New to Guild Wars 2 and I have some quesions

[Bogurt]

SO I am coming from 8 years of WoW so this is all different and foreign to me but I was hoping that someone could answer some questions.

1. How the heck do I level? I cant find any quests anywhere...

2. Are there any mounts in GW2 like in WoW?

3. I know classes are called professions but what are the professions called and where can I get them? like jewelcrafting or enchanting?

4. Is there such thins in this game as op classes or is it as balanced as I hear it is.

5. What class would you recommend someone starting out here. Now I am no greenbelt when it comes to classes but this is so different I figured I would ask.

6 Finally, are there dungeons or raids at all?

Thanks for helping a new comer

[Azgarde]

1. How the heck do I level? I cant find any quests anywhere...
Whenever you open your map, you will see how many quests are available in that zone (they are marked as little yellow Hearts). While doing a quest, you will often encounter a Dynamic Event (these are shown by orange circles and markers). These are what will give you the XP to level. They are like quests, although they are not always up. Depending on the results of the Dynamic Events (let's say Centaurs attack a town), then the next quest will be different(if you kill them, you will have to kill their leader in a follow-up quest, and if the Centaurs manage to invade the village, then there will be another quest that requires you to retake the village).You can also level via PvP or via Crafting Skills or by harvesting materials.

2. Are there any mounts in GW2 like in WoW?
Nope. No mounts. You can however teleport to many points in the world. These are like WarpGates. You can always just click on one of the crystals and teleport instantly there for a small fee (depending on how far you want to travel). A little like WoW, you have to find the crystals first, just like Flight Points.

3. I know classes are called professions but what are the professions called and where can I get them? like jewelcrafting or enchanting?
You can get about 8 different crafting professions like Blacksmithing, Jewelcrafting, Tailoring, Leatherworking and much more !

4. Is there such thins in this game as op classes or is it as balanced as I hear it is.
Currently, every class seems to perform well, depending on the situation. Some classes will perform better in some situations, but it's the same in every MMO, so I wouldn't really care about it. Just play whatever you feel like playing !

5. What class would you recommend someone starting out here. Now I am no greenbelt when it comes to classes but this is so different I figured I would ask.
I like Engineer. You can heal while doing some pretty good damage overall. You will have almost no downtime at all, and you can kill pretty much everything all by yourself !

6 Finally, are there dungeons or raids at all?
Yes, but not too much. This is mostly why I left the game. Not enough end-game and not enough dungeons. They are repetitive as hell... No raids at all, only huge Dynamic Events...

[Karizee]

1. Talk to a scout (find them with the telescope icon over their head). They will show you a part of the map, go do the Renown Hearts, follow up with DE's (dynamic events) that unfold after the hearts, participate in any DEs you find along the way. Grab some harvesting tools (sickle, axe, pick), you get xp for gathering mats. XP for rezzing downed players and NPCs, xp for crafting - just play the game, you get xp for everything.

2. No mounts.

3. Crafting disciplines. You can learn all 8 but only have 2 active at a time. You don't lose your recipes when they are unactive. Use the discovery pane for maximum xp (and fewest mats!) to learn recipes.

4. It's pretty balanced.

5. You can roll a toon, go to the Heart of the Mists (pvp lobby area - crossed sword icon upper left) where you will be boosted to 80 and can play with all the weapons/traits/abilities/sigils/runes etc. Jump in a hot join match to test the pvp or practice against a target dummy. Different weapons and builds make a profession play *completely* different, try them out.

6. No raids, but tons of dungeons (and mini-dungeons).

[Bogurt]

Thanks for the very quick reply. This info really helps. Any recommandations on which crafting professions I should go with?

I will have to try an engineer. It is defiantly a different kind of class.

[Azgarde]

Whichever one you prefer, really. They all are good (except maybe Caster professions, which are Tailoring etc..., since you are rolling an Engineer!)

[Ellixen]

I believe for engineer you'll want Leatherworking and Huntsman (make guns and bows ect...)

[Cipero]

The other peeps in this thread answered your first few questions well. As for OP classes, the thing about it is the build you take and how well you use it personally is what's going to make you "OP" or not. Mechanically, the balance is tweaked well, but this game relies heavily upon being able to master your utilities. For instance...I play a thief. There are tons of people who run around WvW dagger/dagger glass cannon and depending on the situation and who gets the jump they destroy people or get destroyed. However I play a pistol/dagger with a more defensive build that relies on bleeds to work on people slowly but surely. So really it's all a matter of the kind of character you want to build and how you personally like to play. Mostly everything, even defensive guardians have utility in PvP and PvE and are valuable.

For a newcomer, I would recommend a Guardian. Probably one of the easier classes to help get acclimated to the flow of the game with with a decent array of weaponry to utilize.

As for quick leveling, anytime you see an undiscovered area of the map, take some time to go discover it. Exploring rewards huge XP just for running around. I'm not talking about POI (points of interest) on the map, but like when you are in a zone and open your map you'll see areas still covered by the paint-style overlay...go uncover it. And tag every waypoint you can.

Professions are fun, but sometimes costly. Do yourself a favor and after the inaugural quest pick up the mining pick, ax, and sickle (sic?) and harvest every node you see. They are all yours personally so no competing for resources in this game.

*edit* quick tip here: opening your inventory (I) you will see a cog wheel (settings) click that and click on 'deposit collectibles'. No matter where you are int he world, the game will automatically transfer all of your crafting resources and such to your bank..to help keep inventory space clear. Also pick up some 8slot bags, join a guild, ask questions. You'll find a lot of the community in GW2 is pretty nice to each other.

[Shortcut]

Since no one mentioned it, you can find crafting trainers in every major town.
You can recognize by their symbols them on your map (see http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crafting for the symbols or just scroll over your map untill you see names like weaponsmith, armorsmith etc.)

Also, if I recall correctly, there's an online guide for beginners explaining how GW2 works, made by ArenaNet themselves.
You might want to check it out if you want to learn more about the game.
Found the link: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/manual

[Yuanrang]

Note, if you take two crafts such as Weaponsmithing and Armorsmithing, you will primarily use ores and some logs in your crafts. However, you can still mine ores, cut logs and harvest edibles freely regardless of profession, meaning you should buy a sickle, a woodcutting axe and a pickaxe immediately to get all the nodes while you run around, leveling up. That experience gain really stacks up in the long run.

[Gray_Matter]

Another tip, you get nice rewards for completing a zone 100% so try and do that. Get all vistas, point of interest, etc.

[Bogurt]

Thank you so much, This has been a lot of help.

@Cipero, I was actually looking at playing a Thief. They seem like a lot of fun for one plus I like all the cloak and dagger stuff that come along with stealth classes. It is funny that you mention a Guardian because That is one of the classes I started. He is only level 3 but he is fun so far.

I did have one more question.. I know that there are hundreds of different ways that you can build a toon but when it comes down to it can I put points where I want and still be ok or should I follow other builds out there on Noxxic for example?

[Doozerjun]

One suggestion on creating a build, go to the Heart of the Mists (select the pvp cross swords icon on top of your screen, then hit the go to the heart of the mists button) and then create your builds. You are bumped up to level 80 and have all of the skills, weapons, and traits opened up. While you are there, there is no fee to change your build around so you can test to see how you want to build it. In addition there are NPC's in that are in which you can test out your build in a combat situation.