I ran for 4 days straight (at least 3 hours a day) without seeing any of these guys except skratch! Today, I was able to get the AP for both of my toons within an hour. RNG sucks!!!

First mate ripper: grog beach - make a left at the SECOND GROG BEACH SIGN, if he's not there, remap.

Amra zu: Mardrom tower - run to the end of the first floor, if he's not there, remap.

Argex: hall of Valheim - run to the first intersection, if he's not there, remap.

Keep running these three maps, you can rotate between the three, but be advised sometimes the maps will not reset. I was able to get the AP using this method instead of running full maps. Good luck.