I never played the first Guild Wars game, and I’d like to go back and try it out. A few questions:
- Is there still a community, and is it still worthwhile to go back and play?
- Is there some kind of combo pack I can buy that would have the game and all of its expansions? If not, what all do I need to buy. I looked at the website, but with no reference point it is a little confusing.
GW1 is still worth your time. You can pick up Platinum edition on Ebay new in box for about $12-$16. Don’t buy used, the code is likely already burned up. Platinum has the main game and the expansion. There’s 2 other main mission packs besides what’s in plantium but there’s no need to buy them unless you complete prophecies and the expansion and want more zones to play after. Platinum is the minimum you need to earn GW2 titles/AP from GW1.
Gw1 is a little convoluted, there’s 3 stand alone base games and 1 expansion for any one of them or all 3. Platinum includes the first of the three stand alone games and the expansion. If you buy the other two stand alone games you’ll have all 4 parts, but there’s no real reason to get all 4 unless you are really dedicated to 100% GW1 completion. Platinum is enough to get a fulfilling GW1 experience. You can play the same character in all 4 parts, but you only need 1 of the 3 base parts to play the expansion which is the part that is most worth your time.
I’d buy the trilogy and eye of the north over the platinum pack. It’ll cost you more but you get all the games. Try the free demo though and decide for yourself. You can download it from guildwars.com
You can do all of the regular pve content with just heroes, henchmen, or a combination of both so in that sense it is soloable. All classes are capable of soloing the game (with heroes and henchmen) but some are better then others and the Dervish (is one of the better classes to solo with) is a very fun class with some very interest skills (the avatar elites are awesome).
I wouldn’t start with a dervish, frankly. It’s a hard profession to play. It’s probably quite good for someone who’s played the game for a long time, but not so good for someone just starting out. You can solo the game with heroes, which means you’re best off starting the game in Nightfall and then going back and doing the earlier games.
Go ahead and try Dervish, they are fun and last Derv update simplified using the class with Flash enchants. The class is faster to use and the enchants less cast time and easier to maintain. If you want to be a melee AOE buzzsaw, Derv is the class.
Some aren’t aware of this I guess. I dunno why people who knock the game and haven’t played it in years are offering advice. /shrug.
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Remember your character’s name because my friend and I bought the Trilogy after the trial and he couldn’t access his account because he forgot his character’s name (which is kind of a security question). Luckily he remembered it after a few days. I on the other hand didn’t and had to create a new account. :P
I, too, would suggest getting the Trilogy plus EotN over just Prophecies and EotN. It takes much less time to get Heroes, and they are better than Henchmen.
As to Professions, for easy play, I would suggest having a Ritualist at least as a Secondary. Can’t beat those Spirits, lol. But, that’s just me. I loved my Ele/Rit…plenty of Energy and Spirits galore.
- Can I solo through all of the content in this game?
Yes, you can solo through most of the game. Henchman are kind of vanilla npc’s you can pick up in any town to fill out your ranks. Heroes, on the other hand, are customizable npc’s that stay available to you wherever you go. Nightfall and Eye of the North are the two campaigns that give you access to these. It’s a lot different than GW2, so take your time learning your class and pick up skills as you go.
Note that the combat is not nearly as mobile as GW2, it’s more about using the right skill at the right time, synergizing your skillbar, and synergizing your party. Your pc, however, is way more customizable than your GW2 counterpart.
GUILD WARS 1 IS AMAZING! Get them all: Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall, Eye of the north! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Much Fun!
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This is all very encouraging. I’m going to go ahead and make the purchase. I don’t mind the complexity behind Dervish. I’ve been playing MMO’s since Ultima Online, and usually prefer the more complex classes in games. Plus it wields a freaking scythe! So for soloing, you guys are saying that Ritualist would be an ideal secondary profession?
Prophecies + Eye of the North is the minimum setup, Prophecies is simply The Guildwars game, Eye of the North is the expansion that concludes it’s story and connects it all with Guildwars 2.
Nightfall is a good one, plus it has lots of heroes, Factions is last on the list, it did have some fun casual Pvp formats, not sure how these are populated these days.
A note on heroes, they are customizable, but henchmen come fully equipped, with a skillbar they know how to use (as far as AI goes) and decent gear. It will take some time before you will be able to equip your own heros equally well. You’ll probably want to stay away from melee-AI as they are quite bad at positioning, something you should probably do yourself with a Dervish.
Most of regular PvE is doable with Heroes and Henchman, even before the 7 hero update. Some missions can be ‘difficult’ because you lack a second player, and elite area’s can pose a real challenge. Be careful completing campaigns too early as that may start new stories and change the ‘wildlife’ in some area’s.
You should start with Prophecies and EotN first before doing Factions and Nightfall. It’s just more relevant to what you’re seeing in GW2.
In GW1 you always need to have a party, but you can just fill it with henchmen and heroes. In regard to profession, you can choose any, but be aware that you are supposed to be playing as part of a team, rather than alone as in GW2. As such, you should be aware that a profession like the mesmer is not very much of a direct damage dealer and monks are most useful for healing, but of course there are exceptions.
I must say, not being able to spin the camera with a left mouse click while running to see what is behind me is pretty terrible. Otherwise, digging it so far.
Any profession can solo! My secondary main is a monk, though they are very tedious for solo play (7heroes takes care of the healing I’m suppose to do and smiting is just pathetic except Ray of Judgement)
In fact, melee characters should excel more than their ranged counterparts if you know what your doing with the right build and right heroes.
If you need any help feel free to message
Sorry for the typos….
I’m usually typing on my phone
I must say, not being able to spin the camera with a left mouse click while running to see what is behind me is pretty terrible. Otherwise, digging it so far.
There’s a shortcut key for that. And I completely forgot which one….
The one thing I really miss (beside jumping) is the dodge and the ability to move while attacking :p
Another reason to get the trilogy and Eye of the north is you will have more access to heroes. and classes. Prophesies can a bit drawn out to play through, though still fun(and pre-seering is something everyone should experience). I found Factions the most fast paced of the three and the most fun, but that varies from person to person. Nightfall I enjoyed the least, but it does include some solid play style additions.
“Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.”
? Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
I’m a tad biased because GW1 is one of my favorite games of all time so I’d definitely recommend it. As others have said it’s entirely possible to solo 95% of the content due to full-hero parties. Make sure you play each campaign for the best experience, preferably in the order they were released to reduce the chance of spoilers and to better understand the overall plot. Doing so will make understanding aspects of GW2 easier and will no doubt aid you in appreciating the lore/world a lot more.
You should definitely get all 3 + EoTN. Guild Wars is the best MMO I’ve ever played and I still play it regularly. I wish you could of played when it was more active so you could experience just how good Guild Wars PvP is! But anyways, dervish is a good starter profession. In all honesty, it’s not as difficult as some people have made it seem, especially not in PvE. If you want a really challenging, but rewarding profession, try out the Mesmer. Try finding a guild that’s recruiting— some of them help new players get into the game. If you want, add me to your friends list: Tainted Radiance. PM me when I’m on and I’ll be happy to help (unless I’m GvGing )
Edit: Also, GW1 storyline is amazing. Prophecies storyline is by far my favorite. It’s very non-linear with some treachery, unexpected allies, and unexpected foes.
Thanks again for all your help guys! I have one more question: To start as a Dervish, I have to start in the Factions campaign. Is there a way to start the Prophecies campaign with the Dervish class?
Thanks again for all your help guys! I have one more question: To start as a Dervish, I have to start in the Factions campaign. Is there a way to start the Prophecies campaign with the Dervish class?
To start a dervish you need the Nightfall campaign, that is the only way to play a dervish. Factions adds two extra professions: The ritualist and the assassin. Nightfall adds the paragon and dervish.
Thanks again for all your help guys! I have one more question: To start as a Dervish, I have to start in the Factions campaign. Is there a way to start the Prophecies campaign with the Dervish class?
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Dervish is Elona, NF. You can do any campaign. After a certain level of progress you can get quests to travel to the other campaign. (you can’t access pre searing Prophecies)
NF will also have quests to Tyria and Cantha for sin and necro heroes.
NF is best to start, heroes early, bonus attribute points early, and 2nd class change early.
If you do start a Proph campaign, stay in Pre long enough to get a pile of Nick goodies. Combs are really nice for VQ later.
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Thanks again for all your help guys! I have one more question: To start as a Dervish, I have to start in the Factions campaign. Is there a way to start the Prophecies campaign with the Dervish class?
To start as a Dervish, you have to start in Nightfall. You can take dervish to the prophecies campaign after doing the consulate docks mission in Nightfall, if I remember correctly. You’ll just have to get the quest to go to Lion’s arch. If you want to go before this mission (which I wouldn’t recommend for your first Nightfall character) you can ask for “a ferry to LA” in Kamadan. If you take your dervish to prophecies, you won’t get to experience some of the storyline (primarily pre-searing and some of the post-searing primary quests. You can still play the ascalonian missions, it will just be without the primary quests to link them). Your dervish’s storyline will start where the prophecies storyline left off in Lion’s Arch. This may seem confusing from how I’m explaining it, but once you get a prophecies character going, you’ll see what I mean.
P.S. if someone is ever helping you with a mission and they pressure you to skip a cutscene..don’t! The cutscenes is where alot of the storyline magic happens.
GW2 was a brilliant game and like others already suggested, I too suggest you start off with Nightfall and finish that campaign before moving to the other two + expansion. The reason for this is because Nightfall has by far the best introduction experience to the game and enables an easier time soloing.
The pre-Nightfall campaigns were initially not designed with solo campaign progress in mind and can be very tough to learn. Heroes obtained in Nightfall will make this a more enjoyable experience.
That plus the fact that the Nightfall world environment (Elona) is one of the best of the series, in my opinion.
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Go ahead and try Dervish, they are fun and last Derv update simplified using the class with Flash enchants. The class is faster to use and the enchants less cast time and easier to maintain. If you want to be a melee AOE buzzsaw, Derv is the class.
Some aren’t aware of this I guess. I dunno why people who knock the game and haven’t played it in years are offering advice. /shrug.
If that was a cheap shot at me, I played the game like two days ago, and I tried the new Dervish profession and found it harder in some ways than the old one.
My advice if you’re going to play GW1 would be to buy all the standalone games and the expansion but start with Nightfall (unless you’re seriously interested in seeing Ascalon Pre-Searing). Nightfall gives you access to heroes, which are superior in every way to the henchmen NPCs.
Also a great thing to do is to purchase mercenary slots which allow your other characters to join you as heroes. Create a few PvP characters then select them as your mercenaries and you’ve got heroes with classes that you might not readily have access to. Perfect example of this is the Ritualist class, which is one of the best but the only Ritualist heroes are difficult to get your hands on.
OP, I suggest you to start with necromancer. He is really easy and fun to play. And if you start with prophecies campaign, as soon as you reach Lion’s Arch go do the quest for entering Nightfall territories. There you need to obtain some heroes, then go EOTN capaign, gen another bunch of heroes, lastly do Factions. I did it like that and I think it is the easiest way – veteran players suggested this path to me.
I think they should put GW1 as Free to Play game now.Gw is almost dead game now that no1 is buying.They are not releasing any content for it so no wander.Seems like they are just waiting that 1 of best games ever just simple die…I know that game dont cost much but people just wont bother to buy game that is old and fading away like that.Free to play would bring more players to them,even if there are bots,gold sellers and everything…its still better then no people at all.
Having played with all the classes except Dervish, and having “solo’ed” (with heroes and henchmen) every missions, Necromancer and Mesmer are easy. But the easiest hands down wans Paragon.
But GW1 combat is nothing like GW2. I still find it more interesting than GW2’s.
And while in GW2 a mistake only leads to taking a WP and starting again, in GW1 a mistake leads to a full wipe and try again from the start.
Been trying to get back into GW1 myself but it’s been quite intimidating since none of the people I used to play with play any more, and I don’t really feel like going about it alone. So.. if you (or anyone else) need a buddy to tag along, feel free to send a pm or add me on Skype (DrJonki).
I think they should put GW1 as Free to Play game now.Gw is almost dead game now that no1 is buying.They are not releasing any content for it so no wander.Seems like they are just waiting that 1 of best games ever just simple die…I know that game dont cost much but people just wont bother to buy game that is old and fading away like that.Free to play would bring more players to them,even if there are bots,gold sellers and everything…its still better then no people at all.
Sell it for free on Steam pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I want to see that player base go up again. And I’ve spent like $200 on that game.
I wouldn’t start with a dervish, frankly. It’s a hard profession to play.
Well, that gave me a laugh.
We call them the ‘the poor man’s way to playing warrior’. Kind of like the paragon, or imbagon, if you will.
Anyhow, any profession is fine, as long as it fits your preference in a party (damage vs cc vs support/heal or a mix&match of the three – the nice thing about GW is you can really make a build that fits the situation and your preferences perfectly without fearing your gear/weap might not cut it).
I’m usually online in the evenings (gmt), and you’re free to send a whisp to Karla Grey, if you’ll have any particular questions build/proff-wise. And perhaps I might even tag along for pve, if I feel like it.
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I wouldn’t start with a dervish, frankly. It’s a hard profession to play.
Well, that gave me a laugh.
We call them the ‘the poor man’s way to playing warrior’. Kind of like the paragon, or imbagon, if you will.
Anyhow, any profession is fine, as long as it fits your preference in a party (damage vs cc vs support/heal or a mix&match of the three – the nice thing about GW is you can really make a build that fits the situation and your preferences perfectly without fearing your gear/weap might not cut it).
I’m usually online in the evenings (gmt), and you’re free to send a whisp to Karla Grey, if you’ll have any particular questions build/proff-wise. And perhaps I might even tag along for pve, if I feel like it.
I’m glad it gave you a laugh. Guild Wars 1 players who forget how hard that game is to play because they’ve played it for five years give me one.
For a first character, dervish is particularly hard to play. No secret there. Many of the professions are easier to play.
For a new player, who’s never done anything, who’s starting the game with the third game, I consider dervish one of the harder professions to start with. No one said it can’t be done but I’d rather learn at least the basics of Guild Wars 1 on an easier profession to understand. I don’t particularly think that’s unreasonable.
The game is complicated for lots and lots of people. Suggesting starting with a simpler profession to get your feet wet is logical. Some people don’t remember how that game was when they first started.
Not really. It is far more efficient in pve than a warrior of comparable skill level, because you simply ‘run in and scythe cleave the mob ball’, not to mention most flash enchants include aoe damage… Add in some damage and basic defense (or hard prots on your monks (prot hench works, too)/spirit pooper rt hero) and youre good to go.
It’s that simple, really. However I’m talking normal content/missions here, not HM dungeons or high-end zones such as fow/uw/doa.
That said, I’m quite sure that ele is the easiest class to play in general, but especially after all the buffs it had received continually in the recent years.
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Yep, everything works for easy content. And for leveling that’s fine. But then you start running into harder content and suddenly, it’s not that easy. At least for me it wasn’t.
Part of the problem with Guild Wars 1 from a players point of view is that most things work in normal mode. It’s like Guild Wars 2 in that way. You can throw together anything for the open world.
The nuances of getting through harder content is really what the game is about. No one is suggesting that you can’t play anything in the open world. It’s when the game scales up that dervish can become an issue.
I wouldn’t say everything works – you can bring no damage and just sit there ‘tanking’ damage, and you’re likely to wipe if you aggroed too many mobs (not killing fast enough), especially if your backline is hench.
But by the time you get to the harder parts, you normally learn/get the right feel for what works and what doesn’t, so it shouldn’t really be an issue.
Otherwise you can always use the wiki to see what mobs you can expect in a zone, and base your hero/build choice around that.
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I wouldn’t say everything works – you can bring no damage and just sit there ‘tanking’ damage, and you’re likely to wipe if you aggroed too many mobs (not killing fast enough), especially if your backline is hench.
But by the time you get to the harder parts, you normally learn/get the right feel for what works and what doesn’t, so it shouldn’t really be an issue.
Otherwise you can always use the wiki to see what mobs you can expect in a zone, and base your hero/build choice around that.
Further example that you and I play completely different games.
I don’t want to have to do research or look things up in a wiki to play a game. I want to figure out what works and what doesn’t on my own. Probably a holdover from the days when you had to figure stuff out on your own.
I’d rather make my own builds and try to learn the game through trial and error.
Sure anyone can go to the wiki or a build site and find a build and do okay with that build, and if that’s how you play that’s great.
But I strongly believe a minority of players do that.
Seems another point went over year head – in no part of my post did I imply you should copy paste builds. It’s about knowing what you’re facing, and to come prepared. Way to jump to conclusions and toss red herrings around (again).
Naturally you can roll whatever build you feel like, but bringing a minion master to an area where most mobs don’t leave any corpses behind is rather silly, don’t you think so. Of course you can enter the area without looking it up, fail and then build around it, or bite the bullet and proceed to the next one at a (much) slower pace.
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Seems another point went over year head – in no part of my post did I imply you should copy paste builds. It’s about knowing what you’re facing, and to come prepared. Way to jump to conclusions and toss red herrings around (again).
Naturally you can roll whatever build you feel like, but bringing a minion master to an area where most mobs don’t leave any corpses behind is rather silly, don’t you think so. Of course you can enter the area without looking it up, fail and then build around it, or bite the bullet and proceed to the next one at a (much) slower pace.
Looking it up before I got to that place would ruin the game for me. It’s silly to look stuff up instead of experiencing it to me.
Go in, find out there are no corpses to be had then change your build. Some would call that playing the game.
Whatever works best for you. But once again you nitpicked a part of my post that wasn’t key to the discussion (especially since I listed it as an option, not a necessity).
To get back to the point, a dervish will still be at least somewhat efficient – more than a warrior – because of their innate design to scythe cleave and deal aoe damage with their flash enchantements.
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Whatever works best for you. But once again you nitpicked a part of my post that wasn’t key to the discussion (especially since I listed it as an option, not a necessity).
To get back to the point, a dervish will still be at least somewhat efficient – more than a warrior – because of their innate design to scythe cleave and deal aoe damage with their flash enchantements.
I never mentioned the warrior. There’s a learning and understanding curve that comes with playing a dervish that certain people will do well with and others won’t do well with, which is my point and hasn’t changed.
Saying that you, as an experienced player knowing what to do would be successful with a dervish is great. But I do know people that started the game on dervish, tried it, found it too hard and left the game.
No doubt you have friends that are more skillful and knowledgeable.
My point was the derv is far easier to play than another melee class, which used to be only primary melee class – as a mater of fact, the entire game is a lot easier to play now than it used to be, so there’s honestly nothing to fear.
Perhaps the OP should try out the derv himself first, and who knows, he might find it ez pzy.
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My point was the derv is far easier to play than another melee class, which used to be only primary melee class – as a mater of fact, the entire game is a lot easier to play now than it used to be, so there’s honestly nothing to fear.
Perhaps the OP should try out the derv himself first, and who knows, he might find it ez pzy.
The problem I have with this is that, as the game goes, it is easier, but there’s still a difficulty that comes into the game much later. Remember, you’ve played that game for years.
So someone tries it out and you know, it’s really really easy in the Plains of Jarin. Of course it is. It’s easy in Zhelon Reach.
You have to play it for a really long time before you get to some of the harder encounters. By then you’re sort of stuck with it, if you don’t want to restart the game with another profession.
I played mostly ranged professions in Guild Wars 1 myself…well I played them all.
It’s a matter of preference to some degree, but there really is a difficulty curve.
Saying he should try it is a bit misleading considering how long he’d have to try it for to really try it.
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