Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone! I purchased my copy of Guild Wars 2 and installed it on my system. Now, as I am at work and waiting for my chance to go home and play, I wanted to tap into your collective wisdom.

Is there anything you wish you had known when you started playing that you know now? Any tips, or advice or just basic issues you might be able to share that would have helped when you were first starting up?

Thanks everyone, looking forward to rolling my first character.

1) Read the stickied threads at the top of this forum. The “OMG” thread is designed for the types of questions that you’ll be asking.

2) When it comes to using the BLTC (Black Lion Trading Company) auction system, remember that you can place a Buy Order for an item instead of immediately buying an item from the cheapest seller. If you’re trying to buy gear that is dropped by mobs, you can usually save yourself a chunk of money if you just place Buy Orders and are willing to wait a few days.

Case in point, there is a nice armor set of 50th Yellow grade gear that I want for a new alt. After looking at the existing Buy Orders, it was obvious that people were just making payment offers in an attempt to resell the items at a much higher value. My serious offers for each armor piece were made at +5 silver higher than the person under me (which is substancial), yet I’d still be saving a net of 10 silver for every piece of armor. All things considered, I’ll be saving over half a gold piece (which is a lot of money for mid level) because I used the Buy Order system.

(The auction system is connected together as a communal server for the entire game. Items are quickly bought and sold since you’re dealing with a vast number of players.)

3) There are independent websites that really make your life better. For example, there’s a website that tracks each zone’s mega boss spawn timers. (Guild Wars Temple) Another site lets players organize groups for unpopular dungeons by signing up on their LFG system. (GW2LFG) Make sure that you save these websites for your Favorites.

4) In this game, you use ALT and Drag to split item stacks (instead of the typical Shift and Drag).

I highly recommend New Players to check out this video which teaches
How GW2’s Combat system and mechanics function:

Next I highly recommend you check this video to get an idea of how
All 8 Professions fight in Combat. You may also use this video as a (Guide) to help you see what fighting styles you may like to try out:

Once you watched those 2 videos above, I would recommend you to read the
Written (Guide) to learn how Combat/Armor/Traits/Weapons work in better details:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/GW2-Combat-system-101-Guide/first

^-^ Those info should pretty much get you started in the right direction when picking and choosing professions, armor, traits, and Combat overall. Good luck and I hope you have fun!

Cheers!

Choose your server wisely. Your account will be bound to it unless you pay. I cannot tell you which one to choose as I don’t know your interests or your region nor have I experienced most of the servers beforehand. (It is not a horrible thing if you end in a server you don’t like anymore. You can play on any of the same region’s servers. It is called guesting. Only WvWvW is excluded.)

Don’t eat yellow snow

Find a decent Guild and SPAM them with questions all day!
Welcome to GW2 btw!

Garambola.2461:

Choose your server wisely. Your account will be bound to it unless you pay. I cannot tell you which one to choose as I don’t know your interests or your region nor have I experienced most of the servers beforehand. (It is not a horrible thing if you end in a server you don’t like anymore. You can play on any of the same region’s servers. It is called guesting. Only WvWvW is excluded.)

Well that is not as big of an issue with a new account since you can transfer for free if the account has no characters but there is still the 7 day waiting period between transfers.

Proper inventory management greatly increases quality of living. You can purchase five-slot colored bags from the Trading Post for four copper each, so they’re a cost effective for the fledgling adventurer.

Wow, thanks everyone! I have been reading the stickies and looking through all of your materials. I really haven’t been this excited to play a game since WoW, so I want to take advantage of everything it has to offer.

1: Very welcome to the game. Indeed choosing your server is a very good research you best do in advance. The best way to do so is checking the following list:
a: Do I know people allready playing and on what server are they??
b: Do I want to be on an english server or aforeignlanguage server (mostly if your in the EU)
c: Do I want to play lots of PvP/World versus world or more PvE orientated content.

2: Second thing is to forget everything you know from WoW. This game is so completely different that it is better to forget. The trinity is gone (there is no tank, and there is no dedicated healer, everyone is responsable for their own support and handling their own agro.

3: As mentioned: find yourself a good guild. My best advice is to start in a smaller guild, so your not number 500 asking the same question.

4: Take a deep breath and dive in

AceReporter.9563:

Wow, thanks everyone! I have been reading the stickies and looking through all of your materials. I really haven’t been this excited to play a game since WoW, so I want to take advantage of everything it has to offer.

Don’t be too excited! lol
Playing this game like WoW might ruin it for you.

You got a lot to digest and get used to for PvE and PvP.
My advice is to Not play this game like an MMO but as a single player RPG in an MMO environment where u can play with ur friends and guilds.

Think of it like skyrim in a way. =)

The best advice I ever got:
1) Open your inventory
2) Hit the little tool button on the right side of your inventory screen
3) Click “Deposit all collectibles”
4) You’re welcome

It may take you awhile to realize the full value of the profound advice I have just given you – in the meantime: welcome to the game!

Kitcat.1739:

The best advice I ever got:
1) Open your inventory
2) Hit the little tool button on the right side of your inventory screen
3) Click “Deposit all collectibles”
4) You’re welcome

It may take you awhile to realize the full value of the profound advice I have just given you – in the meantime: welcome to the game!

roflol, ye, I remember finding out. Just to say your not depositing them into oblivion but to your bank, you can visit your bank account at any bank npc or crafting station.

Don’t hesitate the ask questions in /map chat. The community is, for the most part, very friendly and most accommodating.

Kitcat.1739:

The best advice I ever got:
1) Open your inventory
2) Hit the little tool button on the right side of your inventory screen
3) Click “Deposit all collectibles”
4) You’re welcome

It may take you awhile to realize the full value of the profound advice I have just given you – in the meantime: welcome to the game!

To expand on this, you can sell items on the Trading Post (auction house) from just about anywhere in the world. Simply right click the item and select “Sell on Trading Post” option. This, along with Deposit Collectibles, can help keep your inventory clean.

Buy your gear from the TP while leveling and sell your mats for gold. You’ll be able to keep yourself well-equipped for a fraction of the cost of actually making the gear yourself. That way you’ll also have a decent nest egg built up when you hit 80 and start looking at exotic gear options.

If you are going to craft, never choose Chef for your starting character. You’ll need tons of ingredients from all over Tyria, from starter to end game zones, plus a lot of extra storage space for intermediary ingredients (food you craft that can be used in later recipes). Don’t bother with it until you can access those maps at the very least. Better would be to play your first character for a while and collect as much as you can, then choose Chef for your next character, so they can take advantage of all the collecting done by your first.

Choose a first profession that will allow you to AoE farm effectively, later in the game.

Those are the three things I most wish I’d known when I started.