Guild Wars 2

Hey!

I purchased GW2 in 2013(I think) and played it only for a couple of months before returning to WoW.

Now don’t get me wrong, I loved it. The scenery, the music (Who doesn’t love Jeremy Soule m’right?) and especially the gameplay. So what made me quit?

Well for one, I wasn’t playing with the right people. And I was playing mostly alone..

Also everything was new to me, coming from WoW, where perhaps the layout was easier. Or perhaps it was just because I was used to it.

However I never completely grasped what GW2 was all about. I still had to grasp the fact that there is no grind to get PvP gear, you can simply jump in. And hey, thats cool, but I like the sense of having to work to get something! Now please do correct me if anything I say is wrong, because I only played for a short period of time, and might have gotten the wrong advice too!

I am eager to come back, despite WoW getting a new patch the next week. However I have some questions I would love answered before I get in the game again. To help clarify some things, and see if I still want to come back after :) I do appreciate non-biased answers. You don’t have to like WoW, but i’m not sure what effect you’ll have on me if you express having a strong, deep, personal hate for the game :P

So thanks in advance!

1. How is the crafting system in GW2. In WoW there are some professions that are almost not worth taking anymore.. And it doesn’t seem to have changed over the last two expansions.. Is it like this in GW2 too? Are there some professions I should avoid? Or do they all have some kind of function in terms of end-game or other things that might help me on my levelling journey?

2. Is PvE alive?

3. Can I get PvE gear as easily as in PvP where I just queue up with whatever I want? Please don’t misunderstand, I don’t want it to be easy, but i’m wondering if there is any grind to get good PvE gear? To me it seems pointless to grind if I can just get it right away.

4. What server should I play on? I am not a fan of PvP, but if the majority plays it, then what PvP server is the most active? :) Also, if you have a guild-opening for a full time student /part time job person, then please let me know :)

5. Are there any other things I should take with me on my new fresh journey into this game?

Thank you again for the answers. Truly appreciate it! I hope and i’m sure that after this post i’ll be even more motivated to play again :)

1. None of the Crafting disciplines is super important in GW2. You can buy stuff you want from Trading Post so it is not required to be cook or run around hungry. These professions only matter if/when you start to gather up the best gear/stuff. The Ascended rarity gear is all account bound and you need to max specific profession to create it, so for example to get ascended sword you would need weaponsmith maxed.

2. PvE is fine. GW2 uses megaserver system which means new instances of each PvE map are created dynamically when more players pop in. It means even in low level maps there are always some payers, tho obviously latest maps are always more populated.

Also, I am not sure what is your definition of PvE. I only do open world maps, but there are also instanced group content like dungeons (abandoned for couple years), fractals (like dungeons but they get more difficult as you redo them) and raids (kind of elite dungeons).

3. Everyone has same gear in PvP. Exotic rarity gear is fine usually to run around, they aint that costly and can be bought easily from Trading Post. You need to invest time and gold to get very best gear – ascended. In theory Legendary gear is even higher rarity but it has same stats as ascended, just with more effects and stats can be changed more easily.

4. Megaserver, see above. For PvE or PvP server has no importance. It only matters if you want to go to fight in WvW. Even in WvW, I doubt it matters that much.

5. You can play the game for free in most maps, but to access newer level 80 maps you need to buy Heart of Thorns expansion. It also unlocks gliding, new elite specs and more possible gear. Notice that next expansion will be released within month.

FogLeg.9354:

1. None of the Crafting disciplines is super important in GW2. You can buy stuff you want from Trading Post so it is not required to be cook or run around hungry. These professions only matter if/when you start to gather up the best gear/stuff. The Ascended rarity gear is all account bound and you need to max specific profession to create it, so for example to get ascended sword you would need weaponsmith maxed.

2. PvE is fine. GW2 uses megaserver system which means new instances of each PvE map are created dynamically when more players pop in. It means even in low level maps there are always some payers, tho obviously latest maps are always more populated.

Also, I am not sure what is your definition of PvE. I only do open world maps, but there are also instanced group content like dungeons (abandoned for couple years), fractals (like dungeons but they get more difficult as you redo them) and raids (kind of elite dungeons).

3. Everyone has same gear in PvP. Exotic rarity gear is fine usually to run around, they aint that costly and can be bought easily from Trading Post. You need to invest time and gold to get very best gear – ascended. In theory Legendary gear is even higher rarity but it has same stats as ascended, just with more effects and stats can be changed more easily.

4. Megaserver, see above. For PvE or PvP server has no importance. It only matters if you want to go to fight in WvW. Even in WvW, I doubt it matters that much.

5. You can play the game for free in most maps, but to access newer level 80 maps you need to buy Heart of Thorns expansion. It also unlocks gliding, new elite specs and more possible gear. Notice that next expansion will be released within month.

Thank you FogLeg! Appreciate the quick reply.

I’m not sure if you already answered, but in terms of PvE gear, is it the same as PvP? That there is a set easily obtained, but to get the best “ascended” you have to grind?

Sorry if my formulation is bad, not my first language :P

ah, sorry about the confusion.

This is what normally is called PvP in GW2:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Structured_PvP
You join matches, you earn reward, get ranked and can win tournaments. Once you enter PvP lobby all your normal gear is replaced with standard PvP gear. Everyone gets same gear, no matter what you use in PvE. You do not have to grind anything for PvP gear, this is automatically assigned to you and everyone else, and you do not upgrade it.

Now, you can also fight other players in WvW
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/World_versus_World
which is separate gamemode and usually involves large scale battles between groups of players but can be also happen at 1v1 or anything in between. In WvW everyone uses their normal PvE gear, so it is possible to fight someone who has the best possible equipment while you are lower quality gear. This is the gamemode where having better PvE gear can be actually useful. It is also obviously about numbers too, if one side has 10 and other side 30 players then fight is usually won by larger group.

People playing WvW a lot can go to the extremes for having “all the best gear”, demanding exact stat combination, and this can be extremely grindy. They also tend to change their stats, weapons, traits and such every time game is patched and skills/traits get updated.

Hope this helped

No you dont get pve gear the same as pvp gear you actualy have to work some for it

Remihay.2418:

1. How is the crafting system in GW2. In WoW there are some professions that are almost not worth taking anymore.. And it doesn’t seem to have changed over the last two expansions.. Is it like this in GW2 too? Are there some professions I should avoid? Or do they all have some kind of function in terms of end-game or other things that might help me on my levelling journey?

2. Is PvE alive?

3. Can I get PvE gear as easily as in PvP where I just queue up with whatever I want? Please don’t misunderstand, I don’t want it to be easy, but i’m wondering if there is any grind to get good PvE gear? To me it seems pointless to grind if I can just get it right away.

4. What server should I play on? I am not a fan of PvP, but if the majority plays it, then what PvP server is the most active? Also, if you have a guild-opening for a full time student /part time job person, then please let me know

5. Are there any other things I should take with me on my new fresh journey into this game?

Thank you again for the answers. Truly appreciate it! I hope and i’m sure that after this post i’ll be even more motivated to play again

1. The only crafting profession that lack function in terms of ‘endgame’ is Jeweler. All of the weaponcrafting and armorcrafting professions can eventually get you Ascended gear(The best PVE gear) while cooking is always useful in making food for food buffs. Jeweler helps craft Amulets/rings/trinkets while levelling and is a good profession to help you level(Crafting gains you exp.) but beyond that it’s probably the most useless of the crafting professions.

2. PVE is alive and well. HoT meta events are still being done, and you can still find world boss trains depending on the day/time of day. Even running around Central Tyria maps, I always am running across at least a few players doing events/hearts/vistas/jumping puzzles/etc.

3. So, as some people stated above, PVP is actually split into 2 different game modes. Structured PVP is where you automatically given the best gear to work with, to put everyone on an even playing field(gear wise of course). World v World is the equivalent of open world pvp and that actually uses PVE gear. As for difficulty in getting gear, Exotic gear is relatively easy to get, which is ‘suitable’ for most game modes, but the best gear, ‘Ascended’ you definitely need to grind for. Ascended is pretty much necessary for uper tier fractals and raids if that is a goal for you. Can’t speak for WvW, as I don’t really partake.

4. There are no PVP servers. All servers are PVE. The game mode WvW basically acts as a way to world PVP and is a separate thing. It’s also the only thing in the game that cares about what server you pick. Everyone can play together with one another for the most part everywhere else besides WvW, via the mega-server technology the game uses.

5. Unlike a lot of MMOs, this game takes very little from WoW, even if it appears to be similar on the surface so don’t play it as such. Explore a lot, do lots of events, they give a lot more exp than hearts(the closest equivalent to quests). Everyone can revive everyone, and it nets you exp, so there is no reason not to help a fellow player out. Everyone has access to gathering nodes, and there is no mob tagging, so feel free to jump in and help. /wiki in game will take you to GW2 wiki which can be extremely helpful in getting you information.

Eltiana.9420:

1. The only crafting profession that lack function in terms of ‘endgame’ is Jeweler. All of the weaponcrafting and armorcrafting professions can eventually get you Ascended gear(The best PVE gear) while cooking is always useful in making food for food buffs. Jeweler helps craft Amulets/rings/trinkets while levelling and is a good profession to help you level(Crafting gains you exp.) but beyond that it’s probably the most useless of the crafting professions.

Most useless relative to all the other crafts… but not completely useless. You do need a Jeweler for several Legendaries.

So I’m returning as well and am coming from wow and this thread is great. However I’m still trying to wrap my head around what kind of goals can exist at endgame. In wow the drive is gearing to progress through new content, but if gear doesn’t change, what’s the goal? Does new content come regularly? Is it exploration? Is it pvp?

Cortesan.8615:

So I’m returning as well and am coming from wow and this thread is great. However I’m still trying to wrap my head around what kind of goals can exist at endgame. In wow the drive is gearing to progress through new content, but if gear doesn’t change, what’s the goal? Does new content come regularly? Is it exploration? Is it pvp?

The endgame can be different for each player. You can still spend extreme amount of time on better gear, just new gear is not giving you any better stats, it simply looks different. Same time, there are players who play just PvP or WvW.

As about new content, HoT expansions was released 2 years ago, and we get next expansion soon. During these 2 years Living World Season 3 gave several new maps and continued the story, and while you must own HoT to play these, you are not actually required to gear up from one map to have any chance fighting in next.

By soon he means a month, bit less actually*

I shall join the thread….can someone advise on a guide to craft ascended weapons? I spend most of my time in WvW and open PvE…is that ok or do I need dungeons and fractals?

Rhaegar.5120:

I shall join the thread….can someone advise on a guide to craft ascended weapons? I spend most of my time in WvW and open PvE…is that ok or do I need dungeons and fractals?

2 web sites that will GREATLY assist you with crafting:
a. gw2crafts.net – crafting guide that will dynamically show you the cheapest way to level specific crafting professions, including using mats you have.
b. gw2efficiency.com – besides being able to datamine the heck out of your gw2 account (to find that one pesky achievement you were working on but can’t find again…), there is a crafting section that will show you the cheapest method of crafting each item in the game.

Additional point on crafting professions: there are 9 in the game, 8 are for yourself, the 9th – Scribing – is about crafting stuff for your guild. So don’t try to be a scribe unless you’ve got a guild to support and supporting you.

Rhaegar.5120:

I spend most of my time in WvW and open PvE…is that ok or do I need dungeons and fractals?

Nop, you do not need dungeons or fractals. Actually, if you do WvW a lot then Ascended weapon boxes drop there. You can not choose stats on these but you can pick which wepon you want. This means you do not even need to max your crafting discipline.

The recipes for ascended weapons are all in the wiki. You need to max crafter first (weaponsmith, artificer or huntsman), this can take quite a lot of time or gold. Once maxed you have to craft bunch of time-gated materials or many parts can be bought from TP if you got enough gold.