Overview

Mawdrey is one of Guild Wars 2’s most sought after backpieces and it’s also one of the most expensive and difficult to create. It requires players to participate in a variety of tasks and content in order to obtain a series of items to grow the backpiece. As a result, it can take a lengthy period of time.

Getting Started

I really can’t stress enough how having World Completion and completing the Living World, Season 2, will make creating Mawdrey infinitely easier. You will need to travel all over the game world to complete the backpiece so having all available Waypoint’s makes it much quicker. As for Living World, many of the base component for Mawdrey only drop from certain areas of the story (introduced in Dragon’s Reach: Part 2), as a result I’d simply recommend that you complete it. Lastly, you must have Artificer, Huntsman, Jeweller and Chef at level 400 if you wish to craft the components. If you don’t, you’ll have to buy them off the Trading Post.

You should also be aware that there are four stages to completing Mawdrey:

1. Mysterious Vine
2. Cultivated Vine
3. Mawdrey
4. Mawdrey (Infused)

Mysterious Vine

The first stage of Mawdrey requires you to create a Mysterious Vine. It is made up 3 core components, 4 Scavenger Hunt ingredients and a handful of other items available on the Trading Post (the core components you can also buy from the Trading Post if you don’t want to craft them).

Core Components

You will need to obtain the below recipes for the following items in Dry Top from one of two vendors: Dusk or Gleam.

1. Recipe: Clay Pot
2. Recipe: Plate of Meaty Plant Food
3. Recipe: Plate of Piquant Plant Food
4. Recipe: Grow Lamp
5. Recipe: Heat Stone

You will need to play events in Dry Top in order to gain access to the vendors Tiers, at which point when you have a high enough Tier (3 will suffice) you can then purchase the recipes. It’s worth buying all of them now, even though you won’t use Grow Lamp and Heat Stone until later, just so you don’t have to return to Dry Top.

Scavenger Hunt

Once you’ve got the recipes, you now need the Scavenger Hunt ingredients:

1. Mysterious Seed
2. Ley Line Infused Stone
3. Vial of Sacred Glacial Water
4. Pile of Phantasmal Residue

If you’ve done the Living World, you should have all of these things, what you will now need to do is infuse or empower some the ingredients. You do this by taking the items and using them in certain locations around Tyria.

Ley Line Infused Stone: At the bottom of the water in Lion’s Arch is the Breachmaker. Swim all the way down to it and interact with the tip of the drill to create Polarized Ley Line Infused Stone.

Vial of Sacred Glacial Water: Head to the Shattered Ice Ruins in Frostgorge Sound and at the top of the jumping puzzle, interact with the Pure Glacial Ice Shard to create Purified Vial of Sacred Glacial Water.

Pile of Phantasmal Residue: In Diessa Plateu there’s the Old Grendich Aqueduct underground. If you interact with the skill point to create Weirded Phantasmal Residue.

At this stage there are two options: Craft the Clay Pot, Plate of Meaty Plant Food and Plate of Piquant Plant Food or buy them all off the Trading Post.

If you choose to craft, you can make all the Clay Pots but you need a total of 7 Plate of Meaty Plant Food and 7 Plate of Piquant Plant Food. These two recipes however are time gated, meaning you can only create 1 Plate of each, per account. In total the crafting method will take you 7 days to craft enough food. Whichever path you choose, you’ll also need the following:

1. 20 Foxfire Cluster
2. 200 Thick Leather Section
3. 300 Bloodstone Dust

Where the Bloodstone Dust is concerned, you obtain lots of this by completing events around the game world. As for the Foxfire Cluster, it’s mainly obtained from logging wood but it’s really not worth harvesting. Buy it from the Trading Post with Buy Orders.

Mystic Forge

Now that you have everything (whether you have crafted or bought your core components) you can throw it all in the Mystic Forge.

1. Leyline Infused Pot: Clay Pot + Foxfire Cluster (20) + Pile Of Bloodstone Dust (100) + Polarized Leyline Infused Stone
2. Package of Sacred Plant Food: Thick Leather Section (100) + Pile of Bloodstone Dust (100) + Plate of Meaty Plant Food (7) + Purified Vial of Sacred Glacial Water
3. Package of Phantasmally Infused Plant Food: Thick Leather Section (100) + Pile of Bloodstone Dust (100) + Plate of Piqaunt Plant Food (7) + Pile of Phantasmal Infused Residue

Growing the Mysterious Vine

Once you’ve created all the items using the Mystic Forge, simply double click on them to create the Mysterious Vine.

Cultivated Vine

The process for creating the second stage of Mawdrey, the Cultivated Vine, is almost the same. The key changes are a different set of scavenger hunt ingredients and one additional crafting recipe (Glow Lamp).

Core Components

Once again you will need to create a Clay Pot, Plate of Meaty Plant Food (7) and Plate of Piquant Plant Food (7) but also the Glow Lamp. Similarly to the other ingredients, you can buy the Glow Lamp or you can craft it. As noted above, you will require 400 in Jewel Crafting. With the time gating on Charged Quartz Crystals that are required to make the Glow Lamp, I’d honestly just recommend you buy it.

Scavenger Hunt

The scavenger hunt ingredients you will need for the Cultivated Vine are the following and as noted above, are obtained by completing the Living World, Season 2:

1. Chaos Orb
2. Pile of Ley Line Dust
3. Empty Vial
4. Enormous Foxfire Cluster

Chaos Orb: Travel to Thaumanova Reactor in Metrica Province and wait for the Elemental Event to start. I’d recommend you use an event timer. When the Elemental appears, the event after it will allow you to gain access to the Concentrated Chaotic Radiation. You do this by returning back to the center of Thaumanova Reactor and another player will likely have found the key needed to remove the barrier. At this point, just drop down and interact with the Concentrated Chaotic Radiation to create Resonating Chaos Orb.

Pile Of Leyline Dust: At the end of  Vexa's Lab minidungeon in Fireheart Rise, you need to interact with the Waypoint Research Material. It’s to the far left of the room. You can gain access to it without killing the final Golem. Interacting with it allows you to create Pile of Crackling Ley Line Dust.

Empty Vial: If you return back to Dry Top, speak to Gleam in Restoration Refuge. She’ll provide you with the vial. You then need to travel to Mender’s Waterfall in the Oasis and at the foot of the waterfall (where the Skill Point is) you just need to interact with the water to create Vial of Mending Oasis Water.

Enormous Foxfire Cluster: Head to Aurora's Remains in Brisban Wildlands and interact with the Pollen-Rich Zephyr to create Germinated Fox Fire Cluster.

Mystic Forge

Now that you have everything (whether you have crafted or bought your core components), including the Glow Lamp, you can throw it all in the Mystic Forge.

1. Chaos Infused Pot: Clay Pot + Foxfire Cluster (20) + Pile Of Bloodstone Dust (100) + Rosnating Chaos Orb
2. Package of Leyline Dusted Plant Food: Thick Leather Section (100) + Pile of Bloodstone Dust (100) + Plate of Meaty Plant Food (7) + Pile of Crackling Ley Line Dust
3. Package of Oasis Soaked Plant Food: Thick Leather Section (100) + Pile of Bloodstone Dust (100) + Plate of Piqaunt Plant Food (7) + Vial of Mending Oasis Water
4. Attuned Grow Lamp: Grow Lamp + Bloodstone Brick (3) + Essence of Luck (4) + Germinated Fox Fireluster.

Growing the Cultivated Vine

Once you’ve created all the items using the Mystic Forge, simply double click on them to create the Mysterious Vine.

Mawdrey

For the final part of Mawdrey before infusion, there are a total of 5 Mystic Forge recipes. This stage is relatively easy because you just have to find some items in the game world.

Core Components

Once again you will need to create a Clay Pot, Plate of Meaty Plant Food (7) and Plate of Piquant Plant Food (7) but also the Glow Lamp. Similarly to the other ingredients, you can buy the Glow Lamp or you can craft it. Finally, the additional Core Component you need is a Heat Stone. Heat Stone’s are expensive to make and buy - for speed, I’d recommend you place a Buy Order on the Trading Post.

Scavenger Hunt

1. Mists Stone
2. Pile of Elemental Essence
3. Water of Rhand
4. Box of Captured Light
5. Heart of the Destroyer

Mists Stone: Travel to the Fractal of the Mists Observatory and purchase it from BUY-4373 for 5 Pristine Fractals.

Pile of Elemental Essence: Travel to Mount Maelstrom and interact with any Cluster in the Hidden Garden jumping puzzle.

Water of Rhand: In this Front of Rhand mini dungeon, you need to head into the dungeon (once the event is completed to the north-east of the map) and head down into the water on the right hand room. Head below the staircase and pull the chain to blow the wall. Swim through and into the opposite room where you’ll see a tunnel. Following the tunnel leads you to Fresh water which you can collect.

Box Of Captured Light: Travel to Dredgehaunt Cliffs and enter the Forsaken Halls mini dungeon. You do this by triggering the event at the entrance.  

Heart Of Destroyer: Travel to Mount Maelstrom near Maelstrom’s Core Point Of Interest and collect the Heart Of The Destroyer.

Mystic Forge

Now that you have everything (whether you have crafted or bought your core components), including the Glow Lamp and Heat Stone, you can throw it all in the Mystic Forge.

1. Mists Infused Pot: Clay Pot + Foxfire Cluster (20) + Pile Of Bloodstone Dust (100) + Mists Stone
2. Package of Elementally Charged Plant Food: Thick Leather Section (100) + Pile of Bloodstone Dust (100) + Plate of Meaty Plant Food (7) + Pile of Elemental Essence
3. Package of Rhand Blessed Plant Food: Thick Leather Section (100) + Pile of Bloodstone Dust (100) + Plate of Piqaunt Plant Food (7) + Water of Rhand
4. Powerful Grow Lamp: Grow Lamp + Bloodstone Brick (3) + Essence of Luck (4) + Box Of Captured Light
5. Destroyer Heat Stone: Heat Stone + Bloodstone Brick (3) + 5 Agony Infusion + Heart Of The Destroyer

Growing Mawdrey

Once you’ve created all the items using the Mystic Forge, simply double click on them to create the Mawdrey.

Mawdrey (Infused)

To create the Infused version of Mawdrey you'll need to complete a lot of Fractals. The ingrediants you need are:

•  Gift of Ascension
•  Glob of Coagulated Mists Essence
•  Pile of Crystalline Dust
•  Mawdrey

Sadly the Glob of Coagulated Mists Essence is a random drop in Fractals 1-19 so if you're an unlucky fellow (like me) it might be a while until you complete the infusion. As for the Gift of Ascension, you can buy this from the Fractal of the Mists vendor (BUY-4373) for 500 shards.