How do I craft a legendary weapon?

By all accounts, Legendary weapons are of equal power to Ascended (Pink) weapons, and so do not confer a statistical advantage over their less impressive Ascended companions, but their Legendary status brings other perks, like crazy visual effects, the ability to change their stats combinations, and more ephemeral bonuses like in-game prestige.

In the beta, there was some indication that these legendary weapons required a great deal of crafting to complete, at a great investment of time and materials. I've also heard that the way legendaries are obtained has changed between the betas and release.

So what's the skinny? How can one earn a legendary weapon for themselves?

Solution 1:

Thanks to some work with the Mystic Forge, we now have a decent understanding of how to craft Legendary Weapons.

As Brian mentions above (and as was true in the Beta), Legendary Weapons are created in the Mystic Forge in a complicated, multi-step process. Let's break it down.

1. Level 80 Exotic "Precursor" Weapon. (e.g., Zap for Bolt, or Dusk for Twilight) These can be randomly dropped by enemies in the world, randomly created with 4 high level rares of the same type (70+) in the mystic forge (some folk are assuming there's a Non-Random recipe as well), or bought off the Trading Post.
2. Gift of Mastery. This component is created in the Mystic Forge with Gift of Exploration, A Bloodstone Shard, Gift of Battle, and 250 Obsidian Shards.
   • Gift of Exploration: Receive 2 when you 100% the World Map.
   • Gift of Battle: Bought from WvWvW vendor for 500 Badges of Honor (earned from WvWvW and the 4 jumping puzzles).
   • Bloodstone Shard: Bought from Miyani for 200 Skillpoints.
   • 250 Obsidian Shards: 2100 Karma each. Bought from the Temple of Balthazar in Straits of Devastation. (525,000 total Karma!)
3. Gift of [Legendary Weapon Name]. This component is created in the Mystic Forge with a Gift of Gathering, a Gift of Dungeons, Icy Runestones, and a Superior Sigil unique to the Precursor Weapon.
   • Gift of "Gathering": Dependent on the legendary in question. This is always a Gift of Energy, Metal, or Wood. Requires max level crafting, and a 10g recipe bought from Miyani.
   • Gift of "Dungeons": Also dependent on the legendary in question. This is a different Miyani-bought recipe that will always include Dungeon Tokens from explorable mode dungeons (or items bought with tokens) either 250 or 500, again, depending on the exact recipe. Will also require lots of materials as well, though the exact recipes run the gamut from Steel Ingots to Unidentified Dyes (not from cooking!).
   • 100 Icy Runestones: High-end Crafting mat. Sold by Rojan the Penitent in Frostgorge Sound.
   • Superior Sigil: The exact superior sigil depends on the Legendary.
4. Gift of Fortune: This component is created in the Mystic Forge with Gift of Might, Gift of Magic, Mystic Clovers, and Globs of Ectoplasm.
   • Gift of Magic: Combine 250 each of grade 6 Bones, Scales, Claws, and Fangs
   • Gift of Might: Combine 250 each of grade 6 Blood, Venom, Totems, and Dust.
   • 77 Mystic Clovers: Mystic Clovers can be randomly created in the mystic forge with a non-random recipe that will give random results.
   • 250 Globs of Ectoplasm: Rarely Obtained by salvaging Level 70+ Rare and Exotic Equipment.

Finally, combine the 4 items above in the Mystic Forge.

Voila. Legendary. Easy, right? (On everything but your time and your wallet!)

Solution 2:

So far all legendary weapons are obtained by crafting three "gifts" and combining them with a specific exotic weapon in the Mystic Forge. The process requires a lot of materials, so I've provided a tree here:

Legendary weapon

• Gift of Mastery
  • Gift of Battle (traded for 500 Badges of Honor in WvW, requires level 80 and WvW rank 14 or higher)
  • Gift of Exploration (2 received for 100% world completion)
  • Bloodstone Shard (bought from Miyani for 200 skill points)
  • 250 Obsidian Shards
• Gift of Fortune
  • Gift of Might
    • 250 Ancient Bones
    • 250 Vicious Claws
    • 250 Vicious Fangs
    • 250 Armored Scales
  • Gift of Magic
    • 250 Piles of Crystalline Dust
    • 250 Elaborate Totems
    • 250 Powerful Venom Sacs
    • 250 Vials of Powerful Blood
  • 77 Mystic Clovers
  • 250 Globs of Ectoplasm
• Gift of (Legendary weapon name)
  • 100 Icy Runestones
  • crafted gathering gift
  • crafted dungeon gift
  • specific superior sigil
• exotic precursor weapon

Each crafting gift first requires a recipe, which can be bought for 10 gold from Miyani near the Mystic Forge. For more information on the weapon-specific gifts, please refer to http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/64363-legendary-weapons-guide/.

Update: gw2legendary.com is a great, interactive resource for planning and evaluating the cost of your legendary weapon based on current market prices.