Obsidian Armor - Guild Wars Forums

Pugs Not Drugs · Jun 16, 2009, 10:47 PM // 22:47

I have a few questions about obsidian armor. How in the world do people save enough for it? I have about 500 hours over 2 years on my account and have been nowhere near it. I think ive made maybe 500k in the time ive played. I did little farming, mostly playing through the game, but i see everyone with it dyed black, chaos gloves, and a black voltaic and tormented shield. How long does it take to save up that much? Does power trading really net that much money? Just a few questions that i had.

NOTE This is not a QQ im poor thread. I'm just wondering how people can afford things that expensive.

Loki Seiguro · Jun 16, 2009, 10:54 PM // 22:54

Farming and luck.

Some things just take a while.

aoeclald · Jun 16, 2009, 11:30 PM // 23:30

In the old days of Prophecies-only, ectos were a lot easier to farm for (as I am aware and what I've been told, not entirely sure on this), and multiple gimmick farming builds along the times that people have taken advantage of before they were whacked with the nerf hammer (namely Perma Sins). Most of the people you see wearing them are monks for a reason, because monks are some of the best money makers in this game.

I am saving up for obby myself at the moment, and have played for 3 years but only recently have decided to save up. Through title hunting, farming when bored, and just general progression in the game (along with salvaging, IDing and taking the time to sell in Kamadan rather than straight-up merchant-ing) I have made most of my funds in less than a month. If you put all other wants and desires out of the way, and make obsidian a goal, you too could and would be surprised how fast you can get it.

Remember, it's not the amount of time you've played, but how you play it.

FengShuiDove · Jun 16, 2009, 11:34 PM // 23:34

Farm one stack of ectos. Keep the ones you need for the armor, sell the others, buy the shards and wiiiiiiiiiiiin. Farming the ectos should be easy, almost every profession has a reliable ecto farm one way or another.

crazybanshee · Jun 16, 2009, 11:40 PM // 23:40

I basically farmed the materials and made mine. If you don't have to buy them, then it doesn't really cost you much.

Broni · Jun 16, 2009, 11:44 PM // 23:44

When I had Obsidian Armor on my Ranger (I say was because that account got hacked and everything got deleted), it really wasn't hard to make yourself a small fortune. Weapons like the Sephis Axe could net you more than enough for Obsidian Armor alone with the right stats. I actually got a perfect Sephis Axe drop from a chest run and made a ridiculous amount from selling it. I was offered the exact same axe with the same stats a couple of weeks ago and I was shocked when I asked him the price for it. Farming things like Ettins, Trolls etc could easily get you a nice amount of money too.

It just requires patience, eventually you'll get there and if you get a lucky break, you might just get a few nice items along the way. Just farm the UW for the ectos, buy zkeys with Balth faction and sell them, get a few nice spots to farm in and go there every once in a while.

dilan155 · Jun 16, 2009, 11:52 PM // 23:52

farming mostly, people farm like crazy nowadays because most have nothing else to do. haven't you seen the number of people who have that exact stuff you said in Kamadan, practically every monk is. some poeple do power trade, but thats not a steady income, you kind of have a hit or miss situation, farming on the other hand is a constant, although less rewarding than powertrading. also back in the day there were so many ways you could make money, you could farm ectos with 55 monk, you could sell old req 8,7 stuff etc. now a days all that farming is ruined by loot balancing

Kerwyn Nasilan · Jun 17, 2009, 12:12 AM // 00:12

Abuse OP farms, I made my whole set in a week of the easy SF Perma Chaos Plains farm, back when it was about 10 ectos for a 20 min farm.

Helix Dreadlock · Jun 17, 2009, 12:28 AM // 00:28

Some people use bots, or buy their money. (illegal ways)
Some people have no life and farm, some people powertrade, or spend random time doing small farms over year's worth times, or just only buy necessities and dont blow off your cash. (legal ways)

Wyndy · Jun 17, 2009, 12:34 AM // 00:34

I farmed FOW for the shards and got lucky with a chest drop in Kathandrax for an emerald blade. Sold the blade for enough ecto to get the armor and used the rest to buy what shards i didnt have yet. So a lucky drop will get you a long way, otherwise, get to know FOW and UW VERY well. I never considered it farming, just doing those places over and over.

LicensedLuny · Jun 17, 2009, 12:37 AM // 00:37

500 hrs over 2 years is about 5 hours a week - seems more like a casual, once-in-a-while kind of playstyle. There are a lot of people that play far more frequently, and they're probably the ones you're seeing.

Power trading can net you a lot more than what you need to get expensive armor, but it requires you spend time learning and keeping up-to-date on prices and demand. Some (maybe most) people hate trading and will do almost anything to avoid it. But if you get into it, it can become like a whole new game. Most of the successful traders I know do it for the enjoyment of that part of the game - the accumulation of money seems more like a bonus for them than their primary goal.

Similarly, some people genuinely enjoy farming. It's a game, and there are lots of ways to play. If you find a way to have fun playing that also builds up lots of money, all the better.

In the later campaigns and now with the zQuests, it seems easier than ever to pile up cash just from merching drops and getting quest rewards.

Megas XLR · Jun 17, 2009, 12:39 AM // 00:39

I spent 2 weeks farming golds from Vaettirs outside of Longeye's when golds were 7/6k and Ectos only cost around 3k.

Tar Ionwe · Jun 17, 2009, 12:46 AM // 00:46

Power trading is a way to go but it can require a bit of money in the first place to start doing it. Also it is a bit harder with the market how it is, but it can still be done. Start out with cheaper things till you can afford to start trading higher items of course.
Another thing is just to farm, 55 monking is an easy way to make some money. Also keep up with the hot farming spots, (before they are nerfed

). Another good way is to farm the items being collected for the Traveler gifts. Alot of people buying those items so there is alot of gold to be made.

Thor Tyr · Jun 17, 2009, 01:08 AM // 01:08

yeah man you jsut need to play more in 41months i have played for 3,219 hours and have 2 sets of FoW with another stack of ectos saved up altho making money like 2 years ago was alot easier greens and items that are worth 5K now were worth 30-100K back then

TheRaven · Jun 17, 2009, 02:40 AM // 02:40

I've played for 2 and a half years and I have more than enough money to buy 2 sets of Obsidian armor. Personally, I think it's ugly and I like the armor my main chars are wearing a lot better.

Farming is the way to make a lot of cash fast....or power trading but you really need to know what you're doing to power trade and I think it's boring to stand around town for hours trading.

I rarely farm. I just play the game. I don't spend a lot of gold on frivolous stuff. Most of what i've earned I've saved. I enjoy doing the elite areas with friends or pugs and I pick up every drop. I've noticed that many folks leave the white and blue drops. You'd be surprised how quickly the merch money from that junk adds up. I merch almost everything. I can't be bothered to sell to players. That just takes time that could be better spent playing.

Along the way I've found about 6 or 7 really NICE drops. I'm talking about stuff worth over 100k. 6 or 7 isn't many among the 1000s of drops I've collected, but that's all it took to make a million. Heck, 2 of them weren't even drops. I bought a mini grawl off an auction site for 5k and resold for more. I got lucky once and the local Barnes and Noble put the mini Asuran mag on the shelf 2 weeks before they should. I sold that ingame for quite a bit of cash.

I'm not a farmer. I'm not a power trader. I'm not a PvP Elite player with loads of titles. I'm just a regular player going thru the campaigns, vanquishing and exploring dungeons. If I can do it, you can do it.

Dont Nerf The Perma · Jun 17, 2009, 02:48 AM // 02:48

500 hours? sorry but your going to have to be a little more crazed and obsessed with GW before you make an obby set. i've been playing for about a year and i've logged 1,400 hours. but congrats, unlike me you have a life

Hyper.nl · Jun 17, 2009, 07:26 AM // 07:26

I've played GW for 2000+ hours and for a long time did not bother about the expensive FoW armor. Only when I already got many other things I decided to give it a go. Without any farming here.

I did however spent a long time hunting titles and while doing that I always grabbed all the white items to sell. They may seem to be useless but over a long time it counts up.

Tip 1: Control your trading. Take the time to find the right price. As buyer you're the one in power. Find the lowest prices.

Tip 2: Set priorities. You may want to get elite armor, runes and some excellent weapons before bothering to get obsidian. If you go for obsidian, don't waste money on other things. Sell golds as unidentified. Sell lockpicks to players. Sell elite tomes. Be at festivals to collect presents. Don't stand in the rings to waste money. Sell the party items. You cannot work on everything at once.

Tip 3: Have a long breathe.

Pleikki · Jun 17, 2009, 08:54 AM // 08:54

If you're lucky and you farm you can get with one lucky drop obsidians, if youre good power trader and have money to trade with you can easyly make obsidian armor monies with one trade..

KoKoS · Jun 17, 2009, 10:44 AM // 10:44

buy online gold and don't tell anyone

lol jk ;P

The forth fly · Jun 17, 2009, 11:27 AM // 11:27

you missed out on the super easy Chaos Plains farm 1 sack of ecto took me 18 hours max to get,now id would do the dungeon SoO,farm a bds or do UW/Fow SC and hope for a e-blade or obi edge

Jun 16, 2009, 10:47 PM // 22:47	#1
Pugs Not Drugs Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jun 2009	Obsidian Armor I have a few questions about obsidian armor. How in the world do people save enough for it? I have about 500 hours over 2 years on my account and have been nowhere near it. I think ive made maybe 500k in the time ive played. I did little farming, mostly playing through the game, but i see everyone with it dyed black, chaos gloves, and a black voltaic and tormented shield. How long does it take to save up that much? Does power trading really net that much money? Just a few questions that i had. NOTE This is not a QQ im poor thread. I'm just wondering how people can afford things that expensive.

Jun 17, 2009, 01:08 AM // 01:08	#14
Thor Tyr Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Mar 2006 Guild: Spartan Red Team [SRT] Profession: Mo/A	yeah man you jsut need to play more in 41months i have played for 3,219 hours and have 2 sets of FoW with another stack of ectos saved up altho making money like 2 years ago was alot easier greens and items that are worth 5K now were worth 30-100K back then Last edited by Thor Tyr; Jun 17, 2009 at 01:15 AM // 01:15..

Jun 16, 2009, 10:54 PM // 22:54	#2
Loki Seiguro Desert Nomad Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: IGN: Scarlet Test Ace Guild: We play Isketch in [HoH] Profession: E/	Farming and luck. Some things just take a while.

Jun 16, 2009, 11:30 PM // 23:30	#3
aoeclald Academy Page Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: United States Guild: Pillars of the Earth [ROCK] Profession: E/	In the old days of Prophecies-only, ectos were a lot easier to farm for (as I am aware and what I've been told, not entirely sure on this), and multiple gimmick farming builds along the times that people have taken advantage of before they were whacked with the nerf hammer (namely Perma Sins). Most of the people you see wearing them are monks for a reason, because monks are some of the best money makers in this game. I am saving up for obby myself at the moment, and have played for 3 years but only recently have decided to save up. Through title hunting, farming when bored, and just general progression in the game (along with salvaging, IDing and taking the time to sell in Kamadan rather than straight-up merchant-ing) I have made most of my funds in less than a month. If you put all other wants and desires out of the way, and make obsidian a goal, you too could and would be surprised how fast you can get it. Remember, it's not the amount of time you've played, but how you play it.

Jun 16, 2009, 11:34 PM // 23:34	#4
FengShuiDove Forge Runner Join Date: Sep 2007 Guild: Trinity of the Ascended [ToA] Profession: A/	Farm one stack of ectos. Keep the ones you need for the armor, sell the others, buy the shards and wiiiiiiiiiiiin. Farming the ectos should be easy, almost every profession has a reliable ecto farm one way or another.

Jun 16, 2009, 11:40 PM // 23:40	#5
crazybanshee Desert Nomad Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Look out! Profession: E/	I basically farmed the materials and made mine. If you don't have to buy them, then it doesn't really cost you much.

Jun 16, 2009, 11:44 PM // 23:44	#6
Broni Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2009 Profession: W/Rt	When I had Obsidian Armor on my Ranger (I say was because that account got hacked and everything got deleted), it really wasn't hard to make yourself a small fortune. Weapons like the Sephis Axe could net you more than enough for Obsidian Armor alone with the right stats. I actually got a perfect Sephis Axe drop from a chest run and made a ridiculous amount from selling it. I was offered the exact same axe with the same stats a couple of weeks ago and I was shocked when I asked him the price for it. Farming things like Ettins, Trolls etc could easily get you a nice amount of money too. It just requires patience, eventually you'll get there and if you get a lucky break, you might just get a few nice items along the way. Just farm the UW for the ectos, buy zkeys with Balth faction and sell them, get a few nice spots to farm in and go there every once in a while.

Jun 16, 2009, 11:52 PM // 23:52	#7
dilan155 Desert Nomad Join Date: May 2007 Location: living room Profession: N/	farming mostly, people farm like crazy nowadays because most have nothing else to do. haven't you seen the number of people who have that exact stuff you said in Kamadan, practically every monk is. some poeple do power trade, but thats not a steady income, you kind of have a hit or miss situation, farming on the other hand is a constant, although less rewarding than powertrading. also back in the day there were so many ways you could make money, you could farm ectos with 55 monk, you could sell old req 8,7 stuff etc. now a days all that farming is ruined by loot balancing

Jun 17, 2009, 12:12 AM // 00:12	#8
Kerwyn Nasilan Forge Runner Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: WHERE DO YOU THINK Profession: W/	Abuse OP farms, I made my whole set in a week of the easy SF Perma Chaos Plains farm, back when it was about 10 ectos for a 20 min farm.

Jun 17, 2009, 12:28 AM // 00:28	#9
Helix Dreadlock Jungle Guide Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Imperial Sanctum Guild: Legendary Drunken Masters [DUI] Profession: E/Me	Some people use bots, or buy their money. (illegal ways) Some people have no life and farm, some people powertrade, or spend random time doing small farms over year's worth times, or just only buy necessities and dont blow off your cash. (legal ways)

Jun 17, 2009, 12:34 AM // 00:34	#10
Wyndy Krytan Explorer Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: in the know Guild: Chronic Chaos Profession: N/Me	I farmed FOW for the shards and got lucky with a chest drop in Kathandrax for an emerald blade. Sold the blade for enough ecto to get the armor and used the rest to buy what shards i didnt have yet. So a lucky drop will get you a long way, otherwise, get to know FOW and UW VERY well. I never considered it farming, just doing those places over and over.

Jun 17, 2009, 12:37 AM // 00:37	#11
LicensedLuny Badly Influenced Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Buying Humps! (No kidding! Check my buy thread) Guild: Hello Kitty Krewe [HKK] Forever!-ish	500 hrs over 2 years is about 5 hours a week - seems more like a casual, once-in-a-while kind of playstyle. There are a lot of people that play far more frequently, and they're probably the ones you're seeing. Power trading can net you a lot more than what you need to get expensive armor, but it requires you spend time learning and keeping up-to-date on prices and demand. Some (maybe most) people hate trading and will do almost anything to avoid it. But if you get into it, it can become like a whole new game. Most of the successful traders I know do it for the enjoyment of that part of the game - the accumulation of money seems more like a bonus for them than their primary goal. Similarly, some people genuinely enjoy farming. It's a game, and there are lots of ways to play. If you find a way to have fun playing that also builds up lots of money, all the better. In the later campaigns and now with the zQuests, it seems easier than ever to pile up cash just from merching drops and getting quest rewards.

Jun 17, 2009, 12:39 AM // 00:39	#12
Megas XLR Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Jan 2009 Profession: D/W	I spent 2 weeks farming golds from Vaettirs outside of Longeye's when golds were 7/6k and Ectos only cost around 3k.

Jun 17, 2009, 12:46 AM // 00:46	#13
Tar Ionwe Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Cantha Profession: W/E	Power trading is a way to go but it can require a bit of money in the first place to start doing it. Also it is a bit harder with the market how it is, but it can still be done. Start out with cheaper things till you can afford to start trading higher items of course. Another thing is just to farm, 55 monking is an easy way to make some money. Also keep up with the hot farming spots, (before they are nerfed ). Another good way is to farm the items being collected for the Traveler gifts. Alot of people buying those items so there is alot of gold to be made.

Jun 17, 2009, 02:40 AM // 02:40	#15
TheRaven Desert Nomad Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Virginia Guild: Spirit of Elisha Profession: W/	I've played for 2 and a half years and I have more than enough money to buy 2 sets of Obsidian armor. Personally, I think it's ugly and I like the armor my main chars are wearing a lot better. Farming is the way to make a lot of cash fast....or power trading but you really need to know what you're doing to power trade and I think it's boring to stand around town for hours trading. I rarely farm. I just play the game. I don't spend a lot of gold on frivolous stuff. Most of what i've earned I've saved. I enjoy doing the elite areas with friends or pugs and I pick up every drop. I've noticed that many folks leave the white and blue drops. You'd be surprised how quickly the merch money from that junk adds up. I merch almost everything. I can't be bothered to sell to players. That just takes time that could be better spent playing. Along the way I've found about 6 or 7 really NICE drops. I'm talking about stuff worth over 100k. 6 or 7 isn't many among the 1000s of drops I've collected, but that's all it took to make a million. Heck, 2 of them weren't even drops. I bought a mini grawl off an auction site for 5k and resold for more. I got lucky once and the local Barnes and Noble put the mini Asuran mag on the shelf 2 weeks before they should. I sold that ingame for quite a bit of cash. I'm not a farmer. I'm not a power trader. I'm not a PvP Elite player with loads of titles. I'm just a regular player going thru the campaigns, vanquishing and exploring dungeons. If I can do it, you can do it.

Jun 17, 2009, 02:48 AM // 02:48	#16
Dont Nerf The Perma Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Jun 2009 Profession: A/D	500 hours? sorry but your going to have to be a little more crazed and obsessed with GW before you make an obby set. i've been playing for about a year and i've logged 1,400 hours. but congrats, unlike me you have a life

Jun 17, 2009, 07:26 AM // 07:26	#17
Hyper.nl Desert Nomad Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Defending Fort Aspenwood Profession: E/	I've played GW for 2000+ hours and for a long time did not bother about the expensive FoW armor. Only when I already got many other things I decided to give it a go. Without any farming here. I did however spent a long time hunting titles and while doing that I always grabbed all the white items to sell. They may seem to be useless but over a long time it counts up. Tip 1: Control your trading. Take the time to find the right price. As buyer you're the one in power. Find the lowest prices. Tip 2: Set priorities. You may want to get elite armor, runes and some excellent weapons before bothering to get obsidian. If you go for obsidian, don't waste money on other things. Sell golds as unidentified. Sell lockpicks to players. Sell elite tomes. Be at festivals to collect presents. Don't stand in the rings to waste money. Sell the party items. You cannot work on everything at once. Tip 3: Have a long breathe.

Jun 17, 2009, 08:54 AM // 08:54	#18
Pleikki WTB q8 15^50 Weapons! Join Date: Nov 2006 Guild: ???oo ???ugs ???lan [?????????]	If you're lucky and you farm you can get with one lucky drop obsidians, if youre good power trader and have money to trade with you can easyly make obsidian armor monies with one trade..

Jun 17, 2009, 10:44 AM // 10:44	#19
KoKoS Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: aBove Empress Amarox xP Guild: KDT Profession: Mo/E	buy online gold and don't tell anyone lol jk ;P

Jun 17, 2009, 11:27 AM // 11:27	#20
The forth fly Krytan Explorer Join Date: May 2008 Location: england Profession: Mo/	you missed out on the super easy Chaos Plains farm 1 sack of ecto took me 18 hours max to get,now id would do the dungeon SoO,farm a bds or do UW/Fow SC and hope for a e-blade or obi edge