The swamp holes are a pain, so I always (or most always) trek through during daylight. The holes are easier to see. Also, you can see them as dark spots on the auto map.
I have always found the Savant near a hole, and he thoughtfully leaves the fake doodad right on top of it.
I've had best luck with the small crack and larger hole just a little SW of the bridge. Have to walk fairly close, but not on it.
Ome time, though, he showed up near a hole elsewhere - right in the middle of a fight with an emerald slime. I kid you not. We were rushing the slime to get into melee range....and suddenly, we whipped around (the game did that): there was the Savant. Weird! So he did his spiel, dropped the doodad, vanished, and the fight went on. And yeah, we'd been cutting around the edge of the hole when that happened.
Nightowl2
|