Guild Wars 2

I am almost finished with my legedary, Frostfang. The only things I need now are ectos and of course the precurser. (Please note this is not a QQ about the price of precursers, or RNG methods.)

The question I have is, would it be better to farm gold and buy it? or continue to farm and craft rares to throw in the forge? I know that the prices for pre’s are continually climbing, and thats fine, its part of how the player controlled market works. But in farming for gold, by the time I have enough to buy it, the prices will have gone up again. (I only have 2g right now)

In using the MF to get it, I may spend even longer, trying to farm the mats to craft the rares to throw in the forge. And if I was to buy the mats to craft the rares, or even buy the rares outright, I could very well be spending more then the price of the precurser.

Time isn’t really an issue. When I started I figured it would take a long time. And was in fact surprised it only took about 3 months to get all the other components. I mostly farmed for my T6 mats, and used bloodstone shards to get mats, and sold what I didn’t need, to buy what I did.

One method would be to farm the tier 6 materials again and sell them when you’re ready to buy a precursor. Those materials would likely go up in price as well along with precursors. This would protect your gold earned so that it maintains it’s value relative to precursor pricing.

There are still risks though.

Edit: To add more clarification, let’s assume I started to farm for a precursor earlier this year in February. I manage to get 100 of each of the materials by the end of March and sell them bringing by earnings to X amount of gold. The April patch hits causing prices to increase and my gold earned so far lost purchasing power as a result. Had I decided to keep the materials until I was ready to buy a precursor, I would have received more gold in relation to the cost of the precursor.

Hopefully this made sense. Like in the real world, the worst thing you can do with excess money is to let it sit in the bank doing nothing.

That actually makes sense.

Although I am leaning toward doing a bit of both (farming, and using the MF) If I were to farm the T6, and stock up, as well as farm dungeons for weapons to toss in the MF, and selling the “failures” (anything not a pre). I would not only be making gold, but also stocking up gold (in the form of T6).

Or should I just go straight for the T6 and leave the MF out of the equation?

I’m hesitant about the MF as I’ve heard the stories that people have sunk more than the cost of a precursor and received nothing. There are also the people that got one off their first forge. It’s all a gamble and it’s really up to you to decide if you’d want to take that risk. This is not to say that you can’t do both either.

hold on to rare and exotic axes you get, and hold on separately to other rare and exotic weapons you get (excluding any that can be sold for well above the normal rare/exotic weapon price, typically daggars hammers and greatswords, along with unique exo skins- sell those).

when you get 4 rare or 4 exotic axes, dump in the forge. Don’t bother buying rare or exo axes for this, use only what you get in drops. Do the same when you get 3 rare or 3 exo other weapons, and throw in a mystic forge stone. if the result is really valuable, sell, otherwise, but back into the bank as a start on your next forging. meanwhile, again, don’t dump any gold into his; use only your drops. save your gold (or invest in t6 mats, as others have said). When you have enough to straight-up buy the prec, do that.

you can still get plenty of ectos from salvaging your rare/exo armor drops.

Piogre.2164:

hold on to rare and exotic axes you get, and hold on separately to other rare and exotic weapons you get (excluding any that can be sold for well above the normal rare/exotic weapon price, typically daggars hammers and greatswords, along with unique exo skins- sell those).

when you get 4 rare or 4 exotic axes, dump in the forge. Don’t bother buying rare or exo axes for this, use only what you get in drops. Do the same when you get 3 rare or 3 exo other weapons, and throw in a mystic forge stone. if the result is really valuable, sell, otherwise, but back into the bank as a start on your next forging. meanwhile, again, don’t dump any gold into his; use only your drops. save your gold (or invest in t6 mats, as others have said). When you have enough to straight-up buy the prec, do that.

you can still get plenty of ectos from salvaging your rare/exo armor drops.

Yeah thats what I’m thinking. I’m not planning on buying anything to drop into the forge, but rather using dungeon tokens to get the axes solely for dropping in the forge. Of course this is AFTER I get my ectos, just trying to get a game plan together so I can best utilize my limited play schedule.

the current cheapest combination of items to get Tooth of Frostfang will cost on average 922g to get Tooth of Frostfang. Since it currently only costs 828g to buy from the TP, I recommend just buying it.
If you do want to try your luck:
Carrion Verdant Axe of Corruption, Rare 67, buy for 18s2c
Berserker’s Iron Axe of Smoldering, Rare 80, buy for 35s11c
Berserker’s Iron Axe of Smoldering, Rare 80, buy for 35s11c
Dire Aureate Axe of Energy, Rare 74, buy for 29s78c

Mystic.5934:

the current cheapest combination of items to get Tooth of Frostfang will cost on average 922g to get Tooth of Frostfang. Since it currently only costs 828g to buy from the TP, I recommend just buying it.
If you do want to try your luck:
Carrion Verdant Axe of Corruption, Rare 67, buy for 18s2c
Berserker’s Iron Axe of Smoldering, Rare 80, buy for 35s11c
Berserker’s Iron Axe of Smoldering, Rare 80, buy for 35s11c
Dire Aureate Axe of Energy, Rare 74, buy for 29s78c

This wouldn’t be a bad idea if I was willing to buy rares to throw into the forge. I’m thinking crafting axes with excess T5s gained from farming, running dungeons and using token axes, and stocking up and selling T6 would be a much more economical way to go about it. Again, I’m poor (I only have 2g right now, and still need ectos)

I’m in the process of adding guaranteed crafted things to this, but so far it just weighs it so crafted things are more likely to be included. crafted items cost at least 25% more if it’s saying non-crafted is cheaper. so to craft the items you throw in, it would cost closer to 1229g (if you bought them). since you’re talking about finding them, you’d still be better off selling the materials for 1044g after tax and buying the precursor.

So holding onto and selling the crafting mats (T5 and T6) would be better than using the T5s to craft and throwing the items crafted into the forge?

You’re asking us if it were faster to win the lottery, or work enough hours so that you’ll have the same money as 1st prize. We don’t know. You could be lucky and get it the first time you throw stuff in the forge, or you could end up NEVER getting one in your entire gw2 career.

My advice would be to save gold and work towards it (e.g. buy it from the TP). There’s nothing more disappointing than losing all the gold you’ve spent so much time gathering. Trust me, I’ve been there.

Currently if you sold off all the components for a Battleaxe, losing 15% from TP fees, you would make about 55 silver, so that is something to consider if you decided to go the Mystic forge route. My source is http://www.gw2spidy.com/recipe/5918

However, I would still advise against the Mystic Forge simply because you are only after one item and the chance of having to make a large number of forgings before you get a drop are unacceptably high. As a rule of thumb, if you get a precursor every n tries on average, the chances of you not getting a precursor after n tries is 1 in 3. So if on average it take 1000 gold to forge a precursor there is still a greater than 10% chance that you will have nothing after having thrown in 2000 gold.

Forging makes sense if you are doing it on an industrial scale, or if you just really like gambling.

Charming Rogue.8071:

You’re asking us if it were faster to win the lottery, or work enough hours so that you’ll have the same money as 1st prize. We don’t know. You could be lucky and get it the first time you throw stuff in the forge, or you could end up NEVER getting one in your entire gw2 career.

My advice would be to save gold and work towards it (e.g. buy it from the TP). There’s nothing more disappointing than losing all the gold you’ve spent so much time gathering. Trust me, I’ve been there.

Yeah I think thats the direction im going to be heading. my main concern is with the higher demand and higher prices of precs on the TP that I’ll never be able to catch up. As I said, im a casual player, with only 2-4 hours a day to play. Im trying to find a balance where its not going to take me 15 years to get one, yet be able to still have a chance. Im thinking a mix of MF and mats/gold. Where I dont spend any money on the MF (I.E gathering crafting mats and using crafted items/dungeon items) and yet still make gold by selling t6 mats (again by farming.)

Im not oppsed to putting in the work, but also dont want to see that work be continually extended by the TP prices rising a hundred more gold by the time I have enough to get it at current rates.

Cormac.3871:

Currently if you sold off all the components for a Battleaxe, losing 15% from TP fees, you would make about 55 silver, so that is something to consider if you decided to go the Mystic forge route. My source is http://www.gw2spidy.com/recipe/5918

However, I would still advise against the Mystic Forge simply because you are only after one item and the chance of having to make a large number of forgings before you get a drop are unacceptably high. As a rule of thumb, if you get a precursor every n tries on average, the chances of you not getting a precursor after n tries is 1 in 3. So if on average it take 1000 gold to forge a precursor there is still a greater than 10% chance that you will have nothing after having thrown in 2000 gold.

Forging makes sense if you are doing it on an industrial scale, or if you just really like gambling.

Oh i totally get the odds are not in my favor, but in my farming for T6 I gather T5s. And elder wood, and mithril is super easy to get by salvaging greens and blues. Im not actually spending any money on things ive crafted to drop in the forge. Buying the items to do that would be counter productive. But from what I understand you are saying is that it would be better to sell the mats, instead of crafting them, to make a bit of extra money to just buy it.

pdavis.8031:

So holding onto and selling the crafting mats (T5 and T6) would be better than using the T5s to craft and throwing the items crafted into the forge?

yup yup.
I will point out that some people get enjoyment out of gambling. If you do, gambling for a precursor might be worth it. But don’t do it because it would be cheaper – because it isn’t – do it for the fun of doing it.
for some precursors, sometimes it is profitable to craft precursors. right now, not many are

Gotcha. I guess that makes sense. Oh well I thought id be done grinding for mats for awhile…I guess not :P

pdavis.8031:

Piogre.2164:

hold on to rare and exotic axes you get, and hold on separately to other rare and exotic weapons you get (excluding any that can be sold for well above the normal rare/exotic weapon price, typically daggars hammers and greatswords, along with unique exo skins- sell those).

when you get 4 rare or 4 exotic axes, dump in the forge. Don’t bother buying rare or exo axes for this, use only what you get in drops. Do the same when you get 3 rare or 3 exo other weapons, and throw in a mystic forge stone. if the result is really valuable, sell, otherwise, but back into the bank as a start on your next forging. meanwhile, again, don’t dump any gold into his; use only your drops. save your gold (or invest in t6 mats, as others have said). When you have enough to straight-up buy the prec, do that.

you can still get plenty of ectos from salvaging your rare/exo armor drops.

Yeah thats what I’m thinking. I’m not planning on buying anything to drop into the forge, but rather using dungeon tokens to get the axes solely for dropping in the forge. Of course this is AFTER I get my ectos, just trying to get a game plan together so I can best utilize my limited play schedule.

Unless CoF is the dungeon you’re getting your axes from, you might find it better to use your tokens to buy the cheap (180 token) exo armor pieces with rabid/soldier/shaman/dire/magi stats and salvaging them for a chance at the insignia, which normally sells for 2-2.5g. Citadel of Flame is the exception to this because it’s the only dungeon that doesn’t have a stat set which has a chance of dropping an insignia or inscription when salvaging it. (though if you still need ectos, I guess you could buy the really cheap pieces (i.e. the rares) to salvage for ectos first before going to axes)

It’s not guaranteed to get one though -even with Black Lion salvage kits- but it’s something that that has a pretty good chance of paying off after every 3 paths in that dungeon, instead a small chance after every 24 (or 6 paths a piece across four dungeons.)

pdavis.8031:

The question I have is, would it be better to farm gold and buy it? or continue to farm and craft rares to throw in the forge?

Well, for starters, don’t think twice about crafting rare axes to throw into the forge – that is a terrible money loser. If you are going to be crafting anything, it needs to be of the big 4 of greatswords, staves, daggers, and swords – they are just worth so much more than the others, and even if you want the axe you’re better off crafting, say, swords, throwing swords into the forge, so that instead of your jackpot being a Tooth it’s a Zap which you can sell, buy a Tooth, and pocket a couple hundred extra gold for your trouble.

Throwing random rare axes you find in game into the forge is fine, just don’t craft them.

As for whether or not you should be gambling at the forge or just saving, well, how is your temperament? On average, you will save money by gambling at the forge, and the long run you’ll hit the average. In the short run, gambling at the forge is going to mean a lot of money disappearing with little to show in return. You’re not going to see any progress, and won’t be any closer to getting your precursor.

If you want to see some progress, stay away from the forge. It will break you. If you’re happy to just keep going along until the forge blesses you, then get to work.

Whichever path you choose, I would recommend against selling everything you are saving for cash immediately. You don’t have any need for the cash right up until the point that you’re going to buy the Tooth, and holding cash makes you much more susceptible to price surges and crashes. Most of your income will be crafting materials, and I would just let those pile up in your storage right up until the point where you’re looking to buy. You’ll have no problem selling them (or, better yet, crafting them into some finished goods and selling those), the money will be kept out of sight, and if prices of precursors continue to surge, your pile of mats is likely to surge right along with it – no progress lost.

pdavis.8031:

Oh i totally get the odds are not in my favor, but in my farming for T6 I gather T5s. And elder wood, and mithril is super easy to get by salvaging greens and blues. Im not actually spending any money on things ive crafted to drop in the forge. Buying the items to do that would be counter productive. But from what I understand you are saying is that it would be better to sell the mats, instead of crafting them, to make a bit of extra money to just buy it.

I can’t tell you what exactly to do because if you are working towards a goal you have to do it in a way that you enjoy.

If you want safe and quick, sell off your materials, or craft things that are profitable (gw2spidy might help, it’s worth looking at things like staves and swords). Note that by quick I still mean a lot of grind.

If you want to play the numbers, but still be risky craft swords or staves and throw them in the forge.

If you are going to craft axes you should go in with your eyes open. You will probably have saved up enough money for the precursor (provided you are frugal) before you get the drop from the MF if you just use what you collect. So what’s the benefit? You get something to break up the gameplay rather than alternating between Orr, your favourite dungeons and world bosses. You also get the occasional axe skin, which you may enjoy.

If you are happy adding a couple of weeks to the time it takes to get a precursor for the joy of the occasional flutter, go for it. It is not the most efficient way of doing it but it is better to get your legendary later and keep playing than it is to burn yourself out getting it and quit 2 weeks later.

It’s always going to be cheaper to save your gold and buy directly from the TP. The market price for precursors reflects demand and supply from those producing them in the Forge.

There will be a tiny minority of players who will spend less forging. (And of course, those willing to invest thousands and thousands of gold will make money.) But for the rest of us,… TP is the way to go.

If you really like gambling, then, sure, throw a few rares in — you’ll get 4-6 exotics for every 20 tries and that can be fun.

On a somewhat unrelated note..

if you want to gamble on the forge, I highly suggest that you save money and do the crafting of rares by youself.

Furthermore, if you choose to do this route, do not gamble axes. Right now the precursor axe is selling at 930g. Why not go for a more valuable precursor and pocket the difference? Something like gambling for The Legend or Dusk.

I personally am taking the save and gamble a bit route. I get about 30g a day, and i’ll usually save 20, and spend 10g on flushing. Been at it for a couple days now, and I tend to sell my exotics, and sometimes i make some money back, other times i don’t. I’m not complaining either as i do find it fun knowing each time I COULD net a spark, but on the other hand i’m still saving to buy it. It really is up to you, i personally find saving 1.4k gold a daunting task, so instead of tackling it straight on i just gamble a bit and save at the same time.

I took the route of not setting my sights on a precursor. I have in the past been a regular on the Boss train, and I decided to see if I could get some exotics for my 8 chars from it. I started saving the level 80 rares I got from play and the boss train and putting them into the forge in sets of 4 every week, usually 5-8 sets per week. Since the game launched I have received 3 precursors. I traded the first one in for the one I liked, and sold a low end one.
3 weeks ago I crafted Infinite Light, and the next week, the forge dropped a Zap in my lap. I had enough materials saved up to forge my first , Kudzu, in a bout a month after I received it, and I have enough materials saved to make Bolt.
Overall I think if you play all the parts of the game that you are comfortable with and do not succumb to the “got to have all the gold to buy” syndrome that some players live by, you will be rewarded by the game. That said, the forge may not be good to all because just like other parts of the game, it may be susceptible to over use.
My opinion, don’t make the parts unless you are prepared to buy the final piece, gambling to get that final piece will only induce remorse. In this scenario you have plotted your path down the syndrome referred to above.
I always implore people to just play, the game will reward you. I think a lot of people that complain about drops, the forge, and other rewards malaise, are all doing their thing in game under the cloud of DR, not knowing how to rid their account of that thing that affects every bit of their play.
Personally, I would do a little dungeon running, do a little Champ farming, do a little Boss train, do a little fractal, do a little PVP if you like it, do a little WVW. The rewards will come. Save a little, use the forge a little. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, that only leads to disaster.

My recommendation is to sell your T6 materials (at least the fine ones) until you have enough gold to buy your precursor, then farm the T6 again.

It is important to approach Legendary crafting the correct way. What I mean by that is you need to tell yourself that you are actually NOT working on a Legendary until you have the precursor.

@sligh

Good point. I really shoud brush up on my WvW skills with the tourny coming up. And while just playing the game, and not trying to focus on one thing, I should be able to get all the gold I need to buy it. (via mat sales, forging rare /exo drops etc.)

@vol

Interesting idea, if I do focus on forging, that might be a better way to go.

@cormac

Also good point. I was starting to get REALLY tired of farming for my T6. Don’t want to get burnt out, and have no reason to keep playing after I grind non stop to get what I am looking for.
(Also, I found Orr to be a bit lower in the drop rates for T6 and found several other places with much higher drops for T6, so didn’t spend much time, if any, in Orr farming.)

You could also take a look at farming those spices such as chili pepper and such. I was planning to look into how feasible that is this weekend. I’m hoping the nodes are like those for ancient wood and ori ore in that there’s a relatively small, finite number of locations that they could spawn making searching for them less of a pain.

Ayrilana.1396:

You could also take a look at farming those spices such as chili pepper and such. I was planning to look into how feasible that is this weekend. I’m hoping the nodes are like those for ancient wood and ori ore in that there’s a relatively small, finite number of locations that they could spawn making searching for them less of a pain.

Chili Peppers can be dropped (with a very low chance) from ANY herb patch in Ascalon Maps. It’s more like farming Foxfire without the Melandru Clusters than it is Ancient Wood.

Yeah. That’s one of the things I would look at this weekend. I know that I got them pretty often over several attempts last weekend but of course we all know that that doesn’t really mean much.

pdavis.8031:

…..
(Also, I found Orr to be a bit lower in the drop rates for T6 and found several other places with much higher drops for T6, so didn’t spend much time, if any, in Orr farming.)

Since there are only 2 other zones that CAN drop T6s, which is it? Frostgorge or Southsun?

Also, you do realize that it’s not direct material drops in Orr that make it lucrative but the sheer number of enemies that can drop Heavy loot bags….right?

Brother Grimm.5176:

Since there are only 2 other zones that CAN drop T6s, which is it? Frostgorge or Southsun?

Also, you do realize that it’s not direct material drops in Orr that make it lucrative but the sheer number of enemies that can drop Heavy loot bags….right?

I’ve actually found that mobs in Dry Top have a very decent T6 drop rate.

mtpelion.4562:

Brother Grimm.5176:

Since there are only 2 other zones that CAN drop T6s, which is it? Frostgorge or Southsun?

Also, you do realize that it’s not direct material drops in Orr that make it lucrative but the sheer number of enemies that can drop Heavy loot bags….right?

I’ve actually found that mobs in Dry Top have a very decent T6 drop rate.

As a response to both of you.
Yes Dry Top has a great direct T6 drop rate. Also in Frostgorge, there are some great places, out of the way, where very few if any go, that also have a decent direct drop rate. Also there are several places in WvW for direct T6 drops and bags. However farming there relys on your server. If in a WvW centric server, farming there would not be a good idea, as your spot could be better filled with someone wanting to WvW. And if in a non WvW centric server, with little to no queues it won’t be an issue.

Update:

So after continuing to work on getting my Tooth of Frostfang, by doing dungeons, farming mats, etc. I recieved a PM as a response to this thread. A kind soul has graciously chosen to donate Tooth of Frostfang to me as a gift. As of last night I am a proud and grateful owner of The Tooth of Frostfang. Thank you again kind and generous person. Such deeds often get repaid in kind many fold over. May you recieve blessings, and peace in whatever you do. Thanks!!!

Congrats In a way the RNG gods did shine upon you i suppose :P
(P.S. would the kind soul send me an spark please>? :P)