Guild Wars 2

If I am aiming to just get a legendary, doesn’t matter which one… Would it be best to put in Greatswords into the forge since there are 2 Greatsword Legendaries? Would that be a higher chance of getting a precursor?

From what I understand its better to save and buy the precursor you want than to gamble with the mystic forge.

Depending on how much money you have/how much you’re willing to lose I have to agree with the poster above (Fearedbythegods) just buy the pre outright….

next thing, greatswords might have a higher chance of getting a pre (I don’t think so, and if so not by much) but they also cost more than most other exotics because people use them for more forging. So if it is purely a cost analysis it may be better to pick something no one cares about (like warhorn, pistol, torch, etc.)

If you just want a legendary and don’t care which one go for the underwater ones:

• Rage – makes Frenzy, 40g
• Venom – makes Kraitkin, 48g
• Carcharias – makes Kamohoali’i Kotaki, 71g

(All prices are the highest buy order at the time of posting.)

A lot cheaper than buying exotics to throw into the forge is likely to be.

(All prices are the highest buy order at the time of posting)

Forging for precursors is like playing a lottery: if you play a little, expect to lose all/most of your investment. I recommend saving for the precursor you want.

Dezarys.1372:

If I am aiming to just get a legendary, doesn’t matter which one… Would it be best to put in Greatswords into the forge since there are 2 Greatsword Legendaries? Would that be a higher chance of getting a precursor?

If you are throwing 4 random weapons into the forge, even 3+1, the result is a random weapon. Can even be one you didn’t even threw in.
4 of the same gives you that specific weapon type.
Though throwing stuff into the toilet is about as expensive as just buying it from the TP. You CAN get lucky, like I have been 7th try for lolz and got Dusk, or you can get unlucky and even throw move value in than just buying from TP.

Dezarys.1372:

If I am aiming to just get a legendary, doesn’t matter which one… Would it be best to put in Greatswords into the forge since there are 2 Greatsword Legendaries? Would that be a higher chance of getting a precursor?

I’m not that good with probabilistic mathematics, and we don’t have any hard reliable figures on what the drop rates are for precursors in the mystic forge. It does seem more likely (off the cuff) that if you’re going to gamble greatswords would give you a minutely better chance.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Forging for precursors is like playing a lottery: if you play a little, expect to lose all/most of your investment. I recommend saving for the precursor you want.

Granted playing the lottery a lot doesn’t particularly guarantee winning either :P

Dezarys.1372:

If I am aiming to just get a legendary, doesn’t matter which one… Would it be best to put in Greatswords into the forge since there are 2 Greatsword Legendaries? Would that be a higher chance of getting a precursor?

I get what you are saying…. but you also have to take into account the total number of exotic skins you can get from the mystic forge as a result of throwing in weapons.

You may have two different greatsword precursors that you can obtain….. but there are many more greatswords you can get in an outcome as opposed to rifles for example.

2/100 is still better than 1/80 but I’m not sure of the exact numbers…. and I am going to go with your thoughts and say that greatswords are your best bet….. but I’m not certain.

If you are going to get HoT don’t bother with the Forge or buying it. Both are a waste of gold. Wait to see what the precursor collection consists of and if it’s something you don’t want to do then have at it. I lost all interest in the rng part of precursors and I’ll be doing the collections.

CureForLiving.5360:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Forging for precursors is like playing a lottery: if you play a little, expect to lose all/most of your investment. I recommend saving for the precursor you want.

Granted playing the lottery a lot doesn’t particularly guarantee winning either :P

RL lotteries? No, certainly not. Vegas-like gambling (roulette, craps, blackjack)? No, not that either. In Vegas, the house usually has a 1-8% edge (you risk $100/hour for a year, expect to walk away with less than $99/hr). In lotteries, the ‘state’ typically has a 50% edge, after taking into account the winning payout (they are designed to return exactly 50% of the ticket value to participants).

However, in GW2, Zommy will return a profit to efficient forgers in the long run. The main problems are:

• The “long run” for the Mystic Forge is really long, e.g. over 4,000 rares forged without a precursor.
• To be “efficient,” you have to do your research and buying/crafting appropriate rares (average level of 75, means you can combine e.g. (L80 x3 + L60x1) or L75 x4.)

One particular poster realized just over 17% profit, after forging 10,000 gold worth of greatswords.

That suggests that the typical player is far, far, far better off saving the money (or investing it) than gambling. And that’s exactly the same as it is for playing the lotto: it’s good fun, but it’s a lousy investment in terms of earnings.

Every once in a while I throw in crafted krait greatswords (rare) just from weaponsmithing and materials i gather playing. Been doing that for a bit and got Dawn awhile ago. I was just lucky, but I had nothing better to do with the materials so why not?

Messorem.3105:

Every once in a while I throw in crafted krait greatswords (rare) just from weaponsmithing and materials i gather playing. Been doing that for a bit and got Dawn awhile ago. I was just lucky, but I had nothing better to do with the materials so why not?

Exactly. The joy of getting three ecto from four rares is meh. The excitement of getting an exotic from time to time is better. (But I’m guessing both of us can afford to “throw away” the 50-120 silver we could have gotten from the rares.)