Why is gearing up such an absolute nightmare?

[Chichimec.9364]

> @"Zin Dau.1749" said:

>... It's not the gear; it's the player. Change your play style. Learn to embrace glass cannon. Train some defensive traits and skills; wear fully offensive gear. The right traits and skills, and player skill, will get you a lot farther than measly toughness or vitality.

 

The most common build advice I hear in GW2 is usually along such lines - build your gear toward offense and rely on your personal skills for defense. That advice works well for enough people that it has become the conventional wisdom here. It's not the best approach for everyone though. In real life I'm an old (turning 69 soon), slow, clumsy guy with some physical issues that significantly contribute to my slowness and clumsiness. All that very much carries over into my game play. My favorite alt in core Tyria was a condi Mirage kitted out with full Viper exotic gear. That played very well all the way up to the middle of the level 80 personal story where I began hitting a brick wall caused by my physical limitations. With a glass cannon, I simply could not react/respond fast enough to survive very long outside of PVE in the core game. Although I have all the expansions and Living Stories, I could only play them around the edges and spent most of my time roaming the open maps of the core game. (One quick aside - another standard bit of advice is to look for help, usually from your guild, if you get stuck somewhere. I am part of a very good guild, one which has a number of people willing to help. It's just that it makes me feel stupid and embarrassed to keep asking for such help. Those are not fun feelings and so I tended to just skip the stuff I couldn't do.)

 

That began to change earlier this month when I started a revenant for a weekly key farm run. I've played around with ranger, engineer, and guardian as well as my mirage. There was something about the revenant though that just really clicked for me. At this point, with a mix of Ascended and Exotic gear, all with Soldier stats, my rev is a tank who can go places none of my other alts could survive very long in. Part of that is the excellent set of defensive traits and skills for the revenant. Part is the heavy armor of that class. Part is the "measly" toughness and vitality which are not so measly in a Soldier build. For me, all those various parts help compensate for my limited physical ability and are helping me to explore further into the advanced game than I ever have before. So, I think Zin Dau's advice is excellent for a lot of people. However, it is not one size fits all. Another piece of the conventional wisdom in this game is to find what works for you, whether it works for other people or not. That I wholeheartedly agree with.

 

To get back on this thread's initial topic - it's in building that mix of Ascended and Exotic equipment that I can empathize with the OP's frustration about gearing up. The exotic gear was expensive and it took some running around to get the various recipes and such but it was doable for me. My Ascended jewelry was bought with a mix of Laurels and Guild Commendations so that wasn't too bad. Then, a few days ago, I started my first Ascended crafting. Wowsa! Time gating means it will take 6-9 days just to make the components for each weapon and you can only work on one at a time. Each of those days consumes a serious amount of mats. Today I finally had all the components in hand and was ready to craft my first Ascended weapon. Yikes! I ran right up against Vision Crystals! In five months of playing, it seems I had accumulated enough mats to craft one crystal, which meant I could finish that first weapon. Before making another weapon though, I'm gonna have to run around hitting various loot chests, trying to gather 66 more Empyreal Fragments. For the next Ascended weapon after that, I'll have to gather 500 more such fragments and so on. Trust me, I feel the OP's pain.

 

However, there's a simple truth that keeps my frustration well within manageable limits. With Exotic weapons and armor, as well as a full set of Ascended jewelry, my rev tank is able to boldly go places in this game I wasn't able to go before. More Ascended gear is not a necessity, it's just icing on the cake. Crafting that gear is a nice goal that will help keep the game interesting for me. It's gonna take time but I love this game and am more than willing to give it that time.

 

One last thing before I finally shut up - everything in this post is based on my experience. Your mileage will vary because your life and your experiences are different than mine. It really is true that we each need to find what works for us. Discussions like this can help us see various possibilities. That's why I wanted to toss in an alternative to the glass cannon canon. There are other options. See what works best for you.

Peace

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

> @"RandomWolf.3986" said:

> > @"Westenev.5289" said:

> > What class are you, and what stats are you trying to obtain?

> >

> > It's important not to knock "glass cannon" builds right out of the gate; this game relies mostly on active defenses, so the longer a fight takes the more likely it is for someone to make a mistake and wind up dead. Usually group content will have dedicated support units to keep you alive, like a healer tempest, Druid or Ventari Herald - so personal survivability isn't really necessary in PvE.

>

> This is pretty much a generalization. Anything that's related to HoT or PoF is going to be a pain to get nonetheless. I don't like running as a Berserker at all due to just how glassy it feels.

 

In all pve you really should be running Berserker/Viper on everything DPS oriented, or maybe Grieving if it's a burn guard. The only time you should stray from this is if it's an outfit for a Support or Tank role and/or a WvW outfit.

[Nebilim.5127]

> @"Linken.6345" said:

> So what specific hot/pof stats are you after mate? Your making it kinda hard to understand becouse right after you say original stats witch seem to point to core stat combos.

> Edit

> Your talking about exotics so I guess viper or minstrel?

> We have known for ever that exotic hot stats arent worth to craft just go for ascended.

> Craft what ever ascended thats cheapest and stat change said item in the mystic forge with an exotic insigina/inscription mate.

>

 

Op is just pointlessy ranting now. Complain about core stats being useless but when people point out berserker or magi or cleric, complain abou not wanting to be glass cannon or these not being wanted? What?? What stats are you trying to get from HoT? Vipers is as glass cannon as berserker and minstrel isn't meta for any class in PvE. Harrier is much easier and cheaper to obtain from PoF and is the meta for chronos and druids, even though they are more than fine running other choices in fractals as long you know how to play.

 

GW2 is extremely easy and forgiving to gear, unless you are gearing up trailblazer or minstrel for wvw, everything else cost nothing. Even viper exos are cheap nowadays.

[Amaranthe.3578]

Gearing in GW2 is ridiculously easy man

[aspirine.6852]

> @"Amaranthe.3578" said:

> Gearing in GW2 is ridiculously easy man

 

Ok I'll bite, how is it easy? After coming back from not playing this game for a while all of my chars armour runes and weapons are outdated. So what do I do :)

[Etterwyn.5263]

Chichimec.9364 if you join an organized RIBA squad in Silverwastes and stay through the chest farm between metas, you will get a TON of Dragonite and Empyreals. As well as the occasional Obsidian Shard. I don't think anyone does chest-only maps in SW anymore but you should check LFG anyway.

 

Also don't forget the LS3 maps. Each map has a special node that gives Ascended crafting mats as well as map currency.

 

[starlinvf.1358]

> @"RandomWolf.3986" said:

> > @"Zin Dau.1749" said:

> > But your complaint is contradictory. The core stats are cheapest on the TP, and easiest to unlock in crafting. Berserker, Assassin, Rampager are widely available. More defensive there are Carrion, Knight, Zealot, Rabid. Yet you're implying none of these seven widely available, high performance choices are good enough for you. I would not recommend gear with two defensive stats, unless you're pure support in group-focused content (raid, fractal).

> >

> > Gear with stats from expansions are intentionally designed for dedicated players. If you desire these, you really must focus on grinding gold, mats, and rewards for them. They're not just going to fall into your lap.

> >

> > It's not the gear; it's the player. Change your play style. Learn to embrace glass cannon. Train some defensive traits and skills; wear fully offensive gear. The right traits and skills, and player skill, will get you a lot farther than measly toughness or vitality.

>

> It's not contradictory; you seem to have not read the post itself since everything was said coherently. This has nothing to do with the core sets. All those stats you mentioned besides Berserker are looked down upon nowadays.

>

> Grinding never worked for me, that's why it took me five months to get a legendary, which I regret deeply. It sucks the fun out of everything.

 

Except you're post isn't. Its forcing a very narrow minded view of the situation, revolving almost entirely around "personal convenience", and dismisses anything that requires more then casual effort to being the same as "actively denied". To summarize the core issue, you're viewing this problem through the lens of a "Meta player" .... as in the only acceptable state is that of either a Min/Max or Best in Slot option. Most MMOs are structured in a way that make this in inevitability, as to force players through a gear treadmill.

 

With GW2's game design, best in slot options have the same logarithmic style of cost growth, but actually plays with a high level of viability in just exotics. 3-stat combos are made to focus mostly on 1 stat that drives the build, allowing for the highest peak performance if stacked. 4-stat is a more point efficient version of a hybrid build, and is more favorable in PvP/WvW because a higher point total across more stats are more desirable then peak performance in 1 or 2. While most refuse to admit it, Raids are more then viable in exotics and core stats...... as build competency and DPS stability is more important then burst damage. But like Dungeons in the times before it, the only reason you saw certain stat combos be used in near exclusivity is due to speed clearing meta. The irony is that the speed clear meta is a testament to the game's well designed use of active defenses...... which is completely underminded by the player's constant push for easier counter play.

 

Something this game does that other don't do is give players a choice of gear. Meta behaving the way it does, will always gravitate toward the highest return on cost options for a layout, then evolves that specific layout into best in slot, if not challenged. Since most players want the path of least resistance, they cling to the meta like the old Nintendo cheat guides of old, with no understanding of it beyond whats directly explained, and the expectation of it winning more then losing. This has a whole cascade on the social ecology of the game, with some being healthy, but others not.

 

Case in point...... we have multiple options for builds, yet berserkers remains the single most used stat for power builds. Viper became the condi meta, because it was the FIRST fully offensive, mostly synergistic condi stat. In fact, Anet has been specifically trying to avoid new golden synergies like Berserkers, because they know it will make all other combos obsolete for well over half the game's content. The 2 golden combos with the current set of mechanics will be Pwr/Prc/Fer/Con, and CDmg/Exp/Prc/Con. So unless they add another stat that will create competition for best in slot, these 2 combos are very likely to be the last 2 added before the game stops production.

 

 

 

Anyway..... reiterate..... you can easily work with less, in practice is maybe a 8-10% difference in overall performance. Significant, but not so much to hurt the vast majority of the game's known performance thresholds. On top of which, player execution is a much bigger demand in making any theoretical performance a reality.

[Elva.6372]

Well, outside of Ascended Laurel Jewelry, all my chracters wear Exotic gear and gearimg them isn't that difficult -just a few gold on TP.

 

Yes, some professions are a pain...do I go crit, power...or maybe condi/toughness...which is more effective, which will work the best, etc...?

 

Like my Scourge is Toughness/Condi/Healing...really helped his survivability but he still melts faces in PvE

 

My Reaper went Toughness/Power/Precision...very awesome fit for how I play him.

 

My core Ranger is all Power and Precision and Ferocity and Vitality thrown in on the side..

 

Anyway, gearing is both the easiest and remarkably complex parts of the game, the variables make it fun to me... I could care less about Ascended/Legendary gear...which doesn't seem fun at all to pursue and overly complicated.

 

 

 

 

[FrizzFreston.5290]

I definitely dont like to gear up my characters. But mostly because I want to play and not spend time messing around the build window.

 

I wouldnt say gearing up is hard by any measure. Its just dreadfully boring and a waste of my time to even invest time in making new builds.

 

I feel like I need several armorsets on each character to get the enjoyment of trying out new builds on the character. Plus setting some sort of a build on a character makes me feel like Im stuck with it or need to craft another new set.

 

As such, most of my characters have full berserkers unless I bothered to make something out of it.

[Cerioth.7062]

> @"RandomWolf.3986" said:

> > @"Obtena.7952" said:

> > > @"RandomWolf.3986" said:

> > > As someone who has a lot of characters, I honestly feel like gearing up for this game is such a massive burden, especially thanks to the introduction of new stats with the release of _Heart of Thorns_ and _Path of Fire_. It seems like it's outright impossible to gear up a character with the original stats these days; unless you wish to run around as a glass-cannon.

> > >

> > This complaint doesn't make much sense. You can gear up with original stats (not Hot or PoF I assume you mean?) and not be a glass cannon because there are lots of stat prefixes from the core game that really lean hard on the defensive side of things. Other than Vipers and harriers, there isn't much to the new HoT and PoF prefixes that really offer anything you can't get with a thoughtful approach to using a mix of core prefixes.

> >

>

> Pretty much all sets besides "Berserker" are considered useless by the majority of the community and flawed when arranging a build. I can't get into Fractals and even escorts like that.

 

For high tier fractals and raids if you are going to be running around as a wanderer guardian (or cleric, lol) you are not going to bring anything to your team and causing them to basically carry dead weight - this is why people want specific build arrangements / stats for high tier fractals and raids. In open world, dungeons and low tier fractals it does not really matter what you run though.

 

As for gear, it would be a lot easier to give you meaningful advice if you would tell us what kind of stats you want.

[sorudo.9054]

the reason is simple, way to many stats for the wrong game.

[Obtena.7952]

> @"RandomWolf.3986" said:

> > @"Obtena.7952" said:

> > > @"RandomWolf.3986" said:

> > > As someone who has a lot of characters, I honestly feel like gearing up for this game is such a massive burden, especially thanks to the introduction of new stats with the release of _Heart of Thorns_ and _Path of Fire_. It seems like it's outright impossible to gear up a character with the original stats these days; unless you wish to run around as a glass-cannon.

> > >

> > This complaint doesn't make much sense. You can gear up with original stats (not Hot or PoF I assume you mean?) and not be a glass cannon because there are lots of stat prefixes from the core game that really lean hard on the defensive side of things. Other than Vipers and harriers, there isn't much to the new HoT and PoF prefixes that really offer anything you can't get with a thoughtful approach to using a mix of core prefixes.

> >

>

> Pretty much all sets besides "Berserker" are considered useless by the majority of the community and flawed when arranging a build. I can't get into Fractals and even escorts like that.

 

That doesn't change what I've said. Your complaint here is that it's a burden to gear up ... for reasons that don't make sense. If you are talking about using gear that someone else thinks you should use, that's a completely different complaint. Frankly, your post is entirely to vague to even have a discussion about; you don't say what you're trying to gear up for or what stats you're even looking at.

 

If you're going to let 'the community' tell you how to play and what to wear, that seems to me that's a self-inflicted injury, not a problem with the game.

[Leo G.4501]

> @"aspirine.6852" said:

> > @"Amaranthe.3578" said:

> > Gearing in GW2 is ridiculously easy man

>

> Ok I'll bite, how is it easy? After coming back from not playing this game for a while all of my chars armour runes and weapons are outdated. So what do I do :)

 

How are they outdated? I tend to play sporatically, taking long breaks and then burn/grinding for a couple months before taking a break and I managed to make 2 ascended medium sets, 2 ascended heavy sets, 1 ascended light and a plethora of exotics and materials to make more ascended once I get enough of the costly ascended stuff. They are all still relevent and not outdated and apparently, I can change the stats of my ascended gear to other stats (only tried once, changing a carrion set to grieving).

 

 

[Chichimec.9364]

> @"Etterwyn.5263" said:

> Chichimec.9364 if you join an organized RIBA squad in Silverwastes and stay through the chest farm between metas, you will get a TON of Dragonite and Empyreals. As well as the occasional Obsidian Shard. I don't think anyone does chest-only maps in SW anymore but you should check LFG anyway.

>

> Also don't forget the LS3 maps. Each map has a special node that gives Ascended crafting mats as well as map currency.

>

 

Thanks Etterwyn. I've just started spending time in Silverwastes and hadn't known this. So this is very helpful info. Same thing with LS3 maps, couldn't explore them with my always dying glass cannons but now I can and I will definitely look for those nodes. Appreciate the help! :)

[aspirine.6852]

> @"Leo G.4501" said:

> > @"aspirine.6852" said:

> > > @"Amaranthe.3578" said:

> > > Gearing in GW2 is ridiculously easy man

> >

> > Ok I'll bite, how is it easy? After coming back from not playing this game for a while all of my chars armour runes and weapons are outdated. So what do I do :)

>

> How are they outdated? I tend to play sporatically, taking long breaks and then burn/grinding for a couple months before taking a break and I managed to make 2 ascended medium sets, 2 ascended heavy sets, 1 ascended light and a plethora of exotics and materials to make more ascended once I get enough of the costly ascended stuff. They are all still relevent and not outdated and apparently, I can change the stats of my ascended gear to other stats (only tried once, changing a carrion set to grieving).

>

>

 

They are all core sets. Like berserker, or soldiers for WvW. I have a few ascended trinkets and rings, but they can never be changed again....

[Dralor.3701]

Ease of gearing and lack of having to constantly grind for upgrades is one of the main reasons I play this over other MMOs.

 

 

[Despond.2174]

I am going to assume you mean in general and not solely just gear with POF stats because nearly ever profession meta is vanilla/hot stats still.

 

It's never been easier to gear in GW2 especially compared to years in the past. Between Istan metas throwing gold @ everyone, you can just craft every piece for 45-65g/e. You only need to craft it once. I have all armor types covered simply just from crafting and T4 fractals. T4 fractals will usually give you a box every 2 week, sometimes less if you do them all every day.

 

Trinkets are basically free. 1-2 weeks doing some Living World maps, you'll have a near infinite supply. And most meta builds don't use POF stats. Vanilla stats are also not dated, there are vanilla stats still meta.

 

Seriously, you can get comfortably 20g/hr from Istan and just craft what you don't have. Now I am running out of things to craft because this MMO is blessed with a permanent top tier gear system. Far from a nightmare, it's a dream compared to other MMOs. The gear I have now will last for GW2 WHOLE lifetime.

 

There's never been an easier and cheaper time to gear up or get anything in this game. It's so much more accessible now it's ridiculous and gold farming has never been better than now, SW is nothing compared to Istan.

 

My tip is if you don't have living world 3. get it. It's cheap and you will never worry about trinkets again. Press Y go to Open World > Domain of Istan and join a group, join in madness of easy gold. Level your crafting and do your material daily. Don't waste gold crafting exotic sets of rare stats, you're better off to hold out a bit and craft them ascended.

[Leo G.4501]

> @"aspirine.6852" said:

> > @"Leo G.4501" said:

> > > @"aspirine.6852" said:

> > > > @"Amaranthe.3578" said:

> > > > Gearing in GW2 is ridiculously easy man

> > >

> > > Ok I'll bite, how is it easy? After coming back from not playing this game for a while all of my chars armour runes and weapons are outdated. So what do I do :)

> >

> > How are they outdated? I tend to play sporatically, taking long breaks and then burn/grinding for a couple months before taking a break and I managed to make 2 ascended medium sets, 2 ascended heavy sets, 1 ascended light and a plethora of exotics and materials to make more ascended once I get enough of the costly ascended stuff. They are all still relevent and not outdated and apparently, I can change the stats of my ascended gear to other stats (only tried once, changing a carrion set to grieving).

> >

> >

>

> They are all core sets. Like berserker, or soldiers for WvW. I have a few ascended trinkets and rings, but they can never be changed again....

 

Are they ascended armor?

 

I'm not the best to give advice for gearing up stuff to exotics. I tend to look at things from the aspect of long-term, even if I don't actually play long-term, so while I'll craft or buy some exotic gear to tide my build over, it's always in preperation of crafting ascended versions/the stat nomenclature I actually want. Of course, this all requires you farm for gold/materials, level up crafting and hoard time-gated materials.

 

Still, berserkers is a bread-n-butter set-up and if you have it ascended, you can use that on any character in that gear category, so you're not starting from scratch...

 

...oh, and hoard more ascended trinkets and rings. Half the time, my builds use similar armor but swaps out the weapon and jewelry stats. Maybe swap the runes, put some food on it and you're golden.

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"RandomWolf.3986" said:

> As someone who has a lot of characters, I honestly feel like gearing up for this game is such a massive burden, especially thanks to the introduction of new stats with the release of _Heart of Thorns_ and _Path of Fire_. [...]

 

The biggest burden to me is getting new PvE trinkets (as only the Bloodstone ones can be reset), followed by finding ways to remove runes and sigils before wasting spirit shards in order to change your ascended gear's stats in the Mystic Forge. It really is a hassle, I agree.

[Khisanth.2948]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"RandomWolf.3986" said:

> > As someone who has a lot of characters, I honestly feel like gearing up for this game is such a massive burden, especially thanks to the introduction of new stats with the release of _Heart of Thorns_ and _Path of Fire_. [...]

>

> The biggest burden to me is getting new PvE trinkets (as only the Bloodstone ones can be reset), followed by finding ways to remove runes and sigils before wasting spirit shards in order to change your ascended gear's stats in the Mystic Forge. It really is a hassle, I agree.

 

Actually the fractal/wvw/pvp(they are all the same items) "mist" trinkets can also be reset and they have all stats(assuming you have all expansions). The rings also come already infused. They are pricey in terms of the time gated currency cost though.

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Khisanth.2948" said:

> Actually the fractal/wvw/pvp(they are all the same items) "mist" trinkets can also be reset [...]

 

Which is why I explicitly wrote "PvE trinkets"... (raises eyebrow)

 

And since, by the way, you cannot wear two of those Mist rings and accessories on one and the same character, yo need to get new PvE trinkets anyway, so even in that case my statement is relevant. ;)

[Steve The Cynic.3217]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"Khisanth.2948" said:

> > Actually the fractal/wvw/pvp(they are all the same items) "mist" trinkets can also be reset [...]

>

> Which is why I explicitly wrote "PvE trinkets"... (raises eyebrow)

 

"fractal" *is* PvE. The enemies in there are ***all*** NPCs.

 

[Badcat.7320]

Just focus 1 main with many setups.

[infrequentia.3465]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"Khisanth.2948" said:

> > Actually the fractal/wvw/pvp(they are all the same items) "mist" trinkets can also be reset [...]

>

> Which is why I explicitly wrote "PvE trinkets"... (raises eyebrow)

>

> And since, by the way, you cannot wear two of those Mist rings and accessories on one and the same character, yo need to get new PvE trinkets anyway, so even in that case my statement is relevant. ;)

 

you can wear 2 the same mist rings.

 

there not unique.

 

and getting them through fractals means their pve aswell.

so in that case your statement is irrelevant

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"infrequentia.3465" said:

> you can wear 2 the same mist rings.

> there not unique.

 

Oh, okay. Thanks for the info!

 

> and getting them through fractals means their pve aswell.

 

Well, I don't consider Fractals or Raids standard PvE. They are special sections that I regard separately. But I understand not everyone is seeing it that way. ;)