Guild Wars 2

I know the community has changed a lot since the original Guild Wars where power progression hardly existed, but I’d like to get people’s views on the numbers.

Talking about all kinds of items here and being max level…

At what point do you feel item stats go from being optional to mandatory in this game based on the numbers?

What tier would you be willing to go with at a minimum?
For…
armor?
weapons?
trinkets?
sigils?
runes?

Do you think the disparity in power is too great between the tiers?

Here’s some data to help you out
Attributes
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Item_nomenclature#Level_80_attribute_values
Totals
Note: the parenthesis show the disparity between the current tier and the fine tier
Fine: MajorAttribute-626, MinorAttribute-416
Masterwork: MajorAttribute-802(28.1%), MinorAttribute-583(40.1%)
Rare: MajorAttribute-871(39.1%), MinorAttribute-617(48.3%)
Exotic: MajorAttribute-1003(60.2%), MinorAttribute-698(67.8%)

The item stat disparities get even crazier in runes and sigils, a couple of examples…

Sigil
Note parenthesis show the % increase from fine items
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sigil_of_Superior_Earth
Minor Sigil of Earth:30% Chance on Critical: Inflict Bleeding (3 Seconds)
Major Sigil of Earth: +45%(50%) Chance on Critical: Inflict Bleeding (4 Seconds) (33.3%)
Superior Sigil of Earth:60%(100%) Chance on Critical: Inflict Bleeding (5 Seconds) (66.7%)

Rune
Note parenthesis show the % increase from fine items
We will just look at the first two bonuses of runes to keep things simple
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Rune_of_the_Monk
Minor Rune of the Monk: +10 Healing Power, +5% Boon
Major Rune of the Monk: +15 Healing Power (50%), +10% Boon (100%)
Superior Rune of the Monk: +25 Healing Power (150%), +15% Boon (200%)

Shockwave.1230:

At what point do you feel item stats go from being optional to mandatory in this game based on the numbers?

After a power disparity of more than 10% power it’s not longer optional, you have to get the next tier to be effective.

What tier would you be willing to go with at a minimum?
For…
armor?
weapons?
trinkets?
sigils?
runes?

armor – rare
weapons – rare
trinkets – rare
sigil – exotic
rune – exotic

Do you think the disparity in power is too great between the tiers?

yes

At minimum, I would say yellow gear but this has to do with it being trivially accessible . Green gear seemed too slow, but maybe it’s because I am not that good. So I would say 20% difference or greater tends to negatively effect things.

In general, I would claim that weaker gear makes longer fights harder. If you kill an enemy in 10 hits instead of 8, you might not notice it. But 200 hits instead of 160 will start to hurt.

I don’t feel like the disparity is too great between tiers, though said disparity exists.

Between runes though, it’s a world of difference. I find them incredibly annoying, and this is my biggest concern with ascended armor if it obsoletes existing runes, or merely requires replacements.

Green gear for levelling (possibly upgrading to better ones if you get them from drops, but you grow up from them so fast there’s just no point in investing too much). After you get to lev 80? Rares or karma temple exotics as a base minimum, before you craft/buy/otherwise acquire exo/ascended gear with proper stat set.
Generally, after getting to level 80 BiS eq is always mandatory (and stat difference between current tiers are big enough that they are not an exception from this).

Define mandatory? there isn’t anything in this game that I can’t complete with level 80 greens except for high level jade monster in fractals. Even the other fractal bosses are beatable since I can easily dodge the agony.

I would say the minimum to be efficient is exotics, but they aren’t strictly needed for anything in the game. There are no gear checks in the game that prevent you from progressing like in WoW, it is purely skill based, the stats are just a handicap to make things easier.

Exotic weapons are a MUST since they are the biggest factor in the damage you deal.

if you count in base stats these disparity percentages are reduced a lot

base stats: The total by level 80 is 916 in each attribute for all professions

916 + 626 = 1604 major attribute @ lvl80 in fine gear
916 + 871 = 1787 (11,41%) major attribute @lvl80 in rare gear (% increase compared to fine gear)
916 + 1003 = 1919 (19,64%) major attribute @ lvl80 in exotic gear (% increase compared to fine gear)

that makes 7,39% increase in major stats from rare to exotic

and that’s just major stat, so overall impact is even smaller

tl;dr; bunch of meaningless numbers

Exotic Greatsword has average damage of 1047.5.
Rare Greatsword has average damage of 928.5.

Exotic does 12.8% more damage. If Power is major stat according to above that’s 7.39% more damage which results in 21.1% more damage.
And then let’s say additional Precision and Critical Damage adds 5% more damage and you get 27.1% more damage in total.

+ runes and sigils

allways going for BIS

I think wearing full rare is perfectly acceptable for a person running around solo. I’ve had no problem in Orr in masterwork stuff. I choose to equip exotics on all my endgame toons because I want to see the highest numbers I can. It’s fun, but I don’t think it’s a necessity.

Dungeons is another story. While I’m reasonably certain that skilled players could run dungeons in masterwork gear, it’s just disrespectful toward your group to do it. There’s no excuse to not be making as much of a contribution to your group’s smooth and speedy success as you can. So, exotics and ascended gear where possible.