Guild Wars 2

Hey guys, I’m new to the game and I have no idea whether to read up on / watch previous events like the lore behind the entire world, GW1 story and the events leading up to GW2 or just play the game as is. I’m lvl 11 and I’m loving the game but the thought of visiting places and talking to people I would’ve known from GW1 while I don’t is kinda driving me crazy.

So my question is, does the game explain anything from previous events or general lore?
I tried watching WoodenPotatoes vids but the accent is a deal breaker to me, and watching / reading for 2-3 hours straight is a no-no considering that I’m too excited to not play for 3 hours.

Do I need to know stuff that aren’t explained in game? Like, race origins, previous wars, important characters and places? Is there a short wrap-up of all these things somewhere?

Thanks in advance!

I don’t believe you NEED it, but some things do click if you played/know the lore of the previous games.

Such as when they tell you that you need to retrieve a sword that was made out of dragon blood, and that it was wielded by a Dwarf named Dagnar Stoneplate. So you get it if you have played only GW2: oh, cool dwarf once branded a dragon blood sword. Cool beans.

But if you played the first set of games, you would know that there were 2 dwarven factions, the Deldrimor and the Stone Summit, and that Deldrimor were “the good ones”, while the second were not; that Dagmar led the second faction, and that he slayed Prince Rurik, son of King Adelbern, whm you meet (as a ghost) in GW2. Prince Rurik had a sword named Sohothin, twin to Magdaer, the sword used to cast the Foefire, the spell that caused all the Ascalonian ghosts you see in the Charr lands, and that Sohothin is now SOMEHOW in the hands of Rytlock Bristone, a Charr Tribune.

Past lore will only make the experience richer (A lot richer) but it’s not necessary to appreciate the full scope of the second game.

As said above, you don’t need Guild Wars 1 to enjoy the sequel. It’s about 250 years after those events, so while most of the characters are dead, a lot will seem familiar. I can’t walk through the Plains of Ashford without getting flashbacks of Ascalon’s starting area. That statue of Badazar, in the center with two cresting hills on either side, I passed numerous times. The purple crystals from the Searing are also a familiar sight. It’s nostalgic for old players, but it doesn’t detract if new players don’t recognise them.

If you want to play the old game, do so. I got a lot of enjoyment out of it, and I really enjoy having my accounts linked for the carry-over bonuses. A small part of me wants to go back and finish a few more of the achievements, so I could get my Orrian chicken, but I had years to finish that off when the Heritage Calculator was around, I probably won’t finish. Still, I’m tempted to skin one of my swords as a fiery dragon sword. Maybe my charr revenant, so he can be a total Rytlock fanboy.

Thank you guys for the quick replies. I actually own the first game too (only Prophecies though) so should I play GW1 first and then GW2 once I finish GW1? Isn’t that gonna take A LOT of time?

I guess I’m gonna try WoodenPotatoes vids again, no other choice since I love the GW2 experience so far and I’d like it to be as complete as possible. I had actually started the game half a year ago but skipped all cutscenes and never read any text but when I decided to come back to the game I figured I should do it properly. I guess I can still ignore the text on the hearts. right? That seemed way too irrelevant and side-questy.

Here’s what you should have in consideration:

- GW1 was a full game. Even just Prophecies. I spent at least 3,000 hours in the game and I didn’t get EVERYTHING.
- GW1 was Human-centric. A lot of the lore has been adjusted or retconned. Writers say it’s because we had a narrow point of view (Human).
- WoodenPotatoes’ videos are full of speculation. He gets MOST of the details right, but he assumes a few community-beliefs and his own theories as facts and that’s just… not how it works.
- I do love his accent though.

I see. What troubles me to be honest is the origin stories. Like, at this point in Gw2 I have no idea about the origins of the world or the origins of the races, like, the story behind the asurans or the sylvari etc. Where they fit into the world and stuff.

Hm I see. Thanks for the thorough response. I’ll try to just play Gw2 then and try not to worry about anything else lore related. Really wish there was something like a journal with lore tidbits implemented in the game explaining the world of Tyria since it seems like a vast, deep world.

I would recommend using the wiki. Just find a topic you’re interested in and read on.

+1 on the wiki suggestion. If you come accross anything interesting during your playthrough, just go to the wiki and read more about it. It is probably the best and most compact lore info you’ll find anywhere.

If you want to know more about the history of the world and how things happened then I also suggest you read up on those on the wiki, specifically the GW1 wiki.