Getting Rich in Guild Wars 2 – CoF speed farming

Introduction

After taking a month long break from GW2, I have returned to the game and recently discovered a fast, effective and reliable method of producing  a lot of gold. It is a method far more reliable than the silly RNG dependant charged lodestone farming in Orr and much easier/simpler than the economics of the Black Lion Trading Post.

So what exactly do I have to share with you? It’s called Citadel of the Flame Explorable Path 1. This path was originally way more difficult than path 2 but after its nerf by ANet has become batshit easy. With the right group, you can easily complete the path under 8 minutes and earning yourself at least 50 silver per run. Spending an hour repeating path 1 and despite diminishing returns you can effectively earn 3-4 gold per hour.

Where is the money coming from?

• The first boss, Slave Driver will yield 10 silver  (14
  silver with food buff)
• Chests will yield 10 silver also, food buff has no effect on them
• The final boss, Searing Effigy will give 15 silver (21 silver with food buff)
• Each run will give you around 10 blues/greens
• ‘Bags of Gold’ totalling 5-6 silver
• Completion Reward starting with 26 silver, dropping to 13s on the third run, 6.5s on the fourth and 2.6 on all subsequent runs (see image on side)

What do you need for a speed run?

CoF Path 1 is probably easy enough for anyone to complete but if you want to make serious buck, you need to continually complete the path in extreme times.  To my knowledge, a standard run can be anywhere between 12 to 15 minutes. Doing a speed run, you need to expect completion times between 7 to 8 minutes. A group doing a speed run in 10 minutes just isn’t cutting it and once you actually experience doing a proper speed run, you’ll come to realise how incredibly slow any run beyond 10 minutes is.

So one of the key factors in contributing to a successful speed run is party composition. Yes I know its Guild Wars 2 and any class should be able to play any role but this is not the case here. An example of a good group for speed running includes:

•  3 Warriors
• 1 Mesmer
• Last slot can be quite flexible but usually most groups want a second mesmer for another time warp but in my experiences I find guardians just as helpful

Another important thing to remember is buffs. Flame legion slaying potions are helpful in increasing your group’s dps and omnomberry bars are ideal in increasing your money gained per run.

Gear and Build Requirements for Warriors

Unfortunately I have a limited experience running as a warrior so I’m unfamiliar to the exact build that is recommended. However in speed runs you will want things to die very fast so common sense dictates DPS DPS DPS so berserker gear is a must for crazy 100 blades damage. Banners are also highly recommended as they provide buffs for everyone and the boost is significant. Each of the three warriors will need to allocate which banners (strength, discipline and battle standard) they will be using during the runs. The banners are non-stacking so each warrior should use a different banner. For example:

• Warrior 1 – Banner of Discipline
• Warrior 2 – Banner of Strength
• Warrior 3 – Battle Standard

Gear and Build Requirements for Mesmers

Mesmer requirements are a bit more lenient and flexible as most groups will generally accept any mesmer as long as they know what to do. However you will need to bring Blink and Portal for reasons I will discuss later. Time Warp is also a must! My go-to build is the phantasm-orientated 20/10/0/25/10 build.

For gear:

• 3x power/toughness/vitality gear (shoulders, chest, pants)
• 3x power/prec/critdmg gear (head, gloves, pants)
•  3x power/prec/critdmg weapons (sword/focus, greatsword)
• 1x power/prec/critdmg backpiece (guild assassin pack)

All gear is slotted with ruby orbs.

For accessories:

• 2x power/prec/critdmg rings
• 1x power/prec/toughness amulet
• 1x ancient karka shell
• 1x power/prec/critdmg earring

All gear is slotted with exquisite ruby jewels.

Additional Mesmer Tips

When using Phantasmal Warden, consider its abilities to reflect all projectiles (thanks to traits) and when bosses do their big aoe attacks. You always want the warden up for its full damage so activating them right before a big fiery aoe is going to be a complete waste.
As a mesmer, despite using a phantasm build, shattering is still vital to your damage. What you want to be doing is getting your illusion count up to 3 and then use Cry of Frustration. For the next 3 illusions, you then want to use Mind Wrack. The reason that you need to be shattering your illusions is to increase your damage potential and in any case, your illusions will eventually die anyway so you might as well get some bonus damage out of them.

The Walkthrough

1. Help Ferrah enter the Flame Legion Foundry – After Scholar Magg blows up the wall, you want to rush in and take out the two turrets and godforged fanatics. Focus on the turrets first and try to keep the fanatics together when you’re killing all the things.
2. Walk down and kill the slave driver. Warriors throw down their banners. The Mesmer activates time warp and warden. The slave driver should go down under 3o seconds
3. You want to skip the next entire section, running past all the mobs on the bridge and into acolyte room.
4. Before the event starts, you want at least one person on each acolyte spawn to ensure they’ll all die simultaneously. After the first acolytes are down, DO NOT  TRY KITING you are only putting yourself and the party under unnecessary pressure. You can run to the prison cells near the cliff edge, take the path down on the side or run to the adjacent room for hiding spots to avoid damage. Wait around 20 seconds and run back to kill the next acolytes. Rinse, repeat and complete.
   
5. The next chamber is the one with the rolling boulders. Before it opens up, the mesmer should throw down a portal entrance and use temporal curtain for swiftness. A good indication for when the door will open is when the NPCs approach it. Once the door opens, the mesmer should run about 1/4 past the boulders and then blink to the otherside allowing the rest of the party to pick up the orbs and take the portal through and lighting up the braizers
6. This will open up the next area with the four domes. Now, four domes = one person per dome  not TWO. These four people should be standing inside the dome at all times at least until the 5th person kills a turret that opens the final boss. Once you hear the NPC say “Get your tails in gear”, the people in the domes should start running out and into the final boss room
7.  Everyone should haul ass to the next room and much like the slave driver fight, warriors throw down their banners, mesmer casts time warp. Good times and the run should be over before you know it.

Conclusion

I appreciate your time in reading this far and I hoped somebody found this guide useful. This is literally my first guide ever so any feedback and criticism are welcome! I’d also like any warriors who speed run myself to shed some light on their build and gear so that I can improve that part of the guide.