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You need to be level 80 in order to begin earning Shards, but fortunately you don’t really need to worry about them until then.
And here’s a list of the many different ways to obtain them:
As a random drop inside almost any container in the game when you’re level 80
As a guaranteed reward for earning a total of 254000 XP (when you’re not leveling up, nor training any Masteries)
As a reward for slaying Treasure Mushrooms in HoT maps, and completing Dragon Stand’s meta
As a reward for completing certain GW2 Story Chapters
As a reward for completing 3 daily achievements
As you can see, the most efficient ways often involve just playing the game and/or filling your XP gauge. So let’s have a closer look at the top 3 best methods and see the best approach for farming.
Method 1: Doing Events & Looting
Fighting the Octovine in Auric Basin’s meta
Doing meta events and looting as much as possible is a great way to farm Spirit Shards. You can find Shards inside containers and earn lots of XP at the same time.
Your best bet is going for a meta that spawns a decent amount of chests once it’s over. The metas in all 4 HoT maps are highly recommended.
In addition to regular chests, finishing Dragon Stand’s meta rewards you with an extra 3 Shards, and 3 Treasure Mushrooms spawn at the end of the event.
Another amazing event for farming Shards is the Mad King’s Labyrinth, only available during the Halloween festival. There’s no real end to it, so you can join a squad and farm as much as you want.
Tip: Make sure to use XP and Magic Find boosters before doing events. Before big metas start, players usually place consumables that anyone can use. That way you’ll have a better chance to find Shards inside containers, and you’ll earn loads of XP.
Also, try joining trains.
These are organized squads that do several events/metas in a row, maximizing profit. This is great to do with HoT metas, since they’re very conveniently timed.
Method 2: Completing Dailies
Daily Completionist achievement
Getting the Daily Completionist achievement grants you 3 Spirit Shards and 2 gold a day.
There’s PvE, PvP and WvW dailies, and you need to do 3 of them to get your spirit shards. So you can either complete a single kind of dailies, do one of each, etc. Whichever you prefer.
Method 3: Using Tomes of Knowledge
Tomes of Knowledge in player’s inventory
Once you’ve hit level 80, and if you’re not training any Masteries, you can use Tomes of Knowledge to earn a whole level worth of XP, and thus obtain a Spirit Shard.
You can get different amounts of Tomes as a login reward on the 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th days.
You can also choose to obtain 6 of them as a reward on the 30th login day.
They can be bought from Miyani (in Lion’s Arch) for 20 Writs of Experience, and can be acquired in exchange for Festival Tokens during the Festival of the Four Winds. Plus they’re also rewarded for completing certain WvW and PvP reward tracks.
Tip: Out of PvP or WvW, it’s recommended that you go for WvW, since you’ll also loot a lot & it can earn you Spirit Shards as well.
I'm a Spanish content writer who's studying voice acting. I have been both writing and playing videogames since I was a little girl. I love old-school games and games with a good story and lore, like Guild Wars 2, The Elder Scrolls, and lately Sea of Thieves. When I'm not working, I love playing games with my friends and boyfriend, reading, listening to music, hiking and taking pictures of nature.
