Guild Wars 2

I am currently installing Guild Wars 2 as I type this, my question for current players is what advice do you have to bestow upon a new player?

Anything to look out for? Anything I should or should not do in game? (I am not referring to anything in the rules) I’m speaking about gameplay.

Any race or server better than another?

Anything you can fill me in on I’d appreciate it!

Thanks!

As far as I know the races don’t have any advantages over each other. It all depends on your preference! That’s the beautiful thing about GW2, it’s your choice you form the game to your style.

As far as tips…this: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OMG-If-you-only-knew-this-tips-for-new-players/page/3#post595593

GrinReaper.5082:

As far as I know the races don’t have any advantages over each other. It all depends on your preference! That’s the beautiful thing about GW2, it’s your choice you form the game to your style.

As far as tips…this: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OMG-If-you-only-knew-this-tips-for-new-players/page/3#post595593

I appreciate it! I haven’t gotten to character creation yet, still downloading files….but servers, I live on EST so are there any servers that are EST or does it matter at all?

My advice is just try out each Race and Class to see which one you like best. Also try all possible weapons for that class as they are very different.
Try different story lines when you set up your character too as it also plays differently.
Take your time, explore and have fun. This is a great game with each character and even weapon sets so different. You effectively have a new game for each race/class.

server time doesn’t really matter, as long as you pick an american one there should be plenty of other players around

Excellent, thanks for the information! I still have about 65k files to download lol see you all in game soon.

The only thing that really matters for time zone is what time you dailies reset. Of course, if you join a guild you’ll probably want to join one that shares a time zone close to yours.

Best advice I have for a new player is to go with the flow. Do whatever comes your way or whatever you enjoy, almost everything you can do (fighting, gathering, crafting, exploring, WvW) can earn you experience. I have the most fun when I’m just exploring and doing whatever I come across!

Oh, and try out a few different classes. I think all of them have their merits, but each class has a quite distinct play style, so if you find you’re not enjoying something, feel free to try another class out. Once you find something you kind of like, stick with it for a while so you can learn the ins and outs of the class, and you’ll get much better at using it the longer you do.

Just a few tips for when you start.

1. Buy copper mining pick, sickle and axe. Gather everything you come across (they’ll be on the minimap). They will come in handy later.

2. When you’re killing things, get used to running around and using the dodge key (I think it defaults on C)

3. If you’re stuck, type /m and then it should switch to map chat. Ask your question or ask for help in map chat. Be prepared for one or two idiots with snarky replies, but most people are very helpful and they will help you.

4. As you’re exploring you’ll come across “New event nearby!” and there’ll either be crossed swords, a shield or a bucket with an arrow pointing down into it on the minimap with an orange circle. These are Dynamic Events and they are really good for EXP. What you have to do to complete them is explained in the top right corner.

5. Sooner or later you’re going to get downed, when a mob defeats you. Target the one with the least HP. You can get back up again (known as ‘Rally!’) if you defeat them while you’re down.

A lot of this game is figuring stuff out on your own – it’s confusing to just throw yourself into the game – and it’s natural to get stuck every once in a while. Don’t be afraid to come back to the forums and ask questions. We’re all happy to help.

In addition to what other folks have said…

• Talk to NPCs that have names other than “Citizen” etc. They some times give clues to hidden content, sometimes they start events, and they usually tell you what’s going on in the area.

• If an NPC runs up and asks for help, go ahead and say “Sure!”. It just puts a distant event on your map, and you’re not obligated to participate in it if you don’t want to.

• If there is a harvest node where you’re standing on your map, but you don’t see it, it’s above or below you – go look for it. Often they lead you into hidden areas.

• If you’re having trouble finding a point of interest in the main cities, many of them are inside instances that you have to got through a door or gate to get to.

Some useful resources:

• The official wiki (also, you can type /wiki in game)
• guildhead.com I use it mostly for the item/recipe database
• gw2cartographers.com - interactive map (there are some spoilers on there if you want to find the jumping puzzles and chests yourself, so you might want to toggle the icons off using the explore menu at the top of the page)