Talk:Mastery

Icons

Not the best quality, but here are the icons for masteries on the level gauge and when one gains a mastery point. http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r523/TalysAlankil/Capture%20drsquoeacutecran%202015-03-03%20agrave%2017.37.17_zpsmplbxegw.png (Source). In case anyone can do something with it. -Alarielle- (talk) 16:41, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

Hijacking section. We could do with the map icons for these masteries. Have we got those on the wiki already? -Chieftain Alex 23:58, 26 July 2017 (UTC)

Mastery-related screenshots

I'll be adding screenshots here, use it wherever fitting.

Gliding bar

"Mastery Point Earned" notice

– Valento ^msg 18:16, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

Levelling masteries: XP amount

During this beta test I couldn't help but notice how much XP you need to level up masteries. I had Glider Basics levelled, and I noticed I need roughly 1kk experience to level Thick Wings. Unfortunately I didn't grab a SS during the test, I think it's worth to add "roughly 1kk" somewhere in this article though. – Valento ^msg 12:26, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

"1kk" do you mean 1M (1,000,000)? —Dr Ishmael 13:29, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

From watching a VOD of the beta I think the first unlock is the standard 254k xp and the second tier is 1016k xp (aka 4 levels). Further tiers might take even more levels to train. Tyndel (talk) 13:42, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

@Ish, yes.

@Tyndel, nice observation. I borrowed a friend's account (2nd time I wasn't invited *sigh*), but he had already levelled first tier, so I didn't know that. It's reasonable that it will scale. – Valento ^msg 13:56, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Wait, is this a scaling XP requirement per mastery point? Or is the cost per point constant, like the cost per skill point currently is? —Dr Ishmael 14:19, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

It seems to scale per mastery track. Each subsequent track requires more experience points, increasing by a currently unknown scaling factor (glider I to glider II is 4x more, for example, the former requires 254k exp and the latter 1016k exp). – Valento ^msg 14:26, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Wait, there is a misunderstanding I think. Mastery points unlock mastery tracks, but you need to level that track with exp. – Valento ^msg 14:35, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

You're right, I see now - mastery points are not earned with XP, they're earned through specific actions. I think I got confused because you added the info about mastery tracks to the section about points. —Dr Ishmael 15:22, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

I always avoid creating new sections because I don't know if some information deserve its own section, that's my fault. D:

If you want, you can create a new "Mastery track" section with this information. Sometimes I just feel like my wording will look clunky and awkward. – Valento ^msg 17:06, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Feedback 2015/08/08

Currently the description of the mastery system on the wiki: 'the first track requires 254,000 exp, and the second tier of the track requires 1,012,000 exp' suggests all tracks need the same amounts of experience. this is however untrue, for example the first tier of precursor crafting requires 1.000.000+ already whereas the first track of gliding requires far less. --83.86.5.91 08:18, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for noticing that, the numbers on the page were from the last test weekend and maybe only for the gliding line. I'll get to adding the xp needed for each mastery later. Tyndel (talk) 08:23, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

Mastery vs. XP

While you are earning mastery points (the experience part of them), do you stop earning regular experience points? Daddicus (talk)

A level 80 character that is earning experience is only putting that experience towards a mastery. There is no other use for experience on a level 80 character. G R E E N E R 23:09, 12 November 2015 (UTC)

You always gain experience points (exctly as many as shown on the screen in yellow font).

Levels 1-79: when your exp bar is full, you automatically gain a level.

At level 80, without access to HoT: when your exp bar is full, you gain a spirit shard. retired with HoT

At level 80, with access to HoT: when your exp bar is full, you can train the mastery that you have had active, using one more mastery points. (As far as I know, you stop gaining spirit shards.)

At level 80, with access to HoT, if you don't have enough mastery points to train your active mastery: your exp is automatically applied to a different mastery line. This mastery line will be partly completed when you switch to it later.

--Leen (talk) 23:10, 12 November 2015 (UTC)

Are you sure about the spirit shards? Before HoT was released when skill points were split into spirit shards and hero points, I'd stopped receiving anything when I filled my experience bar at 80. Spirit shards did not inherit that feature of the old skill points. So are you saying that functionality was added back to spirit shards for those without HoT? --Cali (talk) 23:48, 12 November 2015 (UTC)

No, you're right, the spirit shards for levels were retired, I just forgot about that! Sorry! --Leen (talk) 23:56, 12 November 2015 (UTC)

I believe I've been receiving spirit shards every time I fill the bar after level 80. I don't know when that would have changed, except apparently now with mastery. (Which absolutely sucks; how are you supposed to earn philosopher's stones and those other things?) Daddicus (talk)

Mastery Points from Map Completion?

This does not seem to be true, or the definition needs to be more specific. After completing (Tyria) maps, I did not receive any mastery points (I expected to get 1 after hitting 100% for a map). Am I missing something? Dracx (talk) 06:58, 14 November 2015 (UTC)

Slight misnomer in the article. It's rewarded for Been There, Done That achievement, which is World Completion, not Map Completion. And once per account. Konig 08:36, 14 November 2015 (UTC)

Feedback 2015/11/25

Comment in note: Experience received in WvW currently does not contribute to any mastery track, being therefore useless.

While the WvW experience doesn't contribute to any mastery track, that doesn't make it USELESS as it goes toward the WvW rank track which give you titles, chests when you increase a rank and points to allot to the WvW tracks. ---- 70.196.74.245 15:43, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Experience (EXP or XP) and World Experience (WXP) are two different things. You can get both - oddly - in WvW. The former does help with leveling characters, but not in progressing masteries (similar to how the halloween areas functioned). Also, you sign your comments with four tildes (~) not four dashes (-) and you can remove the 'insert comment here' part. I moved the auto-signature to the end of your comment and deleted the template text for you. Konig 22:17, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

What's in a name?

So basically, this is just an alternative term for 'level cap'. It even requires XP and replaces the levelling numbers. The only difference is that it's account wide. 80.112.180.116 15:23, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

The fact it literally replaces the level cap would would confirm so.--Relyk ~ talk < 15:56, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

Feedback 2017/05/04

The statement that the Ancient Magics Mastery track is unlocked by entering any Season 3 map does not seem to hold true. There are posts that indicate that entering Draconis Mons does not unlock the track. I'm unsure about Lake Doric, as well. --Inculpatus cedo (talk) 20:23, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

Judging by this reddit thread, I'll go with the first 2 maps unlocking it. If anyone managed to unlock the track in other maps, add it in, but let's treat it as a whitelist rather than a blacklist. 17:19, 8 May 2017 (UTC)

"Your current mastery is fully trained"

Is it possible to disable that constant reminder? I get it every few seconds. I cannot master the trained mastery at the moment due to lack of mastery points. The reminder drives me nuts. --92.218.161.104 20:12, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

One option might be to select a different mastery for your experience to be dropped into, though I can't guarantee this will work. You probably want to bring this up on the forums, as you'll get more people reading it, including the developers. G R E E N E R 20:40, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

But... I can't be the only one who has ever had that reminder annoy him? I tried Googling stuff like "mastery reminder" but nothing relevant immediately came up. I guess I'll try the forums or support if I'm really desperate to get rid of it (I mastered some other mastery that was fully trained, although I'm afraid I'm gonna see the same message again at some point) --92.218.161.104 20:56, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

I created an in-depth forum post about issues around the mastery system unlocking and UI: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/96299-suggestionsqol-quality-of-life-ideas-merged/?do=findComment&comment=1505348 I hope it gains some traction although I highly doubt it. ANet don't seem to care one bit. Kerbezena (talk) 13:53, 6 November 2021 (UTC)

TWO requirements to work on

To gain a Mastery you should pay attention to two different requirements that work in synergy. Neither will give you Masteries on their own. The second paragraph(*) of the main page tells what they are but not their interdependence.

Mastery points may be the easiest to gain thru places marked on the map as well as Achievements which can be tracked in your Hero panel. Once they are acquired you might still be unable to activate your chosen skill because of inadequate XP. Conversely, a filled-up "Mastery Training Bar" (still looks like the XP bar) cannot grant Masteries without the Mastery points being gained.

So work at these two together. I suggest gaining the Mastery points first (esp. when many are needed) and then working in the proper regions to fill out the needed XP. Of course, you should watch for things that give the most XP, such as Dynamic events and in some Zones, Renown Hearts which are renewed daily. --Gold Recluse (talk) 12:35, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

I have edited that (*)second paragraph to give a better, more complete description of the process for earning Mastery Points. --Gold Recluse (talk) 22:09, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

Do Central Tyria masteries require HoT?

If there's anyone who has purchased Pah of Fire but not Heart of Thorns, do you have access to the Central Tyria mastery tracks? The official FAQ is rather unclear about this: "You must purchase Heart of Thorns to unlock and use the gliding mastery, as well as all other masteries introduced in and exclusive to that expansion." 11:40, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

The word "must" seems far from unclear to me. Official stances may change, if you're all right with waiting to see. As a comparison, I would not expect to find much use for Nuhoch Masteries in a desert. --Gold Recluse (talk) 14:51, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

I'm not talking about Nuhoch masteries, those are obvious, but about Pact Commander, Legendary Crafting and Fractal Attunement masteries. The FAQ states that you need to purchase HoT for masteries exclusive to HoT, which still doesn't exactly answer the question. In other words, what I find ambiguous is: does "all other masteries introduced in and exclusive to that expansion" from FAQ mean "all masteries introduced in HoT, which are therefore exclusive to HoT", or "all masteries introduced in HoT and at the same time being exclusive to HoT"? It does seem like the first meaning might be more likely, but I just wanted clarification. 17:25, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Well, apparently the don't: [1] 07:07, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

Popup should be mentioned, since it's annoying as hell.

I just spend 100 Euros to be annoyed by a popup, so I'm not in a good mood. As this thread says: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/8524/mastery-popup-will-not-go-away now that I own the expansions, I have theoretic access to Masteries - so I get an annoying popup "Hey, your mastery skill is finished, spend some points!" every few seconds. But since I don't have the required mission done yet (I don't even know HOW tf I should do that, it's not as if there is a pointer or something. "Heart of Maguuma" is a bit unspecific), I can't get rid of it it seems.

But maybe I'm missing the obvious? In which case I'd have hoped to find it here.--Cyberman 17:12, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

I had the same problem with constant pop-up about using Central Tyria's Masteries which were locked.

But finally I found workaround, I went to Guild Hall in Vabbi and in the area near it I earned few Path of Fire's mastery points. I don't know if earning points was needed, maybe you just need to go there - as in Domain of Vabbi there was no pop-up, so I don't know when exactly it unlocked, but at that time I checked panel for Masteries - and Central Tyria was finally unlocked, after using 3 point for 3 first level masteries, pop-up finally stopped appearing in Central Tyria.

This is really bad pop-up. It was nagging all the time when I couldn't do anything - but when I was finally able to use points - there was no pop-up at all, this looks like it checks for full points only for a region where you are now and ignores if you can use them or not. - 37.128.2.166 10:08, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Yep, the poupup is simply a bad design and people complained when Masteries got released (as can be seen on top of this topic), but nothing has changed since then. Txonä Atan - (talk) 15:57, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

What happens to XP if all mastery tracks are currently blocked by missing mastery points?

Are they lost? Are they kept and applied once a mastery is learned? Would be interesting. I might be able to answer it myself once I manage to get enough points, but I'm sure someone already knows it - that would be useful information, IMO.--Cyberman 18:31, 24 March 2018 (UTC)

Experience gain depends on the situation:

1. If your active mastery line is not at 100% experience, it goes to that.
2. If your active mastery line is at 100% experience, and you have other unlocked mastery lines, it goes to the next mastery line down that's not at 100%.
3. If your active mastery line is at 100%, and your other unlocked mastery lines are at 100% as well or completed, it is lost.
4. If all un-hidden mastery lines are completed, even if there are hidden mastery lines (e.g., HoT Raids and Griffon), you get spirit shards.

Not sure where it would be best to put this, so I'll leave it to others to add it where they think appropriate. Konig (talk) 18:56, 24 March 2018 (UTC)

I think the statements with the footnotes should be removed, or changed, as it seems some are interpreting AnetPaul's statements incorrectly. There is no sudden plethora of 'saved-hidden XP bar' Spirit Shards awarded when one completes all Masteries (in a region) after having acquired XP before spending the required Mastery Points. If there were, surely we would have seen players post about it...somewhere. Inculpatus cedo (talk) 14:36, 27 March 2019 (UTC)

I don't have any documented evidence (unfortunatelly I didn't pay attention at the time) but I suspect part of it can be true. A while back I had only 1 PoF mastery to be unlocked, when I finally filled and unlocked it and it was replaced by the "Spirit Shard bar" I noticed the exp bar was already ~40% filled. I just can't recall if I got a Spirit Shard right away or what not. Well, I'm near that situation again with having only Skyscale tracks to be unlocked, I'll try to watch it when I get to unlock the last track. --Txonä Atan - (talk) 11:49, 1 August 2019 (UTC)

I've gone through the situation twice now, and although one does receive XP for the current progress in a bar, one does not receive any 'saved or back-logged' XP. In other words, 'saved' XP is wiped out with each filled XP bar, and then starts over. No windfall in Spirit Shards, either. Inculpatus cedo (talk) 12:41, 1 August 2019 (UTC)

Continuing on the old discussion, "Note, however, that any XP gained while abilities are "waiting to be mastered" (full bar of XP but waiting to use mastery points to complete leveling that tier up) may not reallocate excess XP anywhere, meaning XP gained while "maxed" on mastery is effectively wasted. (This needs to be confirmed (does it go to spirit shard XP behind the scenes?), but so far seems to be the case.)" from IndigoHatter(User talk:IndigoHatter)

This isn't accurate, it should never waste xp anymore. I just tested it to confirm by earning xp while leaving a mastery track I have the mastery points for left unearned. It does overflow into the normal spirit shard pool just fine. https://i.imgur.com/ioViGcI.png Note is unneeded Xdeadzx (talk) 08:19, 8 November 2023 (UTC)

Huh I missed that edit, but yes, it was even confirmed in a patch notes ages ago (I can't recall which one). --Txonä Atan - (talk) 23:24, 8 November 2023 (UTC)

As it stands, the article doesn't provide enough detail and leaves unanswered questions. If my note is incorrect, that's fine, but that leaves my questions unanswered: "XP is never lost"... so, where does it go? Into the spirit shard pool, even though we can't see it? Does that mean I'll receive spirit shards while I'm blocked on not having enough mastery points, or will they all cash in at the same time once I've completed my masteries? As in... if I cap out all mastery lines at 100% but don't have mastery points, and I play a TON of the game without gaining mastery... where does that XP go? What happens?

The explanations above seem to state that if all mastery lines are at 100% but not trained due to lack of points, that XP is lost. Is that false? How do we know?

Again, the article does not sufficiently explain this situation, so, here we are. (Perhaps it is written there, but just not clearly enough for someone who doesn't already know to understand.) What's the answer?

IndigoHatter (talk) 04:50, 9 November 2023 (UTC)

"so, where does it go? Into the spirit shard pool, even though we can't see it? Does that mean I'll receive spirit shards while I'm blocked on not having enough mastery points ... How do we know?"

Yes, exactly that. You can verify it by going into a zone where you do have the spirit shard pool, checking your xp, and then returning to a zone where you are "mastery point gated," gain some xp, then return back to your visible pool and double check your XP gain. You never stop gaining the xp. You'll just get surprise spirit shards delivered to you as you fill up the hidden bar if you don't go to check. If you are mastery gated in all areas, you're not able to view your spirit shard xp pool but you will still gain them. Could be rewrote if it's confusing but I think it's clear that you always get spirit shard xp. Xdeadzx (talk) 22:09, 12 November 2023 (UTC)

Feedback 2019/06/18

That 'hidden XP bar' is definitely not true, at least, not in 'all xp gained'. I didn't collect enough Mastery Points to finish all Mastery Tracks until just recently (pre-Dragonfall), and when I did, I didn't suddenly get several (would probably have been dozens and dozens) of XP bars filled. Nor was I suddenly showered with Spirit Shards. I think, at most, one receives credit for wherever the counter is in the current XP bar (as if it is keeping track, and restarting each time it gets to the end). --Inculpatus cedo (talk) 00:25, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

My experience is: EXP is redirected if there are other tracks unlocked. If there are only locked tracks that are not hidden you dont gain any mastery or exp progress. —Kvothe (talk) 04:19, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

I think the assumption it restarts and don't accumulate Spirit Shards could make sense. See my post on previous topic, I got the bar already filled so it got XP from somewhere. Maybe it keeps filling a bar but when it gets full it restarts without any reward so unless it doesn't get full that XP isn't lost. I'll watch out and try to collect an evidence next time I fall in that situation. --Txonä Atan - (talk) 11:54, 1 August 2019 (UTC)

Acquiring Mastery Points - Mastery Points

In the table for this section, the links all point to the relevant Mastery Tracks but not to the relevant section under Mastery point unlocks as seems to be inferred? The larger table under Mastery Track already has links to the Mastery Tracks within each heading. Lady Elyssa (talk) 10:41, 6 October 2020 (UTC)

Unlocking masteries

A new find that is not listed in the wiki: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/nmnfpg/unlocking_mastery_system_without_doing_any_story/ Maybe someone can add this on the page in a good format? -- (gem / talk) 15:03, 28 May 2021 (UTC)

I tried to update the page a bit with the findings from that thread, but there may still be some assumptions about the way some of the tracks are unlocked which are difficult to test properly without new accounts. If anyone finds more situations that are not covered here yet, feel free to update it further. ^^ 08:11, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

Feedback 2021/09/04

Am I missing something? The new chart's Mastery Point totals (for region) don't match those shown later in the article. --Inculpatus cedo (talk) 22:28, 4 September 2021 (UTC)

One's the number of available mastery points in the game, the other is the number of mastery points needed to learn all masteries. Warming Hearth (talk) 22:33, 4 September 2021 (UTC)

Ahh, thanks. Inculpatus cedo (talk) 22:37, 4 September 2021 (UTC)

Feedback 2022/07/24

This seems redundant: The easiest way to unlock the mastery system is to reach level 80 and obtain any Central Tyria mastery point, which unlocks the Central Tyria region., because of this: Master of Heroics. --Inculpatus cedo (talk) 18:45, 24 July 2022 (UTC)

You can't see in the article because the text is hidden, but if you try to edit it you'll see we're wondering if that actually works.

== Unlocking the mastery system ==<!--Since the Central Tyria track is now unlocked after earning a mastery point at level 80, and you get 1 mastery point from reaching level 80 by the first time, it stands to reason that the mastery system is now unlocked as soon as you reach level 80 and you have bought an expansion, but this has to be tested to see if MP acquired before buying an expansion are taken into account-->

Have you personally tested this and can confirm that it works? We also need to test if it's retroactive. That is, if you reach level 80 as free to play and get the MP, and afterwards buy the game, does the mastery system get unlocked, or do you need to acquire another MP? Warming Hearth (talk) 22:10, 24 July 2022 (UTC)

Can someone recheck the numbers of Secrets of the Obscure mastery points? I have used 59 total and have 7 left, but it only shows 65 mastery points available? But 59+7 is 66?