Getting Back Into It

[Vallin]

Hey Guys,

I bought this game at launch but never really got around to playing it. Any tips or good guides to help me along?

[zito]

Do not go in the WoW mentality of having to rush to max level to do "endgame". Everything is endgame. Everything. You play what you want and get rewarded appropriately for it, even PvP. Higher levels just open up more options. Play how you want to play and play what you enjoy.

For those min/maxers there is something for them too.

[Vallin]

Alright, thanks for the awesome advice. Something that SWTOR taught me over the past two years is to play at my own pace and truly enjoy the experience.

[zito]

oh another thing is events usually chain. The thing with DE is that they are suppose to portray an open world so when an event completes usually the NPCs will do something. Talk or something - showing what happened after the event is finished and then they might walk to another point and dialogue will start again and a new event will appear or they turn into a vendor or something.

It's suppose to portray a living world. Too many people just do an event and run off without realizing another one is going to start.

Gw2 is a stop and smell the roses game not a chase the carrot game.

[Vallin]

Alright. Looking forward to it now. Ty for the info.

[Arewn]

The official forums have some good info. You can check the professions sub forums for questions about your class. https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum
If you're not level 80 yet, well... I guess level up? You can do so through open world events, personal story, dungeons (starting at 30, a new one every 10 levels thereafter), WvW, and PvP (pvp doesn't give you experience, instead you periodically will be rewarded with a book that can be consumed to gain a level) or crafting/gathering.
You can also look for a guild, just go to Lion's Arch and post in map chat. Many guilds do guild missions, which make for a nice community/group function. Guild missions including hunting bounties, guild jumping puzzles, races, and special events.
If you have a level 80 that you're happy with, it's much of the same except you can now make a complete build and have access to everything(content wise). Buy some level 80 masterwork (green quality) gear off the trading post to get yourself started (it's cheap), then aim to get full exotics (orange quality) gear. Fractals of the Mists (a dungeon of sorts, but it has levels. The higher the fractal level, the more difficult, the better the rewards) is another thing you'll probably wait till 80 to start doing.
New "Living Story" missions are now available and being released on a bi-weekly basis. They're similar to the personal story in style, but require level 80. They include a set of challenge-based achievements you can do as well.
Really, just hunt for skins you like and do what ever content you find entertaining.

[worprz]

oh another thing is events usually chain. The thing with DE is that they are suppose to portray an open world so when an event completes usually the NPCs will do something. Talk or something - showing what happened after the event is finished and then they might walk to another point and dialogue will start again and a new event will appear or they turn into a vendor or something.

It's suppose to portray a living world. Too many people just do an event and run off without realizing another one is going to start.

Gw2 is a stop and smell the roses game not a chase the carrot game.

This is probably the best advice you can get for the game. I know some people say the events feel random and have no story to them, but this is absolutely not true.



This video has some good examples of what zito is talking about. 'Warning', the guy is a little boring to listen to, but he has great videos.

I am pretty sure no npc's actually disappear when an event is over, you can follow them to new events or they may run back to where they were before the event.

[Vallin]

This is probably the best advice you can get for the game. I know some people say the events feel random and have no story to them, but this is absolutely not true.



This video has some good examples of what zito is talking about. 'Warning', the guy is a little boring to listen to, but he has great videos.

Alright ty so much. Will definitely keep this all in mind. Dog sitting this weekend so a good time as ever to pick it up again.

[Deleted]

Gather/harvest everything! I just started again a couple of weeks ago, and I had somehow forgotten that crafting required a ton of materials. However, I do still think GW2 has the best crafting system in a MMO, far superior to a lot of games. It is so satisfying to discover new recipes and the nice ding, ding, ding sound when you craft a ton of things

Also, I would actually recommend speaking to NPCs, they quite often explain a lot of what is going on in a zone, and what the events are all about (lore/story wise).

And don't forget to stop up once in a while and pan your camera around, GW2 is extremely beautiful and do truly look like a handcrafted piece of art

[lawow74]

There were major changes to how Traits work and are obtained. If you're playing an old char, you'll still have all the old Traits grandfathered in. New chars will have to unlock them by doing certain activities in-game or buying them with money and skill points.

World Bosses are on a timer now. To see an easy updating track for it, visit http://dulfy.net/2014/04/23/event-timer/ Once you've got a char to lvl 39, each boss gives a bonus daily kill chest with a guaranteed rare(and a tiny chance at an exotic)-quality item in it. These can be sold, or salvaged/used for the skin if you desire to unlock it. Those rares become much more valuable at lvl 68 and above, these can be salvaged for Ecto, which are used to make high-end gear. If you're not a daily dungeon kind of person, this can provide some easy income.

Harvesting crafting materials and selling them is also easy income. I recommend farming Rich Ore Veins daily, Iron and Platinum mostly. Don't have to hit them all, just do whichever you find easiest. Another good source of income for the non-group sort of player.

Try to complete your Dailies. They give some bonus XP and are a valued source of Laurels, which are used to get all sorts of things.

Depending on the server you rolled on, there may or may not be an active WvW community that has success in the weekly three-way fights. But Edge of the Mists was added to give a less permanent sort of map that aggregates between the servers of the three colored sides and provides more PvE content with the same open PvP approach. It's popular for farming Karma/Champ Bags and can be used as a leveling tool if you so wish.

sPvP gives actual rewards now. The different reward tracks rotate week to week, or can be unlocked by doing various story dungeons and other activities.

On the subject of non-80 gear, buying Masterwork-quality(i.e. Green)gear obtained as world drops is the cheapest and easiest way to keep it up to date and makes an excellent jumping-off point for further upgrades. Always remember to sort by level range and color to make finding options on the TP easier. Then by piece or weapon/trinket type. Then you can arrange them by price to find the best bargain for you.

Minor Sigils/Runes are also cheaply bought and provide some bonuses to help you battle your way around. Also consider using cheap buff consumables.