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.