Guild Wars 2

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

ahahahahahahahahahaha!

you know it’s bad to fall out of your chair laughing at work? my coworkers are looking at me askance, but kitten that was entertaining!

I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself arjun, finding a positive thread amid this endless sea of negativity is wonderful. The WvW imagery…..lmao!

I’d offer more, but I’m laughing too hard to think right now (plus I really need coffee). Here’s to wishing you many, many more hours of enjoyment and fun!

Thanks Lanfear, I aim to please

jheryn.8390:

Great post. So refreshing to have someone post their enjoyment of the game instead of griping and complaining about how the game is ruining their lives because they can’t get a particular weapon skin.

I love the game for the lore, the look, and the play. I’m glad you are enjoying it as well. Kudos to you.

That’s partly why I posted this now instead of waiting till lvl 80. I think it’s important for newcomers to know that while Anet has made some pretty crontroversial decisions lately, the game, akittens core, is still pretty brilliant. In my opinion if you explore the open world and do a little bit of PvP and WvW whenever the mood strikes you, you still get your money’s worth. Legendaries and Ascended are just bonus (i realise That I’m probably the minority here).

aspirine.6852:

See some warrior roaming vids on the wvw part of the forum. They are not auto attack evis spamming . If I try that against them I would be dead meat.

Thanks for the tip! Will surely check that section out

@Raine: Wish you all the best for your quest for the Ascended. Hope you get all your chars equipped soon.

@Red Falcon – In my article I expressly mentioned that I feel that the Warrior is an extremely interesting class and it’s only that particular weapons-set that made me lose interest in it.

In fact, out of all the professions I’ve tried Warrior and Mesmer are the most interesting to me right now. Followed by Engineer and Thief.

Having said that, I decided to move to a different profession instead of going back to my preferred weapon (Hammer) because I wanted to get a feel of all the professions that this game has to offer. Right now I can confidently say that while I’m not an expert at any of the classes and far, far, FAR from good at PvP, I have a solid basic understanding of the game mechanics.

Surprisingly, I’ve noticed that every time I make a new alt and level to the 30s and 40s, I get exponentially better at playing my older alts :P

knives.6345:

I am still waiting for my cookie… Just so you know… lol

How can I add you in-game? I’ll be sure to send you one after I level my cooking a bit

Will do

I’ve only completed one jumping puzzle till now and I don’t even know which. Just saw it pop up while I was checking my achievements.

Zoid.2568:

Axe/Axe for Warrior isn’t exactly the most fun weapon combination.

I agree. If I ever go back to my Warrior, It’ll be for the hammer. There’s so much awesomeness in that weapon.

Vayne.8563:

I met the great wurm in Caledon Forest pretty much the same way. I was just standing there and it popped out of the ground right in front of me. I was floored.

Amazing encounter.

I came across my first champion, another wurm, in Diessa Plateau when i was playing my Charr Warrior. I was still high from slaughtering everything in Ashford with my greatsword so thought I’d solo it.

It broke my mind, body, armour and spirit.

A month later I came back with my Mesmer and pretty much soloed it with three Duelists and the Scepter 3 attack. Revenge was taken and later I shared his meat with the hungry Charr from the nearby town.

@Orion: Dude, please don’t be so quick to judge. Maybe they were just having a picnic…yeah, a picnic in the nude. That’s probably all that it was :P

Vayne.8563:

Remember the fire ele in Metrica when the game started. It was so much harder. All we ever saw was dead bodies there. Man people were kitten ed. lol

Wow…so much generation gap. The only time I see 50+ players on a beginner’s map is when there’s a living story happening. The newbie zones are pretty much dead now (except Queensdale, everyone loves Queensdale).

Glad you brought that up Orion. In my time playing, I’ve yet to come across a single bot. So kudos to Anet for taking care of that problem so thoroughly.

@Orian: Never played GW1, although I’ve heard that it was pretty much the perfect MMO. I was talking about GW2.

@Vayne: I totally see what you mean. Even though I’ve only spent a limited time in the game, I like the open world a lot more than the living story. But I guess this is mainly because I’m still exploring and each new zone is like cotton candy (and who doesn’t like cotton candy).

For the people who’ve seen the length and breadth of Tyria, I imagine Living Story is a pretty big incentive to log back into the game. Maybe in the future we can see more races and zones added to the game, but I’m not keeping my fingers crossed.

@Morrigan: Hahahahaha. I’m in Harathi Hinterlands right now with my Mesmer. Where is this wonderful giant you speak of? The only giant I came across was Fen and he had me gather so much grub sap I was stinking for days. He did make it up to me with his touching life story though.

Vayne.8563:

Great post, OP and a much needed change from the normal forum infighting. Glad you’re enjoying the game and good luck in sticking with a profession in the future (says the guy with four mains and 6 80s. lol).

You’re my hero Vayne.

Will definitely post a follow up once I get to lvl 80 and start Dungeoning.

On another note, I’d love to hear some stories from the veterans about their beginner days. What was GWII like when it was a wee little baby?

yanchoy.9176:

Compare this

arjun.9025:

Remember my love for nature? So yeah…Sylvari Elementalist. Playing the elementalist was exhausting to say the least. The constant switching between elements left me feeling…cheated. Sure, I felt really cool while setting things on fire and whipping a lightsaber-esque whip, but I could be doing so much MORE. Level 15 only.

And this

arjun.9025:

I decided to go back to a more melee focused build. Say hello to my Charr Warrior.
…
I liked the personal story and the gameplay of the warrior so much that he ended up being my main character for quite some time. I experimented with builds, from the atypical Greatsword to the mighty Hammer, I tried them all and soon found myself playing with the Axe/Mace. And so began the downfall of my favourite character.

Every fight that I’d enter was something like this –

auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, Eviscerate
auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, Eviscerate
auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, Eviscerate

What had been a deep and interesting class, atleast to me, became more boring than a bear-longbow ranger. The Mace 5 ability and Eviscerate still haunt me on some days.

Not sure if trolling or twerking..

Nope, definitely not trolling. Don’t know what twerking is though. So could be twerking. Is that a bad thing?

Deimos Tel Arin.7391:

too long, didn’t read most of it, but hey, glad to see that you are having fun!

Don’t blame ya. But thanks for dropping by anyway

Shoiba.2980:

That’s awesome man good to know you are enjoying the game!

My main is a mesmer still love him to bits, but very very slow to level had fun anyway. Goodluck in finding what profession you choose as a main

Thanks Shoiba. I just switched from a Phantasm build to a Shatter build with Deceptive Evasion. Much more satisfying and active. Looking forward to getting back on it after I’ve played a bit with the Engineer.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

I read the entire post, and -I must say- enjoyed it immensely. Do you write professionally? If not, you should consider it. Thank you for an enjoyable few minutes. =)

It’s always a pleasure Inculpatus

I do write professionally. In fact I should be writing for a website right now. Instead I’ve stuck with the procrastination bug. Oh well. Gotta find a muse.

@Morrigan – Iron marches. Branded warband. Victorious-champ-thingy. Will definitely give it a shot once I become an advanced-newbie. Speaking of yelling things.

Picture an 8 foot tall, bald engineer with a long goatee, curly mustache and an eye-goggle stomping around with a flamethrower while yelling BURN BABY BURN.

By this time, I had experimented with crafting and had stashed stacks upon stacks of crafting materials in my bank that were gathering dust while waiting for my fickle mind to settle on a main. Seeking more of a challenge in the open world I started a Mesmer.

The leveling was painful, I’ll admit, but fun as well. I was dodging, switching, shattering and bursting my way through the levels and before I knew it, I was participating in my first ever Live Story. Yeah, Scarlet, I’m looking at you. It was purple vs red and I beat Scarlet and her endless waves of minions into the ground with only a giant sword and metal block thingy that made run faster (I may or may not have had the help of thousands of other players. I admit to nothing). This was also when I first got a look at Exotics. My first exotic weapon dropped for me after I killed Scarlet. It was a spear called the Impaler. I previewed it and almost fell off my bed in excitement. IT HAD A PARTICLE EFFECT. I still get ribbed by my guildies for screaming like a little girl. Yes they heard me. Across thousands of miles.

The Mesmer (now level 50) was also when I first made foray into WvW.

Have you seen a headless chicken? No? Well, you only needed to see me to get a fair idea of what that’s like. With no idea what to do and where to go, I tried being the hero and stood in front of a tower gate with hands on my hips, demanding they open the gates for the true avatar of beauty and purpleiness. Needless to say, I got a vat of boiling oil, a couple of rounds of cannon fire and a million or so AoEs dumped on my head. Now WvW had joined Eviscerate and Mace 5 in the deepest and darkest corners of my mind.

I now play an oddball Norn Engineer called Rusty Carburetor with a penchant for setting things on fire. I don’t know how long I’ll stick with good ol Rusty, but I do know that it’s going to be fun while I do.

If you’ve somehow stuck through till the end, and I really don’t know why you would, then I applaud your persistence. My journey with Guild Wars 2 has been short but full of misadventures. I’ve joined champ farm trains and had my kitten handed to me during WvW fights. I tried soloing the huge kitten champion Giant in Ascalon for 20 minutes. Got his HP down by 5% before he one-shotted me. I don’t have a Legendary, a bucket load of titles or even a main character.

But what I have had is a kittenload of fun, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what gaming is all about?

Apologies if the length of the post caused you headache or eyestrain. Here’s a cookie for your trouble.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this absurdly long article.

PS: Here’s to hoping that I can finally choose a character and stick with it.

A very good morning/afternoon/evening to all!

What’s an intermediate-newbie you ask…well, it’s someone who’s played every race and profession but hasn’t got a max level character till now.

As of today, I’ve spent two months in GW2 and think this is a good time as any to share my experience with the community.

On with the show!

Despite having never played the original game, I’ve been in love with GW2 since the day it launched. Everything from the game philosophy to gameplay was a breath of fresh air and a promise of redemption for the MMO sector. Almost like a gulp of fresh, cool water after spending days upon days withering away in a desert.

I was working in a foreign city when the game launched (with a laptop that became obsolete way back in 2009) and remember combing through the forums, skill calculators and reading the reviews. With every article that I’d read, I’d step into the shoes of the player and experience Tyria through his/her eyes. I’d roamed the streets of Lion’s Arch and lusted after the Legendaries before even creating an account.

Time passed and I found myself busied with the real world. Then suddenly, I was back home with a new job and a promotion. So I did what any gamer would do, built a kitten gaming rig. I ordered the game and dive bombed into Tyria with both eyes closed. My first character was a dark and mysterious Asura Necro that could gave children nightmares, loved the voice acting and the dialogue, but hated the conditions and the pace of the combat. With a shout of frustration, I abandoned the poor bugger.

My love for nature brought me to the Norn and gave birth to, what I now know to be a cliché, the Norn Guardian. I loved being the giant and bashing/slicing my way through a horde of ice monstrosities. This time I managed to stay invested till level 20 before once again getting frustrated with the pace of the fights.

Remember my love for nature? So yeah…Sylvari Elementalist. Playing the elementalist was exhausting to say the least. The constant switching between elements left me feeling…cheated. Sure, I felt really cool while setting things on fire and whipping a lightsaber-esque whip, but I could be doing so much MORE. Level 15 only.

By now I was getting worried, had I been suffering from the grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side syndrome? Why was a game that I was in love with for months failing to provide me the fun and excitement that I had been promised. Pushing aside all doubts, I decided to give GW another chance, and put everything on the Human Thief. Though I was dissappointed with the race and the personal story, I trudged through the early levels till I got my hands on a shortbow.

My world exploded.

One second I was taking on 5 mobs single handedly, the other; I was ganking single targets with obscenely high damage. For the first time since I started playing, I was in love with the game. I got him to level 20 before deciding to level up a few other professions before settling on my main. The Ranger sure looked interesting.

After falling asleep on my keyboard while leveling a Ranger I decided to go back to a more melee focused build. Say hello to my Charr Warrior. The Charr is everything that a Human is not. Most of the people on the forums complain about the Charr, I say to them, they don’t know what they’re missing. Who doesn’t see a furry and ferocious kitty and NOT want to cuddle it? Insanity I tell you.

I liked the personal story and the gameplay of the warrior so much that he ended up being my main character for quite some time. I experimented with builds, from the atypical Greatsword to the mighty Hammer, I tried them all and soon found myself playing with the Axe/Mace. And so began the downfall of my favourite character.

Every fight that I’d enter was something like this –

auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, Eviscerate
auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, Eviscerate
auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, auto-attack, Eviscerate

What had been a deep and interesting class, atleast to me, became more boring than a bear-longbow ranger. The Mace 5 ability and Eviscerate still haunt me on some days.

ButterOfDeath.2873:

arjun.9025:

1. Plan to stick to PVE, dungeons and light PVP
2. Love soloing things that aren’t meant to be soloed
3. Would love a class that can run fast (Swiftness) or has a lot of mobility
4. Would like to bring a respectable amount of group support to a team while dungeoning

1) So no WvW? K,thief is out.Definetly.
2) Warrior,Guardian,Ranger are the best suited for this, Engineer and Necro do such thing well too.
3) Anything except mesmer for this one.
4) Elementalist,Guardian,Mesmer,Engineer,Necromancer bring all huge group support.
Elementalist has AoE heals and aura share builds.
Guardian,well,the name speaks for itself.
Mesmer can spread boons all around
Engineer can provide CC,healing,conditions and boons
The Necro spams conditions on any enemy,while healing others and providing varions boons and condition removals.
The Warrior has shout builds and banners.
The Ranger has spirits (many underestimate spirits,they’re powerful).
The Thief has AoE stealth,a LOT of support through venoms and is an excelent reviver.

Thanks for the in-depth response!

I haven’t tried WvWvW yet, but I do plan to give it a shot, so let’s not discount Thief just yet.

Apart from that, I’ve tried necro and ele (albeit at low levels) and their playstyle didn’t quiet suit me. So far I’m in love with the SB and by that logic, I owe it to myself to give Ranger a shot as well.

So I guess I’ll delete either the necro or the ele and create a Ranger after I’ve tried Warrior.

Here’s to hoping that I finally have my main finalised before the upcoming long weekend

PS: The only profession I don’t see myself playing is the Engineer and from the responses I’ve gotten till now, Mesmer seems out too.

Meglobob.8620:

arjun.9025:

The Guardian was awesome at soloing (was easily soloing veterans 3 – 4 levels above my own), but slow as hell.

What do you mean by slow?

Slow to kill opponents or slow moving around?

Guardians have access to loads of swiftness…so there not slow at moving around…

Warriors kill faster and are more durable then the thief…

I was fine with the killing speed for the most part (using a hammer/GS). It was the movement speed that I felt was slow. Of course, I could be imagining things, seeing as I made a huge lumbering Norn.

Will definitely be trying out a Charr Warrior today after I get home from work.

Right now i’m playing each race/class till level 20 to get a fair idea of the personal quest and gameplay. So far, I’ve liked every race except Human.

Hi all,

I just started GW2 a couple of weeks back and have a decent amount of MMO experience under my belt. Now, I normally stick to a ‘tanky’ class, but since this game is not about the holy trinity, I’ve been playing around with different professions.

So far I’ve made a necro, ele, guardian and thief.

I got bored with the necro within two days. Playing ele was downright exhausting. The Guardian was awesome at soloing (was easily soloing veterans 3 – 4 levels above my own), but slow as hell. The thief was again good at soloing (skirmishing with a SB and Death Blossom) and has great mobility.

I was wondering if there are any other professions that I should experiment with before choosing a main. My play style is as follows -

1. Plan to stick to PVE, dungeons and light PVP
2. Love soloing things that aren’t meant to be soloed
3. Would love a class that can run fast (Swiftness) or has a lot of mobility
4. Would like to bring a respectable amount of group support to a team while dungeoning

Any thoughts and suggestions would be more welcome.