Guild Wars 2

Thanks a lot for your input everyone. It looks a like some of the initial issues I’m having (getting into AC in the first place) can be solved by just finding the right group or guild.
As for the weapons to use, would a sword/torch with a longbow to swap be a good combination? Because the longbow has the AOE…I don’t mind changing my equips for dungeon runs though.
Also I find that when I am inside AC things tend to go pretty smoothly and if something goes wrong it’s because someone didn’t listen or someone fell behind/had crappy timing, or was unfamiliar with the place, not because of their level or class…

Rangers sure have it tough when it comes to dungeons in this game. Especially rangers that:

1) Are still leveling or are trying to use the dungeon to level/get good gear for their level. For example a level 30-35+ ranger.
2) Do not use swords (instead use long and short bows).
3) Are not elementalists (this is sort of made in jest but one run could not be completed because there was no ele).

I’ve noticed that “low” levels are at a disadvantage when it comes to random grouping or waiting to join a LFG group. Maybe this can be solved by getting a better guild that runs lowbies through their dungeons. But it’s sort of silly to call someone a “low level” when they are the level required for the dungeon. And it’s sort of ridiculous to not be able to get into the dungeon for your level bracket (the only dungeon you can run for the next 10 levels) because you’re not 80.

I guess the sword equip goes into the whole “zerk” thing I keep seeing all over the place. I’m not entirely sure what this is though. I would think the range, AOE, and controls the bows have would be more helpful to the group. But someone please explain this to me.

Finally I would like to know how to maximize my usefulness in dungeon groups. I thought I was doing perfectly fine until I ran Path 1 (the one that couldn’t be completed because there was no ele). The burrows part was what made me see that maybe I should equip/learn how to play with a sword (or is it greatsword that people want rangers to use in groups?). Or maybe there’s some other tips to bust through those burrows as a ranger that I’m missing? Such as CCs, pets, skills? I’m a bit lost. It’s a little frustrating to finally get to the level bracket where the rest of the game starts to open up to you and then see that 90% of the community doesn’t want to run with you unless you’re “zerk” or 80 or an ele.

I’m planning on playing other classes anyway but I wanted my first 80 to be my ranger. This kind of experience makes it understandable that some people just ignore the dungeons of the game because of that kind of atmosphere.

I just hit 30 a couple of days ago and went to look on the LFG for runs of AC and all of them were 80+.

Pay attention to the skill UI. F1-4 is for commanding your pet. F2 is your pet’s special skill. If you don’t like your pet’s special skill or your pet is too squishy, go tame another one

Hammer guardian = fun times
Sylvari is a fun race to play, they sound British XD
Norn is fun too

Lazuli.2098:

It depends on when your hero was created.

If it existed before that latest patch Apr 15 then all traits are unlocked and you just need to level your character up to assign trait points to the traits starting at level 30.

If your hero was created after the April 15 patch then all traits are locked and certain tasks must be performed to unlock them. But you still acquire the trait points as you level starting at level 30. So sorry if your hero is new.

You can buy traits. Trait points are relatively low because you are supposed to “build” your character, so figure out what you want to focus on and assign skill and trait points accordingly to the skills and traits you think best complement your playstyle (or help you with any shortcomings you think you have).

^^^I completely agree. 150%

Lovelocke.9286:

I’m currently exploring the map and aiming for 100% completion – I’m blogging about it too, a double whammy of enjoyment for me.

It’s really fun. And my opinion on the megaserver – for exploration at least – is that it’s made exploring a whole lot more fun.

I’m aiming for 100% too! That’s a great goal to have, especially for new players. It sort of seems like the OP entered the game trying to get to max level as soon as possible and this game is not really about that mindset, it’s more about exploration and enjoying the events and other content such as jumping puzzles.

This game is about your personal goals though. Pick something you’re interested in and try it out, see what you like, see what you can improve on, and figure out a goal you want to reach, and try to reach it! That kind of approach makes the game a lot more fulfilling.

I agree with that, but I’ve noticed that the ranger gets a lot of control skills to keep the mob next to the pet so the pet can kill it, which contributes to the less movement. And controlling the pet adds another dimension to the gameplay that I really like. Instead of running for my life while throwing out skills, I’m sending my pet in, doing damage, calling my pet back if there’s some aoe going on, using my pet’s special to control the mob, running away from the mob if it decides to ignore my pet, crippling, bleeding, etc, using the longbow aoe when I’m flooded (which always ends up with having to move), switching out pets depending on what skills I need, etc.

I find the more I notice the subtler aspects of the gameplay, the more fulfilling it is. I keep trying to engage mobs and events with the goal of not getting hit more than 3 times and also not having my pet get hit more than 3 times either, so that way I don’t get into the comfortable mindset of “oh, my pet’s tanking, I’m just going to chill”. Cuz I’m trying to play other classes after this one, so getting into that mindset is lethal on an elementalist for example lol

I’ve noticed that if it’s 1-3 mobs and I’m using a tankier pet, I rarely need to move. But if I’m doing a veteran or champion or skill point mob I end up having to move. And also mobs that have huge aoe skills obviously. Being a ranger sort of makes things a bit easier because I just sic my pet on the mob and get far away lol.

And leveling is a lot smoother once I started giving myself goals like 100%ing maps in order from level and likeableness (I do the area I like the most last). I’ve discovered I like participating in the fights for the waypoints. Also, the map chat helps out a lot to see where people are trying to be and what mobs they’re trying to fight so I know to either go there or avoid engaging a mob because no one else is there or throw it on map chat and wait for people to arrive.

I’ve also noticed that my timing with and choice of skills helps a lot with controlling mobs and staying alive. I love using bows, so I often switch between shortbow and longbow when the situation calls for it, and change out skills and pets according to where I’m going and what type of mobs I’m engaging.

This thread has been really helpful in my progress, plus I’ve been getting some in-game help as well, which I really appreciate.

Thanks a lot for your comments. I think it was a mixture of not moving and not paying attention to where I was going; I was exploring into parts of the map that were too hard for me and then engaging mobs/events. So I made a sylvari ranger, she’s now lvl10 and I ported to Rata Sum when she hit 10 because I still have a ways to go before 11 and I want to 100% the cities! I die a lot (less than before I think though) but it’s usually when there’s 5-6 mobs there so I don’t sweat it anymore. I think I’m getting the hang of this again guys lol

I just redownloaded yesterday…hmmm I think it took about 3-5 hours, I’m on Verizon Fios, download speed was about 1.56MB/sec

So. I’ve had this game for a while (since within the first couple years after launch, don’t remember exactly when I bought it) and I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled it, created and deleted characters, but no character has ever gotten past 25. I’ve played other games, like WoW, SWTOR, and am waiting for a bunch more to come out (like Wildstar).

I guess my point is that I really like this game, I like the concept, and I definitely like the changes that have been made in the past couple of months. The game really seems to be coming into its own. BUT, I just don’t seem to be digging my heels in, and I want to. I played FFXIV:RR and hit level50 in (almost) no time, and had a ball doing it, but once I got there, it was just “Oh, gear up until next the next storyline comes.”

What I like about this game is that there is no waiting for content. You can wander around, there is no grinding, there is just stumbling into things and having a grand old time and then all of a sudden you level. I like the vistas (because I’ve dabbled in Assassin’s Creed), I like the getting experience for exploring, I like the no pressure to “level.” BUT I find that the things I wander into often get me killed.

So I guess my question is (since I’m basically a new player since I haven’t gotten past level20 in about a year because of playing on and off) is this the kind of game where you’re supposed to die a lot? Because I’m entirely used to the more traditional play style (I 98% of the time play a healer) where if your timing and skill rotation is on point and you know when to run, then you rarely die unless someone in your group makes a party-wiping mistake. So for me it’s kind of frustrating to die because I stumbled into a dynamic event where no one else was around or to get past the first phase of the DE to die in the next phase because there’s no one else around. One thing FFXIV had really well was that they scaled the difficulty of their dynamic events to how many people were there. But for GW2, I’m starting to wonder if the dynamic events I’m wandering into are ones I should just walk away from when there’s no one else around, or if there is something I should be doing (like pick myself a class more suited to my playstyle, or dodge more, or join a guild that I can chat with when I die too many times so I can just chill) that will make this experience click more.

I’ve been playing these kinds of games for almost 7 years now and GW2 is still an enigma. So I welcome any tips, thoughts, responses, or guild invites you guys may have for me. I’m in Crystal Desert and I’m probably gonna (re)create an elementalist or ranger cuz those are my favorite classes (I think). Maybe engineer. As you can see I like playing different classes. As long as they are ranged. Because I fail horribly at melee classes.

Hey everyone,

I got this game a little while ago (late last week) and I’ve been enjoying it so far. The leveling and playstyle takes a lot of getting used to, so I’ve been on the forums soaking up all the tips and tricks I can get.

I originally started on a human necromancer because I really liked the outfit they get, but I ended up not liking it. Then I made a sylvari elementalist, a norn ranger, an asuran engineer, a norn mesmer, and then replaced my necromancer with a human guardian, which I am now playing. And I love it with the hammer! Ha ha smashing my enemies into the dust is just too much fun.

Okay, so I’m looking for a guild that is fun, talkative, helpful, open, and has a wide range of players from new people to experienced.

A bit about me:
I’m a Master’s student with a part-time job who has been MMORPG gaming since around 2005-2008 (can’t remember exactly when I started). I’m the type of person that can be very quiet but also jump into conversations at the most random times. I’m very respectful and open-minded.
My favorite part of gaming is the PvE exploring/questing and dungeon running. I generally don’t try to do PvP until I’ve been playing for a long while or I’m higher level. I’m a team player and I like to help people out, and rarely ask people for it unless I’m really stumped and/or have already died at least 1-3 times.
My availability is sort of wacky. I can be on at any time and any day from late morning (8 to 10am) to late night (10pm to 4am). During the semester I am usually on between 5pm and 1am. I live in New York City so that is… EST, GMT-5?
Currently all of my characters (whose names I cannot remember and I am at work so I can’t check) have not even scratched level 5. My necromancer was 8 before I deleted her.

Oh, I was also wondering how joining a guild works. I saw on the forums somewhere that your account joins the guild? I need some more elaboration on that.

To help me out with picking a guild I just need:
Name
TimeZone
Expectations
Requirements
And whatever else you want to add.

Thanks for reading!
I’ll put my character names in my signature when I get home and check what they are.

Well the thing with this game is that every profession has their own heals and their own CCs and their own utility skills. The combat style allows for each profession to kite if they are using a ranged weapon. So it depends more on what you like to see your character doing.

Warriors I think use the most weapons and are the buffer/debuffers
Guardians do a lot of AOE, both magic and melee, and use a lot of group skills
Engineers use a bunch of different “kits” that changes the type of attack they use
Elementalists are closer to the archetypal mage (magic AOE) and also use a lot of skills that are useful in a group
Mesmers use illusions and debuffs and buffs
Rangers can tame pets and use traps
Necromancers have minions and use AOE
Thieves are your ninjas basically lol

I’ve played necromancer (which I didn’t end up liking too much) and now I’m playing guardian which I love cuz she keeps sending enemies flying XD

I agree with Mercury. I find you level a lot faster when more exploring is involved than trying to quest only. The thing with GW2 is that you need to get out of the leveling/questing mindset and just enjoy the game. Explore, fight, play. If you focus on those things, your levels will go up almost without you realizing.

Yeah, I find that leveling is a lot easier when you’re not just questing. Exploring, discovering waypoints, climbing up to a vista, all those things give you experience. A nice trick I learned when you visit other starter areas is that you should talk to the Scout NPC (the telescope icon), and they will tell you the heart quests for the area, which I found to help out a lot.

I’m a new player too, but I am very experienced in questing. I just did the hearts for my level, then did the story for my level then did whatever I felt like until I was the proper level for the next heart. I like to be 0-2 levels above the story, since I know that story quests tend to be a bit more challenging than regular world heart quests. The game allows you to really do whatever it is you feel like doing in whatever order you feel like, without worrying about levels.

That tip about the unlocking weapon skills is really a gem. I should definitely do that…

I’m a new player but I’m just gonna throw in my two cents.

The elementalist is really fun and the gameplay is exciting. I’m still trying out the professions I may want to play, and I originally didn’t want to try the guardian or warrior (I’m not really into the close-up play and I am used to playing healing classes). But then the necromancer I was using didn’t work out (I just didn’t like it; the minions are so squishy and draw aggro when you’re just walking around) so I decided to try out the guardian.

I think the guardian is really fun!…when you give them a hammer bwaha. It’s just so amusing to see my character pound into the ground and send enemies flying. Plus I am a big team player and it seems like the guardian is great for running dungeons.

Aw you guys are so sweet! I edited my topic so I’m not calling myself a noob lol.

That comic was hilarious.

Wow I didn’t know you could join 5 guilds how does that work in chat?

I am very happy with the 5 character slots, I tend to be a multi-alter. I’ve made a human necromancer, then I want a sylvari elementalist and a norn mesmer. Hopefully I’ll stop at 3 characters (I probably won’t).

I’m on Crystal Desert and still have no guild but I’m like level 4 so no rush right?

I like how the personal story goes because I can do the side quests and events that pop up in the surrounding area before I go in. I am so happy I bought this game~

Hey everyone,

GW2 is downloading right now and I’m very excited. This game will be interesting for me to play mostly because I’m used to healing people. I still like ranged magic and controlling health in my gameplay, so I think I really like the necromancer. But I am also interested in the mesmer and the elementalist! I’m also torn between humans, sylvari, and norn (I will probably spend about an hour making my character lol).

I have a bunch of questions:
1. How many character slots do we get?
2. I live in New York City; which server/homeworld is best for me?
3. What level is a good level to start looking for a guild?
4. How often do you get to progress in your personal story?

Thanks!