Freshly back after many years

[Keiichi_18]

So it's been about 5 years.
Logged in again for the first time about 2 weeks ago and my lvl 17 on the first life is standing in Meridia.

Is there anyone still running the Shroud and is GS items still a thing or should I be looking at other crafting items?

My character is still on first life.

[Zavina]

So it's been about 5 years.

Welcome back

Logged in again for the first time about 2 weeks ago and my lvl 17 on the first life is standing in Meridia.

Is there anyone still running the Shroud and is GS items still a thing or should I be looking at other crafting items?

GS is still a thing, we now have Legendary GS too (ML26), but that's kinda a sore spot with a lot of the community. Cannith crafting got redone, in fact check out the wiki for all the different crafting versions. In fact, in U49, even the Sora Kell crafting in Lordsmarch Plaza is getting a facelift.

My character is still on first life.

We all have to start someplace.

[Matuse]

Heroic greensteel is still definitely a thing, but you don't see 3x Shroud LFMs running constantly anymore.

You now also need to be more careful about where you build a GS accessory. Level 10 brings the Ravenloft sets and getting 5 pieces of Adherents of the Mist takes up a lot of accessory slots which can squeeze out greensteel options.

[ycheese123]

Heroic Greensteel is still great. Sadly, not really any Shroud groups anymore that I've seen. Good news is that, there is some amazing new heroic loot. And, after you level into epics, and with some practice, the shroud is soloable if you're determined to craft some greensteel for TRs and can't get a group together. Cannith Crafted gear is fantastic for leveling and fitting in everything you need, but you won't get to make cool weapons like in Greensteel crafting.

[arminius]

Something you should be aware of is that the named gear and gear sets from Ravenloft (min level heroic 10/epic 29), Sharn (15/29), Feywild (5/29), and to a large extent Epic Borderlands (21) blow away almost everything else in their level ranges. One can easily gear most builds without GS or LGS crafting. All the level 29 named gear is exponentially more powerful than any level 28 or lower gear.

I was away for about 3 years and I wish I had fully understood this upon returning, it would have saved me a lot of time and effort.

[OfElectricMen]

Honestly?

If you already have GS non-weapon gear, you might be able to find a place for it depending on your character build and gear layout (for ex, I have some characters that now only use GS for the Displacement clickies instead of wearing it full time, while I have 2 characters that still wear 2-3 pieces of GS because there's nothing better for those slots on those builds).

If you do not already have GS, it's going to be hard to get maybe, because at least on Ghallanda, there's hardly ever any Shroud runs anymore (that's why I'm lobbying to have shard of power/great power/supreme power made BtA so I can finish some gear), and maybe not really worth it unless you need some Displacement clickies.

But you can farm out some of the Feywild, Ravenloft, and Sharn gear for many character builds and never once miss GS.

[Ulfo]

Honestly?

If you already have that's why I'm lobbying to have shard of power/great power/supreme power made BtA so I can finish some gear

You can made shard of power (not great/supreme) BtA, just disjunct it and apply any BtA ML shard to it.