Day 4

Exp 56,232 Lvl 12 (12 skill points remain)

Missions Completed
None

Quests completed
Corsair Invasion
Corsair Vengence

Expenses (Session 590, Total 6290)
Iron (10) 170
Wood (10) 100
Adamantine Shield 150
Suntouched Scythe 150
Customisation (2) 20

Income
No items of note

Hero Skill Trades (7/7 used)
None

Reward Trades
None

Assets at End of Session
4gc
Expert Salvage kit (20)
Identification Kit (20)
Battle Commendations (4)
Wood(7)
Iron (5)
Cloth (9)
Leather (15)
Iboga Petal (3)
Purple Dye (1)
Red Dye (1)
Sunspear Hood of Scythe Mastery Ar55 +2 Scythe Mastery
Sunspear Robes Ar55
Sunspear Vambraces Ar55
Sunspear Leggings Ar55
Sunspear Shoes of Minor Vigor+30hp Ar55
Suntouched Scythe 9-21 r5 10-31 r7

Koss
Machete of Fortitude +23 3-17 r7
Adamantine Shield Ar13 r7
Rune of minor swordsmanship

Melonni
Rune of minor scythe mastery
Suntouched Scythe 9-21 +11% while enchanted r5

Dunkoro/Talkora (shared items)
Rune of minor protection

Slight change

I've decided to change how I evaluate the "unfulfilled needs" section of each report. I barely had time to play today, and most of the unfulfilled needs from yesterday are still there, so I feel like I'm double counting them.

From this point on:
- Unfulfilled needs are not going to be tracked before Level 20 or all quests prior to Consulate Docks are completed (whichever comes first)
- They will be calculated as a "virtual deficit" stating how much gold it would take to purchase the basic equipment that is still missing.

Day 3

Exp 51,694 Lvl 11 (11 skill points remain)

Missions Completed
Jokanur Diggings (Masters)

Quests completed
The Honorable General
Secret Passage
Signs and Portents
To Dye For
The sneaky corsair
Isle of the Dead
Bad tide rising
Zaieshen Elite
Special Delivery
Big News, Small Package
Following the Trail

Expenses (Session 3930, Total 5700)
Rune of Minor Scythe Mastery 950g
Rune of Minor Swordsmanship 750g
Rune of Minor Protection 150g
Iron (30) 510g
Cloth (30) 420g
Armour Crafting 1000g
Machette Crafting 150g

Income of Note
Opened 2 of the free chesta snd got a Gold Barrel Hammer 17-33 r9 +19% while below 50% Health which was sold for 196g and a Vampiric 3 17-33 Dual Winged Axe 5-26 SMTM r10 226g (This was merched rather than used as the vampiric modifier made it unsuitable for Koss)

Hero Skill Trades (7/7 used)
Ermite's Attack
Rending Sweep
Aftershock
Mystic Vigour
Zealous Renewal
Signet of Pious Light

Reward Trades
None

Assets at End of Session
176gc
Expert Salvage kit (20)
Identification Kit (20)
Battle Commendations (2)
Iron (1)
Cloth (9)
Leather (15)
Iboga Petal (3)
Purple Dye (1)
Red Dye (1)
Sunspear Hood of Scythe Mastery Ar55 +2 Scythe Mastery
Sunspear Robes Ar55
Sunspear Vambraces Ar55
Sunspear Leggings Ar55
Sunspear Shoes of Minor Vigor+30hp Ar55
Suntouched Scythe 9-21 +11% while enchanted r5

Koss
Machete of Fortitude +23 3-17 r7
Adamantine Shield Ar7 r1
Rune of minor swordsmanship

Melonni
Rune of minor scythe mastery

Dunkoro/Talkora (shared items)
Rune of minor protection

Unfulfilled Needs (Session 4, Total 9)
Was unable to craft a new scythe for myself - current scythe is below par for the zones.
Was unable to craft a new scythe for Meloni - current scythe is below par for the zones.
Was unable to craft a new Shield for Koss - current shield is below par for the zones.
Was unable to craft a new staff for Dunkuro/Talkora - current items are below par for the zones.

I Hate Collectors

I have a major problem with the the low level collectors! The same thing happened when I went through prophesies the first time. Collectors give armour and weapons appropriate for the areas that they are located in, and take items found in those areas. But by the time you've managed to collect 5 pieces of harpy poop or whatever they want, you've moved onto the next area and everything they give is instantly obsolete!

This exact thing happened to me, I was just getting ready to trade my AR25 Kamadan armour in for AR40 collector armour, when I suddenly reach Black Tide den and AR40 is substandard. Having to sell all those items that I'd been meticulously keeping was infuriating to say the least!

Day 2

Exp 22,439 Lvl 7 (4 skill points remain)

Missions Completed
None

Quests completed
Suwash the Pirate
Honing Your Skills
Command Training
Secondary Training
Proof of Courage
Hog Hunt
The Missing Shipment
Need More Stuff
Scholarly Affairs
Leaving a Legacy
Identity Theft

Expenses (Session 1,190g Total 1,770g)
Dust Cloak 70g
Mystic Sweep 80g
Stoneflesh Aura 90g
Rune of Minor Scythe Mastery 950g

Income of Note
no items of note

Hero Skill Trades (1/1 used)
None

Reward Trades
Traded 6 Battle Commendations for Runes of Holding

Assets at End of Session
77gc
Expert Salvage kit (40)
Identification Kit (25)
Iron (4)
Wood (2)
Cloth (3)
Leather (4)
Iboga Petal (1)
Purple Dye (1)
Sunspear Hood of Scythe Mastery Ar25 +2 Scythe Mastery
Sunspear Robes Ar25
Sunspear Vambraces Ar25
Sunspear Leggings Ar25
Sunspear Shoes of Minor Vigor+30hp Ar25
Suntouched Scythe 7-12 r1
Machete 6-8 r1
Adamantine Shield Ar7 r1

Unfulfilled Needs (Session 5, Total 5)
Was unable to craft a new Armour - current Armour is below par for the zones.
Was unable to craft a new scythe for myself - current scythe is below par for the zones.
Was unable to craft a new staff for Dunkuro - current staff is below par for the zones.
Was unable to craft a new Sword for Koss - current Sword is below par for the zones.
Was unable to craft a new Shield for Koss - current shield is below par for the zones.

As before I do not have money for runes, insignias or skills, but as I stated yesterday, I will not count these as unfulfilled needs until Kourna is reached.

Clarifications

I have the next 3 days off work (Woohoo!), and while I have a zillion other things to do, I hope to be able to squeeze an extra hour or two of guild wars in. Hopefully that will make a sizable dent into this challenge... but for now I few clarifications regarding the rules.

Skills
Skills should be purchased a natural rate. I've seen other people suggest that you should only purchase the enough skills to make one funcational build, this is not playing Guild Wars though, just as using just a 7 iron isn't playing golf. If a skill is available at a hero trainer when its needed, it will be obtained using hero skill points, however in cases where a top notch skill is not available from a hero trainer until right near the end of the game (Mystic regeneration for example), then normal skill points will be used. This will not affect the final gold balance as the number of skills available from the hero trainers far outstrips the number of hero points obtainable.

Collectors
Where possible, collectors will be used, but there are 2 caveats on that statement.

1. One of the primary rules is that there will be no farming, so the collectors items must drop naturally.
2. The collector's items must be available in a timely manner, for example, while nikun gives a very good tactics shield for a very common item, four fifths of the game is over by the time you reach him. When an adequate collector is not available when the item is needed, weapon smiths will be used.

Playtime now I guess.

Day 1

Exp 12066 Lvl 5 (5 skill points remain)

Missions Completed
Chahbek Village (Masters)

Quests completed
Take the shortcut
Quiz the recruits
Never fight alone
Primary Training
Map Travel Inventor
Armoured Transport
Material Girl
Quality Steel

Expenses (580g)
10 Tanned Hide Squares 140g
10 Iron ingots 150g
Armour 100g
Sword from Weapon smith 20g
Scythe from Weapon smith 20g
Shield from Weapon smith 20g
Customised Scythe 10g
Customised Sword 10g
Skill: Mystic Regeneration 50g
Skill: Conviction 60g

Income (579g) including
no items of note

Hero Skill Trades
Skill: Aura of Thorns

Reward Trades
Traded 2 Battle Commendations for 2 bags

Assets at End of Day
1gc
Expert Salvage kit (40)
Battle Commendation (1)
Iron (4)
Wood (2)
Cloth (3)
Leather (4)
Sunspear Hood Ar25 +1 Scythe Mastery
Sunspear Robes Ar25
Sunspear Vambraces Ar25
Sunspear Leggings Ar25
Sunspear Shoes Ar25
Suntouched Scythe 7-12 r1
Machete 6-8 r1
Adamantine Shield Ar7 r1

Unfulfilled Needs (0)
On a normal character I would have already bought runes for myself and Koss, and I feel very naked without them. That being said, there's no way a brand new character would have been able to afford them at the stage either, so I'm not counting runes as an unfulfilled need until the characters reach Kourna. Additionally, Thomas has 5 unspent skill points, but no available gold to get new skills, he did have enough to construct a cohesive bar that will be playable for the next couple of hours of gameplay though, so I will not be counting it either.

An introduction

I've heard many people say that a casual guild wars player can get everything they need just by playing the game through - an assertion which is contrary to my experience. I've decided to illustrate this by making a new character and playing him though, recording every income and expense along the way.

So here's what I'll be doing

• Starting a character from scratch
• No access to any funds or items obtained from other character
• No Farming!
• All primary and secondary quests completed within Nightfall
• No player to player trade
• Always play with a full party
• Pick up and sell everything to the merchant except materials needed for crafting
• Do not use preorder items
• No cheating through ferries etc
• Hero points should be used where possible
• Use quest reward items to purchase kits where possible
  

The goal is to see if its possible to have a fully equipped character by the end of the game, which would include

• Max armour with insignias
  
• Max Weapons (with max/near max mods)
  
• Runes including swappable headpieces.
• A decent selection of skills (most primary plus 10 to 20 secondary)

Additionally I'll be recording every time that I needed a basic game element (eg skills, kits etc but not vanity items like gold weapons or ascended armour) but didn't have the required funds for it.