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does anyone buy weapons or gear from the NPC traders?
I never buy weapons or gear from either NPC or Guild traders, depending on the character's level I use stuff I get from quests, mobs and chests, and/or stuff I craft.
When I was a new player, I found NPC's highly valuable to get a piece of gear. It was better than nothing or what I had looted thus far so I bought it. This was also before I understood guild traders were available and how they worked. I also used NPC's to buy starting PvP gear. I would say all around it's a useful feature and works fine the way it is.
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⚔️ Stamplar | Magplar | Stamcro | Magsorc | Magcro Healer
Never buy from the NPC vendors just go into most Delves collect all the free white gear on scattered around if your desperate for gear your level, to get you through till you get something better.
If you don't get something crafted and don't want to buy from guild traders just join the dolmen run in the alik'r desert or go chest hunting to get some basic gear.
The vendors are deliberately overpriced, everything from provisioning ingredients, repair kits to weapons and armor. Your always better off shopping on the guild stores, vendors are just there for convenience and from back and launch when the player economy was not yet set up.
The only things you should bother buying from the vendors are:
The basic Style stones 15 gold each, almost always overpriced and never in reliable quantity on guild traders (would not surprise me if someone bough a stack of 200 off the vendor and listed it higher from time to time on the guild traders)
Low level potency runes from the Enchanter NPC almost always cheaper than guild stores, the only ones you should buy on guild traders are the max level ones.
The basic furniture plans each vendor type sells.
Other than that they are just there for selling junk/repairs if you haven't got/bought and grand repair kits off guild traders.