Guild Wars 2

So I’ve finished 21 fractals so far and haven’t seen a single drop of Vial of Condensed Mists. I’m running with +76% magic find (don’t want to gimp myself too much). What the hell is this? What is the drop rate on this thing? Are only people who seriously grind FOTM every day supposed to have a chance at Ascended gear? Should we all run in pure MF gear to have a chance at this equipment?

I already have more than 50 globs of ectoplasm and enough gold to buy the rest of the ingredients I need for a backpiece, yet the Vial never drops. Why is this item not purchaseable through tokens? Even being to able to purchase it with 500 tokens would be better than it’s apparent tiny drop chance.

To make you feel even worse, I’ve found 2 in like 9 fractals with 0 MF (not even food). RNG is fun!

RNG and luck based.

3% MF (Karka Shell) yeilded me a vial of condensed mists on my 6th run of level 1.

I went in and solo’d urban fractal today (at fractal level 1) for a bet. Got 2 vials.

I always seem to get them in the urban (ascalon) fractal more than any of the others.

may i suggest you to try swamp alone or any other stage low lvl?

i agree rng is bad, but if you cannot find any ._. its better than nothing…

Zenyatoo.4059:

I went in and solo’d urban fractal today (at fractal level 1) for a bet. Got 2 vials.

I always seem to get them in the urban (ascalon) fractal more than any of the others.

One of my two came from the urban fractal as well.

The soloing mobs advice sounds like something I should try. Though I dread to imagine what the drop rate is, thinking how many skelks I killed in Swamp during runs. Ah well, thanks for the tip. Wish this sort of tweaking behaviour to get dungeons to work wasn’t needed in this game.

You said you had over 50 globs… You do know you can turn globs into vials?
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Vial_of_Condensed_Mists_Essence

RoRo.8270:

You said you had over 50 globs… You do know you can turn globs into vials?
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Vial_of_Condensed_Mists_Essence

I did say globs of ectoplasm, not glob of coagulated mists.

I tried farming the veteran mobs in Urban alone, but they seem to never drop anything at all. Did I somehow hit DR while trying to get the right instance? Or do mobs there only drop items after the gate is broken into?

LiuliRenai.3928:

RoRo.8270:

You said you had over 50 globs… You do know you can turn globs into vials?
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Vial_of_Condensed_Mists_Essence

I did say globs of ectoplasm, not glob of coagulated mists.

I tried farming the veteran mobs in Urban alone, but they seem to never drop anything at all. Did I somehow hit DR while trying to get the right instance? Or do mobs there only drop items after the gate is broken into?

sorry about that then

I really don’t agree with the whole RNG thing for the vials, globs, and shards, but fortunately it’s only for the backpiece and upgraded rings.

To comment against your statement of the general “chance” at ascended gear, getting the essences are not necessarily required for a “piece” of ascended gear. You can at least still get the tokens for the simple infusion and do a scale 10 fractal daily for a week or so for the rings. That’s +10 AR minimum right there without the need for essences.

Having said that, yes, the RNG on the mists essences is still a problem and should have a system like the rings.

LiuliRenai.3928:

So I’ve finished 21 fractals so far and haven’t seen a single drop of Vial of Condensed Mists. I’m running with +76% magic find (don’t want to gimp myself too much). What the hell is this? What is the drop rate on this thing? Are only people who seriously grind FOTM every day supposed to have a chance at Ascended gear? Should we all run in pure MF gear to have a chance at this equipment?

I already have more than 50 globs of ectoplasm and enough gold to buy the rest of the ingredients I need for a backpiece, yet the Vial never drops. Why is this item not purchaseable through tokens? Even being to able to purchase it with 500 tokens would be better than it’s apparent tiny drop chance.

76% magic find from gear?

I have no data whatsoever to back this up, and I know it’s just anecdotal… But I swear I get more of the vials/globs/shards (and even rates for that matter) when im wearing little or no magic find in fractals.

I’m sure it’s just RNG, but just thought I’d throw a little anecdotal experience in the mix.

For what it’s worth I seem to get the vials quite often from trash in the water level.

I got one on my first ever path, in the volcanic fractal with only 3% MF (I may have had 43%, I don’t remember if I was running Omnom bars). I spent about 5 minutes in the dungeon and I had it, that’s the nature of RNG. It helps to have paths which have a lot more mobs (Volcanic, Urban Battlegrounds etc) because the drop rate in the other paths doesn’t seem to be compensated for the time/effort invested in them.

Maybe that’s something worth looking at in the future. If they are going to have big chase items like these exclusive to drops, paths like the Uncategorised fractal which only has a few harpies and some bosses, maybe boost the drop rate of individual mobs on these kinda of items. Alternatively they can add chests after certain phases. There’s little danger of people only running the paths they want to run for profitability due to the random nature of fractals, but it would be nice to bridge the gap of loot disparity so that people who do care about drops (and specifically, these drops) don’t feel disappointed when they get a fractal known for poor loot.

I like that different fractals offer different challenges (some require co-ordination like the golem boss with the tears and the fan, the Swamp wisp event), some require platforming skills (like the Uncategorised Fractal or Cliffside), some offer unique gameplay experiences (the Underwater fractal) and some are mob intense (Urban Battleground, Volcanic). Part of what works about FotM is that you get a mixed bag of environments and challenges. Different skill sets combine into what ends up being a challenging experience all round. I don’t want them to just add a bunch of mobs to every fractal so that they all give good loot, that would take away one of the cool things about the dungeon. I would like to see some loot issues alleviate for the paths which are light on mobs.

DancingPenguins.9875:

76% magic find from gear?

50% from superior runes of the pirate and another 26% from food. Not sure why it matters, though?

LiuliRenai.3928:

DancingPenguins.9875:

76% magic find from gear?

50% from superior runes of the pirate and another 26% from food. Not sure why it matters, though?

Oh, just making sure. A lot of people use this forum as a blocklist. Thought they’d be interested in clarifications.

Also, I do believe the shards are ranked with white items so your high MF might have boosted drop quality out of the vial range and given you blues and greens instead.

I see, that’s pretty insane if that’s the case, but seems like a few people on this thread mention better results with no MF. Will have to try and see.

LiuliRenai.3928:

RoRo.8270:

You said you had over 50 globs… You do know you can turn globs into vials?
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Vial_of_Condensed_Mists_Essence

I did say globs of ectoplasm, not glob of coagulated mists.

I tried farming the veteran mobs in Urban alone, but they seem to never drop anything at all. Did I somehow hit DR while trying to get the right instance? Or do mobs there only drop items after the gate is broken into?

non-respawning monsters drop loot. The monsters in front of the gate in urban all respawn infinitely IIRC. So yes, you must break through the gate and kill those groups between the gate and the main courtyard in order to get vials.

EDIT:
My advice for breaking the gate is to bring stability, as well as plenty of ranged attacks. Deal with the ballista, then the burning oil. With a bit of luck your NPC’s will go for the boss automatically, and they can kill her by themselves at fractal level 1. Giving you time to kill the arrow carts, oil, respawning ballista, and do DPS from (reasonable) safety.

For monsters inside the gate, aggro them at range, then prepare to dodge roll the warriors charging at you. From there it’s simply survival, and trying to get the NPC’s to aid you. I did it as full DPS, so survivability isnt a major major deal.
I would not recommend trying to clear the courtyard solo. It’s a pain. I died 3 times.

i forgot..
May i suggest you to save ecto and just buy the backpack for relics?

If you do daily 2 and 10 you will have more than enough in no time….

I still regret crafting 1 for mats :S

Thanks for the tips again. Finished Urban solo twice now from start to finish, as well as clearing the mobs in Underwater before turning to fish four times. Still nothing. Either I’m really unlucky or this theory about +MF lowering chances might hold water (still have 50% due to runes of pirates).

I’ll try some more tommorow. One thing is for sure, doing this instances solo is much better for drops than a group that hurries and skips most mobs. This drops are really terribly implemented.

I’m running with zero magic find and have had four vials and a glob drop for me in around 40 runs.

Actually, you CAN’T get vials of mist essence from fractals lv20 and up. If you really want them, you’re going to have to grind lower levels (1-9). An alternative though, would be to simply downgrade a glob of mist essence into 3 vials, the recipe is on the wiki.

jwaz.1908:

Actually, you CAN’T get vials of mist essence from fractals lv20 and up. If you really want them, you’re going to have to grind lower levels (1-9). An alternative though, would be to simply downgrade a glob of mist essence into 3 vials, the recipe is on the wiki.

Actually you can get vials 20+ they drop from the jade collosus and barracuda

0% mf and 3 vials and only up to lvl 6. Last one was from the urban map.

the first vial i got was in lvl 9 … and then i also got my second in the same run. and that was after around 30-40 fractals perhaps. 40%mf from food also.

It seems that the droprate for vials is lower than for globs and shards. Which is strange really.

I had like 3 vials for going from 1 to 10 and then like 7 globs in 10-20.

On the other hand, some of people I ran fractals with told that they have like 15+ vials and don’t know what to do with them.

Well, party RNG is broken, it’s old news.

Isslair.4908:

It seems that the droprate for vials is lower than for globs and shards. Which is strange really.

I had like 3 vials for going from 1 to 10 and then like 7 globs in 10-20.

On the other hand, some of people I ran fractals with told that they have like 15+ vials and don’t know what to do with them.

Well, party RNG is broken, it’s old news.

it’s very unlikely globs and vials and crystals have different drop chances. i’d say they are around the same drop chance.
however. i’ve noted a decrease of drops as i progress higher in the levels. im at 29 atm and i cant remember when i got one dropped for me last time. but I’m just unlucky maybe. ( not that i need them, but it would be cool to have for some alts in the future)

Isslair.4908:

Well, party RNG is broken, it’s old news.

No, it’s not broken. The Random number generator is just randomly giving too many vials to some people, none to others. Which is the expected outcome of RNG based drops. If we only had some method of people to transfer their excess vials to people who didn’t get any, and for them to get something in return to encourage them to trade vials with people they don’t care about.

Oh wait, we do have a system to do that. It’s called the trading post. It’s just that ANET doesn’t want us trading vials through it. Why doesn’t ANET want vials to be tradeable ?

I just have one question. Does MF (food) helps you get these vials any faster than you would without any MF?

RoRo.8270:

jwaz.1908:

Actually, you CAN’T get vials of mist essence from fractals lv20 and up. If you really want them, you’re going to have to grind lower levels (1-9). An alternative though, would be to simply downgrade a glob of mist essence into 3 vials, the recipe is on the wiki.

Actually you can get vials 20+ they drop from the jade collosus and barracuda

If so, your not suppose to be able to. I read in a patch that they said that vials shouldn’t drop past lv10, and globs shouldn’t drop past lv20.

got 6 in about 3 fractals today.. with 0 mf, its just plain rng tbh.. I’ve never seen much benefit in the mf buff

jwaz.1908:

RoRo.8270:

jwaz.1908:

Actually, you CAN’T get vials of mist essence from fractals lv20 and up. If you really want them, you’re going to have to grind lower levels (1-9). An alternative though, would be to simply downgrade a glob of mist essence into 3 vials, the recipe is on the wiki.

Actually you can get vials 20+ they drop from the jade collosus and barracuda

If so, your not suppose to be able to. I read in a patch that they said that vials shouldn’t drop past lv10, and globs shouldn’t drop past lv20.

Trust me jade colosus drop vials reason is they are level 80mobs and arent scaled up

RoRo.8270:

jwaz.1908:

RoRo.8270:

jwaz.1908:

Actually, you CAN’T get vials of mist essence from fractals lv20 and up. If you really want them, you’re going to have to grind lower levels (1-9). An alternative though, would be to simply downgrade a glob of mist essence into 3 vials, the recipe is on the wiki.

Actually you can get vials 20+ they drop from the jade collosus and barracuda

If so, your not suppose to be able to. I read in a patch that they said that vials shouldn’t drop past lv10, and globs shouldn’t drop past lv20.

Trust me jade colosus drop vials reason is they are level 80mobs and arent scaled up

specifically, anything spawned by another monster:
barracuda, the colossi, the wolves from snowblind, ETC can all drop vials even past fractal 10/20

I have done over 400+ fractals and this is the TOTAL number of drops:
Vial of Condensed Mists Essence: 17
Glob of Coagulated Mists: 11
Shard of Crystallized Mists Essence: 11
Ascended rings: around 10

I usually have 70% magic minimum all the time.
Once in a while, if the team is not doing well, and I switch armor for 0% magic.

Lightrayne.7829:

I really don’t agree with the whole RNG thing for the vials, globs, and shards, but fortunately it’s only for the backpiece and upgraded rings.

To comment against your statement of the general “chance” at ascended gear, getting the essences are not necessarily required for a “piece” of ascended gear. You can at least still get the tokens for the simple infusion and do a scale 10 fractal daily for a week or so for the rings. That’s +10 AR minimum right there without the need for essences.

Having said that, yes, the RNG on the mists essences is still a problem and should have a system like the rings.

this post is a few months old but I wish to toss my 2c in. I WANT a Quiver for my ranger purely for looks. There is NO other way to get a quiver except to make an Ascended Back item, which needs the essence. I have yet to see an essence drop for myself in the fractals and I don’t like higher level fractals so have no plan on doing them. I’m almost 80 now on my ranger so I’ll be able to actually wear the quiver instead of transforming it to another back item…..assuming I ever get a Mist Essence drop.

WHY Aren’t these buyable for Fractal Relics from the merchant?

RNG Sucks.

5 vials in 138 fractals completed.

Still only at fractal level 12 or so because well, skill and my friend’s skill. Guild is very casual…

I gave up on fractals. RNG sucks. There’s a guy in the other thread bragging about how many vials and everything he gets, and he is/was in my current guild. Makes me want to quit seeing some people so lucky while I’m forced to drag by with next to nothing.

I would like to get a quiver for my Ranger too, for the looks. Feels weird that no other quiver is available than the ascended items, which i will probably never get because of the low drop rate of vials – been to the Fractals completely on my own a few times, spent a few hours with getting rags and patches of fur. Waste of my time.

Off topic I know, but fear not Rangers, there’s a new gem store quiver coming in the patch next week !

All I run with is Omnom bars, sometimes. 3 shards, 3 globs, 5 or 6 vials, personal reward is around 28.

Why are you in such a rush to get vials? Just keep going up till you can get shards, that way you can put them in the MF to get 3 globs, then vials. 1shard=3globs=9vials (only if going down. If transforming up then 1shard=5globs=25vials)

I have 30 spare shards in my bank and I’ve used maybe 10 on top of that. I do 48 and seem to get one every other run. I manged to get 4 shards in 1 run. This seems like the only loot that scales so if you need to grind to get to the next tier just go for the higher levels of the tier. Dredge is lame but great for these drops.

Also, for the people running the mf gear and not getting these drops and needing them…. I am glad you didn’t get rewarded for contributing less. There isn’t much lamer in the game than a person running around in a dungeon with a set of mf gear. I do not run mf and managed to get around 50 shards if I add in mists and globs with my shards.

Personally I hate fractals and now I have done 36 of them and no Vial of Condensed Mists Essence, no glob or shard.

Magic was between 40-70%. I just want the ascendant back. I have all the other mats. Take me a long time to farm 250 Armored Scale but now I am wasting even more time to farm the essence who don’t drop. I do low fractal to run quicker, try to solo mob in volcan but of course no luck.

I presume I am unlucky.

I have over 80 shards and 1, yes, ONE glob and 3 vials. I dunno what’s going on here but my advice is to move on to higher level fractals (20+,30+,40+) and just turn the shards into vials as their drop rates seem so much better.

Heyh, I found this farming video on youtube. Maybe it helps you (http://youtu.be/dgyXaMFaqAg)

I recommend doing 20+ fractals for crystal drops and then making those into globs and vials. Less quantity for same rng is always the better idea. Also kills lots of mobs instead of skipping.

Bambu.4270:

I recommend doing 20+ fractals for crystal drops and then making those into globs and vials. Less quantity for same rng is always the better idea. Also kills lots of mobs instead of skipping.

Are you still talking about doing it regularly, or some type of solo farminh?

Got my first essence after 150+ fractals …