Guild Wars 2

I currently have a 32 Guardian and a 27 Ranger I switch back and forth when I get bored with one. Combined I have Jewel/Armor/Leather/Weapon crafting so I could cover all of the gear slots I would need. The problem I’m running into is the rarity of these crafting materials it can take upwards of 8 to make one item once you get to the master tier. I’ve watched a few random videos on youtube about farming spots and while I did receive some over the course of an hour I collected enough to make 3 pieces. By the time I farm enough for a full set of level 30 gear I won’t need the gear anymore.

Is clearing mobs the only effective way to farm the rare materials? Does anyone know a site with more concrete information on farming materials?

Thanks in advanced!

Low-level crafting is never worth it, and you just discovered why. By the time you get enough of the fine materials to make the gear you were going for, your level has already outstripped the usefulness of what you are trying to craft. And buying them is not even worth considering either since the LOWER tier materials actually cost MORE than the higher ones (tiers 2, 3, and 4, are 2x to 3x more expensive than tier 5).

All fine materials (save T6) have the same drop rate, when it should be that the lower tier materials drop more often or in higher volumes (or both). That is the only way to make low-level crafting worthwhile to pursue. As it stands, you simply level up too fast for crafting your own gear to be worth the effort. I don’t think that balancing low-level crafting is very high on Anet’s to-do list, though.

^Best answer right there.
Reasons:

The people who actually gather those “Fine” (blue) Mats fast enough that they wouldn’t simply out-level it by 5/10 levels in the same amount of time, are specialized for it with Level-80 gear generally that has up to 4 Bonuses on it all at once (partially gained through level 80 food as well). Their Damage is also vastly superior due to the same overwhelming quantity of Stats that don’t take as much of a penalty as you might expect when they’re “sidekicked DOWN” by 50 levels… And of course there’s also farming spots. The best ones in your particular level range are not going to be on Youtube…. sorry. For instance one of the most expensive mid-tier scales, I can get 1 or 2 every minute but it’s literally in a place no one would ever think to look for Aquatic mobs… Or in other cases like in GW1, the quickest mat farms typically involved some kind of Exploit or abuse of the A.I. And once that stuff gets too public here in GW2, it just gets closed down.

Another thing to consider… which I did just last night. I didn’t have all the mats for my Ranger’s 50 gear, and she’s completely Mastered leatherworking. A quick use of the calculator would show the Mats for just her Green Gear would cost between 12 & 16 silver a piece. Instead of wasting time farming the pieces I’d need, and then waste even more money on Thread, I just Bought a full set of “Strong” RARES off the TP instead for half the price. (you can’t do that with 65+ rares b/c they get gobbled up for Ecto salvage… but anything below that, that’s generally the way the market’s going to work).

You have to basically be a financial genius in this game to find any niche in crafting that’s actually profitable for the time invested. In every other case, it’s always just easier to sell your mats 1 copper below the lowest seller. (lowest seller, not “highest buyer”).

Honestly I am getting a little sick of crafting being worthless while leveling, almost every game is set up that way, bah. LoTRO one of the last games I played where I was able to craft new gear for myself the entire leveling process, was amazing!

Thanks for the responses!

What’s the best way to go about leveling crafting then? I usually just go for discovery exp, but if I don’t farm the mats that won’t be possible.

ilr.9675:

^Best answer right there.
Reasons:

The people who actually gather those “Fine” (blue) Mats fast enough that they wouldn’t simply out-level it by 5/10 levels in the same amount of time, are specialized for it with Level-80 gear generally that has up to 4 Bonuses on it all at once (partially gained through level 80 food as well). Their Damage is also vastly superior due to the same overwhelming quantity of Stats that don’t take as much of a penalty as you might expect when they’re “sidekicked DOWN” by 50 levels… And of course there’s also farming spots. The best ones in your particular level range are not going to be on Youtube…. sorry. For instance one of the most expensive mid-tier scales, I can get 1 or 2 every minute but it’s literally in a place no one would ever think to look for Aquatic mobs… Or in other cases like in GW1, the quickest mat farms typically involved some kind of Exploit or abuse of the A.I. And once that stuff gets too public here in GW2, it just gets closed down.

Another thing to consider… which I did just last night. I didn’t have all the mats for my Ranger’s 50 gear, and she’s completely Mastered leatherworking. A quick use of the calculator would show the Mats for just her Green Gear would cost between 12 & 16 silver a piece. Instead of wasting time farming the pieces I’d need, and then waste even more money on Thread, I just Bought a full set of “Strong” RARES off the TP instead for half the price. (you can’t do that with 65+ rares b/c they get gobbled up for Ecto salvage… but anything below that, that’s generally the way the market’s going to work).

You have to basically be a financial genius in this game to find any niche in crafting that’s actually profitable for the time invested. In every other case, it’s always just easier to sell your mats 1 copper below the lowest seller. (lowest seller, not “highest buyer”).

I was under the impression that if you list your item at the same price as the lowest seller yours is next on the list to sell. So, listing under that only serves to drives the price down.

I could be mistaken these days.

Whelm.9072:

So, listing under that only serves to drives the price down.

I’m an Altruist.
…trying to lead by example…
won’t bother pointing the moral pitfalls in your approach b/c that wouldn’t be very altruistic, would it? Instead I’ll say: I’m sure you can figure it out on your own.