Guild Wars 2

Ok, so I’m completely new to the game but experienced in the genre. any tips, advice, and just general knowledge about the past and current events would be GREATLY appreciated. Looking forward to getting into the game!

Please and thanks!

Get used to the bugs. There will be a ton of them.

If by “the genre” you mean MMOs, then this is a bit different than most MMOs. (There are MMOs like it though. Dragons Nest is the first one that comes to mind. But Dragons Nest is bad.) Prepare to be pleasantly surprised.

By Level 30, you will have access to pretty much every skill your character can use. The game is very much based around you learning how to use those skills appropriately. Not just alone, but with other people. The best thing you’ll do to remember is that Nothing on your skillbar is useless. Every skill has it’s use, even ones you don’t like.

Almost all classes are cooldown based, with no Mana stat or anything like that. The exception to this rule is Thief. Thieves are, funnily enough, the only class with resource management. This does good things for them, and can cause problems as well.

Learn about combos They’re pretty much the only “Hidden” mechanic in the game. It’s not explained very well, you’ll hardly ever notice when it’s happening, but it can make a HUGE difference if you use them appropriately.

The game is not soley about endgame. There is really good/fun content at all points. Don’t try to rush it, it will just make you have less fun.

The medium armor in this game has lackluster looks. If you want to be the most epic looking of all epic people, I’d suggest a class that wears heavy or light armor. You can preview a lot of the endgame armors here

lol awesome help thanks. so you said the combo’s arent explained very well. can you elaborate then? how do you get em to pop off

Sanguinius.4809:

lol awesome help thanks. so you said the combo’s arent explained very well. can you elaborate then? how do you get em to pop off

A lot of skills have “Combo field” in their description. It will put down a field you can see on the ground (Or in a sphere if you’re underwater) It will be a White AoE, usually a circle, although lines and rectangles do exist. They will be different from other white AoE circles in that the edges will be raised a bit (With puzzle pieces, if you look close enough)

Other skills have “Combo Finisher” in their description. If you use a Combo Finisher on a Combo Field, you get a special effect. So if an Elementalist puts down a Fire Circle, and you shoot arrows over it as a thief, Your arrows will be lit on fire and inflict Burning.

They will always be that simple, but in the heat of battle, using a skill that has a finisher element when an ally has laid down a field that will produce an effect you want (like healing) and being able to do so without otherwise sacrificing your positioning/DPS/life, can be hard.

If I can jump in here and also ask about combos… I understand the concept of the Elementalist’s fire circle and the combo finisher arrow, it makes sense that in a “real” battle, the arrow might catch on fire. Is it always that straightforward to tell what the combo finishing effect will be?

Do certain combos get in the way, hampering instead of helping battle? I can definitely see where going out of your way to create combos might waste precious time, life, or DPS – but are combo effects ever bad, or do they ever get in the way?

Combos are never bad. Usually they are spontaneous. Only if the combo field belongs to an enemy would be a time to worry.

I think the combo effect is defined by the combo field and the combo finisher. Eg. Any projectile through a field will always be the same but a blast finisher might produce something different.

To the OP, in terms of events in the past. There was a festive event (Halloween) and a one-time event (Lost Shores). Halloween was quite a success with different activities to do and an infamous jumping puzzle that made people mad. The Lost Shores Event was an one-time event that involved the invasion of Lions Arch and the fight against the Karka (a crab-like species). That event was seen with mixed opinion.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Combo there you can see what field+finisher produce waht effects

the only combo fields that are useless while soloing is the light and healy ones. they’ll tell you what your attacks are doing with each shot or swing in a heart like effect.

Some classes have the ability to create their own combos which is great. increases the damage.

Start to play the game as you normally would in other games, keep following your personal story line because they give you good starting gear and good exp. Explore the zone you are in but dont go from 1 heart to the other, just try to explore and have fun testing your different weapon sets. If you see a orange circle that means there is an event nearby, you can try to join it by just listening to the NPC’s and see what they are up to! Tip! Do not leave very fast after 1 event, there could by some follow up events after it so keep an eye on that.

Try to get your gathering equipment from a ’ Merchant ’ and just gather everything you see, dont farm them all over the map, but just take them all in your path.. they provide good xp and you can sell them later if u need money ( or use to craft!)

When you completed your zone and the next zone says lvl 25 or so and you are just lvl 18, just goto a different zone 1-20 because there is no set path for the zone you need to follow ( i did the zones where my personal story came)

Hope it helped a bit!

Read this thread for lots of little tips and quirks relative to GW2, which is stickied at the top of this forum category:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OMG-If-you-only-knew-this-tips-for-new-players/page/3#post595593