Guild Wars 2

When I first started, I was told there is no Holy Trinity. Yet there are many areas of the game where a Druid is needed for healing, an Ele is needed for DPS and a Warrior (Guardian) is needed for Tanking. In this respect, it seems GW2 lost it’s original intent. Imagine a party composed of Mesmers and Thieves trying to do Pvp, WvW, Raids or Dungeon.

As a new player, when I read “Class Balance”, I thought it meant over the 9 (18 counting Elite as separate) there is a balance where some professions excel at certain thing and others do not. Some at Raids, some at PVE, some at PvP, some at various things but they need a bank full of gear, etc.

Imagine my disappointment (as a Solo PvE-er) when I busted butt to level my first character, a Mesmer, only to find out he is mostly support and that a player has to be very good to solo PvE Mesmer. So now the Mesmer opens chests and does dailies<unless it’s to hard for him to get to) while I focus on a Necromancer. Frustrating, yes, but Arenanet designed and improves the game the way they see fit. It seems they want one class in each armor to be easy for starting players to PvE and the rest is based on what works well in the other content. I haven’t figured out where Mesmer fits in the grand scheme, except maybe as a challenge to experienced players. LOL

I wanted to again sincerely thank everyone that has helped me and offered advice. In 28+ hours I have gone from level one to 40 and learned a lot by playing a different profession.

I now understand the difference between Power and Condi, I have learned to dodge by running around and attacking (not just rolling), I also learned about strafing, have gotten better (still not great but better) at JPs and there are other things. I am able to apply what I’ve learned to my Mesmer when I do dailies and die a lot less.

I realize that (for me) learning to play Guild Wars 2 well will take time. I am looking forward to trying the other 7 professions and have already created characters for them (to hold the names).

Again thank you, both here in the forums and those who have helped me online.

Thank you. I looked up Raids and realize that is a few years away, if at all. I will be looking into each Dungeon or Fractal before I try it.

Is it true that when I need or want to do a fractal or dungeon, Necromancer is the least wanted class and often booted from groups? I’m enjoying Necromancer, will probably never PvP or WvW unless I get really good, but want to eventually do most everything else. By the time I level a Warrior, Ranger or Guardian to elite, I know there is the slim possibility that Necromancer will get buffs and the others get nerfed. Should I stop leveling my Necromancer (level 28) and play a class that will be more welcome in fractals or dungeons? I know a bad player like myself might still get booted but at least the three other classes are given a chance fromwhat I am reading in the forums.

Thanks for the great advice! I’m going to have to wait until I am a Reaper to use a GS but look forward to trying it. I will try Sc/Da or WH. I tried googling what Marks don’t work against but couldn’t find anything. Is that at higher levels?

I’m going to eventually have to take a break from playing and watch some Beginner Necromancer videos like I did for Mesmer. I can see myself improving a little every day but this is going to be a slow steady climb no matter what I play.

I’m glad there are so many options for professions. If I start struggling really bad with Necromancer, like I did with Mesmer, my next try will be Warrior.

Thanks for the advice. I just thought Mesmer was going to be hard to level and now that I am a Chrono, I thought it would be a breeze. Wrong! A Mesmer needs nimble fingers to use the Continuum Split and other skills properly. The new Necromancer on the other hand is destroying areas in solo PvE that the Mesmer ran from. I can’t wait to see what a Condi MM or Reaper does.

Over the past 47 days I have played a Mesmer, my first character, for over 306 hours. I haven’t played an MMO in over 10 years and I sometimes have to look at the keys to press the right buttons. I try to mainly play solo PVE because I die a lot but join groups when I have too i.e. Dungeons, group bosses, etc.

Last night I created a LFG “Noob LF Exp Players for Daily” for the Ruined City of Arah daily. I died A LOT. I couldn’t run, blink, shield, stealth etc. past the enemies to get to where the other four players were. After an hour and a half, I gave up and did the other 3 dailies, went to Auric Basin and hid in large groups, trying to help with Time Warp, wells and getting a little damage on the enemy when I could.

A player I met on facebook who is starting a Fractal training Guild suggested I try Necromancer and another player suggested not to use Minions until I start struggling. WOW! With a Necromancer, I actually go out looking for groups of enemies to use Staff AoE and when one on one, I Dagger/Dagger them.

Is this going to be a more survivable class for Dungeons, Fractals and PvE solo in HoT or will I run into the same problem? Will I eventually have to change classes again, and/or just accept the fact that I can enjoy most PvE areas up to Level 80 and be happy with that until (if) I get better? Any and all advice is welcome. I really enjoy Guild Wars 2 and will just keep trying different things till something works.

Don’t know if it will help but under Game Discussion > Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorn, check out the post; “F100 Challenge Mode MAMA – Warrior Solo”. The OP tells you the build at the end of the video.

Dawdler, I understood almost none of what you said. My original post, which I now realize I should have left, explained that I know nothing about computers and that my busy son told me to just look for something with GTX 1060, 1070 or 1080.

I definitely didn’t understand the first part of what you said but now know to look for 500 gb SSD.

If you or anyone else could give me specs to look for, that would be great. I am going to buy the computer by April and I am trying to keep it around $1500

DeannBB; I’ll double check but the difference I found is about $200 less for the same thing in a desktop and I am willing to pay the extra for the convenience.

Ayrila; I think SlippyCheeze is right. This post may help others. Here are more details on what I am getting:

16 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM (2 × 8 GB)

17.3" diagonal UHD IPS UWVA anti-glare WLED-backlit (3840 × 2160)

2TB 5400 rpm SATA+ 128GB M.2 SSD.

Finally found what I needed online but I don’t know how to remove this topic. It is a laptop with Intel® Core™ i7-7700HQ (2.8 GHz, up to 3.8 GHz, 6 MB cache, 4 cores) + NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5 dedicated) and SSD HD. It is $1700 US!! Thank the 6 Gods for credit cards. LOL

Thank you all for the great advice. I have decided to main my Mesmer and when things get overwhelming, take a break and play an alt (I see more character slots in my future, LOL), do some mapping while using weapons I don’t usually use or try to do the next chapter of my personal story or HoT.

Look on YouTube and you will see most (if not all) of the HoT content can be soloed. I am a new player that hasn’t touched an MMO in over 10 years except for occasionally playing GW1. I play Mesmer, mess up a lot, take hours on JP and have frustrated a fellow player in Fractal because of my lack of skill. Yet, I see myself improving a little every day. The first time I went to Brisban Wildlands, I could barely get off the ridge without dying. Now I look forward to going to Auric Basin to see all the new stuff and try to get Mastery Points

Also, there are MANY helpful players in the game. Just today, I was struggling with getting up a mountain to shoot a Karka. Someone in cat form did it several times so that I could see and then I was finally able to do it. I thanked them and went on. There are Guilds with patient people who want to help and will help You with HoT.

This is a great game and I look forward to the day I can solo HoT and Dungeons but for now I have five more Karka to kill, Dailies to do, my Personal Story and HoT to finish, other Professions I want to try, Crafting, JPs to master and… and… my point is there is just so much to do and if you watch videos, read about builds and practice, you may be able to solo HoT.

My first character, Mesmer, is Level 80. After 55 days (234 hours), he is 85 HP away from being a Chronomancer. I am really bad at playing GW2 in general (i.e. JPs take me an hour or more, I get lost in dungeons, die a LOT, etc) but I really enjoy the game, the fellow players and the many surprises.

Once my character becomes a Chronomancer, should I work on Masteries, since they will help my other characters, or should I work on a new, more forgiving profession? I am looking at Necro, Warrior, Guardian and Ranger. All four have things that allow for poor playing.

FULFILLED!!!! A wonderful person made my day!!!! All of my characters will be wearing Celestial White!!! If You see a Character with the last name “Tern” dressed in white. That will be me!!! I wish you could see the big smile on my face! I plan on one day paying it forward!

Original Post: I’ve had this post in the back of my mind and thought of something kind of frivolous that I would like… Celestial Dye. I’ve seen other players with it and it looks really cool. Whenever someone passes by in bright armor, I stop, look and think “One day, maybe.” I mostly save my gold to upgrade my gear, so this is something that I would probably not consider getting for myself until I have maxed out my main and alts. :-)

I’ve been playing Mesmer less than 2 months, have never been really good at these type of games and felt the same way. I would sign in, make a plan and usually die A LOT and not succeed. Then some fellow players on facebook gave me some advice. “It’s a game. Relax and enjoy.”, “Set goals but do other stuff on your way.” , “Don’t be afraid to experiment with the class you like.”, “Make an alt for when Mesmer is becoming tedious.” etc.

Last night’s Daily PvEs were a good example. I decided to try to get to the Cursed Shores (where I have never been) and do four events. I told myself that after I die five or ten times, I would try something different. Along the way I got several Waypoints, Points of Interest, Vistas and Hero Points. After dying three times, I finally got to Cursed Shores two hours after I started. There were so many groups that it was easy to complete events.

I went back to LA, emptied my bags and prepared for the three Maguuma Dailies (I call it washing up). It wasn’t until I was in Auric Basin that I realized that I once again confused my Maguumas (Jungle, Wastes and Heart of). LOL I made several Hero Points and almost got a Mastery Point. I easily finished the Maguuma Wastes Vista in Silver Wastes and The Maguuma Jungle Miner in Metrica Province once I realized I was in the wrong area for two of the events (never did find a rifle range).

My point is, play whatever sounds like fun or looks cool. I really enjoy Mesmer but occasionally play a Necro and want to one day try Guardian. Like yourself, I watch videos and read to see what looks fun. Mesmer is more fun at higher levels but I did a lot of mapping while getting there (still do).

The Focus and Shield were pretty good and I will try them again (I am keeping alt weapons in my inventory). I haven’t tried Mantras because of the mixed reviews but will try them tomorrow. Thanks again!

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try the Focus. The reason I’ve been using Sword offhand is because I liked the option of Illusionary Repost and I sometimes mess up when trying to place the Temporal Curtain. So Sword just seemed like the better option offhand when I panic and start mashing keys. lol

The Scepter/Shield is a whole new playstyle for me which I will try when I am out doing map completion in the other parts of Ascalon on days I have free. It means reworking my trait line and I like being able to jump on and off when I have time to play.

I use GS1 when trying to take a group of enemy one by one but will try the 4-2-3 on solo enemies.

Thanks again. I appreciate the input and ideas.

I’ve been playing GW2 for less than 2 months. I am inching my way through Maguuma trying to get Hero points to become a Chronomancer (one of several personal goals).

I use a GS (Sigil of Air & Stamina) and Sw (Sigil of Stamina)/Sw (Sigil of Air) and wear Berserker gear with Rune of Centaur. I have Dueling 1-1-3, Illusions 1-1-2 and Domination 2-3-1. Keys 6 to 0 are Signet of Ether, Signet of Inspiration, Mirror Images, Signet of Illusion and Time Warp.

On Veterans and difficult enemy, I usually start with GS 1-4-2, dodge, shatter, change weapons, 5-3, dodge, shatter, 8 dodge shatter, change weapons and start again. On regular enemy, I usually 1-4-2, dodge, shatter and only 8, dodge, shatter if needed (usually not). Time Warp is if I get in a sticky situation, I create 3 random copies, Time Warp and run.

Also, I have a Berserker Conch of Stamina and a Berserker Quarterstaff of Air in my bank from when I was trying out different builds.

Any suggestions or improvements regarding equipment or play style would be greatly appreciated. I don’t have a lot of gold but can save up if something might help. At this point I am thinking (hoping) it just comes down to getting out there and doing what I’m doing until it becomes automatic.

This is awesome and this is why I enjoy GW2 so much! Players helping players.

After my children grew up and moved out, I stopped playing MMOs. Now that I am semi-retired, I searched for an MMO that was fun, challenging and relaxing with lots of exploring. I found that with GW2.

I am a new player (245+ hours over the past 45 days), purchased HoT and mostly play solo PvE. I got frustrated with my Mesmer at level 60 and went to a GW2 facebook page to ask if I should change to a more forgiving Profession. The advice and encouragement to keep going was unbelievable. Some of the things I was told were; “It’s just a game. So have fun and don’t worry about leveling.” “Make an alt and take a break from Mesmer once in a while.” “You will have good days and bad days but when you think you’re not doing well try your first hard jumping puzzle or vista and see how easy it is now.” And many more comments of encouragement that told me to stick with Mesmer.

My Mesmer is now level 80 and has his glider. I can see myself improving a little every day and hope to one day have the confidence to go with one of the Guilds I belong to (3 asked me to join so I accepted) when they do dungeons, fractals, WvW or PvP. I am now slowly inching towards becoming a Chronomancer (I just got Alls Well that Ends Well).

To summarize, I don’t want anything. I’m still too new to know what to ask for and just bought myself a bank slot because I am holding on to stuff that I think might be important later. I am just grateful for a fun game and helpful players. Thank You Guild Wars 2 creators, developers and players!!!

It seems that a lot of players, like myself, enjoy roaming around Tyria to see the awesome artwork and vistas. Sometimes things get in the way like bad guys/gals, lava, gravity, etc. I was thinking that the Asura could invent a Null Cube that can be rented by the hour, or purchased in Lion’s Arch or at the Trading Post.

Our character would sit crossed legged in the Null Cube and be able to travel quickly all over Tyria. The player would not be able to map, fight, earn experience, get anything like POIs, Vistas, etc. or even get out of the Null Cube but they would be able to travel left, right, forward, back, up and down. The only other option would be instant return to Lion’s Arch to be let out of the Null Cube. The character can not be hurt by the outside environment (bad guys/gals, dragons, lava, electricity, etc.) but their travel makes no change to their game. If a player has to leave the game (power outage, computer issue, etc.), the cube will continue were it left off when the game is restarted. If the player attempts to go somewhere out of bounds a message appears, "The Null Cube can not go in the direction you indicated. Please try a different direction.

Respectfully,
Mike