Westenev.5289

I feel like modernising/optimising the core game can't be shipped with an expac, because expac buyers are essentially crowdfunding core game content they would get anyway with or without EoD. But I do think we're long overdue for a character customisation update. More hair, more beards, more horns!

Not buying the expac specifically because someones backpack is a little shiny is a bit of a nuclear response, isn't it?

Dead Dragons Watch npcs littered around cities. A little morbid, but it's what this community always asks for but clearly isn't going to get.

> @"mindcircus.1506" said: > > @"Linken.6345" said: > > > @"mindcircus.1506" said: > > > > @"Westenev.5289" said: > > > > New players think Power Longbow dps comes from comboing their scaling range autos and point blank shot. They think they're helping by by scattering mobs, because other games and common sense tell you it's easier to pick off opponents rather than fight 20 at once. They think having 1500 range and a knockback means they should never get close to the enemy. New players think ranger means archer, so longbow will be the weapon most newbs will flock to since it fits an archers theme. > > > No. > > > Low-effort players who gravitate to longbow ranger aren't thinking about comboing a thing. They are firing all their abilities off cooldown with zero regard for rotation. They are drawn to Ranger for the class fantasy, or because they hop on this very forum and say "what should I play??" and are told by veteran low-effort players that Ranger is easy because they just let their pet tank and pewpew from distance. > > > The game itself never punishes the playstyle and no feedback is ever given to the player that they are underperforming. They see numbers they barely understand and are given full rewards during group events without contributing meaningfully. They live in a bubble. > > > Lets also be clear that this isn't a "new" player issue. There are plenty of members of the current forum cartel who proudly "main ranger since beta", telling new players that all they have to do is get a brown bear to tank and this will get them over in all content in the game. > > > > If Anet expects me to play with other people, I don't want them to hold me back. It seriously affects my enjoyment if the content when everyone stands in fire and dies, leaving me to save the day from a way overscaled 20 minute encounter. > > > I would counter that Anet expects you to use the tools at your disposal to customize your experience. You can very easily say "no longbow rangers" in your LFG or just ask them to switch and kick them from your group if they don't. Not a thing wrong with that. > > > Your group, your rules. > > > Additionally you can just play with people you enjoy playing with and who aren't there to take a carry. > > > A little personal responsibility goes a long way to making sure your play time is how you like it. Unfortunately, that's not the way I roll. If things don't turn out the way I want, venting my frustrations on other players is no way to solve anything in a game I know is largely knowledge based. Learning the game is the responsibility of the players, that is true, but it's also no secret that the general player base sucks at the game. I don't think this is through a lack of players trying, in fact, I find players try too hard. Ask a bearbow why they refuse to stack, their answer will generally be "because of my damage bonus on auto", or "because melee is scary" - not because they want to troll or indiscriminately mash buttons, but rather because they see numbers they don't understand and don't know any better. You're right, there is a bubble, but why should they have to burst it when so many players are forced to reinvent the wheel the same way? I want to play in an instance where everyone has fun, not an instance where I select what fun is. That is the responsibility of Anet, and why I prefer asking for a balance change over becoming a salty sea pirate demanding everyone play meta or kick. But this is becoming a derailing discussion of class balance, not why I dislike playing alongside 30k AP bearbow "new players" in new content.

> @"mindcircus.1506" said: > > @"Westenev.5289" said: > > Anet needs to seriously consider buffing mesmer gs, ranger longbow or whatever weapon bad players use before pushing this sort of content. > Power Longbow Soulbeast can already benchmark over 35k dps. Buffing the weapon is not going to make low-effort players magically contribute at an acceptable level. There is nothing wrong with the weapon. > Don't get me wrong....whenever I see some someone shockingly underperforming it's 9 times out of 10 a longbow ranger. > 1.5k dps on Bears? Soulbeast > Won't stack after being repeatedly told to do so? ALWAYS Soulbeast > I get it. > But the answer is not buff a spec/weapon that is already overperfoming in the right hands. Ask yourself how and why this weapon is both underperforming and overperforming, and you'll see clear areas that need improvement. Power Longbow DPS is strong because 2 and 5 are used in a rotation during one wolf pack + sic' em, before getting swapped out to your primary dagger/axe for that juicy offhand axe damage and dagger autos. It's used as a offhand weapon used for sneaky (melee) dps gains, not a primary (ranged) weapon of choice. New players think Power Longbow dps comes from comboing their scaling range autos and point blank shot. They think they're helping by by scattering mobs, because other games and common sense tell you it's easier to pick off opponents rather than fight 20 at once. They think having 1500 range and a knockback means they should never get close to the enemy. New players think ranger means archer, so longbow will be the weapon most newbs will flock to since it fits an archers theme. It's my opinion that Ranger Longbow needs some sort of redesign for this exact purpose, because it's painful to play with these sorts of players. If Anet expects me to play with other people, I don't want them to hold me back. It seriously affects my enjoyment if the content when everyone stands in fire and dies, leaving me to save the day from a way overscaled 20 minute bossfight.

Female human/sylvari can make a convincing medium armour spiderman suit. Given how spiderman is the new ironman in the marvel avengers universe, an engi could work. You can also make sailor moon suits, or japanese style school uniforms in light armour. In regards to names, I'm pretty sure Anet will only enforce bans on offensive names. I mean, you can't ban someone for making an asuran "son goku", since he was a mythical figure in asian myths long before he was an anime icon.

DrM's as a format does nothing for me besides making me hate 4 random strangers, but Anet has also created gems like Fire and steel + bound by blood - so I guess I'm looking forward to EoD?

This season left me wanting a metal legion encore. Storywise, Anet handles horror and slice of life well, but drops the ball when it comes to dragons and dragons watch in general. Maybe it's time to drop the dragon plots, stop the war campaigns, and do some fun slice of life for a season or two? Fire and steel was fun. It's like I'm playing alongside other players, so my enjoyment of the content isn't tied to how well they perform. The tank and sniper parts were cool, and the rocket launchers were super metal. Strikes and Drms are just horrible. They prove Anet is out of touch with their community, which can be split in two camps - the "100 kp or kick" party, or the "I think melee is scary, I'm a casual" party. Anet needs to seriously consider buffing mesmer gs, ranger longbow or whatever weapon bad players use before pushing this sort of content. Drizzlewood is the new meta map of the week, and probably should have been the sole focus of lws5. The first half of the map is fun, but the second half feels like half an hour of follow the commander tag.

While a Cthulhu style story would be cool, and would definitely redeem the moronic dragons we call elders, I don't think there's anything to read into here. It's just a common power struggle between two rival powers. Remember when the elder dragons used to be scary, and had morals and goals that mere mortals couldn't understand? A plot driven by the backs of people, and not divine feats like meddling in the affairs of gods?

> @"Fenella.2634" said: > > @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said: > > > @"Fenella.2634" said: > > > Well, alright, I also was not aware it was actually established lore from GW1 that bodies had to be in a reasonably good shape. :) > > > > > > However, that whole argument aside. What also sets apart the PC from most other resurrections in the GW universe, is that the PC did not become Risen, Awakened, a necromancer's minion or any other kind of undead. Even with resurrections being a thing in this universe, death always matters. Our circumstances were very, very special and unique. I don't suppose other characters could easily find their own Eater of Souls to kill, plus a deal with an Avatar of Grenth to make. > > > So, even if Trahearne, Vlast or anyone else could somehow manage to get a body back, they would most likely not return like the PC did, but as an undead. Do we really want that? Maybe it's better to let them rest in peace. > > > > While you are correct that the Commander's circumstances were very unique, no resurrection results in undeath of any form simply because of the spellcaster/school of magic/magical energy involved. In GW1, resurrection spells belonged exclusively to healer classes - monks, ritualists, and paragons - which seem to utilize the school of Preservation (and mechanically, used holy/light energy)- all three also merged into the Guardian; meanwhile, undeath spells belonged exclusively to the necromancer profession (no surprise), which utilized the school of Aggression (and mechanically, dark/unholy energy). So the Commander not becoming undead is rather "the very same as all other resurrections in the GW universe". > Wait, player gameplay deaths are canon deaths? I always thought they were just unconscious or something and the resurrection spells were not exactly resurrections. Players can die in gw1, and are resurrected at aptly named "resurrection shrines". In Gw2, players are "defeated", not dead, which is why you can revive them by tickling their feet and rubbing their tummy. Presumably player characters receive some sort of first aid when they return to waypoint, but they aren't dead.

I think lws2 in general is the most profitable set of stories, since it gives more black lion gemstore goods than the set of episodes are worth.

The only relevant combos are water (healing) and light (condi cleanse), and they're pretty spammable because they are set to important skills you're gonna use anyway (ie. Guardian symbols). Thief smoke fields have a niche use, but powercreep has gotten so bad it's faster to go through mobs than to skip them. Thief poison fields have good utility too, but only because the shortbow has a daze effect. All in all, combos are a very weak bonus I don't put any effort into maintaining. Anet could delete combos and I'm sure many would be none the wiser.

Copper fed salvageomatic. The earlier you buy it the more cost effective it will be. Gw2 has been around for awhile, and occasionally needs material sinks to keep the economy healthy and uninflated for newbies who don't have a reserve of resources to ignore market crashes. This title is one of those.

As a person who enjoyed maintenance mode gw1 with some friends back on the steam sale, I don't think it's backwards to support gw1. The game still has a passionate playerbase who help newcomers, and the gameplay is fundamentally different to gw2 while premiering the features we know and love today (ie. fashion wars 1, no gear treadmill, achievement hunting...). That being said, I can't see it being a smash hit like "golden age" '07 runescape, but gw1 would definately appeal to more traditional mmo players.

I think DRM's are an interesting concept, but I vastly preferred the DRM pre-events over the actual DRM. The starting event feels like I can play with or around less than capable players and have fun, but the actual DRM just feels like story mode. The boss is a health sponge, and the other players bring terrible open world builds which make them about as useful as the NPC allies...

Personally, I wouldn't mind a glider toggle function. Sure, it's useful, but sometimes I want to explore the world without it and unlike with mounts it's more or less become a twitch reflex for some players. > @"kharmin.7683" said: > i think starting a new thread with new comments or opinions would be just fine. Problem is, most thread necro's are nothing more than another re-hashing of the points already made in the thread. Akin to "me too". Which adds nothing new. The irony is, by continually posting "this has been posted before, it could be seen as spam/deconstructive/off topic/derailing - especially derailing. I mean, do you see what happened to this thread? It turned from an enable glider thread into a "Y U ALWAYS DO THIS KHARMIN" thread. If that isn't derailing, I don't know what is. Plus, I think your position is a bit harsh, since the player in question must have used the search feature to find a thread from half a year ago.

I mean, gw1 armours looked great in gw1, but after a surge of gw1 outfits in gw2 I begin to realize that a faithful recreation is a little too simple for gw2's aesthetic and just looks... off. Personally, if Anet went down this route, I'd prefer they reimagine the armours or outfits as though they were going to recreate it for the 2012 gw2 release, rather than directly porting a 2006 armour into 2021.

I enjoyed wow, but probably because I spent the free trial with three gw2 guild-friends. We did silly things like trigger horses that would kidnap us and send us halfway across the map, or unlocking secret griffon spots so we could ditch someone at a moments notice for doing dumb things like instigating duels between level 15 priests (THEY OUTHEAL THEIR DPS, WHAT THE GOODNESS?!) I didn't really warm up to anybody in WoW, and people didn't really seem that approachable, so all but one of my friends didn't stick around. But, yeah, a mmo is only as fun as the friends you make. At least, in my opinion.

> @"Seera.5916" said: > But the OP doesn't mean that. Yes, the OP didn't mean that. And, funnily enough, I wasn't replying to the op. I was replying to "the first post you mentioned".

> @"Ashen.2907" said: > I am not sure that any of that is easier than clicking on the TP icon, selecting desired stats, and spending gold. Similarly, I don't think any of your examples are easier than spending karma at a temple heart vendor. Good luck finding a temple heart vendor for: Marauders. Minstrils. Trailblazer. Vipers. Sinister. Sound familiar? Probably because they're some of the most commonly used armors in WvW and PvE. And you can't buy them on the trading post. So, I ask you, without listing any of the methods I have listed... ... how do you buy these stats off the trading post? What is your easy acquisition method for a person who admits they hate PvE and want to WvW?

> @"Seera.5916" said: > But LWS3 and LWS4 are a far aways off for a new player. So is level 450 crafting. They won't have been able to stockpile the daily limited items like existing players have enough in advance to make ascended crafting cheaper or quicker. > > Exotics are going to be the quickest and easiest way for new players to gear up on average for most content. Then they can work towards earning ascended gear of the stats they want - if they so choose. > > Once you're established, you get whatever level gear in the way that's most fun for you. Which is a wide variety for both exotic and ascended. > > But you can't just claim ascended is always cheaper and easier than exotic. For new players, exotic will always win short of anything that needs laurels to buy if they haven't been buying a lot with laurels while leveling up. Did you know the cost of 400 armoursmithing is 25 gold from scratch? +6g for 500? Did you know the cost of 400 leatherworking is 23 gold from scratch? +14g for 500? Did you know the cost of 400 tailoring is 23 gold from scratch? +6g for 500? Not an unreasonable cost for a returning player. I seriously suggest checking out gw2crafts. I suggested Living World ascended trinkets specifically because it doesn't require laurals and bitterfrost frontier is quickly farmable if that's what you want to do (while the other lws3 maps are much more long term and casual friendly). This is also where you'll see the most difference in stats, and also the most difficulty in finding the correct stats for your build. > @"hihey.1075" said: > That's the issue: "one or two months of playing" is simply excessive for what GW2 was intended to be. I would somehow accept it for _legendary_ equipment which allows to change stats on the spot, but what if I wanted to change gear? Do I need to spend another "one or two months" for min-maxing? That's simply too much - and way beyond what I'd define as "more easily obtainable than exotics". > > I am a returning player and do not even know what a winterberry is, let alone how to access "LWS3 EP3" :3 > > This statement is correct and that's why - in the end - I still go around with my "unoptimized" gear and kick kitten all around; but still, the few times I die I cannot avoid thinking "heh, if only I had that item...", which is silly, but it's exactly how "top tier players" like to play :) > > I'll be frank: I took a look at the wiki for all the ways you mentioned for achieving Ascended Gear, and my mind literally exploded. Whenever I opened one item, I had to look up something like 10 other pages just to see the "ingredients" required for that item alone. For an exotic, I just go on the trading post, spend my 1-10gold on it, and that's it. > > (DISCLAIMER: I am a WvW player, and I despise PvE) I wouldn't worry about it too much. Ascended gear isn't much better than Exotic - if you died in exotic, chances are you would have died in Ascended. We're talking an improvement of like +5%, not enough to stop a zerg from steamrolling over you I'm sure. Everyone has their own tips and tricks. There's no right or wrong way, and there are plenty of ways to earn Ascended gear. It's kind of like a rolling ball, if you get into the right rhythm or habits the gear just comes naturally over time. I suggest finding a friend or maybe asking your wvw colleagues for advice - maybe they could explain how they got their ascended gear, or explain their lack thereoff.

> @"Seera.5916" said: > > @"Westenev.5289" said: > > > @"hihey.1075" said: > > > > @"Westenev.5289" said: > > > > > @"hihey.1075" said: > > > > > > @"Westenev.5289" said: > > > > > > Depending on the stats you're after, it's actually cheaper/easier to get ascended gear rather than exotic - this is doubly true for trinkets. And outside of Fractals, you could probably do content in rare or exotic gear - the DPS isn't all that different so long as your stats are damage orientated and you can play your class adequately. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Can you provide examples of this? I am having a hard time figuring out how Ascended equipment is easier to obtain than Exotic. > > > > > > > > > > I am genuinely interested because, as a returning player who stopped right before HoT, I am in the situation where I do not know how to proceed to update my gear (which was fully ascended) with the best stat choices for min-maxing my performance. > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ring: Fractals, 10 pristine for red ring of death and the other one (berserker stats). > > > > > > > > Ring, Backpack, Accessory (unique, any stat): Pick up lws3 ep 3 from the gem store. You will unlock bitterfrost frontieer. Farm winterberries, you should get about 70 per character per day if you do hearts + chests. More characters helps here, and the farm is fairly quick with mounts. Use the winterberries to buy accessories. > > > > > > > > Ring, Backpack, Amulet (unique, any stat): I recommend bloodstone from lws3 ep 1 since they're stat swappable, but takes FOREVER to farm. But, in general, lw is just great for farming at least one type of ascended accessory. PvP also has realistically obtainable stat swappable accessories if you want to casually dab into the ranked season for lols. > > > > > > > > Backpack: Lots of achievements give one. My personal favourite are the PoF banner support achievements. If you're stuck on what to go for, pick ad infinitum - it'll take you through the steps to make a beta infused backpack with 2 infusion slots you can keep. > > > > > > > > Weapons: Elite spec weapons are probably the easiest to obtain off the top of my head. If they're the wrong stat, throw them in the mystic toilet with the exotic inscription of choice. Caladbolg is also a fun miniquest and a nice send off to traehearne, and can take the form of a gs, sword, scepter, shield or dagger. > > > > > > > > Armour: pvp is an option, but realistically just throw money at the problem. Use gw2 crafts to get 450 tailor (light), leatherworking (medium) or armoursmithing (heavy). Begin making your daily materials. In the meantime, you can get exotic stat swappable armour from verdant brink (bladed armour) or berserkers from the cathedral of silence in cursed shore. > > > > > > Thanks, but I still do not see how all these are more easily achievable (in terms of time/gold cost) than exotics :/ > > > > It seems daunting, but in reality it's one or two months of playing how I want with a variety of activities I float between whenever I want a change of location. Plus, if you get into wvw, some stats like celestial or marshals can be difficult to obtain as exotics (and if you're crafting, why not just make ascended?). > > > > If there is one takeaway though, I really want to stress the winterberry farm in lws3 ep 3. > > > > And, I want to note that top tier players continually prove game knowledge trumps stats. So long as you have the correct exotic stats, you can easily outdps someone in ascended gear who buttonmashes, picks bad weapons and generally doesn't know what they're doing. > > But that's still more time than it would take to get a full set of exotics. That's where the question comes in. > > Now there may be cases where some stats are quicker/cheaper to get as ascended vs exotic, but that's probably not the case for most stats. > > And for new players, exotics will always be quicker and cheaper because new players would most likely have to get the appropriate craft level up to 500 before they could craft what they need, or reach the point in the story where they can do those achievements, or earn enough fractal ranks to get ascended gear drops, etc. That's true for Armour, which is why I recommended 2 sources of ez exotics (preferably bladed, because the collection awards a piece of ascended if I recall correctly). Verdant Brink is also a popular meta, so getting event participation and crowbars shouldn't be a problem. Heck, I'm pretty sure you can buy exotic berserker armour off the TP for less than 10g. Statwise, armour is worth less than the weapon or trinkets, so ascended armour shouldn't be the priority if you're looking at running berserkers. But for Trinkets, I believe lws3 and lws4 offer extremely easy ways to get stat selectable gear. Unless you're getting Berserker, this is easily the easiest way to get trinkets without laurels. Speaking of Berserker, 10 pristine fractal relics isn't a big ask for rings - so much so you can arrive at tier 1 fractals and do the dailies with level up rings. You'll have the rings in a week, one day if a friend carries you through t4's. Getting 500 crafting is fairly cheap, laughably so. Gw2crafts has trivialised crafting. But for what we need, 450 is fine - I can't stress how good it would be to begin getting into good habits like stockpiling things like charged quartz or spools of elonian thread. Doing this is practically why I can make ascended armour on demand. Praying on RNG gods to get ascended gear isn't a great plan, esp since you need ascended gear to get enough AR to run t3 or t4 fractals, and people could live their lives without ever seeing a tequatl hoarde. Raiding might be an option, but in that case there is no rush for ascended gear. Better to focus on what you can do rather than rely on luck.

> @"hihey.1075" said: > > @"Westenev.5289" said: > > > @"hihey.1075" said: > > > > @"Westenev.5289" said: > > > > Depending on the stats you're after, it's actually cheaper/easier to get ascended gear rather than exotic - this is doubly true for trinkets. And outside of Fractals, you could probably do content in rare or exotic gear - the DPS isn't all that different so long as your stats are damage orientated and you can play your class adequately. > > > > > > > > > > Can you provide examples of this? I am having a hard time figuring out how Ascended equipment is easier to obtain than Exotic. > > > > > > I am genuinely interested because, as a returning player who stopped right before HoT, I am in the situation where I do not know how to proceed to update my gear (which was fully ascended) with the best stat choices for min-maxing my performance. > > > > > > > Ring: Fractals, 10 pristine for red ring of death and the other one (berserker stats). > > > > Ring, Backpack, Accessory (unique, any stat): Pick up lws3 ep 3 from the gem store. You will unlock bitterfrost frontieer. Farm winterberries, you should get about 70 per character per day if you do hearts + chests. More characters helps here, and the farm is fairly quick with mounts. Use the winterberries to buy accessories. > > > > Ring, Backpack, Amulet (unique, any stat): I recommend bloodstone from lws3 ep 1 since they're stat swappable, but takes FOREVER to farm. But, in general, lw is just great for farming at least one type of ascended accessory. PvP also has realistically obtainable stat swappable accessories if you want to casually dab into the ranked season for lols. > > > > Backpack: Lots of achievements give one. My personal favourite are the PoF banner support achievements. If you're stuck on what to go for, pick ad infinitum - it'll take you through the steps to make a beta infused backpack with 2 infusion slots you can keep. > > > > Weapons: Elite spec weapons are probably the easiest to obtain off the top of my head. If they're the wrong stat, throw them in the mystic toilet with the exotic inscription of choice. Caladbolg is also a fun miniquest and a nice send off to traehearne, and can take the form of a gs, sword, scepter, shield or dagger. > > > > Armour: pvp is an option, but realistically just throw money at the problem. Use gw2 crafts to get 450 tailor (light), leatherworking (medium) or armoursmithing (heavy). Begin making your daily materials. In the meantime, you can get exotic stat swappable armour from verdant brink (bladed armour) or berserkers from the cathedral of silence in cursed shore. > > Thanks, but I still do not see how all these are more easily achievable (in terms of time/gold cost) than exotics :/ It seems daunting, but in reality it's one or two months of playing how I want with a variety of activities I float between whenever I want a change of location. Plus, if you get into wvw, some stats like celestial or marshals can be difficult to obtain as exotics (and if you're crafting, why not just make ascended?). If there is one takeaway though, I really want to stress the winterberry farm in lws3 ep 3. And, I want to note that top tier players continually prove game knowledge trumps stats. So long as you have the correct exotic stats, you can easily outdps someone in ascended gear who buttonmashes, picks bad weapons and generally doesn't know what they're doing.

> @"hihey.1075" said: > > @"Westenev.5289" said: > > Depending on the stats you're after, it's actually cheaper/easier to get ascended gear rather than exotic - this is doubly true for trinkets. And outside of Fractals, you could probably do content in rare or exotic gear - the DPS isn't all that different so long as your stats are damage orientated and you can play your class adequately. > > > > Can you provide examples of this? I am having a hard time figuring out how Ascended equipment is easier to obtain than Exotic. > > I am genuinely interested because, as a returning player who stopped right before HoT, I am in the situation where I do not know how to proceed to update my gear (which was fully ascended) with the best stat choices for min-maxing my performance. > Don't forget you can stat swap ascended armour/weapons at the mystic forge. Don't forget to remove infusions with an infusion extractor for 24s from a fractal merchant. You can also stat swap stat swappable rings by infusing or attuning them at the mystic forge. Ring: Fractals, 10 pristine for red ring of death and the other one (berserker stats). Amulet (any stat): Complete HoT act 3 achivements. Requires migraine, so make sure you do it with good friends. Ring, Backpack, Accessory (unique, any stat): Pick up lws3 ep 3 from the gem store. You will unlock bitterfrost frontieer. Farm winterberries, you should get about 70 per character per day if you do hearts + chests. More characters helps here, and the farm is fairly quick with mounts. Use the winterberries to buy accessories. Ring, Backpack, Amulet (unique, any stat): I recommend bloodstone from lws3 ep 1 since they're stat swappable, but takes FOREVER to farm. But, in general, lw is just great for farming at least one type of ascended accessory. PvP also has realistically obtainable stat swappable accessories if you want to casually dab into the ranked season for lols. Backpack: Lots of achievements give one. My personal favourite are the PoF banner support achievements. If you're stuck on what to go for, pick ad infinitum - it'll take you through the steps to make a beta infused backpack with 2 infusion slots you can keep. Weapons: Elite spec weapons are probably the easiest to obtain off the top of my head. If they're the wrong stat, throw them in the mystic toilet with the exotic inscription of choice. Caladbolg is also a fun miniquest and a nice send off to traehearne, and can take the form of a gs, sword, scepter, shield or dagger. Armour: pvp is an option, but realistically just throw money at the problem. Use gw2 crafts to get 450 tailor (light), leatherworking (medium) or armoursmithing (heavy). Begin making your daily materials. In the meantime, you can get exotic stat swappable armour from verdant brink (bladed armour) or berserkers from the cathedral of silence in cursed shore.

Depending on the stats you're after, it's actually cheaper/easier to get ascended gear rather than exotic - this is doubly true for trinkets. And outside of Fractals, you could probably do content in rare or exotic gear - the DPS isn't all that different so long as your stats are damage orientated and you can play your class adequately. As for legendary armour/trinkets/backpack... well, I'll admit the backpack is a little useful if you want obscure stats, but the rest of it is kinda pointless because frontloading damage stats is generally the way to go in gw2, and there are only a few relevant stat sets in gw2 (minstrels/trailblazer = wvw, berserkers/marauders = PvE power, sinister/viper = PvE condi, Harriers/Magi/Commanders = PvE support) As for legendary weapons? Yeah, they're just a pain because I can never keep track of where the sigils go when I swap loadout/stats. Pretty sure I've sold my Exordium's sigil of force by mistake three times already. In all honesty, ascended gear is just flat out better for me.