The Umpteenth question about Ascended items.

[AkumaKazama.8426]

All the data I seem to find is from either '14 or at most '17.
A little back story about me,

1. Been playing since launch.
2. Don't even have a Legendary weapon.
3. I would love to join others but I don't get too... I do ok...in the open-world but I feel weak. I have full exotic with Sigils of the Ranger. (cant afford Scholar). Is Ascended Armor worth it in my case? I play a ranger. I don't have Soulbeast unlocked. I thought Ascended gear allows you to switch stats or is that some other special gear. I can't seem to understand the past answers where it was said it "isn't" worth it, why even put it in.

I am sorry to ask this yet again but maybe since I asked in my way, ill understand the answer...better I hope.

[Pirogen.9561]

"I feel weak". I don't think its Armor.

Ascended gear is better then Exotic. Not by much though. In open world, If everything else is OK(build, you), you will hardly notice a difference.

You can change stats on Ascended gear. But it costs ingame money. You can sort of "reforged" it. Search for "Mystic Forge".

The "easy to swap stats" is Legendary. Legendary has the same stats as Ascended. Ascended is max.

Armor doesn't contibute to character stats as much as Trinkets and Weapon. Upgrading Armor from Exotic to Ascended will have the smallest efect on your character. General rule is: first Trinkets and Weapon and then Armor. Its also not hard to get Ascended Trinkets. Living Seasons 3+. So go: Trinkets -> Weapon -> Armor.

If you are into Fractals, then you will need Ascended.

[Danikat.8537]

Short answer: Ascended gear might help a bit, but other things will be more effective and if you're going to the hassle of making ascended gear you should consider the other factors too.

Long answer:

Not much has changed since 2017, or even 2014 which would affect the decision to get ascended armour or stick with exotics. GW2 isn't like most MMOs which are constantly introducing new equipment to keep you chasing the best stats. Sometimes balance patches will change which stat combination is best for your build, and occasionally new combinations will come out. But ascended has been the top tier for years now, and the (very small) difference between exotic and ascended has stayed the same.

Which also means in GW2 it's not as simple as if your character feels weak you need higher tier armour. What makes a bigger difference is having the right stats for your build. Exotics with matching stats which work with your skills and traits will be more effective than ascended with the wrong stats or all different stats so you're not really getting much of a boost to anything. Also you're focusing on armour but actually your trinkets (rings, accessories and amulet) give the biggest increase in stats, followed by weapons so those should be your priority to upgrade. Especially since ascended trinkets are relatively easy to get (you can buy ones with 3-stat combinations from laurel vendors, or buy ones which let you select any stats from Season 3 and 4 maps with the map currency).

Incidentally yes it is possible to change the stats on ascended armour (and weapons) but only by taking it to the Mytic Forge with an Anthology of Heroes (bought from the NPC by the Forge), 5 globs of ectoplasm and an exotic insignia (for armour) or inscription (for weapons) for the stat type you want, which means it's expensive to do it a lot and can't be done without going back to Lion's Arch. It's cheaper and easier than crafting a whole new set of ascended equipment, but not an option for swapping stats all the time. If you want to change them more frequently you'll need legendary armour and weapons which takes a very long time and (for armour) some of the hardest content in the game to get.

You haven't said much about your build but if you're using runes of the ranger and want runes of the scholar I assume you're focusing on beserker stats - power, precision and ferocity. So my first question is in what way does your character feel weak? Does it take them too long to kill things or do they die too easily?

If they die too easily the answer is simple: you're using a pure damage build with no defensive stats. These are sometimes called glass cannons - they hit like a cannon but shatter like glass if they get hit. There are a few ways around that:

• You could swap some gear for ones with toughness (which increases armour) or vitality (which increases health).
• You could swap some of your traits, or even an entire specialisation for one with more defense. For rangers that's Wilderness Survival, Nature Magic or Druid (which also gives you an additional set of healing skills).
• You could practice using 'active defenses' like dodging, kiting and letting your pet draw aggro (GW2 doesn't exactly have aggro mechanics, although the beast mastery specialisation has a trait which cases enemies to attack your pet, but positioning can help too - let them close first and enemies will often attack them while ignoring you) so you take less damageYou can of course mix and match these, although doing all of them might be overkill.

If you mean it takes too long to kill things then you also need to consider what weapons and skills (and traits) you're using. Your stats only benefit direct damage so you need weapon skills which focus on direct damage rather than conditions, for a ranger that's greatsword, longbow and sword/axe. Same with your utility skills, things like Quickening Zephyr and Signet of the Wild which boost your damage will be more effective than ones which cause conditions. If you don't want to change the weapons and skills you're using the other option is to get different stats to suit what you want to play - either way will work, so it's up to you to decide what your priority is.

So yes, ascended equipment could help you, and if you want to get it I recommend getting trinkets first, then weapons, then armour. But before you do think about what stats you want on it, which ones are best for you, so you can make sure you're getting the right things and not wasting gold on a useless upgrade.

[AkumaKazama.8426]

"You haven't said much about your build...."

My build can best be described asRanger - Longbow Beastmastery - what they have on Metabattle there just not the "gear".I was looking to make either Maurader or Bezerker stats, or mixing the two to gear.You guys know you eventually can craft your own Ascended armor. Leveling Huntsmans isa ways away for me.

"So my first question is in what way does your character feel weak? Does it take them too long to kill things or do they die too easily?"

It seemingly takes forever to kill something. My pet hardly holds aggro so i am forced to try and kite. I've tried bouncing from Pwr to condition damage but sometimes the condi works and sometimes it doesn't, meaning the mobs fall not immediately but in a reasonable time for me. Not sure if i am supposed to have the ability to do "hero" point challenges solo but..no i can't.

About getting trinkets and such first. I hardly see any not linked to achievements that i fail at completing. Some have the criteria of "not getting hit" etc.

I was getting back into the game doing LW3 Stuff i think with the bloodstones. The mobs were ok solo but when they bring buddies i go down easy. Story "bosses" were the main sense of me feeling weak outside of knowing the mechanics it takes a while.

[TheAgedGnome.7520]

For ascended trinkets, you can buy some basic stats (like Berzerker) with laurels from a Laurel Vendor. Usually, though, you'd accumulate map currency and either volatile or unbound magic and buy them from the magic vendor on that map. Winterberries (+ unbound magic) from Bitterfrost Frontier can be traded to Slooshoo for stat-selectable trinkets. It's tedious, but farming that area daily for Winterberries pays off. Sun Warming will sell you Unbound Magic Harvesting Sickles for karma, so you can increase your unbound magic quantity while harvesting the winterberries.

[Randulf.7614]

The difference between ascended and exotic for most players is so small, it wont be the cause of any feeling of being weak. Ascended exists for fractals to allow the slotting of agony resistance (a unique mechanic there) and for min maxers who like to squeeze out that optimum level of extra stats for their build.

For most players, it is just a non-essential thing to aim for

If you do aim for ascended, then weapons give a greater stat buff than armour. Armour gives a couple of points extra in stats which is almost meaningless

Hero points in HoT expansion are a mix of solo and group. Not being able to solo them isn't something to be too worried about

I can't really advise on ranger as my ranger is just a mess around toon. What weapons do you use apart from longbow?

[AkumaKazama.8426]

@"TheAgedGnome.7520" said:For ascended trinkets, you can buy some basic stats (like Berzerker) with laurels from a Laurel Vendor. Usually, though, you'd accumulate map currency and either volatile or unbound magic and buy them from the magic vendor on that map. Winterberries (+ unbound magic) from Bitterfrost Frontier can be traded to Slooshoo for stat-selectable trinkets. It's tedious, but farming that area daily for Winterberries pays off. Sun Warming will sell you Unbound Magic Harvesting Sickles for karma, so you can increase your unbound magic quantity while harvesting the winterberries.

Are these from area's past HoTs? I haven't made it into the newest exapnsion yet.

[AkumaKazama.8426]

@Randulf.7614 said:The difference between ascended and exotic for most players is so small, it wont be the cause of any feeling of being weak. Ascended exists for fractals to allow the slotting of agony resistance (a unique mechanic there) and for min maxers who like to squeeze out that optimum level of extra stats for their build.

For most players, it is just a non-essential thing to aim for

If you do aim for ascended, then weapons give a greater stat buff than armour. Armour gives a couple of points extra in stats which is almost meaningless

Hero points in HoT expansion are a mix of solo and group. Not being able to solo them isn't something to be too worried about

I can't really advise on ranger as my ranger is just a mess around toon. What weapons do you use apart from longbow?

I do LB/ Greatsword. and if i do condition - axe /torch

[TheAgedGnome.7520]

@AkumaKazama.8426 said:

@"TheAgedGnome.7520" said:For ascended trinkets, you can buy some basic stats (like Berzerker) with laurels from a Laurel Vendor. Usually, though, you'd accumulate map currency and either volatile or unbound magic and buy them from the magic vendor on that map. Winterberries (+ unbound magic) from Bitterfrost Frontier can be traded to

Slooshoo

for stat-selectable trinkets. It's tedious, but farming that area daily for Winterberries pays off.

Sun Warming

will sell you Unbound Magic Harvesting Sickles for karma, so you can increase your unbound magic quantity while harvesting the winterberries.

Are these from area's past HoTs? I haven't made it into the newest exapnsion yet.

Yes, it is part of LS3. So, as long as you own LS3, you don't need to have completed HoT to venture into those other zones (unless you want to for story reasons). If you can get someone in Bitterfrost, then you can Teleport to a Friend to open up the zone to you.

You previously mentioned whether you should expect to be able to solo HPs or not. Since you are in HoT, the answer is: usually not. HoT was geared toward group efforts and many HoT HPs are very difficult to solo. You might want to consider joining an HP train group, which will run you through all the HoT zones and acquire all the HPs, as well as unlocking most areas and WPs. Usually just basic gliding is required.

[Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.294]

If your pet is not holding aggro, then you need to look at what stats you are running. Quite a few mobs will focus based on your toughness stats. So running anything with toughness tends to make you the higher priority target of every that wants to kill you. As for Superior Runes of the Scholar...they are technically the highest damage rune set in the game, but, you have to be able to maintain your health at 90% or above to get that damage bonus. Unless you're running in a dedicated group, I'd stick with the Superior Rune of the Ranger that you have now - as long as you're running a power build. If you switch to a condi build, I'd look at runes that support condis.

Also, pay attention to break bars (defiance bars). In core Tyria using CC's to break that bar is at best optional. HoT it is practically mandatory. Out of 14 toons across two accounts, I know only two or three have ascended armor. Everyone else is running exotic armor, ascended trinkets, and a mix of exotic and ascended weapons. And I've map completed all of HoT on 13 of the 14 - one still needs to run the Dragon Stand meta some time.

[Khisanth.2948]

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:Out of 14 toons across two accounts, I know only two or three have ascended armor. Everyone else is running exotic armor, ascended trinkets, and a mix of exotic and ascended weapons. And I've map completed all of HoT on 13 of the 14 - one still needs to run the Dragon Stand meta some time.

Even masterwork will be fine but you end up having to pay more attention.

@"AkumaKazama.8426" said:I was getting back into the game doing LW3 Stuff i think with the bloodstones. The mobs were ok solo but when they bring buddies i go down easy. Story "bosses" were the main sense of me feeling weak outside of knowing the mechanics it takes a while.

For those white mantle mobs which are also found in other places you'll want to kill certain types before others. Specific order will depend on your build's strengths and weakness but you'll probably want to get rid of any clerics that around around first since they have an AoE heal.

When it comes to using builds from various places make sure you aren't trying to use ones meant for groups while soloing. Unfortunately not all of them make that clear.

You can bring Entangle for holding mobs without breakbars in place for a while. Pets also have a large variety of options for different utilities. Longbow is not particularly great for dealing with multiple target. You can trait for piercing but that still requires manipulating the mobs' position and lining up your shots. The 3 skill gives you stealth which can be used for disengaging or simply for dumping aggro on your pet. You can also take Beastly Warden to make the pets' F2 skill taunt.

[Murshid.9854]

For Ascended state switch: Ascended gear have no direct state switch like Legendaries does, but you can switch them through mystic forge but it gonna cost some money and shards so Ascended are great investment but if you are looking for constant switch then its not efficient in this case cause of high cost, and crafting legendaries for stat swap ain't worth it since you can have 2 full ascended sets and its still cheaper than legendary chest piece only.

For Ascended worth: I mentioned above that they are a great investment and they are but if you are interested about open world then its not worth it that much, of you interested about fractals of raids then yeah its really worth it, it depends in which mode you are interested in.

For weakness issues: you need to check multiple things for this issue, you either check your gear_stats/build/play_stayle/Runs/Sigils