The importance of Req9 and it's effect on trade

Now, this is not an attempt at flaming anyone, or a QQ about being ripped off for weapons, but a genuine query and desire for information.

My main question is, it seems to me that unless a weapon is req9 (or less) that it instantly losses value by quite a considerable amount. I can understand how weapon mods reduce in value, such as +29HP, 19% HCR/HST etc because they give less of an effect mechanically. However, weapon requirement to me is somewhat different.

Speaking primarily as a Necro, weapon requirement has never been a big consideration, as whatever attribute i'm using i'll generally have as high as possible, to make the spells i'm using more effective, and that the requirement only affects the damage output from the wand/staff attacks themselves; and I imagine that other casters will agree with this point.

I then thought about melee weapons and bows/spears, whose damage is a key component, and I realised that the same is true, if using a class who relies on weapon damage, then i'd have the attribute for that weapon as high as possible to make the associated skills with it that I would take more damaging in addition to the raw weapon damage.

The only possible exception I can think of to this would be assassins, for whom -HP runes would be detrimental, but for req13 daggers only a minor rune would be necessary to function, or possibly when using Way of the Master builds with bows or other non-assassin weapons (i'm sure that there are more, i'm open to suggestions).

The sum of this ramble is: is the reason for the massive difference in weapon costs that aren't req9 purely a mark-up for prestige, or is there some other reason that i'm missing?

People like req 9 because it is what you get with pvp weapons and green weapons.

Req 9 is merely the standard perfect requirement and it has been so for a long time.

It's just prestige as far as I know, which is stupid because people can't see your weapon requirements unless you put them in a trade window. And nobody really does that, they just ping their weapons when they wanna show off.

Its partially prestige/rarity of the item, as its harder to get a req9.

But alot of people also only spec 10 into a certain attribute, making a weapon swap work even with weakness on.

It's mostly a prestige thing, but for some non-casters maxing an attribute may not be practical.

For instance, a Ranger may not be able to have 13 in Marksmanship because Beastmastery, Expertise and Wilderness Survival all have useful skills which are usable with minimal investment, and that's before secondary professions.

EDIT Kooomar also makes a good point about weakness.

Several factors:
-rarity issue. Simply, more rare means more money. As all items are in surplus, lower requisites are the second criterium.
-some people still think it makes the weapon do more damage.
-functionality - getting a 9 in an attribute is much cheaper than getting a 10 due to the increasing attribute point costs.

Ok the reason is 2 part.

1. People are stupid and think that a lower req damage with maxed attributes will do more damage. THIS IS NOT TRUE.

2. With lower req weapons it is possible to run a specific build that requires it and to easily cover for weakness.

Don't see how PvP/green weapons have anything to do with people wanting req 9s.

The main reason people like req 7/8/9 weapons because they're rarer than req 10/11/12/13. People want rare weapons. It's as simple as that.

Man, tell me about it. I meet people who have been playing the game over 2 years and still don't get it. They tend to get discouraged from playing warrior because they can't kill things fast enough.

Req9 items seem to have an equal chance of dropping as req10 ,11, 12 and 13 stuff. Req7 items no longer drop and are rare, historical artifacts in the marketplace and req8 items are infrequent drops and rare commodities these days. This accounts for their values.

Req9 Shields are especially desirable in comparison to higher reqs because people often put 8+1 in their shield's attribute (Command and Strength, most notably). In which case, the lower req is functionally appropriate and/or convenient.

My guess is that the desire for low req items (from above) rubs off on weapons where the req doesn't matter as much. It's funny how trends mean that req9 Voltaic Spears are actually in lower demand than req13 versions yet the valuation method remains the same (low req = more $$$).

People just want the best of the best, r9. Most of the time the attribute exceeds over 10, so r11 can be good enough.

Besides the weakness and attribute spread builds, there really is only one other reason: Nothing else to do, might as well get perfect.

ok,i have read the above post and i tell you this, in a real game req is very important,some games if u don't have a certain level in strength you can use the weapon. but in GW req is meaningless for anything other than the prestige factor.

take a 55monk/derv farmer, the common setup is the totem axe (unless they have built or bought a different caster weapon) and the -50 necro offhand.

now a M/D will have 0 attribute points for the caster weapon and 0 attribute points for the -50 necro offhand and yet they get full benefit of the weapons.

so inconclusion the only importance of req 9 or any req is purely prestige.

The exception would be bows- most PvP ranger builds have 10 in marksmanship, so req 11 (accounting for weakness) would be the lowest you could go without gimping yourself.

Otherwise it's the rarity.

This is only partly true for weapons, but false for offhadns/shiedls.

Req 9 is basic
Req 10-13 is cheap, or crap
Req 8 is unusual, and desirable
Req 7 is rare.

I personally hate using anything over req 9, unless it's a rare skin or a caster weapon where the req doesn't matter.

What's one of the favorite words on here? "E-peen." I think that's it.

Since I only use staves on my casters I go for as high a req as possible, because I'm cheap. My Ele and Necro only do 3 damage on attack... big deal, that's not what they're there for. For attacking classes I typically just go with whatever my attribute is -1.

if they don't work for offhands then how do non necros get benefit from the -50 offhand and there is a running build that uses a high energy offhand but the runner is not profession of the offhand.

Kayel, the ENERGY gained by the off hand is less (Notice that that's the part the req is next to?)
The mods are the same though.
The req's only affect that's next to them, plain and simple.

Yes, you still get the (partial, 1/2 armor/energy) benefit of item even if you don't meet the reqs for it. My point is that there are builds that spec only 7 or 8 into the some attribute, just so they get full benefit of it. To those builds low-req item is not a prestige, but a must.

Perhabs it is subconsious way of market removing huge excess of items that would trully clog it.

I own and use quite a few q6 items. For example my assassin frequently uses a A/W build specced at 12-11-6 with a q6 tactics shield. There are situations where a low req, 9 or even lower is most desirable.

Take a Conjure Warrior. Every point he can put into his elemental attribute he get essentially +0.75 to his DPS so for the points it take to get from say 9-10 you could get almost +2 points to your DPS where as the skill effect you would get from the increae from 9-10 is most likely minimal (recharge, break point ...). Another thing to consider is shields, do you want to spec 12 or 13 into tactics or strength, maybe, maybe not.

For casters it doesn't matter as much although for your weapon but I think the base energy you get from your focus is effected by you attribute.


Most of the time I think it is mostly a status thing, but there are cases where it makes a difference.

Since weapons all do the same thing in this game, people make up stuff to differentiate.

A r9 fire staff is worth a few plats while a r12 one is junk. Meanwhile 99.9% of fire eles have a fire attribute much higher than 12. The entire economy is based on vanity and not function so this really shouldn't surprise anyone...

When this criticism comes up, it almost invariably is addressed towards Warrior weapons. Yes, for 99% of all Warrior applications (and 100% of all PvP applications), the req doesn't matter. Unless you are solo farming or your monks are terrible (compelling a serious anti-damage build), your Warrior wants to maximize damage output, which implies high weapon mastery. Similarly, Elementalist casters aren't likely to care much about req.

Hey, guess what? Other classes don't work like that.

Rangers frequently do not wish to spec heavily into Marksmanship, in order to do their true "job" (spread conditions/spam spirits/interrupt/etc.) more effectively.

The damage from extra points into skills frequently outweighs that from an extra point or two in Dagger Mastery, because the base damage on daggers is garbage. Therefore, if you're running a build with a lot of Critical Strikes attack skills, you often maximize damage output by keeping Dagger Mastery low and maximizing Critical Strikes.

Points put into hitting a shield's requirement are often wasted (often you only have one skill on the bar from that attribute line), so low req shields are desirable.

Often times, you want to weapon swap between different 20/20 sets if you're on a Mesmer, Monk or Necro. Guess what? It's important that you be able to hit the req, at least on the focus, in order to be able to cast! Having six energy disappear from your pool unplanned is rarely a good thing.

In short, there are practical reasons to want low req weapons, depending on how you play and what you do. If all you do is hop into RA with wiki builds and scream "NOOBZ" at people, odds are that a req 13 weapon will be fine. If you're a bit more sophisticated about what you do, and you care about wringing the last bit of performance out of every bar you build, eventually req is going to matter, and you're better off paying for it up front when you get the weapon in the first place than realizing later that you're going to need req 7/8/9 in order to play a specific bar.

Well let me add my 2 cents.

I mostly play in 2 areas of the game. GWEN killing snow wurms for lots of gold items and in pre-searing.

In Hard mode there is almost no difference in using a max sword req9 or req13 on my war.

However there is a HUGE difference using my sword 10-14 damage Rindblade (+5 Armor vrs Charr) in Pre. My shield is req3 in tac and I am trying to put every last attribute point into the strength and into swordsmanship so that I can hit harder with my sword.

Example, with strength at 10 I hit the oaks for 98 damage (most of the time). But with strength at 9 I only hit for 82 damage (most of the time) WITH THE SAME SWORD. (armor pen + or - 1%)

So You do more damage with the sword in pre at least with the attribute points set higher. SO the higher the better even with the same sword.

Try this yourself if you have a war.

So if I could get a req2 tac shield with armor +10 like I have I will snatch it in a heartbeat so that I can get my sword to do more damage. That is a big swing considering that I am lvl 16.

So for a war the attribute points do more damage output by the weapon that they have. so req9 or the super rare req7 lets me put more points into Strength that lets my war do way more damage.

So for my rune requirement of strength at 13 to get +20 armor vrs elemental damage that costs me 91 of my possible 170 attribute points or 200 if I have done those extra quests to get the additional attribute points. (not everyone know about these quests.)

so my sword is req9 and that is 45 attribute points. That leaves me with 34 attribute points for my secondary prof healing prayers.

so a max of 7 in that attribute.

If I add runes that do not subtract heath, generally a bad idea for a tank I can add +1 to the strength and the sword. The rest is crud for a war.

So that gives me back 13 points from strength maintaining the 13 for the rune and 9 from the swordsmanship leaving me with 21 more or 51 more.

So with 55 or 85 more attribute points I can get another 2% armor penetration and 11 in my sword.

So, the req is way more than just the fame factor. It makes you stronger as you can put more attribute points into your SECONDARY PROFESSION.

This is what makes you strong as most everyone runs the same PRIMARY build, but the great strength is in the attribute points of the Secondary Profession.

Example I have a hero that has a dragon's breath wand req9 with an off hand req9 BOTH in FIRE. So I only have to use 15 attribute points to max out my weapons SET. My headgear is fire and I use a sup rune of fire. That leaves me 185 attribute points for my Secondary profession. How sweet is that with only a -75 health sacrifice???


I think that is right on the way the attribute points stack. If I am wrong you get the idea of the thing.

People have lots of money and nothing important to spend it on.

Adding one level to your weapon attribute adds more damage than adding one level to strength. And healing prayers is crap on a warrior.

I run 14 weapon mastery on my warrior at all times cause I like doing damage and beating things faces in, so Im fine with buying a cheap R 10-12 weapon with a nice skin.

On my ranger I can at least one green that will fit my needs, and if not I splurge a little on a nice lower req weapon, cause I dont run high marks a whole lot.

On my rit I have greens and some golds..... BMP weapons are my friend.\

So I dont care what req a weapon is as long as I can use it. R9 or lower is just to make your epeen bigger. And Seeing that my Rit, Ranger, and War are my only PvE toons (deleted all the rest got bored with em.) I just make a PvP toon for any other situation.

Agree. GW dmg is about doing critical hits, higher wep mastery = greater chance of inflicting a critical hit. Strength just increases your chance of armor pent which will increase dmg slightly.

That's pretty much your answer right there. With all the golds dropping in HM and from chests every skin eventually clogs the available market and drops in price sooner or later. So, if you have the money to spend, might as well buy the best and merch the rest even if r9 is functionally little different for your build than r12.

The only time I needed a req 9 was on a backbreaker sin...
It's the <10 breakpoint, looks nicer on the weapon's stats

I think this is a big deal. Arena net has messed up the pvp aspect of the game with req 7 items. For example PvE monks are still superior to PvP, because they can easily spec 7 into tactics and get the full 16 armor on a shield. Speccing 9 tactics when you could do 7 is a major penalty

I wouldn't be surprised if people in pvp are still abusing the +14-15% unconditional, no drawbacks, damage items that they never bothered to delete.

And yes they do make a difference. I can't tell you how many times I've been left with 1-5 hp after getting a heal.

IMHO i think that any req (in terms of your weapon) can go up to req 13, since you should be at max there anyways. Offhands on the other hand, particulary shields should be a low req, since you generally need to adjust them all the time.

Cripshots have 9 in Marks, 10 after rune. So you need a r9 for after weakness.

It's amazing how many people still don't understand this.

Well you won't deal any significant amount of damage even if you fulfill the requirement while suffering from weakness. Although I follow the same rule of thump.

Requirements mainly matter on shields (and to a certain extent offhands) since they are linked to your primary attribute, which is in fact most often the secondary attribute that you spec in. Any shield above req 9 is of no use to me since it hinders me in build selection. That explains also why inscribable req7 15 armor shields have become so popular lately for stance monks and paragons.

You're dealing almost no damage anyway as a cripshot. That's not the point of the build. Spreading degen and crippling targets is, as well as interruption.

no reason to use anything worse than collector's/pvp equipment (req9).

Also, req9 is 1 digit while anything above is 2 digits (lengthens weapon description).

This is only partly true for weapons, but false for offhadns/shiedls.

wait,... meanign i have been throwing away shields that are req12 and whatnot because i thought they lessen the amount of armor i woud recieve having 0 points in the mastery

ie monk with a req 12 shield

do i still get the 8 armor regardless of the requirements needed to get 16?

Someone correct me if Im wrong, but if you dont meet the req on the shield, NO MATTER WHAT, you get half of its armor, even for an armor 14 req6, youd only get 7 armor.

But for offhands, the amount of energy you get tiers up as you get more points into the req.