Compost Strategies ...

[HtFde.3856]

Now that ANet has offered yet another variety of functional food (so far functional food was measured in cost, time to make, etc.) by providing the "compostability" property. So we know that, depending on the "crafting level/character level to use" of the food we get blue, green, yellow or orange compost. Which kind of leads to the question: What is the best way to get the compost? Best as in: Easy to get the ingredients in quantities, not being too expensive and probably best made mostly of karma ingredients.

 

**As people have pointed out, the compost depends on the required character level of the food:**

 

* Blue < 29

* Green 30 - 59

* Yellow 60 - 79

* Orange 80

 

**For those who are looking for the overall cheapest way to get the food for their compost, this seems to be the TP at the moment. So buy from there until the supply runs out or people withdraw their offers and increase prices. The following deals with those who wish to make their own food instead of buying it:**

 

So, what's your strategy? I'm still experimenting a bit, but I guess I'll use these:

 

Blue Compost:

1. Buy Bread from Heart Quest in Queensdale (the farm where all our Keyfarmers ended up as soon as they left Divinity Rock) for 25 Karma/piece

2. Make Cups of Potato Fries - salt is Karma and there are 2 easy to get to potato farms (Metrica: Akk Wild, Plains of Ashford: Loreclaw) and one in the Crystal Oasis. Subtracting teleport cost from Rata or the citadel (as you can get there for free) I ended up with around 6 bronze/potato (not counting normal wear and tear an non-permanent harvesting equipment) which makes it a good option.

 

Green Compost:

1. Probably gonna use Loaf of Rosemary bread. All but the Rosemary is from Karma, it uses just one bit of Rosemary and since I'm hitting all those herb nodes, I'll get rosemary eventually. It's also available via Guild or WvW synthesizers AND you can grow it in your garden.

2. Spicy Lime Steak when rosemary become rare in supply. I know I'll get red meat from trying to get the "special cut", chili is more or less unavoidable in the desert maps, pepper comes from herb nodes and Lime is karma.

 

Yellow (Rare) Compost

1. Probably Bowl of Tropical Fruit Salad. Passion fruits are easy to get from Ember Bay and "Karka Island", Omnomberries are easy to get in Orr and Sirens, Mangos are Karma and Oranges might become a problem, though I have quite a lot of them so they seem to drop quite often. :)

2. Bowl of Blackberry Pear Compote - Pear and Sugar = Karma, blackberries to be found in abundance.

 

Orange (Exotic) Kompost

1. **Cup of Lotus fries** - Pepper is easy to come by, Lotus is Lake Doric and Orr, though Doric is easier and cheaper to get to with the tome and oil and salt are Karma.

2. Flatbread. I drown in milling stones, the basins can be bought, salt and water is karma, and Cassava just happens to accumulate and 10 is reasonable for one piece of flatbread. Although I hope I'll find an easier/cheaper recipe for exo.

3. My winner: Pitcher of Desert-Spiced Coffee. It's a feast, so it gives 10 compost when salvaged and this is a common reward in many WvW tracks. So I'm going with this one ^^ It's NOT worth to MAKE this. I'll only use the ones I get from the reward chests.

 

Side-Note: Sometimes you get feasts as a reward. Those tend to be salvageable to 10 exotic composts, yay.

[Ayrilana.1396]

Someone will have to make a table that automatically compares buy and craft prices for each tier. To be honest, with how fast prices are dropping, that may not be necessary.

[Palador.2170]

I think the first question is: what decides the quality of extract you get from composting food? I'm guessing it's the level of the food, but I'm not sure.

 

Second question would be what resources you have. The garden plots with all the seeds can make it easy to get some resources, especially if harvested with a Glyph of Bounty. Access to the LS maps, and some of the home nodes, may also give some options.

 

I'm going to be trying a few things. I'll post more if I find any 'bargain' items to compost.

 

[Edit] Just made some lemon bars (it makes 3 at once). First two times it gave me Fine extracts, third time gave me a Masterwork extract. So, it's not level based, or not entirely on level. There's some RNG involved too. That's... bad.

[Ayrilana.1396]

> @"Palador.2170" said:

> I think the first question is: what decides the quality of essence you get from composting food? I'm guessing it's the level of the food, but I'm not sure.

 

Crafting tier.

 

Actually it may be strictly on level. I just remember trial and error with the tiers until I got the salvage component I wanted.

 

[LucianDK.8615]

I composted like 4 trays of omnomberry bars from the reward chests from the champion rush. Got an obscene number of exotic compost from composting them all.

[HtFde.3856]

Yeah, reward feasts give like 10 exo - I'll update the first post as I go through my recipes and salvage the results ^^

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

According to the wiki, it's the level of the food:

* Exotic: L80 foods

* Rare: 60-79

* Master: 30-59

* Fine: <= L29

[HtFde.3856]

> @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > @"Palador.2170" said:

> > I think the first question is: what decides the quality of essence you get from composting food? I'm guessing it's the level of the food, but I'm not sure.

>

> Crafting tier.

>

> Actually it may be strictly on level. I just remember trial and error with the tiers until I got the salvage component I wanted.

>

That's my conclusion as well. It's QUITE misleading as the actual "item quality level" is ignored. A level 200 blue food will always give a green compost, not a blue one.

[HtFde.3856]

> @"Palador.2170" said:

> I think the first question is: what decides the quality of extract you get from composting food? I'm guessing it's the level of the food, but I'm not sure.

>

> Second question would be what resources you have. The garden plots with all the seeds can make it easy to get some resources, especially if harvested with a Glyph of Bounty. Access to the LS maps, and some of the home nodes, may also give some options.

>

> I'm going to be trying a few things. I'll post more if I find any 'bargain' items to compost.

>

> [Edit] Just made some lemon bars (it makes 3 at once). First two times it gave me Fine extracts, third time gave me a Masterwork extract. So, it's not level based, or not entirely on level. There's some RNG involved too. That's... bad.

 

Eeep - so far my results have been consistent - see updated first post. And I am not going to use anything that uses butter. Since they removed butter in bulk and THEN nerfed the bags, it's become a precious thing that I'm not going to use for compost. :)

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

I'm not sure I agree with the OP's recommendation. 25 karma sounds cheap _unless_ you have other uses for karma than as a gold substitute for tools, kits, and extracts. It also depends on farming to get the materials needed: I'd prefer not to put that sort of pressure on me for ordinary substances. And finally, the materials used have value. In many cases, it's cheaper to buy stuff from the TP using the funds one gets when selling mats.

 

For example, [Loaf of Rosemary Bread](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Loaf_of_Rosemary_Bread), recommended by the OP for masterwork extract. It uses [over 60 copper of materials](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Loaf_of_Rosemary_Bread) (including the Rosemary), while the bread can be bought on the TP directly for under 20 copper. (Mind you 40 copper per item isn't much; I'm just using it to illustrate that materials have value.)

 

The best tip is to use the detritus from certain reward tracks and PoF drops: historically, that's just wasted inventory space and now you can gain extracts from it. That is free, except for your time.

[HtFde.3856]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> I'm not sure I agree with the OP's recommendation. 25 karma sounds cheap _unless_ you have other uses for karma than as a gold substitute for tools, kits, and extracts. It also depends on farming to get the materials needed: I'd prefer not to put that sort of pressure on me for ordinary substances. And finally, the materials used have value. In many cases, it's cheaper to buy stuff from the TP using the funds one gets when selling mats.

>

> For example, [Loaf of Rosemary Bread](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Loaf_of_Rosemary_Bread), recommended by the OP for masterwork extract. It uses [over 60 copper of materials](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Loaf_of_Rosemary_Bread) (including the Rosemary), while the bread can be bought on the TP directly for under 20 copper. (Mind you 40 copper per item isn't much; I'm just using it to illustrate that materials have value.)

>

> The best tip is to use the detritus from certain reward tracks and PoF drops: historically, that's just wasted inventory space and now you can gain extracts from it. That is free, except for your time.

 

Ah, yes - I forget that GW2 is a mirror of today's life where people completely and utterly lack any sense of even basic principles and will, indeed, sell a 60 copper item for 20 copper. My bad. So yes, cou can buy and the TP is a valid option, although I assume that the TP excess stockage might take a hit sooner or later and that we will arrive at the point where making might be cheaper than buying. But until the 100 millions of Rosemary Breads are off the market you do have a point.

 

Out of curiosity: What does one do with Karma? Apart from Obsidian shards? Mat upgrades still a thing with volatile energy material caches? With my Karmic Retribution level all I need for the Karma needed for the bread is to run10 seconds Palawadan and place 3 staff marks.

[Ayakaru.6583]

You can salvage karma food?

That sounds unintended

[thehipone.6812]

I've been working on this exact calculation with the assumption that the below crafting value foods will eventually get used up. I went ahead and looked for recipes that use only one gathered ingredient (focusing on those that are currently cheap/abundant) combined with vendor items and avoided the expensive ingredients (butter, onion, peppercorns, etc.. Compotes and the herbed breads fit the bill. I understand above comments re: karma, but I value it at 0, I have millions. Here's my best, assuming that the super cheap food gets used up and you'll eventually need to craft something:

 

Blue Extract: Cheap TP foods for now. If they run out: Apple sauce. 16 copper/ea

Masterwork: Use cheap TP foods for now. Once they are gone: Bowl of blackberry pear compote. Drops 1.25 masterwork and 0.25 rare, so it gets you a little bonus on green vials helps with the next tier too

Rare: TP foods for now. After: Tarragon bread or raspberry peach compote.

Exotic: Bowl of Elon Red or Omnomberry Compote.

 

At current prices, this runs about 6.5 silver to make the ascended extract. Going to be an interesting market over the next few weeks until halloween starts dropping the festival foods again.

 

In addition to the above, at all levels you should be aware that the feast versions give 10 vials, so if the cheapest feast is less than 10x the cheapest food alternative at that tier go ahead and grab the feast. e.g. better to have bought the tray of omnomberry bars for 5 silver (while they last) instead of 10 spicy pumpkin cookies at 1s/ea.

 

Here's my salvage tier list data so far:

lvl 25: mixed - chance at 1,2 fine or 1 MW

lvl 30: 1 MW

lvl 40: 1 MW

lvl 50: 1,2 MW, 1 Rare

lvl 55: 1,2 MW, 1 Rare

lvl 60: 1 Rare

to 80, which obviously gives exo.

 

 

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"HtFde.3856" said:

> Ah, yes - I forget that GW2 is a mirror of today's life where people completely and utterly lack any sense of even basic principles and will, indeed, sell a 60 copper item for 20 copper.

It's not a 60-copper item. The market says it's a 20-copper item, because the supply far outstrips the demand because people made it to help level their chef, as it was the cheapest option. i.e. it was common sense, just applied to something other than the sell price.

 

> But until the 100 millions of Rosemary Breads are off the market you do have a point.

To be clear: my point is that the TP is a reasonable place to check _first_, if for no other reason than it's faster.l

 

> Out of curiosity: What does one do with Karma? Apart from Obsidian shards? Mat upgrades still a thing with volatile energy material caches? With my Karmic Retribution level all I need for the Karma needed for the bread is to run10 seconds Palawadan and place 3 staff marks.

First, not everyone is a veteran. Karma builds slowly over time and veterans eventually end up with millions, without even trying. However for new players, it takes a while.

 

Second, there are all sorts of reasons that people might spend karma. The biggest single sink would be any legendary weapons, which could use around a million per weapon. Other sinks include Wintersday gifts (as well as other karma-to-gold conversion methods), using karma to buy salvage kits and gathering tools, and various one-time collections require gobs of karma. Again, for many veterans, this won't put a big dent into their wallet, while for new players, it would.

 

According to GW2 Efficiency, half of newer players (under 500 hours) have less than 200k karma and even 10% of veterans (over 4000 hours) have under 300k, not enough to start a legendary.

[HtFde.3856]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

>

> According to GW2 Efficiency, half of newer players (under 500 hours) have less than 200k karma and even 10% of veterans (over 4000 hours) have under 300k, not enough to start a legendary.

 

Wow, thanks for the info on that. So I'm a bit off with my 5 Mio+ AFTER I bought Obsi shards for 2 Mio (Vision). New players, however, won't be making ascended food, I think?!

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"HtFde.3856" said:

> Wow, thanks for the info on that. So I'm a bit off with my 5 Mio+ AFTER I bought Obsi shards for 2 Mio (Vision).

Eh, 10% of veterans have more than 9 million karma and 20% have more than 5 million. You're not an outlier; you're just wealthier in karma than most.

 

> New players, however, won't be making ascended food, I think?!

I don't assume that. Someone who started today? Sure, I don't expect them to do any crafting. 500 hours represents over three months of treating GW2 as a full time job (40 hours per week). I would imagine that some would be interested in maxing all crafts. I'm sure that fewer 400+ hour players want r500 chef than 4000+ hour players. I am also sure that not every 4000+ hour player is going to even start working on this.

 

For what it's worth: at the moment, just over 1% of all players registered on GW2 Efficiency have completed Gourmet Training.

[LucianDK.8615]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > @"HtFde.3856" said:

> > Wow, thanks for the info on that. So I'm a bit off with my 5 Mio+ AFTER I bought Obsi shards for 2 Mio (Vision).

> Eh, 10% of veterans have more than 9 million karma and 20% have more than 5 million. You're not an outlier; you're just wealthier in karma than most.

>

> > New players, however, won't be making ascended food, I think?!

> I don't assume that. Someone who started today? Sure, I don't expect them to do any crafting. 500 hours represents over three months of treating GW2 as a full time job (40 hours per week). I would imagine that some would be interested in maxing all crafts. I'm sure that fewer 400+ hour players want r500 chef than 4000+ hour players. I am also sure that not every 4000+ hour player is going to even start working on this.

>

> For what it's worth: at the moment, just over 1% of all players registered on GW2 Efficiency have completed Gourmet Training.

 

I think most casuals runs screaming away from Gourmet training with the costs of 4 spirit wood planks, 1 elonian leather and 3x heat stones.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"LucianDK.8615" said:

> I think most casuals runs screaming away from Gourmet training with the costs of 4 spirit wood planks, 1 elonian leather and 3x heat stones.

Most everyone has run away from it, so far.

 

[LucianDK.8615]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > @"LucianDK.8615" said:

> > I think most casuals runs screaming away from Gourmet training with the costs of 4 spirit wood planks, 1 elonian leather and 3x heat stones.

> Most everyone has run away from it, so far.

>

 

I think the free garden plot is a really good motivator.

[HtFde.3856]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > @"LucianDK.8615" said:

> > I think most casuals runs screaming away from Gourmet training with the costs of 4 spirit wood planks, 1 elonian leather and 3x heat stones.

> Most everyone has run away from it, so far.

>

 

I am not sure, but I think if you follow the Sylvari quest and the Charr quest, staying short of buying the garden, you could be able to "harvest" the ingredients, though - and these steps do not require a lot of effort or cost, and make a profit by selling the ingredients.

[HtFde.3856]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

Karma builds slowly over time and veterans eventually end up with millions, without even trying. However for new players, it takes a while.

 

That's quite true for the core game and the core expansions. With season 3 and the karmic retribution they offered a bypass - a bit wonky and unreliable in season 3, though. In season 4 almost ALL enemies you kill give you a karmic retribution item. And even the lowest level yields 50 karma. Especially on mass events or metas like Palawadan, Great Hall on Istan, Specimen Chamber pre on Sandswept and Thunderhead Peaks metas you're rolling in karma. Even at the lowest level. It's a shame you cannot have it for DS or Tangled. :)

 

Compared to the amount needed for a leggy, though, it will STILL take some time and dedication - even with karmic retribution.

 

[Khisanth.2948]

Meh ... I'll just wait until Halloween then get a years worth of the necessary stuff. No need for more since you can restock the year after that.

[Pifil.5193]

My strategy was to buy thousands upon thousands of dirt cheap TP food before the prices rise too far.

 

Then I salvaged loads and craft hundreds of the Ascended nourishment.

 

Then I realised that the food isn't really worth _that_ much to me right now... but hey, it was cheap... I spent a few gold now for 100's of ascended food at some stage in the future.

 

If I ever make any that is.

[Etria.3642]

The plot would be much more motivating if it worked like the other ones but it doesn't. I'll eventually maybe do it, but for now I will just keep selling heat stones.

[Pifil.5193]

> @"Etria.3642" said:

> The plot would be much more motivating if it worked like the other ones but it doesn't. I'll eventually maybe do it, but for now I will just keep selling heat stones.

 

In what way does it not work like the other ones?