Guild Wars 2

So you pay an initial payment to play Guild Wars 2. After wards however you’ll remain looking quite bland for a time (and i’m talking up to lvl 40’s) unless you pay for gems to buy nice looking gear (weapons and armour) from the Black Lion auction house…

…am I missing something here.

Looking at the normal gear for my ranger on auction house (no skin) all the way up to lvl 40’s its all absolute non feature bog standard, literally no thrills.

Is there any nice wearable loot, and snazzy weapons to find?

A game like this surely has to have nice things to want to play through dungeons etc for right? I mean Right?

I’m quite low lvl (11) so I’m really hoping i’m mistaken as I’ve had fun and would like to continue to do so, if it’s a case however of shelling out more money for gear I don;t have to play for…umm nah.

I’ll move on thanks.

Can’t expect all the good looking gear to be given at the start, the most elaborate equipment is attained at high/max level

There’s some other armour appearances that are only available via karma vendors, rather than the trading post, so those will be options for you as you level up.

That said, the vast majority of the skins will unlock at level 80. You mention playing through dungeons. Each dungeon has a set of unique level 80 gear for each armour class, for one. The same is true for weapons, if not moreso, with a pile of different weapon skins being available as random drops, on the trading post or via Mystic Forge recipes come level 80. Working on your character’s cosmetic appearances is one of the game’s end-game goals, so don’t get discouraged if much of the gear on the way to 80 looks plain. Head off the beaten path to find the karma gear like Dry Bones armour and other such things, figure out what dungeon gear you want to try to get, and look forward to arriving at max level so you can get a look set up!

Most of the skins are on level 80 gear. Once unlocked they can be re-skinned onto gear at any level.

Getting weapons/armour or skins can be from the folloiwng sources in game;

- Karma or gold vendors throughout cities. Especially cultural for your race, in 3 different tiers (and can be unlocked earlier)
- Vendors for your order – priory/whispers/vigil
- champion loot boxes (weapons only)
- exchangeable for dungeon tokens in Lions Arch
- Crafting – including Legendary, Ascended, Grawl, Krait, Jormag, Hylek
- Unlocked via story or achievements
- bought from the auction house
- other karma vendors (eg pirate themed at the end of a jumping puzzle in Lions Arch)
- very rare boss rewards at Tequatl and Evolved Jungle Worm (open world massive boss battles)
- achievement points

There are thousands of skins in this game which aren’t on the Gem Store. You can see a gallery of them at Dulfy.Com should you wish to see more.

Also, if you to a bank and select the tab of wardrobe storage, you can see and preview everything. Dulfy is easier for locating where a skin comes from though.

So in the low levels then, there’s still nice looking gear I can get for karma etc? See most MMorpg’s games of course have incredible gear at the high end game tiers, but on the way you have increasingly better gear.

Here from what I can see that does not seem the case. from you tube videos to the people around me, sub lvl 80 seems very flat drab all one colour (aside from dyes) similar looking loot.

Have to say it makes the loot you got in Elder Scrolls online look amazing!!!!

I can’t end up feeling there’s a ton of money bait here, that’s maybe seems even more than Neverwinter Nights, which I expected there as of course you can play for free!

When you get to level 80, a lot of the game for many is about cosmetics hence why it is more stacked towards level 80, especially conisdering the speed and ease of levelling in GW2.

First character can feel rather drab in comparison, but when you see what you can unlock, then it changes everything. Also, what you unlock is account wide, so you can make alts look pretty spectacular when levelling.

If you go to your starter city, you should be able to locate vendors who sell skins for either gold (armour) or karma (weapons) for your level.

As for money bait, no. There are a few gem store options, but the number is miniscule versus what is in the game. It is in no way stacked in the gem store’s favour. It is just that recent releases have been gem store only so its had some bad rep recently.

Recent releases for advertised skin sets you mean?

I have never seen an MMO with great looking low end gear..

upside once you unlock appearances you can then change your current gear to look like what ever you want from the options found under your wardrobe tab .. and from the Dye tab you can change colors as you see fit..

sorry I think this is as to be expected and honestly I HATE most games and their high end gear appearances anyway since they often get silly just to make it different

the other game (not to be named) often has gear that looks plain hideous

you get some of the items you need to change the gear appearances from completeing zones (all the city explorer ones give one) and you get some from story line completes and they are account bound .. I think I have 17 or so in the bank atm and 7 I accidentally “used” and have on my wardrobe list already..

there are lots of options to “change gear” you just have to wait a bit which is common and normal

SilentKnight.4612:

Recent releases for advertised skin sets you mean?

A lot of the recent releases have been gem store only yes. That is simply because it is easier to generate them for there whilst they make the expansion. It doesn’t detract from the sheer volume in the game.

Yeah, most of the great for lower levels isn’t the prettiest. However most people dont bother with their look until lvl 80, as you are changing gear frequently when you find something better, and having a few transumation charges.
It doesnt take very long to level amd gear becomes obsolete too quickly.

I just don’t see why there couldn’t be a gradual curve of better looking gear like most Mmorpg’s out there, instead of from crap to glamorous at 80.

I know you say you level quickly, but Surely I don’t have to look at my rangers drab browns (or another drab colour via a dye) until the level 60’s (unless I part with cash)!

Hate to say it but I miss the early days of WoW for loot, talking pre burnign crusade here, many, many, many, moons ago!

Or even Star wars galaxies if any of you remember that!

Are the karma rewards below 60 grind heavy btw ?

No not heavy grind for the karma weapons. The armour is debatable since it is purchased with gold

Both WoW and Galaxies were a diff era and generation and also subbed. They didn’t need extra outfits in a cash store to make money.

I understand your sentiments over the gradual curve – I can’t bear a single alt out of the starter instance w/o putting on some decent looking skins I have unlocked first – but all the info has now been laid out before you. GW2’s progression has largely been around cosmetics since launch. That means a gradual curve of skins whilst you level, to wide and wonderful variety at level 80.

Personally I find the choice and customisation spectacular versus most MMO’s albeit a tiny select few (none of which have been listed in this thread)

I’m sorry but this is hugely relative to your own tastes. There are plenty of good looking armors from level 1-60.

Just because you don’t like them, doesn’t mean they’re not good looking.

You should be more focused on leveling. You will get more options just by playing the game.

There are some interesting armors at low levels, mainly from karma vendors. There is definitely a curve of armors where they get more and more interesting as you level up, every 20 levels or so. I don’t know how hard it is to get the karma needed, but you don’t need karma for very much so I wouldn’t worry about spending it.

Also, I would recommend saving up some coins and buying some dyes on the trading post. You probably won’t be able to afford the best ones, but having a few besides the originals can work wonders for making your character look good.

Get this sword at level 20

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Jotun_Greatsword

Levels 35, 50, 65 and 80 all have rare versions of armour sets with unique skins. Those really happy to vary things up a bit. Personally I was fine with getting sets at levels 35, 65 and exotic armour at level 80. It’s not that bad, especially since you can mix it with dungeon armour.
And to be honest, I don’t really find the gem store armour to be that appealing.

Thanks for your replies, that’s given me more incentive to keep playing.

SilentKnight.4612:

Here from what I can see that does not seem the case. from you tube videos to the people around me, sub lvl 80 seems very flat drab all one colour (aside from dyes) similar looking loot.

I’ll just step in to add one thing.

In this game, you do have access to a lot of dyes.

Even at just level 11, the game starts you off with a decent selection of colours to use as many times as you want on whatever armour you obtain. On the auction house you can buy more dyes, and each one purchased is a permanent account-based unlock that you can then use as many times as you want on any armour you have or later get. So while the armour you’re previewing might look drab, you have the ability at your fingertips, even at low levels, to add some flashy colours and give yourself variety that way.

SilentKnight.4612:

So you pay an initial payment to play Guild Wars 2. After wards however you’ll remain looking quite bland for a time (and i’m talking up to lvl 40’s) unless you pay for gems to buy nice looking gear (weapons and armour) from the Black Lion auction house…

…am I missing something here.

Looking at the normal gear for my ranger on auction house (no skin) all the way up to lvl 40’s its all absolute non feature bog standard, literally no thrills.

Is there any nice wearable loot, and snazzy weapons to find?

A game like this surely has to have nice things to want to play through dungeons etc for right? I mean Right?

I’m quite low lvl (11) so I’m really hoping i’m mistaken as I’ve had fun and would like to continue to do so, if it’s a case however of shelling out more money for gear I don;t have to play for…umm nah.

I’ll move on thanks.

Yea, you’re sorely mistaken about it. The gemstore has frivolous crap on it purely for looks. None of it’s necessary. Honestly, if you’re just starting out, take this time to learn the game more and ignore going for the aesthetics until you’re more comfortable in the game. No point spending money (gold or cash) on something for your ranger when 20 levels later you may decide to dump the ranger for say, a mesmer.

At low levels, and likely all the way up to the 60s, much of the armor is going to look “generic” unless you look at the Cultural armor (less “cultural” and more racial armor tbh), which have looks tailored specifically to your character’s race and armor weight. Had more, but got utterly distracted by hoping the sale keeps going until my paycheck clears

Medium armor has to be the worst of the 3 classes in this game, trenchcoats and more trenchcoats, Light and Heavy have much better selections of course that’s just my opinion others may and probably do disagree

I don’t know if it was stated already, but you can get pretty decent looking sets of skins for Badges of Honor in you servers WvW Borderlands. These skins can be applied directly to your low level gear and are mostly unique to WvW and look good (depending on tastes, of course). The skins range from 100-200 BoHs up to over 1000. You can get BoHs VERY quickly by hopping over to Edge of the Mists and joining your server’s Commanded group there. It shouldn’t take more than a half hour to get the 100 or so needed for a set of skins. The BoH vendors are to your right when you enter your Home Borderlands. Hope this helps. Good luck and welcome to GW2.

*I don’t recall ever playing an MMO that offered ‘epic’ looking gear options within the first hour of play. Perhaps dial down the unreasonable expectations and focus more on learning how to play the game first. It only takes a couple of weeks to level to 80 playing casually. At level 11, “Is this the best I can expect?”, seems very silly to me tbh.

I don’t understand this concept of not loot until 40s. If you want a skin figure out where the skin is, and if possible buy it. Just because you can’t use the item until you’re a higher level doesn’t mean you can’t wear the skin.

Obviously some skins will still be out of your access, but not all of them by any stretch.

This really feels like complaining for the sake of complaining.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Medium_armor

This is a good list of the different kinds of armor how to acquire them for your Ranger.

OP, most of the good looking armors are NOT tradable so u will not see much skins in the TP.
play the game as u lvl up talk to all the heart NPC they sell good stuff for karma, mobs don’t drop any good looking gear, and do not buy gear with gold unless its cultural armor.
if you like a dungeon armor, once you hit the lvl for it, farm that dungeon and by the time you get all the token you need for the full set you probably will be lvl 80 since the dungeon gives soo much EXP
the main reason ppl are saying all skins are unlocked at 80 is because you don’t get a chance to enjoy any armor while lvling, for long time, u lvl fast and even when using rare armor(colored yellow) it only last for 5~10 lvls and u get better status armor, so you find your self going for the better status to lvl up rather then the better looking gear.

TL;DR buy armor from hearts or WvW with karma not gold they look better than the ones at trading post and are cheaper.

side note: IMO medium armors are the worst looking in the game.

This is a result of how gameplay is intended to work in Guild Wars 2 on the whole. You mention that everything up to level 40 is all quite bland and generic, and I agree. What you didn’t mention is that these same weapon skins are being reused all the way to level 80, and there’s a reason for this.

The spirit of the leveling experience in both Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 2 is the same: Everything up until level 80 is a tutorial.

Why put that much development effort into the shortest period of time you will have on your character? Sure you may be level 40 now, but next week you’ll be 60, or 70, or even done at level 80. At level 80 dungeon skins become available to wear, karma vendors become an option, and even your concern about the gem store skins is solved with the ability to run dungeons for daily gold to convert to gems (even at that, I hardly ever see gem store armors).

Reusing the same models for armor and weapons over and over allowed the artists and modelers more time to put into the kind of gear you will be wearing for the next few hundred hours on a character, not the next few hours, and in some cases, the next few minutes right now. I think it’s a good system.

the right dye combo can make bland gear look awesome

SilentKnight.4612:

I just don’t see why there couldn’t be a gradual curve of better looking gear like most Mmorpg’s out there, instead of from crap to glamorous at 80.

There is. There is a different skin set each for crafted, dropped and karma bought gear, making it three different skin sets for each armor weight class from the get go.New skin sets (again, three different ones for crafted, dropped and karma bought) appear at levels 21+, 36+, 51+, 65+ and 80. Around level 35 you unlock the first sets of rare gear which again come with two skin sets, one each for dropped and crafted gear. The first cultural armour tier (with unique skins for each race) also unlocks around that level.

Towards max level, the variety multiplies (exotic and ascended armor, dungeon armor, reward armor like the carapace and luminescent, …), but there are still a good many skins to choose from while leveling. And the best part is: you are not even restricted to skins of gear that matches your level. You likely have gotten a few transmutation charges already, through map completions, login rewards, pvp, or other sources. Go to the auction house, look for whatever cheap green armor (regardless of level) of your armour class has a skin you like, salvage the armor piece to add the skin to your account wardrobe. Now you just have to choose the skin in the wardrobe tab of your hero’s screen and use one of your transmutation charges to put it onto the armor you wear.

Roundabout.1752:

Medium armor has to be the worst of the 3 classes in this game, trenchcoats and more trenchcoats, Light and Heavy have much better selections of course that’s just my opinion others may and probably do disagree

I quite like trench coats!

From what I’m reading here, it seems new players like myself are getting buy this for gems thrusted in our face, and along with the NPE changes it puts the game initially in a not favorable light.

Having played a few mmorpg’s for a good few years on and off (played wow at lunch, SWG, Elder scrolls online, lord of the rings online, and others) I came to the forums to ask am I mistaken.

Thankfully there’s been some nice posts here, aside from the stalwart defence fan boyisim of a game from people who love it, to make me think there’s gold in this game you just have to be patient and turn the blinkers on to the more money magnets.

I’ll keep plugging away.

You can get some skins from crafting, karma at lower levels.
Now truth be told you will be switching gear faster than you can keep up with your transmutation stones.

SilentKnight.4612:

From what I’m reading here, it seems new players like myself are getting buy this for gems thrusted in our face, and along with the NPE changes it puts the game initially in a not favorable light.

Having played a few mmorpg’s for a good few years on and off (played wow at lunch, SWG, Elder scrolls online, lord of the rings online, and others) I came to the forums to ask am I mistaken.

Thankfully there’s been some nice posts here, aside from the stalwart defence fan boyisim of a game from people who love it, to make me think there’s gold in this game you just have to be patient and turn the blinkers on to the more money magnets.

I’ll keep plugging away.

cool, throw in some more insults and you are set. Seriously, lvl ELEVEN. That is attainable in like 2 days of playing. There are many free skins in this game, a lot of them nice. What is wrong with you, are you in fact Captain Entitlement? Yeah, move on and imagine some corporate frauds elsewhere.

Micro Transactions

welcome to 2015

Looking good in GW2 is def one of the many main aims With the game. A mix of racial, Dungeon and cash shop skins (With occasional living story skins) will get you there.

Pro Tip: Don’t worry about your character’s looks until you get to max level.

You level so fast that any effort put into a sub-80 wardrobe is time and transmute charges wasted.

SilentKnight.4612:

I know you say you level quickly, but Surely I don’t have to look at my rangers drab browns (or another drab colour via a dye) until the level 60’s (unless I part with cash)!

No, you don’t have. It’s just when you are outleveling your armor every other day, you are less likely to pay attention to how it looks. Most people start “dressing up” only after they managed to obtain an armor set they think will last for a while.
And it is really cheap to buy a nice assortment of common and uncommon dyes from tp. It’s not like you need the high-cost gemshop ones to look nice.

Also, remember, that due to wardrobe system, once you unlock a skin on one character, your all other characters will be able to use it (with the sole exception of race-specific cultural sets). Regardless of levels.