User:Dak393/New player Guide/Gearing

This is a section on gearing from my larger guide. This info and more included there.

Gearing

Check Tanetris' guide for more in depth options for gearing and getting ready for content but I'm going to spend a little time here focusing on just my suggestions for your first character or how to get a new character geared and usable fast. First, only worry about gear once you hit 80. You should be swapping things out as you level but you really shouldn't need to buy or especially craft anything till 80 (though crafting as you level is still good for the exp, especially with adventure guide, check the crafting section for more details).

Once you hit 80 I'd suggest focusing on a power damage build first, you can work on other builds at the same time but it will really help a lot to be able to farm and do content in a set of decent gear. For power DPS we want Berserker's items, ones with main stat Power, minor stats Precision and Ferocity. The best way to get these early on is just to buy them very cheaply off the trading post, however do not just buy gear named "berserker" we want to get specific "named" gear that has those stats and not the more expensive crafted gear (all level 80 exotic berserker gear of the same type is the same stats, no reason to spend more).

Armor

Named armor

Zhed's (Light Armor) Superior Rune of the Centaur	Nika's (Medium Armor) Superior Rune of Infiltration	Devona's (Heavy Armor) Superior Rune of Strength
Item Trading post Buy Sell Zhed's Mask … … Zhed's Mantle … … Zhed's Coat … … Zhed's Gloves … … Zhed's Leggings … … Zhed's Boots … … Total … …	Item Trading post Buy Sell Nika's Mask … … Nika's Pauldrons … … Nika's Coat … … Nika's Gloves … … Nika's Leggings … … Nika's Boots … … Total … …	Item Trading post Buy Sell Devona's Helm … … Devona's Pauldrons … … Devona's Chestguard … … Devona's Gauntlets … … Devona's Legplates … … Devona's Greaves … … Total … …

Wizard's Vault

The wizard's Vault is another great option as you can buy 3 Wizard's Ascended Armor Chests every season (see season timer for when it resets). These chests let you pick any stats you own the expansion for. We'll want "Zojja's" for berserker's stats. When picking which armor type to get the amount of stats gained is Chest > legs > helm > shoulders/gloves/boots. Also worth mentioning here that the stat gain for ascended armor is minuscule (+20 main stat for all 6 pieces) and the only real need for it is for tier 4 fractals, so don't be afraid to get the cheap exotics listed above.

Weapons

Next up is weapons, I'd suggest just looking at the named berserker weapons listed below. Twin Sisters and Maw of the Damned both have an expensive but worth while sigil in them so you should get one if you use that weapon type but the sigil does not stack so you can get a cheaper second option if you use two. As a reminder these weapons are all level 80 berserker weapons so they are functionally the same for each weapon type, only difference being the skin and potentially the free sigil offered. You can also search the trading post and filter by rarity (exotic), level (80), and stats (power main, precision/ferocity minor). And like armor above, there is one Wizard's Ascended Weapon Chest offered per Wizard's Vault season and you can pick that up too. It actually makes a decent difference (~6%) for power DPS. You want "Zojja's" for berserker's stats.

Click [Show] to open the full table below.

Trinkets

For trinkets there are many options (the guide above goes over this in detail) but these are my suggestions especially for newer players and easy options.

Ring

For rings I'd suggest doing a couple days of tier 1 fractals (they are very easy, you want to join and do the daily fractals + recommended with the purple markers and achievements) so that you can save up 10 Pristine Fractal Relics each for Ring of Red Death and Crystalline Band. You can also get a free berserker ring with an infusion slot the first time you do fractal scale 20.

Accessory

For accessories a good option is finding a guild and doing a couple weeks of guild missions to get guild commendations (many guilds do weekly missions and if not you can solo many of the missions for personal credit) and buy Althea's Ashes + Magister's Field Journal from the guild vendor. If guild missions are too slow or not an options for you, buying or crafting Ruby Orichalcum Earring for … is a good relatively cheap short term option. You can see gw2crafts for suggestions on how to level jeweler if needed as well. There is also Invader's Accessory from TEID, it uses some badges of honor but you get those from achievement milestones as well as WvW.

Please also note that buying accessories for laurels and ectoplasm is very expensive and you're better off using other options (again see in depth guide at the start of this section, many more options especially once you start living world season 3/4).

Amulet

For an amulet I'd just buy your first one for laurels (30 or 20 + 250) from a Laurel Merchant or WvW Laurel Merchant. You can easily get laurels from the Wizard's Vault both from doing the weekly and getting the bonus chest and just buying them from the vault. You're looking to buy only one of Call of the Wild, or Mark of the Tethyos Houses, or Distinguished Circle of Logic (it doesn't matter which they are all the same, pick the design you like best). If you lack the laurels or if it's cheaper, you can make Vial of Salt instead, you just need to buy the materials for … and make it, see the crafting here.

Back

Back doesn't matter as much since it's minor stats but some good options would be the crafted backs like Ambrosial Chef's Backpack, they are level 78 exotics but that doesn't matter as they are super cheap to get for now and come with an infusion slot. Note that if you're adding an upgrade it needs to be 78 or lower. If you have not leveled a crafting discipline yet you can use gw2crafts mentioned before, I'd suggest leveling cooking as it's cheap and useful.

As you do more fractals you can work on getting a Prototype Fractal Capacitor that you'll need for the legendary back collection as well. If you still need something now the Lucky lanterns such as Lucky Great Horse Lantern (or most recent version) can just be purchased on the trading post. There is also Strong Back Brace also from TEID as mentioned in the accessory section above. Both can select stats so they can be useful for other builds too but I'd still suggest the crafted backs in general since they come with an infusion slot and are cheap to get, having crafting leveled pays off later as well if you don't already have it.

As you do more content and story you'll get access to back options too like those from living world (mainly from season 3 episodes) or later expansion collections like the raise the banners in Path of Fire.

Power Core

Technically not a trinket, but a seperate slot just for it. You can buy and use a power core (even without End of Dragons) and get some very cheap bonus vitality. Some builds do happen to get a bonus from extra vitality too like Harbinger, Virtuoso, Guardian, or Specter traits. So good to grab for "free" bonus health (100 vitality = 1000 HP) and can be more important for some builds, but worry about other things first.

Runes

List of rune upgrades or other options, consult your build if you're aiming for fractals, strikes, or raids but open world you're free to pick lot of other options. These are some of many viable power damage choices. If your gear already comes with runes just overwrite the old ones with new ones. If they are runes that you want to transfer to new gear or save the Wizard's Vault offers Black Lion Salvage Kits to salvage the old exotic gear and recover the upgrades or Upgrade Extractors to recover the upgrade without salvaging the item (though this is not worth it on cheap runes/sigils).

Rune	Price	Power	Ferocity	Precision	Boon	Other	Notes
Dragonhunter	…	+100	+300				Usually the best option for builds that don't need more precision, has the most ferocity and high power
Scholar	…	+175	+225				For builds that already have enough ferocity this can be better than Dragonhunter runes
Golemancer	N/A		+300	+100			Dungeon runes in Crucible of Eternity vendor tab for 120
Deadeye	…	+175	+100	+125			Mix of Power, Ferocity, and Precision. Can also purchase from Heroics Notary in WvW
Infiltration	…	+175		+225
Ogre	…	+175	+100			+125 Vitality
Eagle	…		+225	+175
Ranger	…		+100	+300			High Precision to crit cap
Thief	…			+300		+100 Condi	Alternative to ranger
Pack	…	+175		+125	15% Boon Duration		Power, some Precision, and some bonus boon duration, if you need the precision to crit these can be really nice
Strength	…	+175			50% Might Duration		Might duration can really help damage when solo or in open world
Citadel	…	+175			50% Fury Duration		Usually easier to get fury over full might but this can still help pad it out if it's needed
Fireworks	…	+175			25% Boon Duration		Good general boon duration, really useful if you have better self boon access
Privateer	…	+175		+125	30% Might Duration		Can be an alternative to Strength/Pack if you want more might duration but need Precision still
Hoelbrak	…	+175			10% Boon Duration 10% Might Duration	-10% Condition Duration
Fire	…	+175			30% Might Duration	30% Burn Duration	Usually just worse Strength runes but could be cheap alternative
Rage	…		+300		30% Fury Duration		If capped on crit and lacking ferocity can be a good option, trading post alternative to Golemancer
Vampirism	…	+175				+225 Vitality
Centaur	…	+175			50% Swiftness Duration		Would suggest other options over this, there are better ways to get around or keep up swiftness
Ruby Orb	…	+120	+84	+84			Cheap upgrade, alternative to runes. Lower stat totals but a good mix of what we usually want
Rune	Price	Power	Ferocity	Precision	Boon	Other	Notes

Sigils

Sigil options, consult your build if you're aiming for fractals, strikes, or raids but these are some cheap options to go for in the mean time in addition to the typical force/impact option. And reminder again that like runes you can replace old sigils with new ones or recover them when you go to upgrade gear.

Sigil	Price	Effect	Notes
Force	…	5% Strike damage	The typical main DPS sigil for direct damage, will usually be best in slot and the one you want in general.
Impact	…	3% Strike damage or 10% vs Stunned/Knocked-Down	Usually used with force for 3% damage increase and the chance at 10% in fractals, strikes, and some raids.
Accuracy	…	+7% Critical Chance	Helps your crit chance (worth 147 precision), bonus is not given to summons like clones.
Strength	…	Might on crit, 1s ICD	Can be strong in open world/solo if you're not capping might already without it.
Any cheap slaying sigil like: Mad Scientists	…	3% Strike damage or 10% vs specific enemy type	Usually only going to be 3% damage but cheap and easy damage mod and better than nothing.
Night	…	3% Strike damage or 10% during night time	Only has the full buff a limited time but still not too bad to buy.
Frailty	…	Vulnerability when flanking or against defiant foes	Helps stack vulnerability (which is a huge damage buff), downside is you need to flank (anywhere not in the 90 degree cone in front).
Air	…	Bonus damage on crit, 3s ICD	Good damage on single targets and even does better than many other options at low DPS.
Fire	…	Bonus AoE damage on crit, 5s ICD	Worse than air but AoE so it helps more in general open world and tagging.
Blood	…	life steal on crit, 5s ICD	Small heal on crit but has a 5s cooldown.
Stacking sigils like: Bloodlust	…	+10 power per kill up to 250 power	Stacking power that stays till you go down. Only need it on one weapon set but can only have one stacking bonus (so don't get two stacking sigils). Also note you lose stacks if you remove the weapon or change zone.
Battle	…	5 Might on weapon swap	Might on weapon swap that can really help if you don't have enough might already. Lasts for 12s base and can be every 9s on weapon swap. This is the same as having a permanent +150 power and condition damage
Severance	…	+250 precision and ferocity for 4s when interrupting	Can be a lot of stats but expects you to interrupt enemies often

Relics

Relic options, consult your build if you're aiming for fractals, strikes, or raids. Check your options on crafting or buying them as that's usually cheaper.

Relic	Price	Unlock	Expansion	Effect	Notes
Relic of the Thief	…	Crafted		Up to 5% strike damage for using weapon skills	Most common and general use relic, almost every power build can use it well.
Relic of Fireworks	…	Crafted		7% for 6s after using weapon skills with 20s cooldown	Can be better than thief on some setups with long cooldown skills. Importantly can trigger off any skill using weapon damage and not just 1-5 skills.
Relic of the Deadeye	…	Crafted		10% strike damage for 8s after using a cantrip skill	Usually on some deadeye setups though it could still be an option on others if you have enough cantrip skills.
Relic of the Dragonhunter	…	Crafted		10% strike damage for 8s after using a trap skill	Reserved for builds that can frequently use traps in rotation.
Relic of the Claw	N/A	Achievement Track		7% strike damage for 8s after you disable a foe.	Easier to upkeep than fireworks with the same bonus damage so long as you have CC in rotation which is pretty common.
Relic of Peitha	N/A	Achievement Track		10% strike damage for 4s after using a Shadowstep or deception skill, 4s ICD	Some builds have a lot of options to trigger the bonus so it can be up pretty often.
Relic of Cerus	N/A	Achievement Track		Deals damage around you when using an elite skill, 30s ICD	Good burst but falls off, does corrupt boons too when that matters.
Relic of the Midnight King	N/A	Achievement Track		Might and Fury when you disable an enemy, 1s ICD	Can help with boons if you have a lot of disables in your build.
Relic of Isgarren	N/A	Achievement Track		Evading an enemy attack marks them for 6s causing them to take 10% more strike damage	Also increases condition duration but if you evade a lot or can time it well it can be good damage.
Relic of Nourys	N/A	Achievement Track		Gains stacks over time at 10 stacks gains 25% damage, 15% reduced damage, and 15% damage to healing	Pretty decent even without getting bonus stacks from removing boons, only lasts 5s but the bonuses are pretty big.
Relic of the Brawler	…	Crafted		10% strike damage for 4s when you apply protection/resolution to yourself. 8s ICD	Duration is short and the cooldown makes this not great and for an average of 5% damage just use the much better thief relic.
Relic of the Weaver	…	Crafted		10% strike damage for 4s after using a stance skill	Low duration holds this back from being a more viable option and you're still limited to needing stance skills to trigger it.
Relic of the Cavalier	…	Crafted		Aegis, Might, Quickness, Swiftness, and resistance for 5s on mount engage	Nice for open world but Skyscale's   Blast specifically triggers the boons multiple times.
Relic of Durability	…	Crafted		4s of Protection, regen, and resolution on heal skill, 15s ICD	Decent defensive option on a low cooldown.
Relic of the Adventurer	…	Crafted		Refills one endurance bar on heal skill, 20s ICD	Another defensive option, more dodges is always good and can work really well if you have bonuses on dodge.
Relic of Zakiros	N/A	Achievement Track		While you have fury, critical hits heal you	Sustain option so long as you're able to keep up fury.
Relic of Mistburn	N/A	Achievement Track		Extra might when you apply might to self and 10% crit chance when at 10+ might	Nice extra crit if you're still under and the extra might helps some builds get to 25 stacks easier.
Relic of the Pirate Queen	N/A	Achievement Track		Quickness on disable	Makes builds without quickness easily cover it for self which is a huge deal solo
Relic	Price	Unlock	Expansion	Effect	Notes