Out in the wilds of Tyria during Wintersday are Mysterious Presents. They show up on the map as little striped candy symbols, and like Shadow of the Mad King’s candy corn nodes, they can be looted by everyone. There’s also a twist, however. To get to the real present, one must first kill the mobs that pop out from the large box. They’re essentially presents-in-a-present. These mobs that pop out are random, and every day of Winstersday a new mob type will be featured in the boxes. The previous featured mobs still have a chance to pop out, as do bands of Skritt attackers.
Some of the mob types inside the boxes definitely hit harder than others, and players may even find that they need a little assistance in clearing the groups out. To make matters worse, there are a few presents that are currently bugged, and spawn mobs that are the incorrect level. These presents may spawn monsters as high as level 69 in a much lower area. Anthony Ordon, Game Designer, confirmed this over the weekend on the forums.
There are two spawn locations in Plains of Ashford that the developer team is aware of so far:
Originally posted by AnthonyOrdon (Source)
There are currently only two actual spots (specific spots) where this happens. We’ll get it fixed as soon as we can.
Later on in the thread, he also gave players a few tips as to the presents themselves. The actual present-in-a-present must be looted within a time limit, else it will despawn. Multiple players can loot that second present. For this reason, at least for the tougher groups, it may be advisable to grab the present as soon as it spawns, then work on defeating the mobs (or escape if need be).
Originally posted by AnthonyOrdon (Source)
The presents inside the box work the same way that resource nodes do. Everyone can loot them. The major difference is that they disappear shortly after they appear. This may lend to the perception that someone else has taken the present, but I can assure that this has not actually happened.
He also gave players another hint, and explained that sometimes, randomly, there will nothing inside the smaller presents.
