Guild Wars 2

so i purchesd heart of the thorn tonight and am currently downloading the game again i am curious is it still worth it to start at level 1 i never played till 80 before didnt get into the game years ago when i tried and i cant stand the thought of being handed a free level 80… do people still level charecters? will i be able to get groups? and what server should i start on for PvE content ? and any other information you can think of to give a basicly new player thanks in advanced

Yes, you should level a character normally, rather than using the L80 Boost. You won’t miss all the level-up tutorial tips and rewards that way.

Except for playing in WvW, it matters little which server you choose, as all servers in PvE are together using the MegaServer feature.

You can use the LFG to find others/groups/parties/squads to play with. You could also join a Guild for play-mates.

I don’t know how out-of-date the ‘…tips for new players’ Sticky in the Players Helping Players sub-forum is, but you could read through that for tips. The Wiki, of course, is a great resource for all things Guild Wars 2. (Link above, or accessed in-game by typing /Wiki [topic of choice] in the chat window.)

Welcome return, and good luck.

I was going to say run while you can but it’s already too late. Don’t use the 80 boost because you won’t be good at the game and will probably die a lot. Level at least one character naturally or somewhat naturally. Sadly, you really did miss out on the glory days of this game.

Enjoy it for what it is. If you like to PvP or had plans to play WvW I have some disappointing news for you…

P.S. The story won’t make any sense since you weren’t online for the LS episodes which are the leadup to what happens in HoT. You’ve also missed the post-expansion episodes which further continue the story.

Quality of life tip: use booster to make an 80. Do the first story in HoT. It will allow you to unlock gliding in core tyria. You will need to raise xp bar and have enough points to unlock but once done it will change your experience. It will take a lot to max it out out.

You can now level however you like.

It is absolutely worth it to start at L1. I recommend leveling up normally with 1 character so that you “relearn” the game and gather the leveling rewards. People still level characters all the time— particularly key farmers leveling to do the L10 story, which rewards a key. You will not be alone in starter zones.

Groups are not hard to find when they’re needed. Events will attract plenty of other players. They may not officially group-up, but everyone will work together to accomplish event goals, especially for open-world boss fights or on a daily-event map.

Server doesn’t matter for PvE. It only matters for WvW.

Reddit actually has a nice set of new player/welcome back info, which may be useful to you: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/wiki/newplayers

Good luck!

Using a boost without learning the character and going straight to end game without the proper gear is like throwing a toddler into mordor.
U gon have a bad time.

If story is something you’re interested in I would play through the story while leveling to 80.

also make sure you get Living World Season 2, as it is much better than the personal story and prepares you a bit for the difficulty jump between the core content and HoT

I still love the chase to 80 by mapping so my opinion is play the game to level 80. Go for map completion on at least one but I would say on all if possible.

If it says anything I have 23 level 80 toons, 19 soon to be 20 with map completion and only 1 went straight to 80…. Have fun however you decide to play!!

i started over and rolled a necro i am currently level 9 and enjoying the game this far i am glad i started at 1 i cant remember the server i was on but it said very high population so i just went with it i am seeing a decent amount of people running around in the first map so thats good news

Awesome, welcome to GW2! Yes, it’s very active and there’s always something to do when you reach 80. In fact, you won’t have enough hours in the day if you really get into it. Definitely get map completion on ONE character, you will learn a lot about the areas as well.

deathsway.6903:

i started over and rolled a necro i am currently level 9 and enjoying the game this far i am glad i started at 1 i cant remember the server i was on but it said very high population so i just went with it i am seeing a decent amount of people running around in the first map so thats good news

Just so you know: the only place that your choice of server makes a difference is in the WvW game mode. Everywhere else the maps are “global”, in the sense that everyone in the same region shares the same collection of map instances.

Which definitely helps keep the game population live.

Hey,
I don’t want to start a new topic, I’am thinking about returning to the game after few years (tbh I played only few months after release). Could you tell me how is WvW and sPvP nowadays? Is still Guardian a good class for pvp?

Lalette.9763:

Hey,
I don’t want to start a new topic, I’am thinking about returning to the game after few years (tbh I played only few months after release). Could you tell me how is WvW and sPvP nowadays? Is still Guardian a good class for pvp?

The game modes are much as they were before: doing fine, and filling the forums with whiners who claim they are dead, because their pet idea wasn’t implemented, or whatever.

Guardian can do just fine in PvP, though the specific builds from back in the day may no longer be the choice at the very pinacle of performance. For most people, though, anything will be fine.