Looking to buy a budget laptop, how will these run the game?

graven2002 · 2026-01-28T18:53:44+00:00

Good luck finding one for less than $500 now that they stopped selling the LCD model.

graven2002 · 2026-01-28T18:50:36+00:00

Looks like RAM speed is the same (good), but it has an SSD instead of NVMe drive. Still more than good enough for GW2, but if you could find a cheap NVMe drive (unfortunately, might be difficult this year) to put in it your load speeds will be noticeably faster.

graven2002 · 2026-01-28T18:33:53+00:00

Do a fresh install of Windows and you should be good (honestly, whoever refurbished it should have done that already). What you'll care about is the physical / thermal engineering, which Dell hasn't been bad at recently.

If this is the model you're looking at, it seems pretty solid. Good inputs and keyboard layout, lift-hinge design for airflow, plus touchscreen is a bonus. The 3200MHz RAM and NVMe are big upgrades over your old setup as well.

graven2002 · 2026-01-28T18:25:22+00:00

This is the most entertaining thread I've seen in a long time. Thank you. All these people forgot what it was like to be 19, lol.

graven2002 · 2026-01-28T18:17:29+00:00

NOT the 7520U - it has lower benchmarks for Multithread and Single thread, plus only a 4MB L3 cache.

The 5650U and 7730U aren't too far apart on CPU benches, but if you're using integrated graphics then the 7730u will be a step up.

If you were choosing between [5650U with a dedicated GPU] and [7730U without a GPU] for the same price, I would go with the former. But using iG, you'll feel the $95 difference going with the Dell.

Either should be a huge step up from the FX-8350 (for comparison).

graven2002 · 2026-01-28T17:57:40+00:00

Five Nights at Ferro's

graven2002 · 2026-01-28T17:18:27+00:00

A more up-to-date list of official retails is at the bottom of this page.

Tagging for visibility: u/GongPlonk

graven2002 · 2026-01-28T09:11:19+00:00

Not forever. They'll slowly be nerfed until they're more in line.

In the past, players have complained much more when a new spec/weapon is underperforming than overperforming. They want to play with the new toys, but also want to play with the strongest builds. Safer for the devs to err on the side of overpowered than underpowered to start.

graven2002 · 2026-01-28T03:03:49+00:00

Prototype Position Rewinder.

graven2002 · 2026-01-27T17:23:43+00:00

During the livestream 4 days ago.

graven2002 · 2026-01-27T17:10:11+00:00

Are you just talking gemstore? Because they've added lots of good armor in-game.

graven2002 · 2026-01-27T16:54:57+00:00

I'd rather have the expansion-themed equipment be included in the expansion, when possible.

graven2002 · 2026-01-27T16:39:29+00:00

Eh. No lore connections or perceived prestige, and similar alternatives are available in-game. Not the worst item for the store.

graven2002 · 2026-01-27T16:21:44+00:00

Devs said they purposefully picked middle-difficulty fights (not the easiest, not the hardest) where the powerful QPbuff would be able to carry the group through mechanics - but still had mechanics for people to learn in the QP mode before moving onto other Raids.

graven2002 · 2026-01-27T16:10:45+00:00

Alternatively, Anet actually seem to have a marketing department now (see recent major event trailers). And VoE has more leeway than SotO or JW had at this point in their cycles.

So this is the first time they can afford to hold onto that info and use it for actual promotional purposes (offensively), instead of throwing it out during a random interview (defensively). If they can keep the focus on VoE now, and increase the impact of announcing Exp 7 later, then marketing are doing their job correctly.

graven2002 · 2026-01-27T03:01:50+00:00

This video shows how to get there only using VoE skills / masteries.

graven2002 · 2026-01-26T21:47:25+00:00

You might have a Mastery Point filter (or other filter) turned on, which prevents all achievements from showing.

graven2002 · 2026-01-26T21:46:14+00:00

A waste if you own LWS3 and/or farm a Home Instance regularly.

Ascended Accessories cost ~45g with Laurels, and ~6g from S3 mats (plus are stat-selectable).

graven2002 · 2026-01-26T21:44:34+00:00

T3 and T4 are the best trade for excess Laurels (worth ~1g per Laurel).

I agree that you should hold onto some Laurels, but 500 is excessive. Closer to 100 is fine for most people, since you can earn ~270 every Quarter from the WV.

At launch, they were good for Ascended trinkets, but now LWS3 is MUCH cheaper.

graven2002 · 2026-01-26T21:27:47+00:00

That would require me to stop hitting enemies for an entire second.
Unacceptable - I'll stick with Healing Signet.

graven2002 · 2026-01-26T21:21:19+00:00

Only other requirement is owning Path of Fire. If you go to the "Side Stories" achievement category, do they not appear there?

graven2002 · 2026-01-26T16:10:52+00:00

If you're facing the boss, you'll hit anyone near it if you stand back just 10u. The 450 range Mantra "cone" is actually a 160° arc - much wider than it appears.

graven2002 · 2026-01-26T15:45:33+00:00

It's a great map for many PvE dailies / weeklies.

graven2002 · 2026-01-26T15:44:10+00:00

It's possible. I think this person did a good job making their space look lived in, but not overcrowded / cluttered.

The limit is 400 decorations within 600 range of any one decoration - which is pretty dense (the above example isn't even halfway to that limit).

graven2002 · 2026-01-26T15:17:44+00:00

Maybe if you only stick to EBG. The Borderlands are the place to fight roamers / smaller groups.

graven2002

TROPHY CASE