Many players anxiously awaited Guild Wars 2′s crafting system because of the ways in which it differs from other crafting systems found in most MMORPGs. The discovery system, the fact that crafting cast times aren’t stagnant, the idea of one character having access to all of the crafting disciplines, and, of course, the fact that crafting gives pretty awesome experience all ties into this original excitement. In fact, leveling through crafting was one of the ways the first level 80s leveled so quickly. ArenaNet definitely attempted to do something a little unique with the game’s crafting system.

Now that we’ve all had some time to take part in the adventures around Tyria, and see for ourselves what GW2′s crafting has to offer, the real question becomes– does GW2′s crafting system live up the hype? Is it as good in practice as it first sounded on paper? Each individual person is going to have their own answers to this question, naturally, but let’s take a look at both sides of the coin, shall we?

The following guide will bring you from newbie chef to Master in mere hours, and it’s pretty easy to do. You’re going to have to do some Trading Post shopping if you haven’t collected many ingredients, but the guide keeps gathered material to a minimum.

There are simple ingredients that you can find from the Chef Vendor for karma and copper. These items are Water, Flour, Butter, Sugar, Egg, Chocolate Bar, Oil, Vinegar, Buttermilk, Bell Pepper, Black Peppercorn, Salt and Soy Sauce.

One thing to note: The karma vendor ingredients require you to complete hearts to access. The highest level heart required in this guide is level 69. Obviously, there are other alternatives if you have access to other ingredients.