Earning and Getting Ascended Armor Feels Too Gated

[starlinvf.1358]

> @"Whiteout.1975" said:

> > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > Armor only provides an increase in DPS of 2% for berserkers, All other stat combos will likely see less, Stat infusions will only marginally improve your build. Generally, ascended armor really isn't all that necessary or worth the effort unless you tend to do high level fractals.

>

> :) Yea, I get that it it's small upfront. The thing is though... those small increases can start to add up more so in fight's. Especially, if you are focusing an enemy player with your friend(s) whom may also be wearing ascended.

> At the end of the day though... If you gave someone the choice of ascended or not. Their going to pick ascended over exotic. Then, the first reason they will likely give is... "I picked it for the stats". Then proceed onward with a smile on their face after.

> Same would go for it you asked someone to throw away their ascended. In return, you would give them exotics. Even with them knowing exotics is easily within their reach. They probably wouldn't give up ascended for exotics. So if it truly does not matter... you would be seeing a different outcome regarding these 2 examples.

>

> The armor is just outright better at the end of the day. If I could obtain it nearly as easy as most exotics out there... you wouldn't hear a peep out of me. I can promise you that.

 

The difference is marginal compared to the fact that most of your damage output comes from stat synergy and trait magnification. PvP and WvW also use more distributed stats, which lowers the peak output; but gets away with it because the required viability thresholds are lower across the board. A 2% difference in stat total doesn't make a substantial enough difference since you're not going to be tanking damage in an attrition style fight. In fact, only 3 builds would see an even remotely noteworthy increase on only 1 skill each, mostly due to those skills having an abnormally high power coefficient (Meteor shower, Coalescence of Ruin, and Mind Wrack). But in all 3 cases, the damage can be both avoided or mitigated to less then lethal levels, unless the attacker perfectly setups up a burst. Of those 3, I'd only consider Mesmer being able to do that on its own.

 

 

Its only in the highly optimized DPS Raid builds do minor stat increases become measurable.... seeing as its the only game mode where DPS measurement is even possible.

[Klypto.1703]

Yeah the reward system of wvw is very very low and if you have high magic find it works against you when it comes to bags dropping from players. As well need a loot system of wvw type bags that only drop there. Being able to give out gear we have phased out of too after making legendary sets and see like lots of players not even in exotic gear yet. Oh also tomes of knowledge and desert coffer thingies we should have alternate choices we can pick instead of those I would say by what rank you are. To a newer player those are like great rewards but when you have characters that are like holding 100's of stacks of tomes and what not its a wasted reward to give since its not really rewarding you with anything. As well also some change to how capturing higher tier objectives with lords reward because there is no difference between a paper objective and a t3 full of tactivators(especially towers where you are immediately seen with watch tower).

 

Anyways my 2 cents(yeah I got a bag to drop just made 2 copper).

[Warkind.6745]

If they make ascended gear easy to acquire, what's the point of exotic? They might as well just remove it from the game. The small difference is hardly going to help if you're outclassed or outmatched anyways.

 

And I think the people who really want a balanced battle either gear or number wise are going to sPvP anyways.

[MiniMe.1960]

> @"Straegen.9534" said:

> Ascended should come off drops fairly regularly in WvW. Any player that puts in 200+ hours of quality play really should have access to a full set of ascended without having to craft or run PvE. I have thousands of hours in WvW with a very high MF and to date I have barely collected enough ascended armor and weapon chests to make a full set of armor and weapons for a single character. I sure do have a lot of rings though!

>

> GW2 completely missed the boat on loot. It is one of the worst MMO loot systems I have played.

 

I share your pain

[saloja.7920]

You have to remember that this game doesn't have linear progression in gear. What I mean is that ascended gear is the best gear in this game. It has been for 4 years now and by the looks of it it will still be best for years to come.

 

It'll take you some time and money to acquire a full set, a little bit more if you want Minstrel, but once you get it, that's it. No more geargrind for you.

 

I get where you're coming from, grinding and farming is a pain, but that's why there is the safety net of exotics. You can get those easily, but they're good enogh to get the job done. Ascended is the BEST there is.

[Strages.2950]

With the playtime that you say you have, it should take you 18 weeks to get a full legendary armor set. If you take advantage of the PvP seasons, it will take you far less. I currently own 2 sets of legendary armor (heavy and light) that I got by mixing and matching PVP/WvW pieces. Seeing as you classify yourself as a roamer, small scale combat of PvP should be an easy transition. (Finished the reward track with less than 100 matches each season. I can't play more than 3 pvp matches a day or I die a little inside).

 

As for the costs of it and of ascended armor, I think you need to make some concessions. The game gives you every chance to get gear fairly easily. Do daily fractals for a while. I geared up 9 toons in full ascended in around 6 months naturally just by doing daily fractals. It takes 30 mins to an hour every day, I do it as warm up before heading out to the borderlands for a roam. Plus the money and the mats are great (around 50g a week + mats).

[Sarrs.4831]

Outside of WvW, if you have plenty of alts, make sure you are parking them at a farming spot, and run through each of them once a day. Doing this on a Rich Iron node, a Flax farm, or a good Elder Wood farm gives you one of the highest GPHs in the game.

[Gemnaid.4219]

Let the rich do the experimenting. The poor can just play meta.

[Whiteout.1975]

Hey guys, I appreciate the replies. I read them all up to this point. So I'll try to address as much as I can here... BTW, I'm sorry for having to type so much and the time, cause "busy" (and more sorry to myself), but it's needed...

> @"Turk.5460" said:

> The rewards are not meant to be a complete alternative to crafting. They are meant to make it easier for those of us who don't spend a lot of time in PvE.

 

Yes, **Thank You**. I do, like many others, want to spend less time in PvE. More time fighting and helping out the server in WvW.

Great point and great comment.

 

## About Roamers

If anyone wants to know more about what it's like to be a roamer, in general...[https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/World_versus_World](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/World_versus_World "https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/World_versus_World")

**Roamer**

Roamers are usually individuals or very small groups that go behind enemy lines to achieve objectives that would normally be **impractical or impossible** for a zerg. They include:

 

- Killing or deterring enemy stragglers and reinforcements

- Defending and destroying supply caravans

- Capturing enemy camps

- Tagging (or tapping) - Attacking an enemy keep sufficiently that it (and its waypoint, if any) becomes contested

- Providing intel about enemy zerg size and position

- Creating diversion for enemy zerg

 

_Roamers generally require high survivability and escapability._

 

All taken from that wiki page...

So, as Roamers we have certainly made our mark and will continue to do so. (I just felt like I needed to reinforce this)

The "1" thing on that list I very rarely (like very very rarely) ever do is... "Provide intel about an enemy zerg". I pretty much leave that up to the scouts. Especially when roaming with friends.

So... in a game that recognizes the importance in what I/others do (Roaming)... Ascended should be better accounted for in relation to that . That being said, luck is luck... That is not really a steady measurement to see gains from ascended... Let's just say it's more steady for some than others.

 

## More General Facts About Me

I have 2 characters full ascended besides the 1 legendary. All my other 5 characters have maybe 1 ascended weapon. The vast majority of ascended armor/weapons I own, I **crafted**. Also, the vast majority of ascended I **earned** with little to no gold are **Trinkets**. The rest of the ascended I have; reside's in my bank (mostly trinkets) because I do not have any use for it currently. A decent portion of it due to profession changes, that have taken place.

 

## Healthy Reasoning For Healthy Game Play

("I do not want to just play the game. I want to **enjoy** playing the game.")

To expand upon what @"Turk.5460" was saying compared to @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" (appreciate the sympathy btw) and relating it to me... and then to others...

I don't have an huge/initial issue with going to PvE for a time and earning some ascended there. However, there becomes a point at which you spend more time doing what you may not enjoy... Also, to put this into a metaphor, somewhat... If someone at the very least, spends say 1 day poking you in the arm constantly, with their finger. There will become a point where you will grow tired of it. Some sooner than others.

To some extent (I know I spared some of the extra detail, but you get my point) this is what it can feel like as a WvWer who **does not** enjoy PvE. Again, some more sooner than others. So, I wonder... at what general point is there a healthy reasoning, in which one must **endure** (not enjoy) PvE or PvP, in relation to obtaining ascended? All while considering the fact that people play all games mainly for **fun**.

Like I said, I play on average about 3 hours or more 4 or 5 days out of a week. I believe that is a pretty fair amount of time, considering life outside gaming.

 

## Re-Looking at My Issues with Ascended (They still remain sadly)

_Going into more detail here as I can..._

**1.) Not all ascended is even close to being considered equally obtainable.** **Example:** Minstrels and Trailblazers Armor/Weapons.** 2 of the most popular stats in the game**. They cost much more gold than other pieces require, to make. **Example**: [https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Beigarth%27s_Knight_Insignia](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Beigarth%27s_Knight_Insignia "https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Beigarth%27s_Knight_Insignia") VS https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Pahua%27s_Trailblazer%27s_Insignia Also, because it cost so much, for these stats especially... You are left with the feeling of going straight for the ascended version, over the exotic version; to save another 100 gold or whatever.

**2.) The rate at which ascended Armor/Weapons can be obtained.** **Example:** **Trinkets** - To contrast, Trinkets are significantly easier to obtain more directly vs ascended armor/weapons, in relation to gold spending. Many can be farmed in PvE to get your required stats along side WvW (Yes, I know of this). So Trinkets I don't have too much issue with. Though, why are the armor/weapons not obtainable with the same general ease? They instead seem to ride much much more heavy, on spending gold. That said, I'm more likely to finish my trinkets long before my ascended armor/weapons. Without spending little to none gold, compared to ascended armor/weapons. Why is this?

I don't even remember the last time I actually bought exotic trinkets because of how simple it is for the ascended versions. It's just time gated. Though, I get ascended trinkets sooooooo much faster. Reason, is because I don't have to throw in close to any decent amount of gold for them. If any at all. For this, Trinkets are so much more reasonable.

 

- So, I have to spend a great amount of gold on [https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Grandmaster_Tailor%27s_Mark](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Grandmaster_Tailor%27s_Mark "https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Grandmaster_Tailor%27s_Mark") (That I need 500 crafting for anyways, per unique mark) x3 or x4 **outside** of having any Grand Master Shards. The shards being, only 30 are obtainable per week in total. For ascended armor/weapons VS me walking into PvE (also on different characters) and farming some nodes for [https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fresh_Winterberry](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fresh_Winterberry "https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fresh_Winterberry") or bloodstone or orrian pearl's etc. for trinkets?... hmm.

 

- **PvP & PvE**: If I have to go into another game mode... like PvP or PvE. Like quite a lot people would suggest, understandably... and be able to accumulate my desired ascended armor/weapons faster there... in those **seperate** game modes... The pure fact that I and others should even feel the need to do that... Well, I rest my case regarding the rate. Speaking on PvP... Why on Earth should I or others be made to feel like we should go to that game mode vs WvW? Considering PvP uses a whole other build system pretty much entirely. I just don't get it...

 

- **WvW Reward Track Vs PvE Farming**: Realistically speaking... I can go into PvE. Farm the ascended nodes of my choice. **Example**: [https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Winterberry_Bush](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Winterberry_Bush "https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Winterberry_Bush"). Alternate through about 5 of my characters at least. Then obtain **at least** 5x the total amount or more, of winter berries, compared to the Bitterfrost reward track for WvW. In a faster amount of time. I'm just saying it would be great if they made it more fair. To where, I can just complete a WvW reward track and get a more reasonable amount. The difference is that it's soooooooo much faster in PvE... The only credit I will give here, is that you can keep repeating a reward track, no restraints. That's it. Though, still the speed at which I obtain my ascended resources in PvE is drastically different in comparison; to the point where I definitely think improvements can be made.

 

## WvW Infusions

**1.) You can use WvW Infusions.** ("Obviously", I know right?)

 

- **Nps's**: Npc's exist in fights all the time, even if not every time. The less skills/time you have to spend on an Npc. The more you can use for an enemy player(s) whom might be near. Also, the faster you can kill Npc's, the faster you can take an objective without them... That said, offensive WvW infusions such as [https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mighty_WvW_Infusion](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mighty_WvW_Infusion "https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mighty_WvW_Infusion") each give "+1% Damage to Guards, Lords, and Supervisors". Likewise, though different, defensive infusions like [https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Vital_WvW_Infusion](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Vital_WvW_Infusion "https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Vital_WvW_Infusion") each give "-1% Damage taken from Guards, Lords, and Supervisors". Ether way. This overall, can give you an easier time in WvW. That also being, against the many players whom like to take advantage of their Npc's. That said, You can have **18** infusion slots to take advantage of this at a time. I'll you conjure up what "%" infusion bonuses are possible knowing that. Offense and/or defense. So as a roamer who runs small and also havoc's. This can be very beneficial... There's nothing like getting blinded by a scout after you are about to land your burst... or CC'd... whatever floats your boat.

 

- **90 extra points to spend**: You get 90 extra points from infusions to spend. Then, if you look at this from an offensive perspective... Say You take "18" [https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Malign_WvW_Infusion](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Malign_WvW_Infusion "https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Malign_WvW_Infusion") (Which when playing condi, you have very little reason not to, just FYI). This can been thought of as basically having 2 & 1/2 stacks of might where the damage is actually relevant. In this case, conditions. **On top** of your increased stats from ascended. Then, if we think a bit outside the box... you can add whatever actual might, Stacking On Kill Sigils, etc. taking place towards that as well..

 

## The Proper Angle to Look at Ascended with Infusions (Offensively)

In order too see the offensive benefits of ascended... we can not put it in it's own box.

As I have discussed above... The extra offensive points (including infusions) can feel very very very... very similar, to as if you had the equivalent stacks of might. That being, the side where your damage is relevant on your build. Ascended with infusions gives you a "solid" foot in the door... **Towards** the point to where your damage becomes **more** relevant. **If** your only damage increases were through Ascended/infusions . **Then**, yea it wouldn't be as big of a deal. Though, You have Might stacking, "On Kill" stacking sigils (offensive), Damage increase Sigils like "Superior Sigil of Force", Traits... You get my point here. Therefore, because it works in conjunction with other offensive bonuses; we just can not put ascended/infusions in their own little box. So, let me ask the much needed rhetorical question now...

.

"Would you rather fight a offensive build/player who has 5 stacks of might or one that has 8... 12 stacks or 15... 20 stacks or 23?... Pick your poison...

 

- What Ascended/infusions here do... is they create a way to where, you can reach the damage that is relevant to you, **faster**. Giving you a solid foot in the door, towards it. Also, I say "solid" because the bonuses do not go away, unless you take them off of course. Anyways, chance's are when someone reasonable goes from, for example, 5 stacks of might to 8; **you will** feel the difference and so on. Ascended with infusions basically allows you to reach this difference faster. Then from that point, over.

 

- If infusions didn't exist... I wouldn't care so much about ascended personally. However, they're what take's ascended to that next level. That is what they were designed to do... and indeed they do.

 

_... I typed enough. I'm taking a break for a while._

Thanks for reading. Peace.

[Strages.2950]

I completely get your point that you play the game for fun and would like to spend whatever time you are in game doing things you consider entertaining (WvW in this case). I feel the same way. That said, no player in this game enjoys 100% of the process of crafting gear, its meant to be a grind because its permanent end-game gear.

 

We all gave you options on how you can get the gear you desire faster, but you feel entitled to getting your gear at a rate you deem acceptable doing ONLY the things you want to do. It just doesn't work that way.

 

•We offered fractals, but you dont want to PVE for 45 mins every day doing arguably the most time rewarding content that is not mind numbingly boring (unlike berry nodes)

• We offered pvp which, given your roaming background, should translate well but you dont want to deal with because it uses 'other build systems entirely' (just blatantly not true, its similar. You dont even need gear for this).

 

And to be perfectly honest, if you're wasting your WvW tickets on something that is NOT Legendary Armor, you're messing up. Save your tickets, save those marks. In 18 weeks you have a full set and can do whatever the flying fuck you want with it. Those skirmish chests? Get dyes and sell the dyes for gold to buy mats in the mean time.

 

 

 

[Whiteout.1975]

> @"Strages.2950" said:

> I completely get your point that you play the game for fun and would like to spend whatever time you are in game doing things you consider entertaining (WvW in this case). I feel the same way. That said, no player in this game enjoys 100% of the process of crafting gear, its meant to be a grind because its permanent end-game gear.

>

> We all gave you options on how you can get the gear you desire faster, but you feel entitled to getting your gear at a rate you deem acceptable doing ONLY the things you want to do. It just doesn't work that way.

>

> •We offered fractals, but you dont want to PVE for 45 mins every day doing arguably the most time rewarding content that is not mind numbingly boring (unlike berry nodes)

> • We offered pvp which, given your roaming background, should translate well but you dont want to deal with because it uses 'other build systems entirely' (just blatantly not true, its similar. You dont even need gear for this).

>

> And to be perfectly honest, if you're wasting your WvW tickets on something that is NOT Legendary Armor, you're messing up. Save your tickets, save those marks. In 18 weeks you have a full set and can do whatever the flying kitten you want with it. Those skirmish chests? Get dyes and sell the dyes for gold to buy mats in the mean time.

>

>

>

 

Thanks, for the reply. There is much more than that point I'm making here though. I understand the options offered (BTW, Thank You & everyone else)... My point there was that I have to go into those other modes to get my ascended faster. Hence, why they were suggested to me. I should be spending more time having fun in WvW and helping out there. So I don't get why this is.

 

- The rate I deem acceptable is one that is more fair. I never gave specific's, other than just WvW. The fact that I was offered other "much better" solutions (PvP & PvE). Is what proves this to say the least. I don't think asking for more equality among the modes as a whole when it comes to obtaining ascended... is too out of the ball park here because of this. If the situation was reversed and WvW was better or even the best for achieving ascended... I'm sure you would get a few PvE'rs that would take issue as well. This is not unreasonable from any relatable angle.

 

- PvP: Last I recall from a long time ago (years) the only difference armor/weapons made in PvP was on wether or not you had it equiped. Not the actual choice of stats you made on the armor itself. I remember this from a friend of mine that PvP'd naked and was like "dude, I feel like I'm dying easier". He then found out it was only because his base armor stats still had an effect. Not the other stats apart from that... because you use an amulet, runes, sigils... and your pretty much good to go.

 

- Yes, I'm saving my tickets for legendary. Rarely the Trinkets. Just those 2 things.

 

- Like I ended my reply before (on purpose)... "If infusions didn't exist... I wouldn't care so much about ascended personally. However, they're what take's ascended to that next level. That is what they were designed to do... and indeed they do."

[Strages.2950]

> @"Whiteout.1975" said:

> - The rate I deem acceptable is one that is more fair. I never gave specific's, other than just WvW. The fact that I was offered other "much better" solutions (PvP & PvE). Is what proves this to say the least. I don't think asking for more equality among the modes as a whole when it comes to obtaining ascended... is too out of the ball park here because of this. If the situation was reversed and WvW was better or even the best for achieving ascended... I'm sure you would get a few PvE'rs that would take issue as well. This is not unreasonable from any relatable angle.

 

You forget that you can play 5-10 hours of WvW a day and potentially get steady rewards. While you're roaming, kill the minotaurs, kill the skritt. Both give good mats which give nice gold. As a roamer, if you see a zerg fight, drop aoes on it, get tags on the downs and get bags. You're not forced to fully engage.

 

Believe it or not, getting ascended in PVE is not a walk in the park. Time gated daily mats for crafting, which in WvW you have a chance at dropping with 0 investment from Mist Warped Packets. Unless you're doing CM's, Fractal ascended drops only from dailies (can only do once a day) and are RNG'd. And like I said, crafting takes mats which are a pain in the ass to farm in PVE.

 

On top of this, you have reward tracks and reward track potions and a guild buff to make it even faster. When I started in WvW we didnt get ANY of this, we just spent our time there for the love of the game mode.

 

> - PvP: Last I recall from a long time ago (years) the only difference armor/weapons made in PvP was on wether or not you had it equiped. Not the actual choice of stats you made on the armor itself. I remember this from a friend of mine that PvP'd naked and was like "dude, I feel like I'm dying easier". He then found out it was only because his base armor stats still had an effect. Not the other stats apart from that... because you use an amulet, runes, sigils... and your pretty much good to go.

 

Exactly, jump into PvP with any armor choose amulets, runes and sigils and get on with it. Its not like your skills change, or your rotations will vastly differ than when roaming. Yeah, you can't min-max as much as you can in WvW, but neither can your opponents. I'm sure you can find a stat combo that's very similar to what you roam in WvW.

 

----------------------------------

 

When I first started, I never thought I'd get ascended gear cause I hated crafting. I geared up all my toons in Exotics from PVP. Then I started running Citadel of Fire dungeon daily to get more exotic armor. 20 minute investment every day.

 

Once I got into WvW, I felt like you, I want to min-max, so I crafted one set of ascended light gear (back when it was ridiculously expensive). With that I started doing fractal dailies for about 6 months. I geared up about 5 toons doing a combination of fractal dailies and daily crafting. I actually started enjoying Fractals too, and do them to this day whenever I have a bit of time before my daily WvW guild gets on.

 

Look you essentially have two options: You can either stick to WvW and get your rewards when you get them OR you can mix and match activities for a bit and get your gear faster and then do whatever you like to do for eternity. I suggest the latter, you might even find you like something other than JUST WvW roaming.

[gebrechen.5643]

The problem is that inside the same game mode "stupid" zerging and ppt gets you closer to the Ascended armor in 1/10 of the time compared to roaming or even fighting. That's something that has been a problem since the game exists. So if you just run around your borderland and take towers with your 50 ppl group and running over 5 mans you get the Ascended armor in no time.

I'm not sure if that's good design

[Dami.5046]

I could farm quite a few sets in 18 weeks, even slowly I make a piece every 2 days. Why would I want to wait 18 weeks for a set?

Considering you can only get 3 shards per week and need 10, so a month just to get 1 grandmaster mark when I need 3/4 per piece?

:confounded:

But Ofc i know its the way for leggie gear so i've got a wvw set on the boil.

 

[Basharic.1654]

Gaining pips with no outnumbered takes about 13 hours if you go straight through. I know this because I am a crazy person. You are discussing your playtimes of 12 hours at a minimum, but more chopped up, so I'd say you are probably looking at needing 15-17 hours or so a week to get full pips if you do not play on an outnumbered map, unless you are somehow being very foolish and not keeping your participation up.

 

Outnumbered will dramatically shorten that time. If you are a roamer you should be on an outnumbered map unless you are on one of the blob servers.

 

The reason I'm telling you this is to establish a baseline before I explain the state of my gear. I primarily play on non-outnumbered maps and do a mix of roaming and zerg surfing. I've gotten full pips since they put them in the game with the exception of maybe one week. Occasionally I command, but outside of reset nights where I might drive for my guild, It's rare I have enough in squad to trip the bonus pips. I pretty much use "pips are done" as my main indicator that I've played "enough" GW2 for the week. Sometimes I'll play for more if I've got nothing going on, but probably 60/70 percent of the time I don't play any more than getting pips finished. If I play more I bounce between more WvW and very lazily running map completes on alts if WvW is dull.

 

This is the list of high-end gear I've gained since the pip/ticket system was introduced:

Legendary WvW Backpiece

The Druids Henge backpeice

Full set of WvW Legendary Leather armor

Incinerator

Chuka & Champawat

Full set of Cloth Ascended from tickets. I'm also two weeks out from turning this entire set into legendaries. I've already got everything else done, I'm just held back by the weekly ticket cap. Didn't do it piecemeal because it's for an alt and I play my main 90 percent of the time. If I were I'd be at 5 of 6 there.

Full set of cloth ascended from drops that were re-statted

Multiple trinkets/rings/backs/breathers, from Bloodstone/Winterberries etc.

Partial (very early) completion of Aurora.

Other random ascended drops I've either savaged or restatted.

 

I've clearly got some PVE-gained items there, but the bulk of my resources come from WvW, with specific forays out into the world to do the required collections. While working on Chuka I substituted working on that for my usual lazy map completes. For the henge I bought the portal scrolls, and cycled my alts through the map getting both map completes and the required daily chores done. I never have much more than 200 g in my pocket, but thanks to WvW reward tracks materials tend to pile up. I got Bloodstones etc from reward tracks. I used the crafted grandmaster marks for the leather and cloth precursors. IIRC I was in-process on Incinerator when tickets were put in. I bought the precursor. Some of this comes easy because I maxed out all the crafting except for useless scribing long ago. They are expensive mothers to get done but well worth having - just for knocking out the gated materials. As I move into more legendary armor, ascended mats are turning into pure profit.

 

My point in telling you all this is to say: Complete your pips, use your reward tracks wisely, and you should have significant amounts of gear pretty much falling into your lap. Depending on what you want you may have to do some PvE. Your reward tracks will come more slowly fro you than for someone who Ktrains, because you probably aren't gaining WXP as quickly.

 

My recommendation to you would be to focus on using tickets/drops for your armor/weapons. Use the reward tracks to get backs/jewelry. The best part about doing this is you can work on tickets/rewards tracks concurrently. Focus on Bloodstone first because you can buy a single use capacitor for restatting those items. That will get you a back, ring, and neck you can pretty much change at will. Eventually craft the legendary armors, once you have those done it's cake to restat. They are account bound so you can swap them around on your toons. Legendaries are the last nine pieces of armor you'll ever need.

[morrolan.9608]

> @"Strages.2950" said:

> With the playtime that you say you have, it should take you 18 weeks to get a full legendary armor set. If you take advantage of the PvP seasons, it will take you far less. I currently own 2 sets of legendary armor (heavy and light) that I got by mixing and matching PVP/WvW pieces. Seeing as you classify yourself as a roamer, small scale combat of PvP should be an easy transition. (Finished the reward track with less than 100 matches each season. I can't play more than 3 pvp matches a day or I die a little inside).

 

It takes 25 weeks to get 1 full set of T2 legendary in WvW IIRC, and that not even mentioning the fact that you won't get enough memories of battle or mats in that time and would have to spend hundreds of gold to buy them. It takes 2 pvp seasons to get 1 piece of legendary pvp gear AFAIK, thats piece not set.

 

 

[Sovereign.1093]

this is a mindset thing.

 

if u want ascended, u have to grind for gold.

 

options crafting pvp fractals.

 

ascended is nearest legendaries. do the extra mile

 

 

[sephiroth.4217]

> @"eley crey.2905" said:

> I agree with most of this. I roam 1-2 hours a day and it took me a long time to get the 1 ascended set I have, that i don't even use because now I can't afford to convert it from marauder to trailblazer. Even if I did convert it I'd be in the same shoes again if I changed my build. I think that since WvW is PvP and is supposed to be in the 'Mists' then we should have the same build selection window as we do in sPvP. Leave the min/maxing to the raids/fractals crowd.

 

you would only be squashing out build diversity with this suggestion... Not sure if you have played PvP on your Elementalist lately, if not try it out and see why the system wouldnt work for yourself.

[roqoco.4053]

Really ascended armor is the only progression in the game for most people and so it needs to be somewhat hard. If that isn't ideal in all circumstances and for all playstyles it is surely better than the alternative gear grind in other games. And it would hardly be sensible for ANet to allow loopholes that bypass it. You have to realise that progression is essential in RPGs, because it acts as motivation, remove that motivation and you lose players. Arenanet is actually working on the narrowest of margins that still enables them to offer somewhat motivating rewards, whilst still maintaining a rough parity between players.

[jihm.2315]

ascended gear was a mistake would be better with exotics to swap stats till we find what we like

[eley crey.2905]

> @"roqoco.4053" said:

> Really ascended armor is the only progression in the game for most people and so it needs to be somewhat hard. If that isn't ideal in all circumstances and for all playstyles it is surely better than the alternative gear grind in other games. And it would hardly be sensible for ANet to allow loopholes that bypass it. You have to realise that progression is essential in RPGs, because it acts as motivation, remove that motivation and you lose players. Arenanet is actually working on the narrowest of margins that still enables them to offer somewhat motivating rewards, whilst still maintaining a rough parity between players.

 

I disagree. I don't think progression via gear is essential or even motivational. What people actually want is a technical challenge, not a manufactured challenge via gates like getting ascended/legendary is. The problem becomes that since pver's only play against the computer, which is limited by its mechanics, once they memorize those mechanics the game is no longer a challenge and they have to wait for new content, which obviously takes time to create. Thus gear becomes the reward and not the content itself. Pvp is different because you're playing against other people who think and react differently every time, so inherently the challenge is always there.

[roqoco.4053]

> @"eley crey.2905" said:

> I disagree. I don't think progression via gear is essential or even motivational. What people actually want is a technical challenge, not a manufactured challenge via gates like getting ascended/legendary is. The problem becomes that since pver's only play against the computer, which is limited by its mechanics, once they memorize those mechanics the game is no longer a challenge and they have to wait for new content, which obviously takes time to create. Thus gear becomes the reward and not the content itself. Pvp is different because you're playing against other people who think and react differently every time, so inherently the challenge is always there.

 

I think that is idealistic. Maybe it should (in some other worldly sense) work that way, but in practice people will follow the rewards and cease to play if there are none. Anyone who makes these games knows that. Why do you think the game rewards dailies with 2g? and what would you buy with that gold if there was no progression? Removing reward progression would kill the economy and be the equivalent of committing suicide for a games company. Can you give me a single example of an MMO that has made that work? ... in fact GW2 is extremely radical in that they manage to make do with minimal vertical progression. But they did need to add some - probably initially they didn't plan to go beyond yellow (rare), but that ddin't work out, which is why we now have exotic and ascended.

 

 

[Voltekka.2375]

> @"eley crey.2905" said:

> > @"roqoco.4053" said:

> > Really ascended armor is the only progression in the game for most people and so it needs to be somewhat hard. If that isn't ideal in all circumstances and for all playstyles it is surely better than the alternative gear grind in other games. And it would hardly be sensible for ANet to allow loopholes that bypass it. You have to realise that progression is essential in RPGs, because it acts as motivation, remove that motivation and you lose players. Arenanet is actually working on the narrowest of margins that still enables them to offer somewhat motivating rewards, whilst still maintaining a rough parity between players.

>

> I disagree. I don't think progression via gear is essential or even motivational. What people actually want is a technical challenge, not a manufactured challenge via gates like getting ascended/legendary is. The problem becomes that since pver's only play against the computer, which is limited by its mechanics, once they memorize those mechanics the game is no longer a challenge and they have to wait for new content, which obviously takes time to create. Thus gear becomes the reward and not the content itself. Pvp is different because you're playing against other people who think and react differently every time, so inherently the challenge is always there.

 

WvW is not pvp. As in, not spvp. Thats why gear should stay as it is.

[Aridon.8362]

The only thing that went in my mind while reading this is an ever increasing chant of manly "AH"s due to the overwhelming length of this epic post.

 

As a short answer all I have to say is nobody cares about roamers. **If you're roaming in wvw you're having fun wrong.** Plain and simple wvw is group content not solo, if you wanted to beat everyone 1v1 just go play a single player game.

[Turkeyspit.3965]

I just don't understand the requirement for WvW ranking to get the Ascended version. To upgrade Ascended to Legendary, sure, that makes sense. But why require a WvW rank of 1800 for a helmet, especially given how many new players are coming into GW2? Much much faster to just craft the pieces, or if you already have the Grandmaster marks, farm Fractals for pages and relics.