Best upgrades?

Hi, im abit new actually and havent understand the upgrades yet, and which are best, but apparently u can enchant one item with Rune and Insignia, and from the Rune trader, highest armor enchant is +15 armor, and Rune 50 health, so is that the best enchants? or theres any higher?

That was for assassin btw.

all insignias have the same stats
so its jus a matter of which one to use
generally +hp is better than +armor
(+energy is in most cases unnecessary...tho some builds may benefit from it)

if u decide to wear a +armor insignia
use it on ur chest or legs
since those pieces have the highest % chance to get hit
(in other words, the +armor bonus is not global, such as the bonus u find on ur shield)



runes have a minor, major, and superior versions

major and superior attribute runes have -35 and -75 hp penalties
so its generally recommended to wear minor, unless the situation requires u to have the +1/+2 attrib point
(shadow form farming for sins)

major and superior vigor runes have no penalties
therefore u want the best one available to u



recommended gearin is:
survivor insignias all around

minor dagger mastery rune
minor critical strikes rune
superior rune of vigor
runes of vitae/clarity/restoration -or- minor deadly/shadow if needed for build


edit: oh and its important to note that while some insignias/runes may be more rare than others
the rune trader npc will have -every- single rune in stock (most of the time)
theres no need to wait until u reach the "last area of the game for better sellers" like other games
everything is available to u generaly very early on in the game (assuming u can afford it)

so there can drop a rune which gives +3 dagger , and not -75 health right? , more like +15 health, and still +3 dagger mastery

so there can drop a rune which gives +3 dagger , and not -75 health right? , more like +15 health, and still +3 dagger mastery

and still, whats the highest armor from insiginia u can get?

lol lagged post.

I was thinking to put Rune( 50 health) cost 20k each, on each item, and +15 armor from Insignia.

50health/+15 armor on each item, except the armor cuz i need the rune that adds +3 Dagger Mastery there , but if i get that from Rune trader, then it -75 hp, so does it drop any in the game from enemies, that still gives +3 , but not -75 hp?

no a superior dagger mastery +3 will always have -75 hp

jus look at the rune trader
no matter which one u go to
thats all the runes in the whole entire game

okay, and about the Insignia, +15 armor cost 950g in Rune Trader, is there any higher then +15 armor? is there, 25 ? or 30?

wut u see at the rune trader is all that is available...

Here is a link to the wiki pages for insignia and runes

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Insignia

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Rune

And a page with links to all upgrades except Inscriptions
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Upgrade_component

You won't get the benefit of the Major Vigor rune on multiple pieces of armor. Look for the term "non-stacking" on runes. That means even if you put a +3 Dagger Mastery on all 5 pieces, you will only get the benefit of 1. You will still get the lost health. Similarly, putting 5 vigors will only get you the benefit of the first one.

Generally, a good default for beginner armor is survivor insignias on all 5 pieces. For an assassin, a dagger mastery rune (probably minor) on your headpiece (you will eventually want different headpieces to swap, so put the dagger mastery on a headpiece). Put a vigor rune (best you can afford) on one piece. The three remaining pieces can be done with runes of vitae (these will stack, so you get the benefit of having more than one in your set), crit strikes, clarity.

For the armor itself, your max level will be 70 armor and you will have that available when you reach Kaineng City. I wouldn't worry too much about fully equipping your armor before you get the max set.

LOL if you spend money on 5 sup vigors. Thats all.

When I first started playing Guild Wars there was a site dedicated to Rangers (the site is now long gone). Yeah I know you are an Assassin. Several members of the site did a study; health mods vs armor mods, which is better. The answer turned out to depend a lot on what you are doing. If you are in PvP (at the time the types of damage (such as holy damage) that were being used by most groups ignore armor) they found that the +30 Health mod was better than a +5 armor bonus. If however you play PvE; a +5 Armor bonus was almost twice as effective as a +30 health bonus in keeping a ranger alive.
I am not sure, but it makes sense that the same would be true for any other class. While the study was done back in 2005, I do not think they have reworked the game enough to invalidate the study.

ok i see, so the best i can do for my assa is this

Helm - +15 armor/50 health
Armor - +15 armor/3 dagger mastery
Pants - +15 armor/+30 health
Boots - +15 armor/+10 health
Gloves - +15 armor/+10 health

Correct?

(on the end set of Factions ofcourse, thats the only i play, so Kurzick Elite)

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Inscription
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Rune

maybe this will help.



edit:didnt see that darcy had same thing. :P

ok, so except the 30 hp, since its the same as 50, i mean same type of item,then i put 10 there instead, cuz they can be stacked.

So i replace 10 health instead of 30 there, thats the best i can do right? agree?


wait a sec, theres Vigor Health +30 Health +41 Health +50, and more then 1 wont stack, so will it work this way?


Helm - +15 armor/50 health
Armor - +15 armor/3 dagger mastery
Pants - +15 armor/+41 health
Boots - +15 armor/+30 health
Gloves - +15 armor/+10 health

? it must work judging from what it says on the sites?

1. Do not put any rune on the headgear except one that matches the built-in attribute. A piece of headgear will have an automatic +1 boost to one of your attributes. So, if you buy Dagger Mastery headgear, put a Dagger Mastery rune on it.

2. A Superior (+3) Dagger Mastery rune is not a good idea for a beginning player because of the health reduction. Start with a Minor (+1) Dagger Mastery rune. Later on you can upgrade it if it seems like a good idea. You may find that you can get along just fine with the minor rune.

3. All classes should have a minor rune of their primary attribute somewhere on their armor. For an assassin, you should have a Minor Critical Strikes rune in addition to the Dagger Mastery rune.

Everyone has their own way of doing this, but my pattern is to put the primary-attribute rune on the chest piece, the best vigor rune I can afford on the pants, and vitae on the boots and gloves. For some professions I use attunement instead of vitae, or one of each (one on the gloves and the other on the boots).

4. Be careful when choosing +armor insignias, since they are all conditional,. Don't just automatically assume the biggest number is the best. I assume by +15 Armor you mean the Nightstalkers insignia, which only increases your armor while you are attacking. I have not played an assassin character, so I'm not prepared to say whether this is or isn't a good choice, but you do need to be aware of the condition and consider whether it is likely to be met more often than not.

about this Vigor Health +30 Health +41 Health +50 it dosent work to stack them, but they only mean two 50's for example, u can still use 1 30, and 1 41, and 1 50, right? on ur set, if that works then best would be:

Helm - +15 armor/3 dagger mastery
Armor - +15 armor/+50 health
Pants - +15 armor/+41 health
Boots - +15 armor/+30 health
Gloves - +15 armor/+10 health

Short answer would be no, the Vigor runes 30, 41 and +50 will not stack with each other you can only use one on your armour set usually you would add the highest.

For example

Helm - +15 armor/+3 dagger mastery
Armor - +15 armor/+50 health
Pants - +15 armor/+ 41 health
Boots - +15 armor/+ 30 health
Gloves - +15 armor/+10 health

Total bonus health 60,as the +30 and +41 will not stack with each other

best setup base on opinion

Helm -Survivor +5 health/+1 dagger
Armour-Survivor +15 health/+50 Vigor
Pants-Survivor +10/Vitae +10
Boots-Survivor +5 Health/+1 Critical
Gloves- Survivor +5 Heath/rune Clarity

Bonus Health =100 health

Which would be a better setup imho, which i think the others were trying to explain this.

k thanks =))

This nicely sums up the advice given to you by everyone posting above.

Well, my Enchant build will be:

Helm - +15 armor/ +3 dagger mastery
Armor - +15 armor/ +50 health
Pants - +15 armor/ +10 health
Boots - +15 armor/ +10 health
Gloves- +15 armor/ +10 health

Total: 75 Armor/ 5 Health

Thanks for info all.

Well I need to clarify here as to what Snaek had previously advised.

Helm - +15 armor/ +3 dagger mastery
Armor - +15 armor/ +50 health
Pants - +15 armor/ +10 health
Boots - +15 armor/ +10 health
Gloves- +15 armor/ +10 health

Total: 75 Armor/ 5 Health

The total armor would only be + 15 dependant on where you are hit and only if you are attacking in this case the Nightstalker Insigna. Which also would have no effect against anything that ignores armor such as and not limited Holy damage or life stealing or shadow damage. So generally more health would be better.

For example the total armor you would have is 70 al for the sins armor and the Nightstalker of +15 armor. If you carry a shield but do not hit the requirement a further 8 armor would be acquired. However it best to try how you feel with general setup of your own and see what you feel would work out better.

alright, ill use the:

Helm -Survivor +5 health/+1 dagger
Armour-Survivor +15 health/+50 Vigor
Pants-Survivor +10/Vitae +10
Boots-Survivor +5 Health/+1 Critical
Gloves- Survivor +5 Heath/rune Clarity

btw on the pants there, the +10 before the Vitae.. what was that again? health?

this will just give me 14 Dagger Mastery tho :/ is that really too good? =/

The difference between having 14 or 16 in Dagger Mastery is very small. Generally speaking the small enhancement to DM skills by having a Superior Rune, is outweighed by the loss of health.

I'm not quite sure what you mean about the pants. There is a built in "energy regen +1" on the pants though..... just figured it out. Yes, it's +10 health - the amount of health bonus the Survivor Insignias give, depends upon the armor piece they are put on. It's +15 on chest, +10 on pants, and +5 on head, hands & feet.

haha yea, i realised after seeing the items, now i just feel dumb to make such big thing about it, but 1 last question tho, dosent have anything to do with upgrade but.

Is it able to trade over an item from Nightfall/eye of north? to a faction only player?

Like headbands and stuff, cuz one dude showed me a black headband over trade, would it be able to click accept on that? if i only have Factions ?

Yes, it's possible to trade items from other campaigns to other players. For example, you could sell a weapon from Nightfall to a person who only has Factions. Or, another example would be Perfect Savage kits from EotN.

However, when it comes to things like the headbands, armor pieces are always customized to the person who buys them. So, even though you can trade it, you can't use it. (Certainly, don't trade anything for it. )

Note to NScoft - in GW2 (if not GW1) how about making it so you can "try on" an armor piece so you can see what they look like on you. (In a preview window like the dye preview.) Not just at the armor crafter either, I might want to see what a particular armor piece looks like on a character before going all the way there to get it.

Yea, that would be abit pointless if i cant use it anyway, well thanks alot for info.