New Husband-Wife duo with questions - Page 4 - Guild Wars Forums

Drakar Shadowbane · Sep 23, 2011, 01:49 PM // 13:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by synbios_kun

One problem though - the majority(all, I think?) of collector armors don't have insignia slots, which provide a secondary major bonus as well if you have the money.

Actually, all collector armors except for the ones that have max armor rateing have insignia slots.

RegnorVex · Sep 23, 2011, 02:46 PM // 14:46

Hmm, so it's a tradeoff between getting max armor or getting insignia slots? And of course the answer to "which is more important" is: "depends".

Drakar Shadowbane · Sep 23, 2011, 03:07 PM // 15:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by RegnorVex

Hmm, so it's a tradeoff between getting max armor or getting insignia slots? And of course the answer to "which is more important" is: "depends".

Any armor includeing max armor rateing armor made by the armor crafters will have insignia slots, it's only the max armor rateing armor gotten from collectors that don't have insignia slots.

Quaker · Sep 23, 2011, 03:08 PM // 15:08

They are only talking about "collector" armor, the armour you get from "armor crafters" (the NPCs with [armor] after their name) always has a slot for a Rune and an Insignia.
Another note about "max" armor - once you get to L.A., you can directly travel to Kaineng Center (Factions) or Boreal Station (EotN) to get max armor, or you can go to Nightfall and get max armor at Consulate Docks, after a few small quests.
Once you have max level armor, you can get many different looking armors throughout the game, but they all have the same stats.

Another thing to note. Progress through the game is done by doing "primary quests" and Missions. Any quests you have that are not listed in you quest log (L) under Primary Quests, are optional and don't progress you through the game. If you don't have a primary quest, then you probably need to do a mission.

Another note - the scenery changes many times throughout the game. The next area you will get to will be snowy and mountainous, then comes the green scenery in Kryta (L.A., etc), then more jungle-like (Maguuma), then a desert, more mountains, and then the fire islands.

Mouse at Large · Sep 23, 2011, 03:18 PM // 15:18

Insignia slots give you more flexibility for changing armour stats, as do runes. Here is a place to start researching http://www.guildwiki.org/Armor_types

Also, I forgot to mention green items (the vast majority of which have max stats and are req 9 in a particular attribute) which can be obtained fron certain bosses. As opposed to some games where boss drops are the most sought after, in GW, a lot of green items can be picked up for virtually nothing via trading

BrettM · Sep 23, 2011, 03:46 PM // 15:46

I generally find collector armor to be more trouble than it's worth, except for the set in Pre-Searing. It can take a very long time to get all the pieces, and the most important piece generally requires trophies with a very low drop rate given to a collector in an out-of-the-way, dangerous location. This leaves you facing areas like the Diessa Lowlands wearing sub-par chest armor until you can manage to kill enough hydras to get four leathery claws. That ain't easy when your character is at a low level, in sub-par armor, working with a team of loot-grabbing henchies!

Furthermore, collector armor is usually no better than the crafter armor available in an area, and may be inferior. Corwen in Ascalon City will craft armor with ratings of 50/40/30 (heavy, medium, light), which is the same rating as armor crafted in Yak's Bend and LA. Collector armor in Ascalon has ratings of 41/31/21, so you will need to start collecting all over again in the Northern Shiverpeaks to get armor rated 47/37/27, which is still inferior to what Corwen crafts. A crafted set from Corwen is a pretty good investment, since you won't outlevel it until you're nearly to the Maguuma Jungle.

For characters made in other campaigns, you will normally want to get out of the starter armor as soon as possible (buy a set in Shing Jea or Kamadan), and then maybe buy one intermediate set (Seitung Harbor or Black Tide Den) before reaching an area where max armor is available.

Frangeo Munda · Sep 24, 2011, 05:01 AM // 05:01

saw you in game today @ yak's bend (Portable Healy Unit). Think you were AFK or had local off. Q.Q o well....

Hope everything's going well!

RegnorVex · Sep 24, 2011, 06:07 AM // 06:07

Hi! Yes we made it to Yak's bend after doing the mission at Nolani Academy. We updated our armor, picked up some quests and promptly went AFK. Sorry we missed you, off to bed now; will see you tomorrow

Ritchiebaxter · Sep 24, 2011, 07:43 AM // 07:43

Here is my simple tips for you.
Buy a few skill caps from skill trainers. Before exploring a new area or do a mission, check on wiki to see if any bosses use an elite skill are in the area/mission your about to do. I would say just get all elite skill anyway.
If you have all campains (Nightfall, factions, Eye off the North) travel to Lions Arch and do the quest to access them. Heros will help you out a lot in this game so travel to EoN and pick 2 off them up. Also there is a quest in L.A that is for Ollias Necro hero. Once you have him, make him a Minion Master build. Can find builds for all heros on pvx.http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page.
Fastest way to get Max armour is to buy it from Kiang Centre, Factions campaign. You can buy better looking armour later in the game if so please. Also buy your self a 50+hp rune from other players for your armour. 20K is expensive for a newbie but you only need to buy it once. (best place 50hp rune on hands)
Once you have done all off the above you can continue on your main campaign with ease.

Star_Jewel · Sep 24, 2011, 08:07 AM // 08:07

My simple follow-up tips would be:
1. Never use a wiki with the word "Wikia" in it -- those were abandoned long ago and are vulnerable to vandalism. The new PvX is www.gwpvx.com
2. If you're new, 20k for a Superior Vigor (50 HP) rune is ridiculous. Major Vigor (41 HP) for ~5k will do you fine -- you'll hardly miss the extra 9 hitpoints. If you get into farming with specialized builds and speedclears where every HP makes a difference, by then you'll be able to afford the expensive rune.
Alternatively, a poor newbie could just create a temp character in Nightfall and do a couple of quests to get a free Minor Vigor.

BladeDVD · Sep 24, 2011, 08:33 AM // 08:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ritchiebaxter

Here is my simple tips for you.
Buy a few skill caps from skill trainers. Before exploring a new area or do a mission, check on wiki to see if any bosses use an elite skill are in the area/mission your about to do. I would say just get all elite skill anyway.

If you (the original poster and his wife) are going to do the campaigns in order, then just keep in mind that you won't see signets of capture (which have no attribute and will be at the bottom of a skill trainer's list of available skills) until you get to Lion's Arch (which is 2 missions and a few quests away from Yaks). Also, while you can use them to cap normal skills from a boss, the real reason to use them is for elite skills and the bosses in Prophecies won't start sporting elite skills until you get to the dessert (which is about 8 or so missions away from where you are), so I wouldn't waste limited funds on them just yet.

Quote:

If you have all campains (Nightfall, factions, Eye off the North) travel to Lions Arch and do the quest to access them. Heros will help you out a lot in this game so travel to EoN and pick 2 off them up. Also there is a quest in L.A that is for Ollias Necro hero. Once you have him, make him a Minion Master build. Can find builds for all heros on pvx.http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page.

Heroes really are great but they are a bit limited until you can unlock some skills for them through regular play, skill quests, hero skill trainers or simply buying them.
And as noted, you want to go to the current version of PVX's site: http://www.gwpvx.com/PvX_wiki

Quote:

Fastest way to get Max armour is to buy it from Kiang Centre, Factions campaign. You can buy better looking armour later in the game if so please. Also buy your self a 50+hp rune from other players for your armour. 20K is expensive for a newbie but you only need to buy it once. (best place 50hp rune on hands)
Once you have done all off the above you can continue on your main campaign with ease.

If you keep following the story line, I wouldn't worry about vigor runes unless you take Star Jewel's advice. Superior/major vigors are overkill for the foes you're fighting, and the greater peril will help point out weaknesses in your skill bars/tactics more quickly helping you to learn the game better. Save the shortcuts for the next character you create, or if you start to get bored with the pace of the first game (which can feel a bit slow).

Good luck and have fun.

Ritchiebaxter, why the hands? I put mine on chest pieces mostly, but that's just personal preference. Except for the head piece runes I don't really think it matters where you put runes unless you will be switching armor a lot while playing, and even then it's more about personal preference and consistency for simplicities sake as far as I know.

gremlin · Sep 24, 2011, 09:24 AM // 09:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by RegnorVex

Hi! Yes we made it to Yak's bend after doing the mission at Nolani Academy. We updated our armor, picked up some quests and promptly went AFK. Sorry we missed you, off to bed now; will see you tomorrow

Congrats on getting to Yaks Bend.

I would suggest at this point that you not take Multiple quests here, take a quest do it then take another.

5 years ago I came unstuck just here as I thought I would be clever and take every quest before moving on.
It wasn't pretty

BrettM · Sep 24, 2011, 09:52 AM // 09:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by BladeDVD

Ritchiebaxter, why the hands? I put mine on chest pieces mostly, but that's just personal preference. Except for the head piece runes I don't really think it matters where you put runes unless you will be switching armor a lot while playing, and even then it's more about personal preference and consistency for simplicities sake as far as I know.

I would say it's a good idea to develop a consistent pattern that allows for armor switching if you ever find a need for it. In that case, the hands are a poor choice for the vigor rune, because gloves are one of the cheapest pieces to swap. Most of my characters never need to swap anything but the headpiece with the setup I use, but some end up with spare gloves with different minor attribute runes. (Following a pattern makes it easier to keep track as you rune up different heroes, as well, since a new player can rarely afford full sets of insignia and runes at once when acquiring a new hero.)

My own pattern, for whatever it may be worth:

[Insignia] headpiece [Minor/Major/Superior attribute]
[Insignia] chest [Minor professional attribute]
[Insignia/Alt] gloves [Minor alt attribute/other]
[Insignia] pants [Best affordable Vigor]
[Insignia] boots [Vitae/attunement/other]

[Insignia] is your insignia of choice, and I won't get into the endless debate here of Survivor vs. Radiant vs. armor-enhancing. If the character is a warrior with a knockdown skill, use a Stonefist insignia on the gloves. If the character is a necromancer using corpse exploitation skills, use a Bloodstained insignia on the gloves. You only need one such insignia on a set of armor, and the gloves are the least likely place to take a hit in combat.

All characters should have a minor rune of their professional attribute [Divine Favor, Energy Storage, Fast Casting, Strength, etc.] somewhere on their armor. I usually place this on the chest. If you sometimes use a headset of this attribute, having the extra minor won't hurt anything.

Many professions have a third attribute that it is useful to boost. For example, a Domination or Illusion mesmer will always use some Inspiration Magic skills for energy management. A Marksmanship ranger will often use a Wilderness Survival skill or two. It is worth having a minor rune of this attribute somewhere, which I like to put on the gloves. If there is no third attribute you want to boost, go with a Vitae or Attunement. Or, in the case of a warrior, perhaps a Superior Absorption.

Boots are usually Vitae or Attunement. For a martial profession, a Rune of Clarity is a good alternative here, reducing the duration of Blindness.

That leaves the pants, and it just tickles me to cover my butt with a Vigor rune.

Just one man's humble opinion.

Ritchiebaxter · Sep 24, 2011, 03:36 PM // 15:36

You dont use Survivor Insgnie and Radiant Insignia on your legs or chest???
Your not taking advantage off the bonus 3 energy or 15 Hp from these runes then.
Survivor Insgnie are 15 hp on chest 10 hp on legs or 5 hp anywhere else. So place them where you get the most from the rune. Thats why I have the 50hp on my chaos gloves. Survivor on legs and chest for my warrior.
My advice is good, you baddies :P

Sorry for giving wrong pvx link, its been a while ive not been to pvx.

Star_Jewel · Sep 24, 2011, 04:29 PM // 16:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ritchiebaxter

You dont use Survivor Insgnie and Radiant Insignia on your legs or chest???
Your not taking advantage off the bonus 3 energy or 15 Hp from these runes then.
Survivor Insgnie are 15 hp on chest 10 hp on legs or 5 hp anywhere else. So place them where you get the most from the rune. Thats why I have the 50hp on my chaos gloves. Survivor on legs and chest for my warrior.
My advice is good, you baddies :P

I think you're confusing runes and insignias, here (you can have one of each on each armor piece).

Yes, for Survivor and Radiant Insignias, it matters which pieces you put them on (but it could be argued that since you get hit on your chest a lot, you might want to put a +Armor insignia there instead; that's what BrettM didn't want to get into -- I don't either).

But there is no bonus to runes, based on armor piece. The only time it matters is on heroes, whose headpiece automatically inherits +1 from the attribute rune put there. And it just makes sense for a player to put matching attribute runes on headpieces for easy switching. Other than that, the actual effects aren't impacted in any way. An attunement will give you +2 energy, no matter where. No matter where you put them, Vitae will give you +10 HP, Minor Vigor will give you +30, Major Vigor will give you +41, Superior Vigor will give you +50.

RegnorVex · Sep 24, 2011, 05:17 PM // 17:17

A lot of good specific data here but it's all a bit overwhelming to me and i'm having trouble getting my head around the whole conceptual framework for armor and weapon crafting. I'll probably just continue to experiment with identification, salvaging, crafting pieces of armor and, after getting some experience with the system in practice, come back here and read this thread again and I'm sure it will make sense then.

Last night after I got to Yak's End I found some armor pieces on the vendor that were an improvement over the starter junk I've been wearing. I'd accumulated a ton of salvaging materials and crafting materials, so I just started identifying things, salvaging for iron ingots and bolts of cloth (what seemed to be needed most for our two profession armors). Then I found items that, after identification, had prefixes and/or suffixes, and used my expert kit on those. I wound up with some sword hilts and pommells, and some other oddities. Not sure what to do with those now.

If I understand correctly, I'm only to use my expert salvaging kit on items that have been id'd to have prefixes or suffixes, and just use the regular salvage kit on other items, including epic purples?

How can you tell if a given piece of armor has "slots" for insignias or runes? Don't think I saw anythiing that made that obvious on the vendor items.

Also, I notice several different sets of armor for my Monk, all having the same stats and I assume these are the variations discussed that just look different. Given how much these cost, I'm hesitant to just spend and compare, I assume there's a link somewhere in the wikis for armor types so I can decided in advance. I got the standard "Monk" armor set and, frankly, don't like it. But hell if I'm going to re-buy the whole set now, I'll wait till I can get the max armor later.

Ritchiebaxter · Sep 24, 2011, 05:58 PM // 17:58

Ok I have add you in my friends list and will PM you to see what help you need. Will PM you next time your on-line. Would be a refreshing change to take my head out of pvp for a change. Even after 5 yrs playing this game I am still learning little things now and again. You have a lot to learn and it may seem overwhelming at first but in time you will understand most things.

CE Devilman · Sep 24, 2011, 06:11 PM // 18:11

mix and dye U armor parts as U like.

gremlin · Sep 24, 2011, 06:16 PM // 18:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by RegnorVex

A lot of good specific data here but it's all a bit overwhelming to me and i'm having trouble getting my head around the whole conceptual framework for armor and weapon crafting. I'll probably just continue to experiment with identification, salvaging, crafting pieces of armor and, after getting some experience with the system in practice, come back here and read this thread again and I'm sure it will make sense then.

Last night after I got to Yak's End I found some armor pieces on the vendor that were an improvement over the starter junk I've been wearing. I'd accumulated a ton of salvaging materials and crafting materials, so I just started identifying things, salvaging for iron ingots and bolts of cloth (what seemed to be needed most for our two profession armors). Then I found items that, after identification, had prefixes and/or suffixes, and used my expert kit on those. I wound up with some sword hilts and pommells, and some other oddities. Not sure what to do with those now.

If I understand correctly, I'm only to use my expert salvaging kit on items that have been id'd to have prefixes or suffixes, and just use the regular salvage kit on other items, including epic purples?

How can you tell if a given piece of armor has "slots" for insignias or runes? Don't think I saw anythiing that made that obvious on the vendor items.

Also, I notice several different sets of armor for my Monk, all having the same stats and I assume these are the variations discussed that just look different. Given how much these cost, I'm hesitant to just spend and compare, I assume there's a link somewhere in the wikis for armor types so I can decided in advance. I got the standard "Monk" armor set and, frankly, don't like it. But hell if I'm going to re-buy the whole set now, I'll wait till I can get the max armor later.

Your taking the best path as in muddling through and learning by doing and inevitably making mistakes hopefully not expensive ones.

You use an Identification kit to see what the item has to offer then decide on sell, salvage, or use an expert salvage kit to get useful runes and inscriptions.

Some low level items have nothing you can extract and even an expert salvage kit will just give you materials.

When you get to the point of crafting armour or weapons they always need materials as well as cash.
If you don't consider it a spoiler you could look up what armours you could be buying and start putting the materials on one side now.

Star_Jewel · Sep 25, 2011, 01:46 AM // 01:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by RegnorVex

If I understand correctly, I'm only to use my expert salvaging kit on items that have been id'd to have prefixes or suffixes, and just use the regular salvage kit on other items, including epic purples?

Salvage if you want to. Bear in mind merchant NPCs will buy all your loot drops (as long as it's not a quest item). They'll pay more if it's been ID'd.
Once you ID something, and you notice it has a prefix and/or a suffix, determine if you have a need for it. If your wife uses a sword, a sword pommel and hilt could be useful to her. It might be worth using an expert kit to get those off. If they're not better than what she already has on her sword, you can either sell the looted sword direct to a merchant or salvage it for materials.

You can put new upgrades right on top of existing ones to replace them.

Don't feel obligated to extract everything. With weapons, you have to determine, "Can I use this?"
With armor drops, if you see the word "Survivor," "Radiant," "Vitae," "Attunement," or "Vigor" you definitely want to expert kit those -- they're valuable for your own use and valuable when sold to a rune trader NPC.
Also pay attention to blue armor drops that have the words of the attributes you're using -- "Healing Prayers," etc.

Quote:

How can you tell if a given piece of armor has "slots" for insignias or runes? Don't think I saw anythiing that made that obvious on the vendor items.

As a general rule, if the NPC you're getting armor from has [armor] after his name and he wants cash and crafting materials for the armor, it will have slots for insignias and runes. If the NPC has [collector] after his name and he wants a number of trophy items for the armor, that armor might not have an insignia slot (it matters if it's max-level armor or not; for where you are right now, it's not max-level and thus will take both insignias and runes).

However, my advice is to only use minimal armor upgrades or none at all until you get max-level armor. If you put both an insignia and rune on non-max armor, you will probably want to pull them off and re-use them on your newer armor. There's a very good chance your armor would break while removing the first upgrade, thus destroying the second upgrade before you could get it. (Unless you got your hands on a perfect salvage kit.)
The same applies for double weapon upgrades when moving those to new weapons.

Quote:

Also, I notice several different sets of armor for my Monk, all having the same stats and I assume these are the variations discussed that just look different. Given how much these cost, I'm hesitant to just spend and compare, I assume there's a link somewhere in the wikis for armor types so I can decided in advance.

The different names of the armors just indicate different styles (and as CE Devilman demonstrated, you can mix and match styles). Different styles can also often use different materials for crafting (which you'll notice when you get into max armor); some might use cloth and linen, others might use cloth and silk, for example. Some styles are known as "elite" armor and use the more expensive materials and have a higher crafting cost.
They all act the same. It's just a matter of aesthetics. And in the case of elite armor, those can be added to one's Hall of Monuments.

A lot of people prefer the unofficial wiki for its armor galleries.

Sep 23, 2011, 03:08 PM // 15:08	#64
Quaker Hell's Protector Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Canada Guild: Brothers Disgruntled	They are only talking about "collector" armor, the armour you get from "armor crafters" (the NPCs with [armor] after their name) always has a slot for a Rune and an Insignia. Another note about "max" armor - once you get to L.A., you can directly travel to Kaineng Center (Factions) or Boreal Station (EotN) to get max armor, or you can go to Nightfall and get max armor at Consulate Docks, after a few small quests. Once you have max level armor, you can get many different looking armors throughout the game, but they all have the same stats. Another thing to note. Progress through the game is done by doing "primary quests" and Missions. Any quests you have that are not listed in you quest log (L) under Primary Quests, are optional and don't progress you through the game. If you don't have a primary quest, then you probably need to do a mission. Another note - the scenery changes many times throughout the game. The next area you will get to will be snowy and mountainous, then comes the green scenery in Kryta (L.A., etc), then more jungle-like (Maguuma), then a desert, more mountains, and then the fire islands. Last edited by Quaker; Sep 23, 2011 at 03:17 PM // 15:17..

Sep 24, 2011, 03:36 PM // 15:36	#74
Ritchiebaxter Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Random Arena Guild: Noble Honor Profession: Mo/W	You dont use Survivor Insgnie and Radiant Insignia on your legs or chest??? Your not taking advantage off the bonus 3 energy or 15 Hp from these runes then. Survivor Insgnie are 15 hp on chest 10 hp on legs or 5 hp anywhere else. So place them where you get the most from the rune. Thats why I have the 50hp on my chaos gloves. Survivor on legs and chest for my warrior. My advice is good, you baddies :P Sorry for giving wrong pvx link, its been a while ive not been to pvx. Last edited by Ritchiebaxter; Sep 24, 2011 at 03:41 PM // 15:41.. Reason: Failed to do the quote correctly, so edited it

Sep 23, 2011, 02:46 PM // 14:46	#62
RegnorVex Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Sep 2011	Hmm, so it's a tradeoff between getting max armor or getting insignia slots? And of course the answer to "which is more important" is: "depends".

Sep 23, 2011, 03:18 PM // 15:18	#65
Mouse at Large Jungle Guide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Scotland Guild: Fuzzy Physics Institute Profession: E/	Insignia slots give you more flexibility for changing armour stats, as do runes. Here is a place to start researching http://www.guildwiki.org/Armor_types Also, I forgot to mention green items (the vast majority of which have max stats and are req 9 in a particular attribute) which can be obtained fron certain bosses. As opposed to some games where boss drops are the most sought after, in GW, a lot of green items can be picked up for virtually nothing via trading

Sep 23, 2011, 03:46 PM // 15:46	#66
BrettM Desert Nomad Join Date: Aug 2008 Guild: Fuzzy Physics Institute Profession: E/	I generally find collector armor to be more trouble than it's worth, except for the set in Pre-Searing. It can take a very long time to get all the pieces, and the most important piece generally requires trophies with a very low drop rate given to a collector in an out-of-the-way, dangerous location. This leaves you facing areas like the Diessa Lowlands wearing sub-par chest armor until you can manage to kill enough hydras to get four leathery claws. That ain't easy when your character is at a low level, in sub-par armor, working with a team of loot-grabbing henchies! Furthermore, collector armor is usually no better than the crafter armor available in an area, and may be inferior. Corwen in Ascalon City will craft armor with ratings of 50/40/30 (heavy, medium, light), which is the same rating as armor crafted in Yak's Bend and LA. Collector armor in Ascalon has ratings of 41/31/21, so you will need to start collecting all over again in the Northern Shiverpeaks to get armor rated 47/37/27, which is still inferior to what Corwen crafts. A crafted set from Corwen is a pretty good investment, since you won't outlevel it until you're nearly to the Maguuma Jungle. For characters made in other campaigns, you will normally want to get out of the starter armor as soon as possible (buy a set in Shing Jea or Kamadan), and then maybe buy one intermediate set (Seitung Harbor or Black Tide Den) before reaching an area where max armor is available.

Sep 24, 2011, 05:01 AM // 05:01	#67
Frangeo Munda Academy Page Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Granitic crust Guild: Killer Green Buddah Profession: Mo/	saw you in game today @ yak's bend (Portable Healy Unit). Think you were AFK or had local off. Q.Q o well.... Hope everything's going well!

Sep 24, 2011, 06:07 AM // 06:07	#68
RegnorVex Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Sep 2011	Hi! Yes we made it to Yak's bend after doing the mission at Nolani Academy. We updated our armor, picked up some quests and promptly went AFK. Sorry we missed you, off to bed now; will see you tomorrow

Sep 24, 2011, 07:43 AM // 07:43	#69
Ritchiebaxter Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Random Arena Guild: Noble Honor Profession: Mo/W	Here is my simple tips for you. Buy a few skill caps from skill trainers. Before exploring a new area or do a mission, check on wiki to see if any bosses use an elite skill are in the area/mission your about to do. I would say just get all elite skill anyway. If you have all campains (Nightfall, factions, Eye off the North) travel to Lions Arch and do the quest to access them. Heros will help you out a lot in this game so travel to EoN and pick 2 off them up. Also there is a quest in L.A that is for Ollias Necro hero. Once you have him, make him a Minion Master build. Can find builds for all heros on pvx.http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page. Fastest way to get Max armour is to buy it from Kiang Centre, Factions campaign. You can buy better looking armour later in the game if so please. Also buy your self a 50+hp rune from other players for your armour. 20K is expensive for a newbie but you only need to buy it once. (best place 50hp rune on hands) Once you have done all off the above you can continue on your main campaign with ease.

Sep 24, 2011, 08:07 AM // 08:07	#70
Star_Jewel Jungle Guide Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Denizen of Tyria since Feb. 2009	My simple follow-up tips would be: 1. Never use a wiki with the word "Wikia" in it -- those were abandoned long ago and are vulnerable to vandalism. The new PvX is www.gwpvx.com 2. If you're new, 20k for a Superior Vigor (50 HP) rune is ridiculous. Major Vigor (41 HP) for ~5k will do you fine -- you'll hardly miss the extra 9 hitpoints. If you get into farming with specialized builds and speedclears where every HP makes a difference, by then you'll be able to afford the expensive rune. Alternatively, a poor newbie could just create a temp character in Nightfall and do a couple of quests to get a free Minor Vigor.

Sep 24, 2011, 05:17 PM // 17:17	#76
RegnorVex Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Sep 2011	A lot of good specific data here but it's all a bit overwhelming to me and i'm having trouble getting my head around the whole conceptual framework for armor and weapon crafting. I'll probably just continue to experiment with identification, salvaging, crafting pieces of armor and, after getting some experience with the system in practice, come back here and read this thread again and I'm sure it will make sense then. Last night after I got to Yak's End I found some armor pieces on the vendor that were an improvement over the starter junk I've been wearing. I'd accumulated a ton of salvaging materials and crafting materials, so I just started identifying things, salvaging for iron ingots and bolts of cloth (what seemed to be needed most for our two profession armors). Then I found items that, after identification, had prefixes and/or suffixes, and used my expert kit on those. I wound up with some sword hilts and pommells, and some other oddities. Not sure what to do with those now. If I understand correctly, I'm only to use my expert salvaging kit on items that have been id'd to have prefixes or suffixes, and just use the regular salvage kit on other items, including epic purples? How can you tell if a given piece of armor has "slots" for insignias or runes? Don't think I saw anythiing that made that obvious on the vendor items. Also, I notice several different sets of armor for my Monk, all having the same stats and I assume these are the variations discussed that just look different. Given how much these cost, I'm hesitant to just spend and compare, I assume there's a link somewhere in the wikis for armor types so I can decided in advance. I got the standard "Monk" armor set and, frankly, don't like it. But hell if I'm going to re-buy the whole set now, I'll wait till I can get the max armor later.

Sep 24, 2011, 05:58 PM // 17:58	#77
Ritchiebaxter Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Random Arena Guild: Noble Honor Profession: Mo/W	Ok I have add you in my friends list and will PM you to see what help you need. Will PM you next time your on-line. Would be a refreshing change to take my head out of pvp for a change. Even after 5 yrs playing this game I am still learning little things now and again. You have a lot to learn and it may seem overwhelming at first but in time you will understand most things.

Sep 24, 2011, 06:11 PM // 18:11	#78
CE Devilman Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: hell Guild: Do U Trust Anet Profession: N/Mo	mix and dye U armor parts as U like.