Guild Wars 2

Hi all!
I’m very new to this game. I like it so far but I’m already developing some alarming thoughts. Am I too late to the party?
About me real short: I’m a casual player, I’m 33, have work, family, I’m simply unable to dedicate much time to any game. I’d just like to have some fun. For example I really liked Torchlight 2. My english is ok, but I’m not using TS.
I watched the Angry Review of this game and while I do enjoy it I don’t feel the same euphoria.
I play a sylvari ranger. Sylvari because I love elves and they are the closest to them in this game. Though I have grown to love their plant life form and they newness in the world. I read going ranger may not have been a too lucky choice. So far so good though, but I’m only lvl 12.
I like exploring the world but I’m a little bit at loss about what’s happening around me. For example my personal story required me to go far into unknown (to me) land. As I go I’m suddenly required to kill off some creatures I’ve never seen before, turns out it’s in favor of some other kind of creatures I’ve never seen either. By the time I reach (the already dead) quest giver (pardon me, heart owner) I’m knee deep into the quest.
Also most of the events are really hard (for me) to solo. And I keep unintentionally popping all these events by my solo presence. Or, last time a bunch of us (supposedly new) players spontaneously gathered around a boss but we were still hopelessly unable to defeat it. It was the “transformed something witch” boss that had a “pull” ability to teleport you next to it self from quite far and then one shot you once you’re near. Are we supposed to have way more (say, like 20) players for some of the events?
And then there are those interesting fights when you are transformed into a tiny crab/drake/jelly fish and are supposed to somehow beat a huge version of the same monster.
I read I should switch to a better populated server like Tarnished Coast. But I refuse to pay for that. Basically I can’t even create a new character there until I delete my current one here? That’s flat out outrageous IMO. Plus I suspect that’s a NA server. Any European corresponding server? Also, what’s a RP server like? I like RP-ing though I fear my english may not be good enough.

That witch is one of the most unbalanced enemies in the game, especially considering it’s placed in a starting area.

PS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT-6XgHLwAs

I’ll start from the bottom. The EU unofficial RP server is Piken Square. While it is not as full as Tarnished coast there are quite a few people around day or night. If your home server is EU, you can guest for free on the other EU servers and see which you like. Caledon Forest is, unfortunately, less popular area than Queensdale or Wayfarer Foothills.

Roleplaying comes in many flavours. I am sure there are people who like to play the way you do. Your English is not going to be a problem based on your post. It is easy to read and coherent.

As Iruwen said that Krait Witch is something else. My sylvari Ranger is now lvl 80, but she is still afraid of that thing. So don’t worry. Most group events are easier and even three people can pull them off. I’m talking about regular people, not those ‘I can solo anything’ fellows.

Please, add me to your contacts and feel free to whisper if you see me on. Most of the time I am not doing anything specific.

Hi Peti and welcome- right off no, you are not too late to the party
I’ll try and answer some of your questions:

This game is great for casual play, so you won’t lose out- I can play mostly an hour a day when I get the chance. You can pretty much just jump in and do whatever you like doing.

Don’t believe all you read on the profession forums because then you’ll start believing that whichever class you choose is too weak to cross the road.
The truth is that whichever class you enjoy is right for you.

Rangers are great for exploring PvE and they are very fun- I am leveling a Sylvari Ranger now and I am really enjoying her.

The personal story leads you from one map to another so that you get introduced to more of the world in increments.

That said I found that the Sylvari personal story breaks the mold a bit in that it sends you pretty far into Brisban Wildlands when you are still low level.
The Sylvari areas are really hard compared to the other starter zones and the specific boss you mention is a nightmare even if you are higher level.
It is also a group event so yes, you do need several other players to complete it.

You can go to another race’s starter zone by taking the Asura Portal in the Grove to Lions Arch and from there to any starter zone you wish.
The human zone (Queensdale) always has an amazing number of people running around and the events are a lot more sensible imo.

It sounds like you are not seeing many people around- people make things easier to do and are there to give help and generally make the game much more fun.

It does cost gems now to switch servers but you can guest to 2 servers a day for free to test out which are best for you, while you gather in game gold to convert to gems. Alternatively you can delete your characters and change for free.

Your English is not such a big deal on EU servers since it is Europe afterall
Piken Square is the unofficial RP server for EU and I hear it is very fun
I am on Gunnar’s Hold and it has a really nice and friendly community, with lots of pvE activity.
I have friends on Aurora Glade that say the same but they are a bit more organised in PvP- at least that is what my friends tell me.

I hope this helps- what you really need is just some folks to run around with you.
you can whisper me ingame and I’ll help if I am on

you might also want to check out this:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OPERATION-UNION-Bringing-Players-Together

Welcome Peti!

Ok so where to start!

in gw2 you need some knowledge on how to start a character because it can be a bit frustrating at first. The thing is, if you stay in only one zone, by the time you get to the highest level (where the enemy are the strongest) you are no match for them and get one shot, whatever your class.

What you need to do is go to your main city to the south, find a pink(purple) swirl on the map called “Asura Gate”. When you enter it, you will be teleported to Lion Arch city at the portal hub. From there, you will be surrounded by other portals. The people that guard it show you what starting area the portal will lead you to. So lets say you are level 7, then go do the human starting zone to get more experience. You can do then the Asura if you want to do. The game reward you for exploration and to get your legendary at the end, you need 100% map completion so its not a bad thing to do lowel level content. Anyway you get scaled down in level so even if you are lvl 60, doing lvl 10 content is still relevant in XP. Its the only part in the game where you HAVE TO switch zone, else then that, i always pick up ahead after that and zones/events become easier to do.

You can use the Black Lion trading post in town to and buy upgrades for you. Sometime just having a good weapon make all the difference in the world. Most of the upgrades wont cost alot. Like at level 10 i equip myself properly , blue weapons , blue armor, 2xrings, 2xearrings. At level 20 i buy green weapons (if they are cheap), amulet. At level 25 instead of having one stat on the armor pieces, you start seeing 2. So i re-equip myself. Like i said, the stuff is cheap since there is so many people selling them. You can do the entire game without the Auction house but it still can help you out if you struggle.

For the Events in general, almost all of them can be done solo (you can even kill champion alone if you know what you are doing). It is just perhaps your lack of level vs content and your gear vs content that is perhaps not on par yet, so no sweat about that, youll get the hang of it and youll be pounding those events like if they were cake. For the sea witch event near the coast that killed you, its like that for everyone. She is in urgent need of a nerf, newcomer that face her get traumatized. The only class i could kill her with was an engineer (mines). She is the hardest event, almost impossible withouth other people.. she is really unfair.

For the ranger class, i say its the best a Pve ( player vs environment (enemies)). I do all the event by myself and kill champions solo that other classes cannot do. Its a good class, dont listen to the forum. Most of them complains about pointy stuff. If you only pve casually, you wont have any problems with the ranger. Where the class lack is in the pet survavibility vs AOE, he can get killed by the boss in a snap of the finger if you dont call it back in time. So to be king with a ranger, you need to micromanage your pet since he can do a huge portion of your dps. Also the longbow seem a tad useless except in one situation in WvW. What i mean by useless is that the shortbow always outdps the longbow in every situation. People are direly awaiting a fix for it since we all want to wield a longbow, i think shortbow look bad hehe. Last thing that really get a gripe on the ranger’s player is they feel like they have a lack of team utility support. Which i think is not that true, you can help your team if you know what you do, again im talking about regular dungeon , not speed run or super high fractal dungeon. One of the main team buff are spirits but right now, they die really fast so they are a tad annoying/worthless to bring. Last patch gave them more health and more proc chance so well have to see how people like them now, i dont run them.

So dont sweat for the ranger if you are not aiming for speed runs/high fractal dungeon. The rest you can handle it if you know how to play your class well.

No your not too late to the party, all you really need to do is level upto 80th level and give or take abit of gear which you can aquire over time your on a equalish footing to everyone else…

Rangers are fine…

Look through the players helping players section of the forum for hints/tips to surviving, best places to level etc,,,

Hope you enjoy the game!

welcome to the game is awesome game but some starting zones are just stupid and kitten explained go make human and u will have full party evrytime best starting zone

Thank you for the kind replies!
What concerns me is that I read (I know I know too much reading…) bosses are gradually buffed at many places patch after patch to appeal better to lvl 80 guys wandering around. Problem is this will cut new players’ progress making leveling significantly more difficult. “Living world” temporary dungeons only make this worst I guess.
I just found out that apparently the server I picked (basically randomly – I was eager to play and I didn’t know I was going to get stuck there), “Ruins of Surmia” is selected by some people to be a WvWvW focused server, where they “will do everything in our power to reject the PvE guilds that will want to get Surmia, and at the stubborn ones we promise to do everything possible to ruin their game” – Why thank you guys! That’s really nice of you! /facepalm
I’ll try out a few servers via “guesting” – I’ll hopefully find out quickly how to do that. Then it seems I’ll need to delete my character /sigh

That sucks I cannot think that a server would have such a bad attitude to a really large part of the game.

When you log in on your log in screen is a little button on the left bottom that says world selection- you just click on guest and select the server, it is that easy.

I don’t think that you have to be concerned by bosses in lower levels being buffed to a point where the actual level players can’t play it.
Mostly the buffed bosses are in max level zones at the moment at the end of large event chains- and with reason.

Remember that 80’s get down scaled when in lower levels, it is much more likely that down-scaling will be made more effective. (and it has been in the past)
After all the goal is to make the whole game accessible for everyone.

Living World is a different story and I can’t comment on the dungeon in the last installment since it requires a 5 man team., but everything else I was able to solo at various levels.

I really hope you find a good server, again, try Gunnar’s Hold

Yesterday I tried the Desolation server. It might have been just luck but I encountered many people, yay! Though everyone disappeared around midnight.

The more I think about it the the less I can accept the lack of free server transfer.
This is utterly, blatantly bad design. Actually this is being close to a business fraud!
Seriously. I payed for the game. The game is MMO, thus it requires other people to provide gaming experience it promised when I bought it.
I can accept the need for separate servers due to hardware limitations but in all honesty who plays in what fraction in a WvWvW battle is a logical thing. It has nothing to do with hardware implementation on a logical level. There might even be multiple GW2 servers run by a single piece of hardware. And while I know nothing of the actual set up, I know that with today’s technology it is entirely possible.
So it is not my responsibility as a customer to make sure there are actually people playing on my “server”. The thought that I need to again pay money so that I indeed have multiple players around me in a game which is advertised as an MMO game is absurd. I’m really offended by this unfair business attitude!

Peti.7814:

Yesterday I tried the Desolation server. It might have been just luck but I encountered many people, yay! Though everyone disappeared around midnight.

The more I think about it the the less I can accept the lack of free server transfer.
This is utterly, blatantly bad design. Actually this is being close to a business fraud!
Seriously. I payed for the game. The game is MMO, thus it requires other people to provide gaming experience it promised when I bought it.
I can accept the need for separate servers due to hardware limitations but in all honesty who plays in what fraction in a WvWvW battle is a logical thing. It has nothing to do with hardware implementation on a logical level. There might even be multiple GW2 servers run by a single piece of hardware. And while I know nothing of the actual set up, I know that with today’s technology it is entirely possible.
So it is not my responsibility as a customer to make sure there are actually people playing on my “server”. The thought that I need to again pay money so that I indeed have multiple players around me in a game which is advertised as an MMO game is absurd. I’m really offended by this unfair business attitude!

The reason transfers are not free, is because people kept switching servers to spy in WvW. There is guesting for the PvE-ers, that is free. You can also transfer for free if you delete all your characters.

And really, this is not the only MMO with paid transfers. Most, if not all, sub based MMOs let you pay a fee to transfer, usually per character instead of your entire account.

Some more feedback.
Yesterday I again guested on the Desolation server. It was nice, people were lfg in chat, helping out each other. What bothers me to some degree is every now and then a group of 4-8 players spontaneously gathers at an event, it’s all joy, we destroy everything so fast, revive each other and what not. But then the event ends and everyone just scatters in all directions and it’s back to the low chance that I’ll bump into anyone the next event I encounter.

Listening to map chat I ended up at the Wurm event, I don’t know if it’s a daily or what, but people were referring to some kind of a timer that it would soon spawn.
I didn’t have the waypoint yet, so I walked. And when I got there I was like OMG! So many people! There were like 50 or more players waiting for the Wurm. It was awesome. Everything happened so fast I didn’t really grasp what was happening. I made sure to register a few hits on the beast and I received a f…ing big sword from a chest. It looks so cool! Not long after I had to restart the game because of an update and I decided to stay at my home server this time (Ruins of Surmia). Someone called Wurm is up in map chat so I thought give it another go. Ugh, now that was something different. There was only 2 of us, or maybe 3 after some time. Nevertheless the fight was epic – now I was fully aware of what was going on. But we were not able to succeed. I wonder if there is a good balance (many or few players I mean)…

Those World events are best if you have enough but not too many players. With the Frozen Maw (Wayfarer Foothills) the ideal time is before 6 a.m. Otherwise everything is a blur. just a fight to hit the target as fast as possible. Still worth it for the chest, but more fun when there are 10-20 people about.

Peti.7814:

Some more feedback.
Yesterday I again guested on the Desolation server. It was nice, people were lfg in chat, helping out each other. What bothers me to some degree is every now and then a group of 4-8 players spontaneously gathers at an event, it’s all joy, we destroy everything so fast, revive each other and what not. But then the event ends and everyone just scatters in all directions and it’s back to the low chance that I’ll bump into anyone the next event I encounter.

Listening to map chat I ended up at the Wurm event, I don’t know if it’s a daily or what, but people were referring to some kind of a timer that it would soon spawn.
I didn’t have the waypoint yet, so I walked. And when I got there I was like OMG! So many people! There were like 50 or more players waiting for the Wurm. It was awesome. Everything happened so fast I didn’t really grasp what was happening. I made sure to register a few hits on the beast and I received a f…ing big sword from a chest. It looks so cool! Not long after I had to restart the game because of an update and I decided to stay at my home server this time (Ruins of Surmia). Someone called Wurm is up in map chat so I thought give it another go. Ugh, now that was something different. There was only 2 of us, or maybe 3 after some time. Nevertheless the fight was epic – now I was fully aware of what was going on. But we were not able to succeed. I wonder if there is a good balance (many or few players I mean)…

There are many world events in the world that reward you with a daily chest (as well as a bigger chest). At least if you’re over level 40 you get the daily chest.

Your other concern is about not seeing those people again. That’s WHY people join guilds. There are guilds for everything, including leveling. There are casual guilds, hard core guilds, Pve guilds, PvP Guilds, WvW guilds, guilds who do everything.

Seeing people on the map randomly is not the best way to socially enjoy an MMO. That’s why guilds exist.

Considering most of the players have already left the game and that it is quickly dying, ya I would say you are late to the party. Most of the content has already come and gone – so you will have to wait til next year, hopefully, if you want a chance to “catch up”.

Sorry, you didn’t miss much.

Just noticed servers are starting to show Full again, after the recent server population cap increase, so the game is alive and well! No need to worry about it dying, so you aren’t too late to the party. Welcome to Tyria. =)

Meglobob.8620:

snip —all you really need to do is level upto 80th level

I advise against rushing to 80. GW2 doesn’t have a traditional “end game.” Having a mindset of “must get max level asap” will possibly leave you bored and wondering what to do when you get there. In all likelyhood you will be returning to the lower level zones for map completion towards your legendary, and when you do you will be down-leveled to match the areas so the experience won’t be much different. SPvP and WvWvW level you up to 80, so you can do them the whole time. There is VERY little content that is only available to max level. Just play the game, have a good time. 80 will happen soon enough, and you’ll mostly be doing the same things when you get there anyway.

clay.7849:

Considering most of the players have already left the game and that it is quickly dying, ya I would say you are late to the party. Most of the content has already come and gone – so you will have to wait til next year, hopefully, if you want a chance to “catch up”.

Sorry, you didn’t miss much.

Is there really nothing in your life more compelling than spewing hate in every thread on these forums? Sad.

Some more feedback. I begin to see that with guesting blocked server transfer is not that big of a concern. Still it would be nice if new players were given a couple of free transfer opportunities. My favorite server to play PvE is Ring of Fire nowadays btw.

I tried WvW and it turned out that there are a lot of nice people playing on Ruins of Surmia! Unfortunately WvW is beyond me yet. I feel totally useless (getting slaughtered even 1 on 1). Also the equipment repair cost kind of deters me from trying too many times.

In another thread it was brought up and I think it’s true that the best way to enjoy PvE in this game is to just let yourself drift with the flow. You see an interesting village there? Go check it out! Is it in the opposite direction you was heading? No problem, you’ll continue your journey tomorrow… or the next day.

This is how I ended up in Lion’s Arch and the Asura starting zone. I must say I absolutely loved the Asura zone. It’s a somewhat twofold feeling because I kind of regret the Sylvari zone (Caledon Forest, where my character started) while aesthetically beautiful, is not as good gameplay wise as the Asura zone (don’t know the name, sry).
Example: I was just walking around when I saw a big golem fighting off some inquest members. I helped it. Then it began to repair a tower. I then noticed that there are other towers which need to be repaired too. I helped the golem repair those too. Then I noticed there are numerous smaller towers all along the way which could now be switched on. Then a lightning elemental emerged from the damaged power plant… etc. Very nicely chained events, where I felt that my character’s actions indeed made a difference. I didn’t have that feeling in Caledon Forest. Plus add the humorous mini-quests, mind blowing scenery and all around coolness.

What somewhat makes enjoying PvE hard are group events. Those are typically the culmination of smaller, chained events and I’d really like to complete them because of the story! But soloing those is way too hard unfortunately.
Example: Champion of the Sun. I beat all of them just to face Xolotl who is impossible to beat alone (or takes way too much time).
On the bright side: I finally managed to solo the undead pet brood mother: I found a hole in the wall of the cave. I hid there, it couldn’t overrun me this way.

Boatdrinks.2546:

Meglobob.8620:

snip —all you really need to do is level upto 80th level

I advise against rushing to 80. GW2 doesn’t have a traditional “end game.” Having a mindset of “must get max level asap” will possibly leave you bored and wondering what to do when you get there. In all likelyhood you will be returning to the lower level zones for map completion towards your legendary, and when you do you will be down-leveled to match the areas so the experience won’t be much different. SPvP and WvWvW level you up to 80, so you can do them the whole time. There is VERY little content that is only available to max level. Just play the game, have a good time. 80 will happen soon enough, and you’ll mostly be doing the same things when you get there anyway.

There is absolutely no reason not to rush to 80 then from your statements. Hit max level, have better armor, more skills, and better drops throughout all zones while you play them as an 80. You are actually handicapping yourself for no reason to not rush the leveling process. Plus the ability to hit any World event with a chest that you want.

clay.7849:

Considering most of the players have already left the game and that it is quickly dying, ya I would say you are late to the party. Most of the content has already come and gone – so you will have to wait til next year, hopefully, if you want a chance to “catch up”.

Sorry, you didn’t miss much.

Inflamatory, unprovable comment. How do you know most players have already left the game? You don’t. You have no evidence of this.

Most content has come and gone…if you add up all the existing content it’s still more than the monthly content and more appears every month.

You don’t need to “catch up” in the game like you would in WoW…which you wouldn’t know since you never played WoW, or any other MMO.

I think the OP missed a lot but that the best is yet to come. My opinion is worth as much as your opinion.

clay.7849:

Considering most of the players have already left the game and that it is quickly dying, ya I would say you are late to the party. Most of the content has already come and gone – so you will have to wait til next year, hopefully, if you want a chance to “catch up”.

Sorry, you didn’t miss much.

Nothing said in the quoted response is true.

Finding groups to hit large events can depend alot on the time of day, but if you’re getting to the end of a chain, mention it in your map chat a couple times and see if there is anyone else interested in helping … usually you’ll find someone.