Guild Wars 2

Hello,

I’m a level 54 Asura Engineer and haven’t been playing recently unfortunately due to finishing up my undergraduate degree, but I have a little bit more free time and I have a few questions.

1) I understand that GW2 is a free-to-play game with the option of purchasing “gems” from the store. What do these gems warrant? Can I buy gear with good stats? or weapons with good stats? or just cosmetics?

2) Is there 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5 structured PvP arenas where it’s strictly fight to the death?

3) I heard about “fractals” but do not know what those are. Are they like dungeons? How many people are required for a “fractal”? Are there anything like raids where you need tons of people?

4) Does every profession have a legendary weapon or more? Do Engineers have legendary weapons?

if I think of anything else, I’ll ask. Thanks!

1.) Gems can buy anything in the gem store (lion head on the top menu); almost entirely it’s cosmetic stuff, though there are experience boosters, regeneration boosters, that sort of thing that will give you a slight edge (IMO not one worth paying for). You can also convert gems to gold based on whatever the current market rate is, and that is how you would go about spending real cash to get the really good gear (convert then buy exotics or whatever from the trading post). Granted, it’s probably not worth doing this until you get to level 80 [if ever], but it’s your money.

2.) sPvP (crossed sword icon on the top menu bar) is 5vs5 or 8vs8(?) I think. I don’t know too much, I never do it, but it’s there. But they’re not deathmatch, they’re conquest unfortunately.

3.) Fractals [of the Mists] is a dungeon that was added in November, accessed from lion’s arch (Asura gate on the southern shore). Basically it randomly takes you to 3 out of a possible 7 short scenarios each time you do it. It’s a 5 man thing.

4.) Engineers can use rifles, pistols, shields, and harpoon guns. That means they can use The Predator, Quip, The Flameseeker Prophecies, and Frenzy (respectively).

Two places to go to get info on current & past changes:

Wiki
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page

- you can view updates to game and search things like Fractal of the Mists

http://dulfy.net/category/gw2

- a site with guides and update info on content and events

cpg more or less covered it, but to elaborate on a few things:
– the gem store is like a cash shop, it mostly contains cosmetics and convenience items. It has skins for weapons/armour which can be applied to gear, but nothing with stats you would want. Totally optional.
– PvP I’m not too sure about, although they did add the ability to pay (cash) for custom arenas recently, so people may have smaller battles going in their own things.
– Fractals of the Mists is a level 80 ‘infinite dungeon’ – each time you go through three fractals (like mini-dungeons or missions) and a boss, then you go up a rank. Next time you do three more, but it gets harder (and the rewards get better).
– As cpg said, there is a legendary weapon for each weapon type, they’re not bound to professions. As an engineer I would guess you’d be most interested in The Predator (for looks), but you can check them all out on the Trading Post (complete with previewing).