Guild Wars 2

“Increases the amount of gold gained from killing enemies.”

I wasn’t aware that enemies drop any gold in this game. Most of the gold comes from static bonuses, like daily achievement gold reward, dungeon and event rewards and so on. Those are not affected by gold find in any way. Is this another “legacy” feature that was once thought to be part of game but never really implemented?

It was useful near when the game first launched. A lot of it changed when they introduced champ bags. It had a large use for CoF farming before they changed the rewards structure within dungeons.

Zenith.6403:

“Increases the amount of gold gained from killing enemies.”

I wasn’t aware that enemies drop any gold in this game. Most of the gold comes from static bonuses, like daily achievement gold reward, dungeon and event rewards and so on. Those are not affected by gold find in any way. Is this another “legacy” feature that was once thought to be part of game but never really implemented?

They drop coin. Not a gold at a time, but often a silver or two. Look in the loot corner of the screen and you’ll see it show up. I tracked it at one point – did five trials of about 200 kills of Inquest in their cave in dry top. Got 15 to 22 silver each time, avg. 17.5. Don’t know what boost my gold find was, but it does seem to work – I recall seeing 3 silver+ drops when stacked up.

Gold find (+1%/+2%) is currently presented as a major reward for long-term achivements. Every 500 achievement points also grant 2 gold, which is the same as daily gold reward for achievements. Inflation is not created by players, but by developers of this game. What’s the point to strive for anything when they can just change the whole system one patch and make everything meaningless?

Zenith.6403:

Gold find (1%/2%) is currently presented as a major reward for long-term achivements. Every 500 achievement points also grant 2 gold, which is the same as daily gold reward for achievements. Inflation is not created by players, but by developers of this game. What’s the point to strive for anything when they can just change the whole system one patch and make everything meaningless?

Currently presented? Its been there since those achievement rewards were put in the game way back then. However it only affects mob drops, those few copper to a silver or two that you get sometimes when you kill something. Compared to the 2 gold a day for the daily, it’s not much.

Since they are in the achievement containers, I consider them a reward to vets for playing and staying. Not a bad thing imo.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Currently presented? Its been there since those achievement rewards were put in the game way back then. However it only affects mob drops, those few copper to a silver or two that you get sometimes when you kill something. Compared to the 2 gold a day for the daily, it’s not much.

Since they are in the achievement containers, I consider them a reward to vets for playing and staying. Not a bad thing imo.

It adds up over time, though. I kill mobs everywhere I go, no matter what I’m doing… but I’m not necessarily doing dailies every day, or meta events. And when I’m doing them I’m still killing some mobs while getting to them.

This is why I slot the 20% gold find utility infusion over the others… ‘cause no matter what I’m doing I’m always killing mobs, most of which have the potential of dropping cash, and it’s frequent enough that I think it’s worth it.

~EW

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Currently presented? Its been there since those achievement rewards were put in the game way back then. However it only affects mob drops, those few copper to a silver or two that you get sometimes when you kill something. Compared to the 2 gold a day for the daily, it’s not much.

Since they are in the achievement containers, I consider them a reward to vets for playing and staying. Not a bad thing imo.

It adds up over time, though. I kill mobs everywhere I go, no matter what I’m doing… but I’m not necessarily doing dailies every day, or meta events. And when I’m doing them I’m still killing some mobs while getting to them.

This is why I slot the 20% gold find utility infusion over the others… ‘cause no matter what I’m doing I’m always killing mobs, most of which have the potential of dropping cash, and it’s frequent enough that I think it’s worth it.

~EW

Yah it does add up over time, but the amount you get per kill is small and then it’s a percent of that. The guy above killed 200 inquest to get maybe 17 silver and I suspect he has high gold find to get that much, most people have only a few % gold find.

There’s very little good data on how much gold is dropped by foes (or by the pvp reward boxes that act as foe drops). It’s easy to see that they do drop coin, by the silverful. Similarly, there’s good data to show that foes drop “better” loot with higher MF, but very little to show “how much better” in terms of value on the TP.

As a result, there’s no particular metrics that show conclusively whether it’s better to use MF, Karma, Gold Find, or damage infusions (with the last presumably offering the opportunity of faster kills leading to more drops per hour).

Without better data, here’s how I decide:

• Karma or damage boost, if doing event-heavy content (HoT meta, fractals). There just won’t be enough foes for it to matter.
• MF boost, if killing a lot of loot-bearing foes (Orrian temples, HoT non-meta, karka farm, …). I’d rather receive one more exotic per month than the half the equivalent in extra gold; it’s just more fun to see ‘better’ drops.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Yah it does add up over time, but the amount you get per kill is small and then it’s a percent of that. The guy above killed 200 inquest to get maybe 17 silver and I suspect he has high gold find to get that much, most people have only a few % gold find.

I feel it’s too easy to dismiss some of the smaller means by which we generate income. I remember recently watching a youtube vid of someone opening a mass of black-lion chests… He, of course, checked the prices of the stuff he got to the AH, and I distinctly remember him dismissively saying, “oh, that’s only a gold, oh well.” In my mind I was screaming, “that’s WORTH a gold!”

I also don’t know the means by which the guy above tracked his income/kills…. and, did he take into account the diminishing returns that occurs when an area is farmed? This is the big factor that makes me skeptical of his test. Had he roamed the entire map instead, I’d be more inclined to accept his results – even hyenas and drakes drop silver.

I’ve got nothing less anecdotal, but my experiences are the opposite; I think if I’m focused on killing mobs I get more than 17s/200 kills… but that’s just speculation. Perhaps in the near future I ought to do my own little experiment to verify/disprove my current view and rationale for the 20% gold find infusion.

So many things on the “to do” list, lol.

edit:

MF boost, if killing a lot of loot-bearing foes (Orrian temples, HoT non-meta, karka farm, …). I’d rather receive one more exotic per month than the half the equivalent in extra gold; it’s just more fun to see ‘better’ drops.

The thing is you never know what items or how many items you got from that drop are due to your MF infusion… where as every time coin is dropped by a mob, you can calculate how much more you got due to your GF infusion, than you would have. I don’t have RNG trust issues like some people have (and posted about), but given the choice I prefer to see definitive evidence that my infusion choice had an effect on the outcome of my gameplay.

~EW

(sorry for all the edits, it’s just my habit that I’m never completely happy with what I type)

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Yah it does add up over time, but the amount you get per kill is small and then it’s a percent of that. The guy above killed 200 inquest to get maybe 17 silver and I suspect he has high gold find to get that much, most people have only a few % gold find.

I feel it’s too easy to dismiss some of the smaller means by which we generate income. I remember recently watching a youtube vid of someone opening a mass of black-lion chests… He, of course, checked the prices of the stuff he got to the AH, and I distinctly remember him dismissively saying, “oh, that’s only a gold, oh well.” In my mind I was screaming, “that’s WORTH a gold!”

I also don’t know the means by which the guy above tracked his income/kills…. and, did he take into account the diminishing returns that occurs when an area is farmed? This is the big factor that makes me skeptical of his test. Had he roamed the entire map instead, I’d be more inclined to accept his results – even hyenas and drakes drop silver.

I’ve got nothing less anecdotal, but my experiences are the opposite; I think if I’m focused on killing mobs I get more than 17s/200 kills… but that’s just speculation. Perhaps in the near future I ought to do my own little experiment to verify/disprove my current view and rationale for the 20% gold find infusion.

So many things on the “to do” list, lol.

~EW

I agree that it generates income, but the post I was responding to was saying that’s it is something that ANet has currently put in the game (as in a new feature) and saying that this is cause of current inflation. I was arguing that the amount from the drops is insufficient to cause inflation, especially as compared to the new 2 gold dailies, and a feature that’s been in game from a long time isn’t what I’d be looking at as a driver for current inflation.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

I agree that it generates income, but the post I was responding to was saying that’s it is something that ANet has currently put in the game (as in a new feature) and saying that this is cause of current inflation. I was arguing that the amount from the drops is insufficient to cause inflation, especially as compared to the new 2 gold dailies, and a feature that’s been in game from a long time isn’t what I’d be looking at as a driver for current inflation.

My apologies for any misunderstandings I had.

~EW

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

I agree that it generates income, but the post I was responding to was saying that’s it is something that ANet has currently put in the game (as in a new feature) and saying that this is cause of current inflation. I was arguing that the amount from the drops is insufficient to cause inflation, especially as compared to the new 2 gold dailies, and a feature that’s been in game from a long time isn’t what I’d be looking at as a driver for current inflation.

My apologies for any misunderstandings I had.

~EW

While it is a source of income, the gold it brings in and contributes to inflation is offset by other things. For example, one person leaving the game and the gold now sitting in that account wipes out a lot of gold from gold find from many accounts (and we all know of lots of accounts that have stopped playing).

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

It adds up over time, though. I kill mobs everywhere I go, no matter what I’m doing… but I’m not necessarily doing dailies every day, or meta events. And when I’m doing them I’m still killing some mobs while getting to them.

If getting gold is your goal, then pretty much anything is better than killing mobs. Dungeon paths take 15 minutes and give 1 gold. If you do kill mobs, then killing them +0.5% faster with damage infusion is better than gold find infusion because the money is not in the gold they drop.

Gold find is Anet’s noob trap.

Zenith.6403:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

It adds up over time, though. I kill mobs everywhere I go, no matter what I’m doing… but I’m not necessarily doing dailies every day, or meta events. And when I’m doing them I’m still killing some mobs while getting to them.

If getting gold is your goal, then pretty much anything is better than killing mobs. Dungeon paths take 15 minutes and give 1 gold. If you do kill mobs, then killing them +0.5% faster with damage infusion is better than gold find infusion because the money is not in the gold they drop.

Gold find is Anet’s noob trap.

Killing mobs for gold is not my goal. It’s a side effect of what happens while I do other things in the game… nearly everything I do in the game. So, it’s not unimportant even if it’s not a primary focus or source of income.

~EW

Just a flesh wound.3589:

I agree that it generates income, but the post I was responding to was saying that’s it is something that ANet has currently put in the game (as in a new feature) and saying that this is cause of current inflation. I was arguing that the amount from the drops is insufficient to cause inflation, especially as compared to the new 2 gold dailies, and a feature that’s been in game from a long time isn’t what I’d be looking at as a driver for current inflation.

Please go read the post again. Currently means present time, not new feature. I specifically said that gold find is not the cause of inflation. Anet’s decision to push large flat rewards such as 2 gold dailies is the cause of inflation.

Zenith.6403:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

I agree that it generates income, but the post I was responding to was saying that’s it is something that ANet has currently put in the game (as in a new feature) and saying that this is cause of current inflation. I was arguing that the amount from the drops is insufficient to cause inflation, especially as compared to the new 2 gold dailies, and a feature that’s been in game from a long time isn’t what I’d be looking at as a driver for current inflation.

Please go read the post again. Currently means present time, not new feature. I specifically said that gold find is not the cause of inflation. Anet’s decision to push large flat rewards such as 2 gold dailies is the cause of inflation.

Ok. Misread you then.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

While it is a source of income, the gold it brings in and contributes to inflation is offset by other things. For example, one person leaving the game and the gold now sitting in that account wipes out a lot of gold from gold find from many accounts (and we all know of lots of accounts that have stopped playing).

All gold coming in everywhere gets offset by other things like gold sinks… so I think I’m missing your point again, I’m sorry.

I also feel like I’m having 2 different conversations about GF and they’re getting intermingled. The first is GF’s affect on the economy and inflation… while it’s not a driving force of inflation (I agree with you), I think that it’s too easily dismissed/ignored as a source of gold generation and an influence… I think more comes in via this method than is perceived… but this would require more testing, and the best I could do is n=1 which isn’t very helpful.

The second is GF as a worthwhile infusion to slot. I don’t think I have much more to say on my views of this without becoming redundant, but who knows what future posts will inspire!

~EW

edit: does anyone else have the tinfoil hat on that I do that the inflation might be intentional to pad the possible upcoming LW3 and 2nd expansion gold sinks?

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Yah it does add up over time, but the amount you get per kill is small and then it’s a percent of that. The guy above killed 200 inquest to get maybe 17 silver and I suspect he has high gold find to get that much, most people have only a few % gold find.

I feel it’s too easy to dismiss some of the smaller means by which we generate income. I remember recently watching a youtube vid of someone opening a mass of black-lion chests… He, of course, checked the prices of the stuff he got to the AH, and I distinctly remember him dismissively saying, “oh, that’s only a gold, oh well.” In my mind I was screaming, “that’s WORTH a gold!”

I also don’t know the means by which the guy above tracked his income/kills…. and, did he take into account the diminishing returns that occurs when an area is farmed? This is the big factor that makes me skeptical of his test. Had he roamed the entire map instead, I’d be more inclined to accept his results – even hyenas and drakes drop silver.

I’ve got nothing less anecdotal, but my experiences are the opposite; I think if I’m focused on killing mobs I get more than 17s/200 kills… but that’s just speculation. Perhaps in the near future I ought to do my own little experiment to verify/disprove my current view and rationale for the 20% gold find infusion.

So many things on the “to do” list, lol.

edit:

MF boost, if killing a lot of loot-bearing foes (Orrian temples, HoT non-meta, karka farm, …). I’d rather receive one more exotic per month than the half the equivalent in extra gold; it’s just more fun to see ‘better’ drops.

The thing is you never know what items or how many items you got from that drop are due to your MF infusion… where as every time coin is dropped by a mob, you can calculate how much more you got due to your GF infusion, than you would have. I don’t have RNG trust issues like some people have (and posted about), but given the choice I prefer to see definitive evidence that my infusion choice had an effect on the outcome of my gameplay.

~EW

(sorry for all the edits, it’s just my habit that I’m never completely happy with what I type)

I didn’t set out to test for gold find, I was evaluating the area as a potential farm spot and the gold find data was secondary to recording how many t6 mats, bags, etc. DR is not likely an issue – 3 runs were on Necro, 2 on Ranger, different days, all separated by “go somewhere else and do something else” (No way I could have tolerated 2.5 hours of this in one shot). The effects of DR in general are way overstated by forumites (except for the old event reduced karma/XP DR that would kick in too fast in SW).
If you start at the top of the ramp, there’s a good number of inquest in their base, so you don’t kill the same ones that often. I don’t claim it to be hard, statistical data, but it is order of magnitude estimate.

As far as the gilded infusion vs. damage – if you’re farming ,the time running between mobs is a good portion of the time and +5% damage will not directly translate into 5% more kills/hr. That said, gilded is also not my utility infusion of choice.

thehipone.6812:

I didn’t set out to test for gold find, I was evaluating the area as a potential farm spot and the gold find data was secondary to recording how many t6 mats, bags, etc. DR is not likely an issue – 3 runs were on Necro, 2 on Ranger, different days, all separated by “go somewhere else and do something else” (No way I could have tolerated 2.5 hours of this in one shot). The effects of DR in general are way overstated by forumites (except for the old event reduced karma/XP DR that would kick in too fast in SW).
If you start at the top of the ramp, there’s a good number of inquest in their base, so you don’t kill the same ones that often. I don’t claim it to be hard, statistical data, but it is order of magnitude estimate.

Your data is really helpful, but it’s not all that conclusive, even for an order of magnitude estimate. There are just too many types of farms available with the potential loot affected by all sorts of other factors, including party membership, the event scaling, the number of players, and the ‘fact’ that diminishing returns follows somewhat different rules depending on the situation. (Our data on DR is nearly as bad as on loot itself.)

Your tests were excellent, however, for their stated purpose: evaluating a particular spot as a potential farm. For that, I’d agree with “order of magnitude estimate.”

thehipone.6812:

As far as the gilded infusion vs. damage – if you’re farming ,the time running between mobs is a good portion of the time and +5% damage will not directly translate into 5% more kills/hr. That said, gilded is also not my utility infusion of choice.

For a mob farm, it’s not just an issue of time spent running to mobs, especially since that time equally hobbles the value of all the infusions. The big advantage in extra damage is that it makes it easier to put you (and your party) above the minimum damage threshhold to tag for loot. For example, guardian ‘loot’ sticks’ do low damage, so anything that boosts it can help for tagging.

Consequently, it wouldn’t surprise me if +5 power resulted in better loot in a mob-rich farm than +20% MF or +20% GF. (Obviously, +15% karma is the most useful for event-heavy farms — despite the fact that karma-to-gold conversion rates are awful, the other infusions won’t matter without high-kill counts.)

tl;dr we don’t have enough data to determine the most efficient amulet infusion. I avoid gilded because an improved coin reward isn’t very exciting.