Advanced tips and tricks

[StevenL.3761]

Here are some things I learned over the years that may be less obvious to some players. I'm going to avoid listing the really basic things that almost everyone knows, focusing only on some very specific things I learned from veterans, from my own experience and from wiki research.

Convert T5 dust to research notes

Incandescent Dust is quite common and it doesn't really have any good uses beyond clogging up your bank and the trading post. It's now the second cheapest dust after Glittering Dust (T1). Use it to craft Quality Tuning Crystals (req. Artificer 300) and then salvage them with a Research Kit. This is one of the cheaper sources of research notes coming in at just over 1s per research note.

The Search for Buried Treasure

You probably have a stack of unused treasure hunting kits. Check /wiki et for the next Search for Buried Treasure in Desert Highlands and just do the event. It is 100% the most underrated meta event in the game. Bring a high mobility build and avoid combat so you can teleport freely. 1 chest per minute is easily attainable, for a minimum of 20 chests total. (Works best on a highly populated map with other players uncovering chests.) The main prize is Stories of the Great Zehtuka, which offers a choice of ascended Harrier armor recipes. Some of the recipes insta-sell for 40g, or can be listed for 100g+. Despite the recipe book being the most expensive drop you can get, the drop itself is actually not very rare. I once received two recipe books from the same event.

Mystic Forge Conduit

Buy (or craft) a Mystic Forge Conduit so you can use the MF from right next to a trading post or bank. It's quite cheap for a permanent-use item.

Gamble medallions

The last tip was important because I want you to throw your Medallions in the Mystic Forge for a chance at Amalgamated gemstones.

Gamble yellow weapons

This is bad advice for some but if you've been playing long enough then you are already the king/queen of Ectoland and you don't need more ectos. Throw all your yellow weapons in the MF for a chance at unlocking new exotic skins and even precursor drops. Additionally the MF can give you a yellow drop from the Krait weapons collection. Check the Faction Provisioners to see if it can be traded for a Provisioner Token before you recycle or sell it.

Note: don't gamble yellow armors, it's better to salvage for ectos and Charms of Brilliance/Potence/Skill.

Gamble 3 exotic weapons with a Mystic Forge Stone

If you follow the tip from above, exotic weapons will start cropping up in your inventory, perhaps account-bound because you unlock all the skins. Once you have three you can use a Mystic Forge Stone for the remaining slot. Once again, only do this with weapons for a chance at precursor drops.

Edited July 23, 2022 by StevenL.3761

[Farohna.6247]

Thanks for the tips, even for someone who's been playing a few years, very helpful!

[Garrison Storm.3046]

Awesome!  Thank you, this was informative.

 

I have been gambling 3 exotics and stone for a long time, with my own additional constraint that the exotics are not more than 2g (in which case I sell).  Gambling also has the effect of unlocking any skins that you may be missing.  

 

I also added the wrinkle to exclude swords (and not use a mystic stone).. so when I had 4 swords, they would be gambled, resulting in a guaranteed sword in return... the thinking being that with extra precursor swords, I might have a better chance at a precursor drop.  No idea if this is how the loot table works; maybe it determines "precursor", and then randomly picks from those swords.  But I have been lucky over the years with this approach, coincidental or not.

 

A month go, I was rewarded with Leaf of Kudzu.  Recognizing it immediately for what it was, I was thrilled... until I checked the TP and noticed how much value precursors have plummeted over the past few years.  80g-90g... down from 1,000g at its peak!  All to say, while the drop was nice, the thrill is not quite the same as it was... and given the scarcity of the drop, it wouldn't take long to gamble away 80g worth of exotics in that fashion... As such, my feeling is that the 'risk/reward' for this gamble is nowhere near where it was, and has taken away some of that thrill and luster.  As a result, my own approach is to now limit those gambles to locked skins and less than 2g.    

[Dante.1508]

The Search for Buried Treasure

You probably have a stack of unused treasure hunting kits. Check /wiki et for the next Search for Buried Treasure in Desert Highlands and just do the event. It is 100% the most underrated meta event in the game. Bring a high mobility build and avoid combat so you can teleport freely. 1 chest per minute is easily attainable, for a minimum of 20 chests total. (Works best on a highly populated map with other players uncovering chests.) The main prize is Stories of the Great Zehtuka, which offers a choice of ascended Harrier armor recipes. Some of the recipes insta-sell for 40g, or can be listed for 100g+. Despite the recipe book being the most expensive drop you can get, the drop itself is actually not very rare. I once received two recipe books from the same event.

 

Just a heads up after getting the chests open them before you change servers, for me changing servers made them lose superior status.. and just gave me trash.

Edited July 23, 2022 by Dante.1508

[StevenL.3761]

Dante, you mean the item in your inventory was replaced with normal treasure? That never happened to me but I'll check again.

I forgot to mention, the buried treasures event is on the same timer as the Octovine. When you are done looting Tarir, you can teleport to Desert Highlands to catch the end of the treasure hunt. Or the other way around: you can leave Treasure Hunt 5 minutes early to loot Tarir.

[AllAmericanGirls.7361]

1 hour ago, StevenL.3761 said:

Mystic Forge Conduit

Buy (or craft) a Mystic Forge Conduit so you can use the MF from right next to a trading post or bank. It's quite cheap for a permanent-use item.

That's mostly useful for folks who don't have a lounge pass that teleports you back to your source location. If you have one of those, the value of the conduit heavily depends on your playstyle and how you manage your loot.

 

1 hour ago, StevenL.3761 said:

Convert T5 dust to research notes

 

Other T5 (and T2) fine crafting materials can also be promoted in the Mystic Forge to T6 (and T3) materials at the cost of some spirit shards. This is a nice way to make some money once your material storage is filled to the brim with T5/T2 stuff. If you have alt-account(s) that drown in spirit shards, it's even more gold for you.

[Khisanth.2948]

2 hours ago, StevenL.3761 said:

This is bad advice for some but if you've been playing long enough then you are already the king/queen of Ectoland and you don't need more ectos. Throw all your yellow weapons in the MF for a chance at unlocking new exotic skins and even precursor drops. Additionally the MF can give you a yellow drop from the Krait weapons collection. Check the Faction Provisioners to see if it can be traded for a Provisioner Token before you recycle or sell it.

If you don't want to gamble everything you can also restrict this to greatsword, staff, shield for a chance at the halloween weapon skins.

[StevenL.3761]

6 hours ago, Dante.1508 said:

Just a heads up after getting the chests open them before you change servers, for me changing servers made them lose superior status.. and just gave me trash.

I just did the event again to check. I changed maps a few times and even restarted my game but nothing happened. The chests in my inventory were still superior. If it was ever an issue, it's not anymore.

[StevenL.3761]

Ascended cooking

I'm back with some more tips, here are my favorite items to salvage for ingredients to make ascended compost.

1. Loaf of Bread
2. Bowl of Blackberry Pear Compote
3. Raspberry Peach Compote
4. Cup of Light-Roasted Coffee

Loaf of Bread—purchased, always salvages into Fine Extract of Nourishment.

Buy directly from Farmer Diah (west of waypoint [&BPAAAAA=]).

Bowl of Blackberry Pear Compote—crafted, 66% chance to salvage into 1-2 Masterwork Extract of Nourishment, 33% chance to salvage into Rare Extract of Nourishment.

• 1 Blackberry
  • can be bought from the trading post
  • can be grown in your home garden
• 1 Pear: buy Pears in Bulk (contains 25 Pears)
  • from Braxa Scalehunter (south of waypoint [&BOcBAAA=])
  • from a Researcher/Archaeologist in Zu Heltzer (east of waypoint [&BMoMAAA=])
• 1 Bag of Sugar
  • buy from any master chef

Raspberry Peach Compote—crafted, always salvages into Rare Extract of Nourishment.

• 1 Raspberry
  • can be bought from the trading post
  • can be grown in your home garden
• 1 Peach: buy Peaches in Bulk (contains 25 Peaches)
  • from Nrocroc Chief (north of waypoint [&BB0CAAA=])
  • from a Researcher/Archaeologist in Zu Heltzer (east of waypoint [&BMoMAAA=])
• 1 Bag of Sugar
  • buy from any master chef

Cup of Light-Roasted Coffee—crafted, always salvages into Exotic Extract of Nourishment.

• 1 Bag of Coffee Beans
  • buy from Memilla (east of waypoint [&BJ0KAAA=])
  • from Mehmet if you have an access pass for Lily of the Elon
• 2 Lumps of Coal
  • buy from any master artificer, armorsmith, huntsman or weaponsmith for 16 copper each (in multiples of 10)
  • do not buy from desert people because they ask 52 copper each
• 2 Jugs of Water
  • buy from any master chef, artificer, huntsman or scribe for 8 copper each (in multiples of 10)
  • do not buy from desert people because they ask 20 copper each
• 1 Milling Stone
  • buy from the trading post

Edited July 24, 2022 by StevenL.3761

[Endaris.1452]

On 7/23/2022 at 11:15 AM, StevenL.3761 said:

Gamble medallions

The last tip was important because I want you to throw your Medallions in the Mystic Forge for a chance at Amalgamated gemstones.

As someone who did this while gemstones were significantly higher in price I'm pretty sure this is not worth it anymore. They sell for 1s 10c and you need 4 for each roll in the forge. Wiki specifies the chance of getting a higher level upgrade with 20%. That means you spend 20 medaillons (20s) to receive a T6 gemstone.

The majority of T6 gemstones currently hovers around 7s at the TP, meaning you spend 20s to get 11s back (1s for each T5 on the other 4 tries) and you essentially hope that the percentage of amalgamated gemstones and platinum doubloons is enough to bridge that gap which is a chance of 2 in 14 - as far as I know only core T6 mats can drop from this type of exchange and doubloons are even assumed to have a naturally lower drop rate. So to simplify this, let's say we round this in our favor to a 2 in 10 chances, roll 1000 times at a cost of 40g so we get 800 T5 mats and 200 T6 mats. 40 of these will be higher priced ones and they average around 50s in worth (buy price or sell after taxes). Meaning you get 20g in T6 mats and 8g in T5 mats.

You're running at a (significant) loss here and even if it broke even or was even a slight profit it would not be worth the time investment taken for operating the mystic forge. It's currently not worth upgrading T5 gemstones either, they have the same sell price, just sell them and buy amalgamated gemstones from the TP instead if you need them.

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by Endaris.1452
fact check

[Dante.1508]

On 7/24/2022 at 3:37 AM, StevenL.3761 said:

Dante, you mean the item in your inventory was replaced with normal treasure? That never happened to me but I'll check again.

I forgot to mention, the buried treasures event is on the same timer as the Octovine. When you are done looting Tarir, you can teleport to Desert Highlands to catch the end of the treasure hunt. Or the other way around: you can leave Treasure Hunt 5 minutes early to loot Tarir.

Yes the name stayed the same but the loot from them became standard Buried treasure loot.. the same as if you search without the event.

On 7/24/2022 at 9:41 AM, StevenL.3761 said:

I just did the event again to check. I changed maps a few times and even restarted my game but nothing happened. The chests in my inventory were still superior. If it was ever an issue, it's not anymore.

And how was the loot results unchanged? for me it was very low. like standard chest loot.

Edited July 25, 2022 by Dante.1508

[Endaris.1452]

On 7/23/2022 at 11:15 AM, StevenL.3761 said:

Gamble yellow weapons

This is bad advice for some but if you've been playing long enough then you are already the king/queen of Ectoland and you don't need more ectos. Throw all your yellow weapons in the MF for a chance at unlocking new exotic skins and even precursor drops. Additionally the MF can give you a yellow drop from the Krait weapons collection. Check the Faction Provisioners to see if it can be traded for a Provisioner Token before you recycle or sell it.

This is really bad advice.

Completing the krait weapon collection through crafting costs a whopping 5g. This should never be a factor to consider for whether or not you should throw weapons into the mystic forge. Every single one of them has a cheaper crafting cost than the yellows you throw into the forge to receive them.

Additionally exotic weapons have never been cheaper. Chances are incredibly high that on the few rolls where you actually get an exotic and not a yellow that the sum of the yellows is worth more than the exotic. Yes, there are some very pricy exotics but it is safe to assume they're that pricy because they actually have a significantly lower chance on the loot table for the mystic forge and containers as well. It has been confirmed by anet that your loot table for those exotics is improved with the rarity of stuff you use in the MF, meaning that you can keep your hopes down if you don't gamble with exotic weapons.

 

What you should instead look out for is that every time you open rare unids is that you first check the sell prices on the TP before you salvage. There are some rare weapons, most notably reclaimed ones, that go for 1g+ on the TP due to the fact that they are guaranteed to salvage into the account bound Reclaimed Plate, needed for legendary weapons and armor.

 

On 7/23/2022 at 11:15 AM, StevenL.3761 said:

Gamble 3 exotic weapons with a Mystic Forge Stone

If you follow the tip from above, exotic weapons will start cropping up in your inventory, perhaps account-bound because you unlock all the skins. Once you have three you can use a Mystic Forge Stone for the remaining slot. Once again, only do this with weapons for a chance at precursor drops.

Very similar concern to above, I would only recommend this with account bound weapons that do not have a sigil or a worthless one inside. Chances are you throw in 3 weapons that are worth 20s+ each in salvage value, a mystic forge stone that is worth something as well (whether you consider the Mystic Salvaging Kit or the provisioner token) and chances are you will get an exotic worth less than 60s. Precursor prices are pretty much in the dirt. Forge gambling was already questionable when you could still sell a Chosen for 400g on the TP, now it's only 140g. Unless you're account binding them to unlock the skins, you're very likely going to fare much better with just selling the exotics and buying what you wanted.

Edited July 25, 2022 by Endaris.1452

[StevenL.3761]

16 hours ago, Endaris.1452 said:

You're running at a (significant) loss here and even if it broke even or was even a slight profit it would not be worth the time investment taken for operating the mystic forge.

Your numbers are correct but I'm not suggesting buying stacks of medallions because the MF is not a free money printer. I'm saying if you happen to come across 4 medallions then it's more entertaining to throw them in the forge for a chance at an Amalgamated gem. If you do it consistently then you can accumulate a good amount of T6 gems over time at no real cost besides a small opportunity cost. If you sell your medallions, you risk having to buy many T6 gems at an unattractive price when you really need them.

16 hours ago, Endaris.1452 said:

Completing the krait weapon collection through crafting costs a whopping 5g. This should never be a factor to consider for whether or not you should throw weapons into the mystic forge.

I didn't say that? I said Krait weapons—the ones from the collection—can sometimes be traded for a Provisioner Token. That's the first thing you need to check before you do something else with it. Checking its price is secondary.

16 hours ago, Endaris.1452 said:

Chances are incredibly high that on the few rolls where you actually get an exotic and not a yellow that the sum of the yellows is worth more than the exotic.

Yes but my goal is to get precursors, unlocking exotic skins is just a nice benefit. I've received 5 precursors in the last year from recycling my yellow and exotic drops. I don't know how much gold I would have made if I just sold or salvaged for ectos, but you can't put a price on receiving a precursor from Zomorros.

16 hours ago, Endaris.1452 said:

What you should instead look out for is that every time you open rare unids is that you first check the sell prices on the TP before you salvage.

I still do this before I recycle in the MF but Reclaimed weapons and Krait weapons are really the only ones worth selling IMO.

16 hours ago, Endaris.1452 said:

I would only recommend this with account bound weapons that do not have a sigil or a worthless one inside.

Or use an endless upgrade extractor if you have access to that kind of luxury.

[StevenL.3761]

PS- don't blindly sell precursors. If you have enough spirit shards then you can buy all the other materials to craft the legendary and still make a considerable profit. This alone should more than make up for the perceived cost of gambling yellows instead of taking a quick profit.

Edited July 25, 2022 by StevenL.3761

[Endaris.1452]

19 minutes ago, StevenL.3761 said:

Your numbers are correct but I'm not suggesting buying stacks of medallions because the MF is not a free money printer. I'm saying if you happen to come across 4 medallions then it's more entertaining to throw them in the forge for a chance at an Amalgamated gem. If you do it consistently then you can accumulate a good amount of T6 gems over time at no real cost besides a small opportunity cost. If you sell your medallions, you risk having to buy many T6 gems at an unattractive price when you really need them.

Two things about this. You're selling the medaillons to the NPC vendor, meaning no tax there, that is raw income. You suggest throwing money into the MF and getting less out of it than if you would have vendored. And it's not like you're losing just a little, you lose over 25% in value.

T6 gems currently have no other common use than upgrading them into amalgamated gemstones that would influence their prices.  This means you can expect that the price of upgrading T6 into gemstones and directly buying gemstones from the TP will always come out at roughly the same price until anet introduces a new sink for all core T6 gemstones so massive that they will develop their own value system. This is not on the horizon and I believe that anet is actually very satisfied with this mechanism of assuring a constant supply of Amalgamated Gemstones. The advent of Research Notes themselves is entirely for the sake of making sure that drops have a relevant min price on the TP or a use in the game that doesn't make you run a loss and from that PoV, T6 gemstones are exactly in the place anet wants them.
And well about the entertainment value, I honestly never found mats upgrades or anything along that line very entertaining. Not sure where you're getting that.

 

39 minutes ago, StevenL.3761 said:

I didn't say that? I said Krait weapons—the ones from the collection—can sometimes be traded for a Provisioner Token. That's the first thing you need to check before you do something else with it. Checking its price is secondary.

The cost of a provisioner token is lower than the cost of 4 rares so the price should be a relevant concern, you're just losing comparatively less than if you get another rare back from the forge.

 

Considering how you seem to consider gambling for stuff its own entertainment and how the majority of your tips and tricks focuses on that, maybe you should rename the thread title to "Advanced Tips and Tricks for Gambling in the Mystic Forge". These are not practical for making the most out of your drops for most players. Most players don't have Gifts of Exploration lying around. For players not already swimming in gold, the risk of listing a precursor and it being undercut and not selling can be a significant concern (I have been there). I've done the rare and exo gambling myself when precursor prices were better and I'm pretty sure that I went even at best and would have lost if I had dropped a less expensive pre than I did. Slow and steady wins the race, might as well recommend ectogambling otherwise.

[StevenL.3761]

I don't know, no gold ever leaves your wallet if you follow my steps. It's a perceived cost. Again perhaps you are better off selling every drop on the TP, perhaps not. The thing with probabilities is that the pattern only emerges in a large enough sample. I'm only advocating to forge between 4 and 244 items at a time. But honestly you don't need to convince anyone, I'm just writing down some things I found entertaining or useful. No need to ruin it with spreadsheets.

[Endaris.1452]

I'm actually not recommending selling stuff on TP, simply because the TP tax will ultimately make you lose if you then have to buy the material you sold. I simply think that for something to be considered a "tip" or "trick" it needs to be a non-obvious option that is a better way of doing things.

For example reforging core T6 gemstones, universal upgrades and dust into Amalgamated Gemstones is a cool tip - you don't need to wait for the TP to sell and buy and you have no additional cost compared to that process which is an advantage and there is no other real use for the gemstones either.

Ultimately many goals in this game, be it skins, collections, gear, are reached through investment in mats and gold equals mats at the end of the day. If a "trick" makes you pay a premium for no visible benefit, then I think it's not a trick at all, just a complicated way of losing gold.

There is another argument against the medaillon-to-gemstones conversions and that is that it's a one way road. If you vendor sell them you get gold which is universally usable for many things while gemstones are only usable for specific things and you'd have to run into TP tax again if you want to turn them into gold to contribute to your goals.

 

[StevenL.3761]

Back with another tip: how to complete a WvW daily without actually doing WvW.

You can obtain boxes of WvW supplies from your guild trader, from a Ley-Energy Matter Converter and from a Karmic Converter. Check these traders every day because those boxes are very valuable. Each box gives a random amount of WXP that you can use to complete Daily WvW World Ranker.

You need to gain 2 world ranks to complete the daily, which takes a looong time to do the normal way. What you want to do instead is save the boxes until you have around 10 or more, and then open them to complete the daily. Usually, it takes between 5 and 10 boxes to complete the achievement, but it can take more because the WXP drop is random. Save the remaining boxes for another day.

The reward is 2 Potions of WvW reward track and 20 badges of honor, and of course the actual loot from the boxes.

[LSD.4673]

9 hours ago, StevenL.3761 said:

Back with another tip: how to complete a WvW daily without actually doing WvW.

You can obtain boxes of WvW supplies from your guild trader, from a Ley-Energy Matter Converter and from a Karmic Converter. Check these traders every day because those boxes are very valuable. Each box gives a random amount of WXP that you can use to complete Daily WvW World Ranker.

You need to gain 2 world ranks to complete the daily, which takes a looong time to do the normal way. What you want to do instead is save the boxes until you have around 10 or more, and then open them to complete the daily. Usually, it takes between 5 and 10 boxes to complete the achievement, but it can take more because the WXP drop is random. Save the remaining boxes for another day.

The reward is 2 Potions of WvW reward track and 20 badges of honor, and of course the actual loot from the boxes.

That's not a good tip at all. It takes ages for the box of supplies to show up. You're talking months to get ~5 of them. And the 2-ranks daily only shows up every couple of days. It's such a contrived and situational thing as to be of almost no value. And in the time you're saving them up, you're likely forgoing things like T3/4/6 material boxes, all for...2 WvW potions. That's 10 minutes of WvW.

[StevenL.3761]

On 9/26/2022 at 12:44 AM, LSD.4673 said:

That's not a good tip at all. It takes ages for the box of supplies to show up. You're talking months to get ~5 of them. And the 2-ranks daily only shows up every couple of days. It's such a contrived and situational thing as to be of almost no value. And in the time you're saving them up, you're likely forgoing things like T3/4/6 material boxes, all for...2 WvW potions. That's 10 minutes of WvW.

Yes, it is a situational thing, but you are exaggerating. It doesn't take months to get 5 or more. Depends on RNG but they appear quite often. When they do appear, it's almost always the best choice. It's extremely rare that you have to choose between a high value crafting bag or the WvW supplies. Even then the WvW supplies are still the better choice because they give you WXP without time nor effort. If you're not already buying them whenever you can, you're making a mistake. The other mistake is opening them without checking if there is a World Ranker daily.