. Lots get it for either 'because it's there' and then offer the loot up in ooc, or some need it for 2.0.

Just have to be lucky. =)

iirc he is 12 hours respawn.

I noticed you mention that you cleared the trash leading to AoW to see if he was up. That's the classic EQ way, and can be lots of fun, but you should know that if you /assist an NPC here, you can target them from anywhere in the zone. People use this to check spawns from the zone in. They're probably doing that and killing AoW right beneath your nose! He does exist

Or if you use MQ2, you can also /tar Avatar for a target without being close to him.

I was not aware of this targeting trick, thank you! I was getting frustrated with trying to complete the emp. ssra key/ring quest and I was able to use the /tar trick to determine if commander zhjerkface was up and hiding somewhere.