To FoW armor, or to not?

That's the question.

Recently i've acquired ectos/shards needed for any of the FoW armor sets (the 4 part ones which is only 105e 105s) with little over 100k cash in storage, so like 70% of my money is on those mats.

Instead of rushing in, paying for forgemaster run and getting my first fow set (after 2+ years of playing with breaks here and there) - i've thinking, should i?

First comes the characters, i got Monk, Dervish, Ranger, Para, War and Mesmer.

Monk being my oldest character and also most played. However i some time a go got little bored of it and decided to salvage all but the farming armors and sell the normal weapon sets (got 30 ectos from chaos gloves ) - and been only using her as farmer for the last 2-3 weeks now, with the odd pvp-only monk char here and there (i still enjoy monking, though it isn't that rewarding anymore in ra/ta/cm/ab as that's my end-game pvp in my solo guild...). Also Monk FoW must be the most common FoW armor out there, and in my eyes isn't even the best looking armor set for monk.

Dervish, well i don't play her anymore, so it's a nono. As well as the armor isn't that good looking.

Ranger, i also enjoy the role of ranger, not my most played profession though. and FoW is just plain ugly in my eyes.

Para, a little boring to play in both, PvE and PvP. And again i wouldn't rate FoW as a best looking set.

Warrior, well i liked it at start, but lately she have been untouched. And Vabbian set looks better than FoW in my eyes. (which she had at one point, but in need of more storage i salvaged it for 4 rubys...)

Then my newest creation, the mesmer. Really having a blast on my pvp-only mesmer (all the curses in local when i power block that RoJ monk/fire ele in cm/ab <3). And in general the shutdown mechanics of the profession is interesting compared to the standart WoW style classes (~3 years of WoW). Mesmer FoW is in my eyes the best looking FoW armor out of all the professions, but also some of the 15k sets look more or less equally good in my opinion (could buy few of them with alot of left over money for good lookin skins for weapon sets).

So i've been using Grenth's Balance for some time now trying to decide between getting a FoW on my Mesmer or using all the money on more usefull stuff. For example sets of weapon for all my characters to be able to use all the builds effectively, or at least the most common ones (40/40 sets for casters, zealous/sundering/vampiric sets for warrior etc.) as well as runes for ALL heroes along with cheap'ish greens and weapons for them.
One thing that makes it hard decicion is that i'm not 100% sure will i stay with my Mesmer (half way through NF currently), or will my healer insticts kick back in make me want to play monk yet again. Or will i get bored of both? As well as being able to sell weapons and stuff and getting most or more of your money back, while with FoW armor the money will stay there.

Well yeah, what would you do if you were me? Go get the FoW and farm more money to be able to buy weapon sets, rune up heroes etc. Or just ignore the FoW armor and go for the good looking 15k armors with collection of weapon sets? etc.



Ps. The points of this thread is not to brag about money (i know for sure that i'm far from rich compared to many people out there) - just a simple "help me, need advice" thread.

Sorry if it's in wrong section and for all the typos (english isn't my native language)

TIA!

I don't like any FoW Armor. And there are very good 15k armors. So I would buy weapon sets (with skins I like, not "uberleetomgpwnz" skins like Crystalline), and full-mod them.

my 0.02$

What really matters is 'Do you want Prestige Armor that most players seem to have already? or do you want armor that looks good?'

It depends on what else you own and what else you want, really.

If you don't see any gear, miniatures, tonics or other frivolous stuff you prefer, buy the mesmer FoW.

If there's other stuff out there you'd rather have, or you'd rather have the purchasing ability to address that problem if your preferences change, don't buy the FoW.

Clearly the question is one of opportunity cost. I don't know your preferences and so I cannot answer that question for you. You'll have to figure that one out for yourself.

are you title-grinding? If so, you may want to wait on buying FoW armor until you get that title you've been working on as a reward to that toon. Instead, consider spending that money on some titles that you may want/need, like booze/sweets/party, or buying unid'ed weapons, or even lockpicks for treasure hunter. If you are considering migrating your account to GW2 then you may want to fill your HoM with Destroyer/Torment weapons and minipets, if you haven't already. It might save you some time toward the end of your grind. I've been living at GW poverty level since day 1 playing as I always spend my money on something before I actually get enough to buy something decent - so I'm sure I might be looking at this from a different perspective than yours...but GL with your financial endeavor!

I'd go with your Mesmer, especially if it's female.

In general, though, you should really only be asking yourself this. Don't take that the wrong way, I'm just saying you'll get a 100% mixed bag here.

Better yet - get it ONLY if you have a female mesmer. No guy should wear that piece of crap that is male mesmer FoW.

On topic:
Meh. I was thinking the same thing, gathering ecto, shards and money and now - but now I just can't be bothered to buy it.
I think I'll just waste everything on the Rings instead.

I'm aware of that. But i also (might) get points of views that i didn't think of. But i think the first 2 replys are good questions.

Expensive good looking armor set without much other stuff.
versus
Cheap (10k & 15k's) good looking armor sets with lots of other stuff.

But in general i've always gone for items/armor that i like the most, not the most expensive (though i wont deny that voltaic spear, tormented shields, BDS etc. wouldn't look good)

Oh and i'm not that much into the titles (never been).

It seems as if you have already given yourself more than enough justification to not buy it, and personally, I dislike every FoW armor set, all in all though, the choice is yours...

Just my opinion.

I think FoW on a female Ranger is one of the best looking armors.

I've got a set of FoW armor on my oldest (not main) character, who is an Elementalist. It's nice 'cause since the account-wide HoM update it lets me see any character in it that I want and it makes me feel like I've honored my oldest character that got me started on GW. It's more of a sentimental thing than an "omg I love fow armer" though I do like the armor.

Find your own reason to get it or not get it, and don't let people say it's stupid no matter what angle you choose. However, if I was undecided, I would wait. You want to be sure before buying the most consistently expensive thing in the game, especially if it drains out so much of your cash.

Like you stated it up to personal taste. I hate the look of most of the monk FoW armor but it has good parts. Whom is to stop you from only buying 1 or 2 parts?

I prioritize functionality over vanity. Max armor is max armor no matter what it looks like. Same with weapons, max weapons with the mods I want are good be it collector's, crafted, dropped, whatever.

If you have the money to buy vanity items after you're all fully equipped to your desire then go for it. I go for weapons first before armor (after getting max armor), armor will always be there while some weapons may show up once in awhile. There's always money to be gained in either pve or pvp right now and all it's doing is accumulating uselessly.

As FengShuiDove stated, FoW is a good investment especially for the account-wide HoM that was implemented. Though only one character gets to wear it, you can view what all of your characters look in it anyway. Also, as she stated, the FoW armor is not a way to blend in with the crowd, but a way to say "I love this character, he/she's my favorite and I think she deserves to wear something that I put work into."

I am saving up for obby now myself and am about 2/3 of the way there, and I am getting it for my male elementalist. Not only are all 15K sets pretty ugly for male elementalists, but he is my main character and he is oh so deserving of the set. At first, I didn't think I would finish saving up for it, but through the vanqing and title grinding I've done with him, I've definitely managed to get the majority of my funds in little under a month. Though elementalist FoW is popular and, in my opinion, one of the better FoW armors, I decided to buy it because I love playing my elementalist.

Ultimately, though, I think you should go with your gut instinct. Most likely you (and myself included) will get bored of wearing it and think it's just like any other set, but in the back of your mind you will have the pride in saying you earned it. In the event that 15K armors are what you prefer, they are hell of a lot cheaper than obby and getting money for that won't be nearly as hard as what it took for you to finally purchase obsidian armor.

Since you state that you don't actually like any of them, except maybe for Mesmer (personally, of the male FoW armors, Mesmer male's the only one I personally like since it looks like it'd go well with the Imposing Mask (my favorite), were I able to play a Mesmer in any manner other than [[Parasitic Bond] + [[Necrosis] blasting :P), obviously you shouldn't get it...

Everyone views the money sink that is Obsidian Armor differently, some hate obi cause they won't ever afford it, some love it cause its "leet" and they have to buy it cause its expensive, some don't like Obi cause its got the old proph low poly count, some buy Obi because they like what it looks like( not cause its "leet")...and many other reasons PRO and CON. What you have to decide is whether you like the Obi Armor on the ur character or if ur just wanting Obi because its "rare, expensive, leet, etc" IMO if you get Obi cause you like it then you'll enjoy the armor despite the money sink it costs but if you don't like how Obi looks and get it simply to look "leet" then you wont be happy with your investment and regret will set it..but thats just IMO.

I honestly treat armors and most stuff in GW like this; If i like it and i think it looks good on one of my characters then no matter the cost...I'll find a way to buy, or farm it. This policy goes for the cheap ol' Greater Highlander Blades i've been in love with since EOTN came out all the way up to my FoW armor sets on my favorite toons...and like others have stated maybe you think only part of an Obi set looks good especially when mixed with another set you like...then MIX...

Its a game. If u do stuff u dont like. ur not smart. I play this game since release. I have 0 fow sets! And I laugh at everyone who is doing uwsc and such. coz farming is the most boring thing u can do in games (IMO) so don't waste your money on armors u don't like. but want anyway coz its leet. it ain't leet anymore tbh, coz almost everyone is walking with FoW these days. OT, I do like some of the fow armors.

my "only buy fow for these" list

male warrior
male/female ritu
male necro
male/female mesmer
male/female paragon

but serious, u need alot more money :P u need about 3 helmets for every atribute(sword/axe/hammer)(channeling/resto/communing) etc. good luck with your choice

IMO FoW armor is a big money waste, and I don't think I can afford it. Only some toons look good with it, but some aren't so great. It's what you think. IMO, it seems like you don't play the game much. It's what you think, but MY OPINION, is to get a better prestige armor, that not many play with. *(vabbi, fow, and ancient are nice for war)*

here is the thing, if you buy FoW now your not gonna get nearly the same amount back if you salvage etc etc, on the other hand if you hold on to them and/ or buy weapons your gonna be able to sell them for near what you paid for. Also there really isnt much prestige in FoW anymore, everyone has it.That and the fact about getting back any money is why i didnt buy fow for my monk, instead i bought a 15k set and it looks just as good if not better.

It seems like you like to make pvp-only characters, I recommend you buy weapons/shields (that look good) for them because you can always trade them back for equal (or more or less) value and you still look good (or rich if that's what your going for).

I could say this armor combo looks cool, and fow looks great on this character or looks bad on that character, but the one thing that matters isn't my opinion it is yours. You have been playing for a decent amount of time and are now able to buy FoW armor. However, I'm taking a guess it would take you a decent amount of time to work up the funds to replace what you would be spending on your FoW armor. It is obvious this isn't a drop in the bucket for you because you made this thread to ponder the decision. So my advice is, don't just get if you think it looks good. That is one thing to consider but there are a few other things as well.

Think about how much you enjoy the character, and which character you use the most. Honestly in your situation I would look away from buying FoW for anything that isn't one of your top two played characters. If you feel you play your characters fairly equally, than by all means disregard this criteria. But no matter how it looks, if you don't use the character that often or have reason to foresee that character collecting some dust some time in the future, then I'd say look elsewhere.

Next is, which armor do you think looks the best for that character. If you can buy FoW, you can buy anything. So any armor set/armor combo is available to you. Think up some armor sets and combos that you really like and get those. If those four pieces just so happen to be all Obsidian, get it.

Just answer those questions and then decide what to do. I wouldn't worry too much about saying, oh but I can buy equipment and what not, unless cool looking equipment is something that is very important to you (it isn't to me and I actually just use the basic skins for anything that isn't a warrior weapon or ranger bow). Just think specifically about armor and buy what you feel is going to look the coolest. When you have the money to buy FoW, don't think about what you are going to be saving if you buy something else, just buy the armor you feel looks best no matter the cost.

.

Realy a personal choice. Try to look through all the armors under wiki armor art. Pick the one you like, regardless of cost.

I personaly don't care for many FOW armors and they have some of the ugliest in the game. Male Necro and Rit teapot helms= EWWWWW


Like!! alot of EOTN armors with norn female being high on the list. Not as good as Asuran male ele tho

1) chose which chars you like the look on.
2) don't like the look, find another armor that you do
3) Dye Black
4) Add chaos gloves and blindfold or other special things like that.

I personally, prefer to spend my money on the prestige sets rather than FoW. Its not like I cant afford FoW, seeing how out of 11 characters 10 have 3-7 sets of prestige armor. I'm just not a big fan of FoW, none of it is very flashy and the looks of most sets dont match its worth. So my vote would be to get various sets of prestige armor. You can get several sets for the price of FoW armor and most prestige sets look a hell of alot better. But if you are set on getting a FoW set, I'd say get it for a mesmer since only mesmer and ritualist armor are the only cool looking sets (to me).

I think it depends on how attached you are to the character you want the armor for, how much you play that character (and for what game play formats), and how much you like the appearance of the FoW armor for that char. If you're undecided on what character to get it for, maybe look at the character you like or use the most, and go from there.