Guild Wars 2

Not so much problems, I just feel like I’m missing something out of the game…

I’ll explain my situation. I bought the game a few days ago and I’m now a level 19 Warrior, I’ve played MMO’s in the past so I’m not an idiot when it comes to figuring out how to damage.

My problem is I can’t seem to figure out how to get on top of the damage so that I don’t die on the regular. I did a level 17 skill point as 18 and I had to do it 3 or 4 times because I kept getting owned by the one Charr I was fighting.

I’m Dual-weilding Axe/Mace right now with a straight power/precision priority, should I level toughness/vit as a priority?

and

I’m using Karma points to buy gear as I fill hearts. Should I just buy better gear and hope that it will solve my problem?

What I’m using as kind of an idea : http://intothemists.com/guides/1441-simple_warrior_leveling_guide

You might be aware of this already, but it’s one common issue people coming from other MMOs have.

GW2 is very action orientated and so positioning and dodging are both very important in combat, especially melee combat. You will never have a character that has such high DPS or defense that you can just stand there dealing/taking damage and never have to worry about what your opponent is doing to you.

If you find yourself standing in a red circle (AoE) or see your enemy building up for a big attack move or dodge out the way. And generally try to position yourself so that you’re not caught in the middle of big groups of enemies (unless you’re about to deal point black AoE) and not going to be trapped in a corner or AoE.

Also be aware that the game scales your stats to the area you’re in, so you can’t rely on out-leveling everything to make it easy. For example if you’re a level 80 character playing in a level 5 area your stats will be reduced to the equivalent of a level 5 character.

You will still be stronger because you’ll have more skills, traits and bonuses to your stats coming from more places (low level armor boosts 1 stat, high level armor boosts 3, so you’ll have 3 times as many benefits, even if the actual number for each is lower) but you’ll never get to the point where you can one-shot everything.

I don’t suggest buying gear with karma just yet. You can do much better by buying green masterwork gear from the TP. Each piece costs a few silver, and currency can be easily acquirable by selling all your drops and the salvage mats.

Some skill points are easier than others, but some of them really expect you to utilize all your skills. You cannot simply stand infront of a boss and mash a few weapon skills. Pay attention to enemy telegraphs and make sure to dodge any big hits. Also utilize your utility skills. At your level you may not have much but try to pick the ones that help you. DPS, survivability, knockback utilities, for e.g.

Are you making sure to keep your trinkets up to date?

One very confusing thing about this game, your armor and weapon stats only make up about 20% of your equippable stats. Your most stat-heavy items are your trinkets, which are slotted on the right of your character screen and have no physical appearance beyond an icon, so they’re often forgotten in favor of weapons and armor. Additionally, I would echo the advice about dodging and positioning, they are way important than any of the games stats.

Get a greatsword.

Honestly axe/mace (for me) was really only dmg efficient on dungeon bosses for obvious reasons.

Try out greatsword and stack power as your main stat, you shouldn’t have any problems with your damage. Your Whirlwind Attack on Greatsword also counts as an evade too, so doing things like skill points, vets, etc will be a bit forgiving because of the extra dodge.

Also start practicing dodging early, it’s very important for classes like Warrior to be able to get in melee range and know how to dodge around attacks in dungeons. It will make your gameplay a lot less frustrating too when you start getting a bit better at it.

Just keep you equipment up to date mostly every 5 levels, and personally i would
go for 50% offensive and 50% defense stuff, so at your level str / vit maybe or str / toughness.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I’m going to upgrade my gear at the TP when I hit 20, get a little more defensive stats and try that 2h sword.

Thanks for the awareness post too, you’re right, I can’t be just mashing buttons.

Love the game thus far though, glad I bought it, definitely gonna make it to 80.

Save all your karma for level 80 to get yourself some starter exotics.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Temple_armor

Use the TP to buy greens with silver as you level up.

Relativity.3695:

Thanks for the feedback guys, I’m going to upgrade my gear at the TP when I hit 20, get a little more defensive stats and try that 2h sword.

Axe is great .. personally i love it much more than 2-handed sword meanwhile since you have much higher autoattack, while 2h sword is just mainly 100blades and when you miss that because you need to dodge or mob moves, then your damage goes really down.
With axe thats no problem since your main damage source is simply autoattacking.

Relativity.3695:

I’m Dual-weilding Axe/Mace right now with a straight power/precision priority, should I level toughness/vit as a priority?

For the second weapon set use a ranged one like Longbow or Rifle. I made some good experiences with rifle, 2 for cripple, 4 for vulnerability, then the others for damage and when the mob is in melee range swap to melee weapon set and there shouldn’t be much HP left. Take Longbow when you expect group play, but as long as you are alone the 5s cripple with 10 sec cd is better than the 3s immobilize with 25 sec cd.
Also buy/craft food that increases vitality.

This is an old video from back in beta, but well worth watching for those used to static combat.

Enigmius 1’s guide to mobility
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUKWeaXZeOY