Expertise System Guide (Updated Up To Patch 1.3.4)
The Expertise System is a system that governs the power of gear drops you receive and the effectiveness of your gear.
When an enemy or container drops a piece of gear for you, it rolls on its Gear Score (GS). During your leveling experience, this GS progresses with your level.
When you reach the level cap, the mechanic changes a bit. At level 60, you gain an upper GS limit 500 GS on drops that gradually increases as more powerful drops appear for you.
This upper limit is per-item-type. For armor, it’s based on the slot type (e.g. head armor, chest armor, ring, etc.), and for weapons, it is based on weapon type (e.g. sword, hammer, musket, etc.). However, it is universal for the armor types. So, while you can loot pants with a 560 gear score, your boots might still be 530, and it doesn’t matter if they’re light, medium, or heavy.
In total, this means there are 20 different Expertise levels across each character, one for each of the current 12 weapons and 8 for your armor and trinkets.
Each slot on the character model in the inventory displays what the current Expertise level of that slot is.
An average Expertise value is also shown above average Gear Score on the inventory character model.
There is a soft cap at 600 Expertise Level; the further upgrade is possible only with Umbral Shards.
If you wear gear that has a higher Expertise Level, its effectiveness will be reduced to half between your Expertise Level for a particular piece of gear and the Gear score of the gear you equip. This means if your War Hammer Expertise is 520 and you equip a 550 Gear Score War Hammer, the weapon’s effective Gear Score will be reduced to 535. All perks and other bonuses will still be active, though reduced in effectiveness.
When an item’s Gear Score has its effectiveness reduced to your Expertise level, it’s not a permanent change. The item will retain its inherent Gear Score, and as you increase your Expertise, the effective Gear Score of the item will increase up to that inherent Gear Score.
Any item obtained prior to patch 1.3 will not be scaled down to your Expertise Level, same as Quest rewards and Faction shop items.
Expertise Level Increase
Item drops, crafted gear, and Gypsum system affect your Expertise Level. It cannot be impacted by Faction gear or quest gear. The moment the item drops, your relevant Expertise is increased – you don’t even need to pick the item up. If you craft a 600 GS item, your Expertise level will be increased up to 600 on this slot.
When you get a drop that raises your Expertise, this is referred to as a “bump”. Each bump has a minimum increase of 2 Expertise and a max of 5 Expertise – this leaves an expected average of 35 bumps to take any item from GS 500 to GS 600.
The only items from dropped content that do not impact Expertise are unique items that should be legendary. For example, the Coral Lash is a 600 GS Tear 4 sword, it drops off a monster, but this does not increase your Expertise Level.
Whenever you craft a GS 600 item, if your Expertise for that item type is under 600, it will trigger an Expertise bump.
Not all enemies and containers, including Event Reward Containers from Outpost Rush, War, Invasions, etc., are created equal in the case of the Expertise system. While you always have a small chance to see an Expertise increase when defeating a level 60+ creature or searching a container in a level 60+ landmark, each level beyond 60 has a soft upper limit on the likelihood of an HWM increase.
Similarly, Event Reward Containers will respect your current Expertise Level and also have a small chance of increasing it. This means that while you’ll see Expertise Level increases up to GS 530 when defeating Level 61 enemies, your chances of seeing something beyond GS 530 from a Level 61 enemy is significantly lower than it is from a Level 62 enemy. Level 64+ enemies are capable of reliably dropping gear up to GS 600.
Therefore, in order to see a consistent Expertise Level increase, you should reference the following:
500-530 – Level 61 Enemies
530-560 – Level 62 Enemies
560-590 – Level 63 Enemies
590-600 – Level 64+ Enemies
If you have an item gear score of 520, once you kill a mob eligible for dropping gear above that gear score, for example, level 64+ mobs, you have a chance to get a higher gear score item, level 521. Once you get that higher item level, your current Expertise level on this slot will be increased up to 521, giving you a chance of looting an item with a gear score of 522. So this system only increases the range of the drops you can get in terms of the low end to high end.
The system isn’t fully random, either. Each time you defeat a level 60+ enemy and don’t receive a gear item that increases Expertise, you’re more likely to see an increase the next time. Additionally, some enemies, such as those found in Elite Landmarks and Expeditions, named high-level mobs, have a higher base chance of dropping items that increase your Expertise.
Gypsum System
Gypsum is a new resource that is found by doing a variety of activities. While the cooldowns on crafting Gypsum Orbs were removed in the 1.3 patch, after players have earned sufficient Gypsum for an Orb, they won’t earn any more for 18 hours.
1. Obsidian Gypsum requires 3 pieces to craft a Gypsum Orb and can be obtained by defeating level 60+ open-world named bosses. The best way is to kill them while also looting Elite Supply Chests.
Another boss worth mentioning is Ivan the Inevitable. He’s located in a non-elite landmark and easily soloable.
The drop rate of Obsidian Gypsum is about 80%, but it has a cooldown between drops of about 5 minutes.
| Territory | Landmark | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Ebonscale Reach: | Imperial Palace | Daisy the Dancing Bear, Palace Maiden Xiao, Prince Goroto |
| North Palace Shrine | Erlander | |
| Serenity Monastery | Shrine Master Zhang | |
| Forbidden Ritual | Shrine Master Yang | |
| Skysong Temple | Skysong Maiden Ping | |
| Skysong Crypt | Ivan the Inevitable | |
| Reekwater: | Eternal Pool | Pride of the Trees, Viridulon the Rootbound |
| The Congregation | Mirepaw | |
| Forecastle Drift | The Siren’s Fist, The Siren’s Guide, The Siren’s Gun | |
| Siren’s Stand | The Siren’s Dog, The Siren’s Brute | |
| Great Cleave: | Old Myrkgard Forest | Mozrul the Herald, Unhallowed Soul of Myrkgard |
| Nihilo Visage | High Priest Oseguera | |
| Balebane Maw | Articulon the Unshackled | |
| Shattered Mountain: | Ambusti Superior | Leviathan of the Deep |
| Myrkgard | Myrkgard Ogre, Myrkgard Commander, Captain Thorpe | |
| Opulence | Archmagister Vocus | |
| Upper Harrow | Disciple of Disorder, Artifex Faetum | |
| Upper Svikin | Caminus Gate Lord, Overseer Levy | |
| Edengrove: | Malevolence | Malevolence |
2. Sapphire Gypsum requires 1 piece to craft a Gypsum Orb and can be obtained by defeating the final bosses of The Lazarus Instrumentality, Garden of Genesis, and Mutated Dynasty Expedition.
3. Ruby Gypsum requires 2 pieces to craft a Gypsum Orb and can be found in Outpost Rush Caches. No need to win it. You just have to participate and not be AFK.
4. Emerald Gypsum requires 1 piece to craft a Gypsum Orb and can be found in Trade Skill Aptitude Reward Containers. Crafting skill requires a lot of experience, so it’s better to focus on Refining or Gathering. The only exception is Cooking, which requires about 74 250 XP, or 110 Hearty Meals.
5. Citrine Gypsum requires 1 piece to craft a Gypsum Orb and can be found in Arena Caches.
6. Amethyst Gypsum requires 7 pieces to craft a Gypsum Orb and can be found in Breach Caches from 60+ Corrupted Breaches. The cooldown for the drop is 30 seconds.
There are four different kinds of Corrupted Breaches.
If you approach a Corrupted Portal that’s considered a Minor Corruption Breach, this means that it can be finished with a small group of players in a relatively short period of time, but it gives a 50% chance of receiving an Amethyst Gypsum.
Likewise, if you run across a Corrupted Portal that’s considered a Major Corrupted Breach, it’s recommended you bring at least five players. The chance of receiving the Amethyst Gypsum from Major Corrupted Breach Cache is 100%.
You can do a rotation around the map, and they will keep spawning. If you need more information about Corrupted Breaches, you can check our Leveling Guide.
7. Topaz Gypsum requires 10 pieces to craft a Gypsum Orb and can be found on hostile creatures Level 55+, but only after consuming a special Attunement Potion that can be crafted at a Tier 5 Camp.
The drop rate of Topaz Gypsum is about 75%, and it has no cooldown between drops since patch 1.4.
The limit is 10 drops per day, so if you didn’t pick up your Topaz Gypsum, you’ll not be able to craft an Orb this day.
8. Diamond Gypsum requires 3 pieces to craft a Gypsum Orb and can only be found during certain events, such as Winter Convergence.
Gypsum can be crafted into Gypsum Orbs on Kiln crafting stations, which are situated in the Settlements of Edengrove, Great Cleave, Shattered Mountain, Reekwater, and Ebonscale Reach.
One Gypsum Orb per day is available at the Faction vendor for 7,000 faction tokens.
Gypsum Orbs, then, can be turned into special caches called Gypsum Casts of any weapon, armor, or trinket type.
Gypsum Casts are gear type specific and, when opened, guarantee an Expertise bump for that type of gear and reward players with a random piece of gear of that type with a Gear Score equal to the new Expertise level.
There’s a total of 20 different Casts – one for each weapon type, armor piece, and jewelry piece. Each individual Cast has a 22-hour cooldown, allowing you to only craft one per type, per day, regardless of how many Gypsum Orbs you have.
Gypsum Farming
One of the ways to increase your Expertise Level is to farm Gypsum because it gives you a guaranteed increase for the specific gear type.
The Routes below are intended for use with groups of 5, for having a party to clear an Arena, as well as for an Expedition. They also require at least one Gathering Trade Skills to be Level 200 for Aptitude Caches. Level 60 quests in Reekwater and Shattered Mountain also reward Gypsum Orbs.
The Reekwater Route
You start from Reekwater, and head North towards Protector Arena and Lazarus. Use the Topaz potion when you get to the Eternal Pool, and clear out everything in their way to the Arena, likely earning enough Topaz between the way in and pathing back out to have Orb №1 as well as Enough Named Elites for the Obsidian and Orb №2. The Citrine Gypsum for Orb №3 you’ll receive from the Arena itself.
Farm out the rest of the Topaz if you don’t have enough. Then run Lazarus Instrumentality, getting the Sapphire Gypsum for Orb №4.
Back to Reekwater to queue for Outpost Rush and get Ruby Gypsum and Orb №5. While in Queue, take out any Breaches for Amethyst Gypsum and Orb №6, and gather resources to earn the Emerald Gypsum from gaining Trade Skill Aptitude for Orb №7.
This route will take an estimated 4 hours with the overlapping objectives.
Alternate Reekwater Route
This is a slightly slower route than can be used in Reekwater, going from the other arena that’s further away.
Start from Reekwater, queuing for Outpost Rush to get Ruby Gypsum and Orb №1. Then head South toward the Siren Stand Arena, gathering to get the Emerald Gypsum for Orb №2 and clearing any nearby breaches for Amethyst Gypsum and Orb №3.
After exiting Outpost Rush, continue heading towards Siren Arena, clearing out Elites while using Topaz potion to get both Topaz Gypsum and Obsidian Gypsum for Orbs №4 and №5.
Clear the Siren Arena for the Citrine Gypsum and Orb №6.
To earn Orb №7, you can choose between the Lazarus Instrumentality and the Garden of Genesis.
The Edengrove Route
This is essentially the same thing, but with a different location. It will be slightly slower (and likely cost more Azoth) just due to travel time alone since you have to track, or Quick Travel to Great Cleave for Corruption.
Start at Valor Hold Outpost or Last Stand Outpost, queue for Outpost Rush before leaving to get the Ruby Gypsum and Orb №1. Depending on the server population, this would be likely pop near or around the time you reach Malevolence (unless you decided to Quick Travel to Elysian Shrine).
After OPR, head into Malevolence to grab Obsidian Gypsum and Topaz Gypsum for Orbs №2 and №3. After getting these two orbs, make your way East towards Monoecious Arena, gathering to get the Emerald Gypsum for Orb №4 and clearing the Arena for the Citrine Gypsum and Orb №5
Then Quick Travel and clear Garden of Genesis for the Sapphire Gypsum and Orb №6.
Use the Spirit Shrine to head over to Great Cleave to do Corrupted Breaches for Amethyst Gypsum and Orb №7, then return any outpost to craft.
Elite Zones Farming
Another way to increase your Expertise Level is to farm Elite Zones and loot the Elite Supply Chests in the applicable areas for your level. It’s recommended that when farming these areas, you take no more than 2 groups with a total of 10 people. This will ensure both groups get a drop from the bosses that are killed and the Elite Supply Chests that are looted.
If 3 groups are taken, only the 2 groups that have done the most DPS to the boss will receive the drop, thus lowering your chances of receiving loot from the boss.
The following are the areas that should be farmed according to your current Expertise Level.
500-525 (Elite 61+ level)
- Great Cleave: Mangled Heights
- Shattered Mountain: Upper Svikin
549-577 (Elite 63+ level)
- Reekwater: Forecastle Drift
- Shattered Mountain: Scorched Mines
577-590 (Elite 64+ level)
- Reekwater: Eternal Pool
- Reekwater: Siren’s Stand
590-600 (Elite 66+ level)
- Ebonscale Reach: Imperial Palace
- Edengrove: Malevolence
- Shattered Mountain: Myrkgard
It’s usually easier to find a group in the Elite 66+ Zones. You typically only want to do this while the Elite Supply Chests are available.
The Chests have a much higher chance of Expertise bumps than the bosses. They have an 18 hours respawn timer. You often get 2-3 item drops from every chest.
There are different spots for this farm. Most of them are in Shattered Mountains, especially Myrkguard, the hardest and endgame location.
Also, you can find those Chests in Siren’s Stand in Reekwater:
And, in Imperial Palace in Ebonscale Reach:
You can also find some chests in Malevolence, Edengrove:
Expeditions And Arenas Farming
Both Arena and Expedition Bosses guarantee an Expertise bump; besides, there are a lot of Chests in Expeditions. Expertise bumps are always granted by the first item dropped by Expedition bosses. Chain running Expeditions is the fastest way to increase your Expertise Level.
If you need more information about Expeditions, please check our Mutated Expeditions Guide.
As for Arena farming, the most important thing is to have 4 friends or Company mates. Sharing 5 Orbs for each Arena per week, you’ll have 75 Arena runs per week. You’ll also get about 200 gold for defeating Boss, which almost compensates for the expenses for crafting the Tuning Orbs. If you’re a solo player, you can just sell these Orbs to other players.
The first Arena is situated in the Eternal Pool, Reekwater:
To enter, you need the Protector’s Tuning Orb.
Avarice is an Angry Earth creature, so he’s vulnerable to Fire and Slash damage type. Kill small mobs asap, avoid the poison clouds, watch out for the ranged attacks.
The second Arena is the Spire of Melpomene and is also situated in Reekwater.
To enter, you need the Siren’s Tuning Orb.
The Siren’s Queen belongs to the Lost type, which means she’s vulnerable to Nature, Ice, and Strike weapons. If you’re a ranged DPS, watch out for her spears, and stand as far as possible from the other group. After Siren’s Queen has less than 50% HP, lightning balls appear.
The last Arena is called Zygoramet’s Grove and is located in Edengrove.
To enter, you need the Monoecious Tuning Orb. Zygoramet also belongs to Angry Earth and is vulnerable to Fire and Slash weapons. Destroy his cocoon asap because this is the moment he’s healing himself. If you’re not a tank, stay behind the boss. If you’re a tank, face him from the other group.
Solo Farming Spots
If you want to increase your Expertise Level solo or with a small group, you have to find spots with named elite mobs. This method doesn’t have any cooldowns or restrictions but has a meager chance of receiving an Expertise increase.
The first of them is in Edengrove, near the Blighted Shrine. This spot is for upgrading your Expertise Level from 500 to 560 GS.
Go on the top of the mountain to Grasping Summit.
Then, run across the temple to its back and jump in. Of course, you can kill all mobs at the entrance, but that’s a waste of time.
Here you can find Adjorjan, named 62 level elite mob.
The second spot is in Shattered Mountains, in the Spilaio Cavern. This elite mob is also 62 level. So, it will upgrade your Expertise Level from 500 to 560 GS.
The elite mob you need is Dau-Shen, the Unstoppable.
There is another spot in Shattered Mountains, in Spryle Tower. Fey the Last Protector, level 64 elite, will help you upgrade your GS up to level 600.
Luck System
Luck doesn’t increase your chance to get higher gear score rolls or roll more perks, but it does increase your chances of seeing item drops that have higher chances of rolling bonuses.
Common Luck increasing is available as a perk on any armor, including shields, earrings, rings, amulets, and all three bag slots.
Trophies can also increase Luck. They are unique furnishings for Houses that grant passive buffs for your character. You can’t place the same Trophy in a house multiple times, but you can put that same Trophy once in each of your houses, effectively stacking that Trophy’s effects.
For more information about how to obtain them, you can check our Trophies Guide.
Lastly, you can apply a Lucky Gem to your armor (and even weapon).
To maximize your Luck, you can use Sword and Shield. While shields with Luck perk can be found pretty often, Luck swords are pretty unique. For example, this one is a drop from Ching Shih The Shark from Minnow’s Revenge in Restless Shore.
Swords with higher gear scores and higher Luck increase (up to 2.8%) can also be found, but very rarely, mostly from 55+ level chests.
As for the weapons, the Luck perk can also be found on Life Staff and Fire Staff:
For more information about the Luck system, you can check our Guide For Newbies In New World.
FAQ
The Expertise System is a system that governs the power of gear drops you receive and the effectiveness of your gear. When an enemy or container drops a piece of gear for you, it rolls on its Gear Score (GS).
Yes, and every weapon too.
Item drops, crafting gear, and Gypsum system affect your Expertise. It cannot be impacted by Faction gear or quest gear.
Luck doesn’t increase your chance to get higher gear score rolls or roll more perks, but it does increase your chances of seeing item drops that have higher chances of rolling bonuses.
Complete daily activities for Gypsum Orbs, kill high-level Elite mobs and loot Elite chests in high-level landmarks.
When you hit the 600 Gear Score, you can improve it to 625 only with Umbral Shards from Mutated Expeditions.
Discussion