Guild Wars 2

What’s the best way to get these these days? I know I can buy them and get the odd one from my SL but I’d like to see more drops of them.

You can get them from Personal Story lines at level 10 once per week, or from the level 40 “Setting the Stage” and level 60 “Battle for Claw Island” as often as you’ve got characters.

There’s also certain PvP Reward Tracks you can get them from, such as the Jungle Rabbit one.

You also have about a 30% chance of getting one as a reward for 100% completing each PvE zone.

There isn’t really a fast or sure-fire way to get keys anymore, at least not that I’m aware of. Penelope covered just about all of the bases. Gone are the days of keyfarming for hours and opening a stack of BL chests. The only way to really open a pile of BL chests is to purchase keys from the gem store, or complete your level 10 personal story each week and save the keys until you have a small stack.

Map completion would probably be the “fastest” way to get them, nowadays, but as has been said, it’s not a guaranteed drop by any means. Good luck.

I think the fastest way is to farm gold, buy gems and get the keys from the shop. Not very exciting but probably fastest.

DoctorDing.5890:

I think the fastest way is to farm gold, buy gems and get the keys from the shop. Not very exciting but probably fastest.

If we’re going for speed, without considering cost, then surely the fastest way is to get one’s credit card out? :P

penelopehannibal.8947:

DoctorDing.5890:

I think the fastest way is to farm gold, buy gems and get the keys from the shop. Not very exciting but probably fastest.

If we’re going for speed, without considering cost, then surely the fastest way is to get one’s credit card out? :P

Hehe. Of course, you are correct. You win the Internet.

I never considered the CC method because I am far too tight to spent RL cash on gems but I love the challenge of earning gold to buy them.

However the OP gets the keys, I hope they get better stuff out of those chests than I do.

I had one drop from a moa in the Silverwastes the other night. It earned me a repair canister, a rejuvenation booster, and (another) raven mini. I think I would have preferred a salvage item.

Flatley.1620:

What’s the best way to get these these days? I know I can buy them and get the odd one from my SL but I’d like to see more drops of them.

Do you mind telling us why you want them? They are your basic lotto ticket: tiny, tiny chance of something really valuable, tiny chance of something valuable, and mostly junk. There a tiny number of exclusive rewards — everything else the drop can be obtained from the TP (or gem shop) for less.

Thus the primary value to BL keys is the excitement from anticipating the potential for a good drop, i.e. the entertainment value. For that purpose, you’re pretty much stuck with spending gems (whether from gold or from RL cash).

If you have a different purpose in mind, I’d love to hear about it.

I want them so I can open the 200+ chests I have stashed away

Flatley.1620:

I want them so I can open the 200+ chests I have stashed away

by trying to get keys for those 200 chests you will have another 2000 chests drop mate

Flatley.1620:

I want them so I can open the 200+ chests I have stashed away

In that case it’s buy keys, do map completions and pray or do a weekly key run for the next 200 weeks.

Or sell the chests and walk away.

Do a key run this week. Open a single chest and bask in the glory of receiving two repair canisters and an armor booster. Sell the remaining 199 chests and preserve your sanity.

Honestly, aside from the extremely rare permanent contracts, the main reason most players used to keyfarm was to get BL weapon tickets and scraps, and even those aren’t really worth what they used to be. Two to three weeks after new skins are introduced, they’ve plummeted to around 50-60g on the trading post. Sure, they will generally gain value over time if you buy some and hold onto them, but it’ll take a period of many months before you see any big spikes in price.

When I was keyfarming, I typically needed anywhere from 15 to 20 keys to get enough scraps for a full ticket (unless I got a lucky series of drops or a rare full ticket). Even if you assume that you can get lucky and get a full ticket from just using 10 keys, you’ll have (at current gold>gem exchange rates) around 190g invested into those ten keys if you purchase them with gold. So if it’s the BL ticket scraps and weapon skins you’re after, you’re much, much better off farming the gold you need and buying the skins outright.

That being said, I’ve bought my fair share of keys and will likely continue to do so, because gambling can be fun sometimes.

You’re better off selling the chests and then buying them back on the Trading Post as needed if/when you get a key.

Once I have done HOT story on all of my chars I have a new plan for key farming which will go like this:

1 – Start a new char.
2 – Do the level 10 story.
3 – Complete maps to level 80, only my fave maps not ALL as I usually do. At lvl 80 will do Southsun, all 3 Orr maps, Drytop and Silverwastes as these maps are pretty fast to clear thanks to no hearts so that’s more opportunities for keys. Might also do the Hot Maps, not sure yet.

4 – Complete Personal Story.
5 – Complete Hot Story.
6 – Delete char and start over from scratch.

This should take a week to do, maybe a little over. I should think I would get 4 keys total just from the PS and HOT story. Am likely to pick up an extra few from map completes. I am not bothering to do LS2 as it takes far too long and is plain boring and not worth the extra key there.

Doing this method will not only give me keys but Wep skins from HOT, Exotic Vipers sets as well as other mats needed for scribe etc. The unidentified dyes that you get often from PS bags are also nice.

drunkenpilot.9837:

Two to three weeks after new skins are introduced, they’ve plummeted to around 50-60g on the trading post. Sure, they will generally gain value over time if you buy some and hold onto them, but it’ll take a period of many months before you see any big spikes in price.

This is the only justification. Farm keys once a week over a period of time for scraps, wait for near the end of a phase of black lion weapons while doing some analysis on the items and expected value, and buy one. Then hang onto it for a year or more. Sometimes, it can take an excess of two before the value spikes (like the tormented staff, which dropped in value for over a year since it came out until recently spiking huge).

The longer you wait, the more it’s worth. Eventually, sell the old stuff and you can keep repeating the process.

Of course, you do run the risk of buyers no longer playing the game as it decreases in popularity, so it’s important to maintain a nest-egg as well on failed investments.

DeceiverX.8361:

drunkenpilot.9837:

Two to three weeks after new skins are introduced, they’ve plummeted to around 50-60g on the trading post. Sure, they will generally gain value over time if you buy some and hold onto them, but it’ll take a period of many months before you see any big spikes in price.

This is the only justification. Farm keys once a week over a period of time for scraps, wait for near the end of a phase of black lion weapons while doing some analysis on the items and expected value, and buy one. Then hang onto it for a year or more. Sometimes, it can take an excess of two before the value spikes (like the tormented staff, which dropped in value for over a year since it came out until recently spiking huge).

The longer you wait, the more it’s worth. Eventually, sell the old stuff and you can keep repeating the process.

Of course, you do run the risk of buyers no longer playing the game as it decreases in popularity, so it’s important to maintain a nest-egg as well on failed investments.

Or Anet can rerelease a previous set of weapons and the prices can drop like a rock, so you get to start waiting all over again.

Imo they’re not worth holding for investments. I do the key runs for tickets for personal use now. The skins I got as investments before are still sitting at not much higher, and sometimes lower, than when I got them. (Crimson weapons for example were rereleased even though the trading post prices were already low and supply was high).

scrap Southsun it only gives 6 transmutation charges

Linken.6345:

scrap Southsun it only gives 6 transmutation charges

Nice to know. I knew they removed the chance for keys from that map but I hadn’t looked into what the new map completion rewards are.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Or Anet can rerelease a previous set of weapons and the prices can drop like a rock, so you get to start waiting all over again.

Imo they’re not worth holding for investments. I do the key runs for tickets for personal use now. The skins I got as investments before are still sitting at not much higher, and sometimes lower, than when I got them. (Crimson weapons for example were rereleased even though the trading post prices were already low and supply was high).

It’s a risk, for sure. You can generally tell when a skin is on its way to being re-released. Usually only happens after they’ve been unavailable for two or more BL weapon cycles. If you wait too long, though, you’re out of luck. I’ve got a bank full of skins that I’m hoping will continue to increase in value, but most of the skins I’m holding onto now aren’t worth much more than 150g each, or just a little more than their “typical” value. On most of these, I will probably either end up selling them at a loss or simply break even.

Occasionally there’s a run on a certain skin set, though, and in those situations you can really come out way ahead.

Skin investing is still more profitable than playing the skritt ecto gamble, in my opinion. That thief has taken more gold from me than I care to mention. ;_;

Linken.6345:

scrap Southsun it only gives 6 transmutation charges

Yeah I had a feeling there was no key chance there. Will still do it as it is super short to do (5-10 mins) and the shells are well worth it.

drunkenpilot.9837:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Or Anet can rerelease a previous set of weapons and the prices can drop like a rock, so you get to start waiting all over again.

Imo they’re not worth holding for investments. I do the key runs for tickets for personal use now. The skins I got as investments before are still sitting at not much higher, and sometimes lower, than when I got them. (Crimson weapons for example were rereleased even though the trading post prices were already low and supply was high).

It’s a risk, for sure. You can generally tell when a skin is on its way to being re-released. Usually only happens after they’ve been unavailable for two or more BL weapon cycles. If you wait too long, though, you’re out of luck. I’ve got a bank full of skins that I’m hoping will continue to increase in value, but most of the skins I’m holding onto now aren’t worth much more than 150g each, or just a little more than their “typical” value. On most of these, I will probably either end up selling them at a loss or simply break even.

Occasionally there’s a run on a certain skin set, though, and in those situations you can really come out way ahead.

Skin investing is still more profitable than playing the skritt ecto gamble, in my opinion. That thief has taken more gold from me than I care to mention. ;_;

The thing is, with ANet releasing more and more new black lion skins, it reduces demand for old skins from market saturation.

When they put in the Fused weapons for example, people went crazy for them. They were new! and they had particle effects!! which was something that was mostly for Legendary weapons. Now, ANet is releasing a new set of weapons once or twice a month, many with particle effects or a special appearance. There are so many on the market that people can pick and choose which they want and this increase in choice decreases price. Most people would have trouble remembering what the current skins are, much less the last few. They’ve lost their “shiny!”.

Because the market is getting saturated with new skins each month and because ANet can re-release old skins whenever they wish, I think the time that these were an investment has come and gone.

Flatley.1620:

I want them so I can open the 200+ chests I have stashed away

There’s no useful way to acquire 200+ keys without spending gems. The system is designed so it’s easy to have a chest for each key that you do acquire, which means there will always be tons of excess chests.