Guild Wars 2

Instead of Ascended ones, I mean. Particularly to be able to put Platinum Doubloons in their Upgrade Slots for that extra Boon Duration.

If it matters, I’m an Engineer using Celestial trinkets, as I like to be able to switch up my build depending on my team’s needs. I only really play with a dedicated group of friends who are perfectly fine with my lack of “meta” equipment, and I tend to stick to the zerg in WvW, where total build perfection is less of a requirement than roaming. We do Fractals together, but I’m intending to grab myself some Ascended armor for Agony Resistance, instead of needing to use the trinkets for it.

Has anyone else made that sacrifice of stats for Boon Duration? Or is the potential 24% bonus not really worth it?

I don’t think you will find the Boon Duration worth it in comparison to the stats you could have had in that same place. Your Trinkets are going to be giving out a good portion of your status.

Which boons are you most worried about that you feel the extra boon duration is going to be helping with?

Additionally, I am not sure how High in Fractals you are planning on going but Armor alone won’t cut it after a while if you want to be running something like a 50.

Due to build-juggling, I won’t necessarily have any one particular Boon that I’ll be trying to extend, but common ones that I do end up applying to myself often are Might, Fury, Regeneration, and Vigor. Quickness comes into play on occasion, too. And I imagine the Boon Duration would also be helpful when using an Experimental Turrets build for Boon-ing my allies.

Though, I do understand that the stats I’d be passing up on could pick up the slack for the missing Might, Fury, and Regeneration. The Ascended setup would thus be more effective compared to the Exotic one when both would have boons, or when both would not. It’s the longer uptime on the boons that has me uncertain, as the Exotic version would have a longer time at peak effectiveness than the Ascended one… Even if the peak isn’t as good.

I’ve only seen platinum doubloons used on an old ele build that had permanent might/fury/swiftness/prot for the team using attunement swapping. You can just pick up boon duration food if you need it, and take stat boost from ascended trinkets, which will be more than food can give you. Caveat is condition food on engi, becauase 36-40% duration increase is amazing in pve.

Ascended items don’t really give that much of a boost, but they do give a tiny edge. The game can be played successfully with just exotics. Unless you are running high level fractals, or on specific requirement wvw teams, ascended is not that big of a deal. I really haven’t noticed too much increase in dps, etc., between ascended and exotic. It’s just one of those things you have to say “look what I got” and show it off.

Ascended stuff is kind of a pain to craft. With the recent addition, being able to change ascended stats on weapons and armor in the “Mystic Toilet”, being able to change stats on ascended gear to find a suitable combination for your play style is a good thing imo. Especially if you took the time to craft ascended items only to find the stat combinations you chose don’t really work that well for you. Exotics work just fine, are cheaper and easier to craft, and can be sold at the trading post for decent money depending on the stats, sigils, or runes.