Guild Wars 2

Hello All!

I have been away from Guild Wars 2 for the better part of a year now to to real life responsibilities but am looking to come back. I still have plenty of stuff to finish from the core game but wanted to know if the expansion would be worth it right now when I still have plenty to keep me busy in core game?

Any pros and cons would be appreciated!

Thanks!

In before people tell you how bad the expansion is.

The expansion will provide you with several things you can’t get in the core game.

1. Masteries, including gliding. At level 80 now the experience you’re getting is literally being wasted in the core game. The only way for the experienced to be used is to unlock masteries which will give you some interesting additions to the game, including better Fractal rewards and the ability to loot stuff without pressing F. That alone was worth it for me.

2. A new profession to play, the Revenant.

3. A new way to play existing professions, giving you access to a new weapon, and new skills, including a new healing skill and a new elite.

4. The ability to use all the features of a guild hall if you plan to join one or have one already. The guild buffs are particularly useful. Using the guild arena is another thing you can do if you have HoT.

5. Precursor crafting. If you want to make a legendary, right now your best option for a precursor is to farm gold and buy it. For some people that doesn’t feel like a great solution. Even though it’s just as expensive to create your own precursor from scratch through collections, it’s only possible if you own HoT.

If you don’t mind waiting for those features, you don’t need to buy HoT now.

I found a big pro to be the way masteries, collections, precursor crafting, gave additional relevance to core zones.

I like HoT, but the biggest cons are in my opinion.

- could have used another map or two. Or least less emphasis on meta events to avoid repeitive gameplay
- the disconnect problems
- incredibly short story. Arguably shorter than season 2 if you take the mastery gating out of the equation.
- whilst i like the difficulty, it isnt well balanced for all players. Prob needed a better difficulty learning curve compared to core content.
- the overall feeling is grindy. That is the sum of too many things needing you to do the same content over and over. Its a trap the game has fallen into a bit too far. I think more maps and meatier story would have helped break this up somewhat.

And pros
- the metas are still fun to play despite being repetitive
- gliding is awesome
- masteries fit the game perfectly for horizontal progression
- the difficulty level is raised
- excluding balance issues, the elite specialisations are on the whole great fun to play
- Verdant Brink and Auric Basin are decent, well designed maps
- precursor crafting allows for a long term goal at a low cost
- Revenants are cool

I’ve enjoyed it and not regretted the purchase at all.

Randulf took some of the points I had against and for the expac and summed them up much more eloquently than i could.

Whispering.8672:

Hello All!

I have been away from Guild Wars 2 for the better part of a year now to to real life responsibilities but am looking to come back. I still have plenty of stuff to finish from the core game but wanted to know if the expansion would be worth it right now when I still have plenty to keep me busy in core game?

Any pros and cons would be appreciated!

Thanks!

I am really enjoying HoT, although not as much as Core. However, I don’t recommend you pay for the expac before you come back. Start playing again, with others, and learn about what they like (or hate) and see which direction that takes you.

Your mileage will vary and without knowing what your preferences are, it’s hard to know whether the expac is your cup of tea. There’s no question that some people feel it took GW2 in a wrong direction and plenty who are happy enough and some who love the new direction; there’s no way to know into which camp you’ll fall until you come back.

Whispering.8672:

Hello All!

I have been away from Guild Wars 2 for the better part of a year now to to real life responsibilities but am looking to come back. I still have plenty of stuff to finish from the core game but wanted to know if the expansion would be worth it right now when I still have plenty to keep me busy in core game?

Any pros and cons would be appreciated!

Thanks!

What HoT features are 4 incredibly dense, relatively complicated to traverse and understand maps that also provide a decent bump in difficulty. You could spend a lot of time in each map if you want to see everything it has to offer, so if you are the kind of person who doesn’t rush through content, you are in luck. Also, IMO these maps are the best looking Anet have ever made.

However, they all run on timers and all require that basically all the players on the map work together to achieve a common goal. An example – on one map there are 4 pylons that must be activated. After that the city gets attack and the players must split in 4 and work together to save the city. The city will get attack whether you have activated the pylons or not, as I said, the maps or a schedule.

So, if you’re into what I described then yes, HoT is very good, although relatively light on content. if you are looking for a more laid-back experience of doing hearts and wandering aimlessly, the jungle will feel brutal to you. For me personally, it was definitely worth and I have spent 90% of my time doing HoT content for quite a while now.

Also, features a soundtrack that IMO is far superior to core Tyria’s:

Whispering.8672:

Hello All!

I have been away from Guild Wars 2 for the better part of a year now to to real life responsibilities but am looking to come back. I still have plenty of stuff to finish from the core game but wanted to know if the expansion would be worth it right now when I still have plenty to keep me busy in core game?

Any pros and cons would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Have you been in the Silverwastes and/or Dry Top? Those maps and the way they work with scheduled events is the way HoT now work. To get access to the new maps you will also need to start your story (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Story_Journal#Heart_of_Thorns) which you enter from behind a portal in Silverwastes (behind Amber Sandfall). If you don’t own HoT expansion yet there will a portal with a stop sign and some NPCs addressing you about what is going on as commander. Doing first part of story will give you basic access to gliding and introduce you how Mastery Points work.

The important part about Mastery is that you have two type: one for old Tyria and one for Maguuma (HoT map/content). Those for old Tyria are red stars vs green and you will want to redo LS to get points for the Old Tyria track. You only gain XP for Tyria in Tyria maps (and doing LS/AP – look in your Hero Panel and wiki for which is which) and the same for Maguuma Djungle (green stars). You can change which track you will have active to gain XP from Hero Panel.

Something that haven’t been mention is that with HoT there where new stats introduced which might be of interest. Those new four stats combo give you now opportunity for expertise (=condition duration) or concentration (=boon duration). There new Runes and Sigils with this package, so there is a bit more then just those maps, a new profession (Revenant with elite specialization: Herald) and new elite specialization for every other professions in game.

There are also Raids in HoT map, which I haven’t played since beta. It is a rather demanding with up to 10 player (new squad interface). It reminds a bit about Fractals which also have been changed with HoT. I don’t play those PvE modes, so I have too little knowledge to explain how those changes might effect you, if you are playing.

Last update changed also The Shatter, so you now have jump pads (same as you had in Tequatl) which make it possible to jump into air and then glide. Gliding is now possible almost everywhere in Tyria and not only in Maguuma (HoT maps), but you need to collect MP (green stars), gain XP and unlock gliding tracks to get better control on how to glide which you can use on both old and new content, only exception is WvW.

New Borderland maps in WvW (you might get access even without HoT, but you will not have full access to everything as something now have been changed to how Guilds works etc).
____

Your question is too wide to give you any idea of how and what might change with buying HoT for your game play.

Do you play mostly alone or in a guild?

PvE is a very wide definition and the experience from being in Tyria (especially like the main cities) might change quite a bit as you get MP tracks that change your abilities like having permanent swiftness in cities, gliding (which now also works in cities and old Tyria) etc. Places which could be tricky to get to now have become easier as you can glide to those.

All this might seem small changes from before HoT, but these changes impact on how to move or to do map completion even when you start a completely new toon.

What this is Worth to you is impossible to say, but in the end it is more into this package then just a few maps. Depending on your play style and what your expect to get out of it, you might find that your only option is going for full elites specialization to be able to keep up with other players in game as there have been a power creep with the introduction of “new” weapons (you can only slot those weapon while your elite specialization is active) and new skills.

wait for black desert online

No. Its a grind fest.

Whispering.8672:

Hello All!

I have been away from Guild Wars 2 for the better part of a year now to to real life responsibilities but am looking to come back. I still have plenty of stuff to finish from the core game but wanted to know if the expansion would be worth it right now when I still have plenty to keep me busy in core game?

Any pros and cons would be appreciated!

Thanks!

It’s definitely a mixed bag. Some people love it. Some people hate it. I’m in the middle. If nothing else, HoT definitely changes the basic play. It’s a lot more like other ncsoft games now- push for the gemstones (i.e., cash outlay), more grindy content. But it has some upsides as well, as many have listed.

I’d try it out non-HoT for a while before spending the money on HoT. Plus, there’s probably going to be some sales before long.

Whispering.8672:

Hello All!

I have been away from Guild Wars 2 for the better part of a year now to to real life responsibilities but am looking to come back. I still have plenty of stuff to finish from the core game but wanted to know if the expansion would be worth it right now when I still have plenty to keep me busy in core game?

Any pros and cons would be appreciated!

Thanks!

If you wait long enough you’ll get it for free with the next expansion. :P

Oh and hopefully you are not too fond of dungeons or can do a decent job of soloing them …

Khisanth.2948:

Whispering.8672:

Hello All!

I have been away from Guild Wars 2 for the better part of a year now to to real life responsibilities but am looking to come back. I still have plenty of stuff to finish from the core game but wanted to know if the expansion would be worth it right now when I still have plenty to keep me busy in core game?

Any pros and cons would be appreciated!

Thanks!

If you wait long enough you’ll get it for free with the next expansion. :P

Oh and hopefully you are not too fond of dungeons or can do a decent job of soloing them …

I don’t get this, I get dungeon groups all the time.

Is it worth to buy it ? I am one of the first players since i pre purchased the original game when it was not free to play, but somehow it does not seems fair to pay the double ammount for a game for the same content.

When it became free to play , we who purchased the game got actual exras, like more character slots etc.

When a free to player purchases the expansion he gets the exras too for that 45 €.

Then tell me please , why should we the first players pay the SAME 45 € for nothing more then the content, because We already had the extras with the purchase of the Original game ?

It does not seems fair to me.

No I would not say it’s worth it. The one saving grace is gliding.. but it’s a lot to pay for that one thing.

And yeah, I bought the pay to play game too… and then had to buy the expansion and got nothing in return.

Dhaara.5817:

Is it worth to buy it ? I am one of the first players since i pre purchased the original game when it was not free to play, but somehow it does not seems fair to pay the double ammount for a game for the same content.

When it became free to play , we who purchased the game got actual exras, like more character slots etc.

When a free to player purchases the expansion he gets the exras too for that 45 €.

Then tell me please , why should we the first players pay the SAME 45 € for nothing more then the content, because We already had the extras with the purchase of the Original game ?

It does not seems fair to me.

Because you had 3 years to play it. Just about every single game goes down in price. I can’t think of many game at all that 3 years later aren’t a tiny fraction of what it cost when it came out. I’ve bought games for $50 bucks that were $5 three years later.

People who were here got loot and experience new players have no access to. A new player can’t play Twilight Arbor forward up path, for example or the old ascalonian catacombs before the update. They missed all of Living Story Season 1. They missed the Bazarre fo the Four Winds.

People pay a premium for getting in first. It’s always like that with games.

On top of that, MMOs have the problem of new players having to buy multiple titles to get into the game, so many MMOs including WoW and EQ aren’t charging for the expansions after the first. If you own WoW and the new expansion you get every expansion in between, because Blizzard knows they’re nto going to get people to start playing if they have to buy 4 games. So it’s a business decision too.

Lowering the barrier to entry is good for veteran players and we should be happy Anet is doing it, because if you don’t replace players lost to natural attrition, you soon won’t have an MMO at all.

No, wait for black desert.

Vayne.8563:

Dhaara.5817:

Is it worth to buy it ? I am one of the first players since i pre purchased the original game when it was not free to play, but somehow it does not seems fair to pay the double ammount for a game for the same content.

When it became free to play , we who purchased the game got actual exras, like more character slots etc.

When a free to player purchases the expansion he gets the exras too for that 45 €.

Then tell me please , why should we the first players pay the SAME 45 € for nothing more then the content, because We already had the extras with the purchase of the Original game ?

It does not seems fair to me.

Because you had 3 years to play it. Just about every single game goes down in price. I can’t think of many game at all that 3 years later aren’t a tiny fraction of what it cost when it came out. I’ve bought games for $50 bucks that were $5 three years later.

People who were here got loot and experience new players have no access to. A new player can’t play Twilight Arbor forward up path, for example or the old ascalonian catacombs before the update. They missed all of Living Story Season 1. They missed the Bazarre fo the Four Winds.

People pay a premium for getting in first. It’s always like that with games.

On top of that, MMOs have the problem of new players having to buy multiple titles to get into the game, so many MMOs including WoW and EQ aren’t charging for the expansions after the first. If you own WoW and the new expansion you get every expansion in between, because Blizzard knows they’re nto going to get people to start playing if they have to buy 4 games. So it’s a business decision too.

Lowering the barrier to entry is good for veteran players and we should be happy Anet is doing it, because if you don’t replace players lost to natural attrition, you soon won’t have an MMO at all.

Nah this games dont have subscription, so you can´t bring up wow. Take for example Tera, it is a free to play game now, but if you buy the game for the same price as it was when it came out you still get bonuses.

But here, you can´t say that you payed for the time you played.

The free to players missed some content ? Well they could buy the game anytime. They didn´t. I am telling you its not FAIR for the first players to buy for the SAME ammount the expansion.

What would you say if u would buy a game then it becames free to play and u got nothing for your money. Time is not a reward for the ammount we payed, again its not a WoW. If we know that it becames free to play after a year we would have not purchased it maybe ?

Look man We don´t want back our money, but at least a 50% discount to buy the expansion.

That would be fair.

Dhaara.5817:

Vayne.8563:

Dhaara.5817:

Is it worth to buy it ? I am one of the first players since i pre purchased the original game when it was not free to play, but somehow it does not seems fair to pay the double ammount for a game for the same content.

When it became free to play , we who purchased the game got actual exras, like more character slots etc.

When a free to player purchases the expansion he gets the exras too for that 45 €.

Then tell me please , why should we the first players pay the SAME 45 € for nothing more then the content, because We already had the extras with the purchase of the Original game ?

It does not seems fair to me.

Because you had 3 years to play it. Just about every single game goes down in price. I can’t think of many game at all that 3 years later aren’t a tiny fraction of what it cost when it came out. I’ve bought games for $50 bucks that were $5 three years later.

People who were here got loot and experience new players have no access to. A new player can’t play Twilight Arbor forward up path, for example or the old ascalonian catacombs before the update. They missed all of Living Story Season 1. They missed the Bazarre fo the Four Winds.

People pay a premium for getting in first. It’s always like that with games.

On top of that, MMOs have the problem of new players having to buy multiple titles to get into the game, so many MMOs including WoW and EQ aren’t charging for the expansions after the first. If you own WoW and the new expansion you get every expansion in between, because Blizzard knows they’re nto going to get people to start playing if they have to buy 4 games. So it’s a business decision too.

Lowering the barrier to entry is good for veteran players and we should be happy Anet is doing it, because if you don’t replace players lost to natural attrition, you soon won’t have an MMO at all.

Nah this games dont have subscription, so you can´t bring up wow. Take for example Tera, it is a free to play game now, but if you buy the game for the same price as it was when it came out you still get bonuses.

But here, you can´t say that you payed for the time you played.

The free to players missed some content ? Well they could buy the game anytime. They didn´t. I am telling you its not FAIR for the first players to buy for the SAME ammount the expansion.

What would you say if u would buy a game then it becames free to play and u got nothing for your money. Time is not a reward for the ammount we payed, again its not a WoW. If we know that it becames free to play after a year we would have not purchased it maybe ?

Look man We don´t want back our money, but at least a 50% discount to buy the expansion.

That would be fair.

This has ZERO to do with a subscription. Look Tomb Raider was $50 when it came out and it’s been on sale for 80% off since then. I bought it at $50. It has no subscription. I only got 20 hours or so out of it. That’s the game market.

Before Guild Wars 2 went free it was also on sale for $10 on three separate occassions. Because 3 year old games are generally much cheaper than when they come out.

And yes, you getting more time to play the game has everything to do with it, because you’re right. They could have bought the game earlier and spend more money, or you could have waited and saved the money but lost 3 years of progress.

I promise you, it’s much harder to start an MMO years after it launched than it is to be there at launch.

The real question is would you trade everything you got over the 3 years you played for a 50% discount on an expansion?

Because I know I wouldn’t.

Dhaara.5817:

Is it worth to buy it ? I am one of the first players since i pre purchased the original game when it was not free to play, but somehow it does not seems fair to pay the double ammount for a game for the same content.

When it became free to play , we who purchased the game got actual exras, like more character slots etc.

When a free to player purchases the expansion he gets the exras too for that 45 €.

Then tell me please , why should we the first players pay the SAME 45 € for nothing more then the content, because We already had the extras with the purchase of the Original game ?

It does not seems fair to me.

I’m a new player and I have to say that I would not have bought HOT if I needed to buy the base game first with the total costs going to something like 100€, no way. Requiring the base game to play the expansion is a huge barrier of entry for new players, and means that there will be less ppl playing the expansion. (Not your point I know)

And as of now I wouldn’t mind if HOT became free and another expansion launched tomorrow, I have already gotten my money worth of hours in the game. It would just mean that there would be more ppl playing HOT content and I would be happy that the game gets more players. And new players are “content” for old players. In an mmo, as an existing player you get more out of the game when more ppl start playing the game.

And from a business standpoint, Anet already has your money and you hooked to the game and hardcore players will buy the expansion anyway. Altho it is always nice if the company gives some recognition to the existing playerbase when an expansion launches, exclusive skins or something. Also keeping the game running is not free (patches, servers, support etc), and when there is no subscription the only thing Anet can do is to push gem sales and sell expansion. So the amount of money you spent years ago went to maintaining the game and to develop new content.

That is my indirect answer and point of view to the question. And life is not always fair, no can do…

Finish the core stuff. Then ask this question.

Personally, I wouldn’t have paid for HoT in a million years if I knew what was coming. The stories are gated, the maps are gated, the maps are extremely difficult to understand. Gliding is fun, but it’s not worth the extra pain added by the expansion.

Unfortunately, they took away a lot of stuff from the core game and replaced it with HoT substitutes. The only way to make endgame money is FotM. FotM is much better than it was a year ago, though.

Everyone has its own answer…

I have bought HoT (obviously) – would I buy it again? Yes, definitely. I was really disappointed with the story, the mastery grind between every chapter, and overall, the lack of new maps and PvE content compared to the core game. Don’t expect to have a new campaign as in GW1 Factions or Nightfall. It’s a small (did I say small?) expansion quest/event/story/whatever-wise. It’s also pretty laggy due to the verticality of the maps and the number of objects, and if you have a low-end computer, expect to have to lower your video settings when you play on those maps.

However, I find the new mechanics introduced with HoT great, and that’s why I would buy it again. I love gliding. I love the autoloot. I love the new legendaries (as much as I hate most of the old ones – but if you’re a very casual player, it’s probably not for you anyways), and above all, I love the elite specs. As someone who mains a thief, the elite spec completely changed my gameplay, and fixed what had to be fixed. It introduced much needed mobility both in and out combat, and a new weapon that immediately became my new favourite in PvE.

Pros

+ Amazing soundtracks
+Beautiful Scenery
+Challenging Open World ( compared to Core Tyria)
+Mastery System ( Though not the best form of progression.. It is still a form of progression)
+ Access to raids
+Access to elite specs (which is a pretty cool system imo)
+Dragon’s Stand (final map) meta boss fight feels really epic
+Gliding
+Gliding
+Gliding

Cons

-Short story line with a lack of depth
-Event meta timers too long ( last map event meta takes 2 hours)
-Some content is unfinished such as the ability to finish fractal backpiece, new gen legendary weapons ( though they may release it by the time you find core tyria stuff)
-Guild Hall scribing costs are unreasonable
-Very few new armor sets added

My Recommendation : Think about after you finish your core tyria stuff. Because HoT is purely meant for the endgame after that. And by that time, Anet might even fix some of the stuff such as scribing costs and lengthy event timers.

I’d like to offer a different perspective – if you’re going to be playing a lot of GW2 and you want legendaries eventually, it’s worth getting HOT upfront for this reason:

If you do your legendary masteries first and unlock the legendary collections, they will accumulate all their various components as you play the rest of the game – rather than unlocking them later and having to repeat things to get items you need.

For example, you’ll be harvesting some plant or fighting some creatures and BAM some flower or claw or other junk will pop up as being part of a collection.

well 4 maps from which the 4 is just follow line so you tell me if its worth it hehe