Guild Wars 2

My wife and I have returned after being away for two years, but really are total noobs at the game at this point. We rolled new characters, she is a Warrior and I’m an Elementalist and we’re still trying to figure out what builds we like. She seems fond of the great hammer and I’m inclined toward D/F with Air attunement, but we really don’t have much of a clue what we’re doing.

I’m confused about Fractals. Are they just progressive dungeons? We never did any dungeons in our previous run through but would like to do them now. When I ask in game which dungeon we should start with, I’m told AC story when we hit our 30’s. Right now we’re 27ish. Is there an equivalent 30’ish fractal or is that something we wait till 80 to do?

I’m reading all the forums to soak in some new knowledge but most of the talk is endgame focused and assumes knowledge I don’t have so it’s confusing. We will just keep leveling to 80 and I’m sure a lot more will be clearer by then. We are upgrading gear as we go, buying the best we can with our meager gold supply. She seems to be focusing on PVT while I look for Power, Precision, Ferocity. Meanwhile, any tips on dungeoneering or fractals, or other things we should be doing at our level? Should we do dailies?

Oh, and another thing. Our experience crafting in most MMOs has been that it winds up being more profitable to gather and sell mats than it is to spend the gold and time learning to craft. Is that true here as well, or should we take up crafting consumables or something else more likely to be profitable?

Thanks,

Well, first of all: Dungeons and fractals are both suited for groups of 5 players. You CAN start with AC Story once you’re Lv30, but try to look for some 80s player to help you then. You’ll find even most dungeon’s Story mode too hard before you hit 80.
Of course you can try, but it possibly needs hours and frustrating whipes (especially if you’re running AC story without anyone who ever did it and without 80s…)
But don’t get frustrated too soon It’s all a question of experience (well, and gear) and most players will be helpful and understanding if you put “new players looking for help with AC story” or something in the lfg tool.

To fractals:
It’s similar to dungeons, but
a) it comes in different levels (1-50 currently) – you have a personal fractal level that increases by 1 every time you complete a full fractal run of a level that’s equal or higher than your level
b) every fractal run consists of 4 fractals – more or less randomly selected from a pool of around 10 different ones. The 4th one is always one of three boss fractals
c) from fractal level 10 on, there’s agony – a game mechanic where fractal bosses do immense damage if you don’t have any agony resistance. You get AR by upgrading your gear with infusions – but to get those, you have to spend tons of gold or fractal relics (the currency you can earn by doing below-10 fractals)
d) fractals are much harder than dungeons and only for Lv80 chars.

To the stats: At the current end game, you’ll most likely want to fully use berserk/zerk gear (+power, precision, ferocity), but of course it’s okay to use different stats before Lv80 (especially if you are as squishy as an elementalist).

To crafting:
Well, it’s not really useful if you want to get rich at the start. It costs tons of money. On the other hand, it gives you quite nice amounts of experience to level your character level, plus, it’s one of few ways to get an ascended armor / weapons (ascended equipment is only slightly better than exotic one – but around 100 times more expensive, so stick to exotics when you’re 80 unless you are a real perfectionist or want to do many fractals).
However, you can simply learn two professions and use the crafting materials you find while exploring the maps. For ele, it’s most clever to learn light armor & light weapon crafting (same goes for warrior and heavy armor/weapons). Jeweller & chief isn’t that useful, at least for your first toons.

Thank you, Thanathos, that was a very helpful response. I see the community is strong, too. We are having a great time, far better than I remembered it. My wife is enjoying swapping sword & board with rifle. I guess I don’t get weapon swap, but I’m enjoying Air and Fire swapping (working toward Fresh Air to keep fluid).

Ok, definitely going to wait on fractals. For now we’ll just keep exploring the map and doing dailies to get boosts to get us there faster.

Thanks again,

fractal are pretty much level80 dungeon.

I suggest you just do the story dungeons until you are 80. People are pretty harsh in explorable mode.

For gearing. Just buy green gear with “strong” prefix. At around lvl60+ change to buy berserker gear.

If you don’t mind doing some map completion it is a fine way to level your first character.

Also try to learn as much as possible about what every weapon skill do. And try to use a vareity of weapons and learn what they do. It’ll come in handy later.

Pretty much what’s already been said about Fractals is the same as what I would, so I won’t bother to repeat it all. However, I will say that the claims of “berserker/zerk” gear being the “best” for lvl 80, is not entirely accurate. It more depends on the sort of build you chose to go with at that point. Personally, my elementalist wears Knights and I run a support setup with her. On a related note, the attunement swap counts as weapon swapping for purposes of triggering a Sigil of Energy when used on a weapon.

In regards to actually doing the dungeons (both Story and Explorable modes), add me to your friend list and if the both of you are on an NA server, I will be more than happy to take you through any of them, while explaining mechanics along the way. It doesn’t matter to me what level you are as long as you meet the minimum requirement for said dungeon (IE: lvl 30 for AC story or 35 for AC Explorable, etc). I’m more than happy to just answer general questions too.

RegnorVex.4071:

My wife and I have returned after being away for two years, but really are total noobs at the game at this point. We rolled new characters, she is a Warrior and I’m an Elementalist and we’re still trying to figure out what builds we like. She seems fond of the great hammer and I’m inclined toward D/F with Air attunement, but we really don’t have much of a clue what we’re doing.

Firstly, welcome back to the game – i myself returned again a few months ago, things really have changed eh :P?

Secondly, I found the dulfy class guides really helpful – they are really detailed and can be a bit confusing but they break down each skill and what its good for, as well as suggesting full builds which are currently ‘meta’ (work well and used by majority of players). They also have an overview of what equipment is good and so on. http://dulfy.net/2014/07/11/gw2-elementalist-pve-class-guide-by-haviz-and-zelyhn/
http://dulfy.net/2014/06/28/gw2-comprehensive-warrior-pve-guide-by-element/. The builds they link on these will load in german but just click the flag on the upper left of the box to switch to english/another language you prefer.

Additionally meta-battle has simple guides to builds that list everything a bit more simply: http://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki

I’m confused about Fractals. Are they just progressive dungeons? We never did any dungeons in our previous run through but would like to do them now. When I ask in game which dungeon we should start with, I’m told AC story when we hit our 30’s. Right now we’re 27ish. Is there an equivalent 30’ish fractal or is that something we wait till 80 to do?

I think people have covered fractals but basically:

You need to be level 80
You start at a level 1 fractal and unlock higher levels by either joining a party doing a higher level than you or finishing a fractal at your current ‘fractal level.’
They are random segments of game-play based in the history of tyria rather than a linear dungeon with a story line. You work through 4 ‘fractals’ which are fragments of time and events caught in the mists during each dungeon run. They load randomly so you never know which mix of ‘parts’ you will get.
For any fractal dungeon above fractal level 10 you will need agony resistance otherwise bosses and effects within the dungeon will hurt you more. There are several different types of agony resistance and the type you need depends on what you are trying to infuse it into (weapon / armor / trinket etc). Best read a guide on it before you buy anything as it is confusing! https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Infusion_slot#Infusion_slot

As for AC i suggest being a bit higher than level 30 before trying it as you are both more likely to get a party and more likely to enjoy it as you will have traits etc to use by then. I usually think around level 35 is good – but it is up to you. Its more than doable at 30 if you get a party that knows what it is doing. As for the explorable paths, if you can get a party to show you the ropes, then great but you may find it easier to get a good party when you’re around level 45+ as people like to run AC with level 80s for the money and so like to do it faster than a lower level group can usually do.

In all honesty I would also suggest considering waiting to 80 to ‘learn’ the explorable paths of other dungeons as the mechanics can be tricky to understand at first and the extra edge that level 80 gear and traits gives you can really help.

There are mini-dungeons hidden all over the map which you can explore at any level / the level of the map area. These can usually be done solo or as a small group and don’t require much preparation: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mini-dungeon

The other thing you may enjoy are world bosses. These spawn at certain times of the day and are big fights, often with very large groups. There are several that spawn in low level areas so you dont need to be high level to do them: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/World_boss

Personal story is also quite fun to do, a good change from just running around doing heart quests etc and will help you level You can also join each other on your story missions, although only the person whose story it is will earn it’s rewards (at level 40 if you both pick the same order to work for you can also complete the story line missions together).

I’m reading all the forums to soak in some new knowledge but most of the talk is endgame focused and assumes knowledge I don’t have so it’s confusing. We will just keep leveling to 80 and I’m sure a lot more will be clearer by then. We are upgrading gear as we go, buying the best we can with our meager gold supply. She seems to be focusing on PVT while I look for Power, Precision, Ferocity. Meanwhile, any tips on dungeoneering or fractals, or other things we should be doing at our level? Should we do dailies?

Dailies are fun and a nice focus, you get a nice little reward fairly quickly and you also get things that can help you level such as experience scrolls or tomes that boost you up a level. Its up to you whether you want to do them, they’re not really that important just something to focus on!

Gear wise if you are short on money buy ‘blue’ gear. You will be levelling so fast that it doesnt really matter at this point what you wear but if you use blue stuff you can sell it back to the tp when you are done and get your money back as it doesnt soulbind when you use it. Green stuff may be better and mean you dont have to re-gear as often but it does soulbind and can only be salvaged after use.

The guides i link you to recommend the types of gear that work well with your class but, honestly, just enjoy levelling and dont worry too much about it for now. You are better getting to 80 and getting good gear then, then using all your money now.

Oh, and another thing. Our experience crafting in most MMOs has been that it winds up being more profitable to gather and sell mats than it is to spend the gold and time learning to craft. Is that true here as well, or should we take up crafting consumables or something else more likely to be profitable?

Thanks,

Crafting in gw2 can be profitable, but its about watching the tp and learning what is selling etc. Crafting is needed later on in the game for ascended items and legendary items so if you think you may want to aim for these then its worth saving your materials to craft with. Personally i like to use a crafting guide so i can make the most out of my limited gold and know how much the whole thing is likely to cost. This site sets out the quickest and cheapest ways to get to 400 crafting so may help you make up your mind and let you know what you need to keep: http://gw2crafts.net/

Hope that helps and good luck in game!

Many thanks for all the great suggestions, advice, and links. Very helpful community here, it’s great to be back!