Guild Wars 2

I’ve just purchased the game today. My friend told me that Guild Wars 2 still has good population and still is a good MMORPG. I hope he’s right, but I just wanted to post to ask about the game. Is there anything a newbie should know about this before going on? I plan on becoming a Necromancer so if anyone can just give me some tips not only on the class itself but the game as well I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance

Not much, The Game is pretty easy to get into, and the community is very friendly too.

Just one thing: If you see people in downed state or dead, and there isn’t danger around, revive them.

Here is a great thread for some tips and tricks that I found very helpful when I started:

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

The Players Helping Players Forum is a great resource as welL
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players

Things in the main forum here tend to way heavily on the doom and gloom side.

Welcome to the GW2 community!

Do the daily and monthly quests. Save all of your Laurels. Do not waste them on crafting boxes or dye packs.

Save your gold. Use gear from drops until you reach level 80. At level 80, work on getting a full exotic (orange quality gear) set.

Deposit all of your crafting materials into the bank. Save them until you need them. Do not vendor them or sell them on the trading post…at least until you know what materials you will need for your crafting professions.

Visit YouTube and watch this guy’s videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/WoodenPotatoes

Good crafting guides here:
http://www.guildwars2-crafting.com/

This game is all about player cooperation. There’s no tagging of critters or kill stealing. No fighting for loot or resource nodes. Everyone can rez a fallen player. Most activities are flash mobs rather than formal parties. If you see someone in trouble or simply fighting in your path, help.

You should try Warrior first. Easiest to kill and harder to die in PvE. I did Ele in my first class and I suffered a lot. Do a Warrior (or a guardian, but Warrior is more newbie friendly) first to get the mechanics and know the game before going another classes.

And like the guy above me said. There is no KS whatsoever. Every thing is about cooperation and you can level alone. This is what make GW2 so amazing.

Necro is pretty solid for leveling, as they have a big health pool. Heck, my first character was a Mesmer, and I did ok. Just remember to dodge when you must, and possibly open with your pets instead of an autoattack so your pets tank first.

Remember that hearts are there to point at locations where events happen, and that events are your main way of leveling— you will not leave a zone at the right level if you just move from heart to heart. Also gather everything (good XP) and if you have the patience, complete the zone for decent at-level rewards; there are interactive maps on the web that will show you what you’ve missed.

SilentDream.6397:

I’ve just purchased the game today. My friend told me that Guild Wars 2 still has good population and still is a good MMORPG. I hope he’s right, but I just wanted to post to ask about the game. Is there anything a newbie should know about this before going on? I plan on becoming a Necromancer so if anyone can just give me some tips not only on the class itself but the game as well I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance

Have fun playing the game and don’t be in too much of a rush to reach level 80. Also, find some friends to play with, or join a guild. It should make playing more enjoyable.

I’m so glad I found this thread. I just started playing as well (the highest level I have is a level 13). I’m struggling with really where to go and what direction I should be headed.

As a new player, this game is a lot to take in at once – especially coming from World of Warcraft. The amount of skills you get from swapping weapons and such is very confusing for someone new like me.

That said, the links provided in this thread will point me in the right way. The game is visually out of this world, so I hope I get better so I can enjoy it more soon!

Find a join a friendly guild that supports new players. It’s probably the best single thing you can do for yourself.

Another good idea, harvest every node you come across…cooking ingredients, wood, ore, etc. Don’t pass any of them up. Deposit all of it into your bank and use it for crafting or sell it for gold to buy gear at level 80.

Salvage everything blue quality and lower. Save greens and yellows for the mystic forge in Lion’s Arch or sell them on the trading post.

Again, I can’t stress enough…bank everything…all of your crafting materials. Save those for level 80.

As said previously, roaming around looking for Dynamic Events is the best way to level in PvE, but your first 5ish levels don’t really jive well with that because you’re restricted to such a small area at first. Just hack out those first few levels and the world opens up. When a random NPC comes up to you screaming about trouble somewhere, he or she is actually trying to direct you to a DE, so don’t ignore them.

Also, don’t hesitate to to hop to other race’s starting areas, they’re just as fun.

Learn to dodge. It’s a fundamental mechanic, and very necessary to play well. The game’s really forgiving about this at first, so it can be easy to start some bad habits at early levels. You’ll probably want to disable double tap dodging, and maybe rebind it to somewhere easier to reach. I put mine on my mouse-wheel click.

I’ve always compared starting this game to one’s first smartphone. At first, you’ll probably hate it because it’s so different. In a few hours or days though, you’ll wonder how you ever lived before GW2.

And most importantly, remember, the GW2 community on the whole are a very helpful bunch, don’t be afraid to ask for help. I’m not saying we don’t have jerks and trolls, but on the whole, it’s a very sweet community.

Treat it like a new experience: If you have played other MMOs like World of Warcraft, abandon (almost) everything you know. Most new players go through a de-wowing upon playing Guild Wars for the first time, it’s quite different to what you’d be used to. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, community is EXTREMELY helpful and friendly.

Realize that crafting is not a money making profession unless you gather all the materials yourself and even then you would likely make more money selling the raw materials. To level in crafting you need crafting XP. Items that grant you a lot of XP are done by discovering their recipe, that every crafter before you has already done and made oodles of them. And it turns out relatively few players are interested in them so supply outstrips demand and the price is below cost.

GW2Spidy is excellent for knowing what is and isn’t profitable plus it does the work to show you the cheapest way to craft an item if you are buying all your materials. For instance some crafted materials are cheaper to buy made than buying the raw material and crafting that material yourself. Sometimes by a lot. GW2Spidy also has an extensive trade history of highest bids and lowest sell price for every item so you can pick an idea what a good price would be. Sadly their Gem exchange database is off line, it was the best at seeing daily trends in exchange rate fluctuations.

GuildWarsTrade provides a better interface with filters to limit total number of items. Want to see which items have more than 1000 bids but less than 1000 items for sale at less than 8s50c each, you can with their filters.

I joined this game on day 3 with a bunch of friends from another MMO that will remain nameless cough pandas cough. My friends were all “content locusts” and blew to max level as fast as possible, couldn’t handle the lack of trinity and quit in a sad confused state.

I took forever to level and find the class that I liked the best. I enjoyed every aspect of the journey to max level, even the last fight (it was story mode guys, give it a rest). As a result, I met many friendly fun and helpful people along the way and found a good guild that is active. I am still here and loving this game.

What happened to my friends you ask? They are playing with pandas and talking about whatever flavor of the month new MMO is soon to be released. Yup, Wildstar and EQNext is gonna be the kitten… sigh

Advice is the worst Vice, but mine is; Enjoy the ride.

Learn to read, lol. No seriously that’s the only thing you need to know. Take your time with the game, try to get into it, study the keybinds/the interface.
If a new LS arch starts read the mail you get, look on the map for new markers, read the update notes. If you do that you are most of the time completely independend from extensive guides.
Imo, A.Net did a really good job telling you where to go when it comes to Living Story events right now even though they are planning to rework it in a pretty big way (still not sure why)

Take your time, enjoy the game, and don’t get into the mindset of “having” to do this and this and that. GW2 is about doing things because you want to.

Like to explore? Pick a zone, any zone, and have at it. You’ll get level-appropriate rewards no matter where you go. Check the crevices and caves and hop up ledges that look suspicious. Maybe you’ll discover a jumping puzzle or an open-world dungeon along the way.

Want to completely min/max your stats? Go for Ascended gear at your own pace- save laurels or run Fractals. Don’t feel like min/maxing? Stay in exotics and you’ll do just fine, if not better than a less skilled player in Ascended.

Like story? Follow the Living Story and play through the story quests provided. Hang around a town and centaurs may invade, and then a bunch of NPCs will run off to rescue their friends. Take some extra time talking to NPCs and you’ll learn about the conflicts going on.

Looking for a challenge? Climb to Fractals level 48, delve into dungeons, duo a dungeon, solo a dungeon, solo things that are not meant to be soloed.

GW2 is not meant to be played as a constant grind to be “better” than the next person, where the world is just a backdrop. It’s an open sandbox- jump in and see what you like to do, then do it. Relax. If you ever need a break, take one- no sub fee, no gear grind, no pressure to play.

Regarding combat, there’s no dedicated healer or tank. Everyone can heal themselves, everyone has a way to avoid or offset damage, and everyone contributes to damage. Though there are ways to support others, everyone is responsible for themselves. I would recommend reading https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/GW2-Combat-system-101-Guide/first

Learn to play actively- it’s more important to avoid damage than to heal it. Move in combat, learn when to dodge and how read the enemy’s attacks, and don’t spam your skills, but apply them according to the situation. This is easier to show than to explain, so I’ll leave this here.

If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up. Welcome

Welcome SilentDream to a game that is unlike the traditional MMO formula for some things.

My advice is to go slow, take in the sights, talk with the NPCs, ask questions to any guildies or friends you have. Read the wiki if you need some more information on background, and consult dulfy’s site if you want more on the nuts and bolts of certain things.

Like the others said collect every node you can find then deposit it all in the bank. You might not craft yet, but when you do this will be worth it.
Do all the events, follow an NPC around if you are interested in what they are doing. For all you know that might just unlock another activity or mission for you.

Complete your starting zone, explore that part of the map, move on to the other race’s maps, and explore every home city and Lion’s Arch. You are getting experience points and some goodies just for enjoying the game’s art.

If you have played previous MMORPGs don’t think in their terms. You will either get confused or ticked off. Take the mindset of a person who just moved into a city they’ve never visited. Sure that’s scary, but exciting, and you’ll have a lot to learn.

Also trust yourself with the game. If people in game or in forums are grumping over something but you like it, you aren’t wrong. They probably just had different expectations. If you enjoy something in the game keep pursuing it, even if it might not be the most efficient way to get XP or gold.

Enjoy the ride, take in the sights, and explore everything.

People already sent reqlly usefull links here, but i just wanted to add: try lookijg for a friendly guild! Its much more fun if you have people to play with :3.

If you every need live help, feel free to whisper me in game :D. I wont be able to play untill like 8 days though :’(

edit: forum PM works too ;).

I would make sure to pick up signet of locusts for its convenience, well of suffering for its aoe destruction, and spectral armor cause it’s a great “ohsht” skill, especially since you are learning the ropes of gw2. Make sure you pick up epidemic in the future as it is very important for many necro condi builds.

Also, get a new self heal skill asap. The one you start with has bad ai and likes to get itself killed at the most inconvenient times. The other two are great but for general PvE I’d say go for the well of blood because of its sustained healing and party support.

As for playstyle my biggest advice for newbie necros is to not forget to utilize your death shroud both offensively and defensively. Weapon skills are rather straightforward compared to other classes so balancing your deathshroud use is where alot of the class complexity lies.