Guild Wars 2

Hello everybody. I am a HUGE SWTOR fan and have a good number of High Level toons on that game (including an Endgame 55 Sith Sorcerer). Now keep in mind that Star Wars is the 1st MMORPG I have ever played, besides some tinkering around with WoW. Now I love Star Wars and have gotten very use to the gameplay, keybinding, ect. As far as my tinkering with World of Warcraft though, I was NOT impressed whatsoever. I don’t want to offend anyone here by trying to compare GW2 to any other MMO, but I would like some feedback from other SWTOR players that also play GW2. Mainly, will I like the gameplay or does the gameplay compare much more to WoW? I just bought GW2 and haven’t even installed the game yet. I will do it later tonight. Speaking of… I have 27 Ping and 12-14 Mbps Download Speed – How long do you feel it may take to install my game? I play on a Toshiba Qosmio.
Thank you to anyone reading this.

Sincerely,
Mayra

Mayra.1230:

Hello everybody. I am a HUGE SWTOR fan and have a good number of High Level toons on that game (including an Endgame 55 Sith Sorcerer). Now keep in mind that Star Wars is the 1st MMORPG I have ever played, besides some tinkering around with WoW. Now I love Star Wars and have gotten very use to the gameplay, keybinding, ect. As far as my tinkering with World of Warcraft though, I was NOT impressed whatsoever. I don’t want to offend anyone here by trying to compare GW2 to any other MMO, but I would like some feedback from other SWTOR players that also play GW2. Mainly, will I like the gameplay or does the gameplay compare much more to WoW? I just bought GW2 and haven’t even installed the game yet. I will do it later tonight. Speaking of… I have 27 Ping and 12-14 Mbps Download Speed – How long do you feel it may take to install my game? I play on a Toshiba Qosmio.
Thank you to anyone reading this.

Sincerely,
Mayra

This is kind of funny, since im a hardcore Gw2 player thats just been getting into SWTOR. Currently have a lvl 27 marauder and just finished with tatooine.

SWTOR and wow are NOTHING like gw2. Gw2 is entirely based around movement and active defense rather than straight up tanking hits. For this reason there are no tanks or healers because you can use blinds, blocks, evades etc to avoid the dmg you would have taken in the first place. Almost all the skills in this game can be cast while moving because movement is just that important.

I strongly suggest giving this

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/GW2-Combat-system-101-Guide

A long look. As for download speed its ~7-8 hours on my laptop, i cant say for sure how long with your system

Installing the game takes considerable time regardless of your own connection. It’s a big bulk of data and the weak point is the update server.

You can speed it up if you know someone who has the game. You can copy the game files from his/her computer and onto yours (if using a usb-stick, make sure it is atleast 20GB big and formatted to NTFS).

It takes bout 6-7 hours to download the entire game.

I have never played SWTOR and only a lil bit of WoW (trial only).
To answer your question directly I should have to know what you liked bout SWTOR and disliked bout WoW.

To help you easy your mind. Arenanet (the makers of GW2) is founded by ex-blizzard employees that where unhappy with the way Blizzard was doing things. Specially GW1 was therefor considered as the competitor of Blizzard that did things different.

With GW2 Arenanet went a different direction in an approach to lure away SWTOR and WoW players. But they did so by not copying WoW but by revolutionizing the way MMO’s work. This has resulted in the remove of the trinity (this game does have skills that heal other players, but those are inferior to self-healskills all classes have, so there are no true healers. On top of that the way agro works in this game means that tanks have a very limited role).

The atmosphere of GW2 is a post medieval/steampunk society. This is significant different then a pure Sci-Fi atmosphere as in SWTOR, but a bit in the middle between SWTOR and WoW.

So welcome to GW2, hope you wil enjoy it as much as SWTOR!

What I like most about SWTOR is probably just the fact that after 10 Months of play I have gotten VERY use to the gameplay. And for the record I’ve never even watched a Star Wars film!!! As for WoW, I think I disliked the number of Keybindings, and the grindyness of doing their little quests. Even Side Quests were a pain. In SW there are Side Quests but it’s actually fun!!! There is such a HUGE differance between SWTOR & WoW. Also, you can upgrade your backpack to 80 Slots in Star Wars. It was like I couldn’t carry ANYTHING in WoW!!! Plus in SW you can send your companion to “sell junk” and free space at any time.
Another concern I have is the time it takes to hit Endgame. I’ve heard it is very easy to Level to 80 and it happens fairly quickly. I have also heard that Endgame “sucks” in GW2. Is there any truth to these rumors?

Mayra

Mayra.1230:

Also, you can upgrade your backpack to 80 Slots in Star Wars. It was like I couldn’t carry ANYTHING in WoW!!! Plus in SW you can send your companion to “sell junk” and free space at any time.
Another concern I have is the time it takes to hit Endgame. I’ve heard it is very easy to Level to 80 and it happens fairly quickly. I have also heard that Endgame “sucks” in GW2. Is there any truth to these rumors?
Mayra

- My current backpack size is 150 slots and the max is 160. You can buy extra bagslots via the gemstore BUT everything on the gemstore can be bought with gold aswell (which is relatively easy to come buy in this game). If you dont buy those extra bagslots your max bagspace is 100.
- There is a really handy system in GW2 to solve the issue of bagclutter. There is an option to “deposit collectables” that will send items that are used in crafting straight to your bank. In your bank there is a tab with collectables where you can “bank” 250 (or more if you upgrade it) of each item. You can find the deposit button if you open your bag and click on the wheel on the top right of the inventory.
- If you play the game at a normal pace it should take about an hour per level (after the first 15 levels which are a bit faster). I wouldnt try to do it as fast as possible if i where you.
- Regarding endgame. It depends what you want as a player. GW2 doesnt have traditional raids like in wow or SWTOR. Instead it has a lot of very diverse and community based content like the twisted marionette for example.

If youre the type of player that likes to experience a bit of everything this game has a lot of endgame. A lot of dungeons, fractals, guildmissions, wvw, living story events, pvp, etc.

Mayra.1230:

What I like most about SWTOR is probably just the fact that after 10 Months of play I have gotten VERY use to the gameplay. And for the record I’ve never even watched a Star Wars film!!! As for WoW, I think I disliked the number of Keybindings, and the grindyness of doing their little quests. Even Side Quests were a pain. In SW there are Side Quests but it’s actually fun!!! There is such a HUGE differance between SWTOR & WoW. Also, you can upgrade your backpack to 80 Slots in Star Wars. It was like I couldn’t carry ANYTHING in WoW!!! Plus in SW you can send your companion to “sell junk” and free space at any time.
Another concern I have is the time it takes to hit Endgame. I’ve heard it is very easy to Level to 80 and it happens fairly quickly. I have also heard that Endgame “sucks” in GW2. Is there any truth to these rumors?

Mayra

You could upgrade your bags in WoW too. But thats the point UPgrade. You can in this game as well.

There’s not really traditional quests like in other mmos. You get xp for literally everything. The fastest way to level is just map completion, but often times i just end up running around doing whatever looks cool. Gw2 is also different in that if you are above the level for a particular area it will down level you to that areas level so that its still a challenge. You get the same xp and loot you would at your own level area.

The endgame in this game consists of whatever you want. In that way it pretty much starts at level 1. Wanna map complete that zone? Do it. Wanna figure out the recipe for that cool sword you saw on the trading post? Do it. Wanna run some dungeons to get tokens? Do it. There is no traditional endgame. You just do what sounds fun

I was an SWTOR player, had several alts at level 50 (at the time, that was the top level) when I started playing GW2 back when GW2 came out. SWTOR was my first MMO.

I found GW2 so enjoyable, I only played SWTOR 3 or 4 times, eventually cancelled my subscription. It’s still on my computer in case I ever feel the need to go back. Sure I missing swinging a light sabre, but I don’t miss having only one heal (not counting stims).

I’ve never played WoW, so I can’t comment on the differences.

Do I miss being a sith lord? Sometimes, but not enough to pull me back to SWTOR. I enjoy GW2 so much more.

So be forwarned, you may not go back.

Completely agree with the above poster, you may not go back. It seems people either love GW2 or find that it’s just not their style.

I played wow for years, and SWTOR from release until the first “expansion.” I got to 55 on a few toons, and then I found GW2.

When I first started GW2 I found it to not be very intuitive; I wasn’t used to any mmo’s without the holy trinity, and as I usually play a healer this was concerning to me.

Now that I have a max level elementalist, I’m hooked. I can’t go back to MMO’s that don’t allow you to actively dodge. Being freed from the role of dedicated healer (as much as I used to love healing, I can’t believe I’m saying that now!) was a breath of fresh air. I can still support my teammates, but I can also do so much more than that.

GW2 will probably take some getting used to, but if you give it a chance, read up on some guides, and check for posts along the lines of “things I wish I knew when I started playing” things will start to click with you faster.

Edit: It has been my experience that the GW2 community is much more willing to help new players than either WoW or SWTOR. YMMV.

Mayra.1230:

I would like some feedback from other SWTOR players that also play GW2. Mainly, will I like the gameplay or does the gameplay compare much more to WoW? I just bought GW2 and haven’t even installed the game yet.

I’m also a fan of SWTOR – I pre-ordered it and play it off and on. I’ve also played many hours of WoW (although not recently) GW2 doesn’t play anything like WoW, so no worries there. Big differences (and why I hop between the games):

SWTOR has a much deeper story and much more focus on role playing your character. The fully voiced content and the conversation choices are what I missed most when I play a different game.

GW2 has much more freedom in how you can move through different areas – if you aren’t enjoying the Asura lands, you are a few portals away from a different starting area with different scenery and enemies. You can’t outlevel an area in GW2 – if you are too high for the area, you will be downscaled to the high end of the area’s level range. You will get a mix of drops that are your real level and the level of the area, so you can experience other starting areas and still make progress.

In GW2, you don’t have to compete with other players in PvE – harvesting a node doesn’t make it disappear for other players, everyone who participates in an event gets rewarded, and anyone who does a significant amount of damage to a mob gets full xp and loot dropped for it. It can be hard to do a significant amount of damage if there are tons of players around, but in general, if you come across someone fighting something you can help kill it without having to worry that you’re messing up their XP or kill credit.

In GW2, your weapon affects what skills you have on your bar instead of your class. While you’re waiting for your game to download, I would head on over to the wiki and read up on professions. The way the skills are set up is different from SWTOR and WoW, even though it looks kind of the same. Similar to SWTOR, each class has a unique class mechanic, and for your first character I would chose your profession based off of which mechanic looks the most fun to you.

I would also recommend reading over OMG If you only knew this – tips for new players sticky. There’s a lot of nice features that aren’t obvious.

My next questions…
As for “dodging” and avoiding attacks – This is going to sound REALLY stupid, but this sounds a bit hard for me as I am use to not moving around much at all. One HUGE reason that I avoid PvP at all costs and suck major kitten at it!!! So how hard is it to go from the stand and shoot to move and dodge?
As for Endgame – I hate PvP (like I said) and will not be playing it, which probably puts WvW out of the equation as well. So how good is Endgame based solely on PvE? Also, I am all about the gear!!! I want the BEST OF THE BEST!!! So I spend a lot of my Endgame in SWTOR doing Dailies to get money to get better Mods. How is the grind for gear? And here’s a biggie… In SWTOR I can get Gear as a “shell” and put Armor/Enhancements/Mods into it and build the Gear as I want myself. This is the BEST part of the game to me!!! Can I by a Shell of Gear and build the Armor to my liking?

Mayra

I can answer that. In WoW I played mostly a mage and a heal-priest. I loved it when I didn’t have to move. I’m also permanently sucky at PvP and can’t circle strafe. Yet after playing GW2 I felt mired in tar in WoW the one time I went back to try it. 7 years a WoW player and one month in GW2 spoiled WoW’s mechanics forever for me. I love being able to move while fighting and dodging adds such a fun action feel.

I did find it much easier when I bought a Naga HEX after the first GW2 beta and bound my movement keys to the thumb buttons. And even better when I finally bound dodge to a keyboard key for an extra option in doing it fast. I’m still not all that pro at it (see: Clocktower) but I can move quite well for the most part.

Endgame: I do RP which means there’s always stories to tell. The Living World keeps adding things to do every 2 weeks. I have friends I dungeon with just for fun. I level alts on a regular basis to try out new personae and weapon styles. It’s not endgame so much as the game doesn’t end, you can always go to lower areas and be downleveled enough to make you have to pay attention.

Gear grind: Some will claim there is one. If you really truly must have the “best” then you’ll be sinking a lot of effort into crafting. But the game is plenty viable if you just get exotics when you’re 80 (they’re pretty cheap, or you can get them with karma, or now and then get a drop). The “best” is Ascended, and I think even those who espouse the need for them concede that’s mostly when you’re going for the PvP edge in WvW. The stat change just isn’t that huge.

Armor: You can get whatever stats you want on your armor and combine that with whatever look you want (so long as it’s a weight of armor you can wear, so no frilly robes on a warrior). Then you pick your runes and sigils to add more stats and procs. And you can dye it all to the color scheme you want, assuming you can collect the dyes. Those are permanent for the character that unlocks them, no need to keep buying the color every time you change your shirt.

Mayra.1230:

As for “dodging” and avoiding attacks – This is going to sound REALLY stupid, but this sounds a bit hard for me as I am use to not moving around much at all. One HUGE reason that I avoid PvP at all costs and suck major kitten at it!!! So how hard is it to go from the stand and shoot to move and dodge?

It takes some getting used to, but once you do, it’s hard to play any game without it. There’s another big difference I forgot in my list – the vast majority of skills in GW2 don’t root you. My advice would be to just RP a hyperactive character who can’t sit still and constantly move even though you don’t have to just to get used to it In my opinion, standing still is the biggest mistake made by the folks that have trouble staying alive when they’re just starting out.

You can avoid a lot of attacks just by moving – you don’t have to use your endurance to dodge all the time. If you’re melee, you can step behind the mob and any front facing cone will miss you. If you’re ranged and you time it right, you can step out of the way of projectiles. It just takes practice.

Mayra.1230:

My next questions…
As for “dodging” and avoiding attacks – This is going to sound REALLY stupid, but this sounds a bit hard for me as I am use to not moving around much at all. One HUGE reason that I avoid PvP at all costs and suck major kitten at it!!! So how hard is it to go from the stand and shoot to move and dodge?

Hi Mayra, welcome to GW2, hope you like it.

Once you get used to it, dodging is easy and good fun. I remapped my dodge to the middle mouse button. I am not the best dodger in the world but because all I after do is press my middle mouse button, dodging is really, really easy and effective.

A great dodger is someone who can spot enemy ‘tells’, graphic animations of when a opponent is going to launch an attack at you and then time your dodge so you avoid any damge.

You can tell you dodged something by, evade flashing up on screen.

Don’t be so quick to dismiss PvP, its great fun in GW2. I was very ify about PvP and avoided it for the first 3 months of playing GW2 but now 80% of my game time is spent playing PvP. There are 2 forms World vs World (a halfway house between PvE and PvP) and straight up PvP (conquest style).

WvW is extremely good for levelling, its one of the fastest ways to 80th level (don’t go in until 30th level, when you get your elite skill).

PvP allows you to have a 80th level character instantly with full skills, best equipment and costs nothing to experiment with any of the 8 characters. Great for choosing which profession you want to level upto 80th in PvE. Just use hotjoin to play about. You after do your initial story instance before you can go into PvP and play about. You can use test dummies that don’t fight back to practice skills/abilities without risk of death. Also practice underwater combat.

Hope that helps you and not too overwhealming…

Thanks for all the help everyone. I have Downloaded it while I was asleep (I work 3rd so I’m asleep during the day), and I’m sure it was done pretty quick as it was already at 8% within 15 minutes or so. Either way it is completely done Downloading and ready to play so I will be trying it out for the 1st time pretty soon here.
Now I hate to ask all kinds of questions, but I thought of another 1 (maybe 2)… How many hours (on average) will it take to level to 80? I think it takes me around 150 hours to 55 (max level) on Star Wars, but I have over 250 hours in on my Sorc right now. Someone said an hour per level!!?!! That seems REALLY fast!!! Also, as for buying gear as a “shell” and building it – No one gave a clear cut answer if that is possible.

Mayra

Mayra.1230:

How many hours (on average) will it take to level to 80? I think it takes me around 150 hours to 55 (max level) on Star Wars, but I have over 250 hours in on my Sorc right now. Someone said an hour per level!!?!! That seems REALLY fast!!! Also, as for buying gear as a “shell” and building it – No one gave a clear cut answer if that is possible.Mayra

Getting to lvl 80 can be very fast, if you want it to be. A hour/per lvl is about right on average.

Its possible to do 3+ levels per hour if you know what your doing.

There is really no grind at all to get all exotic gear, just do whatever method you enjoy the most.

Getting a legendary or ascended is a massive grind however but you don’t need either really.

There’s plenty of end game in GW2:-

Tequaltl/3 headed wurm massive 80 to 150 player boss fights.
Fractuals upto level 50.
WvW.
PvP.
Dungeons.
Achievement points.
Collect skins, collect legendarys.
Loads of other bosses to do.
Ongoing living story (every 2 weeks).

Gear wise buy cheap stuff off the trading post, I buy at lvl 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 70. Just cheap blue/green stuff, you out lvl it quickly. But fully equip armour, weapons, runes, sigils, full trinkets (including sockets in them) plus buy food/spanner buffs.

80-160 hour to level depending how well you handle combat or evading. Just about everything you do will give you XP (gathering materials, rezing other players/npcs, crafting) and you don’t have to worry about outleveling a zone as the game will downlevel you in areas below your actual level. But since exploring can grant you some nice XP as you do all the Heart quests, as well as activate waypoints and find points of interests/vistas and skill challenges it’s quicker to move out of one zone once you get map completion.

Also critter hunting off the beaten path can yield some nice bonus XP as “old” critters (time since they spawned) are worth more than ones everybody whack because they in the way going from Point A to Point B.

Yes you can craft items. But it’s usually faster to buy items from NPC vendors, the Trading Post or use the ones you get from drops. The higher quality armor can be slotted with upgrades. Most items can also be salvaged into a small amount of crafting materials. Higher quality items will also soul bound and once worn or used can only be sold to an NPC vendor. You can take the look or “skin” of one type of armor or weapon and overlay it on the stats of another but it takes a special transmutation consumable to do so, which can be gotten from the Gem Shop, the ones that transmute items level 79 and bellow drop often from map completions IIRC. There is also one for just level 80 items and those rarely drop for free, if at all.

Good, good.

I recommend start elementalist and choose Charr. We have Death Star prototype under construction, but no engine yet.
Ele remind me my sorc, when use air >_>
Aaaand, the no nerf for electro cute!!!!!!!!!11111111

Mayra.1230:

Hello everybody. I am a HUGE SWTOR fan and have a good number of High Level toons on that game (including an Endgame 55 Sith Sorcerer). Now keep in mind that Star Wars is the 1st MMORPG I have ever played, besides some tinkering around with WoW. Now I love Star Wars and have gotten very use to the gameplay, keybinding, ect. As far as my tinkering with World of Warcraft though, I was NOT impressed whatsoever. I don’t want to offend anyone here by trying to compare GW2 to any other MMO, but I would like some feedback from other SWTOR players that also play GW2. Mainly, will I like the gameplay or does the gameplay compare much more to WoW? I just bought GW2 and haven’t even installed the game yet. I will do it later tonight. Speaking of… I have 27 Ping and 12-14 Mbps Download Speed – How long do you feel it may take to install my game? I play on a Toshiba Qosmio.
Thank you to anyone reading this.

Sincerely,
Mayra

Lets swap accounts?

WingLegacy.7159:

Lets swap accounts?

Ummmm…. Why?

Mayra

As for endgame PvE and gameplay…
Most of it involves amassing wealth to buy things to upgrade and improve your character. Exotic gear and weapons (gold) can be bought off the trading post and are generally pretty good.
Upgrading your weapons/armor/jewelry to the next level (pink-ascended) requires a lot of work. Weapons and armor you’ll need to max out your crafting to level 500 for the respective piece you want to upgrade.
And those pieces require a LOT of ingredients to make that you acquire by doing endgame type events.
Upgrading jewelry to ascended status is a bit more straightforward and can be bought by acquiring ‘laurels’ which you get from doing dailies/monthlies, plus a few other alternative means such as guild commendations, from doing guild missions.
Welcome to GW2. I also briefly played Swtor. I find the biggest difference is the community. Gw2 is way more friendly, and a much better atmosphere overall.

First off welcome to Guild Wars 2, I really hope you enjoy it here as much as many of us have. It shouldn’t take much more than a few hours for your laptop to install the game client. I suggest just leaving your laptop on over night and letting it install while you sleep. You should see very nice performance I have a Beefed up Satellite that is on par with a Qosmio. I will say this though if you have Windows 8 you may want to go into your boot settings and turn the function swap off. If you need any help feel free to message me on here or in game.

Actually it’s possible to build tank + heal chars, the strongest 2 are the guard and engi, but rangers do ok ish at it. It is also possible for such chars to facetank dungeon bosses, it’s just that it’s very inefficient to do this when outright negating the damage with dodges allows for greater damage, and hence faster dungeon completion time. Tank/heal chars are only really useful in WvW, and for carrying parties with 4 failures – in most other cases damage builds with dodges are way more effective.

Due to limited utility in PvE most players don’t fully understand healing/damage mitigation mechanics; the idea that passive defense is impossible thus circulates a lot. But the conclusion does not change – generally damage is by far the most important role.

In addition active and passive defense can and should be combined; if rolling your first char I’d recommend going the damage only route on non-summoning classes to force yourself to learn how to dodge, blind, etc first.

Well I’ve played the game for about 3 hours and I have to say I don’t hate it… I don’t LOVE it, but I will definitely be continuing to hop around between GW2, Rift, and SWTOR. The one thing I didn’t like though is that there is no clear cut direction for quests. For example, in Star Wars there is always a marking of some sort clear as day on the map where you need to go next. I felt very lost at times when searching where to go. Also, I HATE the fact that I can’t see my name above my head!!! That’s one thing I’ve always liked. Being able to see how your name appears to others, seeing the Guild you represent (I’m still in need of a Guild btw – just throwing that out there), and seeing the Level that I’m at. How could ArenaNet NOT include such an easy feature!!?!! One more gripe I have is the people that play the game (or at least the ones that were on Sunday between Noon and 3 pm (CST) anyway. Everyone talks about how helpful people are in this game, yet it was like pulling teeth to get answers!!! Example: I bout that Flame Kiss thingy from the Gem Store but I have NO idea how to use it. As a matter of fact I still don’t. All I do know is that it’s a “skin” but that tells me nothing!!! How is a skin used? I Right Click and click “Use” and then click “Use Normally” (as the other option is for PvP) and then it says something about Transending (or whatever it’s called) and tells me to “Drag Item” although I CAN’T DRAG THE ITEM ANYWHERE!!! And whenever I CAN use the Skin, can I remove it from my Armor to put on different piece Armor!?! ArenaNet makes things so very unclear. The “tutorial” they provide along the way is like being thrown into a battlefield naked to say the least. The amount of questions that ArenaNet leaves you with is astonishing. I simply feel lost as NOTHING is explained. Karma Points? Skins? Trading Post? Mounts? Oh wait… GW2 doesn’t have Mounts. I forgot. facepalm Seriously ArenaNet!!?!! You couldn’t provide Mounts!?! Walking everywhere is okay, but Mounts are so much faster. Plus think of the revenue there is to make on the stylish ones in the Gem Store. Another thing regarding people in game, I was in an “Event” (I sure do like those), but NO ONE was anywhere so I got the crap kicked out of me by some giant thing. And lastly, I dislike the fact that this is a VERY much geared as a PvP/WvW game!!! I am definitely looking forward to hitting Level 80, but know I will probably not enjoy End Game as much as other MMO’s (like SW), so I will probably just roll another toon then.
Now I know that’s A LOT of dislikes and it sounds like I hate the game right? But in all honesty I really do see myself playing more. There is a lot of things I do like about the game. One of the biggest things is that you can switch between Fire & Water Spells in the middle of combat (I’m a Human Elementalist). And I like the fact that you have to “earn” the next skill by using Fire/Water more often. I just opened “5” with Fire before logging off and I am 75% to opening “5” with Water. I still have Air and Earth though don’t I? Why is there a locked symbol over my other 2 professions (or whatever those are called) so I can’t use them in combat?
This has gone on well long enough and I sound like I hate everything, but trust me, I really don’t. I think it’s just going to take a lot of getting use to and learning though trial and error. I hope I didn’t come off like I absolutely can’t stand the game; I just have a lot of questions as everything is different than Star Wars which is the only MMO I have any experience with. But after 11 solid months of playing only 1 MMO the time has come to branch out because as much as I LOVE Star Wars, it’s becoming somewhat boring and I feel it’s time to spice things up with a couple new MMO’s. So that’s what I’m doing now. I will be checking in and giving more updates for everyone I’m sure, but right now I need to give Rift a try, and after that back to Guild Wars 2. Laters.

Mayra

Mayra.1230:

1. For example, in Star Wars there is always a marking of some sort clear as day on the map where you need to go next. I felt very lost at times when searching where to go.
2. Also, I HATE the fact that I can’t see my name above my head!!! That’s one thing I’ve always liked. Being able to see how your name appears to others, seeing the Guild you represent (I’m still in need of a Guild btw – just throwing that out there), and seeing the Level that I’m at.
3. Example: I bout that Flame Kiss thingy from the Gem Store but I have NO idea how to use it. As a matter of fact I still don’t. All I do know is that it’s a “skin” but that tells me nothing!!! How is a skin used? I Right Click and click “Use” and then click “Use Normally” (as the other option is for PvP) and then it says something about Transending (or whatever it’s called) and tells me to “Drag Item” although I CAN’T DRAG THE ITEM ANYWHERE!!!
4. And whenever I CAN use the Skin, can I remove it from my Armor to put on different piece Armor!?!
5. Walking everywhere is okay, but Mounts are so much faster.
6. Why is there a locked symbol over my other 2 professions (or whatever those are called) so I can’t use them in combat?

1. There are NPCs in the map that will point you to Renown hearts (the quests) in a map. Also, when you open a map, the Renown hearts are marked with heart signs. Skill Challenges have the Skill Point icon on the map as well. Oh and you open the map by pressing M.
2. While you cannot see your name, you can still see your level and experience at the lower end of your screen.
3. The skins work by being applied to a existing piece of armor. The window that opens up wants you to drag the respective type of armor (such as Chest) to it, which will then apply the skin (which is not an armor in itself) to the armor you chose.
4. You can transfer armor skins to new armors, but those require Transmutation Stones (and at level 80, Transmutation Crystals), which you can either buy in the shop or get randomly in the game. Note that while you can transfer armor skins, you cannot use the skins of a different weight class (light armors cannot get a heavy or a medium skin, etc)
5. The thing is, lore-wise mounts are made obsolete due to the Asura Gates and teleport points. There is a boon in the game called Swiftness, which will increase your movement speed by 33% and some classes have access to other passive speed boosts.
6. You will unlock various things (elements for elementalists, additional slot skills (7-9), elite skill slot (0), traits) at various levels. You will need level 30 to have unlocked all of the things that you can unlock by leveling.

Why is there a locked symbol over my other 2 professions (or whatever those are called) so I can’t use them in combat?

You will unlock these when you get higher level. And yes they are Wind and Earth

As an answer to your ‘skin’ question:

You will come across all different kinds of armor. (As an elementalist you’ll wear light armor). The skin is simply ‘the way the armor looks’.
If you have a skin you can use, the way you describe it, it means you can replace the look of an excisting piece of armor you have with that particular skin. (Try right-clicking the skin and select ‘preview’ to see what it looks like.)

For example if you have a skin for a helmet you ‘use’ the skin like you said. Then you choose how to use it (Normally or PvP) like you mentioned. After that you have to select the piece of head armor you want to apply the skin to by dragging it into the box. (‘destroying’ the skin of that armor piece by replacing it)

Some skins are for a certain type of armor only (Heavy, Medium or Light) Make sure you know what kind of armor you’re wearing before you buy a skin

Once you use a skin it will stick to the piece of armor you chose. You can use Transmutation Stones (Obtainable from daily’s, Black Lion Chests or Gemstore) to transfer the skin from 1 piece of armor to another. (So you will not loose it when you decide to upgrade your armor whilst leveling)

I hope I’m not confusing you more.. I’m trying in my best English

Greets,

Evanny

Edit: Overlooked typo and apparently Olba has covered most of the things I said in the time I was typing and watching other stuffies :P

Your English was fine. Now do I One Transmutation Stone PER Piece of Armor/Skin, or is it just One Stone per Set of Armor? I’m assuming I’ll need 1 Stone per item correct? (i.e. 1 for Head, 1 for Chest, 1 for Legs, ect…).

Mayra

The first time you use the skin you don’t need a transmutation stone. Double click and away you go.
When you want to move the skin from your old armour to your new armour then you’ll need 1 transmutation stone per piece of armour transmuted.

1 Stone per armor/skin, but thats for items that are lvl 79 and below. I would recommend keeping the skin until you hit 80 and get some armor with good stats on it before applying it to the armor. Stones come easily by doing map completion. But for armor/skins that are lvl 80 they require Transmutation Crystals which can be bought in the gemstore, or if you get lucky from Black lion chests.
Like you pointed guilds are very important, I think you should specify which server you are all and have a better chance of finding an active new player friendly guild. All mmos take time getting used to, i remember my first day on gw2 i was running around and getting killed by lvl 2 nightmare hounds . Anyways the best way to understand the game is to find a guild or someone who has played for a long time and ask them for advice and help. I personally have taught 7-8 people (friends, and guildies)
In conclusion i think it is best for you to find some nice patient people to help you understand the game. Good luck to you adventures