How Long Does It Take to Craft Ascended Armor in Guild Wars 2?
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The question of how long it takes to craft a full set of ascended armor in Guild Wars 2 is a common one, and the answer depends on the armor type you’re aiming for and the mechanics of crafting itself. Crafting a complete set of ascended armor requires a minimum of 36 days for light and medium armor sets or 25 days for heavy armor sets. This difference arises from the time-gated crafting materials needed for the insignias, a key component in ascended armor crafting. Let’s delve deeper into the process and explain why it takes so long.
Understanding Time-Gated Crafting
The primary reason crafting ascended armor takes so long lies in the time-gated nature of certain crafting materials. This means that you can only craft a limited amount of these materials per day, usually just one. Specifically, materials like Glob of Elder Spirit Residue, required for making the insignia components of ascended armor, are limited to one per day per crafting discipline.
This time constraint means that you cannot simply stockpile all the materials and craft your armor in one go. You are forced to return day after day to craft these crucial ingredients. This mechanism is a design choice, intended to ensure ascended armor remains a long-term goal, reflecting the effort and commitment required to obtain it.
The Breakdown: Why Light and Medium Take Longer
The longer timeframe for light and medium armor (36 days) compared to heavy armor (25 days) is directly related to the crafting recipe for their respective insignias. Light and medium armor require different types of crafting materials, that are also time-gated and require more days to fully acquire the materials. These different materials add several extra days to the crafting process. Heavy armor insignias are faster to produce, shortening their overall crafting time to 25 days. Regardless of the armor type, the inscription used for crafting the ascended armor requires the same time-gated materials, but it is crafted separately from the insignia.
Is Crafting the Only Way?
Crafting isn’t the only method to obtain ascended armor, but it is the most consistent. There is an element of randomness in drops. The most reliable alternatives include:
- Random Drops: Ascended armor can drop from various end-game content such as Fractals, Raids, World vs World (WvW), and Player vs Player (PvP). The drop rate is not incredibly high, meaning that relying on drops alone can be unpredictable.
- Raids and Icebrood Saga Strikes: These activities provide options for purchasing ascended armor using specific currencies, offering another route for obtaining ascended armor faster than crafting.
- Stat Swapping: If you manage to obtain ascended armor with stats that do not suit your build, you can stat-swap it using exotic insignias (for armor) or inscriptions (for weapons) in the Mystic Forge.
Crafting Ascended Armor: Is It Worth It?
Despite the time investment involved in crafting, ascended armor offers a notable stat advantage over exotic armor. Ascended gear has 5% more stats than exotic gear, which translates to an advantage in combat. Additionally, ascended gear allows for the use of infusions, providing an additional 1-2% in stats. In total, having a set of ascended gear can result in an estimated 10% more DPS than equivalent exotic gear due to the combination of base stats and infusions.
Crafting ascended gear may take time, but it’s a guaranteed path. While random drops can shorten the process, they are unreliable. Thus, understanding the crafting process and the time required is crucial for those seeking the best gear in the game.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How can I get ascended armor fast?
Aside from crafting, the most practical way to obtain ascended armor quickly is through random drops in end-game content (PvP, WvW, and instanced PvE), or by purchasing it with currency in Raids or Icebrood Saga Strikes.
2. Is ascended armor better than legendary armor?
Ascended and legendary armor share the same stat values. The primary difference lies in their appearance, process of acquisition, and the fact that legendary armor is account-bound and can have stats swapped at will while out of combat. Legendary gear also has more infusions slots.
3. Where can I buy ascended armor recipes in GW2?
Ascended armor recipes are obtained from various merchants, typically Master Craftsmen, or found in containers or recipe books scattered across the game world.
4. Does ascended armor drop in fractals?
Yes, ascended armor chests and weapon chests can drop from chests awarded for completing daily fractals.
5. What is the drop rate for ascended gear in fractals?
The approximate drop rate for some form of ascended gear is 9% from a single T4 daily fractal, about half that at T3, and lower in T2 and T1.
6. How many fractal relics can I get per day?
On average, you can earn around 594 Fractal Relics, 21 Pristine Fractal Relics, 3 Integrated Fractal Matrix, and 6 Fractal Research Pages per day depending on the tier of fractal run.
7. Can you discover ascended recipes?
Some ascended feasts have discoverable recipes. They can be deposited in guild storage.
8. Is ascended gear account-bound?
Yes, ascended gear is account-bound on acquisition, meaning it cannot be traded or sold to other players.
9. Can you change ascended armor stats?
Yes, you can change ascended armor and weapon stats by using an Exotic insignia (for armor) or inscription (for weapons) with the desired stats in the Mystic Forge.
10. How much better is ascended gear than exotic?
Ascended gear has 5% more base stats than exotic gear, plus the ability to use infusions adding an additional 1-2% of stats. Overall, ascended gear results in an approximately 10% increase in DPS due to these stat and infusion benefits.
11. Can you salvage ascended gear?
Yes, salvaging ascended gear with an Ascended Salvage Tool or Kit will yield valuable upgrades like runes, sigils, and infusions.
12. What ascended gear should I get first?
If crafting, start with ascended weapons first, then move to armor. For armor, the recommended order based on cost is: chest, leg, head, then shoulders, gloves, and boots.
13. At what level does ascended gear drop?
Ascended gear can start dropping at Chaos Level 50, but it is not guaranteed. The chance increases as your Chaos Level goes higher, although drop rates remain low in general.
14. How do you get Grandmaster Marks in GW2?
Each Grandmaster Mark requires specific recipes and items from Recipe Book: Grandmaster Craftsman’s Components. These are purchased from vendors like BLING-9009, Ascended Armor League Vendor, Ascended Weapon League Vendor, or Skirmish Supervisor. The marks require the appropriate level 500 crafting discipline.
15. How do I get Legendary Armor in GW2?
Legendary armor can be obtained by completing the WvW Skirmish reward track, by trading the WvW Skirmish Claim Tickets, or by purchasing the armor directly from the trading post using gold and specific materials.