I too am slowly working towards ascended crafting for all six and have now finished two of them. Follow the guides as they will save you the gold.
Believe me what gold you save will disappear quickly when leveling your crafting. So browse the guides and remember that the mats you already have on hand can be very useful. If possible you can craft exotics to use for alts as you level to 500.
EDIT: Sorry I posted this to the wrong thread. Duh At least it is somewhat on topic. As for your question I am not 100% certain since the characters I use for this are all 80. Sorry I wasn’t more help.
I like the idea of it becoming a vendor item and then adding to this by making the gemstore item permanent like the copper fed salvage-o-matic.
Only one other revamp for runes I can think of is to make soulbound runes that come from the Mystic Forge account bound. When throwing 4 rare runes into the MF and getting a soulbound exotic out… there’s really nothing to do with it unless that particular character can use it.
At least there was a workaround before the change to transmutation occurred. You could take a soulbound rune received from the mystic forge and apply it to a white item then take that item and transmute to another character’s armor.
Now the way the transmutation charges work that is not going to happen. The runes from the mystic forge are useless unless you can apply them to that specific character you used to get them.
Please consider making them accountbound Anet. If it happens to be an exotic level rune it can’t even be thrown back into the forge.
Saying that Fractal skins are not meant for casuals is like saying Zommoros only rewards the hardcore Mystic Forge users.
It only takes one lucky run be it a casual or hardcore player to get a drop just like the Mystic forge only takes one lucky combine to get a pre-cursor.
Pristine Fractal Relic trades for weapon skins (if the number of relics required is high) is much more hardcore than casual.
I think many posters on this forum are being very single minded in that players who started playing GW2 before this system began got accustomed to all the traits being handed to us with no real sense of accomplishment in getting them and now with many of us rolling alts it feels like a “grind” to go through this system. Think about this though… If you were a brand new player it would be fantastic to go through this and have that sense of accomplishment rather than roll through all the content and in a game like this one that doest really have a treadmill gear grind that sense of accomplishment could go a long way…
I will agree that some of us used to the old system do feel as though the new system is a grind. And I will concede that a new player may not have that same experience.
However, after that first time through unlocking the traits for their main, do you not believe they will think twice about completing the exact same unlocks for a new alt? Do you really see this move as contributing to build diversity? And as new players do you think they will have the funds and skill points to help with the process?
If it were me I’d be perusing forums and other sites to find the best build for the class I was playing and put all effort into unlocking only those traits. If I was having fun somewhere and unlocked others, great, but I’d not be hunting them all down and especially not if I’d done it all before for a main character.
But that’s just me and this is only my $0.02.
I was going to comment that we already have a personal DPS meter if you check out the combat log. Not efficient in a dungeon but take it into the mists on PvP practice and watch your log to see if you’re getting the numbers you want. Anzenketh beat me to that.
And don’t forget that with the trait change it’s not just gear that will slow the dungeon parties down. New players that haven’t unlocked their traits will be slowing these groups down too. So don’t forget it’s no longer just the gear.
I just don’t see the positive in adding these things to this game. If you are of the mind to max stats and DPS then build a guild around this mind set and invite others with a like mind.
I would love to keep coming back to the CP after the achievements “if” I had as much fun as I did the first night when people were patient and willing to learn.
It becomes frustrating and almost futile when people insist on zerging each individual boss separately. That is with very helpful map chat and no hostility or anger in chat. I mean after two hours even I was tempted to start begging people to listen.
I think another player here had it right. It will become a hit or miss event. If you get in with an organized guild that knows what to do, you’ll have a blast and enjoy yourself.
I just got lucky my first night. There wasn’t an organized guild but we did have five blue doritoes of six needed and the people in the map were interested in going for the gold. I only regret I had to work the next day and left around midnight. The challenge to get gold in such a group of people was very fun. I hope to find another such group of strangers at least once more before the event ends.
They already have the yellow text message that tells you the boss you just killed passed his/her elite skill to the other bosses in the pavilion.
Reason would tell you that next time it may be smart to kill them all at the same time so they can’t do that. However that is making an assumption that everyone playing ‘reads’ that message banner and ‘interprets’ it the same way.
Anet did give hints but when doing open-world content available for a limited time, that isn’t zerg-smash, they will have to take this into consideration. Not everyone ‘gets it’.
When the event starts they will have to hand hold a bit more and just say “Try to kill them all at the same time.”
The time constraint on Living World content is going to frustrate players trying to get their achievements. I would love to see how fast the community can learn as a whole but I’m not sure everyone wants to be as patient as myself.
snip
I think such content should take the forum of Tequatl and the like and not be pushed into living story too much, because difficult/challenging content and short time windows cause player frustration.
The short time window is a major source of frustration. Especially for those that understand the fight but can’t get the cooperation to finish.
First time in the Crown Pavilion I must have gotten lucky. I found myself in a large group of people willing to listen and learn. Around the time I left they had begun to achieve silver rewards. We did six Blitzes in about two hours playtime. Each faster than the last to finish.
Last night I was there and trying to help by explaining it was faster if we split up. Unfortunately the number of people was around 26 and no one was willing to do so. Hours and I managed to get through two Blitzes. It was painful. I only needed four to finish the achievement but it wasn’t happening.
I am out of there when I finish unless there is another night like the first.
(Note: putting your dead body at the boss doesn’t work quite the same as a blue Dorito but some of us did try in hopes people would come.)
A Legendary or epic quest to obtain a personal legendary can still be integrated. It would not cut into the current precursor/legendary TP market. With the exception of them not being as desirable.
I almost wish there had been a system in place that allowed for a low level to take a white level item and with continuous use and upgrades via achievements, quests, crafting, events, etc; one could thereby turn that weapon into something legendary with enough time and effort.
EDIT: And I don’t mean time & effort that could be achievable in a few days even with exceptional grinding. I do despise time gating but for these kinds of things it would be necessary, if done properly.
Expanding on the idea that defense of the temples should automatically fail and allow the event to re-start.
I wonder if it would be possible for the defense event to scale to the point of becoming impossible. So each subsequent defense event becomes so large and so difficult that it will fail at some point.
In this way there isn’t a hard reset in which a large number of players feel completely negated because the event just stops and fails regardless of how poorly or well they are doing. By scaling the event in difficulty to the point of failure it would ‘feel’ more epic and immersive while still accomplishing the same goal.
At some point failure will be inevitable but wouldn’t it be fun to push that to see how far players could go?
EDIT: And I forgot to mention that failure of this event, unlike Tequatl and the Wurm is an actual bonus since people also need it to fail to get traits. With the guarantee that it will fail at the point at which it scales beyond player capabilities/numbers it becomes a win/win.
@goldenwing – I was there when a group of players kited the entire party of 6 to the rally point by dragging mobs to the party and then pulling the mobs towards the rally point. It was amazing to watch the cooperation of the players. Most definitely more epic than the actual event.
Unfortunately it didn’t work in the end as the NPC ’s refused to acknowledge they had arrived and the 7th member was nowhere to be found(presumably it had fallen through the map at some point).
Glitched/bugged events make obtaining the traits that much more frustrating.
I tried to guest but ended up in the same instance multiple times.
You guys talking about the fear of heights made me laugh. My guildies laughed at me when I was having issues my first time through one of the fractals. I kept going super slow so I wouldn’t fall. When asked why I said I couldn’t look down without getting sick. Good times…
PS – I made my Dad take me to see the original Star Wars movie at the theater so many times I could recite the lines. I loved that movie so much and funny how I thought it was going to be a ‘dumb space war movie’ the first time I went (8yr old logic)
Here’s another solution that may work.
1- make all the old Adept/master/grandmaster traits unlocked as before.
2- Add a new trait to each trait level that requires unlocking. Just like they have done for Grandmaster trait but add one to each category of the Adept and Master levels as well.
or
Scrap the new system, give back the old system, only require unlocking for new traits added, and finally let’s get some new skills to unlock or even better, new weapon skills to unlock and switch between.
Feel free to blast the idea, it was only a passing thought.
I am not creating alts any longer. Levelling multiple characters doing the exact same thing for each and trying to get through requirements …. bah.. it’s been said plenty of times before. See above 20 pages for reasons I just can’t stomach a new character post patch.
In the meantime, enjoy the nice slight of hand and have fun at the Bazaar of Four Winds.
Good to see you are still here Vol. After reading your sig. I wasn’t sure.
And now I may just have a use for those 148 fortune scraps I have in the bank.
My first video game was Pong. Can’t say I was any good though since I was pretty young but it did get me hooked.
I just wish I had more time to play as a 40+ player. Work, kids and now a grandkid makes for a busy life.
Been here since beta but I am feeling increasingly alienated. It has changed and now we have what feels like an activity director in charge of the fun & rewards. I’m just a tad too independent for that.
It’s still one of my favorites and nothing else has grabbed my attention since. But I have been looking.
I still love the fact we don’t compete for resource nodes/loot, we are rewarded for cooperation, the artwork, customization, and the combat.
With precursors, I have never suffered from the illusion that I would get one from drops or the mystic forge. It is a hope but never an expectation. And yes I have played regularly since headstart.
I did suffer from disenchantment twice (November patch, and when ascended armor was released). I left for a few months from December ‘13 until the April 15th patch. I came back with no new expectations and even less hope than before. There are things about this game I absolutely love, and things I could do without and see the game suffer for.
Precursors are just one of those things that could have been implemented better.
An epic quest reward that involved a multitude of event and game completions based upon the resulting legendary’s story.
Too complicated to implement, then as a reward to the end of the personal story line that would finally get that last green star removed from all my characters screen, and not just my main’s. A reward that is account bound and its resulting legendary would remain account bound as well.
If that isn’t ‘hard-mode’ enough for some then put it with the 10k achievement chest reward.
Just do something to keep that hope kindled.
Watch for them to make UIDs obtainable by use of GEMS from the gem-store.
Now that you mention it… They are being seen more frequently when opening a black lion chest.
I personally got a key on a low level alt the other day and received 3UIDs when I opened one. Others on the forum have noted the increase in the drop rate from the BL chest. However that is a very tiny sample size. Someone would need to open thousands before confirming or denying the observance.
On the wiki it states that Unidentified dyes are:
- Created in the Mystic Forge by combining four unidentified dyes of rare quality, crafted by a chef.
So there is always that to make more of them.
This suggestion has been around for a very long time. The old suggestion was that the precursor vendor NPC offer an account bound precursor that the resulting legendary created would also be account bound. No selling of either the precursor or legendary could occur. The entire process would be an adequate gold sink and no chance of exploit. Oh and that prices of 2H were higher than 1H no matter what the current TP prices reflected.
The dropped precursors & those from the Mystic forge would still be sold for profit as would be the legendaries they created.
I didn’t have time for digging up the old thread so sorry for the sloppy description.
PS – I personally wish they would have made the precursor acquisition into an Epic quest line. But without that a vendor could at least help control cost.
At least before you could use it on a white item, pick up with the proper character and then transmute it to what gear you wanted with a crystal. Now it is completely wasted if it can’t be used by the character that received it from the MF. At least make it account bound to compensate.
Even you don’t take the EXACT same route with the same pauses and actions. Really pronounced when there are more than two, following the exact same footsteps.
That is more like it. Multiple characters following the same exact path
That description won’t cause as many problems. I agree I have seen what looks to be a single character with 5 or 6 pets surrounding them when in actuality it’s multiples running on the same path stacked on top of each other.
I’m with “Im Mudbone”. My main is a Ranger running longbow and bear. I don’t always revive NPC’s but I’ll try to rez the players if I can get to them before they WP. Most of that list is comprised of things I’ve done at one time or another. I hate lagging out but when I do my character will be seen running endlessly into some form of obstacle or another (or so I was told by guildmates).
I also will help out others if they’re going in the same direction I am but I seriously don’t care to follow them around. I go my own way and do my own thing.
My longbow has a molten skin from a single ticket. It is the one weapon that I enjoy on that character and no matter how pitiful it performs I’ll continue using it.
I also don’t even pay attention to chat unless it’s gold or pink, or I went down and someone is kind enough to rez me; then I’ll tell them ‘thx’.
Just make sure that you are reporting a bot and not a real person trying to do their own thing. Generalizing “Rangers with bow/bear Necro with minions” has the potential to cause real problems for innocent players.
Well it could be worse, you could have gotten a precursor drop but one of the crappy ones that don’t sell for much on the TP and is a weapon type you’ll never use.
When you say crappy you’re still talking about the cheapest ones which are still like 30gold (correct me if I’m wrong because it’s been awhile since I checked).
My best drop ever has been Death wish. I was giddy like you wouldn’t believe from getting that thing and from headstart to now that has been the best. So, I’d even take the crappy ones if one dropped. I would make it work somehow on an alt if I had to.
In the past I always read one of these threads and thought “Maybe I’ll get lucky just this once”. (Sometimes I wonder if these threads aren’t created for that very purpose)
Never happened for me. That doesn’t mean it never will but I have yet to hit a lucky streak in drops or at the Mystic forge since headstart.
Instead of blowing through money I just try to play smart. If I get 4 of the same rares from chests I forge them. It takes awhile to accrue them but I don’t lose anything except potential gold from selling them on the TP.
When I started trying to get ascended crafting leveled I would save the exotic weapons created to drop in the forge. I never did finish ascended crafting but it was a way to save money when throwing things into the forge.
I do know that my odds are low for obtaining a precursor because all told I’ve only thrown in hundreds of rares (close to a thousand but I wasn’t counting) and at best 80 exotics.
The method is slow and could possibly never yield a precursor but I also haven’t been subjected to huge gold losses pulling the slot machine lever hoping for that big win.
I won’t lie though if I ever had thousands of gold to blow I’d be there insanely pulling that lever for a chance. For Science! of course
Hopefully someone at Anet will have mercy and give us the upgrade extractor with unlimited uses or even an affordable one with multiple uses (much rather it be unlimited).
That way we could remove the rune/sigil without destruction and on WvW & Karma gear only that rune/sigil that was added post purchase.
The only solution that I can see is to max out your character’s bag slots (8 bag slots per character). Then if you want the cheapest way to get 20 slot bags you can run fractals. Seeing as how you are mostly a WvWer though that may not be an option. Making your own 20slot is expensive but doable.
If you do this per character, as you can afford it, the characters can hold the soulbound armor and weapons in their own inventory.
EDIT: for cost it is 400gems per bag slot per character. Unfortunately it is costly but if you want to hold onto all that equipment the cost may be worth it.
Been there and done that, once was enough. I love exploring but after doing it once unless a POI, heart, SP, or vista is in my path I don’t actively search them out anymore. Waypoints are a different story.
After taking a break since December I came back post-patch with cautious expectations. I thought the new acquisition was going to be for new traits not previously available to the classes. (Which in all fairness is true of some of the GM traits). I loved the idea of hunting down the new traits.
After logging into the lower level alts though I am disappointed in losing what I had unlocked and slogging through content to gain build diversity. I mistakenly thought our old traits would still be available and the new ones would be what created even more diversity.
This delivery is like taking one’s toys away and repackaging them as new but not only that we have to find a way to get them off the roof and out of the trees in the yard (sans ladder).
If only I’d invested in something worthwhile on the TP before my break.
Guesting will not help you. You either must change servers back, or entrust someone who still calls that server home to send you the items from your Guild bank. The items will only be available to that server’s residents. Good luck.
^^ This. Trust me it won’t work. I did the same thing but by mistake. I left my server during what I thought was guesting. Too quick on accepting without reading. I planned to transfer but not before emptying my guild bank.
Guesting won’t help at all. The way I got my stuff back was by adding a trusted friend – that was still on the old server- to my personal guild and then giving them permissions. They had to wait 3 days ( hope I remember the time span correctly) before taking out all my items and mailing them to me.
Good luck and I hope you have a friend to help you out.
I think I’d rather just wait for legendary armor to come out. At least with that armor set you’ll never need another.
You shouldn’t assume that. ArenaNet has said that legendaries will be of the highest rarity (aka ascended) and remain the best in slot. A level 80 legendary will always remain a best in slot level 80 legendary, but what about a level 100 legendary? They never said legendaries would scale with your level.
:( Just crush my hope, will ya’. Actually I have learned; never assume anything. I was “hoping” that legendary will remain not only BiS but at level cap as well.
I have 0 legendaries after a year but am still working on them.
I have 0 ascended weapons and quit working on them. I will just level crafting professions instead.
I plan to have 0 ascended armor and will wait for legendary armor so I never have to worry about changing builds and losing all that gold and time.
I have 5 level80 characters and 4 low level characters. Exotics were hard enough for me to get on all of them and some have more than one set (PvE/WvW). I can’t chose just one character to play.
I think I’d rather just wait for legendary armor to come out. At least with that armor set you’ll never need another. Anet pushes out a balance patch that nerfs the build, no problem, change the stats and done.
And for nay-sayers, legendary armor has been in the database since release. And there’s this thread too, with a reply from Colin.
Retsuko.2035 I don’t think you were ever properly introduced to the OP Risen chicken.
Those were good times… yes good times. Watching a group of players instantly downed and dead from a single chicken shoot egg attack was both hilarious and sad.
When Anet ‘adjusted’ the difficulty of the DE’s in Orr a few things went wrong. Back then the Risen Wraith had both stacks of defiance and a well attack that was both huge in range and did around 8000 dmg per pulse. Run fast as you want you still died. The DE’s were subsequently readjusted.
This thread was one of many that were about the issue. Other threads actually documented the crazy dmg with combat log pics and a field littered with dead player bodies.
Good times.
I think they expected the community to embrace horizontal progression and instead they got a lot of “there’s nothing to doooooo” whining.
They have, in my opinion, been reeling ever since.
The community did embrace horizontal progression. The “nothing to do” posts didn’t start until after people got their “looks,” which didn’t take that long. ANet grossly underestimated the amount of skins needed to fuel a cosmetic endgame. Also, transmute stones encourage the adoption of a single “look” for a character. A wardrobe feature would have encouraged people to pursue multiple sets of cosmetics.
I’m happy to give them credit for innovations like the elimination of ninja-ing nodes, the elimination of kill-stealing, and marvelous things like “Deposit all collectibles.” However, the “cosmetic endgame” was not their finest hour.
I’ve been saying this kind of sentiment for some time now. For a game based upon horizontal progression, the amount of skins and customization needed was, as you put it, “grossly underestimated”.
Weapon customization, more diverse character customization, more types of pets, housing with a trophy room showing off achievements (Scarlet’s head mounted would be a nice conversation piece), region specific armor & weapons, event specific armor & weapons, boss specific armor & weapons, etc.
Let us buy regional hairstyles from vendors in towns, town clothes, capes, etc.
Grenth could drop his armor as an ultra rare loot instead of just buying it from the gemstore.
Give us some treasure hunts with hints out in the world. There was a ton of interest in Final Rest before it was revealed to be a bugged drop from the Shadow Behemoth. So make some real treasure hunts. We had to read books for an achievement. Was there any reason they couldn’t have pointed towards an event chain triggered by the achievement?
Stop baiting us with temporary carrots and dream up more creative ways to give this game depth.
I made that mistake myself and 3600 gems later I’m back where it started. I won’t ever make that mistake again because it was so costly.
A simple confirmation by typing in the new world transfer name would be a nice/easy addition.
I hope they take care of you Vayne. I personally didn’t even think to put in a support ticket for my mistake.
I do content I don’t enjoy for the reward. And I have given up on certain enjoyable parts of the game because of the risk vs reward issue (10 straight failures at Tequatl come to mind). For me, WvW is too costly in terms of different gear set than PvE, repair costs because I die a lot, etc. I rarely break even in WvW even though I do enjoy it.
I think I am just trying to keep my account current with permanent rewards (candy corn node, personal obelisk, etc.)
I am already behind in mats and gear so I quit trying in that respect. A very hopeless feeling ensues when considering the options to getting the ascended versions of gear after getting exotics for most of the level 80’s I play.
I don’t farm enough to have that kind of gold or quantity of mats. And that’s not a complaint but more of an observation. There are plenty of dedicated players that think ascended acquisition is easy; I’m just not one of them.
I understand the balance Anet is working towards with the economy and the influence of the farmers on it. The effect that has on me is having to do more gold efficient activities whether I enjoy it or not. I can choose to do otherwise but it will be costly and I can’t afford to fall further behind.
23/24
Same problem here. I have been through them all twice and am working on going through them a third time.
I too was interrupted while channeling and went to continue but was given the message; “You’ve learned all you can from this obelisk”.
I only wish I knew which one had not counted.
EDIT: After patch I rechecked and the missing obelisk showed its head. Just a hunch but I think being interrupted right at the end of transcribing it by a newly spawned mob is what made it count but not count. Either way it worked so I hope others get their achievement too.
I was hoping that LS would have been an extension of the current DE system. As in, Anet would have incorporated LS elements into existing DE chains. A better reward system coupled with a world/map changing outcome. Even if it ended up only being temporary changes there would have been some life injected into the DE system.
I have seen the convoluted nature of the additions to the game, witnessed the focus change numerous times, and seen the community hop from one gold source to another.
I hope they find that strong leadership and focus they need to bring the game and the community back together.
The problem isn’t “casuals” it’s “hardcore with limited time”. Of course it all depends on your definition of casual. I’m extremely serious when I game, i min max, I study skills, I work out damage calculations over lunch, and I can play maybe an hour a day.
The problem is, are there enough of me to be worth worrying about?
I left Blackgate recently because of long queues and frequent overflows. It was the ultimate in waiting to have fun due to the population of the server. (And yes I was on Blackgate since launch).
I understand the frustration you are having but it’s no different than it’s ever been on Blackgate. Before the nerf to dragons only giving one chest per account, it was like that on almost all the meta bosses on Blackgate. Want to get into WvW, you’re going to wait.
I wish you luck.
I honestly think they lost a large portion of the player base back in November with the announcement of Ascended tier. Those that came here based on that philosophy of horizontal progression didn’t all visit the forums to complain. What is left is probably more pro vertical progression than not. <— All just assumptions on my part of course.
I held on with hopes that the implementation wouldn’t kill off my playstyle. Now that it has put a stranglehold on that style I have to ask myself; what now?
I applaud those that enjoy this new direction. I wish I had the time to keep up with the pace. Unfortunately I don’t and the more I miss the easier it becomes to miss it.
Anet knows the metrics, crunches the numbers, and knows what people are doing consistently. Those are the voices that matter, the numbers.
@Mastruq – Look at the statement: Exotic was a mid-term goal. Now look closely at all the ways a player could get exotic weapons & armor. Think about how difficult any of those methods were. (Probably the most difficult was a loot drop since it is pure RNG).
Now base your argument off of how long it took to gather dungeon tokens, karma, gold, etc.
Anet didn’t underestimate the time it took to get exotics, they underestimated the time it took for a part of their playerbase to get bored.
I’d like to think that their original vision would have worked if they’d implemented a more diverse and complex horizontal progression base. I don’t believe the customization was varied enough, the choices of unique armor/weapons vast enough, hidden challenging quests to find rare gear non-existent, and so on. But that is purely my opinion.
Why is it that despite the personal story being 3-4 times as long as any of the original Guild Wars campaigns, our only reward is a sweet(maybe) skin…in rare stats?
Even before ascended gear this is pretty bad, but now it’s just a joke. To be rewarded with something that is 2 tiers behind and will just end up getting transmuted or salvaged is embarrassing. Is it too much to ask that they give every character 1 ascended weapon as a reward for completing the entire story?
Of the 11 weapons I can wield as a ranger, I think getting 1 ascended as a reward isn’t too much to ask. Max damage weapons are a GW tradition for story rewards. Bring them back.
While I definitely agree with you; I am sure no matter how they implement this, someone will find a way to exploit it.
I don’t see a problem with giving the pact weapon ticket a boost in value to let us choose one single ascended weapon. Considering some people prefer to play toons with 1handed weapons in both slots, that is one single weapon out of four needed to fill them. Even if you play a toon with 2handed weapons that is still one of two needed.
It’s a good idea as long as it’s implemented well.
Maybe they will allow cooking to be leveled to 500 by using it for the crafting of a precursor. Based upon the issues already presented; some foods are already very powerful and not of rare or exotic quality, the value being too high to be used, etc. I hope they have plans to use it for something like creating rare upgrade items, transmuting ingredients or something of that nature.
It’s a good question though, definitely thought provoking.
At least it is somewhat on topic. As for your question I am not 100% certain since the characters I use for this are all 80. Sorry I wasn’t more help.
