Guild Wars 2

I have lots of chests, but rarely find keys. Any help is appreciated.

There is only 2 ways to get keys, buy them or make a char to do the level 10 personal story, delete char and repeat.

Well there is also the ominous thing called RNG which allows you to find them in the open world.
Heard it is quite the fickle thing and you have more chances at winning the lottery than finding a key.

Getting something usefull out of the box is a whole different matter.

Gemstore
Personal Story (lv 10 and a few other)
The LS story mission “Into the Labyrinth”
Map Completion
Login Reward
Drop from enemies

Haishao.6851:

Drop from enemies

Do they drop though? I’ve gotten quite a few keys through map completion, some through personal story but I don’t think I ever got one through random drops. o.o

I have gotten some through drops. One even dropped from the story enemies when I was key farming once. That was pre-NPE patch, though, so maybe they no longer drop.

They do drop. I got an unexpected drop in a low level area about a week or so back. I think I’ve seen 2-3 mob drops in 2.5 years.

Harper.4173:

They do drop. I got an unexpected drop in a low level area about a week or so back. I think I’ve seen 2-3 mob drops in 2.5 years.

Yup. Sounds about right. I’ve gotten maybe two in all of my time playing from drops.

Though from the chests themselves when I had bought some keys to open them, I’d occasionally get back keys.

I don’t get why people try to farm or even buy keys. The black lion chests are full of junk. Maybe people just want the skins you can buy with tickets, but you need 10 ticket scraps for one ticket, and 1 or 5 tickets for a skin. But the kicker is a scrap isn’t even a guaranteed drop from each chest. I think I’ve open about 20 chests over the course of playing and have 5 ticket scraps. Just not worth it in my opinion. There should be a least a guaranteed scrap drop and a RND for a whole ticket.

Wylf.2586:

Haishao.6851:

Drop from enemies

Do they drop though? I’ve gotten quite a few keys through map completion, some through personal story but I don’t think I ever got one through random drops. o.o

I got 1 from drop in all the time I have played.
It was about 6 months ago, from one of those annoying little poison spitting spiders in Spider Queen room in AC.

Imagine every time you got a key from random drop it could have been precursor.

Vague Memory.2817:

There should be a least a guaranteed scrap drop and a RND for a whole ticket.

Especially at the price for keys. Best price is 25 keys for 2100 gems, so even with a guaranteed scrap per chest the cheapest a black lion weapon skin would cost is 840 gems – 240~340 more than what they charge now for single weapon skins on the gem store.

Recently, I had was in the lucky position of getting a BL Key from a BL Chest, not once, but THREE times in a row!

I’m betting that’s quite slim odds.

They do indeed drop from mobs, but they drop even less often than precursors do. The best way to get keys (without buying from the gem store) is to do map completion. You have a chance of either a transmutation charge or a key for every map completed (with the exception of cultural city maps, which only give you the trans charge). Other than that, there is personal story. You get one after finishing the level 10, 40, and 60 personal stories. And I believe one of the Living Story 2 chapters gives you a key (the Labyrinth one, maybe)?

olTThreelo.6710:

I have lots of chests, but rarely find keys. Any help is appreciated.

ArenaNet wants you to buy keys from the Gem Store, that’s why you get chests but no key.

You really shouldn’t worry about the keys, though. The chests are a scam-like lottery system that will likely not give you anything useful.

segman.3560:

Imagine every time you got a key from random drop it could have been precursor.

Don’t say that, I’ve gotten three keys from drops since I’ve started playing, but no precursors

But yeah, you’re “best” bet is either map completion, or rolling alts to do personal story missions. Neither one will be quick, but their the only things that have a reasonable chance of earning you one.

If you do decide to farm the level 10 personal story for keys, here’s a few tips:

• Blue gear does not soulbind when equipped. Even if slotted with Runes and Sigils.
• Level 0 gear is actually better than level 1 gear.
• At first, you can only equip one weapon. If it’s a two handed weapon, you still get both Sigils.
• Minor Sigil of Bloodlust is your friend.

If you play a lot, the best way to get them for free is map completion hands down. Especially if you’ve power leveled 3-4 alts to level 80, go clear mid-low level areas where you can complete hearts very fast. You’re bound to get a few keys fairly quickly.

RoseofGilead.8907:

They do indeed drop from mobs, but they drop even less often than precursors do. The best way to get keys (without buying from the gem store) is to do map completion. You have a chance of either a transmutation charge or a key for every map completed (with the exception of cultural city maps, which only give you the trans charge). Other than that, there is personal story. You get one after finishing the level 10, 40, and 60 personal stories. And I believe one of the Living Story 2 chapters gives you a key (the Labyrinth one, maybe)?

I’ve had a few keys drop from mobs, yet never a precursor.

There are a few ways to get Black Lion keys. Now whether one is better than another is a matter of opinion.

1. Gemstore — Most common method.
2. Personal Story — Known for the lvl 10 Story reward but I believe it is also rewarded for lvl 40 and lvl 60 Story completion. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong.)
3. Map Completion — Rewards include two rares or exotics, materials related to level of zone cleared (40), and either a Transmutation stone or a Black Lion Key.
4. Extremely Rare drop — Random drop reward, perhaps equal in rarity as a precursor.
5. Daily Log-In Reward — Possible drop from a Box of Black Lion goods. (Again, please correct me if I’m mistaken here.)

Personally I get the most keys from my efforts towards Map Completion among all my many alts. They really pile up. However before they nerfed the personal story key farm, I used to get them that way regularly.

Azhure.1857:

There are a few ways to get Black Lion keys. Now whether one is better than another is a matter of opinion.

1. Gemstore — Most common method.
2. Personal Story — Known for the lvl 10 Story reward but I believe it is also rewarded for lvl 20 and lvl 30 Story completion. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong.)
3. Map Completion — Rewards include two rares or exotics, materials related to level of zone cleared (40), and either a Transmutation stone or a Black Lion Key.
4. Extremely Rare drop — Random drop reward, perhaps equal in rarity as a precursor.
5. Daily Log-In Reward — Possible drop from a Box of Black Lion goods. (Again, please correct me if I’m mistaken here.)

Personally I get the most keys from my efforts towards Map Completion among all my many alts. They really pile up. However before they nerfed the personal story key farm, I used to get them that way regularly.

The personal story rewards are 10, 40 and 60
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Black_Lion_Chest_Key
Personal story rewards
Completion of the level 10 racial story.
Setting the Stage (level 40)
The Battle of Claw Island (level 60)

Very, very, very rarely, you can get one to drop from a mob. But, that said, I think I’ve gotten three to drop for me in the entire time I’ve played this game since beta.

Fastest method, outside of outright buying them, is the ‘key farming’ method mentioned already.

Good luck.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

The personal story rewards are 10, 40 and 60
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Black_Lion_Chest_Key
Personal story rewards
Completion of the level 10 racial story.
Setting the Stage (level 40)
The Battle of Claw Island (level 60)

Thanks. Fixed my post.