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Gathering Tools and Materials

Gathering Tools & Material Flow

At a glance

Equip all three gathering tools and gather nodes along your route. Store materials, but feel free to check prices and sell surplus you have no immediate plans to use.

What is gathering?

Approach an ore, wood, or plant node and press F to gather materials. There are three types of gathering.

  • Mining: ore from mineral nodes, using a mining pick
  • Logging: logs from trees, using a logging axe
  • Harvesting: ingredients from plants, using a harvesting sickle
Best First Step

In the Hero panel's Equipment tab, equip a tool in each mining, logging, and harvesting slot. You must meet its character-level requirement, and you cannot switch tools during combat.

Buy consumable tools from general merchants. For example, a Copper Mining Pick costs 24 copper and an Orichalcum Mining Pick costs 4 silver.

Gathering is independent of your profession and crafting level. Meet the node's tool requirement to get its normal materials. Glyphs, special tools, and gathering bonuses can affect additional yields.

Storage tip
Use Deposit All Materials at the top of your inventory to store eligible materials. Base capacity is 250 of each. Materials stay in your bags if storage is full or they are in shared slots or invisible bags.

Choosing gathering tools

Standard tools have six tiers. The character level needed to equip a tool is separate from the nodes it can gather; area levels below are approximate guidance.

Tier Tool: mining pick example Character level Approximate area levels Price
1 Copper Mining Pick 0 1~25 24c
2 Iron Mining Pick 10 20~50 56c
3 Steel Mining Pick 20 30~60 88c
4 Darksteel Mining Pick 30 45~65 1s 20c
5 Mithril Mining Pick 45 60~79 1s 60c
6 Orichalcum Mining Pick 60 75~80 4s

Logging axes and harvesting sickles follow the same tier structure.

Use the highest tier you can equip
Higher-tier tools also work on lower-tier nodes. An insufficient tool gives ruined materials, so replace tools as you gain levels.

Watch the remaining charges. Standard picks and axes have 100 charges; sickles have 50.

Unlimited gathering tools

Unlimited tools gather every node tier without running out of charges. Glyph of Volatility adds Volatile Magic from gathering, helping you obtain ascended trinkets early on. Save it alongside Living World Season 4 map materials. See the trinket vendors and unlock requirements. Check whether the purchase includes glyphs or selection containers. The basic three-tool Unbreakable set costs 2,400 gems, with glyphs purchased separately.

Material tiers at a glance

This table covers four common material families across T1–T6. Cooking ingredients, trophies, gemstones, ascended refinements, and other materials also exist.

Tier Ore Cloth Leather Wood
T1 Copper Ore Jute Scrap Rawhide Leather Section Green Wood Log
T2 Iron Ore Wool Scrap Thin Leather Section Soft Wood Log
T3 Gold Ore Cotton Scrap Coarse Leather Section Seasoned Wood Log
T4 Platinum Ore Linen Scrap Rugged Leather Section Hard Wood Log
T5 Mithril Ore Silk Scrap Thick Leather Section Elder Wood Log
T6 Orichalcum Ore Gossamer Scrap Hardened Leather Section Ancient Wood Log
  • Ore and logs come directly from gathering nodes.
  • Cloth and leather mainly come from enemy drops and salvaging equipment.
  • The materials in this table can be traded. Other crafting materials, including account-bound ones, cannot necessarily be sold on the Trading Post.
Understanding tiers
A tier describes a material's place in crafting progression. Higher-level areas generally provide higher-tier materials.

Which materials are valuable?

Prices vary by material and market conditions. Check current prices and your crafting plans before selling or storing.

T1–T5 materials still have uses

  • T1–T4: used for leveling disciplines and refining higher-tier materials. Check Trading Post prices before treating low-tier materials as vendor trash.
  • T5: Mithril, Elder Wood, Silk, and Thick Leather. These accumulate in large quantities during level-80 play and are generally inexpensive. Like T1 and T2, they are affordable materials to obtain. Keep what you need for ascended refinements and sell the surplus.

Check each T6 material separately

T6: Orichalcum, Ancient Wood, Gossamer, and Hardened Leather. Used in advanced crafting. Cloth and leather mainly come from sources such as salvaging equipment.

Ectoplasm: a widely used crafting material

Glob of Ectoplasm: has a chance to drop when salvaging level 68+ rare or exotic equipment. Used in ascended and legendary crafting.

Practical storage choices
  • Keep the T5 materials you need and sell the surplus. They are used in ascended refinements too, so you do not have to sell every stack.
  • Keep some ectoplasm too. It has many uses.

Shipments: buying materials with Volatile Magic

Start by checking Trophy Shipments when converting Volatile Magic into materials. A common price is 250 Volatile Magic + 1 gold. Cloth, Leather, Metal, and Wood Shipments also exist; compare expected returns with costs before buying.

For gold conversion, compare Trophy Shipments first

Other shipments can provide materials you need. However, include the 1-gold purchase cost and Trading Post fees; do not repeatedly buy them for gold conversion without checking prices.

Trophy Shipments mainly contain T5 and T6 crafting trophies: bones, claws, fangs, scales, totems, venom sacs, blood, and dust.

  • T6 examples: Ancient Bones, Vicious Claws, Armored Scales, and Vials of Powerful Blood
  • T5 examples: Large Bones, Large Claws, Intricate Totems, and Vials of Potent Blood. These common drops are plentiful and relatively inexpensive.

To convert Volatile Magic into gold, check current expected Trophy Shipment returns. Random contents mean individual boxes give different returns.

Checking current prices

You do not need to memorize prices. Use market tools to check current data.

  • gw2tp.com: Trading Post prices and price changes
  • gw2efficiency.com: crafting calculations and making-versus-buying comparisons

Getting materials through salvaging

Salvaging is another main source of materials.

Salvage kits

Kit Uses Cost Upgrade salvage into materials Rarer materials
Basic Salvage Kit 25 uses 88c 20% 10%
Fine Salvage Kit 25 uses 2s 88c 40% 15%
Master's Salvage Kit 25 uses 15s 36c 80% 25%
Mystic Salvage Kit 250 uses Mystic Forge recipe 80% 25%

Infinite salvage kits: Gem Store

Tool Price Performance Cost per use
Copper-Fed Salvage-o-Matic 800 Gems Basic-tier 3 copper per use
Silver-Fed Salvage-o-Matic 500 Gems Master's-tier 60 copper per use
Runecrafter's Salvage-o-Matic 600 Gems 100% upgrade salvage into materials 30 copper per use
Which kit should you start with?

White and blue → Basic / Copper-Fed
Green → a Runecrafter's kit you own, or Basic / Copper-Fed. Yellow gear at level 68+ → Master's / Mystic / Silver-Fed. Orange → check price and installed rune or sigil first.

Standard kits list the chance to salvage runes and sigils into materials. Use a Black Lion kit or an extraction tool when preserving an expensive upgrade.

Copper-Fed Salvage-o-Matic
Consider Copper-Fed when buying replacement kits becomes inconvenient. Its 3-copper use cost is separate from the initial gem price, so a Basic kit is fine to start with.

What is ectoplasm?

Glob of Ectoplasm is an important material in the Guild Wars 2 economy.

How to get it

  • Salvage rare or exotic gear at level 68 or higher
  • About 0.9 ectoplasm per rare with Master's / Mystic kits, based on player testing recorded on the wiki
  • That test's distribution: 0 at 36.9%, 1 at 45.6%, 2 at 8.5%, and 3 at 9.0%. These are not officially published drop rates.
  • The main routes are equipment salvage and Trading Post purchases. Some map bonuses, achievements, and containers also award it.

What is it used for?

  • Crafting: widely used in recipes at crafting level 300 and above
  • Ascended accessories: Laurel Merchants charge 40 laurels + 50 ectoplasm for an accessory
  • Legendary weapons: required in large quantities for Mystic Forge recipes
  • Guild upgrades
Practical tip
Check prices before salvaging level 68+ rares with Master's / Mystic / Silver-Fed. Keep the ectoplasm you need and sell surplus on the Trading Post.

Gathering efficiently

Start with nodes along your route

Another player gathering a node does not take your gathering opportunity. Most ordinary field nodes are tracked per character, though some have account limits. Orichalcum and Ancient Wood nodes reset after roughly 23 hours; collect them when they fit your route.

Glyphs: gathering-tool upgrades

Glyphs fit the slots in standard consumable tools as well as unlimited tools.

  • Glyph of Volatility: recommended. Adds Volatile Magic while gathering. Early on, save it with Living World Season 4 map materials for ascended trinkets. Later, spend surplus currency on Trophy Shipments for materials or gold.
  • Glyph of Bounty: a 33% chance of an extra gathering strike. Some nodes are excluded or have additional limits.
  • Glyph of Reaping: gathers eligible nodes for that tool within 900 units. It can be restricted when visiting an instance you do not own, such as another player's home instance.
  • Glyph of Industry: 50% faster gathering

Swap glyphs freely. Right-click to remove one and return it to your inventory.

Node farms

A node farm is a cluster of gathering nodes. Search the wiki for Node farm and choose a location for the materials you need.

Beginner priorities
  1. Keep all three tools equipped
  2. Gather along your route: choose based on materials you need and where you are going
  3. Use Deposit All Materials when bags fill
  4. Consider unlimited tools and glyphs later when you have spare funds