Guild Wars 2

So, as the title states, I am a new player. Like, still downloading the game, new. (Although I have played a handful of MMOs) So I was just wondering if anyone had any tips/pointers for me before I start playing. I have no idea what class I’m going to play, or even what race. Any suggestions in that area would help too. Anything you guys can throw at me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Cope

forget everything you learned in previous mmo’s. guild wars 2 is a totally different game and work differently. Start by experience the world and do anything and everything you encounter of events, quests and more.

as for race I suggest you look at every race in the character screen when you first make one. find one you like to try and see if it fit your playstyle. Same goes for profession. some like this and others that. you can make up to 5 characters so you can easily try different races and professions.

While you are downloading, might I suggest you look at the wiki. It’s fantastic and even if you are an MMO vet, reading “game basics” should help you make some decisions about which class and race you may wish to play.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page

First if all, welcome!

Depending on what kind of MMOs you have experience, things might feel familiar or new. One major difference to old school MMOs like wow is that combat is much more about movement and not only can you move while using most skills, it’s something that’s more or less a must later on (e.g. a lot of enemies have attacks with a charge up animation that will hurt if you don’t get out of the way).

Next difference is that there aren’t really any quests in gw2 (besides your personal story but that’s like one per level), instead you’ll come across Hearts which has you earn favor by e.g. killing mobs, harvesting plants, trying out experimental weapons or something else, and Dynamic Events which are stand alone or chains of events where anyone can join in to help achieve some objective.

If you want to test out builds you can head into the mists (accessible from the pvp menu) where your level will be set to 80 and you will have access to all your traits and skills and can get gear for free from vendors.

There is (usually) a new patch every two weeks which affects the Living story, currently it’s for an election for which of two candidates will get elected to the council in Lion’s Arch (a major city) and starting on the 6th it will be a featival in Divinity’s Reach (the human capital). These patches often have content that is available only for a limited time but you will probably at most miss out on some potential new skins if you can’t participate.

Crafting is not a good money maker but it gives plenty of xp so gathering materials as you adventure is advisable. The nodes are individual so even if someone else e.g. chops down a tree, it will still be there for you as well.

Advise on a class is kinda difficult, all classes are good and while some are better than others in certain areas they can all do everything so just try them out and see which fits you the best.

Thanks for the quick replies, everyone. Thank you for your suggestions/help. I greatly appreciate it. I did check out the wiki, Grunim, thank you for sharing. I’m excited to try out this new game and get started. If only the download would speed up! :P Speaking of which, is there a certain point in the download where I’ll be able to play, or does it have to be fully up-to-date?

Best tip I can give is if you’re curious on how anything works, type /wiki whatyourecuriousabout. For example, if you wanted to get more info on Skill A you would type in /wiki Skill A

Endgame is a horizontal progression, not a vertical progression. If you don’t know what that is and don’t have an open-mind, you will get bored as soon as you hit 80.

If you have to ask what there is to do after hitting max level (when you do hit max level), you’re not ready for end game.

Can’t emphasize enough the first responder’s comment “Forget everything you know”

Thats right. Forget it all. Tank/Heal/DPS – forget it. Rangers are ranged? – forget it. Casters cant use big swords and axes? – forget it.

The end-game starts at level 1.

Look through the sticky at the top of this forum, Tips For New Players. It’s gold.

Roll a guardian.

Thanks again for the replies, much appreciated. Wolfpaq, why Guardian?

I would suggest checking out http://en.gw2skills.net/professions/ as well. It has some detailed information on classes and mechanics, as well as a build planner. It is a bit more in-depth, but it is a handy resource.

Dulfy has one of my favorite MMO news sites, and she covers GW2 with some guides on current content, http://dulfy.net/category/gw2/ .

On classes/races I suppose I’m a bit boring as I tend to favor Humans. I played a support staff and mace/shield Guardian as my first lvl 80 character, and now a glass cannon dual pistol and pistol/dagger Thief as my second lvl 80 as of yesterday. Thinking about an Asuran “Minion Master” Necromancer next or Sylvari Fire/Water Elementalist.

If you’re ever on Kaineng NA server, look me up.

things you might want to know:

the only difference in pvp between races is size, no racial boons/skills. so pick the ones you want

try a lot of professions. eg. i never liked playing a warrior, but i LOVE it in gw2. likewise in wow i enjoyed priest the most, but i HATE playing elementalist. only profession i do not have 80.

movement is VERY important in this game, you can use nearly all skills while moving around, and you want to get used to “dodging” as soon as possible cause that is the difference between a newb and a pro player :P

in options turn off the “double tab to evade” function. you will regret if you do not. jumping puzzles might involve standing as close to the ledge as you can, and if you tab w 2 times to close to each other you will dodge of the ledge >_> and die

regular mobs are easy to kill, veterans are a little bit harder but any decent player can take one on his own. champions are possible to solo, but only for experienced players, the melee champs are easier then the ranged ones.

useful websites are:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news
http://dulfy.net/
http://www.gw2spidy.com/
http://us.gw2stuff.com/
and ofc the wiki. the more you know :P

Every person has their favorite class (I love elementalist and playing a warrior puts me to sleep ), so try as many as seem interesting. Buying extra bank slots is definitely worth it if you like to collect things at all.

Elementalist has to move around a lot more than other classes, they are the lightest armor and lowest HP class in the game. If they stand still they will be squished. But they are super fun if you like constant action and their moves are very flashy.

Warriors can facetank much more effectively, as can guardians. Warriors do high DPS. Guardians can also protect and buff (grant boons) to their allies very effectively.

Thiefs are squishy and need to be strategic in battle, but can ambush from invisibility.

Rangers have pets to use as tanks, which is quite nice. Pet AI is one of the perennial Ranger complaints though.

Mesmers can do long-distance portals. Everyone will want to be your friend so you will port them to the end of jumping puzzles.

Necros have the coolest downed state and are very powerful with conditions (the opposite of buffs / boons).

Not sure about engineers.

The most important thing is to have fun. The game is built so that if you don’t like a part of the game you don’t have to play it.