Easy Ascended and Exotic Gear in Guild Wars 2! Ultimate Gear Guide

[@MissesOneTwo]

Wow, that's quality armor!

[@namelessjuan4696]

Thank you so much. Take a look!

[@allegra4974]

Thanks!

[@daze4135]

Thanks!

[@markolivergabutero7527]

Thanks!

[@Nhouyengah]

THANKS

[@mrreddragon4164]

If you want to get a lot of Winterfresh Berries quickly, I recommend doing the "Return to A Crack In The Ice" achievement. The objectives are very easy, and will net you 500 berries for completing any 6 objectives.

[@exeedorbit]

I don't see this achievement. Do you know why this may be?

[@anthonysolis8933]

Wow, amazing video. Thank you. Also I loved your birthday shrimp stream.

[@KasesTBW]

​@@exeedorbitin the side stories section

[@huxilium]

I'm loving these straight-forward yet comprehensive and actionable guide videos you've been pumping out! GW2 can be so daunting - even as a 6 year uber-casual veteran, I still don't know the most optimal ways to gear myself up for various end game content so this video is super helpful to keep me on track.

[@ericshiel]

I just started playing GW2 after having never played before. This video was super helpful, thank you.

[@Mars-1995]

Gw2 is a great great mmo. Enjoy your journey and make a legendary your goal, it really changes how you play and you see so much more of the game by doing the collections

[@theNightDice]

Great video! I would add a disclaimer that you should never ever ever stat-swap an ascended precursor. It will be replaced with a generic variant and no longer function as a precursor, which is a major feelsbad moment when it happens.

[@zdenekszabo6138]

She said it in video

[@Northernsolstice]

Great video! As a resident dungeon enthusiast I'd also call out that dungeon currency are a great way for getting gear with core stats. Mostly only useful for berserker but still worth mentioning as a way of getting exotic gear for zero gold. Also a decent way to get exotic underwater weapons on all of your characters for cheap if you're like me and don't want to waste ascended weapons on those.

[@Laranity]

Keeping the dungeon scene alive!!

[@willdeit6057]

Actually you can get Viper gear (Caudicus Manor dungeon) and if required salvage it for the Insignia.

[@Northernsolstice]

@@willdeit6057 I don't see Vipers as an option and my understanding was that only core stats are available. I was thinking recently that simply adding Celestial as an option for one of the dungeons would be a neat little buff to dungeons, as a nice and easy way for newer players to get a powerful stat combo.

[@Spagoody]

Really well-explained and comprehensive guide! Seeing all the options can be a bit daunting, but once you get going it's all very doable. Happy gearing! 😄

[@Klephtes]

For the ascended backpack, you can get a "free" one with the achievement "Raise the Banners: ...", the achievement is unlock after doing a story part of PoF. If I remember correctly it is a pretty easy achivement to do

[@Laranity]

This is a good shout!! Probably would have included that achievement if I had remembered

[@ArcEleos]

Amazing guide Lara! I remember my days farming berries in Bitterfrost (haha). It is a bit sad that most interesting stat combinations for non-power and support roles are a bit more difficult (cries in "harrier" (full heal), "viper" (condi dps), "diviner" (power boon dps) and "ritualist" (condi boon dps) 🥲). I'm sure this will help out lots of (new) people!!! Good luck gearing up everyone!

[@TheOblivionMan]

Another good alternative source for an Exotic chest piece and just stat selectable exotic armour in general is Warlord's Armor Boxes from WvW and ranked PvP. You won't be able to get them as quickly as Bladed, but if you play much of either mode, those boxes will start piling up after a while and saving them to gear up new characters can save a quite bit of time and money.

[@frizzman1991]

I love the different auto-generated captions for you saying "Guild Wars II". "Kill the Sue" legit made me laugh. Another great vid!

[@frizzman1991]

Guilt or stew is also a great one xD

[@garver5833]

A bit harder to get but the ascended trinkets from Bloodstone Fen can be stat swapped at the vendor that sells them. Also do the IBS Easy 3 strikes to get Eternal Ice Shards, you can swap these for other LWS4 map currency (like Mistborn Motes) at Bjora Marches. This can help you gear alts a bit faster and put a little extra gold in your pocket. Lastly check the LWS3, 4 and IBS dailies to get map currencies too.

[@randymoffat4226]

Some additional ways to get armor- WvW and PvP both allow you to buy stat selectable armor and the Reward tracks give additional armor. WvW Hero's reward track will give you an easy cheap path to Ascended weapons.

[@markolivergabutero7527]

You can also buy EXOTIC stat selectable armor for Helm and Shoulder from Trading Post - Shoulders of the Ebon Vanguard Choice Chest (shoulder) and Ice Golem's Maw Box (helm)

[@firby7341]

pro tip for bladed armor: dont buy the gloves as they can be a drop in airship cargo. you will get them eventually. i currently have 4 unused glove boxes lying around on my bank. edit: another pro tip: always craft zojjas (berserkers) ascended items and statswap them with the inscription/insignia with the stats of your choice (+5ectoplasmas +1anthology of heroes), as some ascended insignias/inscription are really annoying/expensive to craft

[@MotocrossRacingOnline]

after many years of wow i just started GW2 very recently and i am loving it so far, thank you for the videos this is very nice info!

[@jeronimocastoldi6954]

8:29 this doesn't solve the problem long term if you're running fractals, but "for the purposes of uniqueness, infused and attuned versions of rings count as different items, so if you accidentally buy two identical rings you can upgrade one of them to avoid this limitation." (wiki)

[@dsinc36]

You can also get an Ascended backpiece with unbound magic in Bloodstone Fen. Good video, thx for the info, I didn't know about the berries (haven't gotten that far in that one yet).

[@xtrailz]

UPDATE: you can buy stat-selectable Exotic armor in WvW since the September 26 2023 patch

[@danielz.8447]

Thanks for the vid! Huge help for a newbie like myself, still new to the game

[@MauricioPereiradaFon]

as a new player this is not the guide i wanted but it was the guide i needed. thanks

[@Czasoniks]

7:00 You can also do daily in those maps to get some of map materials (and little amount of karma too ;) )

[@niotek]

i really enjoyed this guide, even though i been playing off and on since launch it never fails that i learn at least ONE thing new in these guide videos. Thank you!

[@JohnnyTightIips]

Ive been wandering around exploring the map but im definitely going to work on getting to at least ascended weapon, trinkets, and exotic other gear. Thanks!

[@arkanaloth2617]

Sandswept isle ascended trinkets are also stat selectable and are exchanged for difflourite. Making sandswept and dragonfall the only zones in s4 with stat selectable trinkets.

[@okami66.]

u can get a stat selective backpiece if u have all 3 sets of antique armor (berserker stat) they are somewhat expensive but as of today u can get every piece for 1-1.4 gold each (u will have to equip ur chara and prob alts too) so it would get a bit more expensive doing it with this armor but it will save u time and money in getting the backpiece (crafted cost if u take only the ectos is like 20g as of today) so 1.5x18=27g that would cost u to get full berserker armor for light/medium and heavy classes u have (1 set for each category) so it means u would be spending 7g on getting the armor maybe even less cuz those 250 vicious claws, 240 philosophers stone cost a bit too (just checked claws on market are at 19silver eachx250 which means around 48 gold...) so yeah just buy antique armor when gearing at least for the first time every weight class armor u will save a ton of gold on getting ascended backpiece that way

[@somederp8915]

5:20: Laughs in Celebrand! Open World? Sure! Condi-Quick? You got it. Healing? Sure, let me swap my traitline and we are ready! Raids? Anyone beats ~1700t? No... Guess you also cover the tank role now!

[@tAgJaCk3D]

Some bonus tips from a new, but quick-learning player: 1. Trade the blue prophet shards for green prophet shards and buy the EoD ascended weapons instead of the IBS ones if you need an expansion-locked stat. They trade at 1:1 rate so you won't lose anything 2. Get the IBS episode with Bjora Marches and do the achievement Idolatry, it will unlock buying ascended accesory (Asgeir's Talisman) for 375 Eternal Ice Shards (you get them REALLY easy, I get 500-1000 each day) and like 60k karma, much cheaper than any other accesory in the game IMO 3. Don't craft any ascended backpacks, go towards the Ad: Infinitum legendary backpack, you will need to craft an ascended Fractal backpack as part of the achievements anyways, and you can use that one until you finish the legendary one 4. Try doing the dailies and recs fractals in t4 each day, they drop at least 1 ascended ring/day, saving yourself the pristines, and can come directly attuned or infused so you don't have to use money to attune or infuse it when you will have to 5. Do harder content from the get-go (and I don't mean strikes or raids, but stuff like Tequatl, Dragonstorm, Drakkar, Triple Trouble and other that have ascended drop rate), at like 0-50% magic find on new accounts you will have a higher drop-rate for ascendeds, like Anet trying to give you a small boost and encouraging you to play more and harder content Thanks everyone for reading this and I wish you all a great day and all the best!

[@maxventunosei5017]

This is so good! I didn't know the laurel vendor had cele trinkets it's amazing

[@crystalcortexx]

I watch a LOT of guild wars 2 videos. This might be one of the best videos I have ever watched. This is so informative, pleasantly presented and well articulated.

[@willdeit6057]

I would like to add that you can get an Ascended underwater Head piece in Bitterforest as well.

[@RiezaChaos]

Excellent, informative and thorough video Lara!

[@MajesticWillOWisp]

I never thought I needed this video, thank you for explaining and showing me how to get these items!

[@riangomes8333]

finally i was waiting for this

[@MokonaNL]

One thing I will say on the stat selectable trinkets from Fractals/PvP/WvW, the ring is worth it more so than the rest, since that ring is infused already. Infusing rings is also a bit of an investment. Far more than merely attuning. Those slots are very needed in later Fractals.

[@YouTubeChillZone]

They need the same currency as legendary so no point

[@torgeeee]

since warlord chest were added, doing a little pvp/wvw will give loads of stat selectable armor boxes

[@haraldurragnarsson191]

It's missing that you can use eternal Ice shards to buy any living world 4 currency. that alone can get you full ascended trinkets from any living world 4 map you only mention that you can use it for a back item even if you can use it for more than that. This will help new people to dump their extra quantity of eternal ice shards in to some thing instead of dropping it. I know you can turn it into gold but its kinda a hassle to do.

[@gangrel1234]

Is it true that you get those way faster? Then the lw currencies

[@haraldurragnarsson191]

@@gangrel1234 If you like to do daly strike missions then you will get more than enough than you know what to do with.

[@HinaRocks103]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This guide is going straight into my gw2 reference playlist, and then I'm shooting it over to my friend who I just got into gw2. I never knew that exotic armor sets were so easy to get thanks to Verdant Brink. I used to farm that map daily, but only for the gemstone from the hero's choice chest, so looks like I'll be getting back into doing that meta regularly. Wish I knew all this though before, cus last week I sunk a lot of my gold and mats into making a ascended medium and heavy set of armor for two of my alts😬. Had I known, I definitely would have gone the exotic route instead and saved the mats for a legendary weapon down the line.

[@dsoloud]

Thank you so much for this great video!!❤❤

[@Skyztamer]

I got my first ascended weapon last week via HoT specialization collection (Glint's Bastion for my Herald). The steps I had to go through to get the items reminded me a bit of doing the Heavenward relic weapon for Dark Knight in FFXIV; which was more difficult that the previous three expansion relics; and strangely the only one of those I've ever completed. *Edit:* I remember why. The Dark Knight lvl 60 finished relic (Cronus Lux) is still the best looking of their relics. So I was motivated purely for it's aesthetic. I ended up enjoying this in GW2 overall; although grinding HoT mastery for specific niche abilities (that I probably wouldn't otherwise bother spend time unlocking) wasn't all that fun. Still I'll look forward to doing the Renegade collection for this character when I reach PoF probably this summer.

[@broken_boomerang]

The POF weapon collections are the easiest of the three (HOT, POF, EOD). Most of my ascended weapons on my different alts are from the collections.

[@Skyztamer]

@@broken_boomerang That's good to know. Right now I only have one character at max level, but I want to play my alts at PvE endgame too. Right now I only use them in PvP to test elite spec builds.

[@geminix5845]

Thansk for a lot of good information in one video!

[@Subaru_God]

I'm all sorted now, Thx

[@Michael-fc8or]

Awesome guide, thank you!

[@nasturo7275]

Thx for all ! I up my new caracter (Futur Spell Breaker) and you give me a lot of answer ^^

[@JamieR]

Really high quality guide :) Thanks! Really helpful

[@RQLexi]

Really good guide as always, Lara! ^^ It's easy to be intimidated by the prospect of getting ascended gear, but it doesn't have to be hard! And one of the big reasons why legendary gear is such a good long term goal to work towards, is that for every piece of it you get you *never* have to worry about getting that piece of gear again, which is a lovely bit of QoL ^^

[@DerStille18]

You can Attune or Infuse Rings to make another version you can wear like: 1 Red Death and 1 Attuned Red Death, 1Red Death(Infused) and 1 Attuned Red Death(same goes for the season 3/4 rings) but not 2 Attuned Red Death

[@karisuma_elli]

Great video and great explenation 🥰❤️ I even learned some stuff despite playing the game for 10+ years :D Shows how this video can be for everyone. To everyone watching this video: good luck gearing up! 🤗

[@willdeit6057]

A Great video Lara well done.

[@Emacspirate]

Woo! Bram-friend gear guide today edition!

[@TheNum8274444]

Just returned to the game with a group of friends and we are starting from zero. I remember following this guide a year ago and it’s great, I was wondering though if anyone knows if these are still the best methods for gear, seeing as there are new expansions that came out

[@jethrojangles9541]

Small note: you missed the tip that 2 copies of a unique rings can be overlapped if you attune one, and that stat-selection can be reset once per individual ring by attuning it, also.

[@Senayoshy]

Such an awesome video, thank you for your time and effort!

[@robinswifehere]

;-; i understood everything this is the best guide i've seen so far (personally thinking) thank you so much ;-; on my way for the raid one

[@tombocai]

if you like to play wvw you can also get ascended weapons there, it's kinda like the raid ascended, you get them as precursors for wvw legendary armour. if you don't like wvw then i don't recomend it cause it's too much of a grind. but if you do enjoy wvw maybe you already have all the currency you need to get it. and you can one day upgrade them to legendaries if you want (as long as you don't stat change the pieces in the mystic forge).

[@ThiVasss]

There is a way to get an ascended backpiece as a PvPer. For the longest time I didnt know you could do that. If you play ranked you also get some pvp tickets. With those you can buy the pvp winged back pieces up to exotic. However if you combined all their rarities into the mystic forge you will get a stat selectable ascended backpiece! (And its skin)

[@thorthratt]

Great video, but I would add that Bloodstone Fen is another good map to get Ascended Trinkets and the backpack. But also, you could have mentioned that by doing Fractals you may get a drop of Ascended Trinkets (Attuned! if you're lucky) and what Attuned and Infused mean.

[@Laranity]

Ooh yeah, if I ever make a fractal guide, it will fit super perfectly in there! I think if you're just trying to gear up for the first time, you won't have to worry too much about it yet

[@Rook986]

This is so helpful thank you

[@Rosenred]

Ascended armor from pvp and wvsw are precursor for legendary armors.

[@willdeit6057]

More info: You can get Temple Armour (exotic) For Karma at the temples in Orr if you have that area.

[@YouTubeChillZone]

Yes, but statistics are useless. It's about getting items that will allow you to end game

[@TheLastAxeman]

Lara as always making helpful content

[@pet_2381]

You can get some ascended gear now in the wiz vault too :)

[@hallienastareal5027]

Just throwing this in for people who do not own living world - you can get a stat selectable ascended amulet by completing the master achievement of Heart of Thorns Episode IV. It is a bit annoying - especially the flying achievement - but it can be done in one day after you complete the HoT story.

[@willdeit6057]

You can also get an ascended Back piece in Lake Doric again it's a farmable item.

[@Earendilkg]

Gearing up characters is one of my fav pasttimes in MMO. I am not sure i'll like this but i am trying GW2 for the first time :)

[@maxgehtdnixan4913]

People often miss this, but (!) taking Berserker stats into WvW is a very bad idea most of the time.

[@YouTubeChillZone]

It depends for whom I like 1 hit kills on these enemies

[@maxgehtdnixan4913]

@@KZbinChillZone Easy roamer points, yeah 🤣

[@punani_slayer4209]

Why is it bad?

[@maxgehtdnixan4913]

@@punani_slayer4209 You're extremely fragile in an environment where you'll likely get hit a few times in ways that you can't dodge. Full berserker gear makes it very, very likely you'll be one-shot. In PvE that doesn't matter much, but in WvW you'll die a lot.

[@punani_slayer4209]

@@maxgehtdnixan4913 so would celestial gear be better? I just started playing this game a couple of days ago lol. Haven't even tried WvW yet but I'm planning to soon

[@guraysenova]

Thanks for the video. I just wish this video came out 1 day before because that's when I got myself a "Berserker" armor set 3-4 golds each :D

[@Fuzzyape1]

While you are correct. The Ascended does take some time to make, but ANET sometimes nerfs your tune and you have to adjust. Legendary gear is great, but very challenging. The nice thing about ascended is that you can change the stats. Great video :)

[@Laranity]

Yeee, being able to stat swap ascended gear for a small fee is HUGE when balance happens!

[@gamithemighty5932]

I used to have a rabid warrior build, focusing on condi damage over time dps, tanking build, and physical combat I used sw sw, by itselff, and I came up with it after seeing the old sw sw bow build and wanting to get rid of the bow. i used to really love that build and i have been extremely tempted to bring it back. I used to love using it in pvp and pve back in heart of thorns, and god do i miss it sometimes. when the guardian brought out its sword sword physical build release during end of dragons? i was like "they took my build!!!" lol i also experimented with a gun only sniper warrior build based on the seraph traning quest in queensdale, and a healing bow warrior build as well for a while. the gun build was better for "kill securing" and the bow build was a support focused dammage over time aoe build. right now i am using berserkers "blademaster warrior build where i use both sw sw and gs focsing on burst damage. its good but i still miss experimenting alot. oh i almost forgot? I don't ever use anything but core base game builds. which means that if you are ever curious about a build i have? any player type can usually use it.

[@1980Shadowwolf]

You could also skip the ascended necklace if got all the LW stories and get the Prismatic Champions Regalia

[@drunken6819]

super helpful, thx for guide :)

[@ZDY66666]

Didn't know this, turns out I had 400 laurels I had no clue how I got them. Went into edge of mist in WvW and just got 2 sets of ascended trinkets. One set for condi build one set for healer

[@TheUnicornOfDerps]

Thanks for all the guides! The game has been more and more easier thanks to your videos!

[@lordgrey5223]

For the exotic section, dont forget that the "Ice Golem's Maw Box" is a cheap stat selectable headpiece on the Trading Post (a bit over 1 gold). Iron legion weapons (Staff, Pistol, Greatsword, and Sword) are also available on Trading Post, although only beat out the more expensive stat types.

[@aquapendulum]

Celestial gears work just fine for condi builds. Every condi builds inevitably take advantage of all stats that Celestial has to offer. A power increase is a increase to your condi build's DPS too. Not to mention the scaling effects of Utilty items and odd condi builds like Condi Virtuoso proccing a bleed stack based on critical hit, thus synergizing with the precision stat.

[@Laranity]

Celestial is just kinda awesome, isn't it?

[@Vavume]

You never mentioned the jade bot method to obtain trinkets, slot the junk recycler to obtain jade slivers, trade them for season 4 map currency, buy season 4 trinkets. Also eternal ice from strikes/Bjora to season 4 currency and some WvW/PvP reward tracks offer season 3/4 currency too.

[@joshsteiner5736]

How do you get Daily log ins? Only way I get laurels is wizards tower. But all the videos talk about daily log ins.. I've looked and looked and can't find it. Was it removed or am I just blind?

[@IYetiI]

Daily's were removed with September patch, no easy laurels

[@gamithemighty5932]

Sie note, You DO NOT NEED to RE LEVEL Your CRAFTING Skills VIA Multiple Characters, once your have MAXed out a Crafting Proffesion on one character, you can usually switch to another Crafting Proffession for ingame gold, and be able to keep your old professions progress while on that cahracter. your progress on each proffesion will be saved based on which chracter you arer playing, so if your warrior is a weapon master and a Armor Master all you have to do is switch one of those professions to another crafting profession and you will be able to keep the progress on both of those crafting professions.

[@GarredHATES]

Thank you for making this! Just hit 80 today.

[@KalleKralle]

Hey nice Guide! What weappons should i buy tho?

[@NeinDao]

2:25 on what wiki page? im looking at the wiki and i cant find the window you show

[@PetrSUsername]

One thing about backpiece I would mention: if you can't get ascended, you can get 78 exotic from crafting. It is super easy to do, costs 70s, and exotic 80 vs 78 stat difference is super small, while 80 exotic vs 80 ascended is almost double its stats = skip 80 exotic backpiece. :)

[@jaimecornejo5674]

what a nice guide

[@gmoddude12]

if gear never gets better like in most mmos then what happens when a new expansion drops ? do we just get different gear with equal stat amounts or do new expansions just not bring any new gear ? that would seem a bit boring if i never have to level up and upgrade my gear on a new xpac

[@ArmisHart]

I wish more than just Verdant Brink existed... You get 1 chance per day since there's quite a few hours inbetween each Night cycle and you have to wait til people are actually active and getting it to T4. Chances are low. and I didnt get the chest the first time despite it being t4

[@akskajd7138]

i got my whole ascended set from fractals, weapons from dragonfall meta box (have to be lucky)

[@sohu86x]

Nice guide! May I ask what accent you are speaking in?

[@carleyburr]

Are the daily login rewards gone now? I haven’t played in a couple years but I’ve been playing the last week and I forgot that was a thing until I saw it here. Did the battle pass type thing replace it? If so, where can I get laurels?

[@villere808]

The weekly chest from that gives u 10 laurels

[@rikkatakanashi727]

"a crack in the ice will give access to bitter frost frontier" - shows footage of bjora lmao ❤

[@Laranity]

Hahaha, completely missed that in editing. They look very similar!!

[@Noel_Tamura]

Is there a way to get good weapons without having to craft? I absolutely loathe crafting in mmos

[@Cashcash08]

where can i buy the amulet ones? it seems that the factal vendor is not selling em

[@Ilandria.]

If my math is correct that's about 75 days to get all of the discounted Laurel accessories per spec per character... I'm guessing the other methods are much faster from a calendar days perspective, but take more in-game time.

[@Blieugab]

Raids and strike, but not fractals?

[@evertonantunes8590]

Why is there like, a thousand different currencies and everything needs a vendor?! Jesus Christ, I already have a job to keep track of

[@ninjacuttingonions5861]

​@@kevinprosper8401 Sir, this is a video about a video game.

[@evertonantunes8590]

@@kevinprosper8401 Sorry, I don't speak brainwashed

[@sohu86x]

​@@kevinprosper8401F off with your Jesus. Also f Jesus

[@joeyg2478]

@@kevinprosper8401Psycho.

[@Mistasavag3]

@@kevinprosper8401have you ever considered not playing mmos?

[@ganjalord42]

thx for the info

[@ganjalord42]

Since you seems to know the game alot , i was wondering waths are the ways to get laurel , and is there something i can buy in the endgames with karma i have like 250k

[@LuNaTiC9oNe]

not me looking at how to gear like i have choosen a class to main xD all the classes are fun!

[@fitnerdy90]

How up-to-date is this guide!? Wanting to get back in with secrets and my friend is starting from scratch. She needs Viper's.

[@Laranity]

Very! However, a cool new option not in this video is buying ascended armor and weapons in the new Wizard’s Vault

[@fitnerdy90]

@@Laranity oooo Tyty. Is there a resource about this wizards vault I can check out?

[@old-school3805]

​@@fitnerdy90yeah, Google

[@gamithemighty5932]

the entire bladed gear set looks like you either just got back from a "mad Max" convention, or your just a very big fan of the SAW films.

[@exeedorbit]

How is she gathering winter berries so quickly?

[@sirsenduball9657]

I am doing free to play. Can i get exotic armors?