In response to the Mirror of Lyss chest run posted here:
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...0&postcount=68
I am also a big fan of this run. Chests always spawn with an associated mob group (at least in this run; I can't confirm that in general). Vabbi is really wide open and its mob groups are spread out, allowing chest runners to view groups from afar and encounter only groups with associated chests (you don't have to worry about aggro'ing unnecessary groups that path through each other). Furthermore, the large Grand Court in the middle of the map cuts down significantly on area needed to explore, since there are no mobs and hence no chests.
For players that don't necessarily have the classes/skills to solo chest run without harm, I have an alternate route that I can suggest. I'm an Elementalist primary and generally bring a party of 8 (heroes + henchies) with several heroes (and myself) with Charge. I can make a few suggestions for improvements on the run path posted. This is just my own opinion, of course.
1) My run actually starts from Mihanu Township. That route near the end of blackest monk's chest run (after passing Mihanu Township) will force a player into encounters with several groups in a narrow chokepoint. That can be cut out altogether.
2) Starting from the Township, I run the western portion of the posted run in reverse of blackest monk's. Rather than running through several mob sets in the southwest portion, I run westward in that open area in the left-middle portion of the map (allowing me to avoid mobs I don't like), and then follow it south a bit. You can view 4 mob groups and potential chests from afar by holding down Ctrl (or was it Alt?). If you don't see anything you like, then you backtrack.
3) I have a forced encounter with a group of Mirage Ibogas + Enchanted Brambles at a choke point (my only forced encounter) west of the res shrine where blackest monk's path ends, and then proceed east to the res shrine itself. I view a mob group north from a distance (fight it if it's got a chest), and then proceed south, joining blackest monk's path. I end up avoiding the small town area in the southwest, which has no mobs or chests.
4) The southern part of my run is identical to blackest monk's run, and then near Honur Hill, I follow the dirt path north to where a mob group is on top of a hill. Along the way, I hold down Ctrl to view another couple of groups east of the rock. After viewing the group on top of the hill (west of Ahjii the merchant), I move eastward, past the merchant, and then view another two groups. There is usually a bit of space between the pathing of these two groups, so I continue north, viewing another group close to the entrance of Dzagonur Bastion.
I end up with just the one forced encounter, viewing 29 mob groups along the way. I average a little more than 4 chests per run.
