Guild Wars 2

GW2 was designed without vertical gear progression on max level. That allowed everyone to have a lot of gear with different stats/runes/sigils/whetever and do not waste years earning it. But then ascended came out. I like it cause it brings at least some vertical progression to the table while not making it absolutly neccesary to acquire “top gear” and farm new gear every few months like in other MMOs. It just give a little bit of stats advange to main chars over alts, to veteran players over new one and allow more fractal progression. This is all great but it REMOVES the variety of playing with multiple stat combos set. It basicly locks you to just one stat combo path all way long through fractals because acquiring ascended (especially armor) is really time demanding.

My suggestion is that Ascended armor and weapons (and maybe even trinkets) should have changeable stat combos like legendary does. But it doesn’t have to be “for free” like legendary. For example you craft all your ascended gear with “default” stats and then you buy or craft something that allow ascended change to berseker stats and another thing that allow change to rabid. Therefore you should be able to switch stats between Rabid, Berseker and the one that the items whas originaly crafted with. This thing for stats changing should cost something but it should have significantly lesser price than crafting a new ascended gear.

Agreed 100%.

Legendaries have free stat change.
Ascended should have consumable/paid for stat change – cheap enough to be practical, but should be more expensive than equivalent exotic items.

Won’t happen and shouldn’t.
This is the offset price you pay for jumping on board the vertical progression train. You build-lock yourself for the benefit of slightly higher stats.

Not only would it detract from Legendary weapons (and upcoming trinkets and rumored armor), it flies in the face of all the reasons they had for justifying adding Ascended to game in the first place. It wasn’t supposed to be easily accessible and that’s exactly what you’re asking for. More easily accessible ways to get the same armor with different stats.

Sorry but its unlikley to happen. Its seems apparent that Anet are looking to add in Legendary armors with stat switching at a later date.

How would it detract from legendaries if you had to pay for the stat change?

Not to mention not having the fancy skin/effects of a legendary, which some players don’t even like.

As it is now it gives players little incentive to try out new builds using the best stats, so anyone who wants variety in their class is better off having half a dozen exotic sets and switching them up (edit, unless you’re one of the few that can afford several ascended sets for one character).

I’m going to keep pushing for a stat change item – even if it is through the gemstore, and only works on exotic and above.

Because its a ‘feature’ of Legendary. Why do you think they added that to Legendary at the same time Ascended was added? Its there to act as a superior feature and incentive for Legendary. Even paying for that same feature on ‘lesser’ gear detracts from having the feature on the highest end gear.
You jumped at the Ascended carrot they dangled. This is the price you pay for it.
Its why I am not even bothering to make Ascended armor. I have no interest in spending that much for a build-locking BiS gear-set for a bit of a stat boost.
I am trading that stat boost to maintain equal sets of versatility. You are trading away versatility for a stat boost. Pretty simple.

For the record I haven’t jumped at it – I have no intention of making any ascended gear beyond using trinkets, and maybe weapons (depending on how the upcoming crit damage changes affect berserker weapons).

To me considering how much effort/cost goes into an ascended item, it seems ridiculous that you’re then locked into one stat combo.

Ascended should have just been Legendary Armor/Trinkets with stat switching ability and unique visuals and particle effects, but equal to exotic in terms of stats.

And before someone says that Ascended fills a gap between Exotic and Legendary – no, it doesn’t. Before ascended, Legendary had EXOTIC stats. It was only just a skin as it was meant to be.

You don’t pay that much for it, relative to Legendary – cost of levelling the professions not included in this as its moot after the first set, which is the topic at hand. If you are making a second set, the cost is substantially less as you have already maxed the crafts needed.
You shouldn’t get the full feature model paying less,.You would pay less a fee to have the benefit of Legendary stat switching without having to actually pay or work on a Legendary. Unless you stat switched many times or unless the cost was astronomical, you would never pay the same amount and essentially get the same benefits of a Legendary user for mere fraction of what they paid. Why should that be?
If you want the best……go for the best.

MrRuin that would have been true, if they didn’t decide to make gear progression neccesary for part of the content. Right know you NEED at least ascended weapons + trinkets to be able to go through highest level of fractals and later on when they add more levels, you will also need armor. Therefore you LOCK yourself to one stat combo to be able to do all PvE content.

As few percent stats boost it makes sence the way it is right now. But with gear-checking PvE content players should be able to switch their stats combos to different one while still having their agony resist.

Maybe we should all wait for Legendary armour and jewellery. You’ll never have the get another set of armour and you’ll have access to every stat and conceivable combination, once you have full legendary gear. Of course, this is not going to be achievable by the majority.

Anet have themselves to blame, on one hand they made a game where you have many different builds yet on the other they create an itemisation system that inhibits experimentation. The most practical thing is only changing traits.

Sure, but why should players do full legendary gear when they want access to just 2-3 stats and don’t like legendary visually? Right now for example, I would never make one of existing legendaries for my necro and it would be really annogin if I HAVE to make legendaries to be able to switch stat and then just simply trasmute them because I dont like the skin… Dont get me wrong but I think legendary should be made MAINLY because of skin and visual effects with bonus of free stat change whenever you want, but I think it shouldn’t be legendary only feature (altough ascended would be somehow limited or paid)

The line that comes to mind is.

“Give players the means to try different setups without having to keep 5 different armour sets and weapons in their bags.”

Sceletonx.7481:

MrRuin that would have been true, if they didn’t decide to make gear progression neccesary for part of the content. Right know you NEED at least ascended weapons + trinkets to be able to go through highest level of fractals and later on when they add more levels, you will also need armor. Therefore you LOCK yourself to one stat combo to be able to do all PvE content.

As few percent stats boost it makes sence the way it is right now. But with gear-checking PvE content players should be able to switch their stats combos to different one while still having their agony resist.

By your own admittance, you only need that Ascended set for higher level fractals. Specifically only level 50 atm.
Choose the stat set of Ascended you need for that level fractals and move on. You don’t need that stat set or that gear for anything else. Run Exotic for any other build set or when not in fractals. What do you need that specific set outside of fractals lvl50 for? Can you not have other sets with other stats in exotics?
You still want Legendary privileges for Ascended prices is what it comes down to.
You are locking yourself into one build by not making or considering any exotic outside fractals.
You run different builds in WvW? Or a different build for other dungeons? Thats the luxury Legendary players pay for. If you have different builds for these, get an exotic set for those.

It would probably be really annoying for Legendary owners to have a luxury benefit they paid loads of coin for also given to you for a substantially lesser cost. Its a luxury feature and not needed for your gear that you only need to have in one level of fractals.

It’s not 1 level of fractals. It’ all levels of fractals between 10 and 50, all of those need some agony resistance which you can have just on ascended (and legendary) items. So you re basicly locked on one stat combo for whole instance which is mean to be top tier PvE intance.

That’s 40 levels of fractals, each of them different because of random selection, 20 levels with different instabilities. For all of that I am locked for one stat combo. That’s maybe normal for most MMOs, but GW2 is designed to have a large viable build diversity and allowing players to experiment with them.

Isn’t legendary 90% about the skin, not the changeable stats (at least, before stat change became available)?

I don’t know many people who like ascended skins as it is, so they are purely for the stats, which is why I believe this thread makes sense.

They are going to add in legendarily armor that going to be the gear that you can switch but its going to be a lot harder to get. The idea of ascended items was something that you got before legendarily it just happens most ppl got the legendarily weapons before ascended was put out. Think of Ascended items as a way for ppl who do not have the time and gold to keep up with thoughts who make legendarily.

I have an idea, give legendaries stat and skin choosing ability. They have access to all stats and you can also add skins to the “skin bank” to choose from.

Ascended stuff – stats choosing only.

defrule.7236:

I have an idea, give legendaries stat and skin choosing ability. They have access to all stats and you can also add skins to the “skin bank” to choose from.

Ascended stuff – stats choosing only.

That’s actually really good idea in my opinion.

defrule.7236:

I have an idea, give legendaries stat and skin choosing ability. They have access to all stats and you can also add skins to the “skin bank” to choose from.

Ascended stuff – stats choosing only.

That’s a great idea, would certainly help the folk who find legendary skins to be ugly.

I can’t imagine anyone buying a legendary purely for stat change, and transmuting an exotic skin over the top, for example.

Sceletonx.7481:

It’s not 1 level of fractals. It’ all levels of fractals between 10 and 50, all of those need some agony resistance which you can have just on ascended (and legendary) items. So you re basicly locked on one stat combo for whole instance which is mean to be top tier PvE intance.

That’s 40 levels of fractals, each of them different because of random selection, 20 levels with different instabilities. For all of that I am locked for one stat combo. That’s maybe normal for most MMOs, but GW2 is designed to have a large viable build diversity and allowing players to experiment with them.

GW2 is conforming to the status quo of the MMO genre, if that hasn’t been made evident. Thats why vertical progression was added in the first place.
You don’t need Ascended weapons or armor for fractals 10~49.

And as for trinkets, Ascended trinkets are very cheap using all the methods available to obtain them, so its not a problem having multiple of those for swapping for those levels of fractals (especially since Pristines can be broken down now). You can have all the AR you need in your trinkets and swap sets of exotic armor and weapons for different builds in fractals 10~49.
So, whats the problem besides wanting a Legendary luxury for less?

MrRuin.9740:

Won’t happen and shouldn’t.
This is the offset price you pay for jumping on board the vertical progression train. You build-lock yourself for the benefit of slightly higher stats.

Not only would it detract from Legendary weapons (and upcoming trinkets and rumored armor), it flies in the face of all the reasons they had for justifying adding Ascended to game in the first place. It wasn’t supposed to be easily accessible and that’s exactly what you’re asking for. More easily accessible ways to get the same armor with different stats.

Sorry u didn’t play gw1 ? With nightfall you could swap out stats through runes, some being class limited. Only base armor stat stayed the same on armours ie 100 def on plate or was it 80.

raiden.9024:

Sorry u didn’t play gw1 ? With nightfall you could swap out stats through runes, some being class limited. Only base armor stat stayed the same on armours ie 100 def on plate or was it 80.

This isn’t GW1.
As evidenced from the last year, why would anyone expect anything from GW1 to be carried over?

Legendaries also did not have the stat swapping option right from the start. Ascended items should not get the stat swapping option for free, though. But they should be unlockable by any means. See the link in my signature for some idea how this could be done.