Earning and Getting Ascended Armor Feels Too Gated

Hello, I would like to share a few key facts about me first. In order to help further enlighten everyone. In regards, to what I will talking about (The Title).

Facts about me:

1.) I'm Roamer and also Havoc (Typically with 1-5 other roamers/friends).2.) I usually play for 3-4 hours including breaks around 2-4 breaks that usually take anywhere from 5-15mins most times. So I would say close to 3 hrs, at least, on average.3.) I get on GW2 (WvW) usually 4-5 days a week. 5 days being a more rarer occurrence.4.) I like to try out different builds whenever possible to get more experience/enjoyment. Also, I always finish 1 build before I move on to a new one (no matter the profession).Ok... Those 4 Facts should be good enough.

Why am I typing this post up?

I'll make it real simple... I do not want to just play the game. I want to enjoy playing the game.I can not find significant levels of enjoyment; on something that is not truly completed. I relate this statement to build making, primarily in regards to ascended.

Why do I feel gated?

Well, for starters. I'm sure at some level it has to do with me being a roamer. It's no secret that roaming, is not as rewarding as being in much bigger fights and so forth. Like zerging typically offers... So, I'll spare you the extra detail in regards to that. Anyways, because I'm primarily a roamer; generally speaking, I'm sure I'm not making as much bank as someone who typically zergs. All the WvW Ranks aside.

Let me get to just some of the more compelling reasons why though... First, just an FYI... Yes, I have max crafting level in all the disciplines. Anyways...Reasons:1.) Ascended is Expensive: I know this is overall disappointingly obvious (even to someone who has max levels in crafting cough). However, it's not just the armor. Depending on the crafting components it can add a large sum of gold, on top of... making ascended fresh. Example... making Trailblazers/Minstrels ascended.2.) Profession Changes: I should not need to give too much detail here. So, I'll just reinforce the obvious... Trait Changes... basically any kind of profession changes... can change the way you want to play. So, Profession changes of all sorts and kinds will happen (like they always do). Then, the result may be, that I try to change the make up of my build to some degree OR perhaps I change it completely... OR the change doesn't affect my build so much at all. In that case, perhaps I want to try gearing out something else now. While still acknowledging, that I do not have to refocus so much on what I do have; of which is considered "OK". That said... I do not have issues with Change itself. I believe Change in general is necessary. My issue, is in regard to the overall time it takes to achieve ascended generally. It feels to be just too high.

• Now, I'm not saying WvW should be like PvP. To where you pretty much just "pick it and go". What I am just saying is... I would like to experience fighting at my full potential, a lot sooner than it currently stands.
• The less time I have to spend gearing one thing... The more time's I can spend Experiencing AND (possibly) Enjoying another thing. Thus, the more fun I can have. This is what it really come's down to.

Why do I want Ascended over Exotic?

I'll make it real simple here too... The Armor is just outright better in stats. Then it gets even better with infusions. Plain and simple.

• I want to fight my opponents a bit more fairly and them me a bit more fairly.
• I also want ascended, so that when making armor that is very expensive; I can just be done with it overall. Example: it feels a lot better to just go straight for minstrel's ascended armor than it does the exotic. Biggest reason is again, the money. I just rather save another 100+ gold; however expensive it is at the time. Than to pretty much remake the same minstrel' armor over again. This time being higher quality. Then left feeling like I wasted that 100 gold or whatever. When all this time I could have just used it towards the ascended version.

Pro's to getting Ascended faster

1.) Are able to move towards getting ascended on something else (other professions/builds) quicker.2.) More money possibly can be spared towards more expensive food. So you don't feel as compelled to go with the cheaper route as much. Just more money can be spared to things you desire more so, in general.3.) You will not feel as punished for not having the fund's to truly experience the game on a more level playing field against your friends or enemies.4.) You can have a greater reliance on your friends to have ascended as well. You won't have to hear "Wow that is so expensive" then perhaps followed by... "Yea, I'm not sure if I wanna make that". Granted it's now more easier to acquire.5.) You and your opponents can (hopefully) have much greater chance at fighting each other a more level playing field (Ascended vs Ascended). Compared to Ascended vs Exotic.

• If people want to add more to these Pro's (I know there's more). Then by all means do so.

Praise the Gods that this exists https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Anthology_of_Heroes. Just saying...

Idea's?

Look, I'm not looking to type up a book here. Though, I am trying to give just enough of my perspective, from my side of the coin. So, if people have idea's to make ascended more reasonable to get in WvW. Then please by all means list what you got... Perhaps a reward track or tracks could just reward you with ascended armor. Possibly, with stats of your choice at the end of it... OR perhaps https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Grandmaster_Mark_Shard should have a higher amount given out... Just idea's of that nature. Discuss!

-P.S. This post is meant to be constructive criticism. No negative feelings towards @Anet intended. Please discuss with the same intent. Thanks.

I may as well say that I play game once a day only to gather home instance nodes and then complain how legendary gear is slow and expensive to craft. You cant just narrow your gameplay into one of the least profitable ways of playing game and complain about stuff being expensive.

Ascended gear is time gated for everyone unless you have a lot of gold and craft it at once, but getting that gold also has its time gate. Wvw is certainly not designed to be fast gold/loot in small amount of time.

I agree with most of this. I roam 1-2 hours a day and it took me a long time to get the 1 ascended set I have, that i don't even use because now I can't afford to convert it from marauder to trailblazer. Even if I did convert it I'd be in the same shoes again if I changed my build. I think that since WvW is PvP and is supposed to be in the 'Mists' then we should have the same build selection window as we do in sPvP. Leave the min/maxing to the raids/fractals crowd.

Armor only provides an increase in DPS of 2% for berserkers, All other stat combos will likely see less, Stat infusions will only marginally improve your build. Generally, ascended armor really isn't all that necessary or worth the effort unless you tend to do high level fractals.

@"steki.1478" said:I may as well say that I play game once a day only to gather home instance nodes and then complain how legendary gear is slow and expensive to craft. You cant just narrow your gameplay into one of the least profitable ways of playing game and complain about stuff being expensive.

Ascended gear is time gated for everyone unless you have a lot of gold and craft it at once, but getting that gold also has its time gate. Wvw is certainly not designed to be fast gold/loot in small amount of time.

Haha, now that's a bit extreme. I don't ever believe that should be the case for legendary, just FYI... I own 1 legendary https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Aurora and I had to do tremendous amounts of PvE (cries inside) for it. So you could say I have an idea of what it's like to go for legendary... Anyways, I would have made the post about legendary weapons and what have you; if I felt it necessary. The point to highlight here, is ascended armor has higher stats. If Legendary items where higher in stats as well... then I would also take issue with that also.

Though, I am glad you recognize WvW isn't designed to be fast gold. My issue isn't really "Hey give me more money up front". My issue is I want a better/more reasonable means to earn ascended upfront instead of just near constantly throwing significant amounts gold out for it. Especially after a change occurs. I know you can also get lucky perhaps and get some ascended, like ascended armor chest. Just based on that, luck, in wvw. All I'm saying is... I would like just a more direct means to achieve it outside of near directly throwing gold at it constantly. At least, as long as ascended is still considered expensive. Some pieces like I stated before... costing significantly more than others.

It would be a different story, to some extent, if I just saved my money for ascended. However, I use it on food, runes, siege (at times), etc. all that stuff can really add up. WvW can be a very demanding environment. I spend money on these extra things to cater to that environment. So that I may have more fun. While hopefully creating a more fun experience for others as well in doing so. :)

Repeating the Triumphant Armor track 6 times gets a full set of exotic armor.

Most stats come on trinkets and not armor. Trinkets are basically free from LW3 maps/rewards tracks or from the skirmish vendor.

@"Ayrilana.1396" said:Armor only provides an increase in DPS of 2% for berserkers, All other stat combos will likely see less, Stat infusions will only marginally improve your build. Generally, ascended armor really isn't all that necessary or worth the effort unless you tend to do high level fractals.

:) Yea, I get that it it's small upfront. The thing is though... those small increases can start to add up more so in fight's. Especially, if you are focusing an enemy player with your friend(s) whom may also be wearing ascended.At the end of the day though... If you gave someone the choice of ascended or not. Their going to pick ascended over exotic. Then, the first reason they will likely give is... "I picked it for the stats". Then proceed onward with a smile on their face after.Same would go for it you asked someone to throw away their ascended. In return, you would give them exotics. Even with them knowing exotics is easily within their reach. They probably wouldn't give up ascended for exotics. So if it truly does not matter... you would be seeing a different outcome regarding these 2 examples.

The armor is just outright better at the end of the day. If I could obtain it nearly as easy as most exotics out there... you wouldn't hear a peep out of me. I can promise you that.

@Whiteout.1975 said:

@"Ayrilana.1396" said:Armor only provides an increase in DPS of 2% for berserkers, All other stat combos will likely see less, Stat infusions will only marginally improve your build. Generally, ascended armor really isn't all that necessary or worth the effort unless you tend to do high level fractals.

It'll be a flat increase over the entirety of the fight and does not add up. If I can do 2% more in damage every second, I'm doing 2% more damage over the duration of the fight. I just wanted to point that out as the phrasing made it seemed like the benefit was additive.

At the end of the day though... If you gave someone the choice of ascended or not. Their going to pick ascended over exotic. Then, the first reason they will likely give is... "I picked it for the stats". Then proceed onward with a smile on their face after.

Same would go for it you asked someone to throw away their ascended. In return, you would give them exotics. Even with them knowing exotics is easily within their reach. They probably wouldn't give up ascended for exotics. So if it truly does not matter... you would be seeing a different outcome regarding these 2 examples.

It's a given that anyone will go with the item(s) that have better stats. I'm pretty sure players would still choose it even if it offer only a single stat as it still would be better than exotic. I wasn't arguing about whether or not it was better though but whether what it provided is generally worth the effort.

The armor is just outright better at the end of the day. If I could obtain it nearly as easy as most exotics out there... you wouldn't hear a peep out of me. I can promise you that.

It's better but only marginally better as I stated just above in the most and in a previous post. The 2% in DPS is going to hardly be noticeable and the stat infusions will not add all that most on top. It does take more effort to get but then you're getting six pieces of ascended armor. Skipping ascended armor, or just working on gradually acquiring it over time, isn't going to put players at a disadvantage unless they're trying to do high level fractals.

@Ayrilana.1396 said:

@Whiteout.1975 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:Armor only provides an increase in DPS of 2% for berserkers, All other stat combos will likely see less, Stat infusions will only marginally improve your build. Generally, ascended armor really isn't all that necessary or worth the effort unless you tend to do high level fractals.

Sorry to cause confusion. What I meant by that, is assuming me and my friend are full ascended (so 2 of us)... our damage increase's when focusing a player will work together. So using your example of Berserker's. 2% will feel at least like an extra 4%. Most likely giving them a even harder time to deal with.

At the end of the day though... If you gave someone the choice of ascended or not. Their going to pick ascended over exotic. Then, the first reason they will likely give is... "I picked it for the stats". Then proceed onward with a smile on their face after.

Same would go for it you asked someone to throw away their ascended. In return, you would give them exotics. Even with them knowing exotics is easily within their reach. They probably wouldn't give up ascended for exotics. So if it truly does not matter... you would be seeing a different outcome regarding these 2 examples.

Oh, OK gotcha. I misunderstood as well here too then. To me it is because it can help make a difference on how quickly you may end up getting a player down. So, like even if ascended isn't worth the effort to you perhaps... then that's kinda is part of the overall problem I would like changed. That way, it wouldn't take as much effort and we could get to a point where it's more reasonable.

The armor is just outright better at the end of the day. If I could obtain it nearly as easy as most exotics out there... you wouldn't hear a peep out of me. I can promise you that.

What I stated before, just now, also goes with this. Besides that... One persistent problem is some ascended takes more time to get (because gold). Compared to other ascended. So like before, when I gave Trailblazer/Minstrels as example in the original post. That said, Your pretty much left feeling like you should just go straight for ascended instead of exotic. In order to save a significant amount of money. If you planned on going for ascended anyways.

@Hesacon.8735 said:Repeating the Triumphant Armor track 6 times gets a full set of exotic armor.

Most stats come on trinkets and not armor. Trinkets are basically free from LW3 maps/rewards tracks or from the skirmish vendor.

Thanks for the helpful advice dude. I'm actually doing that because of the same reasons. I'll give you a +1 helpful anyways though.

I've thought for a long time that they should just make ascended gear tradeable. I'd gladly sell you some of my gear if I could.

@Israel.7056 said:I've thought for a long time that they should just make ascended gear tradeable. I'd gladly sell you some of my gear if I could.

Hey dude, sorry if my responses are a little off at times tonight. I'm busy doing IRL things haha. I really do appreciate the intention though.

@Whiteout.1975 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:

@Whiteout.1975 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:Armor only provides an increase in DPS of 2% for berserkers, All other stat combos will likely see less, Stat infusions will only marginally improve your build. Generally, ascended armor really isn't all that necessary or worth the effort unless you tend to do high level fractals.

It would still be 2%. It’s usually easier to understand this in the opposite direction with an example. If an enemy gives 50 players a debuff that reduces their DPS by 2%, does the enemy receive 2% less DPS or 100% less DPS?

At the end of the day though... If you gave someone the choice of ascended or not. Their going to pick ascended over exotic. Then, the first reason they will likely give is... "I picked it for the stats". Then proceed onward with a smile on their face after.

Same would go for it you asked someone to throw away their ascended. In return, you would give them exotics. Even with them knowing exotics is easily within their reach. They probably wouldn't give up ascended for exotics. So if it truly does not matter... you would be seeing a different outcome regarding these 2 examples.

Against equally skilled players with equal builds and so on, yes it would make a difference as the amount of damage the player with the armor would be larger over time.

In the end, whether it’s worth going for is up to the player and whether they feel it’s worth it to them for what they get making the acquisition of the armor prices easier isn’t goibg to change the effectiveness of the armor.

The armor is just outright better at the end of the day. If I could obtain it nearly as easy as most exotics out there... you wouldn't hear a peep out of me. I can promise you that.

Yes, some ascended does take more times to get. I think most people, who go the crafting route, just crafting the cheapest stat combo and then convert it to the one they want in the forge. I did this with vipers several times.

The main reason why I went for ascended armor was to save space. I didn’t need to have so many sets of armor dedicated to just one character. Since they were account bound, I only needed one stat set for each weight that was going to use it. If I had two light armor classes, they’d just share it. The ultimate step being getting each class legendary armor so there would be no need to ever hold onto armor in inventory or bank space.

I'd suggest you craft it. You can craft a whole set for around 350g, and do it in a few days.

Z

ascended are easier to obtain than ever, nowadays. You can craft / do fractals (chances of getting ascended armor boxes as drops) / fractal vendor for grandmaster marks plus fractal pages, the list just goes on and on... You can also farm the freshwater pearls on Verdant Brink, if you REALLY need ascended minstrel stats (btw, wvwers can get exotic armor boxes from reward tracks for free, with every stat choosable... So, no, you DONT have to craft exotics). It is not hard to get ascended. But, then again, it is not necessary to have in wvw, as their base stats have a 5% difference to exotics (exception may be a select few powerbuilds)

@Ayrilana.1396 said:

@Whiteout.1975 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:

@Whiteout.1975 said:

@Ayrilana.1396 said:Armor only provides an increase in DPS of 2% for berserkers, All other stat combos will likely see less, Stat infusions will only marginally improve your build. Generally, ascended armor really isn't all that necessary or worth the effort unless you tend to do high level fractals.

:) Yes, I understand that much. Perhaps if I use a metaphor... Imagine I have 2 apples and 2 baskets. All being in equal weight (just to make it fair). Now think of the apples as the damage multipliers (2%) and the baskets as "2" enemies. If I put 1 apple in each basket. We end up with what your telling me, in your scenario. Which is basically the damage being dispersed evenly. However, if we take the 2 apples and put them in 1 basket, all of a sudden. That basket will feel more heavier. Which, is what I'm trying to illustrate in my previous example.

At the end of the day though... If you gave someone the choice of ascended or not. Their going to pick ascended over exotic. Then, the first reason they will likely give is... "I picked it for the stats". Then proceed onward with a smile on their face after.

Same would go for it you asked someone to throw away their ascended. In return, you would give them exotics. Even with them knowing exotics is easily within their reach. They probably wouldn't give up ascended for exotics. So if it truly does not matter... you would be seeing a different outcome regarding these 2 examples.

Yes exactly!. That's what I want for someone who doesn't feel ascended is worth going for. I would like them instead to feel that is worth going for. Lowering the effort would help achieve this. So if you don't feel like the armor is worth it OR if you do feel like the armor is worth it... It helps ether side of the fence.

The armor is just outright better at the end of the day. If I could obtain it nearly as easy as most exotics out there... you wouldn't hear a peep out of me. I can promise you that.

Oh yea having legendary would be great for sure. If I wasn't occupied with ascended all the time I would be able to put more gold there for sure. Though for someone in my shoes... gold doesn't exactly come easy (A big reason I listed the facts). I don't know how much you play though or what you do to get gold. So, it is what it is.

I am sympathetic to the OP's frustration, but I don't agree that the situation requires a change. I have a friend who largely roams, who has to take long breaks from the game, and cannot stand to craft for love or money. And even before reward tracks were a thing, he was able to outfit some toons in ascended gear, from drops. It's slower, of course and it's outside of his control. But there's still steady gain of gear.

If the OP isn't willing to go beyond their favorite niche, I don't know why they would expect ANet to extend themselves to make things easier for them.

Plus, it's very rare that anyone actually wins or loses a fight because of gear. All things equal, of course ascended gear is going to matter, even if it's only a little. But things in WvW are very rarely equal. Especially for roamers. One player is almost always much better (or much worse) than others, and ascended gear just changes whether the fight lasts 5 seconds or 6, or 45 seconds versus 50. By itself, it's rarely going to affect the outcome.

With the introduction of grandmaster shards, you don't actually have to craft marks anymore to get T2 armor unless you want to. Plus, once you unlock T2 and reach rank 1,500 you don't need to craft anything or convert shards to marks at all for T3 ascended armor. The only thing that's really time gated is the memories and skirmish tickets at that point. Now, a full set of T2 requires 20 marks regardless of weight and 10 shards are needed to make mark,, at a gain of 3 shards a week and not crafting marks, it'd take some time, but it's another option, that up until recently didn't exist. Wvw ascended armor is actually quite easy to get, but it does take time for good reason, it was intended at about a set a month, not a set a week.

thats why im crafting my plate armor in legendary, with wvw stuff, having that i can test out as much as i want and dont have to invest after ive crafted it, only thing i then want that weapon sigils work the same way in legendarys as runes in legendary armor

The rewards are not meant to be a complete alternative to crafting. They are meant to make it easier for those of us who don't spend a lot of time in PvE.

I believe that while each gamemode does offer ways to get full sets, it's better to look at it as a supplementary way to get ascended gear.

Besides that, it's mostly ticket gated over anything else

Yeah op, what you are looking for is legendary armor. This coupled with legendary weapons, backpack and WvW trinkets allow you to constantly swap your entire set for simply 500 memory of battle, which you gain for playing. Even less if you have Aurora. Now that you can get marks in WvW, you can even speed it up by crafting your own since you have all crafting disciplines. You don't need to be rank 1500-2000 to craft stat-swapable armor, only to buy it.

This is why anet added WvW t3 armor. What I suggest you do is finish the weekly tickets and necessary reward tracks, while at the same time funnel all your loot money + crafting mat money into getting what is needed, and start aquiring the armor piece by piece if that is how you want to play. You literally don't have to work for it all - you get it slow and steady by playing WvW.

In wvw the weekly goal seems to be to cap out your skirmish tickets. With the grandmaster marks included it makes ascended gear an inevitability. If your looking for profit from wvw then you hardcore roamer types may have to jump on the karma train now and then. I don’t think ascended gear is too gated, it easier to attain now then it’s ever been.

What irks me is the weekly ticket cap. If I'm willing to repeat diamond 1-6 multiple times, why shouldn't I get at least some tickets for my time and effort?

Ascended should come off drops fairly regularly in WvW. Any player that puts in 200+ hours of quality play really should have access to a full set of ascended without having to craft or run PvE. I have thousands of hours in WvW with a very high MF and to date I have barely collected enough ascended armor and weapon chests to make a full set of armor and weapons for a single character. I sure do have a lot of rings though!

GW2 completely missed the boat on loot. It is one of the worst MMO loot systems I have played.