Level 80 guide?

BadSpock · January 2013

Anyone have or is able to write me up a little guide for level 80 play in GW2?

No joke - and no trolling/flaming please.

I just got back into the game, finished out my last two levels to get my Guardian up to 80.

Had some gold, decided to purchase some more via gems and bought myself a full armor + weapons set of Rare gear from the Vigil merchant.

So I'm kind of in the "what to do now?" mode.

I've been doing my dailies, getting my Laurels since the new patch. What order of importance should I place in buying stuff? Rings first? Accessories? etc.

What are the possible avenues of acquiring Exotic level gear besides grinding through dungeons?

People keep telling me you can get a "full set" of Exotics from Karma - but where?

Beyond that though - what do people really do at level 80?

I've got plenty of zones to finish for world completion, and I've got plenty of farming to do to get my crafting skills maxed out.

I've barely set foot in Orr, not really sure what I should be looking out for and trying to get down there.

I've got every single skill unlocked for my class except one elite, and am already like 10/30 skill points towards getting that.

And yes, I'm sure I could find answers out on the internet - but I'd like to here from you - fellow GW2 players, on kind of a "guide to level 80" so I can determine what kinds of things I want to do and what kinds of objectives.

I really am not interested in WvW or SPvP right now, nor am I interested in Dungeons really till the rest of the fixes are in.

Thanks in advance!

Thorkune · January 2013

I am interested in the responses myself. I am far from 80, but it will be nice to get a heads up before I get there.

Volkon · January 2013

Maybe not a full guide, but tips perhaps... but first, welcome back and grats on the 80!

Laurels right now, for gear, will only get you amulets and rings, and by the time you have enough for the first piece (about a month?) you'll know which you still need, so let that play itself out.

Exotics - multiple avenues to obtain these. The easiest is of course buying them off the Trading Post. You'll find not only world drops there but also crafted exotics people made and are selling. This of course segways into crafting. For example you can choose armorsmith on your guardian, level that to 400 and craft your own set of exotic armor. If you add jewelcrafting you can level that and make your own exotic rings, trinkets and amulets. The other day, due to 400 tailoring on my mesmer and 400 JC on my ranger I got my new 80 necro a full set of exotics purely by crafting (save the back piece, can't craft those yet). So, for exotics there's dungeons, crafting, Trading Post, world drops and of course the Karma Vendors in Orr at the temples. They'll each have a specific set of exotics you can purchase with karma, including the elusive back pieces.

Now that you're 80 (and not looking for the dungeon run thing) there are still things to accomplish. Consider legendaries. You don't have to have a legendary as your ultimate goal, but the road to get them has many forks along the way that you can choose which will ultimately lead you towards one. First off, you'll need 100% map completion. Exploring the entire world will take you some time and there's no telling what you'll see along the way. There's also WvW if you want to get your inner rage on. (People love guardians there, btw). I don't recall... are you on Jade Quarry? If so, look up FIRE guild... it's a blast with a coordinated group. We've ruled out dungeons I think... but Fractals are a blast... (OK, just reread your post, saw the holding off on WvW and dungeon part but too lazy to delete what I typed...)

Sounds like at this stage I'd recommend two things... going for world completion (and gathering many many mats along the way as you do) and finishing the personal story, which will take you into Orr and get you a foothold there with waypoints and the like. The story does a good job covering the "what to expect" part for when you get there.

Hope this resembles something almost useful...

Kenaoshi · January 2013

You dont want dungeons u dont want pvp, well... hard...

*Play the market - buy cheap sell expensive.

*Help lower zones

*Mini-games

Gaia_Hunter · January 2013

Orr

3 maps

1 temple in first map

2 in each of the others.

Uncontested Temple

Contested Temple

Lovely_Laly · January 2013

Dulfy.net has end game guide I used.

Gaia_Hunter · January 2013

My long term objective list:

Level 1 of each profession to level 80 (or whatever is max) - already have the slots populated.

Have several max gear sets so I can play whichever build I so desire.

Map the world 100% a few times.

Get legendary items.

Collect mini pets.

Collect dyes.

I'm estimating over 10K hours.

BadSpock · January 2013

I know this is probably going to earn me the ire of MMORPG.com for saying so-

But I LIKE that I can *cheat* and spend some RL money on Gems to convert to Gold to speed up the grind process a bit.

Sounds like my next objectives are going to be to finish the personal story, do some exploring in Orr, and finish leveling up my crafting a bit while doing some more world exploration.

I would like to see and participate in all of the "major" world boss kind of events - I've done the Sunless one but can anyone point me towards the rest?

I know there is another one in the 70-80 Norn snow/ice zone in the north (can't remember the name.)

Also I could use some help on a build...

I'm obviously looking to solo a lot on my Guardian, but I want to be useful for groups on the battlefield.

At this point my biggest thing would be efficient mob killing.

Right now I'm like 30/30/10 Power, Condition damage, Virtues and am using Sword+Shield and Greatsword.

It's a playstyle I enjoy - had some fun yesterday soloing a Champion to loot a chest and finish a Heart AND complete an Event.

Took a good 4-5 minutes of intense combat, was fun!

sea.shell · January 2013

// Outfit yourself with Exotic Gear

You can bring (if not already done so) your armor (fitting) profession up to 400 and craft exotic armor for roughly 2gold10Silver (Leather Armor) - 2Gold80silver (Heavy Armor) per piece yourself.

Getting 0 > 400 crafting will net between +9 - +11 levels for twinks (doesn't matter what level are your twinks). Bringing up Leatherworker costs roughly 5 Gold, Armor 8 Gold (depending on how much crafting materials you got yourself already).

Same goes for Weapons.
http://www.guildwars2-crafting.com/

// Earn + Spend 50 Skill Points to craft an exotic Mystic Weapon (Unique Weapon skins some are the same as dungeon skins)

You don't even need any crafting profession for that - because you can buy any other component at the Trading Post - components cost roughly 6 Gold > you can sell those weapons for ~ 8-10 Gold. (Unless you want the skin, you can take 50 SP + 6 Gold and make 2 - 4 Gold in trade for the SP)
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mystic_weapons

// Farm 100+ Gold for Racial T3 Armor skins

// Do 100% World completion

// Do the three Dragonevents (but beware they are really not good) spawn window guide -
http://guildwarstemple.com/dragontimer/

// Try your luck with dropped Rare and Exotic gear lvl69+ with salvaging and getting up to 3 Ecto (~28 Silver each) - or nothing, recommended: Black lion salvage kit (don't use lower ones).

// Farm Materials in Orr (ori run, see timer above) for all the gold you need for Racial Armor / Crafting

AsalzSy · January 2013

I use the same weapons as you with this build..

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAR8elUgqC33RLEfIFRuAbBYPwI8741DKKRGC

also i got all my exotics with karma from Contested Temples in Orr a mix of pow/prec/vit/toughness with superior runes of the pack or soldier..

BadSpock · January 2013

Originally posted by Dietengu
I use the same weapons as you with this build..

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAR8elUgqC33RLEfIFRuAbBYPwI8741DKKRGC

also i got all my exotics with karma from Contested Temples in Orr a mix of pow/prec/vit/toughness with superior runes of the pack or soldier..

Hmmm.

Do you feel like you can kill at a fast enough/efficient rate?

Cause I tell you, it really feels like the power+condition dmg build with the +5% damage traits for sword/gs makes me hit like a truck.

Granted though - I have mostly been playing in downleveled areas - do you need the added survivability and such in Orr? Like I said, I've barely played around in Orr thus far - like I've barely even gone across the little bridge and such in the Straits.

Gaia_Hunter · January 2013

Guardian for group play isn't about killing power, but support.

That will be its cousin, the warrior.

For the world, a shout build that can put virtues to good use will do fine.

Volkon · January 2013

Originally posted by BadSpock
Originally posted by Dietengu
I use the same weapons as you with this build..

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAR8elUgqC33RLEfIFRuAbBYPwI8741DKKRGC

also i got all my exotics with karma from Contested Temples in Orr a mix of pow/prec/vit/toughness with superior runes of the pack or soldier..

Hmmm.

Do you feel like you can kill at a fast enough/efficient rate?

Cause I tell you, it really feels like the power+condition dmg build with the +5% damage traits for sword/gs makes me hit like a truck.

Granted though - I have mostly been playing in downleveled areas - do you need the added survivability and such in Orr? Like I said, I've barely played around in Orr thus far - like I've barely even gone across the little bridge and such in the Straits.

Maybe it's the mesmer in me, but I don't really take how fast I kill things into account anymore... with this combat system I don't really note the time, things are too active. The more mobile I let myself become the more the system really began to flow. If you're standing at the end and enjoyed doing it I see that as what counts. As such I'm happy to keep looking around, cast a Feedback bubble on a ranged attacker over there, a Null Field around allies over here, send in the clones, just whatever the situation demands. It took a bit to shake the DPS mindset from my WoW hunter, but it really helps once you do so.

AsalzSy · January 2013

Originally posted by BadSpock
Originally posted by Dietengu
I use the same weapons as you with this build..

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAR8elUgqC33RLEfIFRuAbBYPwI8741DKKRGC

also i got all my exotics with karma from Contested Temples in Orr a mix of pow/prec/vit/toughness with superior runes of the pack or soldier..

Hmmm.

Do you feel like you can kill at a fast enough/efficient rate?

Cause I tell you, it really feels like the power+condition dmg build with the +5% damage traits for sword/gs makes me hit like a truck.

Granted though - I have mostly been playing in downleveled areas - do you need the added survivability and such in Orr? Like I said, I've barely played around in Orr thus far - like I've barely even gone across the little bridge and such in the Straits.

well i have 3k power & armor 50% critical chance & damage..and i cant die..also this build works well for me and my team in WvW and dungeons i just switch the sword with scepter..as for downleveled areas u can use whatever u want..but even if you put 30 points in zeal & radiance tree i dont think so you will have better stats..

StoneRoses · January 2013

With my 50 hr work week I refuse to write up any guides even for my guild.

Though I will gladly take the time to show you some great areas to farm karma, exp, & loot that get over looked a lot.

Rhanoa.3960 Back on US server.

elitero · January 2013

I am actually a WvWer and PvPer, but THOSE DAMNED Cathedral Events =( everytime I go to Orr, it takes 2-5 hours of my time because I cannot get enough of them.

Isawa · January 2013

Originally posted by Gaia_Hunter
Guardian for group play isn't about killing power, but support.

That will be its cousin, the warrior.

For the world, a shout build that can put virtues to good use will do fine.

Ya, I play a full boon support guardian, and I'm almost always picking up the DPS guards in a group Good for solo I guess.

For Badspock, if you like the look of your Vigil gear you'll be able to get some Fine Transmutation stones from world exploration/black lion chests and keep that look for Karma Exotics (or whatever route you go), since I presonally think most of the Vigil pieces are rather nice looking.

If you're ruling out dungeons atm, does that include FoTM? They updated them to be far more user friendly. Also great route for globs of ectoplasm from rare drops. Get exotic drops in there etc.

What do people do at lvl 80? Lots of people do FoTM and WvW, Dungeons, PvP, and of course level an alt. Some people pursue the legendary weapons. Full Map 100% and jumping puzzles and the often unknown Mini-Dungeons (listed in exploration, some are quite fun, and may be best off with a friend) are also out there. Once you get one 80, lots of people start crafting on alts and master it that way, helps with lvling them all up.

BadSpock · January 2013

Originally posted by Eluldor
Originally posted by Gaia_Hunter
Guardian for group play isn't about killing power, but support.

That will be its cousin, the warrior.

For the world, a shout build that can put virtues to good use will do fine.

Ya, I play a full boon support guardian, and I'm almost always picking up the DPS guards in a group Good for solo I guess.

For Badspock, if you like the look of your Vigil gear you'll be able to get some Fine Transmutation stones from world exploration/black lion chests and keep that look for Karma Exotics (or whatever route you go), since I presonally think most of the Vigil pieces are rather nice looking.

If you're ruling out dungeons atm, does that include FoTM? They updated them to be far more user friendly. Also great route for globs of ectoplasm from rare drops. Get exotic drops in there etc.

What do people do at lvl 80? Lots of people do FoTM and WvW, Dungeons, PvP, and of course level an alt. Some people pursue the legendary weapons. Full Map 100% and jumping puzzles and the often unknown Mini-Dungeons (listed in exploration, some are quite fun, and may be best off with a friend) are also out there. Once you get one 80, lots of people start crafting on alts and master it that way, helps with lvling them all up.

Appreciate the responses all.

What kind of build would that be then?

I like the healing and defense Guardian can spec into, as well as group utility but I just... I get so bored without having a bit of killing power!

StoneRoses · January 2013

Triple attribute
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Item_nomenclature

Volkon · January 2013

This is a hair off topic, but have you tried the hammer yet on your guardian? I have an 80 that I really haven't played much as of late, but when I was I found the hammer to be incredibly fun in WvW.

Especially on that poor bugger in a downed state at the edge of a cliff... he did get some nice hang time however.

Gaia_Hunter · January 2013

Originally posted by BadSpock
Originally posted by Eluldor
Originally posted by Gaia_Hunter
Guardian for group play isn't about killing power, but support.

That will be its cousin, the warrior.

For the world, a shout build that can put virtues to good use will do fine.

Ya, I play a full boon support guardian, and I'm almost always picking up the DPS guards in a group Good for solo I guess.

For Badspock, if you like the look of your Vigil gear you'll be able to get some Fine Transmutation stones from world exploration/black lion chests and keep that look for Karma Exotics (or whatever route you go), since I presonally think most of the Vigil pieces are rather nice looking.

If you're ruling out dungeons atm, does that include FoTM? They updated them to be far more user friendly. Also great route for globs of ectoplasm from rare drops. Get exotic drops in there etc.

What do people do at lvl 80? Lots of people do FoTM and WvW, Dungeons, PvP, and of course level an alt. Some people pursue the legendary weapons. Full Map 100% and jumping puzzles and the often unknown Mini-Dungeons (listed in exploration, some are quite fun, and may be best off with a friend) are also out there. Once you get one 80, lots of people start crafting on alts and master it that way, helps with lvling them all up.

Appreciate the responses all.

What kind of build would that be then?

I like the healing and defense Guardian can spec into, as well as group utility but I just... I get so bored without having a bit of killing power!

For the Open world anything will do.

If you want to play DPS, do so.

AutemOx · January 2013

My girlfriend and I have been playing GW2 for a month or two and we just got to level 80 recently. So we are sorta bored with it now... There are still things to do but the best part of a themepark mmo like GW2 is the leveling, exploring areas, doing primary quest. We have taken to watching the dragon timers on gw2 temple (a website) as we study and logging in when dragons are up. Then when we log in after we fight the dragon we will check the 3 zones in Orr and ask our guild if they want to do anything, which always seems to end in us doing FRACTALS.

Fractals will be much more fun now that they fixed the bugs with disconnecting and adding players to the group late.

We are working on second characters but we only play those when 2 of our friends are on so its hard to get the 4 of us together at once.

I would like to do more PvP sometime but my girlfriend doesn't care for it as much.

That is the difference between most MMORPGs and ones that are dear to me like SWG was. In a sandbox game there are always tons of things you want to do in it that may or may not have anything to do with the developers original intent. There are tons of things to do in GW2, but the difference is that the achievements in GW2 mostly have no meaning to me (ie, collecting gear or getting 'achievements'). Most of this 'end game content' in linear MMORPGs are arbitrary points set high in order to spend players time (aka, grind). That makes sense because we can't expect a developer to make unlimited REAL content. Only a sandbox can have unlimited content because the players create the content not the developer.

AIMonster · January 2013

As soon as you hit 80 AND you have enough gold you should:

Raise a craft to 400 in your profession's armor level if you haven't already.
Craft a full set of Rare gear, weapons, and jewelry. Buy any pieces you can't craft.
Put Major Runes/Sigils into Rare gear.

If you don't have enough gold simply farm Orr events in Cursed Shore or work on map completion in various zones till you have enough gold.

If you hit 80 and have a large amount of gold:

Craft or purchase Exotic gear, weapons, and jewelry.
Put Superior Runes/Sigils into Exotic gear.

If you don't have enough gold to do this, run EXP AC or CoF repeatably. This will net you gold in the fastest amount of time without overreliance on RNG. It will also earn you badges in which you can purchase exotic gear.

Now, to finish maxing out your character:

Run Fractals up to at least level 20. I recommend getting to at least 28. Get infused rings from the daily, or upgrade non-infused rings, or purchase rings using infused Fractals Relics if you get really unlucky. This grind in and of itself takes longer than getting your exotic set, so have patience.
Farm a lot of gold (IMO Dungeons > Fractals > T6 Mat Farming > Orr farming) and purchased an Ascended Backpack and infuse it. This requires 250 Ectoplasms and will take a lot of gold farming to complete.
Get 30 Laurels by completing daillies and monthly achievements to buy an amulet and infuse it.

If you aren't concerned with raising your Fractals to a high level you can avoid the steps above and only raise Fractals to 10 and farm that daily out for uninfused rings. You can make an uninfused Backpack cheaply if you spend enough time doing your 10 Fractal daily and getting the components for it. It shouldn't take long, infusing it is the hard part.

Now that your character is 100% maxed in terms of gear you should aim for the cosmetic sets or mix and match a set of your choice:

Look at the dungeon sets available to you in Lion's Arch vendors. Also check your cultural armor sets in your race's city and the invader's set in WvW. Decide which armor set or combination of pieces you like best and start working on it.

Finally, some long term goals to work on:

Work on your legendary weapons. This is an extremely expensive task that will require a large amount of luck and time spent exclusively farming. The karma requirement is only ~1.2 million on average so it's generally not something you have to worry about. On the other hand the gold requirement with the current cost of materials is anywhere from 800g to almost 2000g, so this will be your biggest bottleneck. Running a set of AC EXP and CoF everyday will make a small but effective amount of progress to your goal and with persistence you can have a legendary weapon in about 3 months time.
Level and max out every other profession to 80.
Upgrade your infused backpack to the final cosmetic glowing version. Again, this is 250 Ectoplasms and is quite expensive.
Collect every minipet in the game.
Use the Mystic Forge to create special exotic weapons. These can be as cheap as 50g, but some are absurdly expensive and near the cost of Legendary weapons.
Do the special events Guild Wars 2 has (usually monthly) and collect things like endless tonics and minipets.
Do WvW daily, work on getting your server to number #1.
Raise your Fractal level as high as possible (since the patch it's impossible to go beyond level 50 and 30+ can be fairly brutal).
Complete the "Dungeon Master" title by clearing all story mode and explorable dungeons.
Farm other achievements and titles.
Become a SPvP master and show up on the Tournament leaderboards.

pedrostrik · January 2013

Originally posted by Magnum2103
As soon as you hit 80 AND you have enough gold you should:

Raise a craft to 400 in your profession's armor level if you haven't already.

Craft a full set of Rare gear, weapons, and jewelry. Buy any pieces you can't craft.

Put Major Runes/Sigils into Rare gear.

If you don't have enough gold simply farm Orr events in Cursed Shore or work on map completion in various zones till you have enough gold.

If you hit 80 and have a large amount of gold:

Craft or purchase Exotic gear, weapons, and jewelry.

Put Superior Runes/Sigils into Exotic gear.

If you don't have enough gold to do this, run EXP AC or CoF repeatably. This will net you gold in the fastest amount of time without overreliance on RNG. It will also earn you badges in which you can purchase exotic gear.

Now, to finish maxing out your character:

Run Fractals up to at least level 20. I recommend getting to at least 28. Get infused rings from the daily, or upgrade non-infused rings, or purchase rings using infused Fractals Relics if you get really unlucky. This grind in and of itself takes longer than getting your exotic set, so have patience.

Farm a lot of gold (IMO Dungeons > Fractals > T6 Mat Farming > Orr farming) and purchased an Ascended Backpack and infuse it. This requires 250 Ectoplasms and will take a lot of gold farming to complete.

Get 30 Laurels by completing daillies and monthly achievements to buy an amulet and infuse it.

If you aren't concerned with raising your Fractals to a high level you can avoid the steps above and only raise Fractals to 10 and farm that daily out for uninfused rings. You can make an uninfused Backpack cheaply if you spend enough time doing your 10 Fractal daily and getting the components for it. It shouldn't take long, infusing it is the hard part.

Now that your character is 100% maxed in terms of gear you should aim for the cosmetic sets or mix and match a set of your choice:

Look at the dungeon sets available to you in Lion's Arch vendors. Also check your cultural armor sets in your race's city and the invader's set in WvW. Decide which armor set or combination of pieces you like best and start working on it.

Finally, some long term goals to work on:

Work on your legendary weapons. This is an extremely expensive task that will require a large amount of luck and time spent exclusively farming. The karma requirement is only ~1.2 million on average so it's generally not something you have to worry about. On the other hand the gold requirement with the current cost of materials is anywhere from 800g to almost 2000g, so this will be your biggest bottleneck. Running a set of AC EXP and CoF everyday will make a small but effective amount of progress to your goal and with persistence you can have a legendary weapon in about 3 months time.

Level and max out every other profession to 80.

Upgrade your infused backpack to the final cosmetic glowing version. Again, this is 250 Ectoplasms and is quite expensive.

Collect every minipet in the game.

Use the Mystic Forge to create special exotic weapons. These can be as cheap as 50g, but some are absurdly expensive and near the cost of Legendary weapons.

Do the special events Guild Wars 2 has (usually monthly) and collect things like endless tonics and minipets.

Do WvW daily, work on getting your server to number #1.

Raise your Fractal level as high as possible (since the patch it's impossible to go beyond level 50 and 30+ can be fairly brutal).

Complete the "Dungeon Master" title by clearing all story mode and explorable dungeons.

Farm other achievements and titles.

Become a SPvP master and show up on the Tournament leaderboards.

do jumping puzzles and hidden areas some are really chalenging as that one in lornar´s pass (with a bomb on your hand to open the chest)

Aerowyn · January 2013

welcome back Spock!:) also id get yourself into a good WvW guild can really take this game to another level so much more fun.. and aside from everything people said starting a new class is always fun as well.. i found after trying them all the mesmer to be my favorite class which is odd since i didn't care for it at all on my first try.. may end up trying a necro again since they were the first class i tried at launch and didn't care for it either... but maybe now i know the game a ton better and how combat and everything works it would be more fun:)

Isawa · January 2013

Originally posted by BadSpock
Originally posted by Eluldor
Originally posted by Gaia_Hunter
Guardian for group play isn't about killing power, but support.

That will be its cousin, the warrior.

For the world, a shout build that can put virtues to good use will do fine.

Ya, I play a full boon support guardian, and I'm almost always picking up the DPS guards in a group Good for solo I guess.

For Badspock, if you like the look of your Vigil gear you'll be able to get some Fine Transmutation stones from world exploration/black lion chests and keep that look for Karma Exotics (or whatever route you go), since I presonally think most of the Vigil pieces are rather nice looking.

If you're ruling out dungeons atm, does that include FoTM? They updated them to be far more user friendly. Also great route for globs of ectoplasm from rare drops. Get exotic drops in there etc.

What do people do at lvl 80? Lots of people do FoTM and WvW, Dungeons, PvP, and of course level an alt. Some people pursue the legendary weapons. Full Map 100% and jumping puzzles and the often unknown Mini-Dungeons (listed in exploration, some are quite fun, and may be best off with a friend) are also out there. Once you get one 80, lots of people start crafting on alts and master it that way, helps with lvling them all up.

Appreciate the responses all.

What kind of build would that be then?

I like the healing and defense Guardian can spec into, as well as group utility but I just... I get so bored without having a bit of killing power!

My first attempt was 0,0,30,30,10 - then I realized if I expanded my boons like Protection, that I could maintain it almost 100% for the group in exchange for some healing and self survivability. Plus I figured 2 extra seconds of most boons is better than having plus 100 healing or some extra armor.

So I went to 0,0,20,20,30. Now you can still deal a decent amount of damage, because the Staff gives 12 Might stacks to group and can couple that with greatsword (sigil of battle for more might stacks or damage bonus). The latest update also added 2 more seconds to Staff Empower's 12 Might stacks, combined with that trait tree = nearly constant might stacks for group. Normal weapons are Staff, Scepter/Shield. Greatsword, mace, hammer, focus swaps depending. I went with Rune of Earth and Grove for Protection duration. There are also ones for Boon duration and Regen duration. All of those rune sets, normally just use 2 of each, are quite helpful for a support Guardian build.

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Level 80 guide?

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Level 80 guide?

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