Guild Wars 2

Hi guys,

I am a returning player from the start of GW2, I didn’t get fair into the game due to work commitments, maybe only level 50 I think, its obviously been years!!

I was wondering if its possible to come back after such a long time out? Will the worlds I will be in dead, is it possible to find groups?

How would you guys approach this?

Regards,
Adam

P.s. I have also noticed expansions have been released since I played, is it worth buying straight in?

Campaigns:

• core campaign
• Living World season 1 (currently not replayable)
• Living World season 2
• Heart of Thornes expansion
• Living World season 3
• Path of Fire expansion (will launch next month)

If you buy Path of Fire (the upcoming second expansion) now, you will get the core campaign for free along with it. Since you already own the core game, though, there will be no other bonus for you. Heart of Thornes and Living World seasons 2 and 3 can also be purchased (either for gems or for money when you log into the official website). Living World seasons are usually for free to anyone who logs into the game when they are being released (telling you this for the future).

Since all content is playable at any time, you didn’t miss out on much (at least not on anything that would give you a disadvantage). So yes, you can dive back into GW2 now, there are many new players, no one is at a disadvantage.

Thanks for your comprehensive post Ash.

If you was me, would you just log in and level up without buying anything? Money isn’t an issue, I just don’t know how to approach it

Game is currently downloading, eek excite!

If I were you I’d begin from scratch and level up a new character to refresh my memory. If nothing else the game has changed quite a bit since the very early days.

The expansion purchases is something that only you can decide. Perhaps make sure the game is your bag before you make a purchase? Let to L80 and play around a bit at max level. There should still be plenty of time to achieve this prior to PoF’s release.

The “worlds” as you probably know them only matter for WvW nowadays.
Only in WvW the players are devided by the worlds they play on. But even if you play on another world as your friends, you can join them on their world as guest. (you’ll have some restrictions i think)
In PvE all players are mixed on one single Mega-Server. So you can play PvE with anyone from any world.

About “catching up”:
Even in “pre-expansion” tyria there will always be a few players who can (and mostly will) help you with anything if you ask for it in map-chat.

approach:
don’t buy the expansions right away.
play the core-game, so you get to know the most important aspects of the game. If you don’t understand something ask in-game or look in the wiki.
Don’t get frustrated by the “flood of information”, pick yourself some little goals to achieve one after another.
look for a guild
there are plenty guilds who are willing to help new players find into the game

kuukelite.6187:

Thanks for your comprehensive post Ash.

If you was me, would you just log in and level up without buying anything? Money isn’t an issue, I just don’t know how to approach it

Game is currently downloading, eek excite!

Heh heh, hope you’ll have fun.

As for your question, no need to buy anything as of yet (if you are talking about LW seasons and the like). Just follow your personal story and get back into the game first, then decide what you want to do on an educated basis.

Do not delete your existing character(s), you will regret it later (for the birthday gifts alone!). You could start a new one from scratch to see what has changed regarding the game’s mechanics (the skill system, for instance), but you can always continue with your old character(s) as well.

Thanks guys, brilliant info which I will heed.

I think the plan is to start a new character tonight and see how I get on

Oh, one last thing you might want to consider: there is a thing called “Masteries”, which was introduced in HoT. Since it retrospectively introduced masteries for the core game as well, you might want to buy HoT in order to be able to level those masteries. Not right away, but as soon as you decide that you indeed enjoy the game and want to continue playing it.

Ashantara.8731:

Oh, one last thing you might want to consider: there is a thing called “Masteries”, which was introduced in HoT. Since it retrospectively introduced masteries for the core game as well, you might want to buy HoT in order to be able to level those masteries. Not right away, but as soon as you decide that you indeed enjoy the game and want to continue playing it.

At the ‘very’ least, get into HoT after 80 and level up the gliding mastery, that will be useful (and fun) every where. 1 point for bouncy mushrooms in Itzel, and complete the Verdant Brink map and learn the meta. I think that’s the funnest of the maps in HoT. The AB meta is still fun for me too (I actually stopped when HoT came out, but started up again 15 months later around Dec ‘16 and did all of HoT and LW3 up till now…lot of content!), and the Dragon’s Stand meta is worth experiencing. I really hope there are still people playing it. While I wasn’t super excited about HoT originally, I had a blast there when I came back!

But really, I suppose you could ‘tag team’ between PoF and HoT once you get to 80. It might be an interesting way to play. Of course, if you want continuity of story, you’d want to follow that path through, wherever it takes you.