Ascended Gear: Comparing Your Options

Acquisition routes at a glance

Find a route that suits your situation, then read its details below.

Upgrade order: trinkets → weapons → armor

Best first step: start with trinkets.

Step 1: trinkets (little or no gold)

Get your six slots (two rings, two accessories, one amulet, and one back item) with Living World map currencies, laurels, Pristine Fractal Relics, and similar rewards. Check for your required stats and fill the slots you can afford with currencies you already have.

Step 2: weapons (a noticeable upgrade)

Ascended weapons also have higher weapon strength, which is especially useful for strike-damage builds. The Wizard's Vault sells one per season for 600 Astral Acclaim. If you have finished HoT's story, consider Knight of the Thorn too. It requires a Vision Crystal and other restoration materials.

Step 3: armor (the largest crafting commitment)

If you craft all six armor pieces and make the daily-limited materials from scratch, you need 25 days' worth for heavy armor or 36 for light and medium armor. Wizard's Vault rewards and materials you already own can shorten this. Replace pieces gradually while working on trinkets and weapons.

Getting trinkets

Many trinkets can be bought with currencies without crafting. Check the stats and purchase requirements before choosing a route.

Living World Season 3 map currencies (recommended)

Gather the currencies from Living World Season 3 maps to buy stat-selectable ascended trinkets. This is a commonly recommended route.

These trinkets are stat-selectable. Available combinations depend on the expansions you own.

Living World Season 4 / the Icebrood Saga

• LWS4: Buy stat-selectable trinkets with Volatile Magic and map currencies.
• The Icebrood Saga: Complete Idolatry in Bjora Marches to buy the stat-selectable Asgeir's Talisman accessory from Humble Stone for 375 Eternal Ice Shards + 56,000 karma.

Fractals: Pristine Fractal Relics

Earn Pristine Fractal Relics (PFR) from daily and recommended fractals. Complete the three T4 dailies to receive lower-tier rewards too, then all three recommended fractals, for 15 per day. Beginners doing only T1 earn fewer; CM rewards add more separately.

• Fixed-stat rings: BUY-2046 PFR sells rings for 10 PFR each. Some combinations, including Berserker's, have differently named rings to fill both slots. If you only do T1 dailies, save up over several days.
• Stat-selectable Mist trinkets: Rings, accessories, and amulets each cost 100 PFR + 2 Integrated Fractal Matrices. At 15 PFR per day, the PFR takes seven days to earn, but you still need the matrices.

Laurels

Complete six Wizard's Vault weekly objectives and claim the weekly completion chest to receive 10 laurels.

• Amulet: 30 laurels (no ectoplasm needed)
• Ring: 35 laurels (no ectoplasm needed)
• Accessory: 40 laurels + 50 Globs of Ectoplasm

Options are limited to core and early-release stat combinations. Expansion combinations such as Viper's and Harrier's are unavailable, so Living World vendors are often a better fit.

Raids: Magnetite Shards

Scholar Glenna in each raid wing sells trinkets unlocked by defeating their respective bosses. Assaulter, Defender, Healer, and Malicious items have different stat choices; check before buying.

• These boss trinkets cost 250 Magnetite Shards + 4 gold each for a ring, accessory, or amulet. Ordinary fixed-stat trinkets have different prices.
• Encounter rewards award up to 800 Magnetite Shards per week. Some additional sources, including containers and CMs, are outside that cap.

This is a quick route if you raid regularly, but requires learning the content.

WvW: Skirmish Claim Tickets

Buy trinkets from the Skirmish Supervisor.

• 150~350 Tickets + 250 Memories of Battle
• The skirmish reward track awards up to 365 tickets per week. Weekly achievements and some objective attack/defense rewards provide additional tickets.

Getting weapons

Higher weapon strength makes ascended weapons especially useful for strike-damage builds. After trinkets, upgrade your main weapon.

Wizard's Vault (recommended: AA instead of gold)

Buy one ascended weapon chest per season (roughly quarterly) for 600 Astral Acclaim. Choose the weapon type and stats. Regular daily and weekly objectives provide enough during a season.

• Maximum AA from daily objectives and completion: 65
• Maximum AA from weekly objectives and completion: 850

Achievements and collections (check material costs)

• Knight of the Thorn (Caladbolg): After HoT's story, restore Broken Caladbolg to receive a greatsword, dagger, scepter, sword, or shield. Collections provide some materials for your first restoration, but you still need a Vision Crystal. Additional weapons require another character to finish HoT's story and gather the restoration materials again.
• Elite specialization collections: Complete the HoT, PoF, or EoD elite specialization weapon collections for their ascended weapons. These may include crafting or buying items, so check the materials first.

Crafting

Requires level 500 in the appropriate discipline: Weaponsmith, Huntsman, or Artificer. A weapon needs roughly 3–5 days' worth of time-limited materials, depending on its type. Buying refined materials from the Trading Post bypasses the wait at an additional gold cost.

The inscription determines the stats. You can change them later in the Mystic Forge.

Fractals: BLING-9009

One weapon costs 24 Fractal Research Pages + 800 Fractal Relics + 5 gold + 3 Grandmaster Marks of the appropriate discipline. It is stat-selectable. Gather pages from daily recommended, CM, and weekly rewards; the time needed depends on which rewards you complete.

Raids

• Drops: Direct boss drops, subject to weekly reward lockouts
• Vendor: At the Basic Magnetite Exchange Operative, a one-handed weapon chest costs 250 Magnetite Shards + 15 gold; a two-handed chest costs 500 shards + 30 gold. Both are stat-selectable.

World boss drops (a bonus)

Major world bosses such as Tequatl and Triple Trouble can drop ascended weapons. The chance is low, so treat them as a lucky bonus rather than your main acquisition route.

Getting armor

A full six-piece armor set is the largest crafting commitment in this progression. There is no need to rush.

Wizard's Vault (recommended: AA instead of gold)

Buy three ascended armor chests per season for 400 Astral Acclaim each. Choose stats and armor weight. Three pieces per season can complete a set over two seasons.

Crafting

Requires level 500 in Armorsmith, Leatherworker, or Tailor. Making the time-limited materials for a full set takes roughly 25–36 days, depending on armor weight.

Buying refined materials such as Deldrimor Steel Ingots and Bolts of Damask bypasses the wait, but requires gold.

Fractals: BLING-9009

Six armor pieces cost 88 Fractal Research Pages + 3,000 Fractal Relics + 13 gold + 20 Grandmaster Marks for your armor discipline. Head, shoulders, gloves, and boots each cost 12 pages / 400 relics / 2 gold / 3 marks. Legs cost 16 / 600 / 2 gold / 4; chest armor costs 24 / 800 / 3 gold / 4.

Raids

• Drops: Boss drops with weekly lockouts; available pieces depend on the boss
• Vendor: A full set costs about 1,350 Magnetite Shards + 47 gold 50 silver. Stat-selectable.
• Experimental Envoy Armor (Envoy Armor I): Complete the raid collection to receive a full six-piece ascended armor set in your choice of weight.

PvP: Ardent Glorious Armor

A full Ardent Glorious armor set costs 800 Ascended Shards of Glory + 1,500 Shards of Glory + 13 gold + 20 Grandmaster Marks for your armor discipline. Earn currencies and marks through ranked PvP season rewards.

WvW: Triumphant Hero's Armor

A full ascended Triumphant Hero's set costs 1,310 Skirmish Claim Tickets + 1,500 Memories of Battle + 13 gold + 20 Grandmaster Marks for your armor discipline. First unlock each corresponding exotic skin through the Triumphant Armor Reward Track. Other ticket sources supplement the skirmish track, so completion time depends on how you play.

Crafting basics: daily limits and costs

Crafting is a standard route to ascended weapons and armor, but consider two requirements.

You need crafting level 500

Ascended crafting requires level 500 in the appropriate discipline. Raising it from 1 to 500 also costs gold, depending on current prices. Include that cost instead of looking only at the final item's recipe.

Four refined materials made with daily-limited ingredients

These refined materials use intermediate ingredients with daily limits. Check your equipment recipe for the types and quantities needed.

• Deldrimor Steel Ingot: uses Lump of Mithrillium
• Elonian Leather Square: uses Spool of Thick Elonian Cord
• Bolt of Damask: uses Spool of Silk Weaving Thread
• Spiritwood Plank: uses Glob of Elder Spirit Residue

Each of these four intermediate recipes uses one Glob of Ectoplasm. The other ingredients are metal, leather, wood, cloth, and vendor materials; types and quantities vary by recipe.

Skip the wait with Trading Post purchases

You can buy refined materials such as Deldrimor Steel Ingots on the Trading Post. Compare current prices with the materials you already own before deciding.

Grandmaster Mark

Some ascended equipment from PvP, WvW, and fractal vendors requires Grandmaster Marks. Crafting marks requires level 500 in the appropriate discipline and the recipes. Include the correct mark type and quantity in your cost comparison.

You can also obtain marks through these rewards:

• PvP: Boxes of Grandmaster Marks from ranked season reward chests
• WvW: Exchange 10 Grandmaster Mark Shards at the Skirmish Supervisor

Routes with little or no gold cost

Options for beginners with limited gold.

Changing stats after a wrong choice

You can change ascended weapon and armor stats in the Mystic Forge.

Materials needed

• 1 ascended item to change
• 1 Orichalcum Imbued Inscription (weapon) or Intricate Gossamer Insignia (armor) with your desired stats
• 5 Globs of Ectoplasm
• 1 Anthology of Heroes

Buy an Anthology of Heroes near the Mystic Forge for 10 Spirit Shards.