Next up in our series of Guild Wars 2 area completion guides is Gendarran Fields, the area directly north of Lion’s Arch, intended for players between levels 25-35. The area’s home of some pretty windmills, bloodthirsty pirates, and even more bloodthirsty centaur. Gendarran Fields is where the Vigil Headquarters is located, and in the same area, an asura portal to the high level Straits of Devastation map. There is one jumping puzzle in Gendarran Fields that isn’t required for the completion achievement.

These completion guides are intended to help players achieve the completion series achievements. We’ll just be covering the more difficult-to-find Points of Interest, all of the Vista Points, all of the Skill Challenges, and the area’s jumping puzzles. Also included is a humungous map, with every major Point of Interest (PoI) and Waypoint (WP) labeled. Points of Interest have black-bordered text, Waypoints dark blue. Renown (heart) quests are also labeled with their suggested level. This should help you decide on a path of adventure, if you so choose.

I’ve also labeled nearby portals to other maps as well as the entrance to the map’s secret jumping puzzle, Swashbuckler’s Cove. Gendarran Fields’ puzzle starts in a cave accessible from the riverbank shown on the large map below. For puzzle tips, please see here.

Many other maps can be accessed from Gendarran Fields, including:

Lion’s Arch (both southern portals)
Snowden Drifts (top eastern portal)
Lornar’s Pass (bottom eastern portal)
Harathi Hinterlands (both northern portals)
Kessex Hills (bottom western portal)
Queensdale (top western portal)

Gendarran Fields 100% Completion and Cheatsheet map (click to show full size version):

Cornucopian Fields Vista:

Start back where the giant pipe begins, at the mill south of the Vista. Hop on the stone ledge, shown on the screenshot to the right as the first X, then hop on the pipe, the second X. If you hug the wall, you’ll be able to move across it then follow the pipe all the way to the Vista. Once below the Vista, you’ll need to jump on either of the small wooden planks to hop to the very top.

Klakka the Brain Skill Point:

This one’s in Lake Gendarr, north of Applenook Hamlet Waypoint. Climb the wrecked ship from the eastern side, then speak to the asura pirate. If you choose to fight him, he’s not too difficult. His “yarr…” is adorable.

Lake Gendarr Skill Point (West side):

South of Mellaggan Shrine, north of Oogooth Waypoint (which is underwater). Talk to the little quaggan and defeat him.

Almuten Mansion Vista:

Go inside the house (approaching from the dockside might be the more direct patch), then up every flight of stairs you see. Eventually you’ll run into the Vista.

Overlook Caverns Vista:

A cave leads to this one. The starting point is the cave just south of Junction Haven Wapoint, the one full of Ice Trolls. Make your way through. Eventually the trolls will turn into spiders, and you’ll find your way to the outside, where the Vista is. There may be a couple Veteran spiders along the way.

Janusian Caves Skill Point:

North of Icegate Gorge, south of Junction Haven. Go through the cave. At the very end is a Veteran Ettin and a Skill Point to commune with.

Molenheide Point of Interest:

Second level of the main Dredge complex. Barely entering the cave will trigger it.

Bonus Area: Provernic Crypt:

Fun little optional area with some fires to dodge, enemies to kill, and a miniature puzzle. Slip behind the wall in the room with the spiders and step on both pressure plates (they sparkle when you’ve successfully stepped on them) to open the heavy door in the room with the Champion spider. In this room is a treasure chest and a stone that lets you exit the crypt.

Ascalon Settlement Vista:

Travel to the very north end of the city, where you have to climb a sloped path that’s edged by moss-covered stone. Keep climbing the path as it edges around, running toward the vista. You’ll finally see the vista on top of a building, and it can be reached by merely hopping on the roof from this side.

Skill Point Challenge west of Traveler’s Dale:

Same location as the Melamdru’s Cenote Point of Interest. Enter the cave that’s directly east from First Haven, continue to the second level, and make your way to the very end, where both can be grabbed.

Nebo Terrace Vista:

Run up the platform where the trebuchet is, and hop across to the rooftop to grab the Vista.

Skill Point Challenge north of Hezran Outcrops:

Enter the cave (either side will do) and fight your way to the little golem who gives you an item in your inventory to use. There are a couple Veteran mobs in this cave.

Vista north of Witherflank River and west of Provernic Crypt:

Hop up the rocks on the southern side. Easy grab.

Vigilant Hills Vista:

Easiest Vista ever. Run up the hill!

Vigil Keep Skill Point Challenge:

Defeat Warmaster Yulia.

Brigantine Isles Vista:

Easily reached from the top of the hill, which can be climbed up from the northeastern shore.

Next up in our series of Guild Wars 2 area completion guides is Diessa Plateau, the second charr racial area, intended for players between levels 15-25. The area’s home of some interesting challenges, included three jumping puzzles, a cow-flinging catapult, and plenty of old, decrepit ruins waiting to be explored. To get there, travel to The Black Citadel, and head north through Memorial Quadrant and through the portal.

These completion guides are intended to help players achieve the completion series achievements. We’ll just be covering the more difficult-to-find Points of Interest, all of the Vista Points, all of the Skill Challenges, and the area’s jumping puzzles. Also included is a humungous map, with every major Point of Interest (PoI) and Waypoint (WP) labeled. Points of Interest have black-bordered text, Waypoints dark blue. Renown (heart) quests are also labeled with their suggested level. This should help you decide on a path of adventure, if you so choose.

I’ve also labeled nearby portals to other maps as well as the entrances to the map’s secret jumping puzzles. When reading my tips for completing the jumping puzzles, make sure to take a peek at the pictures that are linked at some of the tougher areas.

Diessa Plateau’s 100% Completion and Cheatsheet map (click to show full size version):

Jumping Puzzles

There are two on the map besides those required for Vistas/Skill Points, making three total:

Grendich Gamble: This one takes place at the largest rectangle building in The Blasted Moors. Basically, you need to get to the top of the building by going around and around it, jumping on stone blocks and little outcroppings of wood. It’s not too difficult, although enemies respawn pretty quickly, and as a charr/norn, you may experience some issues with the camera becoming randomly obstructed. At the top is the achievement, a Rich Silver node, and a Veteran mob.

Crimson Plateau: This one’s near the Redreave Mill Waypoint. Head to the location shown on the main map. Hop up the rocks as shown in the image to the right, run through the grass, up the broken stones, hopping across to the rocks, then keep climbing up to the next area with the ruins. Jump up the next pile of broken stones, then hop through the gap between the ruined wall. Your goal here is the next series of grassy hills, so keep hopping on the rocks to get there.

Now, when you get to this place, it’s hard to see with the trees, but your next destination is through the gap ahead, approximately outlined with the red circle. Taking a flying leap off the side of the hill should get you through. After running through, follow the grassy area south to the next set of broken stone pillars. Hop across to the grassy hill that has some Onions on it, then look down for another pair of pillars as shown here. Hop down on those, follow them, hop to the next tiny grassy area, then to the larger stone outcropping. Hop across one more time, and you’ll be able to hop down to face a Veteran mob, grab an achievement, and open a shiny chest. If you still need help, here is a video.

Wall Breach Blitz: This is the one to get the Breached Wall Vista and Skill Challenge. See below!

Vistas, Points of Interest, and Skill Challenges

Vista south of Town of Nageling:

Head east of the Vista point, hugging the mountain. You’ll run into a pile of boulders that can be climbed and hopped across.

Silex Castrum PoI:

This one’s to the west of Ruins of Oldgate. Enter a cave, fight some Flame Legion enemies.

Moorwatch Tower Skill Challenge:

South of Blasted Moors. Defeat the butcher in his goofy hat.

Vista in same area, Moorwatch Tower:

Go to merchant southeast of the tower, slightly northeast of Town of Nagelring. Right click on the cattlepult that’s next to the merchant, and you’ll end up right by the Vista. If the event’s going on, you won’t be able to access it. Also, as a warning, this one’s fairly buggy right now on many servers.

Vista in Village of Butcher’s Block:

Climb up in the peak-shaped hill inside the village that’s north of the Vista point. Hop across to the metal fencing. You don’t need to hop to the very top, the second level is fine. Run toward the Vista point.

Blasted Moors Skill Challenge:

This one’s underground, along with the Point of Interest in the area. You can hop down the well that’s in the center of Blasted Moors, or swim there through the aqueduct that leads directly to the nearby lake. The Skill Challenge itself is just a commune point, but there may be some enemies to clear out first. The oozes down here respawn pretty fast.

Rancher’s Wash Skill Challenge:

Kill the cub’s giant bull. The bull has quite a bit of health, but doesn’t hit too hard.

Redreave Mill Vista:

Southwest of Nemus Groves. Hop up the rocky hillside south of the Vista Point. Hop up the taller, grassier rock outcropping, hop across the gap, and grab the Vista.

The Breached Wall Vista and Skill Challenge, also known as Wall Breach Blitz:

This one’s a doozy. You’ll need to start at around the location marked on the main map. There’s a visible staircase to climb, shown to the left. This area has a lot of enemies that respawn very quickly.

Now, keep in mind your objective here. We need to cross the wall, basically. Head up the staircase. Where the first gap is, hop across to the platform that’s against the wall. Hugging the wall helps. Hop to the ridge and follow it. At some point you’ll come across a Veteran mob that may or may not pull. Kill it and continue along the ridge. There’s a gap to jump across it that leads to another ridge around the corner.

Follow this new ridge until it ends, then hop up the end piece. Hop up to the next ridge, then hop to the left piece, then back to the right– just like this. Keep heading right (west), ignoring the little outcropping of enemies.

At the very corner, you’ll see where to head up. Hop up, then resume heading east (to the left). Once on the gassy knoll, hop across the gap to the little pillar that’s sticking out. Hop across the smaller pillars. Here, the path seems to end.

Hop down and to the south, where the stone ledges continue. Continue to the east. Hug the outer edge of the stone when hopping to the next stone outcropping. Hop up the smaller outcroppings then go through the grassy area, around the building. On the other side is a staircase-looking wall that’s perfect for hopping up.

Climb up the staircase, head to the edge, and make a flying leap across. I found sticking to the right side helped, as it sticks out a little further. Keep heading west, ignoring the staircase for the moment. We can’t climb it until we go behind it. Here’s what it looks like. On the other side, there’s a convenient little rock staircase. Head up the stairs afterwards, and voila, Challenge Point, along with a Veteran mob!

To reach the Vista, take a flying leap off the very edge, and you should be able to make it. If you still need help, here is a video.

Bloodcliff Quarry Vista:

Run to the back of the quarry, run up the northeastern hill, and hop on the platform.

Challenge Point north of Gram Hills:

Summons three scorpions, including a Veteran. Try and clear out the area before summoning. Also, watch for the poison and tail launches.

Burntfur’s Pool PoI:

Swim under the Breachwater Lake bridge, toward the PoI, dive down deep where the lake’s heavy with plant life, and you’ll find an underwater cave. Swim through to fetch the PoI.

Vista north of Breachwater Lake:

Hop up the piles of boulders directly to the north of the Vista.

Challenge Point on island directly north of “Blackblade Lake” text:

Summons a group of Skales.

Incedio Templum Vista:

Head deep into Incendio Templum, climb up the stack of blocky-looking stones.

Flame Temple Tombs Vista:

Head to the north side of the pool, pass where the Vista is, and hop up on the small rock that’s not quite against the cliff. From there, hop onto the pile of larger rocks. This rock path is shown to the right. Afterwards, make your way to the very top of the dome, where you can drop down and grab the Vista.

Spider Nest Cavern Skill Challenge:

There are two ways to enter the spider cave, both north of Manbane’s Outcrop. Make your way through the cave, and eventually you’ll come across a Veteran ooze and an NPC to talk to who gives you some meat to eat, which grants the Skill Point.

Ah, Metrica Province– home of tiny asura, cool floating staircases, cube-shaped elevating objects, some weird frog dudes, and lots and lots of exploration to be had. While running around, it’s pretty easy to lose track of a Vista Point or get stuck on how to find the way to that Point of Interest. Look no further– we’ve got all your answers.

For these condensed-style guides, we’ll just be covering the more difficult-to-find Points of Interest, all of the Vista Points, and all of the Skill Challenges. Also included is a humungous map, showing all the pockets of the map, with every major Point of Interest (PoI) and Waypoint (WP) labeled. Points of Interest have black-bordered text, Waypoints dark blue. Renown (heart) quests are also labeled with their suggested level. This should help you decide on a path of adventure, if you so choose.

I’ve also labeled nearby portals to other maps as well as the entrance to the map’s secret jumping puzzle area. Stay tuned for additional 100% completion maps, as well as detailed guides for the more difficult jumping puzzles.

Metrica Province’s 100% Completion and Cheatsheet map (click to show full size version):

Now, let’s dive into some of the more difficult Vistas, Points of Interest, and Skill Challenges, shall we?

Wildflame Caverns Vista, south of Soren Draa:

This one actually doesn’t appear on the map until you begin looking for it. To do that, head to the location shown by the giant yellow dot on the screenshot to the right, which is in the actual Soren Draa hub area, east of the trading post/repair vendors. Keep to the south wall, and you’ll run into a cave. The cave’s entrance is also shown in the screenshot. Once in the cave, the Vista’s an easy climb up a small hill amidst the lava.

West Hinterlabs Vista:

Head north a bit from the entrance to Incinergen Labs, run up the moss-covered slope that makes up the building’s edge, then hop up the floating rock staircase at the peak.

East Hinterlabs Vista Point:

Head to either side of the Splorge Metamystics Lab’s entrance, then hop up the staircase. Scale the peaked stone pillar (from the back worked well for me).

Skill Challenge south of Loch Jezt, at Durotl Grounds:

Kill the Hylek.

The Funhouse Skill Challenge:

Enter and follow the second passage. Kill the trio of enemies, including a veteran golem.

Vista north of Sunshade Caves:

Go through the cave. Entrance starts at the yellow dot shown in the screenshot below. Hang a right on the way through, and the Vista is right outside. Alternatively, entering from the Parnna’s Gate side works too.

Oola Skill Challenge:

North of Akk Wilds, talk to the knob on the door to activate a little reading comprehension quiz. It’s quite easy, but if you’re lazy, here are the answers:

1) Oola, lab genius. 2) I am not in charge. 3. Necromancy and golemancy. 4) We embody magic.

Inside, is the Old Oola Lab PoI.

Desider Atum Vista:

In the middle of the crafting NPCs, there is a set of floating stairs. Head up them, run to the Jeweler NPC, hop off the edge, then jump down to the stone peak where the Vista is.

Voloxian Passage Vista:

Head to the southeast corner of the eastern building of Brill Alliance Labs. Head up the floating staircases, then toward the other end of the top level, through the grassy area.

Michoan Marsh Skill Challenge:

Click the box on the pillar to activate three enemies. They reset if you kite them, which makes it possible to solo.

Old Flamen Lab PoI:

Here’s a trick for this one– simply go to where the mark is in the swamp area, run up against the clear wall. You’ll get credit.

Biocauldron Alchemical PoI:

This is in the swamp area too. Directly west of the Skill Challenge is the entrance. You only have to step in a few steps to unlock the PoI.

Arterium Haven Vista:

Head south of Artergon Woods. Go inside the courtyard, and up the southwest tower. Climb the second tower in the same area. Then hop on top of the barrel stack. The screenshot to the left has a pretty good view of the barrels and the next couple steps. Next, hop to the little ridge (that’s the spot my asura is on in the picture), the hanging top of the doorway, then on the wooden planks. Hop all the way up. At some point you’ll have to scoot on the edge then hop to make the next perpendicular plank.

Cuatl Morass Skill Challenge:

Clear the area, get the goo, open your inventory, and use it.

Luminates Plant Skill Challenge:

Contrary to the map, this one’s actually underneath the main structure. Head out as if you’re leaving, then jump underground where there’s a cube moving up and down. Follow the passage, kill any enemies in the way, and commune away.

Vista south of Muridian Uplands, in C.L.E.A.N. Station:

Approach from the eastern side of the station, where the little blocks form two steps. On the second step, jump across to the blue floating overhangs. Hop to the top overhang, then on the hill. The steepest hill is scalable to the east side.

Vista right outside Inquest Outer Complex:

This one’s actually outside the complex. Run to the icon following the river’s shore– you’ll eventually run right to it.

Inquest Outer Complex Skill Challenge:

This one’s in the thick of the complex, and summons a golem to defeat.

Inquest Outer Complex PoI:

This one’s a little confusing. It’s not actually reachable via the Complex entrance, and must be reached by a portal. The portal’s way on the other side of the map, where the Transfer Gate PoI is, which is west of Greyfern Expanses and north of The Anthill. Pictured below is where to find the portal exactly, which is also shown on the full size Metrica Province map.

Thaumanova Reactor Skill Challenge:

This one’s outside the reactor. Summons three Embers to defeat.

The following guide will bring you from newbie chef to Master in mere hours, and it’s pretty easy to do. You’re going to have to do some Trading Post shopping if you haven’t collected many ingredients, but the guide keeps gathered material to a minimum.

There are simple ingredients that you can find from the Chef Vendor for karma and copper. These items are Water, Flour, Butter, Sugar, Egg, Chocolate Bar, Oil, Vinegar, Buttermilk, Bell Pepper, Black Peppercorn, Salt and Soy Sauce.

One thing to note: The karma vendor ingredients require you to complete hearts to access. The highest level heart required in this guide is level 69. Obviously, there are other alternatives if you have access to other ingredients.

Harathi Hinterlands – Cherries

Gendarren Fields –
Vanilla Beans and Chili Peppers

Fireheart Rise – Peaches

Mount Maelstrom – Eggplants

Caledon Forest – Lemons

Bloodtide Coast – Oranges

Levels 0-25
Balls of Dough – Water + Flour + Butter

Note: Keep Balls of Dough for later recipe.

Levels 25-50
20x Piles of Salt and Pepper – Black Peppercorn + Salt
Bottle of Simple Dressing – Vegetable Oil + Vinegar + Piles of Salt and Pepper

Note: Make Salt and Pepper that allows you to make enough Bottles of Simple Dressing.

Levels 50-75
Cookie Dough – Butter + Flour + Egg + Sugar

Note: Save Cookie Dough for later.

Levels 75-100
Bowl of White Frosting – Butter + Vanilla Bean + Water + Sugar
20x Bowl of Roux – Flour + Butter

Note: Save Roux for later. The Vanilla Bean is a Karma Vendor item. See Map above.

Levels 100-125
Paprika – Bell Pepper + Chili Pepper

Note: Chili Peppers are purchased from a Karma Vendor. See Map above.

Levels 125-150
Bowl of Chocolate Frosting – Bowl of White Frosting + Chocolate Bar

Levels 150-175
Chocolate Cherry – Cherry + Chocolate Bar

Note: Chocolate Cherry recipe must be discovered first. Cherries can be purchased from a Karma Vendor. See Map above.

Levels 175-200
Cherry Tarts – Butter + Sugar + Balls of Dough + Cherry

Note: Cherries can be purchased from a Karma Vendor. See Map above.

Levels 225-250
Chocolate Orange – Orange + Chocolate Bar

Note: Oranges can be purchased from a Karma Vendor. See Map above.

Levels 250-275
Jar of Orange Sauce – Sugar + Vinegar + Starch + Orange

Note: Oranges can be purchased from a Karma Vendor. See Map above.

Levels 275-300
Jars of Citrus Cream Sauce – Buttermilk, Lemons, Ball of Roux, Orange

Note: Lemons and Oranges can be purchased from a Karma Vendor. See Map above.

Levels 300-325
Eggplant Fritter – Flour + Egg + Black Peppercorn + Eggplant

Note: Eggplant can be purchased from a Karma Vendor. See Map above.

Levels 325-350
Option 1: Bowl of Eggplant Stirfry – Soy Sauce + Pile of Stirfry Spice Mix + Eggplant + Green Onion
Option 2: Plate of Steak & Asparagus – Butter + Garlic + Lemon + Artichoke
Option 3: Roasted Artichoke- Butter + Garlic + Lemon + Artichoke

Note: Eggplants and Lemons can be purchased from a Karma Vendor. See Map above. Garlic, Green Onion, and Artichokes must be gathered or purchased on the Trading Post.

Levels 350-375
Peach Tart- Butter + Sugar + Balls of Dough + Peach

Note: Peaches can be purchased from a Karma Vendor. See Map above.

There are a lot of places in the game where you can follow an event train from beginning to end for multiple rewards and it then cycles back to the beginning. The biggest one we’ve found is in Kessex Hills on the western side of the map. This is an efficient way to level (if efficient leveling is your goal) up through the 40s.

The start point is the bridge at the northwest corner of the lake. Once finished you won’t have to wait very long for the event to start over again. There are also two nearby events (marked off in purple) that might randomly show up that you can diverge and complete during your cycle.

This rotation works extremely well at all level ranges. The experience starts to lag down after level 30, but is still completely viable. It’s a very good way to earn karma and gold as well.
 
 

 
Here is what to expect at each step:
 

• Point 1: Break centaur worker morale to prevent bridge repairs. Reduce morale to 0%.
• Point 2: Dispatch the Harathi Lieutenants. Kill all three.
• Point 3: Kill the Harathi Overlord.
• Point 4: Stop the Risen Krait from building their army. Kill all four, not labeled on map.
• Point 5: The END point has it’s own rotation of events:
• END 1: Destroy the bandit cannons before the ore shipment is ready. Kill five canons.
• END 2: Stop bandits from collecting ore for a centaur supply shipment. Kill all the miners.
• END 3: Defeat the champion bandit foreman before he finishes collecting ore for centaurs. He has two forms: Mech and Human.

There are a few other places where you have a system like this after level 40. We’ll bring those to you as soon as we can.

If you’re a Ranger and looking for a specific pet, go no further, here is a full list of all the Ranger pets and where you can find them. Continue reading for the full list.

Part 1: Tutorial and Introduction

Regardless of your choice of your personal story, as a human, your tutorial level will start you with a quest to protect the people of Shaemoor. Directly in front of you as you start out is Corporal Beirne, he has a green quest icon, and is calling out for your assistance. He will request that you head to the Inn, which is a simple enough beginner task. Just continue south and run to the large green star on your mini map.

I don’t recommend deviating from this goal, because there’s not a lot of value in Guild Wars 2 to grinding mobs. There are plenty of level 1 centaurs that are attacking the village, however they yield approximately 2 exp per kill, and you need 2,000 exp to hit level 2. Also, because you’re in the tutorial level, they do not count as kills towards your achievements. Along the way, however, do be sure to talk to villagers and tell them to go to the inn for their safety. You will be rewarded with 2 Karma points for each villager that you send to the inn.

Upon your arrival at the inn, you will be requested to speak with Sergeant Walters, who will ask you to go to the garrison. Upon reaching the garrison, you’ll be asked to hold off attackers until the garrison doors open. This is another example of a quest that you’ll be seeing frequently in your travels in Guild Wars 2. Once that’s complete, head into the Garrison and you’ll be asked to hold off attackers from the other side. The last attacker is the leader of these centaurs, Champion Modniir High Sage, and he will eventually start to run away, and summon the final boss for the tutorial level.

The Earth Elemental Hands is one of the more difficult of the tutorial bosses. The trick to being successful is to stay out of the red circles on the ground, as the boss attacks will do massive damage if you’re caught in one of those. Also, be sure to take advantage of the fact that there is an NPC healer nearby that will give you substantial HP regeneration while standing near him.

Defeating the hands will take you out to the actual game world, and should give you enough experience to get you to level 2. Once out in the game world, speak with Watchman Rebec to get the next piece of your quest.

Part 2: Let’s Get Started!

Watchman Rebec is a Scout NPC which means that he will show you part of the game world, and unlock portions of your map to assist you in finding people who require your assistance. In this case, he will uncover a portion of your map and show you 5 residents of Shaemoor who need your help. Doing tasks for these citizens, filling hearts, gaining karma, whatever you want to call it, is the core of the PvE experience in Guild Wars 2. This supplemented by random world events which will pop up from time to time and should always be done, as they provide excellent experience and additional karma.

Don’t worry if you miss out on scouts in the game, as you have this awesome map here to help guide you through Queensdale. (Click for the full size version):

The numbers on the map represent my recommended path through the renown heart quests. Feel free to adjust your route as you see fit. As I indicated earlier, I recommend that you do all dynamic events that appear in your area, and that will help you from being underleveled.

1. Farmer Diah should be your first stop, as this is the level 2 karma NPC. You can help her out by watering her corn, feeding cattle, or defending her fields from wurms. Like all karma NPC’s you can assist them by doing any combination of their tasks. Personally, for Farmer Diah I like to feed her cows, but if you get bored with that, by all means go ahead and stomp wurm mounds or water the corn, the choice is yours.

Completing that first heart will unlock the first unique piece of your story quest, and from here the choice is yours whether to stay out and complete more hearts or to get right into the story quest. I like to stay out in the field and complete the 5 hearts out in Shaemoor fields before heading to Divinity’s Reach for the story quest.

2. Fishermen Travis and Justin. These two pretty much would like you to do battle with the drakes and skales in the area, and there’s nothing too difficult here. Unlike Farmer Diah, these two will want you to do more combat related activities. Even checking the traps will typically spawn a mob for you to kill.

3. Head north across the river to assist Foreman Flannum. Here you again have a pretty wide variety of tasks. I find it easiest to run back and forth plugging leaks and killing elementals.

4. Heading west from here, you’ll stumble across Farmer Eda, who’s having a bit of trouble with some spiders and bats in her orchard. One note about Farmer Eda before you leave, she sells a unique Chef recipe for those of you working on your cooking skill, and also sells cooking ingredients. Many cooking ingredients are found on karma vendors all across the world, so it’s vitally important as a chef to complete as many of these hearts as you can.

5. Head south to Cassie who’s having a bit of bandit trouble. Once you reach Cassie, it’s best to continue south and into the Bandithaunt Caverns. These caverns provide the best area for completing her tasks.
Once those are complete, it’s time to use a waypoint back closer to Divinity’s Reach to wrap up some loose ends with the story quest. You should be somewhere around level 5. Working on the class quest will get you to right around level 6.

6. Once back out in Queensdale, head to Shaemoor Garrison, to assist the Seraph. Run through the garrison to the back door. Head up the steps to pick up the vista for some easy exp, and then continue south out to the field with the centaurs. The easiest way to complete this heart is to just kill the centaurs. While the catapults are annoying, they take a while to kill unless you’re in a pack of people. Also be sure to commune with the place of power for an easy skill point, and some quick experience.

7. Continue south to the Altar Brook Trading Post, there you’ll get the Level 7 heart quest. Inside the trading post are rolled up papers near barrels, straighten these for some easy credit towards completing this heart. Also, kill any rats that you see in the vicinity. Instead of waiting for rats to respawn, head south to complete the rest of the heart quest. Destroying stakes and death markers on the road is the fastest way to complete this heart quest.

8. Head south to Claypool. The heart quest in Claypool is extremely easy. You have the choice of training with militia in swords, rifles, or shields. The rifle training is the easiest, simply grab a rifle, wait for the order to fire, and then fire your weapon. The sword and shield each require a bit more timing, but fill the heart faster in exchange. The shield is probably the best combination of time/skill, if you want to try your hand at this, grab a shield and stand in near the drill sergeant. When he faces you and starts his movement, put up your shield and block the strike. If you’re having difficulty, feel free to jump back over on the rifle and fire on command.

9. East of Claypool is a heart quest to help the Seraph protect the town from centaurs. The easiest way to do this is to travel from camp to camp killing the centaurs and destroying the centaur items at each specific camp. Be mindful of wandering bands of centaurs, as you can easily have 6 or 7 on you in a hurry.

10. I take the waypoint back to the garrison and head east to the lumber mill. In this area there are quite a few wasps, kill these and destroy nearby nests to complete Laborer Cardy’s heart quest. If you run out of wasps, head south to the caves and kill skritt.

By this point I was well into level 9 and decided that it would be good to go work on some more of my class quest, which took me up to level 10.

11. If you took a break to work on your class quest, take the waypoint back to Ojon’s Lumber mill, and head east towards the hunting lodge. If you have a group, check inside the lodge for Lodgemaster Carthage, he will occasionally be up with a dynamic event quest, but it will require a group of people to complete. Working on the dynamic event will also complete the heart quest for you. If you’re solo then just work on Hunter Block’s heart quest. The easiest way to complete this is to focus on killing all of the Forest Boars that you see, while taking care to avoid the Veteran Dire Boars, which are killable, but really not worth the effort. Also take the time to reset traps and resurrect fallen hunters as you come across them.

12. Northeast of the lodge is a heart quest to Assist Fisherman Will and the fishermen of Beetletun. Head that way and be prepared to do some of your first underwater adventuring. The easiest way to do this is to aggro Hard Shelled Crabs, then run to a crab trap and trap the crab. Killing skale and aggressive fish will also fill the heart quest, and when there are no crabs nearby, feel free to kill them, but bear in mind that at this point in the game our underwater skills are seriously lacking, and while it may be a good idea to at least unlock a few skills for your underwater weapon, you will be killing at a fairly slow rate.

13. Head Southeast to the Shire of Beetletun. This is a pretty easy heart quest, run around the town killing rats, and cleaning graffiti off of the walls. Also be sure to look under trees for wasp nests, as destroying those will also help to complete the heart quest. Also within the Shire is an easy vista for some extra experience, and a fairly easy skill quest.

14. After completing this heart quest, head south to aid the Beetletun farmers. If the Battle for Beetletun dynamic event is going on, it is a good time to kill two birds with one stone. If it’s not going on, then you may have to head south to the other side of the road to find enough centaurs to kill to complete the heart quest.

15. After completing this heart quest, head east to help the monastery brewers. I find that the easiest way to do this is to go and sample the brew, and while that is on cool down, run out to the fields within the monastery and kill grubs.
If you’re not level 14 at this point, the remaining heart quests are going to be difficult. All remaining heart quests are level 14+. If you have a bit of a level gap here, there are a few things that you can do to get you through this gap.

• Find someone to group with to knock out the remaining heart quests.
• You can go walking around looking for dynamic events around your level, such as the Battle for Beetletun.
• You can explore Divinity’s Reach, discovering waypoints and points of interest, then take the Lion’s Arch portal and repeat, and then portal to another city and do the same until you’ve gained enough experience from discovery.
• Take up a trade skill since you get experience for leveling a tradeskill.
• PvP.

For me, I decided that leveling a tradeskill would probably be the easiest, since I hadn’t sold any of my materials that I had gotten since level 1. Leveling my cooking to just 51, I was able to complete nearly all of level 13.

Once you hit level 14, use the Krytan Waypoint (just north of the monastery). If Charice is up, you will see her when you port in, it may be worth doing her escort quest if you’re short on experience, even though she takes you all the way back to Beetletun. If you decide not to do her quest, or she’s not up, head south to the west exit of the monastery. There you may find Sister Brenda, if you do, take her escort quest, as she requests to be escorted into the swamp, and that is where we’re headed.

16. If you picked up the escort quest, you’ll travel all the way through the swamp to the exit of the zone in the south. Be sure to pick up the waypoint while you’re there, and then head back north to help Historian Garrod investigate Godslost Swamp. The easiest way to complete this quest is to find the glowing green portals to the underworld, kill the minions and then destroy the portal. Be careful for Veteran Aataxe’s which will sometimes spawn after a portal is destroyed, their charge attack can kill you very quickly if you’re not careful. The Tortured Spirits can be spoken to as you’re heading to and from portals.

17. From there head east past the Orlaf Escarpments and then south to the final heart quest in the zone, where you will help Krug unite the Ettins. To the east of Veteran Krug is a camp of centaurs. There are several spawns near the edge of the camp, and then a band of centaurs that run around the center of the camp. The easiest way is to start with those on the edge, and then try to pull stragglers from that group that run around the center. If you’ve got some friends in the area, you’ll be able to handle that group that runs around the center, and should be able to commune with the place of power for your skill point.

That completes my guide to Queensdale, there are way too many variables to say specifically what level you’ll be, but I would expect that you should be at least level 15, and possibly as high as 17 or 18. If you’re at the low end of the level spectrum, feel free to go back and complete any missing waypoints, vistas, and points of interest in this area. Because of the automatic de-leveling of characters, feel free to visit any other starting zone to complete other heart quests. Assuming you’re comfortable with your level, at this point, I’d recommend finishing up your class quest in this area, and then taking the waypoint to Swamplost Haven, and heading south into Kessex Hills.

This FAQ explains what you need to know about gear and how its attributes are distributed. I'll predominantly aim this at level 80 equipment as we can talk about all equipment rarities. The reason for this FAQ is:

• To explain how attributes are distributed at level 80
• To answer some common misconceptions
• Illustrate the methods and difficulty of obtaining equipment

If not stated, the tables in this FAQ are from the GW2 wiki or self made.

Disclaimer: This faq is based on fact or logic based on evidence. Nothing is assumed because we all know what 'assume' does to you and me. As such, there may be other ways of obtaining gear or additional information not known to us at this time. However, I do not wish to speculate as this only causes confusion. If any pertinent information is sent to me that will improve this faq then I will update it.

Basics
Equipment Rarity
Each item has a quality which indicates the rarity or nature of the base modifications available on the item.  The following is the rarity in ascending order:

• Junk = Gray
• Common = White
• Fine = Blue
• Masterwork = Green
• Rare = Yellow
• Exotic = Orange
• Legendary = Purple

Attribute Allocation
Is all gear the same?
No, as you level all gear increases in terms of stats and defence rating.

At any given level, is all gear the same?
This is where there are many misconceptions. For any given level, attributes and defence ratings are not the same UNLESS they are the same rarity also. Here's an example of two great swords at level 80 (Image from reddit poster ardikus).

The rest of this post will explain why they are not the same and what to expect at level 80 in terms of gear and how its stats are distributed. The last section will contain the known methods of obtaining maximum stat gear.

Why does gear provide stats in PvE but not PvP?
Answer? It's a trick question. PvP gear has stats… but not every bit of gear has it, in fact only two do. The amulet and the jewel that goes in it.

Have you ever wondered why AN made amulets so powerful? It's obvious with a bit of thought. Amulets are there to replace stats on the rest of your gear. It would be a pain to have 6 gear slots, 5 trinket slots, a back pack slot AND weapon slots all with stats – especially if you want to change your build. Most people know roughly what they want, whether it be power, crit or condition build,

What AN have done is simply taken all the stats off of 'gear' and put it into one concise place… the Amulet. In BWE 1 they also had ring/ earring slots but quite rightly realised that they didn't need them and instead amalgamated those slots from 5 items with 25/15/15 stats to one jewel for the amulet with 125/75/75 stats (i.e. same stats overall).

So what about PvE?
Well AN have simply broken down the stats you got from amulets and put them back on armour, weapons and accessories. There will be no +798/569/569 amulet, those stats now belong on gear, trinkets etc.

If you now think with the mentality that the super powerful amulet has been split amongst gear, then you'll realise different builds concentrate on different skills. Condition builds don't need power, so the exotic great sword in the image would be ideal. While heavy dd builds would like the stat choices of the other great sword. Bottom line, not all builds will focus on the same stats so just because a weapon doesn't have power does it mean it's useless.

Therefore, how can we compare two items if they have different stats?
Easy for weapons, as you can also look at its damage stat (weapon strength). Max weapon strength for a great sword in PVP is 995-1,100. It's logical PvE will be the same and as you can see Exotics max weapon strength is 995-1,100. Rares only have a max weapon strength of 882-975.

Ok, so what about stats for non-weapons, can you compare the two?
Yes, you can look at the defence rating for the piece or because AN loves symmetry you can look at the stats. Don't look at how they're distributed (in terms of power, precision etc) but look at the numbers.

• Exotic 128/128/179
• Rare 113/113/158

Each stat is approximately 13% higher on the exotic than the rare.

What if I want an Exotic but don't like how the stats are distributed?
Not all weapons/ armour will be the same. There will be different exotics where one might have power/ precision/ condition damage, another has power/ vitality/ toughness and so forth. The bottom line is all exotics will be distributed in a 128/128/179 manner for 2-Handed weapons at L80.

Similarly almost all rare 2-Handers at level 80 will have their 3 stats in a 113/113/158 manner. Masterworks will be closer to 100/100/140 (i.e. 13% less powerful etc).

How many attributes does gear have?
At level 1 all gear has only one attribute. As you level up it increases to three at level 80. There will be some exception where level 80 gear has four stats – these pieces of gear usually have a non-primary attribute as the fourth stat at the expense of lowering the other three primary attributes.
e.g.
Level 80 Exotic Greats sword A
Power179
Toughness128
Vitality128

Vs

Level 80 Exotic Greatsword B
Power179
Toughness98
Vitality98
Crit Damage 5%

To compensate for the crit damage bonus to weapon B, it's vitality and toughness stats were reduced. However, AN have reduced them proportionately to so that both weapons have equal "power" overall. This does not mean A will hit as hard as B.

Instead, add all the attribute points in weapon A (it comes to 435) and weapon B (comes to 375 + 5% crit damage). AN value the 5% crit damage to be equivalent to 50 primary attribute points.

Edit: As has been pointed out, in terms of literal numbers although AN is fairly consistent, they don't necessarily rely on objective evidence to balance their game but subjective evidence such as player feedback/ internal testing plays a role.

For instance, the celestial amulet has a total stat point of 1704 + 15% crit. The Berserker's amulet meanwhile has a total stat point of 1651 + 15% crit. Thus one amulet has 53 extra stat points so gives you more bang for your buck. However, very few players will ever pick the celestial amulet as specialising in a few stats seems to be more beneficial than spreading them out. AN have obviously 'buffed' the amulet to offer more incentive, that's my take on it.

Wildclaw points out crit damage is worth more points/ percent on amulets than jewels. I again think AN have done this based upon subjective player feedback. Who wants 1% crit damage bonus at 80. Seems rather low. At the same time, AN once had 31% crit damage bonus on their amulets, that seemed rather high. So it looks like AN are tweaking numbers for balance.

The last thing Wildclaw points out is something which on paper looks better than it should. Most jewels provide 125/75/75 distribution = 275 total stat points. Interestingly the Rampager jewel provides 125/75/45/45 = 290 stat points. It is effectively providing 15 free points. Again this is probably from feedback AN got that having 2 low stats of 37.5 wasn't enough incentive and they changed it.

One has to remember AN only added vitality as a fourth stat since BWE2. This was almost certainly due to the fact the squishy classes (Thief and Elemetalist) had low base health pools and defence. Thus they were struggling to obtain high damage builds without 12k healths in BWE1. So AN buffed the power jewellery with vitality so these damage builds could have an extra 3k health.

To add to all of this, if we look at runes we can see divinity rune offer the best bang for your buck in terms of overall stat points. Most 6 set runes have 205 total stat points and a 6th set ability. The divinity rune have 240 stat points but also 18% crit damage. The latter provides more crit + damage than any other 6 set rune. AN have most likely done this based upon their internal testing but it is a interesting point to bear in mind.

Most weapons will only have 3 stats at 80 but remember this:

• Weapons have stats to represent the stats taken from amulets. Whenever you are picking gear, the sum total of all the stats on all pieces of gear is equivalent to one amulet. Yes that includes the weapon and accessories. In fact weapons make up almost 25% of an amulet!

Do all pieces of gear have stats?
In a nutshell, yes. There are 12 main pieces that contribute: 6 equipment slots, 5 trinket slots and your weapon. If you have 2 weapon sets, it's the one you are wielding. Below I've provided an image of a level 35 Asura in cultural armour. In it I have included the caption for the amulet and to act as a reference, the chest piece.

As you can see, amulets have stats but they are significantly reduced compared to PvP

So all exotic gear has a 179/128/128 distribution?
No! Only 2 Handed exotics have that distribution. Below is what other pieces of exotics have at level 80.

• 2-H Weapon = 179/128/128
• 1-H Weapon = 90/64/64
• Head = 45/32/32
• Shoulder = 34/24/24
• Chest = 101/72/72
• Hands = 34/24/24
• Legs = 67/48/48
• Feet = 34/24/24
• Rings = 67/48/48
• Earrings = 56/40/40
• Amulet = 90/64/64
• Backpack = 22/16/16*     

*Note all numbers in red are estimates (based upon up scaling of rare level backpack) as no exotic backpack has been seen yet

Source for the exotic Jewellery stats: http://www.gw2db.com…ysocola-jewel-s

As you can see, the sum total of the weapon plus equipment slots make one amulet.

That is if you add all 6 equipment slots (head, shoulder, chest, glove, leg, boot), 5 trinket slots (Amulet, 2x Rings, 2x Earrings) and the main weapon (either two 1 handed weapons OR one 2 handed weapon) you get roughly 798/569/569, the left over stats are meant to reflect the jewel which goes into the amulet.

So you may have to rethink that 'precision' sword as it will eat into your stat allocation elsewhere

Ok, so all gear at level 80 will have the same attribute allocation setup if they are from the same rarity?

Yes!!! So all exotic axes at level 80 will have a 90/64/64 distribution while rare axes at 80 will be 79/57/57.

The difference between exotics will be how the attributes are set up?
Exactly, so some exotic swords will be power/precision/condition damage while others are vitality/toughness/healing. But both swords will have a 90/64/64 distribution.

So exotic gear is always better than other gear?
Yes with one huge caveat, that is both items must be of the same level. A level 70 exotic helm is not necessarily better than an 80 masterwork helm. You should only compare items of the same rarity and level for true comparisons.

From a pure personal point of view, I found on average for any piece of equipment I found, each level of rarity is equivalent to 2-3 levels.e.g. A green level 10 power sword was as good as a blue level 13 sword which was as good as a white level 15 sword.

Obtaining Gear
Can I get all gear rarities from level 1?
No, see the following:

• Common  = Level 1-80
• Fine = Level 1-80
• Masterwork = Level 10-80
• Rare = Level 35-80
• Exotic = Level 60-80
• Legendary = Level 80

Basically, exotic (max stat gear) starts at level 60.

Where do I get the gear from?

• Common = Mob Drops, Chest Rewards, Merchants
• Fine = Mob Drops, Chest Rewards, Karma Merchants, Crafting, Mystic Forge
• Masterwork = Mob Drops, Chest Rewards, Karma Merchants, Crafting, Mystic Forge
• Rare = Mob Drops, Chest Rewards, Karma Merchants, Cultural Vendor Merchants, Crafting, Mystic Forge, Dungeon Token Rewards
• Exotic = Mystic Forge, Dungeon Token Rewards, WvW Merchants, Crafting
• Legendary = Mystic Forge

You can obtain the level 60 exotic gear with either dungeon tokens (to get the Ascalonian set), crafting (level 80 sets only) or for badges of honour in WvW (for the Invader's set).

How difficult is it to get level 80 exotic gear?
We can theorise an estimate playtimes needed to get a full set of gear.

Dungeon Tokens
Each dungeon has its own unique tokens. Going the dungeon route path, it will cost you:

• 2-Hander = 390 tokens
• 1-Hander (main hand) = 300 tokens
• 1-Hander (off hand) = 210 tokens
• Head = 270 tokens
• Shoulder = 240 tokens
• Chest = 390 tokens
• Glove = 270 tokens
• Leg = 360 tokens
• Feet = 270 tokens
• Total (6-Piece (Full) Set) = 1800 tokens
• Total (2-H + Full Set) = 2190 tokens
• Total (Main + Off Hand + Full Set) = 2310 tokens

Ascalonian level 60 exotic armour is slightly cheaper than this with a full 6-piece gear set costing 1200 tokens.

Dungeon tokens are obtained by completing explorable mode runs of each dungeon. Each dungeon on average nets 41 tokens for each completed explorable mode run: 20 tokens for the main boss and 7 for each of the three mini bosses. It is possible to obtain more than 41 per run as mobs occasionally drop tokens.

If we want a full set of level 80 exotic gear we would need to run:
1800/41 = 43.9
= 44 Dungeon runs

For a 2 handed weapon we would need to run:
390/41 = 9.5
= 10 runs

For a main and off hand we would need to run:
510/41
= 12.4
= 13 runs

A person who wants a full set of exotics and a main and off hand from the same dungeon vendor would need to do 57 dungeon runs.

The dungeon tokens needed per weapon are from beta and thus may change but it gives you an idea of how hard exotics will to get from dungeons.

Of the known exotic dungeon sets, the first two (Ascalonian and Noble's) are not L80, they provide the following 3 attributes:

• Ascalonian (L60): Power (main) / Toughness / Vitality
• Noble (L70): Precision (main) / Power / Condition Damage
• Nightmare: Condition Damage (main) / Precision / Toughness
• Sorrow's Furnace: Condition Damage (main) / Power/ Vitality
• Flame Legion: Power (main) / Precision / Crit Damage

*New*
Higher level dungeons will have multiple explorable modes and Arah (L80/ final dungeon) has 6 paths. This will make repeating dungeons MUCH less monotonous.

WvW
This is for level 60 exotic gear only – couldn't find the level 80 vendor sorry. For those wondering, badges of honours are rewards dropped by opposing players, mobs and from keep sieges. They may often be concealed in loot bags.

• Head = 260 Badges of Honour
• Shoulder = 229 Badges of Honour
• Chest = 312 Badges of Honour
• Glove = 188 Badges of Honour
• Leg = 292 Badges of Honour
• Feet = 208 Badges of Honour
• Total (6-Piece (Full) Set) = 1489 Badges of Honour

How hard is it to get badges of honour?
From a typical 1hr hectic WvW play the average player will get 10-20 badges depending on luck and remembering to loot corpses too!

Being optimistic, at 20 badges/hour that means:
1489/20 = 74.45
= 75 hours

That's 75 hours for a level 60 exotic gear set (not 80 remember).

Crafting
When I initially made this thread I stated at this time we had no evidence to say what exact role crafting plays in making exotics. Nirgal though kindly pointed me in the direction of a few hidden pages in GW2DB.

I'll link one inscription and one insignia.

Valkyrie Ancient Inscription – http://www.gw2db.com…ed:created-from

Valkyrie Gossamer Insignia – http://www.gw2db.com…amer-insignia-s

As you can see the limiting factor seems to be globs of ectoplasm (nostalgia for many GW1 players). The rest of the general recipe for crafting exotic weapons and armour follow the same standard recipe seen earlier in game:

1x Insignia/ Inscription
1x Inner Lining/ Weapon Hilt
1x Outer Lining/ Weapon Blade

Tier 6 materials will be needed but assuming globs of ectoplasm are available at an appropriate rate they appear much more available to the player base.

But if they're much easier to get than the other exotics why bother getting the other exotics?
The most likely reason is for different skins. All the base level 80 exotic set looks like this:

A lot of people will find them unappealing and thus hunt the other exotics for skins.

Why have exotic dungeon skins which look the same as the rare skins when you can just transmute a rare skin over a crafted exotic?
This appears to be a valid point. Why have AN put 2 diverse methods of getting exotics, one which could take weeks to complete (WvW and dungeon exotics) versus one which could be done in days (crafted or bought off the trading post).

To confound the matter, the exotics sold by dungeon vendors have rare equivalents which share the exact same skin but cost half the amount of tokens. Why would anyone buy exotic dungeon gear when you could buy crafted exotic gear and then transmute the rare dungeon skin over it?

The answer lies in the stats. Remember I said all exotic gear has the same total power i.e. all chest pieces would be 101/72/72 etc. Well, GW2 uses 8 stats on it's PvE gear that we are aware of:

• Condition Damage
• Critical Damage
• Healing Power
• Magic Find
• Power
• Precision
• Toughness
• Vitality

Using GW2DB we can see (also seen in earlier crafting) there are only 7 different Insignias/ inscriptions:

• Berserker's = Crit Damage/ Power (main)/ Precision
• Explorer's = Magic Find (main)/ Power/ Precision
• Knight's = Power/ Precision/ Toughness (main)
• Carrion = Condition Damage (main)/ Power/ Vitality
• Rampager's = Condition Damage/ Power/ Precision (main)
• Valkyrie = Criti Damage/ Power (main)/ Vitality
• Cleric's = Healing Power (main)/ Power/ Toughness

*New* Crafted L80 Jewellery Exotic

• Chrysocola Jewellery: Condition Damage (main)/ Power/ Vitality
• Beryl Jewellery: Power (main)/ Crit Damage/ Vitality
• Coral Jewellery: Precision (main)/ Condition Damage/ Power
• Emerald Jewellery: Precision (main)/ Toughness/ Power
• Opal Jewellery: Magic Find* (main)/ Power/ Precision
• Ruby Jewellery: Power (main)/ Crit Damage/ Precision
• Sapphire Jewellery: Healing (main)/ Power/ Toughness

*Unconfirmed

This wiki is a good start for further info:
http://wiki.guildwar…iki/Inscription

So crafted exotic items at 80 will have one of the above eight stat sets.

However, there are eight variables which come in threes meaning there are at least 56 distinct combinations. If only eight are covered here, what about the rest? Where is the soldier set (power/ toughness/ vitality)?

Basically, the other exotics will make up some of the remaining stat combinations. You must also remember you could have one 2H exotic with 179/128/128 power/precision/condition damage which is different from a 2H exotic with 179/128/128 condition damage/power/precision. In the former power is the main stat while the latter has condition damage. So there are actually more than 56 combination of stats.

That being said you can expect the 'other' methods of obtaining exotics to have skins you may want also. Whether they are worth the time to grind or not is up to you. I am a little surprised that the soldier set isn't one of the crafted sets but I guess it will be one of the more desirable ones. It's also intriguing that all the crafted sets have power.

Other Ways
The mystic forge is the final confirmed way of getting exotic gear but what it entails exactly has yet to be confirmed. AN have hinted it involves skill points and there are 50 skill point items at the vendors.

The commonest criticism this faq get's is 'there are other ways to obtain exotics'. This may be true but unfortunately we don't have the L80 data information. I said this faq would be based upon facts but to add a bit of food for thought, the two most likely ways of also obtaining exotics but are NOT confirmed are:

• L80 Karma Vendors in Orr
• Rare drops off Monsters (e.g. Zhaitan)

How difficult is it to get Legendary gear?
Much harder than exotics and there are only known legendary weapons. We now know that the recipe for legendary weapons are:

• Bloodstone Shard = 200 Skill Points
• Exotic Weapon = These exotic weapons will most likely need skill points to make in the first place!
• Gift of Energy/ Metal/ Wood = 400 Artificer/ Weaponsmith/ Huntsman
• Other Gift/ Statue = 400 Artificer/ Hunstman/ Jeweller/ Cook/ Tailor/ Leatherworker/ Armoursmith

The gift of energy/ metal/ wood will be relatively straight forward albeit expensive as 250x tier 3-6 mats will be needed. The 400 in two crafts will take a bit of time too. The skill points may be a stumbling block because:

There are 200 skill points in the world, you gain 75 skill points from levelling = 275 available at launch. The minimum any normal person will spend on skill points is 5 (1st tier) + 15 (2nd tier) + 30 (3rd tier) + 10 (elite) = 60 skill points (that's assuming the elite you want is not the 30 point elite). As such you will have enough skill points for 1 legendary.

However, if you want the 30 point elite (most people will), then you need 40 more skill points. You now have only 175 skill points left so will need 25 more for one weapon. 13 of these will likely come from when wvw resets (so you can re take the 13 skill points there) but the other 12 are from levelling (for those that don't know you get 1 skill point for every level after 80) so you will need to be level 92 effectively for your first legendary weapon.

Edit: WvW has not been resetting skill points since the early BWE 1. This makes it plausible that skill points resetting in WvW was a bug and if that is the case then levelling will be the only way to get skill points once one completes all the skill challenges.

Once you obtain your first legendary weapon, your second will require you to gain 200 levels.

However if these exotics for the legendaries need skill points (the 50 point Eldrich scrolls) to make then we may need even more skill points to get one.

Summary

• All level 80 gear is not the same
• Exotic Gear is the max level gear in terms of stats (equal to legendaries)
• PvE gear is designed by breaking up the stats of the PvP 798/569/569 amulet and putting it back on gear
• Exotic gear at level 80 has 13% better stats than a Rare 80 item
• All level 80 exotic gear will have the same "total attribute" points but different gear will have different attribute allocations e.g one exotic glove is 34/24/24 in power/precision/vitality while another is 34/24/24 in toughness/vitality/healing
• The four confirmed ways of obtaining exotics are: dungeon tokens, WvW, crafting and the mystic forge. There may be other ways.
• There are at least 8 crafted exotic sets that require globs of ectoplasm.
• Exotic gear can take a long time to get (44+ dungeon runs or 75+ WvW hours) and this is presumably to offer more desirable stats and skins compared to the crafted sets.

Guild Wars2 Junkies has been given permission to share this guide by the author Terra.