Guild Wars 2

Hi there, just got the game and was thinking of starting as an elementalist. I’ve heard for the most part pretty good things about the game and was just wondering what would be a good NA server to start on and if there are any tips a green horn such as myself know before I get started on my adventure. Thanks in advance.

Server selection only matters if you plan on doing WvW. For PvE land, the game uses mega server so it drops people from any and every NA server together in order to fill a map.

As Jaina said, as far as tips goes I’d encourage you to familiarize yourself with the LFG tool as soon as possible.

Other tips I could give is that you should not destroy anything you receive, salvage what you can, collect raw materials and sell the junk. (the price on the lower right represent the value of an item in-game, there’s a trading post for players and the price there can vary wildly.

If you ever feel like you’re in a zone where your level is too low, but you did everything you could in the previous one, go to another starting city. Each race have 1-15 areas for you to level in.

Gather everything you see, it will come handy later in, if only to make some money. Also, even if it sets you off path, get all waypoint you can, this will also help once you come back to those maps.

Playera cannot steal loots or kill, so feel free to jump in a fight if you see people struggling.

Don’t be afraid to request help in map chat, chances are there are at least a few people who have the reply.
Enjoy the game.

In addition to Pepsi: gathering nodes are also per account, so no one gathering at the same node will be stealing it from you (as it is in other games).

When you are in a map lower to your level, you will be powered down to be more appropriate for that zone, though still on the high powered side. You will still gain a good amount of XP by running around lower level zones; don’t avoid them just because you think you won’t level quickly that way.

If you have played other MMOs, there is not much of a leveling curve. It won’t take longer to gain levels the higher level you are.

At least your first time through – explore everything! There is so much story and cool nuggets about the world that is not stuffed into the personal and living stories. Talk to NPCs, explore areas and listen to NPC dialogue, visit Points of Interest, participate in events, and take your time. If you rush through everything you are seriously missing out.

Take the time to learn your class, learn what works best for your play style. Outside of roles for things like raids, play the class however you feel comfortable doing so – anyone that tells you that you have to play a class a certain way is just plain wrong. I also recommend making alt characters of different races and professions to see what they are like and mess around. I have one character of every profession across all races, and a few are the same profession but are able to be played differently enough that I don’t feel like I’m just playing a repeat.

Also I agree with Pepsi on this- if you have questions or need help, ask in Map chat! There are also specific players whose names will appear in chat with the word Mentor in front of it, and can be visible on that map with little apple icons – these are people that are tagged up and willing to help out others.

Thankso everyone for you quick replies. I look forward to jumping on after work tonight and getting started. Gonna start with a human elementalist

Welcome to Tyria!

Here’s a few basic tips from my strong experiences alongside what others have said:

+ Try different weapons once you get to it. Each profession has a selection of weapons they can use in their main hand and offhand. These weapons change which skills are available to you in the 1-5 bar. If it works for you, and it works effectively, try to upgrade just those.

+ You can never be overleveled for an area. If you need some more experience, participate in events. Rewards are scaled to your actual level, even if your “effective level” was lowered. You can become a little bit more powered than typical as you get better equipment, however.

+ Harvest ALL the things. Make sure you get a mining pick, harvesting sickle and logging axe. What you use for nodes is there for you. You’re not stealing from others.

+ Individual targets are represented by four colours: white is ambient creatures; green is allied players and NPCs; red is hostile enemies that will attack you if you get close; and yellow is neutral creatures that won’t attack unless you hit them.

+ Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. You’ve done the right thing coming here, but you can also ask in-game as well. Chances are someone will help you out.

Enjoy your time here. If you have any further questions, don’t be afraid to ask here.

I was also looking at the character creation for ele..Wicheck element should I focus starting off between the 4?

It has no effect other than which piece of gear you get.

If it’s a question asked in Character Creation, it’s more for flavor than anything really used in-game, if I remember correctly. It’s been a loooong time since I created an Elementalist. (Mine just harvests my Home Instance.) I think the tutorial unlocks the elements, as you level, in order.

Don’t be afraid to create other characters, and play them. The first part of the Personal Story, for each character, rewards a Black Lion Chest Key, that can award some goodies. =)

Welcome to Tyria, and good luck.

Awesome thanks for clearing that up. Most helpful forum community from any mmorpg I’ve ever played

A really great resource for all things Guild Wars 2 is the Wiki, accessed via the link above, or in-game by typing /Wiki (topic of choice) in chat. If you are unsure about an item you acquire, or just have a question about something, the Wiki may provide the information you seek.

Good luck.

Just wanted to add: when you’re gathering ALL the things, open your inventory, click on the gear symbol in the upper right corner and “deposit all”. All those materials are automatically put into your collections, accessed from any bank or crafting station. It’s an easy way to free-up inventory.

Also, keybind your dodge or be comfortable with double-tapping your movement keys. Dodge will keep you from death many, many times.

I hope you enjoy the game!

Also, if you’re in NA, I have a mesmer who should drag his kitten through map completion eventually. Just add me and whisp me in game if I’m online and if I’m available I’ll gladly help you out.

Bobert.7458:

Hi there, just got the game and was thinking of starting as an elementalist. I’ve heard for the most part pretty good things about the game and was just wondering what would be a good NA server to start on and if there are any tips a green horn such as myself know before I get started on my adventure. Thanks in advance.

Welcome to GW2!

Make sure to play around with all of the weapons available to your class to get a feel for them. In GW2, each weapon offers its own set of skills, unique to each class. For this reason, changing weapons can produce drastically different playstyles even within the same class.

For example, a thief using dual pistols is going to feel very different from a thief wielding a dagger and a pistol. And in fact, it even matters which hand you equip one-handed weapons in! A pistol/dagger thief shares not a single skill with a dagger/pistol thief and presents an entirely different style of play! But even then, since thieves may swap weapons in the middle of a fight, a dagger/pistol thief could become a pistol/dagger thief mid-fight!

Elementalists aren’t thieves, however. They aren’t able to swap weapons in combat. What elementalists do instead is swap elemental attunements: fire, water, air, earth. Where the thief has 5 weapon skills to each weapon set and two weapon sets to choose from in combat, the elementalist has 5 weapon skills to each attunement and thus has twice as many weapon skills, despite having only the one weapon set!

Cool, huh? There’s a lot more to this combat system, of course. But that’s probably the most interesting part, in my opinion. So be sure to try those different weapon sets out. It can be a lot of fun!

Welcome to the game!

Although it might me some time before you hit 80, one warning for you: If you bought HoT as well, don’t run into that right after you finished the main quest. Just. Don’t! Once you do reach lvl 80, either go ahead and do another class (which I greatly recommend, they are all very different and most are super interesting) or do Fractals of the Mists (unlock at 80 I think), map completion, Living World Season 2 (although it will cost gems, but it is definitely worth it, for the lore and the stepwise increase in difficulty). When you feel that you are successful with all those things, you can go on to HoT. Because otherwise, you will be pretty overwhelmed with HoT.

If you don’t own HoT, just ignore my post altogether and just have fun with this awesome game! As already stated, but can’t be stated enough, never be afraid to ask questions or for help. You are always likely to get an answer/support sooner or later.

Have fun!

Got some tips as well:

Try finding a guild. People in a guild help you much more often with killing a boss or answering a few questions. Casual guilds are great places to get help or to just have fun. Some guilds even take newer players into dungeons/fractals to teach them.

Stay away from meta builds and what not. You are better of running some weird mix you enjoy then some predefined build that you don’t know how to use.

Thanks for all advice guys… ele is pretty interesting so far..the whole game is a bit confusing atm. Its not like any other mmorpg I’ve played. But I look forward to continuing the game and learning what I can.

Also what would be another class that might be easier to start with but is also a good dps class. Ele seems a bit on the advanced side.

New to the game and made an ele but it seems like an advance class to start with. What would be a good class to choose for a first timer in gw2 but one that is also viable come end game. Thanks in advance for any help.

Lots of variables there. You’ve already tried Elementalist. You have 3-5 character slots, so make another to see if it fits you better. Personally, I like them all with Guardian and Ranger up there at the top and Mesmer and Revenant ranked lowest. But that’s me and my preferences.

What’s “top of the line” today may not be in three months, so no way to say for sure that what you start playing today will be “good” in the future. Google “meta battle” or “gw2 builds” and see what the top ranked meta builds are, since you seem to have some interest in them. Note the game modes and the professions in use and the builds. Those are builds for those very specific game modes – PvP, WvW, raids, etc. Last I remember looking there, nothing was for simple general play.

So set aside your elementalist and try another profession. If possible, don’t delete a toon since you get annual birthday rewards based upon when a toon was created. Not too big a deal if this is your first week, but months down the line…

Ele is pretty much the squishiest profession and needs the most stance-dancing and memory of different skill sets (they change as you swap attunement, and are weapon based), so you’re right, it’s not so handy to learn on.

Necromancer is much tankier, and leads to a super fun elite in end game. It’s not as desired in raids afaik, but for regular PvE it does great. Warrior might be a safe bet for you, as it’s extremely versatile and can be played simplistically or with complex nuance once you know what you’re doing. Both of those also offer weapon swap (only Ele and Engineer lack that, due to them having attunements/kits to get the same effect) and it’s worth figuring out how to include swapping in your rotation.

Me, I love necromancer both plain and elite, so I suggest that. It’s not a grimdark profession in this game, simply another way to manipulate magic. Ok, it does involve poison and chill and bleeding and raising of flesh and bone minions … but it’s not evil. really.

Who knows what the next Elite Specializations will bring as far as what will be ‘BiS’ profession-wise. You can probably choose anything you find fun.

My choice for a first-time character would be Ranger. Pretty capable, imo, and not too complicated. Condi is pretty big right now, and Rangers have condition-builds, I believe. It’s also fun to charm all the different pets.

Good luck.

Yeah, I’ll leech on Inculpatus cedo comment and say that ranger is probably the safest in term of beginner class. Enjoyable? I would not know, never played much my ranger, other than when druid was a kitten op-thing in PvP and I just hoped on the meta-train with it.

My personal favorite are, hands down, the three light class. They are handled very differently, and necro is probably the most “noob-friendly” out of the three with a slightly less complex mechanic than ele or mesmers.

Pepsi.8907:

Yeah, I’ll leech on Inculpatus cedo comment and say that ranger is probably the safest in term of beginner class. Enjoyable? I would not know, never played much my ranger, other than when druid was a kitten op-thing in PvP and I just hoped on the meta-train with it.

My personal favorite are, hands down, the three light class. They are handled very differently, and necro is probably the most “noob-friendly” out of the three with a slightly less complex mechanic than ele or mesmers.

OK so I made a necro and it seems pretty cool actually the only problem is I’m not sure what weapon set would be best to use. I’ve been told a lot of different things and searching online has proven useless due to nothing being up to date. Any useful tips for necro?

The best advice is to create characters, and use weapons, and complete content that you find most fun. It doesn’t matter what others say if you don’t find a game fun. Especially in this game, in leveling up it doesn’t really matter much how you gear up your characters, what build you use, or what weapon you choose.

I don’t even use a ‘build’ and choose my weapons more for looks than function, and I do just fine. Of course, I don’t Raid; it’s not really my thing. /shrug

(On my Necromancer, I use Staff and Axe/something…lol, I can’t even remember, and it’s like my second Main.)

Good luck.

Bobert.7458:

OK so I made a necro and it seems pretty cool actually the only problem is I’m not sure what weapon set would be best to use. I’ve been told a lot of different things and searching online has proven useless due to nothing being up to date. Any useful tips for necro?

I wouldn’t worry too much about what are technically the “best” weapon/stat combination. First, it can change from one patch to the next. But more importantly, what is best for one part of the game isn’t best for everything else. And even more importantly, when it comes to solo play it is 100% your show. All that matters is that you feel effective at doing whatever it is you enjoy doing.

Edit: But if it helps, I believe I liked dagger/dagger for leveling my necro, with dagger/warhorn as my swap.

Bobert.7458:

Pepsi.8907:

Yeah, I’ll leech on Inculpatus cedo comment and say that ranger is probably the safest in term of beginner class. Enjoyable? I would not know, never played much my ranger, other than when druid was a kitten op-thing in PvP and I just hoped on the meta-train with it.

My personal favorite are, hands down, the three light class. They are handled very differently, and necro is probably the most “noob-friendly” out of the three with a slightly less complex mechanic than ele or mesmers.

OK so I made a necro and it seems pretty cool actually the only problem is I’m not sure what weapon set would be best to use. I’ve been told a lot of different things and searching online has proven useless due to nothing being up to date. Any useful tips for necro?

I personally used dagger/focus or dagger/warhorn alot with staff in swap for the marks (#2-#5). When I unlocked reaper spec, I totally went Greatsword and never looked back, despite what everyone might say.

On another note, you might also think about going condi-necro and using scepter? I never did condi, though, but I heard it can be quite fun. The ultimate pro to going condi is that you can go full condi without losing sustain and toughness as it only needs one stat (condition damage) as opposed to power needing power, precision and ferocity.

So first off, once you know if you want to do power or condi (or even hybrid?), you can pick your weapon based on that. But in the end, you should try all the weapons on trashmobs, I suppose. Read the descriptions of each weapon skill, try them out on mobs and then decide what goes best with your flow.