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Rainbow Goblin & Cosmic Wings farming guide.
I've been hunting for the Cosmic Wings for about two weeks now. Still haven't found them but I've found a pretty good route that nets me roughly 50-70 goblins per hour solo. I wanted to share this and get some input as well.
If you're wondering why I'm going through the trouble, it's because it reminds me of Diablo 2. You know, when the game made you work for the loot instead of literally handing you everything on a silver platter.
Preparation
First, let me tell you what you're getting into. The Cosmic Wings are dropped by Princess Lilian in Whimsydale. That area is accessible only by way of portals that Rainbow Goblins leave behind when killed. There's roughly a 4% chance that a goblin you find will spawn as a Rainbow and they do not spawn in Rifts. That's not the biggest problem though. It's finding Princess Lilian. Once you kill a Rainbow Goblin and go into Whimsydale, there's roughly a 1% chance for her to show up. OUCH!
Of course, speed is paramount. You want to zip around the maps quickly. If you're serious about finding them, you're going to want to be efficient. It takes me 7 to 10 minutes to clear a game. You want to be as fast or faster.
Turn the voices and music volumes down and the effects way up. It'll be much easier to hear goblins this way. You can hear them from 1-2 screens away. If you have surround sound it's even better because you can pinpoint exactly which direction their laugh came from.
Chicken Witch Doctors are very popular and arguably the fastest but a lot of people also use Unhallowed Demon Hunters, Dashing Strike Monks or Steed Charge Crusaders. I personally use an infinite teleport Wizard (akin to the D2 Sorc). This is completely up to you. Just be fast. :)
DIFFICULTY DOES NOT MATTER! I have found a lot of Rainbow Goblins from Normal all the way up to Torment 13. Their spawn rate is not impacted what-so-ever. Personally, I run in T3 so I get somewhat decent drops from the HORDES of Blood, Material and Gelatinous goblins I run across. It's a fantastic way of stocking up if nothing else.
There is a community dedicated to farming the wings called Rainbow Goblin Hunt. Use it to find a party if you don't want to farm solo but as a fair warning, there are a ton of leechers (players who collect loot and don't contribute to the hunt).
NOTE: As of patch 2.5, a player must be in-game when the Rainbow Goblin is killed or else they won't be able to access Whimsydale. Where they are on the map isn't relevant - they just have to be in the game.
Farming Hotspots
First and foremost, each area has a chance of spawning a set number of goblins which I will provide. If you find the goblin(s), move onto the next map. There's no reason to stay around.
You're likely to run across A TON of Bandit Shrines and Vault portals in your journey. Rainbow Goblins don't spawn from either one so unless you need the loot, don't waste time.
Act 1 - The Highlands - Leoric's Hunting Grounds, Northern Highlands, Southern Highlands and Cave of the Moon Clan Levels 1 & 2. HIGH chance of spawning. Zero or One goblin per level - potential FIVE spawns.
Act 1 - Cathedrals - Cathedral Level 1, Leoric's Passage, Cathedral Levels 2, 3 and 4 and the Royal Crypt. MEDIUM chance of spawning. Zero or One goblin per level - potential SIX spawns.
Act 2 - Sewers - Sewers of Caldeum and Ruined Cistern. HIGH chance of spawning. Zero or One goblin per level - potential TWO spawns.
Act 2 - Ancient Waterways - Eastern Channels Level 1 & 2 and Western Channels Level 1 & 2. A lot of people prefer to farm just the West since it has far fewer dead-ends. HIGH chance of spawning. Zero or One goblin per level - potential FOUR spawns.
Act 3 - Fields of Slaughter - This area itself is not worth farming. It has a chance of spawning one of two caves: Icefall Caves or Caverns of Frost. Icefall Caves isn't worthwhile but the Caverns of Frost Levels 1 and 2 are. MEDIUM/HIGH chance of spawning. Zero or One goblin per level - potentially TWO spawns.
Act 3 - Towers and Core - Tower of the Damned L1, Tower of the Cursed L1, Core of Arreat. Not the greatest spawn chance but they are small areas that can be cleared in seconds. LOW/MEDIUM chance of spawning. Zero or One goblin per level - potentially THREE spawns.
Act 5 - Pandemonium Fortress Levels 1 & 2 - Always either zero or two goblins. If you find one goblin then keep looking because there will be another. If you can't find it easily, it's probably a teleporting goblin so move on. They always spawn in the large, interconnected areas - never on the islands behind the portals. I run both but a lot of people do just L1 since it's a difficult area to navigate. VERY HIGH chance of spawning. Zero or TWO goblins per level - potentially FOUR spawns.
I get an average of 7-10 goblins per game with these runs. Sometimes lower, sometimes higher (it is all RNG after all) but usually falls around there.
A few areas of note:
Festering Wood is a popular place to run and I did find goblins there regularly. For me though, that area is a huge PITA to navigate. My Teleport spell randomly stops working for no apparent reason which forces me to walk away to get it working again. It breaks my flow. I removed it from my rotation for this reason. If you're running with a different build, I highly recommend searching here.
Gardens of Hope L1 is another popular place and I don't understand why. I rarely found goblins here and never ran across a Rainbow Goblin. It does have a small chance of spawning a Mysterious Chest which gives you Falcon Wings so that's nice. As soon as I found the chest, I took it out of my rotation.
Let me know if you have any questions or farming advice of your own. We'll get those damn wings eventually!
Nevalistis
Great guide! Think I might do some runs myself this weekend.