Let me ask it this way ...

[AncientSpirit]

I've been playing for a few years now - on and off -- and I've never had a character who could successfully solo a certain type of mob.  (I'm used to avoiding them when I'm alone.)   

Fighting them was fun in itself. 

But then it went from good to great.  I got some great drops.   I was called away and didn't get to finish the mission but when I returned later, more great drops! 

So my question is:  In your opinion, what are the best foes for the best drops? 

Any and all information appreciated.

[Stopman]

The rule is to quietly check around (CoX Forum search) before posting, otherwise you might get it nerfed.

[AncientSpirit]

Thanks, Stop.  That search turned up exactly what I was looking for.   Clearly, my original post is not an isolated incident.

I've edited down that first post because I found I couldn't remove it.   But what really puzzles me is why we're so careful here, among friends, when the COX boards are SO much more explicit -- EXACTLY who, where and how -- where the COX powers of be have much more chance of seeing and nerfing things.

Anyway, again thanks for the pointer.

[77]

IMHO at level 50 get Havey Maylor in PI, do his mission till you get a defeat all with demons.

Link http://cityofheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Harvey_Maylor

Defeat all villains in area

Mission Objective(s)

The Praetorians are an inexplicable lot to you. Their embrace of tyranny is truly staggering.

    * Defeat all villains in area

You have completed the second portion of the ritual.

Enemies

Praetorians

Notes

    * The Praetorians are Infernal's demons.

Harvey Maylor:

Now all you need is a powerful mind to wrap up the ritual. You know who's got the beefiest brain in town, don'tcha?

I can solo this on a 8 spawn rugged with 2 bosses per group. I prefer a 6 spawn on rugged no bosses, with a standard Fire/Kin Build.
All you have to do is remeber to NOT kill everything.

The demons in this mission drop magic salvage, prophecy, magical conspiracy, pagean soil, etc

[AncientSpirit]

77, thanks for the tip.  Right now, I only have 2 fifties -- an invin/energy tank and a fire/fire blaster.  Which would be best if I were trying to solo this?

[77]

I would try the tanker first. start out with a single toon spawn and move up to more.

[Verfall]

I ran the demon mish a few times with Ver, going through it by way of ouroboros. Nothing too difficult, just +1 minions. Just herded em up and foot stomped em too death. In my 4 runs over a 3 day period I think I got 5 or 6 pieces of rare salvage.

Just don't make a fire/kin farmer....

[AncientSpirit]

Is there also a difference between invincible and unyielding.  When my current mission turned white and blue, I upped the difficulty -- and no loot.

Then I got out, lowered it to unyielding, and more rare treasure.

Does anyone know if that's real or just a concidendental "placebo" effect?

[captainspud]

Blech, I can't remember all the difficulty names anymore.

Heroic: standard spawns at +0.
(Tenacious?): large spawns at +0.
(Middle one): standard spawns at +1.
Unyielding: large spawns at +1.
Invincible: standard spawns at +2.

Invincible has less guys at a higher level.

[El Condor]

When my current mission turned white and blue, I upped the difficulty -- and no loot.

Then I got out, lowered it to unyielding, and more rare treasure.

Does anyone know if that's real or just a concidendental "placebo" effect?

As long as the mobs con a color above gray, they each carry an equal chance to drop loot.  Their "color" (green through purple, that is) is irrelevant for drops (except that mobs which won't drop level 50 recipes cannot drop purple recipes). This is why it's considered most productive for loot farmers to fight on Tenacious, because you'll get the fastest kills on the largest spawns (see Spud's breakdown). 

Any single mission's return is a bad statistical sample, as it may have just been an unlucky run.   

EC

*Edit*
I realized that what I said was a little misleading. Que lastima!  :(
While it's true that mob "colors" above gray do not effect drop percentages, other factors do modify chance to drop and type of drop.  First of all, rank of enemy effects salvage drop percentages thusly:

Minion: 8%
Lieutenant/Sniper: 10.64%
Boss/Elite Boss: 25%
Archvillain: 43.22%

Furthermore, each type of salvage can only be dropped within one of three "tiers" of enemy levels.  The tiers are:

1: 1-25
2: 26-40
3: 41-53

So, for example, Mu Vestments are in Tier 2.  Therefore, you can get a Mu Vestment from a level 31 mob, but not if you're killing Carnies in the 45-50 arcs.  AS, it sounds like you're firmly esconced in the happy-hunting grounds of 50+ mobs, so you'll be getting those ultra-precious rares.  Full info on salvage types and how they're grouped can be found here.

Recipe levels, of course, are directly connected to the level of the mobs that drop them.  I don't know what the +/- range is, though.

[BlueBard]

The other one in the middle is Rugged

[AncientSpirit]

Great info.  Thanks.

I have found that despite finding a lot of treasure, farming is really, really boring ... so I took my loot and moved on.

Just as you said, EC, found more fighting carnies as I moved on.  (Blade of Zorro is 45 now.)  Much more modest, though.   :D   I magical conspiracy in my last two police missions against carnies.   

At least I didn't "expect" treasure ... or 'regret" only getting one piece like I did on the farm.  Man,  did that bring out the  greed in me.  Scary.

[BlueBard]

The one thing 'loot' does for me is getting that occasional drop that I can sell for over a mil and effectively end my struggling for enhancement upgrades on that particular toon.  Doesn't happen too often, but I have a few 'well-off' toons. 

Still, I never ever got more influence than when a generous high-level from here decided to 'gift' me.