Guild Wars 2

Hello all! I am new to Guild Wars 2. I got 4,000 Gems with the purchase of my game. I don’t want to use my 80 boost either. I’m currently about level 11. What Gem items do you feel is worth grabbing for a new player?

Short answer first: Not using your level 80 boost yet is sensible. Levelling up at least 1 character will help you learn the game so level 80 will be less overwhelming. But the boost might come in later if you want to start a new profession.

Long answer: What to do with gems. This is actually a hard question to answer because there’s nothing in the gem store you actually need to play, so there’s very few obvious answers and I know people disagree on what those are.

I’d say the most useful things right from the start are 1-2 extra bank tabs and if you’re going to play 2 or more characters maybe some shared inventory slots. Later on you might want some extra character slots. Oh and the infinite gathering tools are useful, but probably not needed until you get to level 80 and are moving around maps a lot more.

Just so you’re aware all of those things go on sale periodically. These sales aren’t announced much in advance and then when they do say they’re going to have one they don’t say what will be included. But if you want something that seems expensive and you don’t mind waiting a while to get it for less that’s an option.

I actually spend the vast majority of my gems on mini pets, closely followed by gliders, mail carriers, outfits and other cosmetic/fun items, and I suspect the same is true of most players (with different items taking priority). If you like them I think they’re well worth getting, but I don’t want to actually recommend them because they have no gameplay benefits – they just look different – so there’s no need to buy any you don’t like.

The one thing to be aware of is Black Lion Keys. These open Black Lion Chests which are found in-game or bought from the Trading Post. I don’t know if you’re familiar with RNG boxes from other games but they’re basically a lucky dip. There’s a huge list of items that can come from them, including some really rare and highly desirable ones (either because they’re useful or simply because they’re worth a lot of gold) but the vast majority of chests will only give the common items.

If you enjoy gambling then that’s great, but if you’re ever tempted to buy them because you think it will be a good way to make a lot of gold or you want a specific item be aware that you’re highly likely to lose more than you make, and end up without the thing you wanted. If the thing you want is tradable you’re better off buying it from the Trading Post.

If you care about playing the story, I’d recomend buing the Living World Season 2 bundle. That is story content leading up to Heart of Thorns (the expansion story).
Other purchases really depends on your play style, so might be a good idea to wait and get a feel for it.

Some things are really valuable if you play multiple characters a lot, but a waste if you really only play one, or stick to one for long stretches of time.
Aesthetic/cosmetic stuff can be anything from super valuable to completely worthless depending on your personality.

I’d recommend waiting to spend your Gems until you are more familiar with the game (say, after having a few characters at L80). Then, you can decide what seems most interesting/helpful to you (it could be convenience items/fashion items/even Gold).

Welcome to Tyria, and good luck.

I managed to dredge up an old thread on the same topic (they tend to show up every now and then) with some good advice in: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/Help-me-shop-please/first#post6354753

Bank tabs, bag slots, extra char slot, permanent salvaging tools.

Tanner Blackfeather.6509:

If you care about playing the story, I’d recomend buing the Living World Season 2 bundle. That is story content leading up to Heart of Thorns (the expansion story).
Other purchases really depends on your play style, so might be a good idea to wait and get a feel for it.

Oh good point. I forgot that’s in the gem store too.

There will probably be a Season 3 bundle as well once Episode 6 is out. (Or individual chapters are sold now, through the story journal, but I’d recommend waiting for the bundle, there’s a lot of story to get through before Season 3.)

Thank you all. I greatly appreciate it. How do you all feel about the “Copper-Fed Salvage-o-Matic”? I heard from a few places it is worth it.

How do you all feel about these bundles like “Character Jump Start” or “Account Jump Start”?

I do look forward to buying mini pets

I’d skip the “jump start” bundles, they tend to contain too much non-essential stuff.
The Copper-fed Salvage-o-matic is wonderful. It should be a prime contender for the Shared Inventory slot you’ll get when you use to lvl 80 boost (but do wait with using that boost!)

From my point of view I would go with convenience items. First is the copper-fed salvage kit (800 gems). Generic unbreakable tools (2400 gems) . Bank tab (600) or Collection Expansion (800).

The first two items mean you will never need to buy or run out of either basic salvage kits or gathering tools while out in the field. The last either doubles the number of bank slots or doubles what collections can hold.

But I can understand that some people will vehemently disagree with these choices.