Guild Wars 2

I am currenlty playing through GW2 and having an absolute blast. However, I feel I know too little about the world and I must start with the beginning, thus I plan to play GW1 next to GW2. I know it will take an awful lot of time to “finish” the first game, but I’m in no hurry.

The main reasons to do this would be story and lore. I know there are resources on the internet, videos on youtube and the sort but somehow I feel like experiencing the full story by myself. I don’t have any friends who want to play this game, and I am not sure I can commit to a guild, I play on and off, sometimes with long breaks, more so since I have no plan of getting fast through the content.

My question would be then: can I experience the story in this game until the very end by playing alone (hiring henchmen, heroes)? I am aware that by doing this I lose the MMO part, but that’s no problem for me, since I got GW2 to provide it. More specifically, what I would hate would be for me to get to end-game story missions and not be able to complete them because I would need a full party of real players and the henchmen/heroes wouldn’t suffice.

A side question would be, since I am not 100% sure with my plan, is it worth it? Not if the game is good or bad, but would you advice me to go with my plan and play GW1 in order to fill all of the story/lore gaps or would you rather recommend that I just go on with GW2 and watch the lore videos on youtube?

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to answer.

PS: I wasn’t sure where to place this thread on the forums so if needs moving there’s no problem at all.

Varmyr.4253:

My question would be then: can I experience the story in this game until the very end by playing alone (hiring henchmen, heroes)?

Yes, the first 2 campaigns (Prophecies, Factions) provide Henchmen for every mission if you don’t play with other people.
Nightfall(and EotN) take this a bit further, providing access to Henchmen for every mission, but also allowing you to unlock Heroes at certain points in the storyline and sidequests. Heroes are essentially customizeable Henchmen (can choose their weapons, skills, armor upgrades).

Personally I’d say it’s totally worth it, as long as you are willing to invest time in it. I have played GW1 for 3000 hours so maybe my opinion is a bit biased.

woodenpotatoes has made comic videos explaining the complete storyline and also a playthrough of all missions and end-game areas. However playing the game yourself is also strongly recommended by me if you like the gameplay.

My advice is – don’t waste your time. GW1 is the greatest game but the stories of both games are only remotely connected by the last addition in GW1 (War in Cryta) and two books after that. I’m a great fan of GW1 and have stopped playing GW2 more than a month ago, the games are way too different for my taste. So if you like GW2 there is a big chance of you not liking the first one…
Anyway, you can go through the entire game with henches/heroes except for War in Cryta. It’s still doable but very very hard.
Sorry for me bad English ;-)

gw1 is a floaty click to move affair. then again ti can easily be played one handed and half asleep.

i found it dificult to stay engaged with it for more than a few minutes, even years ago. it definitely felt like, there was a seriously legit reason the devs/publisher felt they could not charge a sub for it.

If you have all expansions or at least Nightfall/Eye of the North, you can play the entire game solo with a group of customized hero NPCs filling out your team. Once you unlock some good skills for them, they’re strong (even OP) and aside from them standing in AoE too much (fixable if you flag them to spread out points) you will not be at a disadvantage because of their limited AI.

I revived my old account last spring and completed all campaigns and many hard mode areas without ever inviting another player into my party. When you take advantage of optimized hero team builds (http://www.gwpvx.com) you can
“play” the normal mode area by moving around and letting your heroes do all the killing by themselves while you pick up the loot or admire the view. Hard mode and the later content (War in Kryta and Winds of Change especially) require a lot more attention. I had a lot of fun playing GW1 as a single player game, but it’s a matter of taste.

Lorewise, you will learn a little more about the human/charr conflict in the early prophecies campaign, Nightfall features the Order of Whispers, and Eye of the North is really the preparation for GW2, introducing the Asura and Norn. Most of the campaigns feature events and people only mentioned in passing in GW2.
Factions especially has nothing to do with the current game. Perhaps in the future after Zhaitan and the Deep Sea Dragon are defeated we’ll get to go there again…

Can it be done solo?

Yes, I finished all 3 campaigns + EOTN expansion + WiK + HOTN which basically tells the complete story in the 3-4 months before the release of GW2 (did it for HoM rewards got 30/50).

The one that I never got around to complete was the Winds of Change…. I do remember failing a lot but keep in mind that was the end of a long marathon and I already had 30/50 HoM so my determination was waning.

Should you do it?

Just completing the story line should not take you long. 3-4 months includes all the grind I had to do to get the HoM rewards so I would say at least cut that time in half. I was playing 4 hours daily (on average).

Edit – I would definitively go back and finish WoC if the GW2 next expansion is in Cantha, and if they ever get to finish the “GW beyond” missions for Nightfall I would return too as that campaign is my favorite.

I have not been back since GW2 launched, but you might find GW1 difficult to pick up if other players are scarce and unable to provide advice. There’s not much of a tutorial, and a lot of the modern MMO conventions are absent (e.g. no unique map icons for quest givers or merchants; they all appear as green dots, only when you get close enough).

Alt shows NPC names and function.

@OP It’s definitely worth experience the true GW, unfortunately I doubt you will be able to GvG anymore but I hear pve is still very much alive. Head on over to guildwarsguru.com for any GW1 questions.

Just don’t expect the games to be similar in any way shape or form other than lore.

BTW if you marathon it, every campaign can be done in about a single day. I know this because I did so with friends on a lanparty. A week should suffice for the story mode including War in Kryta, Winds of Change and the love story arc.

GW2 is full of references, hidden in clever ways so non-GW1 players don’t realize it. You’ll never look at Tyria in the same way again.

i played all of the gw1 campains and didn’t pay any attention to the story. by the end of eye of the north most of the lore was still just fluff to me. I loved the mechanics and the game play but didn’t read a kitten thing that came up in a dialogue box. I just wasn’t interested.

Gw2 came out and for some reason this time around I did decide I wanted to know. the lore is very rich and I found myself wondering a lot of things as well. I started going between the lore forums here and a lot of looking up characters and places on the wiki’s for gw1 and gw2 and I think i’m fairly up to date.

Why is this relevant? because the games are so different that going back and playing the first one because you fell in love with tyria playing gw2 might not be as simple as it seems. They are very different games with very complicated plot lines and hundreds of hours of content.

If all you’re after is the back story and lore playing GW1 may not be the easiest way to get there.

There is alot of nostalgia around GW2. Familiar locations where you can actually see how the world has changed. References made both in the world and by NPCs in their audio dialogs. Skills, attributes, and equipment. And of course the story and lore elements themselves. I constantly find myself reminiscing. If you really enjoy that sort of thing then it’s absolutely worth it. The end result for you will probably be different from those of us for who it’s true nostalgia from the past rather than something picked up playing both worlds at the same time. You’ll be playing in the past and remembering the future but I’m sure that would have an appeal itself.

It’s also entirely soloable although there are a few (very scarce) missions that are a little more difficult solo. A couple missions in Factions and Nightfall mainly. They are still soloable but they’ll require some experience with the game.

If you do decide to do it you should go all the way and start at the beginning with Prophecies for the full experience. Don’t leave Pre-Searing until you’ve done everything there is to do there (well maybe not LDoA) and continue through the story until you reach LA. Don’t forget skill quests and at least some side quests along the way, as even many of the side quests have entered the lore. For instance some of the skill trainers and side quest npcs that had nothing to do with the storyline itself are actually still around in GW2 :P

Once you’re in LA however you should probably make some detours. Head to EoTN and pick up the first 3 heroes. Then to NF and finish the beginner island until you get to the Docks to pick up a few more. These two will give you access to hero skill points as well, which you can use for free skills for yourself and your heroes at hero skill trainers in the EoTN outpost and around Istan. After that make your way to Cantha and Kaineng, the skill trainer there will let you purchase more skills for yourself that you can’t get in the other campaigns. You can also buy some max armor in both the Docks and Kaineng with a few different skins to chose from, and buy unidentified gold weapons for pretty cheap (just make sure you can meet the attribute requirement.) These things should make the rest of your journey a whole lot easier.

And wiki.guildwars.com is your best friend. After all of these years it’s about as complete as any game wiki can possibly be. Whatever your question is, you can probably find the answer there.

If you want to know the past and know Tyria better, then I’d say, go and play GW1.

In Prophecies you will learn the conflict between Ascalonians and the Charr. You will see the white mantle. You will see a Shining Blade. You will see how Seraph Guards were born. You will see many ways, that could be in GW2, and why they don’t exist. You will have a good experience about GW world. You will see Pyro, the charr, Jora, which statue you have already seen. You will learn what happened to dwarfs. In fact, Norns in gw2 lives where lived dwarfs – Deldrimor. You will see the Dredge in Sorrow’s Furnace.

You will see how mortal Kormir ascended to the Goddess. And so on and etc.

When I’m traveling from the GW2 world, I recognize many places. I recognized the Balthazar statue, standing not far from Catacombs of Ascalon (dungeon).
I recognized part of Maguuma Jungle just looking at the plants.

The world in GW2 is so recognizable after playing GW1!! It’s very touching! When you look upon charr lands, former Ascalon, you recognize this lands, landscapes, grass, trees, everything!!

I can recognize where am I. In which part of Tyria, just looking around, without looking on the map. Because world in GW2 is so recognizable! Pretty much the same, only with better graphics.

You will walk upon Divinity Cost. There is a village, Shaemoor. That village, which is exist in GW2 too.

You will fight with fallen God of himself!

Then Cancha. Yes, it doesn’t have any relatives in GW2, maybe in a future, if or when Devs will add Cantha. But anyway you will have good experience! I can promise you that. Cantha is a beautiful country with a beautiful strory, music! OMG I want to play gw1 once again. xDDD

It is good that we don’t have Cantha and Elona right now. If you will play in GW1 now, and when Cantha and Elona will add in the GW2, you will see the references to the gw1 and this will touching! You WON’T regret that.

And you will learn about Palava Joko. And many, many, many things. Mursaat, Seers.

Krystal Desert, Glint, Forgotten.

When Devs add Jormag, his nest in Gunnar’s Hold. It was a city, in GW Eye of the North.

The only thing is, game play. It might looks boring after tasting game play in GW2.

So yes, if you interested in lore, you MUST play GW1. =) And read GW1 wiki as well. There are many information too. Stories, culture and etc.

my advice: don´t do it. GW is a great game that captured me for many years, but it is really old and it shows. If you are so interested (btw. wow, what a level of dedication!) in the story look for video walkthroughs, lore pages or collections of cutscenes online instead.

I don’t agree with you Algreg. Well, agree, but only on half. You can play only lore: Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall and Eye of the North. It won’t take you very long. And then continue playing GW2 and if you want, read GW1 Wiki as well. And GW2 Wiki as well too. =)

Why not? It’s still a cracking game, albeit rather dated now.

GW1 is reasonably inexpensive to obtain (including all campaigns) if you haven’t got it already and as neither game commands a subscription fee all you have to lose is time. =}

Heck, I only have 16/50 on my GW1 main – I might even join you!

I would advise playing GW1 to anyone who never did. The story is pretty cool to follow, but even more it’s just a great game! Where GW2 is still young, and has a lot of issues that newly released games usually have, GW1 had 7+ years of fixing, balancing and adding content, so you’ll most likely run into 0 issues if you play through the whole game now. Also, it’s all really doable by yourself with NPCs, even the beyond content.

There is only one thing you’d need to get over: the graphics (logical since it was released in what, 2005 / 2006?)

The graphics aren’t even that bad. I would recommend checking it out. You can play the entire thing with henchmen and/or heroes, which is what I did. Some people talk about GW2 being less social than the first game but I feel it’s the opposite. Anyway, enjoy

In my opinion, I played all of GW1 and loved the story. However, I did not delve much into backstory, and I believe the backstory is what really matters in cross over from 1 to 2. I’d recommend playing GW1, not necessarily to understand the lore better, but because the story is awesome. I absolutely loved the prophecies and factions campaigns. Eye of the North and Nightfall were also very fun.

I solo’d all the campaigns with my monk and henchmen. It definitely gets more difficult to solo nearer the ending of each campagin, but not impossible. I also found it easier to solo with my monk than with other professions. This is because as a Monk you are in the back and can run away / sacrifice your henchmen if things go sour. You can also get the skill “rebirth” and resurrect your team from a safe distance. Finally. I’d recommend Monk, because the henchmen healers are sub-par. You will have a much better chance of survival if you are doing to healing

My general mixup of henchmen was: Me (all out healer), Prot monk, Tanky warrior, interupt ranger, blood necro, and the rest as various DPS.

Hope that helps/gives you some insight.

Yes, it is the opposite, but in a good way. If you uncomfortable playing with someone, you can play with your henchmen or heroes. I’ve played the whole time with my heroes. Only several times asked guild mates for help. But the rest of the time on my own with henchmen and then with heroes. It’s very convenient when you need to afk.

Mantisian.4729:

My advice is – don’t waste your time. GW1 is the greatest game but the stories of both games are only remotely connected by the last addition in GW1 (War in Cryta) and two books after that. I’m a great fan of GW1 and have stopped playing GW2 more than a month ago, the games are way too different for my taste. So if you like GW2 there is a big chance of you not liking the first one…
Anyway, you can go through the entire game with henches/heroes except for War in Cryta. It’s still doable but very very hard.
Sorry for me bad English ;-)

Out of curiosity, and don’t take this as rude I am genuinely curious but, whatcha still doin on the forums then?

(BTW its Kryta not Cryta)

I agree that GW1 and Gw2 play completely differently but if anything if your able to enjoy GW2 you should have no problem enjoying GW1. Infact it may scoop you up more than GW2.

Personally PvE/Story/customization wise… GW1 wins hands down in my eyes. (<3 making 8 builds to play with in PvE with heros)
PvP/WvW… its GW2 all the way.

Regardless since its not exactly dear for all three from your local game shop/online retailer, I suggest purchasing it and enjoying what it has to offer. If not just to earn yourself some rewards in GW2.

can i be honest?

guild wars 1 does a bad job at exposing you to their (awesome) lore. you’re actually better off with youtube videos and wikis, if you want to know the story better.

My opinion is the same as many others.. GW1 was awesome but I don’t think you’ll get enough from the game to justify buying it and all the expansions… to really get into the lore you’d need to dedicate so much of your time it isn’t funny. I’d watch woodenpotatoes on youtube for the lore. What that does is give you a good background for the game (is free) and requires much less of your time than trying to find everything out for yourself.. I played GW1 from it’s release and didn’t know half the things woodenpotatoes covers in his videos.. it makes me feel like a bad player to be honest >.<

One more thing, I will say that the gameplay is different and is fun in its own right (GW1)… I just wouldn’t go into it expecting to learn everything just by playing the story lines of GW1.

callidus.7085:

My opinion is the same as many others.. GW1 was awesome but I don’t think you’ll get enough from the game to justify buying it and all the expansions… to really get into the lore you’d need to dedicate so much of your time it isn’t funny. I’d watch woodenpotatoes on youtube for the lore. What that does is give you a good background for the game (is free) and requires much less of your time than trying to find everything out for yourself.. I played GW1 from it’s release and didn’t know half the things woodenpotatoes covers in his videos.. it makes me feel like a bad player to be honest >.<

One more thing, I will say that the gameplay is different and is fun in its own right (GW1)… I just wouldn’t go into it expecting to learn everything just by playing the story lines of GW1.

Hey guildie!

GW 1 tells some great stories and is a solid game on it’s own merits. I’d throw out two things that are a turnoff for many:

1. No z-axis movement, including jumping.

2. Very much on rails, both story-wise and when traversing the maps. The maps are better in the expansions, but you still feel it at times.

I purchased the complete pack about a year ago due to interest in GW2, and I’m glad I did. Lots of good lore and story there, even if many aspects of gameplay are a bit dated.

Icarus Pherae.4680:

callidus.7085:

My opinion is the same as many others.. GW1 was awesome but I don’t think you’ll get enough from the game to justify buying it and all the expansions… to really get into the lore you’d need to dedicate so much of your time it isn’t funny. I’d watch woodenpotatoes on youtube for the lore. What that does is give you a good background for the game (is free) and requires much less of your time than trying to find everything out for yourself.. I played GW1 from it’s release and didn’t know half the things woodenpotatoes covers in his videos.. it makes me feel like a bad player to be honest >.<

One more thing, I will say that the gameplay is different and is fun in its own right (GW1)… I just wouldn’t go into it expecting to learn everything just by playing the story lines of GW1.

Hey guildie!

Wtf you doin here? :-P and HELLO! ^.^

Hi guys and thanks a lot for the answers! It’s really helping me in knowing what to expect from the game, the good and the bad, I definitely feel my choice will be easier to make due to your great feedback. I don’t have a huge amount of time on my hands and playing both games might seem overwhelming, but I’m in no hurry. I’m not planning to play any other MMO for a long time and dunno, GW2 really put a spell on me, I find it amazing and I constantly want to find out more about Tyria. If there is one thing lacking in the second game it seems to be the lore, but between GW1, the links you guys have provided and the two GW books I might just turn into a fanboy.

Cheers everyone!

GW1 gameplay is completely different than GW2. It would make me nuts switching back and forth. The suggestion to find Woodenpotatoes’ lore video is an excellent one. I have watched it to get the recap and came away completely satisfied.

Varmyr.4253:

I am currenlty playing through GW2 and having an absolute blast. However, I feel I know too little about the world and I must start with the beginning, thus I plan to play GW1 next to GW2. I know it will take an awful lot of time to “finish” the first game, but I’m in no hurry.

The main reasons to do this would be story and lore. I know there are resources on the internet, videos on youtube and the sort but somehow I feel like experiencing the full story by myself. I don’t have any friends who want to play this game, and I am not sure I can commit to a guild, I play on and off, sometimes with long breaks, more so since I have no plan of getting fast through the content.

My question would be then: can I experience the story in this game until the very end by playing alone (hiring henchmen, heroes)? I am aware that by doing this I lose the MMO part, but that’s no problem for me, since I got GW2 to provide it. More specifically, what I would hate would be for me to get to end-game story missions and not be able to complete them because I would need a full party of real players and the henchmen/heroes wouldn’t suffice.

A side question would be, since I am not 100% sure with my plan, is it worth it? Not if the game is good or bad, but would you advice me to go with my plan and play GW1 in order to fill all of the story/lore gaps or would you rather recommend that I just go on with GW2 and watch the lore videos on youtube?

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to answer.

PS: I wasn’t sure where to place this thread on the forums so if needs moving there’s no problem at all.

you can absolutely solo it with heros /hench . I would advise starting in Prophesies and Eye of the north since most of the current lore is Tyrian . As far as lore filler You’ll probably want to do a mixture of the game the wiki and the books.

The game actually gets it name from its lore . The Guild Wars happened from 1013-1070 After Exodus and only really ened because of the Charr invasion that happened in the same year . Your character comes along right before The Searing and you WILL learn to hate the Charr because of it .

GW1 is a solid game and it has excellent lore to fall back on.

however, the problem with GW1 is that its an old game. it’s seven plus years old and it shows. after playing GW2, i found it hard to stomach GW1. how you move and the controls are very awkward and clunky. it’s no where near as smooth as GW2 is. GW2 (to me) feels slick and responsive. GW2 is very floaty and, well… not.

i’d say try out the free trial and see if you like it. if you do? buy it. if not? no loss.

I bought Guild Wars (and it’s expansions/separate campaigns) when they were $40(EoTN), and $50-$70(separate expansions). I can tell you, it’s one of the best things I bought in my whole life.

Every time there would be a new game out (such as Aion, Lineage, CoH:Rogue, PW, etc…) I would get bored of it, and would ALWAYS fall back to Guild Wars.

It’s lasted me for 6(?) years now, and even now, I still play it when my Mesmer in Guild Wars 2 just doesn’t feel….. Mesmer-ish in the original Guild Wars.

The game should be very cheap now, and was a lot of fun for me. It’s just too bad that when Guild Wars 2 released, it took a lot of Guild Wars players, making most areas (and PvP arenas) scarce.

Maybe I’m a little biased too, but Guild Wars was (and still is to me) the best game I’ve ever had.

dont get me started on the GW1 mesmervs the GW2 mesmer . Mesmer 2.0 is…… lacking . ill just leave it at that before i rantt

You dont need to play GW1 to know anything about GW2.. its a dissapointment for me to play through this game and nothing is the same, only the races and the world places are the same, apart from slyvari. I would love a raging war between the krytan army and charr, asurans battling destroyers. But all we get is risen and a dragon, nothing too special

Adine.2184:

dont get me started on the GW1 mesmervs the GW2 mesmer . Mesmer 2.0 is…… lacking . ill just leave it at that before i rantt

You too? LOL I sure do miss those hexes. Love the clones, hate the idea of having phantasms as “Living Hexes”

Also, another important thing to note in Guild Wars, there are such things as Secondary Proffesion and some of the Proffessions are much different in Guild Wars then those in Guild Wars 2 (Such as Rangers, Mesmers, Ritualists, Dervish, Paragon, Monk, Necros and maybe even Eles)

Unless you are REALLY, REALLY into the story, I’d recommend against it. I can barely recognize the game world of GW1 while playing GW2.

LumAnth.5124:

Adine.2184:

dont get me started on the GW1 mesmervs the GW2 mesmer . Mesmer 2.0 is…… lacking . ill just leave it at that before i rantt

You too? LOL I sure do miss those hexes. Love the clones, hate the idea of having phantasms as “Living Hexes”

Also, another important thing to note in Guild Wars, there are such things as Secondary Proffesion and some of the Proffessions are much different in Guild Wars then those in Guild Wars 2 (Such as Rangers, Mesmers, Ritualists, Dervish, Paragon, Monk, Necros and maybe even Eles)

My main was a Mesmer for 7+ years iin GW1 .In GW2 My mesmer is an alt at this point

If you play GW1 you’ll only ruin GW2 for yourself with the pathetic skill bars it has

There are still people playing GW so, really up to you

well the GW1 set up for skills is a blessing and a curse at the same time . there are tons of awesome builds you can make but at the same time you could make some abolutely hideous ones too.

Adine.2184:

well the GW1 set up for skills is a blessing and a curse at the same time . there are tons of awesome builds you can make but at the same time you could make some abolutely hideous ones too.

Choice is always a good thing though! I’d rather make a horrendous bar and learn from it than be force fed someone elses idea of a bar and be stuck with it forever (weapon bars in GW2).