Guild Wars 2

So I know that opening certain bags yields a better return when they’re on a character somewhere in between kitten…in fact, there is a website that calculates the most profitable level. However, I do not know WHICH bags to open on what character. Some of them are affected by magic find, so those I am GUESSING are best saved for a level 80, with 5 stacks of perseverance in the Silverwastes, along with Hero of the Wastes…and then there are the bags with white text, green text, bag of rare gear, bag of gear, bag of sandy gear…the list goes on and on and on, and this doesn’t just go for the silverwastes. I get bags from everything, whether it’s SW, the HoT maps, or even just fighting world bosses/other champs out in Tyria. My question is, which bags should I be opening on what level, and when should I be opening them? Thank you in advance!

Although I disagree with some of Nash’s analysis, I strongly support the main point:

• Keep It Simple, Simon: ignore MF when opening bags
• Mostly don’t worry about toon level, unless you have stacks and stacks of bags, in which case L53 is fine for anything that doesn’t have a guaranteed rare.

I use a more complicated set of guidelines, because I can afford to wait to open bags until I have tons of them and can “process” the contents efficiently (e.g. assembly-line style)

• Non-exotic containers/bags: open on an L53 toon (roughly double the value if sold on the TP, compare to L80)
• The specifically named “Bag of Rare Gear” and rare ‘recovered’ chests from HoT maps: L80 — it’s (near as I can tell) a downgrade to use mid-tier toons, since they have guaranteed rares.
• Exotic containers:
  • Full stacks I open on L80 (I enjoy having even the infinitesimal chance of getting a precursor)
  • Partial stacks on L53
  • Exotic & rare bags that specifically mention “magic find” I open on high-MF, L80 toons (and pretty much only if I have hundreds of them; too much trouble otherwise)

If you really want to worry about more details, one website looks at the value of salvaged mats if opened at different levels.
https://silverwastes.loltools.net/

You’ll notice that the difference between using L53 and the actual “optimum” is typically less than 5%, while the difference for using L80 is typically 40-80% less. In other words, L53 is perfectly fine most of the time (as in my rules of thumb) compared to reserving toons at other levels. (The website is missing some important nuances, but that doesn’t affect the overall conclusion, just the actual numbers you’ll get for yourself.)

In other threads on this topic, I’ve gone into more detail about why my rules of thumb are efficient based on real data and real TP prices, but for the most part, those are moot: as I say, Nash’s overall point is reasonable: keep it simple; you’ll have more fun.

As long as you’re not after certain materials which need a character of a certain level opening the bags (you found out about it already), I wouldn’t bother too much.
Even though there are bags affected by magicfind, imo it’s totally not worth to focus on that since chances something usefull will come out of it are already abyssmal low. Wether the chance for a nice drop is 0,00000001% without magic find or 0,000005% with 500% magic find, it all boils down to RNG. And RNG is a kitten that shines on a lucky few (and usually the same few over and over again…) and kittens on the broad masses (ofc over and over again…).
So imo you’re way better off actually playing the game and do something that you enjoy and/or gives you gold right away than worrying about which bag to open when on which character, just to increase your chances for profit by a tiny, tiny bit.

€: i know, the part about RNG is soaked with the bitterness of someone that experienced everyone and their mum drowning in lucky drops and yet is to see a precursor drop (might include some exageration and lack valid maths ’n stuff. meh.). But Illconceived got it right with his excerpt of my overall point.

Also note that there are also “material bags” that drop which are not affected in any way by your Magic Find or your level. These bags tend to run in a series (Tiny, Small, Light, Medium, Large, Heavy), are dropped by Anthromorphic mobs (Bandits, Dredge, Risen, etc.) and only contain crafting materials (and occasionally the odd gathering tool).

These bags can be opened by any level character because their drop table is not dependent upon anything about you but purely on the name of the bag.

This is poor design in general. You shouldn’t have to worry about character level; RNG bags should be RNG and be insensitive to who opens them.

Boogiepop Void.6473:

This is poor design in general. You shouldn’t have to worry about character level; RNG bags should be RNG and be insensitive to who opens them.

Agreed. But sadly with the insane amount of t3/t4 material that legendary and ascended crafting needs, people having a guaranteed way to obtain gear that will salvage into those materials is not a bad thing.

OriOri.8724:

Boogiepop Void.6473:

This is poor design in general. You shouldn’t have to worry about character level; RNG bags should be RNG and be insensitive to who opens them.

Agreed. But sadly with the insane amount of t3/t4 material that legendary and ascended crafting needs, people having a guaranteed way to obtain gear that will salvage into those materials is not a bad thing.

This design benefits the community a lot more than these comments suggest. First, it gives the play more control over loot. Second, it makes it easier for the economy to adjust to changes in demand. People want more T3? Price goes up and people are encouraged to open relevant bags on T3 toons.

Keep in mind that the vast majority of GW2 loot (as in any game) is fodder — it’s meant for salvage or vendor or to trade with others, because as humans, we prefer to always be getting something rather than nothing (during the drought between the coveted drops).

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

OriOri.8724:

Boogiepop Void.6473:

This is poor design in general. You shouldn’t have to worry about character level; RNG bags should be RNG and be insensitive to who opens them.

Agreed. But sadly with the insane amount of t3/t4 material that legendary and ascended crafting needs, people having a guaranteed way to obtain gear that will salvage into those materials is not a bad thing.

This design benefits the community a lot more than these comments suggest. First, it gives the play more control over loot. Second, it makes it easier for the economy to adjust to changes in demand. People want more T3? Price goes up and people are encouraged to open relevant bags on T3 toons.

Keep in mind that the vast majority of GW2 loot (as in any game) is fodder — it’s meant for salvage or vendor or to trade with others, because as humans, we prefer to always be getting something rather than nothing (during the drought between the coveted drops).

Does it really provide a benefit over random drops from bags? Probably, but not likely considering that not everyone opts to choose to open bags on level appropriate toons.

But at its core, its no different than having bags always drop equipment/loot relevant to the level of the mob that dropped the bag in the first place. Under such a system you could still farm t3 and t4 mats easily by going to a t3/t4 map. However under this system you would be free to do so on your level 80 main instead of being forced to switch bags around. I think this current system is inadequate if its goal was to allow us to choose what materials we wanted to farm.

OriOri.8724:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

OriOri.8724:

Boogiepop Void.6473:

This is poor design in general. You shouldn’t have to worry about character level; RNG bags should be RNG and be insensitive to who opens them.

Agreed. But sadly with the insane amount of t3/t4 material that legendary and ascended crafting needs, people having a guaranteed way to obtain gear that will salvage into those materials is not a bad thing.

This design benefits the community a lot more than these comments suggest. First, it gives the play more control over loot. Second, it makes it easier for the economy to adjust to changes in demand. People want more T3? Price goes up and people are encouraged to open relevant bags on T3 toons.

Keep in mind that the vast majority of GW2 loot (as in any game) is fodder — it’s meant for salvage or vendor or to trade with others, because as humans, we prefer to always be getting something rather than nothing (during the drought between the coveted drops).

Does it really provide a benefit over random drops from bags? Probably, but not likely considering that not everyone opts to choose to open bags on level appropriate toons.

But at its core, its no different than having bags always drop equipment/loot relevant to the level of the mob that dropped the bag in the first place. Under such a system you could still farm t3 and t4 mats easily by going to a t3/t4 map. However under this system you would be free to do so on your level 80 main instead of being forced to switch bags around. I think this current system is inadequate if its goal was to allow us to choose what materials we wanted to farm.

Man anet cant win, They implemented the system we have now becouse high level chars wanted level apropriate loot even when going to help lower leveled friends on their maps.

Now people dont want that anymore since lower level loot/materials is harder to come by.

Feel free to open all bags on what ever char you want OriOri and buy what you need from the tp.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

OriOri.8724:

Boogiepop Void.6473:

This is poor design in general. You shouldn’t have to worry about character level; RNG bags should be RNG and be insensitive to who opens them.

Agreed. But sadly with the insane amount of t3/t4 material that legendary and ascended crafting needs, people having a guaranteed way to obtain gear that will salvage into those materials is not a bad thing.

This design benefits the community a lot more than these comments suggest. First, it gives the play more control over loot. Second, it makes it easier for the economy to adjust to changes in demand. People want more T3? Price goes up and people are encouraged to open relevant bags on T3 toons.

Keep in mind that the vast majority of GW2 loot (as in any game) is fodder — it’s meant for salvage or vendor or to trade with others, because as humans, we prefer to always be getting something rather than nothing (during the drought between the coveted drops).

That does not seem to account for the need to have a spare character. Requiring a character to stop gaining level also goes against the rest of the game’s design where it tries to throw exp at you at every opportunity.

As Linken says, the game has been tweaked a few times regarding what drops where. In the end, it’s six of one, a dozen of the other as to which is best; they are ultimately mathematically equivalent.

The current situation: reserve a single mid-tier toon to use for some bags. The original system: take your L80s out into the mid-tier areas to farm. I prefer the current system, since all I have to do is choose which toon is opening bags; some prefer the old system because they can choose where to farm on any toon.

The current system encourages people to spend more time in L80 zones; the old system encourages folks to spend more time in sub-L80 zones. Since nearly all of the game’s new content is designed for L80, I continue to support the idea that the current system is, overall, better for the game.

tl;dr yes, it really provides a benefit over random drops. It gives people more control over where & when they play, at relatively minor inconvenience.