Guild Wars 2

Just maxed an Engineer just doing PVE with no dungeons,

now i want to do something against my nature and do PVP only all the way to 80,
will it take longer than PVE? at what lvl should i go in WvWvW?

just one other thing, which i know is gonna get some flack what would be the easiest class for an average/casual/middle aged(53) player.

Many thanks.

Depending on what server you are on and what type of play you do will determine how long it takes to level, you can enter WvW at lvl 2 but I would advise just getting to lvl 10 first to get the feel for whatever class you pick…but the rate at which you level mainly is by are you running in a Zerg and capping a lot of stuff? Or running with guildies hitting camps/ sentries/ yaks and occasional tower? If either of these you’ll level quite fast…if you die a lot/roam/hunt players than it will take longer or if your Zerg gets wiped a lot

WvW leveling is very slow compared to PvE and glacial compared to crafting. You can do it and it is probably a worthwhile challenge but sub 80 geared players are at a substantial disadvantage. I frequently 1-2 shot most of them.

Urnbak.5046:

….

just one other thing, which i know is gonna get some flack what would be the easiest class for an average/casual/middle aged(53) player.
….

I don ’t think there there is such a class, I think it all comes down to whatever you enjoy, you just have to take the competitive environment into account when setting up your character.

As mentioned, running with the zerg is the fastest way to level, drop a few AoEs and tag everything, the rest of your skills can be more support oriented if you want to help out. Make sure you keep up XP consumables at all times as well. I will say this though, being uplevled will make you a target, especially for burst centric players and your servermates might loathe the fact that your death will rally enemy forces and probably cause them to wipe(and that is something you might get flak for).

So PVP is not really advisable till lvl ???

and mix it with PVE.

The idea to up lvl is a good idea but in reality it’s not.

Urnbak.5046:

So PVP is not really advisable till lvl ???

and mix it with PVE.

An argument could be made for 30 and the elite skill. I personally don’t play WvW with a new character until I hit 80 but I end up crafting my players up now since I have no patience with the PvE or fighting at a massive disadvantage in WvW with an uplevel.

Urnbak.5046:

So PVP is not really advisable till lvl ???

and mix it with PVE.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say it isn’t advisable, it just has it’s pitfalls is all(utility/elite skills, traits) but there can still be a lot of fun to be had. Even at 80 without decent setup and some experience you’re pretty much a juicy bag dispenser lol so don’t let your level stop you.

Also I wish to expand part of my earlier statement about servermates resenting uplevels, that is really just some people who’ll actually give you kitten about it, maybe organized guild groups, many others won’t especially if its not reset night.

I don’t get the advise people are giving against doing this. I mean, did y’all miss this?:

Level 12 ranger in WvW

He does this with other professions, too.

I think you’d be fine even from level 2. I did 60-80 purely through zerging in WvW on my engineer and the only times I died were when the whole zerg wiped. It was also fast, maybe 12 hours for all 20 levels?

But for the naysayers, no one ever complained to me. In fact, the zergs on Maguuma tend to have quite a few up-levels. And you’re not much squishier than a level 80 character, you just can’t expect to jump in on the front lines.

I’d say pick a ranged profession/build with a decent amount of AoE. You won’t be the player that turns the tide on huge battles but you won’t be anything like a pure leecher either. If I leveled another character, I’d definitely do it this way.

I hate pve and I regularly level characters in WvW, only stopping to pve for daily if needed or personal story quests. It might take longer sure, but if you like WvW and don’t have the gold to craft level, might as well level in WvW. It will also help you a lot entering WvW as an uplevel because you will have to learn how to survive while being underpowered. You will almost always lose in a 1v1 fight if you are upleveled so make sure you stay with commander and don’t be a hero, Heroics are for 80s.

As for a fairly easy class to play in WvW, I would say ANYTHING that is TANKY. There are plenty of WvW builds for every class in the game. My personal suggestion would be a warrior. Put 30 points into defense, grab your 2h Hammer and have fun. Later on down the road when you are 80 and have good gear, pick up some soldier runes and go shout heal spec. Then, just stick on the commander, swing your hammer, shout like a boss and auto-loot your way to a full inventory.

It shouldn’t take too long. I leveled my thief sand ranger solely in WvW after doing the required personal story tutorial thing in the beginning. So you can hit WvW at level 2 if ya want. Just stick with other people till you hit 80 and leech. Being around for tower captures and taking camps gives huge exp. And anyone can kill wandering dolyaks alone. It’s just not advisable to wander too far from others since you cant do much and are an easy kill.

I enjoy reading a lot of these comments. Yet I find most irrelevant.

Necromancers are OP.
My lvl6 killed a lvl80 in WvW today, albeit an awful lvl80.

If you want to do lvl1 – 80 with a profession in WvW? Do necro.
Stand at the back, throw down rings as you run away, watch the dots appear.
Its more or less the same as being a noob with a normal 80 class, but with each level you become slowly more and more OP.
To the point when you are actually 80, you will be like a 1 man condition army.

I’ve heard some of the more hardcore and obsessive WvW players generally hating on upscaled chars, and I have to say, to hell with that kitten. I will concede that Reset Night is too important not to bring your A-game and contribute as much as possible to the war and I respect that rule. But 4am on a wednesday is play time for the level 8 mesmer I have no clue how to operate

I love taking all my toons into WvW no matter what level. I have yet to level one solely by WvW, as I tend to do a mix of both PvP and PvE, however once you are on your seventh or eighth character the prospect of hitting up Queensdale or Brisban Wildlands AGAIN is less than thrilling. For this reason my earlier characters roamed the whole of Tyria, my later ones have uncovered no maps but have some WvW ranks to their name instead.

I am one of those people who simply accepts that if I roam, I will probably die. I will give it my best fight, and sometimes I do well before I give the opponent the dubious satisfaction of stomping an immature inexperienced upscaler.

The best advice I can think of for trying to level a baby toon in WvW is: BRING A FRIEND.

It can get a little demoralising running with an 80 guildie, as you don’t feel like you’re making anything like an even share of the damage, but that kind of thing is good for pure xp-gain. When you just need to squeeze another 2 levels till you can put on your new Sword.

However, my best times have been in Upscale Parties. Me and hubby rolled a pair of warriors, invited a nearby baby ranger and went camp/flag/quag flipping. If it’s a quiet time, we may be cheeky and take a tower. It’s a challenge not getting walloped when you don’t have any special skills and in many cases haven’t even unlocked your weapons yet.

Just talk to your guildmates and see who has a char about your ‘age’. You’d be surprised the number of points that can be gained for your server with a little gang of roaming youngsters. I also find it’s a lot of giggles and very uplifting, since quite frequently one of us will /say “Hell yeah lvl 17!” and then the gratz will fly. I know it will be my turn in a few camps. We swap the loots we get and between us craft ourselves all new sets of gear at all the major level-milestones.

And so what if, when we meet a gang of 80s, or indeed one thief, we die? Repairs are so cheap at these low levels it doesn’t matter.

I think people in all MMOs have an irrational need to be the top level, like NOW. Why? Enjoy the journey. And WvW at low levels is a wicked fun journey.

Zerging is great too, as you will really get some bread-and-butter XP by tagging everything with aoes, but don’t ever let people tell you you a) shouldn’t bring an Upscale or b) shouldn’t roam with one. You can do it all, at any level. Just with a lot of rezzing and running!

if your server is pwning or you have a balanced match up, you can level up pretty fast in WvW…… just follow a good commander around…..

if your server is getting stomped every week, it will be a very slow progress indeed……

I roam on my lvl 40. comeatmebro

Skyeyes.4935:

However, my best times have been in Upscale Parties. Me and hubby rolled a pair of warriors, invited a nearby baby ranger and went camp/flag/quag flipping. If it’s a quiet time, we may be cheeky and take a tower. It’s a challenge not getting walloped when you don’t have any special skills and in many cases haven’t even unlocked your weapons yet.

Just talk to your guildmates and see who has a char about your ‘age’. You’d be surprised the number of points that can be gained for your server with a little gang of roaming youngsters. I also find it’s a lot of giggles and very uplifting, since quite frequently one of us will /say “Hell yeah lvl 17!” and then the gratz will fly. I know it will be my turn in a few camps. We swap the loots we get and between us craft ourselves all new sets of gear at all the major level-milestones.

You guys sound kittening adorable.

I am of similar age and play mainly WvW.

My advice:

1. Guardian. Not such a twitchy class. I am largely a clicker and can play it effectively. Guardians are always welcome just for their buffs.

2. Do some PvE to get skill points.

3. Start at level 10 or 14. Buy blue rings and accessories at lvl 10. Go buy masterwork armor at level 14. Fresh green armor and jewelry at 20. Get trinkets with toughness and vitality.

4. Use a staff and either a mace/shield or a hammer to start. Immobilize, knockbacks, stability and retaliation (stand your ground), staff empower work regardless of your level.

5. Group with others. Especially important as a guardian. You also get more loot when grouped.

6. You will likely be strongest when you get the new equipment due to scaling and then drop off until you get the new equipment. So be sure to WvW at lvl 14 and 20, do PvE if you want at 19.

7. If you really want to WvW join a WvW guild and listen on voicechat program they use.
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An alternative would be a ranger. You could fire a longbow in a zerg or skirmish a bit. Thieves will gun for an underlevelled ranger. Rangers generally offer little support.

Guardian is not the optimal choice.
If you are in the front, you get killed very fast. In the middle of your zerg,you wont tag many people so you will have little xp nad loot. Guardian does not have ranged aoe (staff aa has little dng and only 600 range). And I know that because I tried to lvl one throught WvW.
But staff ele, mesmer with greatsword, engi with nades, necro with staff, ranger with longbow(skill 5), warrior with bow for aoe. Those are very easy to lvl in wvw.
Because they have powerfull ranged aoe which will tag most of enemy zerg.
For example, with ele casting meteor shower on bridge, i was able to gain 2 lvls in 15 minutes just because Dzags keeps comming on the bridge under hills. It was 2 days ago.
With guard I was killed almost instantly, while having +vit+tough gear on lvl 30 with guard lvl 32.(then i logged to ele)

But grouping with others is a great idea. Make a party of 5, choose weaker server, go taking camps. You get one lvl while capping 2-3 camps, and you can run to skill points and vistas too.

Thank you all for your very helpful advice, i’ve just started a necro and allthough i never go for the squishy caster type classes i am actually enjoying it,

i normaly go for the rogue/hunter type (WOW) ref: sorry for that.

I’m gonna wait till about lvl 30-40 before pvp’ing, and see how i get on.

Many thanks again.

Actually, with necro, you just need to be lvl 7 to go into WvW. But on this low lvl stick to groups and you will be fine. Get daggers and staff as second. Use daggers for solo, staff for aoe ranger.

Hule.8794:

Actually, with necro, you just need to be lvl 7 to go into WvW. But on this low lvl stick to groups and you will be fine. Get daggers and staff as second. Use daggers for solo, staff for aoe ranger.

Thanks will do.

Lvl 7 is for weapon swapping. Sometimes staff aoe is not the option and is better to have second melee weapon like daggers.

I’ve leveled 2 professions, a Warrior and Elementalist, from 1 to 80 solely by playing in W3. What better way to learn how to play a class? I see no advantage at all to waiting until you are level 80 to start since you will likely have to re-think your traits and gear anyways.

The key points are, play defensively and play smart. If you are constantly dying then you are not doing either. Ranged attacks are your friend. Running with a large group of course is best in your early levels.

If your goal is to speed to level 80 then W3 is not for you.

WvW leveling is faster than PvE on a high tier server that’s winning every week. In each fight you are getting experience from 60 enemies, instead of just 20 or 30. And obviously your zerg have to win those fights for you to get that experience.

The opposite is a low tier server that is losing every single week. Sorry but you are much better off doing PvE to level on those servers.

CHIPS.6018:

WvW leveling is faster than PvE on a high tier server that’s winning every week. In each fight you are getting experience from 60 enemies, instead of just 20 or 30. And obviously your zerg have to win those fights for you to get that experience.

Even on a high tier server leveling in WvW is slower than moderately efficient PvE leveling. It certainly can be done but it isn’t as fast IMO.

I would also add that leveling in WvW should not be discouraged. That said a player should be prepared for tough fights because up leveled players really are at a significant disadvantage. They frequently get plowed by hard hitting builds, cannot make a dent against bunkers and are often attacked first due to their squishiness.