Guild Wars 2

I got the game last week, and have filled all my character slots, but mainly play my engineer lvl 12. I just don’t know if I’m doing it right. The game is very different from every other MMO I’ve ever played. What should I be doing? And is there anything I shouldn’t be doing?

I mainly TRY to do the hearts, because I can rarely find what they’re asking me to do.

I do the orange circle events.

I try to discover every place on the map, get all way points etc.

But I’m lvling pretty slowly. That’s basically all I do. What else IS there to do? I haven’t read up on how to do crafting, and not sure I can be of any value in PvP at lvl 12.

Do whatever you want. If you want to fight monsters fight monsters, fight bosses go find the, explore every city you can get exp for that, harvesting gives you experience, do your personal story quest, do heart quests, do “orange circle” events, craft.
You don’t really have to do anything, the game is designed to give you plenty of selection on how you want to spend your time. You can even gain exp in pvp and wvw i believe. You don’t have to be 80 to pvp since everyone is default 80 there, it’s designed so you can pvp whenever you want to, you can even go spectator mode and see how other people are pvping.
If you want the biggest chunks of experience they come from heart quests, events, and crafting. As a level 12 you should be close to 100% completing the area you’re in (do all heart quests, find all points of interest, do all skill challenges, discover all vistas, find all way points), when you 100% an area you get (typically) a very nice reward.
To craft you want to collect materials in the world so you need those sickles, axes, and picks at the beginning town of your area that merchants sell. You get exp for harvesting from those tiny logs, ores, bushes on your map.
As an engineer you’ll probably want to do leatherwork, huntsman creations for guns, and jewelry is an all around good craft to learn. It takes a little time to get the hang of crafting but when you start making things and combining them to make bigger things and you start making supplies you’ll actually use you really get into it.
Contrary to popular belief you don’t level nearly as fast as long time players would have you believe, having done every heart quest in an area, 100% the area, doing several events, and crafting I got to about 17.
The leveling is suppose to be organic and meaningful, this game isn’t about level capping as fast as possible, it’s about enjoying the journey to level cap, which is why you can pvp whenever you want.

Long story short, you need to erase every other MMORPG experience you have earned throughout other games and relearn from the beginning. You’re correct about the hearts, yet it doesn’t really matter where you go as long as you’re the appropiate or above the required level.

- You will be downgraded to the zone you’re in when you’re to high for the zone. This means when you’re 72 and you hate Orr you can go to any region you like and do the quests there. Offcourse you have a slight advantage because your gear mostly is better then people who do it at their own level

- You should walk around towards heart-events and check out dynamic events. Quests like killing champion boars, dragons ( Shatterer, Shadow Behemoth, Claw of Jormag, Tequatl, etc ), revive other players, do dungeons etc. It’s a living world where you can get stuff thrown at your face. If someone in map is yelling there is some event happening, why not tag along?

- You can hop into Mists and start PVPing straight from lvl 1.

- You can compleet dailys, compleet monthlys or even participate in guild events.

- Crafting gives you experience aswell, so does gathering materials and selling them on the Black Lion market.

There is loads to do… even silly jumping puzzles you can be entertained with for hours!

Hi,
First of all I am sorry for terreble english
Yes , you are right about that Guild Wars 2 is diffrent ,then most MMO RPG’s.
As i understand you are interessted in PvE more ,then in PvP.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
The fastest way to lvl is crafting, still hearts and discovering is good option as well.
There is a lot to do in PvE locations.
My favorite is Jumping Puzzle. They are hidden in almost every location (still not each)
adn they are great…I can even say that it is the best part (at least for me, as i love pvp).

Doing “orange circle” →Dynamic events is important, as when you are max level , you can buy for Karma (you get it from them) full eqquipment, not the best ,but it is good way to start end game.

You can jump right away to pvp as well (just click on 2 sword on top left corner of you screen and go to hearts of the mists)
You will be max level there and you will get all equipment for pvp for free.

Note: Making right build is very important (skills that you take and you traits), but you can reset it in pve for a small cost (pvp for free). So I would recommend you to go to Hearts of the Mists and plan your future build (you can test it on dummies for DMG).

Hope i help you at least a little )

Check the Guild Wars Wiki for lot of good hints and Dulfy.net for other great info on the game. A great source the world maps is http://gw2.mmorpg-life.com/interactive-maps/

You also have your cultural storyline you can do. Look on the map for the green star that will show you where to go next.

Take your time and enjoy the experience as you go – this is like reading a good book. You are exploring a new world and finding out about the environment. Ask in chat if you have questions. Lot of nice folk out there will help out.

Thanks guys, I’m going to read all these when I get home and can play

Welcome aboard!
About the hearts: talk to the heart’s npc, so he will explain better what you need to do to complete it.
Always gather the resource nodes as copper, wood and herbs and take with you a salvage kit.
Use the “Sell junk” button at merchant and the “store collectibles” option in the inventory".

Also Feel free to join groups for events people often ask in map chat. Look around when are near group events if you see a lot of different people on a regular basis who are in the same guild ask if you can join them. A good active guild makes it a lot more fun. Gives you a good source of “how-to” help and they often will have cool guild events going on.

Other general things to do:

Gather everything you can. Sell what you won’t use for crafting on the trade post. e.g. if you decide to level cooking you can freely sell metals, cloth, jewels and wood. If you aren’t leveling cooking some items sell very well at the low levels like chili peppers.

When you complete hearts that are in the water or near it see if the heart vendor sells an upgraded breathing mask. I’ve known folks who never upgraded it and did just fine, but for a bit of karma points it’s worth upgrading it every 15 levels or so. Also if the heart vendor sells food materials in Bulk form and you think cooking will be your crafting choice buy a bulk pack or two to save you time later.