Kralkatite Ore - why the need for grind?

Ok I 've been doing some Istan events and achievements lately. When I unlocked the astral weapons and I had to spent 10 Kralkatite Ore for each recipe (so 160 in total).I was happy to go craft my first weapon of the set but was kinda disappointed to see it needed 50 Kralkatite Ingots (or 500 ore). Multiply this 16 times for all the weapons which adds to a 8000 ore in total.

Now if I finish the above collection and want to proceed with the stellar weapons set I need another 25 Ore for each recipe. This totals to 400 Ore.

Now if we add to this the various map's minis/tonics that also need Kralkatite Ore:

Mini Adolescent Aurene 125 Kralkatite OreMini Branded Wyvern 125 Kralkatite OreMini Tar Elemental 125 Kralkatite OreMini Sayida 125 Kralkatite OreMini Koss.png Mini Koss 125 Kralkatite OreEndless Awakened Archer Tonic 250 Kralkatite Ore

we have another 750 ore.

So just the above is 9310 Kralkatite Ore.*I haven't calculated possible Ore needs for the new Corsair Maintenance Oils.

Now completing a meta event and getting most of the chests, gives me around 25 ore. Doing each heart is another 25 ore (3x25= 75 each day). So if I do all the hearts and all the metas which will require a considerable amount of time (both doing the events and waiting for them) I can get 125 ore.**Of course I can repeat the events but I am speaking of the scenario I can spend specific amount of time and not the whole day farming the map.

Another source of Kralkatite Ore is the stones falling from the sky every 15'. It's an interesting idea but usually people don't care marking those (so we all see it) and the yield of Ore is so low (1-4 Ore according to Wiki).

To summarize for getting all the items offered on the map you need 9300 Ore and casually playing you can farm 125 Ore which results in 75 days of continuously replaying the above events. Isn't that a little excessive? What do you think?

It isn't meant to buy everything they offer. I mean you don't do everything in every game, don't you? But if so, it is up to you whether you want to spend the time for such fluff or play in the meantime 15 other games with awesome stories like I do.

75 days is really not that long....That is for a full collection of 16 skins and the minis. The cost is there to give a incentive to return to the map after you are done with everything else. It is a great reason to get back to istan for several months in the future.

There is really no rush to finish it now. Just do these collections on your own terms.The fact that you have motivation to return to previous maps for a long time gives you variety and if you do it patiently you will not get bored of the maps you return as well. These collection are just tools. No-lifing them is not the correct use for them. Unless you really like the grind, but that is strictly personal.

@Dreddo.9865 said:To summarize for getting all the items offered on the map you need 9300 Ore and casually playing you can farm 125 Ore which results in 75 days of continuously replaying the above events. Isn't that a little excessive? What do you think?

You're talking about two entire sets of weapons (not just skins); the second set is ascended. 75 days seems consistent with the Wayfarer's Henge backpack collection, which grants a a total of three pieces of gear (one ascended) and requires a minimum of 16 days to complete, if one completes all four DM hearts each day. If Astral & Stellar weapons had the same requirements, the 32 skins would take over 160 days to complete.

That said, I don't really care that the requirements are comparable, because I burnt out on the Draconis map, which was my favorite of the LS3 maps before I started the collection. 14 days of repeating 4 hearts was dull. So I've avoided working on the Stellar weapon collection. (And I don't like any of the Astral skins.) I know a lot of people love farming Istan and I'm sure they have plenty of volatile magic and kralk ore. But for me, it's just not interesting enough to do more than a few times a month.

@"Turin.6921" said:75 days is really not that long....That is for a full collection of 16 skins and the minis. The cost is there to give a incentive to return to the map after you are done with everything else. It is a great reason to get back to istan for several months in the future.

When is this time when "you have finish it all"? I still miss HoT achievements, personal story achievements, PoF achievements, legendaries, raids and I also play PvP and WvW. Add to this the new content introduced into the game and there is never a "I have done it all" moment. The game should be designed with the casual player in mind and not the 24/7 one.

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

You're talking about two entire sets of weapons (not just skins); the second set is ascended. 75 days seems consistent with the Wayfarer's Henge backpack collection, which grants a a total of three pieces of gear (one ascended) and requires a minimum of 16 days to complete, if one completes all four DM hearts each day. If Astral & Stellar weapons had the same requirements, the 32 skins would take over 160 days to complete.

Last time I checked the backpack didn't have any material requirements, it was only timegated by the daily hearts' events. So the comparison is irrelevant.

@Turin.6921 said:75 days is really not that long....That is for a full collection of 16 skins and the minis. The cost is there to give a incentive to return to the map after you are done with everything else. It is a great reason to get back to istan for several months in the future.

There is really no rush to finish it now. Just do these collections on your own terms.The fact that you have motivation to return to previous maps for a long time gives you variety and if you do it patiently you will not get bored of the maps you return as well. These collection are just tools. No-lifing them is not the correct use for them. Unless you really like the grind, but that is strictly personal.

Exactly, a frequent complaint I saw (and shared) about PoF was that people felt it added no worthwhile long term goals. The purpose of these kind of collections is to provide those long term goals for people. They should be something to chip away at rather than a hardcore farm.

Anyway, I made the shield for my Holosmith as it goes nicely with the holo sword and I currently have enough Kralkatite Ore and Ingots to make another six weapons. Which means I have gathered over 3500 Kralkatite from running 14 characters through map completion and harvesting the home instance node which gives 3-6 a day. (I only thought to buy the Kralkatite ore from the hearts on about half of my characters). I'm in no rush to complete the weapon set as I don't need all those weapons for any one class.

@Dreddo.9865 said:Now completing a meta event and getting most of the chests, gives me around 25 ore. Doing each heart is another 25 ore (3x25= 75 each day). So if I do all the hearts and all the metas which will require a considerable amount of time (both doing the events and waiting for them) I can get 125 ore.**Of course I can repeat the events but I am speaking of the scenario I can spend specific amount of time and not the whole day farming the map.

Another source of Kralkatite Ore is the stones falling from the sky every 15'. It's an interesting idea but usually people don't care marking those (so we all see it) and the yield of Ore is so low (1-4 Ore according to Wiki).

To summarize for getting all the items offered on the map you need 9300 Ore and casually playing you can farm 125 Ore which results in 75 days of continuously replaying the above events. Isn't that a little excessive? What do you think?

The Sunspear Caches also can give Kralkatite.The Brandstone meteors cause 5 brandstone chunks to spawn, each chunk can be harvested 3 times each, each harvest gives 1-4 Kralkatite. So each meteor event gives somewhere between 15 and 60 Kralkatite in total. If you use the Brandstone multi-tool you get better harvest results so make sure you upgrade it fully.You can also get 250 Kralkatite from the WvW and sPvP Reward Tracks.I believe you also get a chunk (I think it was 50 but I don't remember) from map completion.

@"Dreddo.9865" said:

To summarize for getting all the items offered on the map you need 9300 Ore and casually playing you can farm 125 Ore which results in 75 days of continuously replaying the above events. Isn't that a little excessive? What do you think?

As "get all items offered on the map" really doesn't feel like a casual goal, I don't see the problem.

The Stellar weapons are ascended with unique skins so while they are expensive, not exessively so.To start crafting the Stellar weapons you only need to make one Astral weapon, not the full set. Setting out to craft one full set exotics and one full set ascended, both sets offering unique skins, one should absolutely expect a huge cost/time investment.

Grind? I was accidentally bank-deposit capped at 1k in a couple days without trying at all, and I usually only play WvW.
My suggestion is to just play instead of watching your inventory, it will stack up in the background.

It's definitely grindy, but on the upside...consistent and entirely soloable. I'm assuming you don't have alts you can park in Istan to do the hearts? I'm averaging 250 ore a day between four alts completing all the hearts (75 x 4=225 ore), plus the meta events if they pop while I'm playing (25-40 ore). Takes just over an hour in all.

You do realize that you don't have to craft all the astral weapons (only one is needed to unlock the ascended versions) to then begin crafting the stellar ones? That is, if you goal is to have the ascended versions and not the previous exotic ones.

Longterm goals to keep the map relevant

You want everything, but you don't want the grind, that's it?Look, i will make 3 Stellar weapons that i really want and will use on my toons. And the cost for them is pretty reasonable.You, otherwise, want all of them (wich i suspect is because you're an achiever, and certainly will not use all of them). If this was easier than that you would come to this same forum because "Anyone feels that there's no purpose on playing LS4 episodes?".

It IS a bit of a grind if you want all of it, but...

First of all, remember that the impact sites work best when multiple people work together to mark them. Keeping the stuff in demand is a way to encourage people to do this for the foreseeable future.

Second, I think this stuff is supposed to be a long term goal. I know I'm going to make just one of the first set of weapons to unlock the second set. Then I'll just farm my home node, and eventually someday I'll have enough to make another of either set. I'll make the one I most want, and start building up again. Nobody can use all of the weapons and minis at once, after all. Narrow it down to the ones you really want, go for them, and catch the others slowly over time. Istan isn't going anywhere.

@Pifil.5193 said:Exactly, a frequent complaint I saw (and shared) about PoF was that people felt it added no worthwhile long term goals. The purpose of these kind of collections is to provide those long term goals for people. They should be something to chip away at rather than a hardcore farm.

Anyway, I made the shield for my Holosmith as it goes nicely with the holo sword and I currently have enough Kralkatite Ore and Ingots to make another six weapons. Which means I have gathered over 3500 Kralkatite from running 14 characters through map completion and harvesting the home instance node which gives 3-6 a day. (I only thought to buy the Kralkatite ore from the hearts on about half of my characters). I'm in no rush to complete the weapon set as I don't need all those weapons for any one class.Well the frequent complaint I 've been reading for PoF maps was the lack of a proper meta to keep people connected. Also running 14 characters through map completion and harvesting home node is not the typical example of a player. :)

@Pifil.5193 said:The Sunspear Caches also can give Kralkatite.The Brandstone meteors cause 5 brandstone chunks to spawn, each chunk can be harvested 3 times each, each harvest gives 1-4 Kralkatite. So each meteor event gives somewhere between 15 and 60 Kralkatite in total. If you use the Brandstone multi-tool you get better harvest results so make sure you upgrade it fully.You can also get 250 Kralkatite from the WvW and sPvP Reward Tracks.I believe you also get a chunk (I think it was 50 but I don't remember) from map completion.Besides the PvP one (on which I was still farming PoF armors and finished just today!) the rest give insignificant amount of ore so I wouldn't bother spending precious time getting to them - map completion is just once, sunspear cache gives only 1 ore, etc.

@"Tanner Blackfeather.6509" said:As "get all items offered on the map" really doesn't feel like a casual goal, I don't see the problem.

The Stellar weapons are ascended with unique skins so while they are expensive, not exessively so.To start crafting the Stellar weapons you only need to make one Astral weapon, not the full set. Setting out to craft one full set exotics and one full set ascended, both sets offering unique skins, one should absolutely expect a huge cost/time investment.

@"Malafaia.8903" said:You want everything, but you don't want the grind, that's it?Look, i will make 3 Stellar weapons that i really want and will use on my toons. And the cost for them is pretty reasonable.You, otherwise, want all of them (wich i suspect is because you're an achiever, and certainly will not use all of them). If this was easier than that you would come to this same forum because "Anyone feels that there's no purpose on playing LS4 episodes?".

Casual or not the achievement should have a reasonable supply of required materials like all LWS3 maps did. FYI I am still farming Crystallized Ore in Dragon Stand to get guild weapons and armors (not even mentioning going for a HoTS legendary). While this game is rewarding the players for their time spent there are certain parts of it contradicting this aspect. There shouldn't be such grinding barriers we have so many things to do after all.

What I ask is a slightly better supply system for the material in question. So getting the items isn't a matter of grind which is boring and tedious but rather a pleasant experience - even for people with limited time which I believe there are plenty of them in GW2.

For stellar weapons I didn't complaint, they are ascended equipment and totally justify the materials asked. I just put the kralkatite cost for their recipes that add to the total.

When you ask what others think about the situation, consider being open-minded about the responses. I think it's a comparable gate to others that already exist in the game, after being invited by you to look at the amount of time involved. And I further pointed out that I am not actively pursuing the achievement because of that same gating system: it might be reasonable, but it's also dull (for me).

@"Dreddo.9865" said:

You're talking about two entire sets of weapons (not just skins); the second set is ascended. 75 days seems consistent with the Wayfarer's Henge backpack collection, which grants a a total of three pieces of gear (one ascended) and requires a minimum of 16 days to complete, if one completes all four DM hearts each day. If Astral & Stellar weapons had the same requirements, the 32 skins would take over 160 days to complete.

You made the comparison relevant when you posted a summary that emphasized the amount of time: "To summarize for getting all the items ... results in 75 days of continuously replaying the above events. Isn't that a little excessive? What do you think?"

What meaningful difference is there between gating the amount of farmable materials used in crafting versus gating the amount of farmable materials used in triggering collection requirements? Both require repeating activities, over extended periods of time.

I do think that the costs are a tad too high (IMO, making Kralkatite Ingots cost 5 kralkatite ore and 5 powdered quartz instead of 10 each would probably be just nice), but I basically agree with what others have said. It's not strictly necessary to collect every single Astral and Stellar weapon (hey, long term goal if that's what you want to do!), and it was likely designed as such so it would keep interest in Istan going long after the LS train has moved on.

@Dreddo.9865 said:

@Pifil.5193 said:Exactly, a frequent complaint I saw (and shared) about PoF was that people felt it added no worthwhile long term goals. The purpose of these kind of collections is to provide those long term goals for people. They should be something to chip away at rather than a hardcore farm.

Anyway, I made the shield for my Holosmith as it goes nicely with the holo sword and I currently have enough Kralkatite Ore and Ingots to make another six weapons. Which means I have gathered over 3500 Kralkatite from running 14 characters through map completion and harvesting the home instance node which gives 3-6 a day. (I only thought to buy the Kralkatite ore from the hearts on about half of my characters). I'm in no rush to complete the weapon set as I don't need all those weapons for any one class.Well the frequent complaint I 've been reading for PoF maps was the lack of a proper meta to keep people connected. Also running 14 characters through map completion and harvesting home node is not the typical example of a player. :)

I said it was a frequent complaint. There have been many, many others. :)

I would say that completing an entire ascended weapon collection that doesn't have great stats (IMO) isn't all that typical for what players want either.

@Pifil.5193 said:The Sunspear Caches also can give Kralkatite.The Brandstone meteors cause 5 brandstone chunks to spawn, each chunk can be harvested 3 times each, each harvest gives 1-4 Kralkatite. So each meteor event gives somewhere between 15 and 60 Kralkatite in total. If you use the Brandstone multi-tool you get better harvest results so make sure you upgrade it fully.You can also get 250 Kralkatite from the WvW and sPvP Reward Tracks.I believe you also get a chunk (I think it was 50 but I don't remember) from map completion.Besides the PvP one (on which I was still farming PoF armors and finished just today!) the rest give insignificant amount of ore so I wouldn't bother spending precious time getting to them - map completion is just once, sunspear cache gives only 1 ore, etc.

If you're in there anyway, grinding Hearts to buy the amount you get every day then you may as well do map completion on your alts for the extra Kralkatorite. If you pass near a cache you may as well take the time to loot it (you may also get an expensive weapon). If you see a brandstone meteor you may as well divert to it and grab 15-60 extra Kralkatorite.

The alternative is to skip all those extra sources of Kralkatorite and then end up taking a few days longer to complete your goals. Anyway, obviously it's your choice.

The Kralkaite ore isn't the worst part of it. You can get plenty of that just by doing the meta or buying from heart vendors. The real limiting factor seems to be rose quartz dust. You need as much rose quartz as you do kralkatite, and there's no shortcut to getting that. You have to mine it from fallen brandstones if you don't have the home instance node.

Finding the brandstones seems to be an incredible pain. Maybe it's just my graphics settings, but I've never actually seen one fall, even after hanging out on the astralarium roof for the better part of an in-game day. Waiting for an NPC to tell me "something happened somewhere on the map, go find it" and then having to race other players for a chance at getting there in time, is really not a fun way to spend my time.

@Overlord RainyDay.2084 said:The Kralkaite ore isn't the worst part of it. You can get plenty of that just by doing the meta or buying from heart vendors. The real limiting factor seems to be rose quartz dust. You need as much rose quartz as you do kralkatite, and there's no shortcut to getting that. You have to mine it from fallen brandstones if you don't have the home instance node.

There is a short-cut: the TP. Powdered Rose Quartz (and non-powdered) are tradeable.

Do not forget the home node. I bought one on the first day and have almost 500 mostly from that now. It may not seem much per day but figure that is a guaranteed few extra pieces of ore per day for only adding a few more seconds to your gathering run.

I think people tend to look at this kind of thing the wrong way. They seem to want to get everything the game offers NOW, when the intention is to provide goals to pursue long-term as you play over the course of months/years. Every crafted item needs mats. The reason you have to 'farm' and don't just have them on hand is that they've only just been released. Imagine a player a year from now who has a bunch of the mats and only then bothers to get the recipe. He will be in the same position as someone now who needs Iron ore or something. If they made all the items instantly available it might be exciting for a day or two. Then what would you do over the next year?

Just don't think about it as something you have to have. Pick them up as and when convenient, like you would any recipe of long standing.

Exactly, this is why I love the home instance notes. Getting a few of a mat per day may not seem like much (unless you think of all the different mats you are getting). Over the course of a few months though you will build up a good supply of each for not much time involved.

The best example is the bloodstone node. Given I have other things near it I get 3 bloodstone rubies for adding at most 5 seconds to my run.

Can anyone name ANY activity in bloodstone fen that will net you 3 rubies for 5 seconds of work? The loading screen can take longer than that.

@Dreddo.9865 said:

@"Turin.6921" said:75 days is really not that long....That is for a full collection of 16 skins and the minis. The cost is there to give a incentive to return to the map after you are done with everything else. It is a great reason to get back to istan for several months in the future.

That is the point i am making and you seem to miss. They are not designed for the 24/7 player. If you do that, unless you are a grind addict, it will be tedious. There is no reason to finish all. These are made for the casual to do over a long period of time so that there is always a simple goal when logging in on the specific place on the game. Its an MMO. The moment you have the feeling of ¨I have finished all¨ then you generally quit it...It is not a single player game that your goal is completion and move on.

Say, how would a persistent endless-hours game as a MMORPG work for you OP, if your design has to not have currency-/progression-grinds?

I mean, are you going to hire 6500 developers to keep producing new content at a rate of 1 zone every 2 days?

@Menadena.7482 said:Exactly, this is why I love the home instance notes. Getting a few of a mat per day may not seem like much (unless you think of all the different mats you are getting). Over the course of a few months though you will build up a good supply of each for not much time involved.

The best example is the bloodstone node. Given I have other things near it I get 3 bloodstone rubies for adding at most 5 seconds to my run.

That Blood ruby node is the best 50g I ever spent