Guild Wars 2

So, just had my first go on WvW and it was quite frustrating. Ran to a large battle near a base or something, couldn’t seem to do anything. Ran to somewhere quiet to try and do something there; straight into a massive group of enemies and died again.

Anyway, rather than rage about it, I’m assuming that there’s actually something to WvW that I’m currently not getting, and I’m OK with that, being a beginner.

So I ask, what do I do? Spawning for the first few times, what should a beginner do in WvW? People don’t seem to party up or anything, which seems strange because I’m unsure of what they expect to accomplish on their own.

I’m a Mesmer, level 41, if that helps.

I’m on my phone so I’ll summarize it. There three types of outposts, supply camps, towers and keeps. Each one gives points with camps giving the least and keeps the most in 15 minutes. In order to capture keeps and towers and keep you need siege weapons,they require supply
Supply is generated by the camps and are transported by dolyaks to your captured places. Supply is also used to purchase upgrades for outposts Like additional guards and Stronger walls. The goal is to capture and hold the most outposts so that your server gets the most points, there are 3 battlegrounds one for each server and the fourth Eternal Battleground home to the Stonemist Castle which gives more points than a keep. If you have more questions don’t hesitate to ask.

Btw if you’re looking for a guild what server are you on?

The following is pure opinion, but you ask so i’ll give:

Parties are variant depending on your servers playstyle it appears. The joy of WvW is that its not a game of character skill, more a game of communication and co-ordination between players. Without which even the best pvp servers/players/guilds fail. Tactics and cunning play more of a role in WvW that knowing what buttons to press and when, however combined is the difference between good and great WvW participants.

What can you do? Join in, the game relies on working together, find some people follow them about for a bit it might help you get a feel for the tasks you need to complete in order to win the rounds/matches. It is definitely not always an impossibility to perform some events on your own or help out solo… but i find its more fun to group up and work together bouncing off other skills and abilities.

What’s the point? The aim of the game is to hold particular points across the map, as each one tallies to a score system that updates i believe every 15minutes. It is very easy to solo Dolyacks and Veteran scouts that are found on the main paths on the map… Camps are a little harder to take over on your own but a party of 5 could easily take over one. Towers require a little more coordination but numbers vary dependant on defenders inside. Undefended the same party of 5 could take a tower, its simply a matter of time.

Tips:

• Although large groups of players are interacting in battles, its best to focus on one or two within their group… and if you have time, the one with the lowest health :p At the end of the day any way to drop numbers of the enemy and score some Badges of Honor/ a chance to push forward is a plus.
• Siege are the key to control/defend and attacking. With recent changes blueprints are now dropped as loot.
• Always make sure your carrying supplies, take them from camps as a priority before you take any from towers or keeps… they need them for reinforcements. if you have none in your camp don’t wait around, gather a few friends/randomers and attack an enemy camp for their supplies.. Pillage, loot and otherwise swashbuckle your way to resupply.
• Keep an eye for white “contested” swords on keeps and towers your server owns, they can be defended by you for a bit, successful or not, you still receive an event bonus for helping out.
• Watch for Orange Battle Markers on the map, they’ll show you where the action is, if they’re at the gates of a keep, you can take it your server are attacking said keep. Go help!

If i think of anymore i’ll post them… might make an FAQ for WvW to be honest…

Well first of all I’d recommend you isten to the tutorial NPC at the enterance of every map. He will give you brief overview of the map and the situation.

Then you should look at the map and get a sense of location and where the action is going on. Points of conflict are genrally marked with crossed-swords. If these swords are near a contested keep or watchtower, it’s safe to assume this objective is under siege. Depending on what side your on, you should either help attack or defend it.

You can also simply ask in chat upon entering the map “Hello guys, what’s going on? Where’s our zerg?”

People will probably respond with a specific location on the map. Finding a your zerg (zerg = large group of players) should probably be easy from there on. Following you zerg is probably the best idea until you get a little more comfortable. It can be frustrating at times, especially if the zerg doesn’t have a leader because it obays certain “mob dynamics”. You’ll figure them out soon enough, just be sure to check you back on a regular basis to see if it’s still there

A few useful hints would be:

1. Always try to carry supplies with you. You can pick them up at any supply depot, but your server will prefer it if you only took them from actual supply camps and not from keeps. The amount of supplies you are currently carrying can be seen at the top, next to your score.

2. Siege weapons are deployed by buying a blue-print from a Siege merchant. Ideally anyone would carry at least a Flameram around with them at any time (costs 6 silver). But so many peole are cheap they don’t like spending their money on WvW. Once you get the blue-print you double-click it in your inventory and set it up at a particuar locations. Rams obviously need to be deployed right infront of an enemy gate.

Then however they still need to be constructed, and this is where the supplies come in. Since you can’t carry around more than 10 supplies at once you rely on other people to come and help build with theirs. That’s why you should always carry some around with you.

If you do die, don’t respawn right away. If your allies are still in control of the battle you can still be rezzed, it just takes longer. Still better than walking all the way back.

If you do see a previously unnoticed group of enemy players let people know in /team or /map. Always report a rough estimate of the enemy’s numbers and where they are heading. Something like “inc 20+ on Bluebriar”. Bear in mind that many zergs seem larger than they are thanks to the large number of pets and minions running with them.

I understand most of that. What I don’t get is why people find it “fun”, I guess. In my case, I often get kills and I often get killed – but I never feel as though I, the player, really contributed much to the outcome. It just seems as though the winner is always the team which has more people in a given location, and as you have very little control over that (because it seems on my server, Desolation, everyone just runs around seemingly at random whilst our locations all belong to BOTH other teams who seemingly fight each other on our territory better than we fight either of them) I don’t “get it”.

If I didn’t have to pay for armour repairs in WvW, I’d give it a few evenings to try and see if there was more to it – but I’m not prepared to sink the kind of cash necessary to get up to speed (or be totally terrified of dying and as a result seemingly not do anything!).

Can anyone offer some advice? People seem to really like it so I can’t help but think I’m missing something very important.

I’m also on Desolation EU most people like zerging but my guild mates and I love capping a tower and defend while upgrading it. Of u want to play with I can help i

Also on Deso, remember the name I often spout random crap and updates in /t or /m (: Send me a PM and i’ll happy run through it with you/guide you a bit.

Kutai.4971:

I understand most of that. What I don’t get is why people find it “fun”, I guess. In my case, I often get kills and I often get killed – but I never feel as though I, the player, really contributed much to the outcome. It just seems as though the winner is always the team which has more people in a given location, and as you have very little control over that (because it seems on my server, Desolation, everyone just runs around seemingly at random whilst our locations all belong to BOTH other teams who seemingly fight each other on our territory better than we fight either of them) I don’t “get it”.

If I didn’t have to pay for armour repairs in WvW, I’d give it a few evenings to try and see if there was more to it – but I’m not prepared to sink the kind of cash necessary to get up to speed (or be totally terrified of dying and as a result seemingly not do anything!).

Can anyone offer some advice? People seem to really like it so I can’t help but think I’m missing something very important.

WvW is definitely not for the solo-minded player. While one lone person on some siege equipment can do some great damage (try a cannon sometime! It’s rad!) it is mainly about numbers and strategy as a team effort. It doesn’t feel like you are doing a lot, but being there to help fight, and doing what you can to help win- even just calling out incoming enemies and their numbers- ensures that you are actually earning your keep, and a cut of the spoils.
Even if you’re like the worst PvPer in the world, if their zerg is clashing at yours, you can try running around the side and pretend to flank them. They’ll see you as a threat and some may turn away from your better-suited peers to blow you up. You’ll die, but your sacrificial move will help ball up some enemy melee into one of your teammates’ AOEs. A balled up enemy is a dead one.

I do admit, repair bills are a stupid money sink. It’s there to mess with you and punish you for dying. But if you’re with a group of people, looting everything off the ground and filling your inventory will usually give you at least enough to cover the repair bills.

The key is that you don’t need to be in a “party” with other people to help out. Sure’s it’s preferred, but not necessary as in many other games. If just being one of the zerg isn’t your thing you can always ask in /team if anyone want to attack some supply camps or go scouting.

Just be aware that you’re not going to run in and pvp-hero the other side single-handily. WvW is more of a “war” and thus it’s about co-ordinated forces fighting. It’s far more enjoyable in my opinion when you’re in a group (guild or otherwise) that’s working together, but not quite on the level of a “zerg” if you catch my drift?

If that’s not really what you’re looking for I suppose spvp will have to fill the pvp gap.

I felt this way the first time I tried it too — don’t worry.

Seems like WvWvW is more fun for the “commanders” directing the larger strategy. They use their zerg as their personal weapon.

But for the footsoldiers who see themselves hitting something with 250,000 health with their 350pt hits…it seems a bit impersonal and repetitive to me.

Maybe I just need to learn enough to be a commander, or a strategist.

To answer the original post…I think the satisfaction of WvWvW is generated entirely in the mind of the individual player. Lots of people seem to enjoy being a tiny cog in a huge wheel that they are immensely proud to be a part of.

So when their zerg breaks down a wall and floods into a garrison, they feel like they did it themselves, in a way. They feel a great sense of accomplishment.

Other people want to see their own contribution, see themselves improve with practice, see themselves learn better strategies and see their new strategies bear fruit.

It’s a personality thing. Different strokes for different folks and all.