Returning player...

[papajohn4]

Greetings everyone. I played GW2 when it is released and for a little while. Got 4-5 classes to 80, did some fractals, some dungeons and thats it... I stopped played by then and have to play for years... As far as I know there are 2 new expansions now and would like to ask some questions:

1) I read that Heart of thorns expansion was not too solo friendly... Zones with difficult navigation, strong mobs etc... is that true? If yes, can you skip this expansion and go to the new one?

2) Have the level cap increase? Anything change in the way you are leveling?

3) I know there is no trinity in GW2 and the time I was playing there were little difference in survivability between a guardian and another class... I heard that GW2 have made some changes and now the semi-support trinity... I mean there are classes that are significantly more "tanky" than others? Or you still need to dodge around even with a guardian/warrior (dont mean the few big attacks that you might need to dodge)?

4) Is there any casual/solo content at the max level? Is there a LFG for Dungeons? Does it have gear progression now? Is crafting still the best source of gear?

[Zandalarian Paladin]

Greetings everyone. I played GW2 when it is released and for a little while. Got 4-5 classes to 80, did some fractals, some dungeons and thats it... I stopped played by then and have to play for years... As far as I know there are 2 new expansions now and would like to ask some questions:

1) I read that Heart of thorns expansion was not too solo friendly... Zones with difficult navigation, strong mobs etc... is that true? If yes, can you skip this expansion and go to the new one?

2) Have the level cap increase? Anything change in the way you are leveling?

3) I know there is no trinity in GW2 and the time I was playing there were little difference in survivability between a guardian and another class... I heard that GW2 have made some changes and now the semi-support trinity... I mean there are classes that are significantly more "tanky" than others? Or you still need to dodge around even with a guardian/warrior (dont mean the few big attacks that you might need to dodge)?

4) Is there any casual/solo content at the max level? Is there a LFG for Dungeons? Does it have gear progression now? Is crafting still the best source of gear?

I'm going to echo this, because I'm curious as well.

[papajohn4]

I'm going to echo this, because I'm curious as well.

This is what they answer me on GW2 reddit :P

We only have 1 expansion, the HoT. 2nd one is coming in about 4-5 months.
1) It's not as easy as Tyria content, but it's still soloable. Hero challenges give 10 instead of 1 point, and as such are a lot harder than normal ones, so it's recommended to do them with at least 2-3 people. Every map has it's own meta event, on 2 hour reset, that requires almost full map to be successful so population there is never an issue.
2) Level is same but there's a progression through masteries. They are mostly focused on way of traveling, unlocking different merchants etc.
3) HoT added slight trinity, but that's only present in pve raids. Chronomancer (mesmer's elite) is considered best tank because it has relatively low damage compared to other classes, has a lot of blocks, and as such being able to do that in almost glass cannon gear. You can be tanky on any class with specific gear, but that's very bad for soloing pve because you won't be able to deal damage too, and active defenses are more than enough to keep you alive.
Wvw favors tankier builds.
4) Besides roaming around pve/wvw, doing story, farming HoT/LS3 maps there's not much of a new solo content. There are raids, fractals, dungeons, but they are not solo content. High tier fractals and raids (not needed but highly recommended) require ascended gear. First set is usually best to get with crafting, next ones can be gotten from said places. Trinkets are very easy to get from LS3 maps nowadays.
5) No new races, new heavy class- Revenant.

[Zandalarian Paladin]

This is what they answer me on GW2 reddit :P

Thank you, this is making things much clearer!

One of the things I loved about Vanilla GW2 was how solo-friendly it was. Might still give it a shot later this year, I guess I just kind of hoped they'd go back to their roots.

[barackopala]

what armor piece are you making that costs you 40g? that'd be either trailblazers or minstrel, both of which are very wvw focused and specific meta-roles that arent THAT much craved for, dps builds are mostly using vipers set which isnt really expensive, the only expensive gear imo would be the ones i mentioned before, but they fulfill a very niche role that not many players tend to go for when soloing.

Heck if you want HoT stat rings-backpiece you can just go farm bitterfrost frontier for like 50 berries per char per day, with a few days you get an ascended backpiece without any effort whatsoever

[Valeron]

I really liked the HoT zones (I also liked Orr so I seem to be in a minority of the areas that I prefer). But yes, the enemies there are more difficult. For the hero points there, most of them require a few people (since as pointed above, they give out 10 points instead of just 1) but I haven't had a problem of finding a few people to do it, if all else fails a callout in map chat usually works. The meta events do require quite a few people though.

No level increase but as mentioned, there are masteries which is a bit of horizontal progression. Nothing is mandatory (perhaps a few early ones are if you want to do a map clear in the expansion zones) but they can make life easier.

There has always been a soft trinity but it really only matters in raiding.

Ascended is still the max level gear (well legendary but they are the same stat level as ascended). Multiple ways of getting it, crafting, fractals, pvp and Living Story (backpacks and trinkets)

[Svifnymr]

I really liked the HoT zones (I also liked Orr so I seem to be in a minority of the areas that I prefer). But yes, the enemies there are more difficult. For the hero points there, most of them require a few people (since as pointed above, they give out 10 points instead of just 1) but I haven't had a problem of finding a few people to do it, if all else fails a callout in map chat usually works. The meta events do require quite a few people though.

I've done a few alts from a fresh 80 to unlocking all the hero points to get all the stuff, there's certainly (usually) enough groups doing them in the first two areas to get enough easily enough. It's more a problem of knowing where everything is than needing groups to defeat too much.

No level increase but as mentioned, there are masteries which is a bit of horizontal progression. Nothing is mandatory (perhaps a few early ones are if you want to do a map clear in the expansion zones) but they can make life easier.

They ARE required for the story also.

Ascended is still the max level gear (well legendary but they are the same stat level as ascended). Multiple ways of getting it, crafting, fractals, pvp and Living Story (backpacks and trinkets)

I've still barely gotten any Ascended, it just doesn't matter to me, especially with so many alts.

[Valeron]

I know a lot of people hated it but I really liked the vertical nature of the maps. Tangled Depths is probably my least favorite out of them and that's mostly due to the mob density in a lot of the places (plus they probably have the most irritating of the mobs, the Chak), still enjoy the challenge though.

[LilSaihah]

1) I read that Heart of thorns expansion was not too solo friendly... Zones with difficult navigation, strong mobs etc... is that true? If yes, can you skip this expansion and go to the new one?

Firstly; it's a good spot more difficult than the core game, but it's not necessarily unsoloable. If you are decent at the game, you'll be able to make progress and clear the non-group events and hero points. But there are a lot more group events and hero points.

Secondly; yes-ish. You need HoT to be able to do the LS3 content (DLC maps and story steps) but you should be able to do X2 perfectly fine when it arrives. Rumor has it that HoT will actually become free when X2 comes but I have no solid source for that.

2) Have the level cap increase? Anything change in the way you are leveling?

The level cap stays at 80 and you will use your XP to progress through the Mastery system instead.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mastery

3) I know there is no trinity in GW2 and the time I was playing there were little difference in survivability between a guardian and another class... I heard that GW2 have made some changes and now the semi-support trinity... I mean there are classes that are significantly more "tanky" than others? Or you still need to dodge around even with a guardian/warrior (dont mean the few big attacks that you might need to dodge)?

This really depends on the class and what tools it uses to survive. The nature of the game is such that you will always need to dodge effectively to stay alive, and the rest of your survivability is rooted in picking defensive stats and defensive traits. For what it's worth, there are more options for defensive traits, and the other side of the trinity - the healing/support side - is much healthier than it was before.

4) Is there any casual/solo content at the max level? Is there a LFG for Dungeons? Does it have gear progression now? Is crafting still the best source of gear?

Yes. There always was and there is more now, especially if you are a returning player who has plenty of new maps to 100%. Also adventures and new really big JPs and stuff.
The LFG system for dungeons is like the premade group finder for WoW.
Gear power has remained level, unless you missed them adding ascended armor/weapons, in which case... They've added ascended armor/weapons.
Crafting is effectively mandatory to get Ascended gear.

[Gray_Matter]

To add to what was said before. The new episodes of Living Story are really good and well worth doing. The HoT personal story is also nice with the exception of the last episode which can be a bit annoying.

[philefluxx]

Thank you, this is making things much clearer!

One of the things I loved about Vanilla GW2 was how solo-friendly it was. Might still give it a shot later this year, I guess I just kind of hoped they'd go back to their roots.

Ya but I mean its not like group content in GW2 is like group content in other games. You don't have to find players, you just gotta get to where the event/point is and either join players currently doing it or wait for a few to show up. Still feels very solo friendly imo. I'm not even in a guild at the moment and have no RL friends who play. I just go to where I need to go and wait for people to show up to get something done.