I own 2 copies of the game (1 via Steam and 1 via the standalone Launcher).

I installed the Steam version and until now, used the "-provider Portal" Steam Launch option to switch between them. With Lunar new Year approaching I decided that, typing 2 words to change Versions, is too much of a hassle and looked for an easier solution.

Turns out, it's really simple: By adding the GW2.exe, from the Steam installation, as a "Non-Steam Game" you are able to create differnt Shortcuts, with differnt Launch options, for the same Game.

First of: I am a huge fan of the wizards vault and I believe it is a very good system for the average GW2 enjoyer. However, I am quite concerned with the amount of transferable wealth, farmable via alt-accounts and the general amount of gold farmed by the player base. To demonstrate it, let us take a look at some basic currencies: Astral Acclaim (AA), Gold (G), Mystic Coins (MC) and Laurels (L). (The Legendary Weapons starter kit will be excludet here, since its not directly transferable between accounts and is only available if you own SotO.)

(Edit 3: Heavy crafting bags are also excludet since they require SotO.)

For a basic Timeframe we use 3 Months = 13 Weeks = 90 Days.

Lets look at Astral Acclaim and how much you can get (ignoring the special tab and extra tasks):

• Dailies: 65 AA + 1 G
• 7 Dailies: 455 AA +7 G
• 90 Dailies: 5850 AA +90 G
• Weeklies: 690 AA + 10 L
• 13 Weeklies: 8970 AA +130 L

Now lets look at 3 different types of alt farmers:

The 2-Klicks (login, open vault, get 5 AA, logout):

• gets 90*5 = 450 AA = 75 G
• net loss compared to old system

The Efficient Farmer (buys all 6 AA Gold, all MC and all BL Mastery Coffers (1 G sell)):

• needs 6* 90 + 9* 60 +15* 20 = 1380 AA
• 1380 AA = 2 Weeklies (or 22 Dailies)
• gets 110 G, 60 MC, 20 L via Weeklies (or 132 G, 60 MC via Dailies)

Edit 1: Buying laurels instead or in addition of BLMC might increase your overall profit but would also increases the number of Weeklies/Dailies.

The Full Clear Farmer (all Dailies + all Weeklies):

• gets 14820 AA (spends 1380 like Efficient Farmer)
• spends rest (13050) on 30 AA Gold = 448 G
• gets 648 G, 60 MC, 130 L

Edit 2: Buying laurels instead of Gold 598 G, 60 MC, 280 L

As a point of reference, the old system gave 180 G, 60 MC, 165 L and a few Materialbags + Booster for a similar amount of effort (90 days login rewards + 90 dailies).

My biggest worry here is the increased amount of gold now comming into the Economy by the general community and a few efficient Farmers, with a lot of alt-accounts. From my experience over the last few weeks: it did not take more than 2 hours to complete the Weeklies. Making it on par with the best farms in the game, with a few major differences: The reward is raw Gold, Weeklies are a lot easier, they require less coordination and it is directly scalable to the amount of alt-accounts used.

TLDR: the wizards vault drastically increased the amount of raw gold you are able to generate with the same amount of effort.