User:Jaoshu/Gear Guide
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Disclaimer : This is a largely abstracted overview, and is meant to be used as guidance towards gearing. Guild Wars 2 has a fairly low gear ceiling, but systems for acquisition are a result of years of iteration on top of older systems. As such, there are of course much deeper details to acquiring ascended gear, and I urge to you visit the relevant pages to discover these nuances. The older a method of acquisition is, the more soft locks you may discover in trying to acquire equipment via said method.
Core
- Berserker (Power, Precision, Ferocity)
- Viper (Condition Damage, Power, Expertise, Precision)
- Harrier (Power, Healing Power, Concentration)
- Diviner (Power, Concentration, Precision, Ferocity)
- Ritualist (Vitality, Condition Damage, Concentration, Expertise)
Ascended
- Berserker: Zojja's
- Viper: Yassith's
- Harrier: Zehtuka's
- Diviner: Steelstar's
- Ritualist: Togo's
Ascended Stat Select
- Assaulter's: Assassin, Berserker, Cavalier, Celestial, Commander, Crusader, Demolisher, Diviner, Dragon, Grieving, Harrier, Knight, Marauder, Marshal, Rampager, Sinister, Solder, Valkyrie, Vigilat, Viper, Wanderer, and Zealot.
- Defender's: Cavalier, Celestial, Crusader, Dire, Giver, Harrier, Knight, Minstrel, Nomad, Plaguedoctor, Sentinel, Settler, Shaman, Soldier, Trailblazer, Vigilant, and Wanderer's.
- Healer's: Apothecary, Celestial, Cleric, Diviner, Giver, Harrier, Magi, Marshal, Minstrel, Plaguedoctor, and Seraph.
- Malicious: Bringer, Carrion, Celestial, Dire, Grieving, Plaguedoctor, Rabid, Ritualist, Seraph, Shaman, Sinister, Trailblazer, and Viper.
Insignias & Inscriptions
- Berserker Berserker's Intricate Gossamer Insignia (…) or Berserker's Orichalcum Imbued Inscription (…)
- Viper Viper's Intricate Gossamer Insignia (Account Bound) or Viper's Orichalcum Imbued Inscription (Account Bound)
- Harrier Insignia of the Harrier (…) or Mordant Inscription (…)
- Diviner Diviner's Intricate Gossamer Insignia (Account Bound) or Diviner's Orichalcum-Imbued Inscription (Account Bound)
- Ritualist Ritualist's Intricate Gossamer Insignia (Account Bound) or Ritualist's Orichalcum Imbued Inscription (Account Bound)
Full list of Attribute combinations
「Currency」
「Crafting」
- Crafting with 500 Armorsmith/Leatherworker/Tailor
- Crafting with 500 Weaponsmith/Huntsman/Artificer
「Achievements」
Ascended weapons and armor items can be exchanged for another of the same type with different stats by using an Exotic insignia (armor) or inscription (weapon) with the desired stats in one of the Mystic Forge recipes presented below.
| Resulting item | Ingredients |
|---|---|
 Ascended weapon
|
|
 Ascended armor
|
|
|
Warning: Do not attempt this with ascended legendary precursors. |
There are an abundance of exceptions to this recipe structure, especially with regard to Aquabreathers, as listed below:
WIP
Runes
- Power
- Condition Damage
- Support
Sigils
- Power
- Condition Damage
- Support
- Utility
- Special
Superior Sigil of Mischief to apply blind and trigger the 
Ineptitude trait for confusion on condition damage Chronomancer.
Superior Sigil of Frailty for Revenants with 
Dance of Death or on supports in groups that lack good vulnerability.
Relics
- Power
- Condition Damage
- Support
Living World Season 3, Living World Season 4, and The Icebrood Saga (Season 5) have multiple methods to obtain stat selectable trinkets, spread across multiple episodes. All selectable trinkets acquired in this way can select any stat combination available to your account no matter what season they come from. This is the best way to get expansion exclusive stats (Viper's, Harrier's, Diviner's, Ritualist's, etc.) for trinkets, and still a cheap farmable option for core stats as well (like Berserker's). All the stat selectable trinkets will require Unbound, Volatile Magic, or Karma in addition to the map specific currency. For some of the Season 4 maps, pre-stat selected trinkets with Plaguedoctor's or Diviner's stats are available. However, since they cost laurels and sometimes additional ectos, they are not advised over the other stat selectable options presented below. Icebrood Saga has cheap and easy options for accessory and amulet but they require story to be done so they are not a great option for fresh level 80s or players not at that point in the story.
- Note 1: The Siren's Landing backpacks are not available from Provisioner Anlana, but rather from the map's Renown Heart NPCs and require karma instead of Unbound Magic.
- Note 2: The amulet is unlocked for sale only after completing The Hunger collection.
- Note 3: The accessory is unlocked for sale only after completing Idolatry achievement.
A Crack in the Ice (S3E3) is currently considered the most desirable episode for ascended trinkets for two main reasons. First, it can cover a total of four trinkets (including one attuned ring and one non-attuned). Second, Winterberry Bushes in Bitterfrost Frontier guarantee 1-3 Winterberries per node and each node can be harvested once per character per day (compared to nodes in the other maps that can be 0-3 of their item, and have an account wide limit for harvesting). With harvests of 50+ per character per day, you can quickly rack up the Winterberries needed and convert the extras into more Unbound Magic to cover that part of the cost as well. Opening chests or doing hearts can also raise the amount to 70+.
In Season 4, War Eternal is the most desirable episode for similar reasons to A Crack in the Ice. Mistborn Motes are easy to farm in large quantities, and any extra can be converted to Volatile Magic. They drop from both the gatherable Motes as well as from chests, and the chests are renewable and endlessly farmable. The meta event that takes place on the map is also profitable so it's worth doing for general rewards in addition to ascended trinkets (and excess volatile magic is always worthwhile for shipments like Trophy Shipments).
The suggested option would be to unlock both A Crack in the Ice and War Eternal. This lets you easily farm all trinkets and back with only 2 episodes (though getting more is still suggested for story and buying the packs provides a discount). It total it will require 900 Winterberries + 11,000 Unbound Magic and 375 Mistborn Motes + 9,000 Volatile Magic for a complete set of trinkets. Feel free to use other options in addition or to replace these.
Finally, predefined ascended trinkets can be purchased for 
Laurels from Major cities. The available stats are Apothecary, Berserker, Berserker Valkyrie, Captain, Cavalier, Celestial, Cleric, Dire Rabid, Knight, Nomad, Rabid, Rabid Apothecary, Rampager, Sinister and Soldier stats. Predefined rings are also available for purchase with 
Pristine Fractal Relics, and amulets for 
Guild Commendations + 
Coin. There are also a few more predefined ascended trinkets available after completing various achievements, but these are largely inefficient to directly pursue. They can be unlocked while organically completing the relevant story.
PvE
- Fractal Rings
- Guild Mission Accessories
- Laurel Amulets
Craft
- Vial of Salt (…) - Amulet. Created in the Mystic Forge. Can purchase all of the material off the trading post including the Shards of Glory needed to buy PvP essences.
Achievement
- Wylenn's Manual of Style - Accessory. Reward for completing the Style Guide achievement.
- Saga's End Draconic Core - Accessory. Reward for completing every chapter of The Icebrood Saga.
- Rurik's Engagement Ring - Ring. Begins with acquiring Strange Rock from Salvaged Debris in Ember Bay (S3E2) or from the Trading Post (…).
Infusing & Attuning
- To put infusions in your gear, you first need ascended equipment with infusion slots. Most ascended equipment comes with one or two preset infusion slots. You can increase the number of infusion slots in certain trinkets by infusing or attuning them:
- Rings and backpieces can be infused to add one infusion slot, for a total of two infusion slots.
- Rings can also be attuned to add a second infusion slot, for a total of three infusion slots. Alternatively, you can attune without infusing for a total of two infusion slotsnote 1.
- Note 1: You must train Agony Channeler in the Fractal Attunement Mastery line before you can purchase an Agonized Essence for the attunement recipe.
Agony Infusions
- Agony infusions are relatively straightforward to acquire. They drop from fractals, and can be combined by an Artificer or INFUZ-5959 into higher tiers of agony infusions. Agony infusions can also be bought and sold on the Trading Post.
- New fractal players should aim for equipping 15 +9 Agony Infusions, 1 +8 Agony Infusions, and 1 +7 Agony Infusions, which is enough to reach 150 agony resistance without spending gold to infuse your backpiece for another slot.
Agony Stat Infusions
- INFUZ-5959 also sells +5, +7, or +9 Agony Infusions that also provide +5 to a stat. These cost
agony infusions and 
integrated fractal matrices. - The +5 Agony Stat Infusions can also be bought for
magnetite shards and gold from the Basic Magnetite Exchange Operative. - These stat infusions are very expensive and add very little to your build overall (~2-3% DPS for all 18 slots). You will realistically only need the infusions at all if you are doing fractals on the character or you wish to perfect your build. PvE players who only plan to play raids can buy the relatively cheap +5 agony stat infusions or the WvW stat infusions. In general, stat infusions are the very last thing you work on.
- ^ a b c Grandmaster Marks can only be used to exchange for armor that particular crafting discipline can craft, i.e. Grandmaster Armorsmith's Marks can only be used to exchange for heavy armor, Grandmaster Leatherworker's Marks for medium armor, and Grandmaster Tailor's Marks for light armor
- ^ a b When crafting four stat attribute combinations, it is often more economic to craft a core three stat ascended piece, and then swap prefixes into your desired four stat attribute combination
