Guild Wars 2

So I need a ball of dark energy for my legendary, but I have no spare ascended armor or weapon to salvage. What’s the least painful method (in terms of money and time) of getting ascended equipment for salvaging?

(And sorry if this topic was addressed recently, the forum search tool doesn’t work for me and google only gave me old topics)

Edit: I know rings don’t drop BoDE, other trinkets have a low drop rate and that armor & weapons are 100%.

There is no “easy” way really. Fractals have a decent chance of dropping ascended, but that’s about it.

Legendaries are designed to be costly and time consuming/ short of buying one outright, there are very few shortcuts one can take

Other than crafting if you get lucky and get an ascended weapon or armor chest to drop that might do it for you, though I know the drop rate can be low.

I’ve gotten a few from the earrings that drop from fractal daily boxes so it can’t hurt to get them done if you can. Other than that, farming berries and buying them from the new map I guess?

rapthorne.7345:

There is no “easy” way really. Fractals have a decent chance of dropping ascended, but that’s about it.

Legendaries are designed to be costly and time consuming/ short of buying one outright, there are very few shortcuts one can take

Oh I know that much, I’m almost done with Nevermore IV :‘) All that wood…… There’s a reason I wrote “least painful” instead of “easiest” haha. But thanks, I guess I’ll keep doing my fractal dailies until I catch up on all other parts and hope for the best.

@others seems fractals or outright crafting is the way to go… urks

Pvp if you play like 20-30 games will get you 3-4 pieces depending on win rate.

Linnea.5146:

rapthorne.7345:

There is no “easy” way really. Fractals have a decent chance of dropping ascended, but that’s about it.

Legendaries are designed to be costly and time consuming/ short of buying one outright, there are very few shortcuts one can take

Oh I know that much, I’m almost done with Nevermore IV :‘) All that wood…… There’s a reason I wrote “least painful” instead of “easiest” haha. But thanks, I guess I’ll keep doing my fractal dailies until I catch up on all other parts and hope for the best.

@others seems fractals or outright crafting is the way to go… urks

Rabidsmiles mentioned the ascended trinkets from the new maps, and there are those backpieces too. Worth looking into maybe.

You can also salvage one of the rewards from the elite specialisation collections. I salvaged one of the shields as that was the cheapest to replace if I ever needed to.

Yeah, you might want to doublecheck that it’s possible to salvage the purchased ascended items from the new maps, but if it is, that would probably be the least painful and least time-intensive method. After a few days of gathering berries in Bitterfrost you should have enough to purchase one of the trinkets to salvage. It takes me around 10 minutes to gather most of the berries there each day so that would be something extremely easy you could add to your gameplay checklist. The ascended ring there (Black Ice Band) costs 200 winterberries and 2k unbound, and you could get 200 berries within 3-4 days.

But as flesh wound said, definitely check into it first. I haven’t done this myself so I’m not 100% certain they are salvageable.

drunkenpilot.9837:

Yeah, you might want to doublecheck that it’s possible to salvage the purchased ascended items from the new maps, but if it is, that would probably be the least painful and least time-intensive method. After a few days of gathering berries in Bitterfrost you should have enough to purchase one of the trinkets to salvage. It takes me around 10 minutes to gather most of the berries there each day so that would be something extremely easy you could add to your gameplay checklist. The ascended ring there (Black Ice Band) costs 200 winterberries and 2k unbound, and you could get 200 berries within 3-4 days.

But as flesh wound said, definitely check into it first. I haven’t done this myself so I’m not 100% certain they are salvageable.

If it does work, you’ll have to salvage the backpiece. Rings don’t give balls of dark energy, and other trinkets only have a very low chance.

Thank you all for your helpful replies!

@onevstheworld Do backpieces have a better rate than other trinkets (minus the 0-rate rings)?

Linnea.5146:

Thank you all for your helpful replies!

@onevstheworld Do backpieces have a better rate than other trinkets (minus the 0-rate rings)?

Actually I may have jumped the gun in recommending the backpack. Never done it myself and assumed it was better, but the wiki says the chance is low.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ball_of_Dark_Energy

It might be worth noting the achievements you can do for ascended items too. Luminesence collection is surprisingly quick if you enjoy farming SW. Not sure how quick the Leystone armour collection is.

Also, are the ascended trinkets gained from completing story achievements salvageable?

Fractals or PvP seem to be my best way of getting ascended armor or weapon chests.

I’d say fractal dailies are relatively painless.

About ~1 week of doing t4 should get you either a weapon or armor chest.