We have got to address Spirit Shards and Tomes of Knowledge

[Legend of Rogue.5394]

The process of gaining spirit shards and the lack of abundance is terrible for for the game. Let's analyze the ability to get them:

Tome Excess

Dailies

Killing Players in WVW on random Drops

SOS (Max 5)

 

Thats it:

 

Now let's look at access to Tomes: Once a week on Daily Log in

PVP, WVW Track (max is a few)

Chests 

 

Anyone going for Stat swaps on ascended, Crafting Legendaries, Crafting Ascended, using Augur Stones for Vision Crystals, Anthologys, Bloodstones, Eldritch, all require MASSIVE amounts of Shards when the application of getting them is extremely low. Stat swapping ascended armor or crafting ascended armor just needs to flat out be removed with Spirit Shards or changed in currency. The cost of making ascended armor per piece will average about 60 gold (more or less) and the cost of stat swapping other than hours of grinding WVW or wasting money on Gems for chests is insane... You might get lucky if you can get with a ZERG group and get some on chests. (Dont even bother for lower end servers with low pop getting ROFL Stomped by Black Rock) Its not even a process that matches the identity of the item its just a random lets have players do this because we have nothing else to think of. At least half the requirements or up the drop rate, change the daily log in and include more shards. The only way to actually gain a lot is spend 2 3 hours and maybe you will get a max of 15 or 20? Maybe? Not everyone is going to dedicate 8 to 22 hours a day like Teapot can. This is such an outdated process that has been going on since HOT and even before that. You have changed clovers, you have changed mystic coins, Ectos were addressed WAY back in the day, you have addressed obsidian shards but this is the most broken annoying part of the game. Luckily there are some who enjoy ALL aspects of GW2 and don't mind playing WVW but what of those who refuse or are only PVE? Going for anything that require shards you make it pretty much impossible. and dull., not to mention you can play and do everything and get 1-3? Thats insane Anet

 

 

[Linken.6345]

You missed afew.

Most notably any pve mobe have a chance to drop, some spvp&wvw bags and some chests around maps.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Spirit_Shard

Edited April 1, 2022 by Linken.6345

[Gehenna.3625]

When you say it's "terrible for the game" you really mean "terrible for me".

I get most of my shards from leveling at 80. And some from tomes and I've never had an issue with having enough spirit shards. And I have 17 level 80s in full ascended gear and made like 8 or 9 legendary weapons. And though I bought the game at release, I took many and long breaks, so I've been only in the ascended and legendary game for the last few years.

Now, this is not a "I can do it, so you can do it too" type of post. What it is, is me explaining my situation so we might come to an understanding about what you're doing differently that keeps you running out of spirit shards.

For reference: I only do PvE and dabble in WvW. And I just did my first 3 strikes last week. Not sure if I'll go back to doing them. Also don't spend a lot of time in Dungeons or Fractals and I never do PvP or Raids. So perhaps we can find out where the differences lie. That could be helpful.

[Forgotten Legend.9281]

it seems to me that spirit shard acquisition is more difficult for newer players versus those who've played since launch, because of the Mastery system introduced with the first expansion.

before that first expansion, you simply earned a spirit shard for every level of XP that you gained after reaching 80. afterward, you need to max the masteries for each zone in order to gain spirit shards from that zone. (Core, HoT, PoF, IBS, EoD) (EDIT: the point being, that while you're earning XP on a mastery bar, you're not ALSO earning XP in that zone towards spirit shards. yes, i know that technically, you can still earn spirit shards without maxxing the masteries, but that gets technical for and is easily forgotten or overlooked by new players)

for the player who started after the mastery system was introduced, the levelling-shard is (EDIT: practically) nonexistent until the masteries are dealt with.

Those who've played from the beginning and maxxed all masteries (rank 455) probably have more shards than they know what to do with.

I would have no problem with Anet rewarding a spirit shard for "preparing" a mastery track by filling the bar with XP before applying mastery points to the tier.

EDIT: Disclaimer: I've been playing since Head Start (pre-launch) and have Mastery rank 455, and have thousands of shards, aka, more than i know what do do with... and i have hundreds of ascended pieces of gear, 14 legendaries, and have changed stats on ascended gear a considerable number of times. i'm also lazy and don't craft legendaries very often. (compared to some guildmates who have every legendary ever introduced before EoD)

Edited April 1, 2022 by Forgotten Legend.9281

[Debesyla.7102]

What do you even do with all those shards? 

[Veprovina.4876]

4 minutes ago, Debesyla.7102 said:

What do you even do with all those shards? 

Was just gonna ask the same question lol.

 

Like, what do you need them for? I only ever needed them for the legendaries, sometimes to change ascended stats, other than that, they just pile up.

[Zephyr.5382]

51 minutes ago, Forgotten Legend.9281 said:

it seems to me that spirit shard acquisition is more difficult for newer players versus those who've played since launch

100%. I'd say I'm pretty casual, yet am sitting at 1,500+ shards with hardly anything to use them on.

[TexZero.7910]

9 minutes ago, Zephyr.5382 said:

100%. I'd say I'm pretty casual, yet am sitting at 1,500+ shards with hardly anything to use them on.

 

53 minutes ago, Debesyla.7102 said:

What do you even do with all those shards? 

 

47 minutes ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

Was just gonna ask the same question lol.

 

Like, what do you need them for? I only ever needed them for the legendaries, sometimes to change ascended stats, other than that, they just pile up.

 

You use them to convert your excess T5 materials into T6 materials.

Edited April 1, 2022 by TexZero.7910

[Veprovina.4876]

1 minute ago, TexZero.7910 said:

You use them to convert your excess T5 materials into T6 materials.

Oh come on, you get 10 Philosopher's stones for 1 spirit shard, that's enough for 2 t5 to t6 conversions. How much mats are you converting and where are you getting them from of you're low on spirit shards because of the conversion?

[TexZero.7910]

Just now, Veprovina.4876 said:

Oh come on, you get 10 Philosopher's stones for 1 spirit shard, that's enough for 2 t5 to t6 conversions. How much mats are you converting and where are you getting them from of you're low on spirit shards because of the conversion?

I'm not low on them, i'm telling you what they're used for.

If you don't want to turn a profit using them, that's your choice.

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

hm, I am drowning in spirit shards and occasionally have to turn in tomes, just to keep the inventory under control.

I don't see a problem with gaining these. I see a problem with turning them into something useful. Maybe a spirit shard or tome gobbler? I would like that.´

[Veprovina.4876]

2 minutes ago, TexZero.7910 said:

I'm not low on them, i'm telling you what they're used for.

If you don't want to turn a profit using them, that's your choice.

I know what they're used for, i was asking what OP was using them for that they're so low on them.

I convert my t5 same as everyone else, and i'm never low on spirit shards.

[Farohna.6247]

37 minutes ago, Zephyr.5382 said:

100%. I'd say I'm pretty casual, yet am sitting at 1,500+ shards with hardly anything to use them on.

Same.  I use them a little crafting, the rest I just let sit or occasionally buy some spirit banners with.  It's never been an issue.

[Khisanth.2948]

1 hour ago, Legend of Rogue.5394 said:

The cost of making ascended armor per piece will average about 60 gold (more or less) and the cost of stat swapping other than hours of grinding WVW or wasting money on Gems for chests is insane...

The actual average cost using instant buy princes is a bit under 38.5g https://gw2efficiency.com/crafting/ascended?filter.type=0

55% is a bit more than "more or less"

1 hour ago, Legend of Rogue.5394 said:

the cost of stat swapping other than hours of grinding WVW

WvW is a terrible route for getting spirit shards ...

1 hour ago, Forgotten Legend.9281 said:

it seems to me that spirit shard acquisition is more difficult for newer players versus those who've played since launch, because of the Mastery system introduced with the first expansion.

before that first expansion, you simply earned a spirit shard for every level of XP that you gained after reaching 80. afterward, you need to max the masteries for each zone in order to gain spirit shards from that zone. (Core, HoT, PoF, IBS, EoD)

for the player who started after the mastery system was introduced, the levelling-shard is nonexistent until the masteries are dealt with.

Those who've played from the beginning and maxxed all masteries (rank 455) probably have more shards than they know what to do with.

I would have no problem with Anet rewarding a spirit shard for "preparing" a mastery track by filling the bar with XP before applying mastery points to the tier.

EDIT: Disclaimer: I've been playing since Head Start (pre-launch) and have Mastery rank 455, and have thousands of shards, aka, more than i know what do do with... and i have hundreds of ascended pieces of gear, 14 legendaries, and have changed stats on ascended gear a considerable number of times. i'm also lazy and don't craft legendaries very often. (compared to some guildmates who have every legendary ever introduced before EoD)

Please stop spreading misinformation that is more than 2 years out of date.

• Quote

  Spirit shards will now be earned when experience cannot go to other forms of progress, such as Masteries or gaining levels.

  and yes it has also  been tested in game recently for those who do not trust patch notes ...

•  

[Schimmi.6872]

1 hour ago, Forgotten Legend.9281 said:

it seems to me that spirit shard acquisition is more difficult for newer players versus those who've played since launch, because of the Mastery system introduced with the first expansion.

before that first expansion, you simply earned a spirit shard for every level of XP that you gained after reaching 80. afterward, you need to max the masteries for each zone in order to gain spirit shards from that zone. (Core, HoT, PoF, IBS, EoD)

for the player who started after the mastery system was introduced, the levelling-shard is nonexistent until the masteries are dealt with.

You don't need max. masteries of the zone anymore, this problem was fixed about 2 years ago.

The normal XP-track is just hidden in the background and as soon as the cutrrently unlocked masteries for the region are filled, the XP goes into the spirit shard-track.

[Forgotten Legend.9281]

oh geez, no need to be rude.

 

the point is, while you're filling the XP bar for a mastery, you're not earning XP toward spirit shards in that zone. THAT is not misinformation. 

[DarcShriek.5829]

I look at GW2 efficiency to see what mats give me the best profit to craft with shards, craft them, and then sell them.  I have to pace myself to keep enough shards to build legendary items.

[LucianDK.8615]

Ive played for many years and I keep running out of shards

[Luthan.5236]

Played the game from release 2012 until end of 2013. Then loooong break. Started playing again in June 2019. And I play a lot - still nor a hardcore farmer. I triedt to level 9 chars (one for each profession) manually to level 80. (No tomes or scrolls used.)

And I have played 2 chars through the full story (all living world and expansion stories and map completion on everything).

I have about 7k or 8k+ shards. Barely using any of them Since exotic gear ist good for most stuff ... + I have 1 or 2 legendaries now - no problem. I am not a raider though. And for fractals up to T2 some random Pve allrounder-build always had been enough. No stat swapping needed.

Also the trinkets are cheap and have special ones for cheap stat changing. Aaaand lastly. Ascended is account bound. With enough storage space you could just make sets with all the major prefixes you need often - storing them.

Edited April 1, 2022 by Luthan.5236

[Redfeather.6401]

Unfortunately most people have been playing so long and there is so little to spend shards on they have hundreds or thousands. I don't think anyone here wants more shards. It would be nice to have more things shards can be used on.

[Excursion.9752]

2 hours ago, Gehenna.3625 said:

When you say it's "terrible for the game" you really mean "terrible for me".

When ever I see threads like this I generally think the same thing... I could care less about spirit shards or tomes of knowledge  from my point of view. I have about 8k spirit shards and 6.75k tomes of Knowledge. I guess things only matter when you don't have them.

[Legend of Rogue.5394]

2 hours ago, Debesyla.7102 said:

What do you even do with all those shards? 

I have been doing stat swaps on ascended weapons and armor which is about 80 to 100 Through Anthology and Visions

 

Legendaries take 200 for blood stone

Vision Crystals, lesser vision crystals etc

[Legend of Rogue.5394]

Those 

8 minutes ago, Redfeather.6401 said:

Unfortunately most people have been playing so long and there is so little to spend shards on they have hundreds or thousands. I don't think anyone here wants more shards. It would be nice to have more things shards can be used on.

Those who are at that point have legendary armor etc and they can stat swap off, as soon as any new player or new meta changes players are more bound to stat swap as well, especially in ascended or legendaries which you are dropping that 100 Shards for. I just hate the idea I have to grind for hours just to be able to swap my item stats. Since it's a currency I feel it needs an update. I mentioned Mystic Coins got the update, Esctos, Clovers, Obsid shards all have been updated but the ability to get shards has not really changed at all and the way of going about it is so old. Very FEW people are going to craft legendary armor, some will craft some legendary weapons but when you are trying for Ascended armor, legendaries, stat swapping your characters and are held on everything BUT the stupid shard because now you cant craft a stupid vision crystal without grinding tomes on WVW is annoying as hell

[Khisanth.2948]

1 hour ago, Forgotten Legend.9281 said:

oh geez, no need to be rude.

 

the point is, while you're filling the XP bar for a mastery, you're not earning XP toward spirit shards in that zone. THAT is not misinformation. 

That comes out to an average of less than 0.3 shards a day over the 6+ years the mastery system has been around

[Forgotten Legend.9281]

3 minutes ago, Khisanth.2948 said:

That comes out to an average of less than 0.3 shards a day over the 6+ years the mastery system has been around

and that doesn't matter to someone who is not earning spirit shards because they're new. for us older players who have thousands of them, it doesn't matter either.