Pests

2024-08-19T20:41:34Z

Poison:

'''Hypixel Wiki Article:''' https://wiki.hypixel.net/Pests

Pests are a type of mob that spawn on the garden that reduce a player's farming fortune as they accumulate. Due to the fortune reduction, and the fact that vacuuming pests requires a player to stop farming while doing so, it's widely accepted that the introduction of pests was primarily done to combat cheaters.

A valid secondary motivation may be that Hypixel intends to make farming a more active skill, as the ability for players to farm while actively doing other things has been criticized by both players and Hypixel Admins.

<blockquote>
The most efficient way to play the game shouldn’t include a boring and daunting task.

The best way to level up Farming shouldn't be to farm <insert best crop> from lvl 10 to 60, without any new interesting mechanics in between.

- Jayavarmen [https://hypixel.net/threads/1-0-design-thread-1-skills.4531724/ <sup>Design Thread 1</sup>]
</blockquote>

== Drops ==
You can view all pest drops on the [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Pests Hypixel Wiki], the main drops that affects the farming community, however, are the crop drops shown in the table below. These drops count for Jacob Contests, Crop Milestones, and normal collection.
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Pest Crop Drops
!Pest
!Normal Crop Drop
!RNG Drops
Chance - Item
!Crop Items Per RNG Drop
!Average Crops Per Pest (1300 FF)
|-
|'''Mite'''
Cactus
|{{formatnum:160}}
|0.02 - '''Enchanted Cactus'''
|{{formatnum:25600}}
|{{formatnum:3861.33}}
|-
|'''Cricket'''
Carrot
|{{formatnum:160}}
|0.03 - '''Enchanted Golden Carrot'''
|{{formatnum:20480}}
|{{formatnum:4185.6}}
|-
|'''Moth'''
Cocoa Beans
|{{formatnum:160}}
|0.03 - '''Enchanted Cookie'''
|{{formatnum:20480}}
|{{formatnum:4185.6}}
|-
|'''Worm'''
Melon
|{{formatnum:160}}
|0.04 - '''Enchanted Melon Block'''
|{{formatnum:25600}}
|{{formatnum:5482.67}}
|-
|'''Slug'''
Mushroom
|{{formatnum:160}}
|0.005 - '''Enchanted Red Mushroom Block'''
0.005 - '''Enchanted Brown Mushroom Block'''
|{{formatnum:5120}}
|{{formatnum:2402.13}}
|-
|'''Beetle'''
Nether Wart
|{{formatnum:160}}
|0.03 - '''Mutant Nether Wart'''
|{{formatnum:25600}}
|{{formatnum:4672}}
|-
|'''Locust'''
Potato
|{{formatnum:160}}
|0.03 - '''Enchanted Baked Potato'''
|{{formatnum:25600}}
|{{formatnum:4672}}
|-
|'''Rat'''
Pumpkin
|{{formatnum:160}}
|0.01 - '''Polished Pumpkin'''
|{{formatnum:25600}}
|{{formatnum:3050.67}}
|-
|'''Mosquito'''
Sugar Cane
|{{formatnum:160}}
|0.02 - '''Enchanted Sugar Cane'''
|{{formatnum:25600}}
|{{formatnum:3861.33}}
|-
|'''Fly'''
Wheat
|{{formatnum:1296}}
|0.01 - '''Tightly-Tied Hay Bale'''
|{{formatnum:186624}}
|{{formatnum:24053.76}}
|}

=== Normal Crop Drops Calculation ===
The normal crop drops are calculated with the following formula.

<math>\text{Crops} = \text{Crops In Item} * \left ( 1 + \frac{\text{Universal Fortune} + \text{Crop Fortune}}{100} \right )</math>

If the [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Beady_Eyes Beady Reforge] is used, the formula below is used instead.

<math>\text{Crops} = \text{Crops In Item} * \left ( 3 + \frac{\text{Universal Fortune} + \text{Crop Fortune}}{100} \right )</math>

'''Crops In Item''' - The amount of crop items used to craft the item that's being dropped. For all crops besides wheat, this is <code>160</code> as they drop the enchanted variant of their crop. For wheat, this value is <code>1296</code> because flies drop [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Enchanted_Hay_Bale Enchanted Hay Bales] which don't follow the usual convention of <code>160 items = enchanted item</code>.

=== RNG Drops Calculation ===
This formula applies to all pest drops that have a base chance of less than 5%. Pet Luck as shown below is only included for pet drops.

'''Note:''' Slug pests have an equal chance to drop both types of Enchanted Mushroom Block, so this chance should be rolled twice when calculating drops for slugs.

<math>\text{RNG Drop Chance} = \text{Base Drop Chance} * \left ( 1 + \frac{\text{Universal Fortune} + \text{Crop Fortune} + \text{Pet Luck}}{600} \right )</math>

You can get the expected crops dropped from RNG for an amount of pests killed by plugging the resulting '''RNG Crop Chance''' into the following calculation. This is a perfect average, given enough pests killed the total drops are expected to equal the result of this, but it won't be perfect on smaller sample sizes.

<math>\text{Crops} = \text{Pests Killed} * \text{RNG Drop Chance} * \text{Crops In Item}</math>

'''Crops In Item''' - The amount of crop items used to craft the item that's being dropped. Reference the table above for these numbers.

== Farming Weight ==
The intention of farming weight is to balance farming weight gain between all crops. Pest drops can't be accounted for at max rates, due to bonus pest chance and a player's current farming fortune both being factors in crop drops.

As a result, the farming weight calculation does its best to subtract crops gained from pests before applying the rest of the calculation. [https://elitebot.dev/info#Pests Read more here].

== Fly Pest Controversy ==
The table of crop drops above has one significant discrepancy, fly pests drop significantly more crop items than the rest of the pests.

=== Why do fly pests drop so much more? ===
This is currently believed to be an oversight from Hypixel. Compacted wheat items don't work the same as the rest of the crops, and most items in SkyBlock. Look at the following two tables of compacted crops, potato is used as an example that's mostly representative of the rest of the crops.
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Compacted Potato
!Item
!Crafting Recipe
!Total Items
|-
|Enchanted Potato
|{{formatnum:160}} Potato
|{{formatnum:160}}
|-
|Enchanted Baked Potato
|{{formatnum:160}} Enchanted Potato
|{{formatnum:25600}}
|}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Compacted Wheat
!Item
!Crafting Recipe
!Total Items
|-
|Hay Bale
|{{formatnum:9}} Wheat
|{{formatnum:9}}
|-
|Enchanted Hay Bale
|{{formatnum:144}} Hay Bale
|{{formatnum:1296}}
|-
|Tightly-Tied Hay Bale
|{{formatnum:144}} Enchanted Hay Bale
|{{formatnum:186624}}
|}

It's easy to forget that normal hay bales are a crafting step in compacted wheat items, but this difference is significant.

Hypixel has a history of thinking tightly-tied hay bales are equivalent to double compacted other crops as well, the crafting recipe for the [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Euclid%27s_Wheat_Hoe Euclid's Wheat Hoe] called for 256 tightly-tied hay bales for 2 years until the price was reduced to only 64 once the garden released. Based off of the NPC price for wheat today, 256 tightly-tied hay bales would cost '''{{formatnum:286654464}} coins''', with the reduced price of 64 only costing '''{{formatnum:71663616}} coins'''.

=== How could this be solved? ===
This is a matter of personal opinion, but here are some possibilities taken from the [[Elite Farmers]].

==== Solution 1. Balance fly around the other pests ====
This would mean Hypixel '''reduces crop drops from flies'''. Here's an example of what new drop rates could be.
* Instead of flies dropping 1 enchanted hay bale, they can drop 18 hay bales (162 wheat items), bringing it close to the 160 of the rest of the pests.
* Instead of the RNG drop being 1 tightly-tied hay bale, it can be a 1% chance to drop 32 enchanted hay bales, which would result in similar average drops.
'''Arguments For'''
* Normal farming keeps a firm hold on the only way to increase crop collection fast, pest farming wouldn't be a threat to traditional wheat farmer's leaderboard spots.
* Removes wheat's advantage of having maxed out 100 [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Anita#Personal_Bests personal best fortune]. As the rest of the crops only have around 40-60 max fortune.
* Players would no longer have to get lucky with pest RNG to max out personal best fortune.
* The difficulty to obtain Jacob Contest medals for wheat contests would track with a player's fortune, rather than need some RNG from fly pests, especially for new players. This would be the same as the other crops are currently.
'''Arguments Against'''
* Wheat max [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Anita#Personal_Bests personal best fortune] will now be impossible, old scores would have to be reset by Hypixel.
* Pest farming becomes insignificant, as no pests will be especially profitable. This removes a money making method that some people are grinding.

==== Solution 2. Balance other pests around flies ====
This would mean Hypixel significantly '''increases crop drops for all other pests'''. This scenario assumes that crops dropped from pests will still count for collections, Jacob Contests, and crop milestones like they currently do.

'''Arguments For'''
*Pest grinding is now a good money making method overall, way better than farming.
*All crops can likely have their [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Anita#Personal_Bests personal best fortune] maxed out at 100.
'''Arguments Against'''
* Pest grinding would replace normal farming for the best way to gain crop collections.
** Already the case for wheat and fly pests.
** Based on the incredible amount of arguments within farming communities that have happened due to flies being better than wheat farming, this solution would likely make a lot of farmers upset.
* Makes current Jacob Contest personal bests irrelevant, and the [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Anita#Personal_Bests personal best fortune] system would be based entirely on RNG instead of farming.

==== Solution 3. Don't count crops dropped from pests ====
Pest drops are counted for multiple things, stopping their drops from counting for '''at least crop collections''' would likely resolve a lot of problems people currently have with flies. Pest drops counting for Jacob Contests and Crop Milestones are less important, as they don't impact the long-standing system of farming being the best source for crop collection.

'''Arguments For'''
*Pests could drop as many crops as Hypixel decides is fair, and crop leaderboard farmers wouldn't be threatened by pest grinders catching up to them.
*This solution works no matter what the balance between different pests are.
*Keeps the dynamic of being able to max out [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Anita#Personal_Bests personal best fortune] for wheat, and other crops depending on if drops are changed.
**Unlike reducing crop drops from flies, this wouldn't require Hypixel to reset personal best scores.
*Gives players who only want to max Crop Milestones for SkyBlock XP an active way to "farm" by grinding pests, reducing their time investment.
*Keeps pests as a solid money making method.
*Crop collection leaderboard positions would no longer be threatened or made irrelevant by pests.
'''Arguments Against'''
* The inconsistency of pest drops not counting for normal collections could confuse players, especially new ones.

==== Solution 4. Reduce fly pest drops, increase the rest ====
This would mean Hypixel '''reduces the amount of wheat dropped from flies, below the rates for normal farming, as well as increases the drops from the rest of the pests to match this new value.'''

'''Arguments For'''
*Pests would be balanced.
*Pests would be a good money making method, but not as much as normal farming.
*Depending on how much flies are reduced, wheat max [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Anita#Personal_Bests personal best fortune] might still be obtainable, but would require significant grind to get the RNG required.
'''Arguments Against'''
* Pest grinding is a much more active activity than normal farming, it should make more money than farming does.
** One solution to this pain point is to give pests more drops, for example they could drop [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Cropie Cropie], [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Squash Squash], and [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Fermento Fermento].
** There are endless other ways for Hypixel to make pests more profitable without increasing crop drops.
* Depending on how much flies are reduced, wheat max [https://wiki.hypixel.net/Anita#Personal_Bests personal best fortune] might be impossible and scores would have to be reset by Hypixel.

Elite Farmers - User contributions [en]

Pests