Questions from returning player

[LoopyLoop]

Hi everyone,

after a break of roughly 3 years, me and a friend have decided to give gw2 another try. Back then it was also a fun game but somehow lacked the endgame ascpect for us. But as life goes on.. time gets rare(job, family..) and so we want to give it a more casual approach.
I already read a lot on the stuff I have missed, like raids and basically all of HoT.
Since the new expansion is comming soon I was wondering if there is anything that one should really do in HoT before stepping into the new expansion.
Or can we just step into the new expansion and be on par( more or less, ofc gear aside) with the others?
Right now we are leveling up new toons since the game has changed alot. But we are a bit lost if we should just play through some of HoT or just start the new expansion as soon as it gets released.

[BlairPhoenix]

Hi everyone,

after a break of roughly 3 years, me and a friend have decided to give gw2 another try. Back then it was also a fun game but somehow lacked the endgame ascpect for us. But as life goes on.. time gets rare(job, family..) and so we want to give it a more casual approach.
I already read a lot on the stuff I have missed, like raids and basically all of HoT.
Since the new expansion is comming soon I was wondering if there is anything that one should really do in HoT before stepping into the new expansion.
Or can we just step into the new expansion and be on par( more or less, ofc gear aside) with the others?
Right now we are leveling up new toons since the game has changed alot. But we are a bit lost if we should just play through some of HoT or just start the new expansion as soon as it gets released.

Path of Fire was made as to be playable without HoT, so nothing you NEED to do, though I would suggest doing the first story mission of HoT to unlock the Mastery system for HoT/Core Tyria and at least level up your mastery once to get at least basic gliding. You'll also be doing the story wildly out of order if that's the sort of thing that bothers you.

[Jibjub]

Path of Fire was made as to be playable without HoT, so nothing you NEED to do, though I would suggest doing the first story mission of HoT to unlock the Mastery system for HoT/Core Tyria and at least level up your mastery once to get at least basic gliding. You'll also be doing the story wildly out of order if that's the sort of thing that bothers you.

I think unlocking as much gliding as you can (even after PoF launches, go back and continue doing HoT content). PoF doesn't require gliding (the mounts will be how you get around) but it's nice to have, even int he old world.

Welcome back! (I just returned too and am loving every minute of it)

[PACOX]

You want gliding from HoT. Auto loot from Core (which is a grind to get...)

[Lotus Victoria]

Hello, Loopy. Glad to have you back on the boat with us.

So, in short therms: You didn't miss anything that will make you grind on HoT. If possible, I recommend that you get the Gliding Mastery (It's super easy!) and that's it. The specializations from HoT are very fun to play, but you will be specializing in new classes during PoF, so that's up to you (I'm not changing my daredevil to the deadeye, unfortunately!).

If you want, read the living story online to get you on par with the story, and buy and play the LS2/3 on a later date. I hope that you enjoy PoF!

[Gray_Matter]

I saw this on reddit today. It is a breakdown of everything that was added for each of the years. May be useful.

https://i.imgur.com/t3d699A.png

[LoopyLoop]

Having a lot of fun with this game again.
Thanks everyone so far. I will get gliding for sure, looks fun.

[Deleted]

I'll ask here.

I played GW2 on release very little. As there is a free trial for GW2, but how good is it? Is there a lvl cap? What restrictions are there?

[Jaylock]

Is it worth it to buy the HoT/PoF combo before reaching max level?

I am currently leveling a new necromancer, and my highest before this was a level 23 warrior way back 3 years ago when i first played.

Are there any benefits to having the new expansions active on my account before hitting level 80?

[Lotus Victoria]

Is it worth it to buy the HoT/PoF combo before reaching max level?

I am currently leveling a new necromancer, and my highest before this was a level 23 warrior way back 3 years ago when i first played.

Are there any benefits to having the new expansions active on my account before hitting level 80?

It's optional, you won't be losing anything because you get scaled down to the area level even if you're level 80, so there is no problem if you buy the combo and use the included 80 boost.

If you're a f2p account, you also get access to the trading post (it's great), you get more bag slots (this is really useful) and you get more character slots, which is also useful.

I'd recommend that you buy the combo if you'll stick with GW2. If you don't know yet, I recommend that you play a bit more, maybe reach level 40-50, and then see if you're still excited for the game.

Good luck!

[Gray_Matter]

Is it worth it to buy the HoT/PoF combo before reaching max level?

I am currently leveling a new necromancer, and my highest before this was a level 23 warrior way back 3 years ago when i first played.

Are there any benefits to having the new expansions active on my account before hitting level 80?

One advantage of PoF would be to use the level 80 boost on another character to take a quick 5 minute visit to PoF in order to get your mount as that makes travel much more convenient. Possibly the same with the glider but that takes longer to get and I wouldn't want to ruin the experience by playing the new zones too much until you have finished the stories that go on before.

You would have to pick a profession that you don't plan on leveling, though so you don't end up wasting the boost. Both HoT and PoF come with boosts so you would still have 1 left over.