I need help deciding what would be better about harvesting tools...

[Dasque.4165]

I've recently come back after being gone a little under 2 years. I did log in here and there simply to get the new story chapters, and maybe check for birthday mail. A lot has happened and I have gotten way behind, and one of the quickest ways for me to catch up would be for me to get the tools with the Unbound Magic, and Volatility glyphs in it. Only problem is they aren't for sale, and from what people I've asked said it kind of recently rotated our maybe a month before I came back. It's looking like it may be a while before I can buy those. Would buying the 3 harvesting tools that are on sale right now with gems (it'd be 2100), then I buying 3 unbound magic glyphs for them which would be like 400ish gold be a big difference if I waited for them to come back? Would I be ripping myself off badly instead of just waiting for the Unbound Magic harvest or the Volatile bundle? If they actually do sell the bundle they are 2700 gems. Would me spending 2100 and 400 gems be that bad? I don't want to have to hope and wait for them to sell one of those two bundles. Currently having to buy the ones for karma suck for two reasons. They take up so much space, and they are eating my karma up quickly. It seems to be the fastest way to get the currencies built up if you're not farming a specific map. I have like 6 home instances to earn for each currency, and the harvesting tools would help me the most. Thanks, for any replies!

[casualkenny.9817]

You might want to factor in that 400g ~ 1200gems (if I didn't fail my math)

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@"Dasque.4165" said:get the tools with the Unbound Magic, and Volatility glyphs in it. Only problem is they aren't for sale,Would buying the 3 harvesting tools that are on sale right now with gems (it'd be 2100), then I buying 3 unbound magic glyphs for them

• Unbound Glyph runs about 120g each, adding an average of 2 UM per swing (4 UM on veggies)

• Volatile Glyph runs about 220g each, adding an average of 2 VM per swing (6 VM on veggies)

• Farming Bitterfrost Frontier without the glyph, a dedicated farmer can get 70+ berries per day, for ~22 UM each, or 1540 UM per day.

• To get the same amount from mining with the would take hitting over 250 ore (250 * 3 * 2).

So if you are willing to dedicate time to farming, do that. Alternatively, if you're okay with passively gaining UM or VM, without farming, and at a much slower rate, you can spend an extra 360 gold (660 for VM).

[Rasimir.6239]

Personally I've found that just gathering nodes and magic on the living story maps quickly has me drowning in magic, even without those glyphs. If it's just about gathering magic to buy the home instance nodes, you can farm those in other people's instances until you have enough magic to get them yourself. Check map chat in DR (other cities work, too, but DR seems to have the most people just standing around) or ask nicely. There are plenty of people around willing to share their home instance with strangers.

[Dasque.4165]

Thanks, for responses! :D

[Ojimaru.8970]

Let's break this thing down a little.

Question(s)

Would buying the 3 harvesting tools that are on sale right now with gems (it'd be 2100), then I buying 3 unbound magic glyphs for them which would be like 400ish gold be a big difference if I waited for them to come back? Would I be ripping myself off badly instead of just waiting for the Unbound Magic harvest or the Volatile bundle? If they actually do sell the bundle they are 2700 gems. Would me spending 2100 and 400 gems be that bad?Which all mean absolutely nothing without a reason. So...

Reason?

one of the quickest ways for me to catch up would be for me to get the tools with the Unbound Magic, and Volatility glyphs in it

It seems to be the fastest way to get the currencies built up if you're not farming a specific map.Okay, still doesn't tell me WHY you want to stock up UM and VM, and how that would help you "catch up."

As noted above, a single Unbound Glyph costs 120 g, or 900 gems (~281g). Each UM, on the other hand, is worth about 7.24 c. This means you would need to garner at least 165,746 UM (or 388,467 UM in the case of the unbreakable tool) to break even, which roughly translates to 27,600 ore and lumber nodes, and thrice more plant nodes.

Volatile Glyphs, conversely, costs 220 g, or 900 gems, while each VM can be converted into about 45 c. This is great news since it'll only take a paltry sum of 48,888 to 62,500 VM to break even! At an average of 2 VM per swing, in the best case scenario, that's just a combination of 8,148 ore and lumber nodes!

So, some possible answers, since the question is ill-defined.

Would it be bad to spend gems on this endeavor? Depends on the context.

• For ANet? No.
• To "catch up" in regards to gearing up characters with ascended trinkets and whatnot, you'll gain a marginal increase in efficiency, but only in the very, very short term.
• To amass gold to unlock mounts, and such, you'd be setting yourself back. Even if you were a cash-rich, time-poor player, it would be far more efficient — in time and money — to simply convert gems to gold.
• To give you a ton of convenience sprinkled with that spark of dopamine each time your character farms Elder Wood around Melandru's statue? Heck, yeah!

[BlkDragon.1952]

When I look at the harvesting tools I do look at what other benefits it can give me. I know that you can actually get some Volatile Harvesting Sickle in-game, as well as Unbound Harvesting Sickle, instead of buying them in the gem store. So you could try, without the real-world purchase.

[Elden Arnaas.4870]

Yes there are temporary tools(that have charges) available for karma at certain vendors. There is a vendor near Commons WP in Divinity's Reach. Across form the WP and near the Tailor crafting station, right next to the wagon. There is a sickle icon on the map and over the vendor's head. They have tools with the effects of each of the gathering glyphs, for 7350 karma each.(with half the usual number of charges)Edit - except for the new karma glyph. Probably because it would be a net loss of karma. Nor the unbound/volatile tools. Probably because they want you to go to the vendors on the LW maps.

[Tman.6349]

Get w/e set of tools you can get on sale then get glyphs of industry and never look back. As was stated already, limited use UM/VM tools can be purchased in-game but are hardly useful anyway. The QoL with having fast tools is absolutely amazing and the best value by every measure. I have the Unbound perma set with industry and can run up next to an enemy and pull off a full node harvest before it has time to attack once to put in combat. You won't regret.