I like gathering in other games but it seems like it's not really profitable in this game?

[Tyrick.9805]

Or I'm doing something wrong? Do I need special tools or special areas? I tried to run around in PoF and HoT maps cgathering everything that I see but I didn't even make one gold.Could anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

[Taril.8619]

The trick is that the most profitable materials, are not max level ones. Since most max level materials (Ores, Leather, Cloth, Wood) are also obtained by salavaging the plethora of items you get as a level 80.

Instead, lower level materials sell for more, since they aren't as easily obtained by level 80 characters (Drop rate of lower level items is significantly lower as a level 80 and otherwise it requires going and gathering stuff)

You can use something like gw2efficiency to help focus on profit per time (As well as some insight onto the worth of various materials. I.e. Iron, Platinum, Copper, Flax and various food items being the most profitable resources)

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Depends on what you gather. Some materials are more valuable than others.
Are you selling on the Trading Post, rather than to Vendors? Make sure to do so.You can use the Wiki (link above) or other sources (links in Wiki) to find the most profitable materials.

Good luck.

[Danikat.8537]

In addition to the advice already given it can often be more profitable to refine materials like wood, ore and cloth before selling them (which requires a crafting profession that uses those materials). Especially if you can make more complicated or time-limited components, although that needs some research and should be checked before you start because not all crafting components are profitable to sell and prices will change over time.

[Khisanth.2948]

@Tyrick.9805 said:Or I'm doing something wrong? Do I need special tools or special areas? I tried to run around in PoF and HoT maps cgathering everything that I see but I didn't even make one gold.Could anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

What you are doing wrong is in bold. This is going to sound obvious but I just want to make it clear. You want to spend as much time gathering and as little time gathering as possible. PoF is an especially bad choice considering everything is more spread out.

Some areas are also better than other to gather from which is why there are gathering routes for different materials.

Glyphs can also increase how much you get. You can buy tools with the same functionality with karma as well.

There is also the food that gives quickness on dismount to allow you to gather faster. You could also run a build with high quickness availability/uptime. On a mesmer the scepter trait will also increase your gathering speed(does not stack with quickness for gathering or for fighting).

HOWEVER, a lot of the materials have also dropped in price relatively recently because they were added to various things starting from Ice Brood Saga. Technically they started from the start of LS3 with the salvage items and continued on with the PoF trade caches but IBS changes have accelerated that.

[Cuks.8241]

For lvl 80 zones wood, flax and lately orichalcum ore are valuable.If you really want to farm you will want to know where the spots with many or rich nodes are. For example Malchor's leap has a spot with lot's of wood and in general has plenty of wood on the map. People park heir characters at these spots and just log in, gather and out.For me this is just to boring.

[mindcircus.1506]

@Tyrick.9805 said:Or I'm doing something wrong? Do I need special tools or special areas? I tried to run around in PoF and HoT maps cgathering everything that I see but I didn't even make one gold.Could anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?Let's start with the expectation, how much money do you think you are going to make gathering?In the real world these days. gathering can make you between 7-10 gold an hour if you are targeting things smartly and doing it efficiently. Is that a big enough return for you? because the only times you will get more than that are those odd moments when you score something like a Maguuma Lily or Freshwater Pearl.If not, stop now.It's not the most rewarding activity in the game, but it can be a nice low-effort way to make a few gold while you watch tv or whatever.

Second, as was mentioned, it's much more profitable to target mid level materials for harvesting. Iron ore is worth three times what Mithril is. So gathering on level 80 maps is seldom as profitable as the mid level maps. Mithril is barely worth the time to mine, the market is too saturated to make it worth your effort. Orichalcum is worth maybe 2 copper more than Iron is and is generally harder to gather.

The third issue is a question of efficiency. Do you know where the resource-rich areas in the game are? Are you maximizing these areas? You can't just tool around a specific map and expect a decent return on your time. Gathering requires hitting specific resource-rich areas with high value items rather than just rolling around grabbing everything that's there. There's a very big difference between gathering in the Northwest corner of Mount Maelstrom and running around on Orr map getting Mithril. Getting a good return on your time while gathering requires knowing here these pockets are and focusing them then waypointing to the next spot.You could go to Blazeridge and harvest at Terra Carorunda and get good returns, but if you stay in Blazeridge for an hour, your return will be pretty slim.I can jump down at Jaka Itzel and grab the Flax below the waypoint, but if I stay in Verdant Brink with nothing mithril and spotty elder wood spawns and the crapshoot of Jungle Plants and Mussels, I will ultimately make less money than if I just grab the Flax and hit something somewhere else.

Are you buffing correctly? Are you maximizing Magic Find with food and oil?, are you using a Guild Gathering Buff? Do you have Banners?These all make a difference.

Finally, yes, specific tools can make a very big difference. There is a very big difference between the return on your time mining Platinum in Mount Maelstrom using Leatherworkers tools than without them. Getting small amounts of high value goods like Linen or Coarse Leather can go a long way towards making your time gathering profitable. Hitting up the Tools vendor in Lion's Arch that sells the special Gathering Tools for Karma is a great idea.

If you want more information on this as well as specific spots, hit me up ingame with a tell. I would be glad to help you out.

[Khisanth.2948]

Magic find only affects loot drops from kills and specifically labeled containers so there is no need to bother with that for gathering. However anything that gives additional gathering chance can provide a large boost.

Guild gathering boost and banners should help but I have yet to see anyone definitively state what they do and prove it with data ...