Guild Wars 2

First of all, there have been so many awesome games coming out lately/in a while that I haven’t really played GW2 much since pre-HoT. Even when I find the time to dive back in, I intend to stay in the pre-HoT areas for a while to finish up the story, level up a few more characters and so on.

That said, the reviews I’ve seen about HoT all say it’s heavily focused on groups. Is this true? How is HoT for a lone wanderer? I strongly prefer going alone, so I can take my time, do what I want, go where I want and just enough… whatever I want. Groups usually rush from one place to the next. So as a lone wanderer, is HoT for me?

Also, and crucially, am I missing out on much if I skip this expansion, and rather go for the next? What I mean is I played Neverwinter for quite some time, but when the first new areas came around, they were mostly about grinding for two whole weeks (!) pr character to get enough bonuses etc for the third area. I stopped playing after that. I guess the question is if this goes for GW2? So am I “required” to play HoT to enjoy the next expansion? (yes, I know it’s far too early to even talk about the next expansion, but I’m thinking perma-buffs etc we get in HoT that can be useful in the next expansion.)

Hmmm. It’s really too early to tell what going to happen. For all we know they’ll add new maps and new personal story for free to all who own HoT, until they decide to add a new expansion to finish the story line. Sort of like how they had Living Season 2 for free and then had the conclusion behind an expansion. As to whether or not past mastery lines will be needed in a new expansion, again, impossible to say. You might need to pass through the HoT maps, or you might not. Who can tell at this point.

As to the new maps and solo playing, it depends on your skill level. I’m usually playing alone, but the events normally can’t be solo’d. You might have to use the LFG to find a populated map but when you do, you can solo alongside others.

If you’re competent and not full zerker, playing solo is perfectly plausible. I did the entire xpac without a party. That said, you will have to team up for events/hero points unless you’re good (I solo’d most hero points, but I’m a WvWer, I’m more used to that type of fight). This doesn’t mean you have to party, just ask for help, wait for someone to stumble by, or check out the LFG. It’s still solo play in my mind.

There is also solo content in the xpac, ie adventures and personal story. It’s not purely group content.

As to if HoT is required, it will be for future raids/living world, anet has announced. It won’t be for things like balance updates or pvp/wvw changes in general, but for pve content it generally will be.

Everyone I knew stopped playing the game, so I play completely alone. I run full berserker on all of my characters and I’m having a blast exploring the zones solo. The only real issue I’ve ran into are some hero point challenges that I am unable to complete solo.

Yes, HoT is focused around groups and events. There is not much more than event farming in HoT. It is possible to explore the maps solo but masteries are needed to fully explore the maps.

I understand your concern that you might missing out on much if skipping the expansion. I dislike HoT very much but have the feeling that it is going to be needed in the future. The story is good but unfortunately masteries has to be unlocked to be able to play.

Just depends on your skill level. Some things will require you to team up with others, but depending on skill level and build, most things are solo able. And those that aren’t can usually be done by one or two halfway competent players. The thing that some people don’t like are the map wide meta events, like nighttime in verdant brink, tarir, tangled depths is a….and dragon’s stand pretty much you can only do in a group, though you can still explore it.

Thanks, guys Please don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I absolutely hate people, or anything. In fact, that’s one thing I really love about GW2. It’s easy to join in on group-events without being in a group. If there’s an event nearby, I frequently join in. What I don’t like is being stuck in a group and “forced” to tag along with everyone else. That just makes me feel like part of a train, going from one place to the next, killing everything in sight and never taking our time to enjoy the journey. I’m more of a person who strolls along on my own, and occasionally stopping by the train stations for some good, old smackdown. If that makes sense.

So my plan for now is to get several characters to 80, then I’ll take it from there. I’ll probably set off into the HoT area soon, so wish me luck.

I did fine mostly on my own. If you need to do certain events and hero points, it’s pretty easy to get other people to show up, and then go your separate ways. Bring along stun breaks and condi clears.