Guild Wars 2

So the last time I played this game was about 2 weeks after the release of Southsun Cove. Yes, it’s been since January of 2013 since I last played Guild Wars 2. Though recently some acquaintances of mine mentioned that they still play this game, to varying degrees of activity. They convinced me to give the game another go and so here I am. The issue is, I haven’t got a clue where to go or what to do. So to expedite the matter here’s the juicy bits on where I was when I stopped playing, and what I have available to me.

The following characters all completed the Story prior to my departure.
Character 1 - Thief
Carrion Emblazoned Armor - Superior Rune of the Afflicted 6/6
Royal Ascalonian Dagger x2 - Superior Sigil of Agony / Superior Sigil of Corruption
Rampager’s Ebon Vanguard Shortbow - Superior Sigil of Venom
Rampager’s Ebon Vanguard Pistol x2 - Superior Sigil of Agony / Major Sigil of Corruption
Chrysocola Orichalcum Ring x2 - Exquisite Chrysocola Jewel
Chrysocola Orichalcum Earring x2 - Exquisite Chrysocola Jewel
Chrysocola Orichalcum Amulet - Exquisite Chrysocola Jewel
Rampager’s Spineguard - Exquisite Coral Jewel

This character was built as a Condition Thief that I was occasionally running WvW with or just farming in general. I just don’t know what to do with her right now. I listed the equipment because at the time she was my main and I devoted most of my playtime here.

Character 2 - Ranger

This was my initial character, though I found Rangers at the time to be a complete joke and gave up on the character. Though upon being told I should return I was given to believe that this has changed.

Character 3 - Warrior

I wanted to hit hard.

Character 4 - Engineer

It looked extremely fun. It was.

This last character did not complete the story, though she is 80.
Character 5 - Mesmer
I… got bored?

So I wanted to be more descriptive of each character but I felt that would be too excessive. The point is, I don’t know what each character’s ideal, or at the least most efficient, build would be at this point. I intend to run mostly PvE, with maybe an occasional Dungeon.

Any help that could be offered would be greatly appreciated.

~Waves~ hi brakkis

Hi, welcome back to the game!

In PvE general rule is to run as much direct damage stats (Power, Precision, Ferocity.) For a lot of people this simply means full out damage (so-called Berserker/Assassin) but some people swap in a little bit of Toughness/Vitality as they need to survive. This is because in almost no content Toughness/Vitality is needed to survive (teamwork or knowing when to dodge is however) and Condition Damage is severely kitten by having a Condition Cap. Certain Conditions stack in intensity, but are capped (for example a target can only have 25 stacks of bleeding) which means your damage will suffer if anyone else is applying bleeds aswell (which a lot of classes can’t avoid doing.) Duration stacking conditions also don’t prioritize the person with the highest Condition Damage, once again harming a Condition users Damage, unless they are solo. For traits a similar ideal goes; take as much damage as you can handle.

WvW zerging requires quite a bit more survivability since you can’t dodge everything that’s thrown at you. For roaming run whatever works for you, since it’s mainly about dueling / taking camps solo.

sPvP you can change your stats/traits/runes/sigils between every match so just try a lot of different things and see what works for you. (Your PvE gear is purely cosmetic in sPvP.)

For ideas build-wise you could check: http://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki

As on things to do, could purchase the recent Living Story, 200 gems per chapter, I don’t find it too enjoyable personally for 200 gems but that’s each to it’s own. (They unlock for free if you log in in the first 2 weeks they come out though.) Map a bit, do some Dungeons, Fractals, WvW, sPvP, whatever you and your friends enjoy. The game is a lot more fun together.

Class-wise just pick anything you enjoy, if meta is important to you just check the link. I personally enjoy all classes, they are all good in some aspect of the game.

Hi Braxxis,

For a fun and informative overview of the major changes in the game, check out these videos made especially for GW2 Boomerangs a.k.a. returning players (I’m ‘Boomerang’ myself and found these extremely helpful): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMgOinWh2Y7FbZyBhlqgHoPI2w8_76_1w

I’m afraid Thief is one of the few professions I haven’t tried, so I can’t help you there. I can recommend (after taking in the main changes/updates) just venturing back into the world a familiarising yourself with things.

Take your characters out for a spin and find out firsthand what it’s like to run them now. There have been a lot of ‘balance changes’, as Anet likes to call them, and there’s really only one way to find out how they affect your gameplay.

Remember, above all, to have fun!