Guild Wars 2

Hi I was just wondering if there is any advantage of getting heart of thrones before I create my second hero, because im still not sure how much I want to invest in the game.

Would it help me out at all if I get Hot while hes still lvl 1? If so, why. Thanks

Heart of Thorns is L80 content, so it won’t help (nor hurt) a L1 character.

What about levelling mastery?

It will help a LvL 1 you get the 80 booster

You’ll get a level 80 boost when you buy HoT, so that’s a possible consideration if you want to get into the expansion qhickly.

You can’t get masteries without HoT, but your level 1’s exp will go towards his/her levels rather than mastery bar

I would not recommend taking a brand new L80 character into HoT. If you are considering ‘investments’ in the game, level a character or two (or more) up naturally, explore Core Tyria, then decide if you wish to ‘invest’ further.

The good thing is: you will unlock all of Living Story Season 3 while playing in Core Tyria (as long as you log in during active Episodes), and it will be available for you to play later should you decide to invest in Heart of Thorns.

Good luck.

Thanks onevstheworld that clears things up. Also gliding seems fun, can you do it on low lvl maps like queensdale?

Ty inculpatus, but do you get better gear in Hot, visual or statwise?

Better gear visual-wise? That’s subjective; each player has their own preferences. Stat-wise? Asking the wrong person here, lol. I think the 4-stat thingies are available in HoT. You can consult the Wiki (link above) for information on all gear available with HoT.

You can glide anywhere (except certain places like some Jumping Puzzles), but you need to unlock the Mastery for it in Heart of Thorns, as well as earn the XP required in the Heart of Thorns maps. A new player-character may have some difficulties with the L80 content to do so, but each player is different.

The choice, of course, is up to you.

Good luck.

Lusiva.7692:

Ty inculpatus, but do you get better gear in Hot, visual or statwise?

You get more options in terms of stat combinations. GW2 isn’t built on the premise of getting “better gear”. In terms of visuals, there are only a few extra looks in HoT versus the huge wealth in core.

There is no real reason to have HoT pre-80 unless you want to power a toon to lvl 80 and enter those maps for gliding or unless you have a burning desire to raid. Masteries are post-80 progression.

If you are a brand new player then I would not get HoT right away. The games difficulty grows as your character grows, with HoT content being pretty frustrating if you haven’t taken the time to level up normally and learn the ropes. You are expected to be a pretty decent player in HoT zones and have at least exotic level gear. If you use the boost to 80 you will not have the experience to do HoT content and you will kill low level content too easily (even with level adjustment) to learn the skills you need well.

I would highly recommend leveling a character to 80 naturally at least once before purchasing HoT. Or buy it right away but don’t use the booster. Save the booster for a second or third character, you will be glad you did later.

Lusiva.7692:

Thanks onevstheworld that clears things up. Also gliding seems fun, can you do it on low lvl maps like queensdale?

Yes. As soon as you earn it on one character then all of your characters regardless of level will get it, and you can use it in the original maps.

Though I would recommend playing through the content naturally first just to get a feel for the professions.

ZudetGambeous.9573:

If you are a brand new player then I would not get HoT right away. The games difficulty grows as your character grows, with HoT content being pretty frustrating if you haven’t taken the time to level up normally and learn the ropes. You are expected to be a pretty decent player in HoT zones and have at least exotic level gear. If you use the boost to 80 you will not have the experience to do HoT content and you will kill low level content too easily (even with level adjustment) to learn the skills you need well.

I would highly recommend leveling a character to 80 naturally at least once before purchasing HoT. Or buy it right away but don’t use the booster. Save the booster for a second or third character, you will be glad you did later.

This is probably good advice. The core game is dead easy, so leveling might be a bit boring if you’re an experienced MMO player with above-average skills. But the shiny new-to-this-MMO smell can probably carry you through that while you learn the ropes.

I would say even if you are experienced with MMOs, you may get frustrated if you attempt to jump right into this game fresh, boost to 80, and head straight for the jungle. HoT exploration alone is a challenge for most any player, but the enemies don’t mess around either.

If you don’t know your class fairly well, I imagine many enemies will take you out pretty quickly until you start to become familiar with them. But that’s action combat for you. With fewer passive defenses and more reliance on active avoidance, tougher enemies are designed to make you pay if you don’t make the right moves.

There are ways to stack the deck in your favor, though. The AI in the game tends not to deal well with pets. So classes like necro and ranger especially are known for having a relatively easier time in solo combat and are frequently recommended for new players. The enemies get distracted by your minions and by the time they zero in on you, it’s often too late.

Still, any class will thrive in this game once you learn how to play it.

I’m a newish player and have been wondering about the OPs question too. If I buy HoT through Amazon will I still get the 80 boost or is that only when I buy through Anet?
My highest lvl is 45 and I probably wouldn’t use the boost right away anyway. So I’m not sure I want to pay the extra $15 just to get the boost buying through Anet.

The boost comes when you apply the key to your account. I do not personally know that it definitely works from a third party purchase, as I’ve always bought directly from ANet (well, the original CE was via GameStop but it was a box made by ANet). However, in all my perusing of the forums I’ve never seen any complaints that content was different when the account was bought outside of ANet.

So I would be flabbergasted to find out that you didn’t get the boost if you buy through Amazon. A HoT key is a HoT key is a HoT key. (Except when it’s stolen or hacked, which shouldn’t happen via Amazon — just make sure to check the Amazon-listed vendor, as they outsource a number of things).

Thanks for the quick answer Donari. I still may wait a bit since I do want to experience leveling up my first character naturally first. But wanted to know about this before buying.

• If you love the game, why wait? There’s no advantage to postponing the decision.
• If you don’t love the game, why spend another US$30-50 on it now?

While you’re undecided, I would wait to see how the game players for you.

The 80 boost definitely comes with all versions of HoT, no matter where you buy it.

Vayne.8563:

The 80 boost definitely comes with all versions of HoT, no matter where you buy it.

Just make sure to purchase from an Authorized Retailer (list available via the ‘Support’ link above/below and ‘Search – Authorized Retailers’) or ArenaNet to avoid any problems, such as having the account suspended or terminated.

Good luck.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Vayne.8563:

The 80 boost definitely comes with all versions of HoT, no matter where you buy it.

Just make sure to purchase from an Authorized Retailer (list available via the ‘Support’ link above/below and ‘Search – Authorized Retailers’) or ArenaNet to avoid any problems, such as having the account suspended or terminated.

Good luck.

Oh yeah, this is really important. Places that resell keys tend to buy lots of keys bought on stolen credit cards. They may replace the key of it doesn’t work, but Anet will ban the account if there’s a charge back and rightly so.

So only buy from authorized dealers.

faunabay.9320:

Thanks for the quick answer Donari. I still may wait a bit since I do want to experience leveling up my first character naturally first. But wanted to know about this before buying.

If you are planning on waiting a little anyways, it might be worth keeping an eye out for possible HoT anniversary sales in about a month.

What is also important is that HoT will be bundled for free with the next expansion. Hard to say if waiting for it would be worth it though, because so far we don’t have any kind of timetable on it.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

I would not recommend taking a brand new L80 character into HoT. If you are considering ‘investments’ in the game, level a character or two (or more) up naturally, explore Core Tyria, then decide if you wish to ‘invest’ further.

The good thing is: you will unlock all of Living Story Season 3 while playing in Core Tyria (as long as you log in during active Episodes), and it will be available for you to play later should you decide to invest in Heart of Thorns.

Good luck.

Sorry, but this is false. Living Story s3 requires HoT to be unlocked and accessed, so if he do not have HoT purchased he won’t be unlocking any episodes and the map asssociated with them and most likely will have to pay a small ammount for each episode in the form of gems afterwards if he wants to access them if he misses the period when they are free.

As for the OP question; Only you can decide if it is worth it or not to buy it now or wait, but consider if you wait till new expansion is released you will not get nearly if at all the same experience from HoT, as you would now, since the bulk of the player base will move to the new expansion and you will also be far away in the form of mastery progression, which the new expansion will certainly require as well.
Also there is of course the Living Story season to consider, of course. You can still unlock for free the first episode until Semptember 20th if you own HoT and then you will be able to unlock episode 2 for FREE. Again you wont be unlocking any episodes if you do not own HoT, so thats also something to consider. In the end its up to you.

Blipp.5206:

Sorry, but this is false. Living Story s3 requires HoT to be unlocked and accessed, so if he do not have HoT purchased he won’t be unlocking any episodes and the map asssociated with them and most likely will have to pay a small ammount for each episode in the form of gems afterwards if he wants to access them if he misses the period when they are free.

Actually, Incalpatus is right. Anyone without HoT can log in and “reserve” LS3. But they can only play LS3 without any additional payment when they buy HoT.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/guild-wars-2s-living-world-returns-on-july-26/

onevstheworld.2419:

Blipp.5206:

Sorry, but this is false. Living Story s3 requires HoT to be unlocked and accessed, so if he do not have HoT purchased he won’t be unlocking any episodes and the map asssociated with them and most likely will have to pay a small ammount for each episode in the form of gems afterwards if he wants to access them if he misses the period when they are free.

Actually, Incalpatus is right. Anyone without HoT can log in and “reserve” LS3. But they can only play LS3 without any additional payment when they buy HoT.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/guild-wars-2s-living-world-returns-on-july-26/

Seems I’ve missed that. I stand corrected.

Neve.3145:

faunabay.9320:

Thanks for the quick answer Donari. I still may wait a bit since I do want to experience leveling up my first character naturally first. But wanted to know about this before buying.

If you are planning on waiting a little anyways, it might be worth keeping an eye out for possible HoT anniversary sales in about a month.

Oh really!!! Hmmmm…. I may have to wait for their anniversary and see about a sale. Thank you!

Ardenwolfe.8590:

Later. Given that the next expansion is full speed ahead and get there quicker now . . . definitely later. You’ll be able to buy the next expansion with Heart of Thorns free within said expansion . . . if history is any indication.

Play your new toon through the core game and take your time. By the time you’re done with almost everything, the expansion should be around the corner.

But, if you’re not sold on waiting, you can buy the expansion for twenty bucks on Amazon.

Exactly. I’m not making the same mistake twice. When Anet turned around and stabbed the entire playerbase in the back by giving away what we had to PAY FOR thats the last dollar they’ll see from me.

I’ll just wait till the next xpac comes out like most people and get it for free.

Better to wait until the next xpac for a few reasons:
1. It’ll likely be available for free
2. When the new xpac drops HoT conent will likely be completely dead and it’s not very enjoyable to play solo and a significant amount requires an organized map blob. Additionally Anet will likely use the same business model as when HoT dropped which was de-incentivise the vanilla content to steer players to the new xpac (i.e. help push vanilla players to purchase the xpac).
3. HoT end game is raids, and unfortunately you can expect to be kicked and not very likely to find a raid group because you haven’t been grinding raids right now.

Negativity aside, just enjoy the free game while you try guild wars 2 out. The vanilla content was actually fairly good and as you are a new player you can explore and check some stuff out.

If you don’t buy it now or in 7 days, then buy it when it goes on sale. Because you will be missing free content. You will have to buy the content you are missing.

runeblade.7514:

If you don’t buy it now or in 7 days, then buy it when it goes on sale. Because you will be missing free content. You will have to buy the content you are missing.

Incorrect. Living story is unlocked as long as you log in, whether you own HoT or not.

Biglulu.3928:

runeblade.7514:

If you don’t buy it now or in 7 days, then buy it when it goes on sale. Because you will be missing free content. You will have to buy the content you are missing.

Incorrect. Living story is unlocked as long as you log in, whether you own HoT or not.

Yep. You would be unable to play it without HoT, but it would still get unlocked.

Simply, better to buy HOT now if you plan on playing GW2 for a while. You can catch up with the mastery experience, but you miss out on the exploration of the HoT maps that teach(force) you to play stronger. The upcoming maps won’t relent on this.

Enjoy the game we’ve been playing for almost 4 years. Beautiful, challenging and busy at the high-levels. Some days I play actively, some days I just gather and craft the dailes, but I keep going because it is fun. AND it is not bad to catch up to the long-time players.

keenedge.9675:

Simply, better to buy HOT now if you plan on playing GW2 for a while. You can catch up with the mastery experience, but you miss out on the exploration of the HoT maps that teach(force) you to play stronger. The upcoming maps won’t relent on this.

Bloodstone fen seems to disagree.

wrathmagik.3518:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

Later. Given that the next expansion is full speed ahead and get there quicker now . . . definitely later. You’ll be able to buy the next expansion with Heart of Thorns free within said expansion . . . if history is any indication.

Play your new toon through the core game and take your time. By the time you’re done with almost everything, the expansion should be around the corner.

But, if you’re not sold on waiting, you can buy the expansion for twenty bucks on Amazon.

Exactly. I’m not making the same mistake twice. When Anet turned around and stabbed the entire playerbase in the back by giving away what we had to PAY FOR thats the last dollar they’ll see from me.

I’ll just wait till the next xpac comes out like most people and get it for free.

How did they gave anything away? The free to play version of the game is heavily restricted. You can’t use map chat, you have limited list of items you can purchase from the TP, you can’t mail, you can only whispers people who have added you to their friend list and vice verse and only limited times. You dont get daily rewards. Does that sounds like they gave away freely what you paid for? How does having a somewhat glorified trial version of the core game devalued your purchase and the entertainment you got for 3 years out of it again by paying once and not having to pay any monthly subscription fees?

wrathmagik.3518:

Anet turned around and stabbed the entire playerbase in the back

Offering a trial version so more people could play has been a positive experience for me. I’ve played with tons of f2p’ers, many of whom have gone on to buy the box. Not sure where your weird aggression is coming from.

And you go on to say you’ll be picking the expansion up when it’s a freebie so in other words you’re as bad as those f2p’ers who anet stabbed us in the back for. I’m pretty confused by your post.

wrathmagik.3518:

Exactly. I’m not making the same mistake twice. When Anet turned around and stabbed the entire playerbase in the back by giving away what we had to PAY FOR thats the last dollar they’ll see from me.

I’ll just wait till the next xpac comes out like most people and get it for free.

TBH, as someone who has been playing since the beginning and pre-ordered the expansion, I was really happy that Anet added f2p and bundled the core game with the expansion. You don’t seem to realize the life blood of any MMO is its population, and lowering the barrier to entry for new players is a good move for newbies and veterans.

I may view money differently from you, but I have no problems writing off the value of the original game. I have been playing it for 4 years after all. The only other game that has given me that much value was Skyrim. Anyway, the reality is, any digital game you buy these days has a market value of $0 the moment you’re past the refund period.