This guide is an overview of the different ways to acquire gear for level 80 PvE and PvP content.

You should already have an idea of the build which you want to play. But don't panic. As a new or returning player it can be quite overwhelming when it comes to building a character. We will have a look into that too.

Guild Wars 2 is not the 0815 MMORPG where you need tanks, damage dealers and heals. Most of the classes / specializationes can fit many roles. For example a mage can use a sword and fight in melee range while a warrior could use a bow and fight enemys from far away.

There is also no gear treadmill in the game. Once you own the gear set of your likes, you could theoretically play it as long as you want.

Your character should already be at LvL 80.

To be able to use all different weapons and stats which are currently availabe in the game, you should own the expansions. They are on sale very often!

Personally I would go for all of them just to have the full experience.

However, if you can't afford all the dlcs, I would atleast go for Path of Fire + Heart of Thornes and End of Dragons for the added stats.

Metabattle[metabattle.com] is a great place to start looking for a build. They offer builds for every part of the game whether it's PvP, Open World, Dungeon or Strikes. These builds will also be updatet every now and then.

Mesmer Builds[metabattle.com]

Guardian Builds[metabattle.com]

Necromancer Builds[metabattle.com]

Ranger Builds[metabattle.com]

Elementalist Builds[metabattle.com]

Warrior Builds[metabattle.com]

Thief Builds[metabattle.com]

Engineer Builds[metabattle.com]

Revenant Builds[metabattle.com]

The majority of equipment stat combinations are only accessible if they are part of the core set, or you own the expansion they are associated with. Stat selectable equipment will allow you to choose from any of the combinations you have access to (exceptions are specialization collections).

• Core stats are included since the release. These are easy to acquiere.
  
• Extended stats were added with Living World Season 1 and 2.
  
• Hybrid stats are similiar to extended stats but are only available on a few ascended trinkets.
  
• Heart of Thornes added marauder and crusader stats.
  
• Path of Fire added diviners gear. This either needs the PoF or End of Dragons (EoD) expansion.
  
• End of Dragons addes dragon and ritualist stats.

For instanced PvE we keep it simple, because most attribute combinations are very common.

Power DPS often use the Berserker stats.

Condition DPS often use Vipers stats.

Healers often use Harriers stats.

Optimised builds usually mix these or use other stats (just have a look on the build you want to play).

In open world PvE and PvP survivability is more important, so the stats combinations can vary here.

Exotic gear is the second best tier in the game. It is easy to obtain because you can buy a full set relatively cheap at the trading post ~40g (with trinkets). Use the filters to look for the stats that you want and you are ready to go. To be said, some stats can be more expensive than others.

Exotic gear is good enough for everything expect high level fractals.

To use the trading post just press "O" by default or speak to an NPC (for example at lions arch).

Armour

• For core stats just use the trading post and make sure you are using the filters to find the cheapest pieces, just like I mentioned before.
  
• Shoulders of the Ebon Vanguard[wiki.guildwars2.com] and Ice Golem's Maw[wiki.guildwars2.com] provide different stats, which are selectable (also obtainable at trading post)
  
• If you chose Charr buy Charr War Mask[wiki.guildwars2.com] or Blood Legion Soldier Helm[wiki.guildwars2.com]
  
• Go to Verdant Brink[wiki.guildwars2.com] for the remaining pieces and and complete events, Airship Cargos and LFGs.
  Successful tier 4 maps will give you a guaranteed armour piece.
  
• Make sure to kill the Wyvern Matriarch[wiki.guildwars2.com] as soon as the night started. The Wyvern can drop two pieces.
  
• Focus on the itzel lore mastery to unlock the itzel language. This will allow you to buy pieces, which are not obtainable from the vendor.
  
• If you do well, one map run can you get up to ~500 airship parts an hour. This is enough to buy atleast one piece of armour. (Focus on boots, legs and shoulders first, because they cannot drop)

Weapons

• Check if the build you want to play require a specific weapon/stats combination. After that use filters at the trading post and buy the cheapest piece you find.
  
• When festivals are running, go and check out the festival vendors. They often sell weapons with specific stats.
  
• Some weapons offer selectable stats, these are called "Iron Legion".

Trinkets

• Fewer options to buy at trading post
  
• Should go straigt for ascended trinkets because they are relatively easy to get
  
• Exotic backpieces cost around ~10g. Buyables are only the ones frome Lunars New Year[wiki.guildwars2.com] event

Ascended gear is the best tier in the game. It is more expensive than exotic gear (~200-400g).
It offers a ~12% damage increase.

• Can be crafted
  
• Only important when you want to do high level fractals.
  
• Ascended trinkets (rings, accessories, amulets, backpieces) are relatively easy to get, so you can skip exotic trinkets
  
• Ascended gear can be upgraded with Agony Infusions[wiki.guildwars2.com] and other stat infusions.
  
• Agony Infusions are very expensive.

Armour

• Other than crafting, the only reliable way to get ascended gear is to go deep dive into endgame content (instanced PvE and PvP]
  
• The most common way is to play until you get a drop and than do a stat swap.
  
• Raids and Strikes (Icebrood Saga) are the only way to buy cheap ascended gear.
  
• Envoy Armor[wiki.guildwars2.com] will give you two ascended sets.

Weapons

• Weapons are similar to armour in difficulty to obtain.
  
• Knight of the Thorn[wiki.guildwars2.com] offers the cheapest ascended weapon crafting, but it is time consuming
  
• End of Dragon Strike (currently 4 available )are more generous with their currencies, so they are similar in terms of time invest to Icebrood Saga.

Unless you are playing power DPS you should upgrade your trinkets followed by your weapon first, becaus most stats are bound to these.

Power DPS classes should focus on ascended mainhand weapon before trinkets, due to the weapon strength.

Crafting is an expensive but reliable way to get exotic gear. You will need LvL 400 on the crafting profession and own the recipes of the items you want to craft.

Materials can be acquired through farming or buying at the trading post.

Crafting is complex. It can get complicated, because most recipes are locked behind map currencies and the materials are either expensive to buy or account bound. That means, that you could buy some of the materials while others still needs to be farmed.

Viper stat weapons are often cheaper to craft than others. The recipes cost 5 laurels and some volatile magic.
Forge Master Hilinia[wiki.guildwars2.com]

It will also set you back a few hundred gold to level your crafting skills and buy recipes.

For PvP or WvW, reward tracks are the best way to obtain exotic armor and weapons with Core/Extended, Heart of Thorns, or Path of Fire stats. (50% win rate assumed)
Around ~40 ranked pvp matches will complete a track.
Completing dailies for the reward potions is recommend.

Reward tracks:

• Crystal Desert Reward Track[wiki.guildwars2.com]
  
• Glorious Reward Track[wiki.guildwars2.com]
  
• Heart of Maguuma Reward Track[wiki.guildwars2.com]
  
• Legacy Armor Reward Track[wiki.guildwars2.com]
  
• Triumphant Armor Reward Track[wiki.guildwars2.com] and Triumphant Hero's Armor[wiki.guildwars2.com]