Get the BEST weapons in the game for a fraction of the cost….

Armor > Health
Adreanaline > Penatration


Better and cheaper melee weapon

Req 10-12 is as good as req 7-9 (for most purposes, but not in rare situations)
14>50 is almost exactly the same as 15>50 (only difference is some (1ish) dmg on crits.
etc.

Collector/Green items don't exist in the game for every possible combo of stats. People with a small budget just need to learn how to get exactly what they need AND want for an affordable price.

Not such a new concept OP - but yes most people are dense and they enjoy running around with their uber leet stuff.

When the Bulwark first came out people spent outragious amounts for it. I had a guildie that I tried to talk out of buying one - I said: give it two weeks and it will be below 100k... no he had to have it right then and now! he spent 100k +5ecto or something obscene. I waited and got mine for 85k two weeks later. Had I been even more patient I could have gotten it for 70-75k but I'm not all about spam.

The shields were no longer selling as easily (cause by now every rich fool had one) and people were still trying to sell them for outragious amounts - now they are virtually worthless!

The same necro green that you pay 60k for, I can make for 10-20k tops! I wish I could say the same for wands ;_;

But yeah I prefer my bone staff with its blue max mods +5 energy mod and nice +5 armor mod to any other green I could have gotten.

To OP, it all depends on how much gold you got, if you have less than 50k in your storage, use collectors and buy imperfect mods. If you have a few hundred k's, use greens, if you have more than 300k+, buy those perfect ones and use perfect mods. Which catagory you think OP belongs to? Are you saying that everyone should use green/blue even if they have enough gold to buy high end skins? It's a natural process, all those who buy gold weapons for 100k+ has used greens and even collector's before. I start using collectors, then move on to greens and finally gold rare skins.

And please, do not try to sell collector items to people. They are almost worthless. Yanman, that warrior already have your collector shield, or he feels that he can get it anytime he wants, thus it has no value at all. It's not sad, it's supply and demand.

what so good about this game is that no matter how much gold you have, you are doing the same killing. Only difference is the look, if you dig it, go earn some gold, if not, use collector's and have fun

GuildWars wiki offers plenty of tips of how to create an effective collector weapon that replicates most greens
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Index_of_unique_item_lists


high prices are mainly about Rare Skins

eh... sometimes collectors do not have your weapon, and you will have to spend outragous amounts of cash for it. also a good reason to buy weapons is so that you can telll the differnece ont he stats between the mods. i have 3 +5 energy weapons with 3 different mods, i like the different skins so i can set my weapon sets fast and efficently. thats why i buy skins.. plus every once in a while i get lucky and find a nice rare skinned weapon with the right mods on it and use it for myself.

I had someone in our alliance asking for a great earth (ele) off-hand item.

He and several others were shocked at the Weaponsmith at Vas Armory (GW-Factions) - Earth Scroll, Req 9, Engery +12, 1/2 Casting 1/2 Recharge Earth spells 20%. All for about 5P, 10 Parchment, and 30 Wood. They have them for each element.

I too was suprised when I found the Fire Wand were better then the collector fire wands in orginal GW there.

Point is, not many people realize how good Weapons Smiths, Green's, and Collector's items can be and only think of perfect gold.. never realizing its within there grasp.

And don't forget that with the max gold storage cap, people do not mind purchasing expensive weapons.

It is good to start out with collector items and then move up to greens. But once you have more than 1 mil and your characters have all of the nice 15K sets, there is really nothing else to be purchased aside from skills/weapons.

I use a mix- if there's a green or collector/crafter item with a skin I like, great. If there's a skin that's more rare, I try to compromise and get decent stats without spending a fortune. Those people who spend hundreds of thousands of gold are the ones that can afford to get the best of both worlds.

I don't have a problem with having less-than-optimal equipment- heck, the Mursaat Bow I use with my Beastmaster build doesn't have a damage mod, but that doesn't matter since my pet's doing most of the damage anyways. And I could spend a fortune on a perfect gold Clouded Maul for my warrior, but I just use the 14>50 purple one I found on my own. Yes, I could use a 15>50 collector Melon Hammer, but looking cool is more important to me than doing +5 damage one out of every hundred attacks.

Golds can drop with mods not available on collector or crafter items.

It's just a matter of how rich you are.

You can't say someone who drives a Ferrari is stupid when he can drive as fast in a Toyota (consider the speed limit on highways).

While the normal gamers seek perfect stats or rare skins, the ultimate gamers demand both.

Take this example:

Tactics Shield req 9 -5 (20%) +30

The crafter Bronze costs few ks;

The green Sunreach's costs few 10s ks;

The Emblazoned Defender with exactly the same stats was sold for like 100k + 100 ectos.

It's up to you to buy which, though not many can afford the last one.

What am I to do with millions of gold? You gotta spend on something....

Just buy a weapon with 12-13 req. You can get any skin with max dmg and 15% dmg (w/e mod you want) for about 10k. That will run you less than most greens.

Collectors are fine they just do not offer any skins I like.

You can buy some bargins. I bought a lovely storm bow which is worth 30k for only 1/3 of its value.

Your last statement just contradicted everything you said previously about using collector/crafter weapons - Are you now implying that the gold expensive weapons are better?

One max weapon isn't better than the another max weapon of the same class and with the same mods - just a matter of personnal preference as to which "look" you like best.

I'm sorry, but this is already false. Only rare skinned weapons sell for high amounts. You can easily find 15>50 golds for 10-20k if they're a disliked skin.

Oh yeah, because I would much rather just let my gold accumulate instead of spending it. When someone has an excess of gold, why not spend it on a nice item with a rare skin?

did anyone actually not know this?

another news flash: you can map back and forth between towns instead of travelling through each zone

edit: I'll agree with the many others who posted that the high cost of a high-end weapon is more about the rareness, skin, and 'gotta have it factor' (to borrow a term from Car & Driver), not about the perfect mods (which aren't that uncommon with upgrades)

personally i prefer skins on staffs rather than if i have a 80% chance of doing nothing

And my BMW beats the Volvo hands down, NO SERVICE COST AT ALL, beat that

on topic
Weapons are a Vanity thing in GW, if you don't play PvP after finishing the plot you can farm for weapons, titles, rare materials or gold, then spend it on what ever tickles your fanny

Interesting topic, which Avarre wrote me an essay about earlier. Those with purchasing power (stacks of ectos) buy expensive items purely for rarity's sake. People don't spend a fortune on req. 7 15>50 swords because it means they can spread their attributes around more (I mean who ever uses 7 swordsmanship?) but they are so few and far between that they're sought after. He who owns this req. 7 15>50 is in control of its value because demand is high, supply is exceptionally low and the owner can command its selling price - hence 100k+stacks.

Personally, i'd choose a req. 13 over a req. 8 because I would save so much gold and my weapon attributes are always at least 14 (virtually never below 16) yet I'm thinking from a practical point of view. Most people who handle crystallines and dwarvens don't customize them because they plan to sell it on. Its silly in my mind but its how some people play and enjoy the game.