Tips for Shadow of the Mad King

[Jimbru.6014]

A thread intended to help new and old players alike with GW2's best holiday event. Post your tips here. I'll start:

 

1. DON'T WASTE CANDY CORN ON THINGS YOU CAN BUY WITH GOLD. Many lesser rewards from the event, such as some of the minis and skins, can be bought from the TP with gold any time of year. Save your candy corn for things that are only available during the event.

2. THINK LONG TERM. Minis and skins are cool, but ultimately don't help you in the larger picture. Prioritize the things that will help you year round first, such as the candy corn node for your home, and the Lunatic Armor recipes, which will let you craft stat selectable armor for your characters.

3. DON'T TRY TO GET EVERYTHING IN ONE YEAR. It's impossible without spending tons of gold and stressing yourself out, so don't even try. Whatever you don't get this year will be back next year, so don't sweat it and just enjoy the event.

4. PACE YOURSELF IN THE LABYRINTH. Farming the labyrinth is a great way to get massive amounts of XP and loot. But be warned, the gray monotone environment and constant running and fighting can be hard on both eyes and mind after a while. Be sure to take plenty of breaks so you don't end up burned out with visual headaches like I did.

5. PEOPLE ARE YELLING ABOUT STEVE. WHO IS STEVE? Steve, Larry and Vic are nicknames for the three bosses of the labyrinth. I don't know why they're called that, but I can testify from being there that they have been called that ever since the first year of the event. I won't spoil your first experience of meeting them; you just need to see for yourself. Especially Steve. MWAHAHAHA...

6. DON'T NEGLECT THE LORE ACHIEVEMENTS. One of the cool things about this event is that it goes deeply into the game lore, showing you things about the history behind both the event and the larger GW2 world. It is worth your time to do the achieves for both the reward skins and the backstory.

[Gibson.4036]

Thanks! I've been wondering about this. I've experienced all the festivals, mostly just dipping in to see what they're like and then going back to my regular play. Then years later I find out that there's something super useful you can get from one, and wish I'd been doing it all along. Which makes me think, what else am I missing? It's nice to see a bit of a guide.

To that end...

2.) I tend to have plenty of stat selectable exotic armor sitting around from PvP, and got the candy corn node years ago. Anything else that is super useful people should be aware they can get?

4.) Don't really need XP, what kind of loot return does the labyrinth offer? Is it better than the standard meta farms available year round?

Thanks again for the helpful tips!

[Randulf.7614]

12 minutes ago, Gibson.4036 said:

Thanks! I've been wondering about this. I've experienced all the festivals, mostly just dipping in to see what they're like and then going back to my regular play. Then years later I find out that there's something super useful you can get from one, and wish I'd been doing it all along. Which makes me think, what else am I missing? It's nice to see a bit of a guide.

To that end...

2.) I tend to have plenty of stat selectable exotic armor sitting around from PvP, and got the candy corn node years ago. Anything else that is super useful people should be aware they can get?

4.) Don't really need XP, what kind of loot return does the labyrinth offer? Is it better than the standard meta farms available year round?

Thanks again for the helpful tips!

I always open my festival bags, but a friend sells every trick or treat bag and finds it the most lucrative of all the festivals. Given the large number of stacks you can accumulate, I’m not overly surprised