End Game Gear - Explain it to me like I'm 5
#1
Mon, 09/24/2012 - 18:16
End Game Gear - Explain it to me like I'm 5
WTF am I looking for? I know I can craft shit. Buy off the Trading Post. Buy shit with Karma. Buy shit with Dungeon tokens (or whatever they're called).
I'd like to get my guy in level 80 gear but am not sure what route to take. Buying gear is out of the question (unless I buy gold from the spammers). I only have 4 Gold at the moment.
I'd also like to know this.
I thought all level 80 armor would have the same stats and it was just about skins, but that's not true. I compared the level 80 armor sets and it goes like this: dungeon (very grindy, but coolest looking and best stats) > cultural armor (very expensive--nearly 200 gold for a full set) > armorsmith (cheap, but generic-looking and the worst stat-wise).
There may not be a level 80 karma armor merchant... However, I found a level 78 one: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Bladed_Softness
The trading post is useless. You can filter by armor piece and level, but not by light/medium/heavy, style, or attributes. The higher stat stuff is also very expensive. It makes more sense to buy cheap armor from an armorsmith and transmute a better looking skin.
Maybe there is someone in the guild who can craft a good set. It's taking me a long time to level up crafting. The fine materials I need for insignias are hard to come by, as coin is hard to come by.
Armor seemed much simpler in the first game.
I found a few level 80 Karma vendors. The gear goes for approximately 42,000 Karma points per item. And they do look pretty bad ass. And from my understanding, not all the vendors carry the same gear. I also think they respawn after a DE, so you may not have found them yet.
Without question (espeically after the recent changes) Dungeons are the best way to get end game gear. Any other route is fairly pointless unless you want to farm mats. Kaedien is max level in a lot of crafts, but I'm not sure he remains interested in the game enough to log back on. You can also karma farm in ORE, but to be honest after they nerfed mass farming it seems a bit pointless.
To that end, this remains the big downside to GW2 and it's future. Arena net is blocking ways that seem completely viable for farming gear at every turn. They want you to have fun, but on their own terms. If they catch you farming something for too long they will almost certainly put a stop too it. It feels like a moving target at this point and I for one and getting pretty fed up.
As you know, I don't understand what Arena net is trying to do sometimes. They create this incredible game but love to shoot themselves in the foot over and over again. I didn't care for their massive bans for a mistake they put in the game (QA your damn shit and we won't have those issues) and I'm not thrilled to see them nerf DEs and Dungeons. I hardly get decent gear as is, I think I only got 1-2 yellow drops while I leveled up (all my gear is bought with Karma points). And money is hard to come by.
Well, I have felt the same on this topic since dailies were first introduced in WoW years ago and after grinding rank 9 in the old PvP system. I am all for getting shinies when I can do it in conjunction with my friends. Raiding a couple of nights a week with friends, PvPing for honor/valor/whatever, or even running fun dungeons that don't take 5 hours to complete are all things I enjoy. I would rather progression raid for 6 months and get 2 new pieces with friends than just raid to get gear because it is about the fun and accomplishments. I am not grinding. Not dungeons, not PvP, not shit. If I have to run something for 3 months with pugs to get a full set of pixelated fantasy armor, then I don't play anymore. I am not into Borderlands really and nothing newer has caught my eye, but once BLOP2 comes out, I won't even look back if WvW doesn't change and if there isn't a semi normalized way to get in game loot without having to grind for weeks or buy gold. Just a simple equation for me.
I found this link to have quite a bit of good info on level 80 gearing:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/10kem7/semi_casual_guide_for_gearing_lvl_80/
As for the level 80 karma vendors, from the above post:
"also the Orr vendors only are there when a temple is under Pact control, each temple sells different gear stat wise"
"These 6 temples are also spread out over 3 different zones: Cursed Shore, Malchor's Leap, and the Straits of Devastation."
Here is a link about the karma gear:
http://dulfy.net/2012/09/08/gw2-templegod-karma-armor-sets/#more-15818