Guild Wars 2

I’m new to this game, and I’ve been having trouble keeping in levels with my quests, for example, I’m level 6 but my quests are level 8-10.

Any way for me to easily keep in levels? or some way for me to get exp to get to level of my quests, since they are quite hard to do when I’m underleveled by a significant amount

Do some events. You’ll see an orange thing on your map, they give you a good amount of exp
Gathering materials and crafting stuff is great for leveling
Try going to other beginning areas: Queensdale, Plains of Ashford, Caledon Forest

First off, welcome!

XP is earned a little differently in Guild Wars 2 than in other MMOs. Everything you do earns you XP. There is literally nothing you do that doesn’t give you XP except for changing / re-dyeing your outfit. I’ve seen some new players make the mistake of thinking that they are supposed to go straight from one personal story instance to another. But the game is really set up with the expectation that you are exploring, gathering, doing events and hearts as you go along.

Most people level by doing the following:
Hearts (big yellow hearts on the map once done, empty hearts before completion) give karma and access to merchants (and XP) once completed.
Events (orange circles, monsters or swords on the map) give gold (and XP).

Gathering crafting mats with a pick, axe or sickle gives easy XP plus a mat to use or sell.
Killing mobs also gives XP plus drops or mats.

If you are in an area where the mobs and events are above your level, you should go back and finish exploring lower-level areas. Or, you can go to Lion’s Arch and go through Asura gates to get to the other beginning zones if you want.

Also, class can make things harder. Some classes are easy to start with, some are much harder to start with, but get more powerful in the late game.

Leveling with other people can be much more fun. There are several guilds that help new people. The guild I’m in (Legion of Honor / Operation Union) was specifically founded to help new players, the thread for signup is here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OPERATION-UNION-Bringing-Players-Together/page/36

There’s someone who’s going to be doing a group-leveling event, the link for times and places is here: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1j7au4/figured_i_would_extend_the_offer_here_if_anyone/

Thank you Gilosean,

But one thing I’ve had trouble with is crafting, I see materials around the world and go get them, but I don’t know where/how to craft and where I can get required materials since I never have all of the needed ones.

And also, I’m level 6, but all of the hearts in my area are too high, and events arent very frequently near me. Any recommended starting zone I should go to? I’ve tried the pyramid starting zone, but I got lost…… and couldn’t find a way out…… :/

Another question – Is the game like this through the whole? since this game is very different to other MMO’s I’d like to try max level, but at this rate it looks like it takes a very long time

Check out the this thread.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OMG-If-you-only-knew-this-tips-for-new-players/first

There is a lot of helpful tricks in there.

Two, if you go into an area that is higher level than you are, go find a different area where that isn’t the case. You will still get similar XP when you are in an area with critters lower level than yourself as you would if they were the same level.

What race is your character? What zone are you in?

I have a Charr Warrior and Human Thief, both level 6, the Warrior has level 8 quests and the Human has level 10 quests

I haven’t left the characters starting zones, I tried to leave to another starting area, the Asura one, but couldn’t find my way out of the pyramid……

in each of the races cities, you’ll find asura gates which are big purple circles on your map. these gates will take you to Lion’s Arch, the main city hub, from LA you can get to the other racial cities. To get out of Rata Sum (the pyramid) you have to take an asura gate out, when you walk up to it it will be titled Metrica Province, this is that city’s starter area.

Yata.8932:

in each of the races cities, you’ll find asura gates which are big purple circles on your map. these gates will take you to Lion’s Arch, the main city hub, from LA you can get to the other racial cities. To get out of Rata Sum (the pyramid) you have to take an asura gate out, when you walk up to it it will be titled Metrica Province, this is that city’s starter area.

Thank you, is it like this for every starting area or just Rata Sum?, also which are the best starting areas? and how many should I be doing?

Each race has a city check out the wiki for them:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/City

You should explore each of the cities to get the waypoints, points of interest and views. You will find crafting stations in every city that you can use. Banking and Black Lion Traders are available as well.

The interactive map will show you the world.
http://gw2.mmorpg-life.com/interactive-maps/
For now find the various cities and go into the entry level areas and explore to start leveling up. Look for events to pop up and join those. Work on the heart quests as you find them. Harvest everything you can find and sell items you get either on the trading post or to NPCs you meet.

Dulfy has one of the best guides to a lot of the stuff you can do out there right now:
http://dulfy.net/category/gw2/

Watch the map and local chat for what folk are doing. A lot of the bigger events get announced in those chats.

The forums have a lot of good information as well and you can keep track of ongoing events there.

Welcome to GW2. Go forth, explore, enjoy and have fun!

Alpher.5387:

Thank you Gilosean,

But one thing I’ve had trouble with is crafting, I see materials around the world and go get them, but I don’t know where/how to craft and where I can get required materials since I never have all of the needed ones.

And also, I’m level 6, but all of the hearts in my area are too high, and events arent very frequently near me. Any recommended starting zone I should go to? I’ve tried the pyramid starting zone, but I got lost…… and couldn’t find a way out…… :/

Another question – Is the game like this through the whole? since this game is very different to other MMO’s I’d like to try max level, but at this rate it looks like it takes a very long time

You can start crafting by going to a crafting station in one of the main cities. Talk to a crafting master (right next to the stations) to get started in a craft. If you can tell me what materials you’re having trouble getting, I’ll let you know where to find them.

As other posters before me have said, you can go to other starting zones if you’re having trouble with your current one. I would recommend Queensdale, the human zone, since it’s very easy to get around and there’s usually a high concentration of players there. If you’re still having troubles getting out of Rata Sum, let me know and I will try to help.

Also, GW2’s leveling system is different from the other games in that the rate of leveling stays even. In other games, you could blow through the first few levels in hours, but getting to max level later on would be brutally hard and grindy. Such was my first MMO, where you could level to 30 in two days, but it took you a month simply to get to 80 from 79, and that was only if you played many hours every day and did nothing but grind exp.

In GW2, leveling is slow at first. However, late-level leveling is relatively fast and easy. The time it takes to go to 21 from 20 is the same amount of time it takes to get from 79 to 80, and nearly the same amount of time as, say, 10 to 11. The time it took me to get my first character to 80 was four months, playing very casually without doing proper map exploration (filling hearts and getting PoIs), crafting, or personal story. My second 80 took only a month and a half- I explored maps fully on her, though at a relaxed pace, did my story, and mastered one craft. There are people out there who do it even faster and reach 80 in a week.

Also, if it makes things any better, in my opinion the first 20 levels are always the slowest and most painful. You don’t have many options for exploring, you have few utilities and traits open, and you’re just pretty weak all around. I find that leveling usually picks up for me after level 30.

Alpher.5387:

I’m new to this game, and I’ve been having trouble keeping in levels with my quests, for example, I’m level 6 but my quests are level 8-10.

Any way for me to easily keep in levels? or some way for me to get exp to get to level of my quests, since they are quite hard to do when I’m underleveled by a significant amount

I run into the same problem all the time, but some advice:

• Crafting gives your experience per level up in the trade
• Dynamic events are very good sources of experience, don’t just run by them all unless it’s a group event or a champion because you probably wont be able to solo it; but jump in if someone else is doing it.
• Your personal story steps are a great source of experience
• Experience scales with your level to a point so doing a level 3 event will still give you good experience when you’re level 30, the same thing with doing other maps that are lower level
• You can usually easily do things that are a few levels above your own level so don’t worry being level 6 and the next lowest thing is level 7, just go for it and watch for the nearby events
• You get a experience for every skill point, vista, waypoint, POI, and heart you do in addition to the experience you get while doing it. There is also a reward for grabbing all of these in a map, which gives some additional experience as well as some other things.
• Completing town maps also gives you experience.

How I usually play is I level up as best I can on the map, and when i’m out of things on my level, that’s my queue to go back to town, craft and do my personal story step. Usually that covers the gap.

The first few levels are the hardest, and it honestly gets easier as you go along. It doesn’t take very long to level, and you don’t have to work at it. Don’t worry about gear either, just use dropped gear or karma gear. Once you get to 80 you’ll understand how the game plays and will be able to start building a spec, but while leveling just replace things as better gear drops and you’ll be fine.

One tip about crafting stations – they also give you access to your bank, so you don’t need to go into the city to find a bank if you can find a nearby crafting station.

You probably won’t be able to keep yourself geared by crafting on your first character, it’s just hard to get mats quickly enough. However, crafting is very good for XP, or for making specific sets in the late game.

Alpher.5387:

Falunel.7645:

Alpher.5387:

Thank you Gilosean,

But one thing I’ve had trouble with is crafting, I see materials around the world and go get them, but I don’t know where/how to craft and where I can get required materials since I never have all of the needed ones.

And also, I’m level 6, but all of the hearts in my area are too high, and events arent very frequently near me. Any recommended starting zone I should go to? I’ve tried the pyramid starting zone, but I got lost…… and couldn’t find a way out…… :/

Another question – Is the game like this through the whole? since this game is very different to other MMO’s I’d like to try max level, but at this rate it looks like it takes a very long time

You can start crafting by going to a crafting station in one of the main cities. Talk to a crafting master (right next to the stations) to get started in a craft. If you can tell me what materials you’re having trouble getting, I’ll let you know where to find them.

As other posters before me have said, you can go to other starting zones if you’re having trouble with your current one. I would recommend Queensdale, the human zone, since it’s very easy to get around and there’s usually a high concentration of players there. If you’re still having troubles getting out of Rata Sum, let me know and I will try to help.

Also, GW2’s leveling system is different from the other games in that the rate of leveling stays even. In other games, you could blow through the first few levels in hours, but getting to max level later on would be brutally hard and grindy. Such was my first MMO, where you could level to 30 in two days, but it took you a month simply to get to 80 from 79, and that was only if you played many hours every day and did nothing but grind exp.

In GW2, leveling is slow at first. However, late-level leveling is relatively fast and easy. The time it takes to go to 21 from 20 is the same amount of time it takes to get from 79 to 80, and nearly the same amount of time as, say, 10 to 11. The time it took me to get my first character to 80 was four months, playing very casually without doing proper map exploration (filling hearts and getting PoIs), crafting, or personal story. My second 80 took only a month and a half- I explored maps fully on her, though at a relaxed pace, did my story, and mastered one craft. There are people out there who do it even faster and reach 80 in a week.

Also, if it makes things any better, in my opinion the first 20 levels are always the slowest and most painful. You don’t have many options for exploring, you have few utilities and traits open, and you’re just pretty weak all around. I find that leveling usually picks up for me after level 30.

Pretty much all basic crafting materials, I think after I’ve learned those I’d get in the swing of everything and have no trouble. Are all crafting materials easy to find/gather? looking to do Weaponsmithing

When I start a new character…
I ignore heart quests and personal quests completely!

After the tutorial where I level up, I do a 180 and immediately head into the racial city. From there I find the Asura gate to lions arch. In Lions Arch I get the waypoint that connects to the gates that go to each starter city.

From that point on I just hop between every races cities, going into their starter zones looking for skill points on the map (they are the little blue arrows on the map).

Oh wow, I 100% completed 1 area and got a ton of exp, I need to do this more!

Alpher.5387:

Falunel.7645:

Alpher.5387:

Thank you Gilosean,

But one thing I’ve had trouble with is crafting, I see materials around the world and go get them, but I don’t know where/how to craft and where I can get required materials since I never have all of the needed ones.

And also, I’m level 6, but all of the hearts in my area are too high, and events arent very frequently near me. Any recommended starting zone I should go to? I’ve tried the pyramid starting zone, but I got lost…… and couldn’t find a way out…… :/

Another question – Is the game like this through the whole? since this game is very different to other MMO’s I’d like to try max level, but at this rate it looks like it takes a very long time

You can start crafting by going to a crafting station in one of the main cities. Talk to a crafting master (right next to the stations) to get started in a craft. If you can tell me what materials you’re having trouble getting, I’ll let you know where to find them.

As other posters before me have said, you can go to other starting zones if you’re having trouble with your current one. I would recommend Queensdale, the human zone, since it’s very easy to get around and there’s usually a high concentration of players there. If you’re still having troubles getting out of Rata Sum, let me know and I will try to help.

Also, GW2’s leveling system is different from the other games in that the rate of leveling stays even. In other games, you could blow through the first few levels in hours, but getting to max level later on would be brutally hard and grindy. Such was my first MMO, where you could level to 30 in two days, but it took you a month simply to get to 80 from 79, and that was only if you played many hours every day and did nothing but grind exp.

In GW2, leveling is slow at first. However, late-level leveling is relatively fast and easy. The time it takes to go to 21 from 20 is the same amount of time it takes to get from 79 to 80, and nearly the same amount of time as, say, 10 to 11. The time it took me to get my first character to 80 was four months, playing very casually without doing proper map exploration (filling hearts and getting PoIs), crafting, or personal story. My second 80 took only a month and a half- I explored maps fully on her, though at a relaxed pace, did my story, and mastered one craft. There are people out there who do it even faster and reach 80 in a week.

Also, if it makes things any better, in my opinion the first 20 levels are always the slowest and most painful. You don’t have many options for exploring, you have few utilities and traits open, and you’re just pretty weak all around. I find that leveling usually picks up for me after level 30.

Pretty much all basic crafting materials, I think after I’ve learned those I’d get in the swing of everything and have no trouble. Are all crafting materials easy to find/gather? looking to do Weaponsmithing

It depends on what materials you’re trying to get. Cloth/leather/ore/wood are fairly easy to get- you get ore and wood by harvesting nodes of the right level, and cloth and leather by using a salvage kit (purchasable from merchant NPCs) on white gear and white items labeled “Salvage Item.” Monster materials like fangs, claws, and scales are a bit rarer since they drop from certain monsters. You can get both monster materials and cloth/leather by opening bags dropped from enemies.

Kill all the neutral mobs(deers, boars, moas, cows, …stuff with yellow names if you hold ctrl) they usually have a huge bonus exp.

Some can be said with hostile critters off the beaten path. There is an XP bonus attached to every yellow or red critter based on how long they have been “alive” since their were spawned.