Guild Wars 2

Hi all, I played this game when it came out and didn’t quite like it as much as I hoped. With the expansion being on sale I thought I’d give it a go again also because I really like the gliding idea (I used to play Aion which had wings also).

Now I do have a level 80 guardian in exotic gear as I remember but it’s been a while and as I am downloading the client atm I thought I’d ask you guys for advice on what you think the best way is to get back into the game since it seems a lot has changed especially since the expansion hit.

So please, feel free to give me any advice that could be useful to get back into the game and give it another chance.

Well, you say you like gliding and you have a level 80, right? I’d jump into the HoT storyline and go up until the point where you unlock gliding and enter the Verdant Brink. Then I’d take a little break from that, do some exploring, find some mastery points, and gain some experience to unlock bounce mushrooms, updrafts, Nuhoch wallows, and exalted markings. These masteries along with the basic gliding mastery will allow you to explore almost everywhere in the jungle (you’ll need poison mastery and possibly leyline gliding for full 100% map completion on all 4 maps).

While you’re gaining experience and unlocking masteries, you’ll also want to complete hero challenges to unlock your elite spec (dragonhunter for guardian).

I gather we’re on separate time schedules as I’m about to head to work and you’re just now downloading the client, but if I happen to be around at the right time feel free to contact me in game. I know the maps well and can help you find some objectives if you’re having any trouble.

Thanks, that actually sounds like a great plan to me. I think the exploration with gliding is something I enjoy.

I’ll see if I can look up what those hero challenges are that you are speaking of. And yeah it’s 1pm here right now (EU)

If you have an 80 level already, at the least, do the first quest for HoT expansion. That will get you going and then do just one level of the HOT exp. Won’t take long at all. That unlocks the gliders on ALL your toons. So even if you don’t want to play that guardian for the expansion or whatever, you can use your glider on the alts.

Just remember that the expansion npcs hit harder and the new maps are meta map wise things. So no hearts like the old world. I dislike the expansion and the forced grouping for most of the map stuff, but I know I don’t speak for everything.

Also if you enjoy any WvW you earn a chest after each WvW level. That chest will always have a book of xp (free level) and hero points. (6 to 9 of them). They are great for you to get the hero points you need for your expansion traits (ie Dragonhunter for your Guardian).

On tip, but them in blocks of 10 from the WvW Vendor. That way it is credit for HOT zones and they are harder to get vs old world skill points.

Ahh some more good advice. Yeh I did the first couple of chapters of HoT and now it says I need to gain experience to get the glider but it doesn’t actually explain how to do this. Still trying to figure what I need to do exactly. The WvW seems like a good idea also.

I am also a returning player, who pretty much left after finishing the personal story for the original release of the game. I quit mainly because I felt deflated by the drama which went down in the guild I was in. I came across a bunch of videos I made from back then and realised that all these years, the one game I really did enjoy playing was GW2. So, I decided to return. I have no idea what is install for me in this expansion, other than you get gliders, I remember using a glider in ArcheAge, but honestly that game never really held any major appeal to me. I honestly miss the artstyle and combat animations of GW2, it really clicked with me.

My biggest regret is being gone for the past nearly 4 years now. Well since 2 months after launch really…

Guess I got a lot to catch up on.

I found your advice to also be very useful, thankyou.

+1

Gehenna.3625:

Ahh some more good advice. Yeh I did the first couple of chapters of HoT and now it says I need to gain experience to get the glider but it doesn’t actually explain how to do this. Still trying to figure what I need to do exactly. The WvW seems like a good idea also.

You earn mastery points in HOT (well lin old world also). But for the gliding you just need one point and that is not hard to get. You have one already from doing the first step of the story.

On the screen you have the XP bar on the bottom. click the left side of the bar and the interface comes up where you can now train and use 1 mastery point to learn gliding.

later on, other skills like updrafts, etc will need more then one mastery point. To get more points you can google and youtube the locations. If not hit M and when near them they will be greyed out.

Be aware they are account bound. So when you learn it one toon, good for all others.

Ah great thanks. I just couldn’t figure it out cause I saw the one mastery point I got but then it said 62% on the unlock so it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Alrighty then, time to see where I get that mastery point.

Just a silly question perhaps, but if I do those first two chapters on an alt will it give me another mastery point or is that a one-time only deal?

All toons share the mastery points. So learn updraft on one and all others have it. Even new ones. Do. It have to train it like say wow points

The real question is not where to start but why did you leave? I believe it is because you got board, and it just may happen again. I really don’t think HOT is a lot better than the core game. In fact I kind of like the core game better.
So how do you fix that? My suggestion is join a very active guild with voice, and make friends. Or better yet invite a real life friend to play. I belong to a very small guild that has played nearly every night since opening of GW1. We play the game, but more so keep up with each other lives as we play a few hours every night.

Angelica Dream.7103:

The real question is not where to start but why did you leave? I believe it is because you got board, and it just may happen again. I really don’t think HOT is a lot better than the core game. In fact I kind of like the core game better.
So how do you fix that? My suggestion is join a very active guild with voice, and make friends. Or better yet invite a real life friend to play. I belong to a very small guild that has played nearly every night since opening of GW1. We play the game, but more so keep up with each other lives as we play a few hours every night.

That is a large assumption to make; People quit for more than just being bored with the game.

The reason I quit was due to a variety of factors, primarily I had a major falling out with the clique I belonged to, in the process they left GW2 because the new WoW expansion at the time was released, they left WoW because they got tired of guild drama; They returned to WoW because the expansion enticed them. I haven’t heard from them in 2 years, but suffice it to say, I believe they don’t play video games anymore, the event for me was so traumatic that when I moved house, in the process I simply never got back into GW2 after the move. After that the guild I was in slowly went inactive till the majority of it’s members had quit GW2 by the end of 2013.

I left shortly after I finished my personal story in 2012, it just so happened to fall in line with when the drama went down. Funny enough, all those people whom I am no longer friends with are still on my contacts and are still in the guild, which tells me that in all likelihood they quit at the same time I did. Only 10 members out of the original 160 something are still active and they no longer represent the guild, least from what I’ve seen the first time I’ve logged in for nearly 4 years.

However, I agree with your second point. I believe I need to find a new active community, as community, raiding, WvW and PvP is the bread and butter of GW2 in between living story events.

Angelica Dream.7103:

The real question is not where to start but why did you leave? I believe it is because you got board, and it just may happen again. I really don’t think HOT is a lot better than the core game. In fact I kind of like the core game better.
So how do you fix that? My suggestion is join a very active guild with voice, and make friends. Or better yet invite a real life friend to play. I belong to a very small guild that has played nearly every night since opening of GW1. We play the game, but more so keep up with each other lives as we play a few hours every night.

This is the players helping players forum. I am sure that from your point of view that might even be what your intention is here, but I don’t find this rhetoric very helpful.

However, I am very much willing to explain to you what the core reasons were why I left and see if that makes a little more sense to you.

1) I was a GW1 veteran. Played it for about 7 years and GW1 was abandoned pretty much by Anet in favour of GW2. Unfortunately, as GW2 developed and the team was basically replaced during that process, the only things that remain in GW2 that have anything to do with GW1 is names of places and classes and the occasional cosmetic item that’s basically a GW2 version of a GW1 armour set. Beyond that it has NOTHING to do with GW1 and the name GW2 therefore was completely undeserved as it was a game that has no real link to the first installment. It took time for me to accept that.

2) Boredom. Yes, you mentioned it but you do not see that things have changed. You have to remember I am looking from the outside in now. I have not taken all the steps in between and so I see the differences more clearly. One of the things that bored me was that no matter what I did with my build, it made no difference. After having played a few hours yesterday, already I noticed I needed to do something about my build. That for me was a good sign. Also the new areas are different and adding flight into the game is a big plus for me for the exploring side.

Another issue was that endgame was completely useless. Sure the whole game was endgame but in all honesty, you need a more casual approach to gaming to be able to appreciate what this game does have to offer. I have become more casual since then.

Listen, I am not expecting the perfect game and maybe I’ll just play it for a couple of months and that will be that. But for 22 bucks that’s a great deal just the same. Since GW2 doesn’t have a subscription model I don’t have to care about long term. It’s an advantage as well as a disadvantage.

Next thing for my guardian is to figure out which build to use and which set bonus to use and give that a go. Then it’s on to my Mesmer. Apparently I can raise an alt to 80 instantly. I’m sure I’ll have some fun with it at least for a while and then we’ll see if it sticks. But it’s neither a waste of time nor money for me. I am enjoying it for what it is at the moment and that’s what matters to me.

Gehenna.3625:

Ahh some more good advice. Yeh I did the first couple of chapters of HoT and now it says I need to gain experience to get the glider but it doesn’t actually explain how to do this. Still trying to figure what I need to do exactly. The WvW seems like a good idea also.

In your mastery interface, you need to have the mastery highlighted that you want to train in. You will see the experience bar on that mastery for what you have earned. Each mastery earns it’s own experience. Example: You are earning experience for basic gliding. If you click over to bouncing mushrooms, you will see a different level of experience.

Once your experience bar is filled – gained by doing the story, events and general experience – and if you have enough mastery points, you will see the green star burst highlighted. You click on that to train it. The game automatically chooses the next in line of that mastery to start training you. So, when you earn your basic gliding, you need to switch to bouncing mushrooms – or what ever you choose to train in next.

When you look at the over view of the mastery panel, you will have a golden check mark to show what mastery line you’re earning experience in.

I hope that helps you.

Phyre Storm.1624:

Gehenna.3625:

Ahh some more good advice. Yeh I did the first couple of chapters of HoT and now it says I need to gain experience to get the glider but it doesn’t actually explain how to do this. Still trying to figure what I need to do exactly. The WvW seems like a good idea also.

In your mastery interface, you need to have the mastery highlighted that you want to train in. You will see the experience bar on that mastery for what you have earned. Each mastery earns it’s own experience. Example: You are earning experience for basic gliding. If you click over to bouncing mushrooms, you will see a different level of experience.

Once your experience bar is filled – gained by doing the story, events and general experience – and if you have enough mastery points, you will see the green star burst highlighted. You click on that to train it. The game automatically chooses the next in line of that mastery to start training you. So, when you earn your basic gliding, you need to switch to bouncing mushrooms – or what ever you choose to train in next.

When you look at the over view of the mastery panel, you will have a golden check mark to show what mastery line you’re earning experience in.

I hope that helps you.

Yeh it took me a moment to figure that out. I initially thought I just needed to gain mastery points and didn’t realise that the spending of mastery points was also gated by experience point gain.

Yep. At least it will keep you busy for a while.