Guild Wars 2

Much like the Shared Inventory Slot(s) topic I am absolutely dying to be able to log into any toon and have all my siege blueprints at the click of a button instead of manually logging in and out re-arranging how many I think I’ll need if I want to play my guardian as an example.

…Raise the amount of shared invy slots or make our siege blueprints accessible/readily available from any toon that we log into.

It would be greatly appreciated & a huge QoL feature… thoughts?

Any of the following:

- Legendary Pistol Quip
- Mesmer skills in general (legit so much purple/pink on that one)
- Chak Egg Sac
- Triple Luck Tonic
- Using a Box of Fun with color mode chosen

Hope that helps…

+1 for 2H axes in this game.

I just love massive scary bladed weapons; anything like spears/Halberds is awesome and I think it would add a bit more variety to the game overall.

Ive spent thousands of dollars on hundreds/thousands of keys over the course of the past year or so. Haven’t touched any keys in a while due to no decent skins of my liking coming out, plus the absolute TRASH mini pet/egg things that tend to drop but marginally the butcher to WvW boosters and Karma ones too. I liked those.

Opening merely 5 as you’ve stated doesn’t really paint a sufficient picture on what the drop rates are like.

Perhaps a better calculation may have been, since you have stated that you do in fact buy “a few bl keys” would be to have a graph over time e.g; out of 100 keys you opened them in batches of 5 keys over te course of X time.

Simply 5 alone is not enough data.

But yes, in a sense I will agree that a large portion of the drops are pure trash.

Nevertheless, it is gambling and we should understand the consequences of such an act; you are paying for an RNG chance at anything that comes out of the chest(s). You don’t get to choose. If so, and gladly with certain items out of those chests – ANet would be selling them specifically in the gem store. Such is not and their way of marketing is that carrot on a stick with these RNG chests. They want us to spend lots of money at a CHANCE to get something nice.

Really not too sure if OP means expensive prestigious or hard to get prestigious items. I’ll go with a bit of both. Under the circumstances that everything is stackable and shows up on your character with each of these individual effects I’m probably thinking:

- Chak Egg Sac
- Queen Bee
- Black Poly Refractor thing
- any of the Ghostly Infusions
- any of the WvW tournament weapon skins (unobtainable atm due to zero love for WvW)
- full ascended armor with either Glorious Skins (takes effort in form of actually doing PvP)
- anything that was only obtainable via owning and achieving things in GW1

Most people don’t care about legendaries anymore, I myself own 8 or so of the original legendaries and I only bother using Juggernaut skin for the hammer or Howler for warhorns.

The Halloween weapon skins like the scythe and Greatsaw took a bit of a plunge prior this year so idk if you’d like Greatsaw as a prestigious looking skin for your ranger if they use a GS at all.

You have to take into account discontinued items too. They are deemed prestegious.

I agree with others in this thread; items can and will fluctuate and change in price over time and may or may not be deemed prestigious as they once were.

I like my Fused weapon skins too seeing as ANet hasnt brought back Fused skins in agessssss.

Hope that helps.

I can’t stop grinning.

But seriously though; I did in fact spot the almost-cannot-even-notice difference between the 2 blue dots; all this time I’ve been thinking “why are some dots the teensiest, tiniest bit different?”.

Now I know, and I think it would deem a wise decision to change the sub group color to something totally different. You know, so one can actually differentiate between the two? Maybe a nice bright purple/magenta would work.

Or they could just change the dot to a square if changing the color is too game breakingly-difficult.

I can see it happening:

NEW IN THE GEM STORE FOR ONLY 9000 GEMS - ULTIMATE KEY RING!

I imagine it’d be a similar copy-paste from the wallet… except in key form. Anything that can open a container is deemed a key, essentially.

ANet stated not too long ago, officially, that Dungeons are 100% dead. They are now focused on Fractals which are similar to Dungeons anyway.

I still think what they should’ve done, if they really didn’t want to cater towards Dungeons anymore, for them to just merge Dungeons into Fractals and maybe spice things up a bit by earning both the tokens and the relics per path etc.

They need to revert the changes to stability. That or increase the duration of which they last for plus maybe add a few stacks in there considering it’s WvW where you’re up against MORE than just 5 players cough pvp-catered cough.

I’m just really sick of jumping into the fray with my lowly and only source of stability on my guardian “Stand Your Ground” and it’s instantly gone. We need more sources of it and a longer duration at that, too.

Sad but true story ahead…

I had a dream, that one day I would reach a full stack of Siege Commander Spoons…

…My dream was cut short, and my efforts left to rot in the dust.

I hope for the return of these marvelous spoon drop-rates; for I wish to finish my lifetime utmost important dream goal.

I don’t know if it’s still bugged for other faces but thank you ANet for finally fixing this little issue; I’ve been dying to use this hairstyle but doing so would make the eyes cut out or half warped, thanks for fixing this!

For those that didn’t know what the bug looked like: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/New-female-CHARR-hairstyle-STILL-ruined/first#post5900237

Things and changes I don’t like:

• When they made warrior adrenaline deplete super fast out of combat
• Siege blueprints going into your inventory instead of being able to drop them for other people on the ground
• Desert(ed) Boredomlands WvW map aka new WvW map is terribad beyond words
• Toypocalypse without actual party member friends
• Being dry of content/festivals for ages
• Soon-to-be-nerf to alacrity for mesmers
• Pulling the plug on Dungeons
• Total removal of SAB
• That one annoying Golem Event in WvW
• Lack of armor skins with HoT expansion
• Lack of armor skins in general; too many Outfits
• Plethora of gem store items that would’ve been more appealing if they were rewards for completing content in-game
• No 500 Jeweler/Chef with HoT expansion or any word about it
• Certain ascended trinkets only available via Living Story
• Ascended Infusions costly as ever
• Immense PvE gimmicks in WvW post HoT
• Guild Halls locking out smaller guilds; insane gold sink + grind & re-packaging old ALREADY ACQUIRED content and locking them behind guild halls (+5 supply)
• When I see someone somewhere out there has actually put down a buy order of 8k+ gold for “Chak Egg Sac” srsly?
• When I see someone somewhere out there has actually listed a 20+ Agony Infusion on the TP for 9.9k+ gold… how much did it even cost to LIST that? WHO WOULD BUY THAT. WTFFFfffff…
• No How to Dance Vol. 2
• Adventures with leaderboards yet some you can’t even get Gold in so what’s the point of leaderboards if you can’t even reach Gold
• Overall feeling of minimal content with HoT expansion (1 mere raid wing; no legendary armor up front or preview, only 3 new legendary weapons)
• Nerf to condition duration foods yet introduction of condition duration armor pieces… shady
• No dedicated raid section in LFG
• Warrior elite spec sucks except for yolo gunflame build
• Pirate Ship meta and the disturbing power creep in general to certain skills/classes/traits
• No proper balance patches in a while
• No mini gray cat. I want a mini gray cat like those fat NPC ones you see in towns.
• Removal of WvW & PvP Glory Boosters
• Removal of Karma Boosters for those who changed their boosters to “Enchanted Booster” as they got ripped off big time
• The amount of trash “loot” bags of greens/blues/sigils/junk and other crap INSIDE more bags locked behind an account bound chest but once you acquire it it’s probably soul bound etc etc.
• When Proofs of Heroics became soul bound

TLDR: A lot of things/changes I don’t like in general.

Man idk what you guys talking about but I got little to no Drag Ore. I mainly do WvW related content and as far as I know… capping a keep gives you around 20-ish drag ore. :/ Not much.

As for Emp Frags and Bloodstone…. dear god I am DROWNING in that stuff. It’s crazy. Wish I could give OP some of mine.

Stupid true story:

I remember one time on the gem store I bought out the “max” amount of bank tab slots (12) but the advertising said something along the lines of “you currently have 11 of these” and me thinking “Oh, I wonder if it’s bugged and I can get 13…” Bought 1 more and it won’t let me use it, haha. To this day that bank tab expansion still sits in my bank (ironically), awaiting the day ANet decides to increase the cap, if ever. A blessing that would be.

5 DAY USE FEEDBACK:

I am having a blast using this item(s) over the course of it’s release – merch, perm trading post, perm air-ship pass, mystic forge conduit & soon-to-be bank express(s) replaced with the perm banker one…

• In my initial statement regarding feedback about this item(s) I will reiterate that the 5 slot cap should be increased; I am sure many others agree having siege blueprints in particular, food, traps etc are items that should be accessible on the whim account-wide thus I press for the cap to be increased to around 18-20 slots. This would be fantastic seeing as I personally play a number of toons in WvW – having all your blueprints in extra shared inventory slots would make for a great QoL feature.

TLDR: Please increase the number of slots we can buy – it has potential to be an even better QoL product by doing so!

Many classes have access to “Reveal” now or the following could’ve happened:

- Sentries if you walk near them place Reveal and target you if you walk near them
- Stealth Disruptor Trap (30 seconds of Reveal if you walk I to it)

Hope that helps answer your question.

Well… At least no one can complain on the forums about “not being able to play with their friends”. Wait. I lied. They have no friends because the majority of them have more than likely left. O boi.

All jokes aside… ANet did tweak how the servers were listing now in regards to actual WvW population I believe. Now that things have taken time to settle… The evidence is clear as day. They killed the game mode.

Interesting placements. I’ll have to try some out. For some silly reason I’ve been negligent over what that green circle actually meant; I thought it was just where you “could” place it. Haha.

Not even joking; I’ve been having an absolute TONNE of fun roaming on my full zerk asc + mighty infusions decked out awesome warrior using the elite spec.

Trust me, you definitely want the elite spec if you want to land them gunflames.

My rotation (depending on who I find): “On My Mark!” -> swap to rifle for intelligence sig -> (optional… rifle skill #4 if you have time) the heal that is the shout for FULL adrenaline -> F2 + F1. Your target should either be dead, 10% HP left or near it, depending if they tanky or not. This is all in a matter of seconds.

The one skill on my bar I constantly change is entirely situational and depends what I encounter but it is mostly either “Signet of Might” because unblockable gunflame… gg anything that is a guardian/block spam…. or “Endure Pain” if I expect them to burst me first.

Make sure you take stability of some sort. You need to guarantee you’ll land that shot.

I take the elite spec because you can MOVE whilst you’re using gunflame, it’s an instant taunt (traited), interrupts the enemy, I can DOWN MULTIPLE people in zergs and I can get up to 3-4 gunflames with berserker mode thing up.

Literally the “kill it before it kills you” game-play; zero survivability other than my dodges, GS skill #3 and Endure Pain if I pick that up. Very very risky but extremely fun.

EDIT: Grammar errors.

Someone find me the “Deal With It” meme.

GG, OP.

Tiffany.8576:

Honestly, the shared slots would have been cool to share siege etc. But not at 700 gems per 1 slot.

Siege should be something that goes into the account wallet or something anyway which is globally accessible.

I agree in regards to siege blueprints being globally accessible. What ANet has supplied us with now is perfect, but not a mere 5 slots. I personally need around 15-20 to carry blueprints + food alone.

The price for one alone is bit of a pickle. I have already stated my slight distaste over the initial pricing in the other thread but I believe 500-600 gems for one could’ve been a bit more forgiving… one needs to understand though that this item is extremely useful. Then again, was it a feature that should’ve made it into the game much earlier?

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK:

Thank you ANet for adding this particular item(s) into the game.

• Although it’s a minor start with only 5 mere slots currently, I have higher hopes this number can and will be increased as most players do carry around important universal items such as food, siege blueprints, gathering tools, TP/merchant Express(s), portal scrolls etc. My proposal is around 15-20 slots for this to be achieved at a sound level.

• 700 Gems for ONE of these slots is quite demanding; I think 500/600 Gems may have been more reasonable. On the other hand, buying the bundle of 5 for 2,800 Gems is very reasonable as you buy 4 and get 1 free; that is fine. For what this item does, it is indeed useful so I understand the overall initial pricing for this item(s).

• Shared Inventory Slot(s) should be able to be moved around like normal bag slots, not just at the very top of the inventory.

I hope for more innovative & QoL features such as this particular item to be implemented into the game.

EDIT: Agreed with others in this thread regarding all the permanent contracts... yikes.. they have definitely sky-rocketed and this is disappointing, however, if anyone is after a “merch” to merely sell junk when their bags are full… the Tarrktun Personal Delivery Portal still exists… for a pretty hefty price either way…

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tarrktun_Personal_Delivery_Portal

100 blades needs something to set it up in order to land it in a competitive WvW/PvP setting; check out mace/shield + GS warri builds… it is extremely old build and not sure if still viable, honestly I wouldn’t doubt it seeing as warri animations are so darn obvious anyway but boy if you do manage to land that Skull Crack and then proceed with 100 blades… your enemy should be dead, unless they had a stun-break.

100 blades really only shines in PvE where NPCs literally just stand in front of you and eat the full length of the skill.

Stuff I like about this game:

- Plenty of character customization options
- Fluid & simple combat mechanics
- 3 different game-modes; I prefer WvW but I do enjoy PvP & PvE equally
- When they host events; (I want to experience Dragon Bash plz), Queen’s Gauntlet, bazaar of the 4 Winds thing etc
- Lore is easy to understand & history intriguing
- They finally made some nice green jungle-maps aka HoT and I love the environment so this was a definite plus
- Elite specs have been a blast to play
- The simplicity & casual-ness of core Tyria maps for when I’m burned out on all the HoT content and need a break
- Positive threads like these exist
- No subscription fee
- Easy to pick up for new players or returning friends
- no massive gear treadmill; exotics are enough in most cases
- wardrobe system update among many other QoL things “consume all” function on stacks of items was much needed

I stick to this game because it’s fun. There isn’t really any other game out there quite like GW2.

Man I KNEW this was gonna’ be another mounts thread.

What were they thinking? Probably this:

ANet Dev 1: Dudes. Yo’ dudes I got an awesome idea. What if we like, took away all the player’s already acquired guild upgrades and locked them behind this massive mega lengthy gold grind aka Guild Halls?

ANet Dev 2: Omg man that would be sick, especially the +5 so people can’t just use it in the new borderlands coz’ wow bro’. New maps fully huge. Can’t have people whipping out a nice +5 on a massive new map straight away.

ANet Dev 1: Yeah man, we should totes also make this big ultra next level lag fest PvE event in the middle of the map so it helps break up the blob fights by disconnecting a large portion of the players in the map when it goes off. Every time man. It would be fully sick.

ANet Dev 2: Bro’ man that is goldddd aye’! Speaking of PvE there needs to be more of it in WvW coz’ WvWers are legit really into PvE, remember? Anyway, let’s add really annoying mechanics around objectives and keeps where they hit you off extremely high ledges but it’s random dude. Gotta’ be RNGesus random man. Then add like, these shrines with OP buffs like falling off a cliff with the buff won’t kill you and stuff. Also NPCs dude-bro-man. Everything needs more NPCs everywhere. And gates with auto-turrets on em’.

ANet Dev 1: Mate I think we’re on to something here; PvE banners that do crazyyyy AOE dmg man with tiny CDs and whoah let’s give the banner wielder a BREAK BAR!

ANet Dev 2: YES! We defs need more things with break bars, but not just that – AOE dmg is a hot topic atm. So let’s add MORE of it with even MORE PvE mechanics in the form of… AIRSHIP DEFENSE…

ANet Dev 1: Dude we legit have the best ideas.

ANet Dev 2: Yeah man, promotion-worthy!

ANet Dev 1: -nods-

NPCs contesting objectives…

• 1. You are correct in that WvW is a totally different creature for the following reasons in regards to your statement “been away from the game a long time”:

- Stability nerf
- Buffs/power creep to all classes
- Condition re-work/tweaks
- Profession overhaul/‘balance’ changes resulting in pirate ship meta
- Post-HoT aka Desert(ed) Borderlands map including the plethora of cheese PvE minded mechanics
- The re-packaging & re-selling of existing guild upgrades (primarily +5 supply function) locking it behind the new Guild Halls which require an ungodly amount of gold & grind to re-acquire

…All of which inevitably chiseled away at skillful, fun, smart play in WvW be it roaming, zerging etc.

• 2. If you are torn on whether or not to buy HoT I suggest doing some research but from a personal perspective HoT grants access to elite specs, of which Guardian for example… is now Dragonhunter and their F1-F3 abilities are vastly superior to their core versions. The F3 shield as a further example – instead of a mere Aegis I can now block all incoming attacks in a cone shape in front of me for X seconds.

To me, a lot of the elite specs in HoT are much more advantageous to use in a WvW setting than their core versions.

• 3. We have been fed the same old, recycled fake promises regarding “improving WvW” by devs for ages but I am sure the WvW community are still hoping for better days when things will be lively again. HoT was definitely the final nail in the coffin for many avid WvWers/commanders/guild leaders alike so it’s going to take ANet devs an immense innovative miracle to mend all the hurt they’ve implemented into the game.

• 4. Yes and no, as mentioned previously there are the elite specs a WvWer might find more valuable picking up to compete with the current meta/play-style going on.

ANet has not detailed anything specific regarding HoT required for WvW other than access to Guild Halls for all the things you can use in WvW, though someone else in the guild could just as easily supply those things.

Something of value for WvWers who buy HoT in the possible future could be a WvW mastery track; I think ANet did mention auto-loot not working in WvW is intended? Either way, it doesn’t work. And it’s much needed. So they should implement a WvW mastery track.

I honestly wouldn’t get any hopes up. It’s ANet. We all know WvW is the red-headed stepchild of the game modes. There’s your honest answers as best as I could.

It’s been around 22 days since the release of the latest batch of hairstyles (https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/new-hair-styles-timekeeper-weapons-winter-solstice-pack-and-festive-mist-champion-skins-in-the-gem-store/) added to the game and yet the female Charr hairstyle #3 (bottom-left one in the picture provided) is still bugged in that the eyes are totally broken?

Can a dev please see to this and get it fixed? I’d love love love to use that hairstyle but this bug needs to be fixed… I last checked this hairstyle the day it was released. Sad to see after 22 days it’s still bugged.

Caedmon.6798:

“People are dumb. Yes, it is the sad truth but if you are serious about commanding your communication with various types of players will go a long way. You have people that are with you that may/will tunnel vision. This is where Say chat comes into play; if people physically see instructions pop up on screen in front of them they are more inclined to follow said command.”

There’s a huge difference between tunnelvision and being dumb,insulting the players following you is the first mistake you can make.

Extremely vague example that section was, else my post would be “TLDR”.

Dumb, hence the statement various types of players indicating one may have trolls evident in the zerg thus Say chat comes into play as everyone with you will better see something pop up in front of them such as “Can the person spamming siege everywhere please stop.”

Let’s face it, trolls are dumb and no one needs them wasting time/supplies etc.

Yeah…. long-gone are the days of broadcasters in map chat advertising WvW guilds or shouting out calls for help in X borderland.

I haven’t seen a single one in what, a year now? More than that? It’s… depressing.

WvW has changed, for the worse. It lacks incentive, good map mechanics, tournaments, rewards, server pride gone down the drain, game balance patches etc, bug fixes.

Every organized commander will use TS or some form of real time chat so they can make informed decisions in split seconds and have everyone’s attention at the drop of a word, however, that is not the case for some and as you have asked in general; I can only provide the generic “type-mander” tips, or, PUG-mander ones…

General PUG-mander tips: (this is not how to be a good commander, but it may help you better yourself as one & improve as a leader).

• COMMUNICATION is key to success. You need everyone’s attention with you at all times. This is team effort, and in order to do so you must utilize the in-game tools available for you in the form(s) of Say chat, Team chat and better still, Squad chat.

People are dumb. Yes, it is the sad truth but if you are serious about commanding your communication with various types of players will go a long way. You have people that are with you that may/will tunnel vision. This is where Say chat comes into play; if people physically see instructions pop up on screen in front of them they are more inclined to follow said command.

The second form of communication, and the more commonly used one at that, is your Team chat. Make your commands frequent in both Say chat & Team chat to cater towards your followers or would-be followers if they are not with you. You need to know where players are on the map & inform them appropriately; thus broad-cast any important decisions/comments/questions/commands via Team chat.

The third form of communication, and a blessing it is – Squad chat. You will have people in your squad that you’ll want to assign specific things to and are able to do so via broad-cast to squad function. This also physically pops-up on screen and is a good indicator for players within the squad to adhere to. It is recommended to assign specific players such as front-liners, for example, in the first column group so that boons are shared in certain ways and have back-liners assign themselves elsewhere etc. Let players know their place in your squad and their role within it.

Nobody likes a commander that spouts a million commands at once.
Nobody likes a silent commander.
Nobody likes a commander that is unorganized, messy or lacks simple common-sense/decision making skills.

Simple communication, and effective communication alone informs players that you take your role as a leader seriously with modesty and players will be more inclined to follow you and not cause trouble within the team/zerg.

• SUPPLY MANAGEMENT goes a long way. Thankfully ANet implemented the Squad feature and now you have full-time management of your supplies available. Make your calls clear; tell players how many, for example, rams, you are dropping and/or where you want people to use their supplies adequately.

• SITUATIONAL AWARENESS in the forms of map awareness; what just got capped, what you own, objectives that may be at risk, where the enemy zerg(s) are due to orange swords frequently popping/white swords and placing yourself on terrain that is of the upper-hand for you & your team mates (e.g; higher ground, areas where you can safely retreat etc). Always have an escape plan. You never know what situation might boil down to.

Your scouts/roamers are your eyes. Keep a look out on Team/Map chat for such reports. Same with anyone else tagged up on the map; know their purpose and make the decision to help out if need be.

“Act with wisdom, but act.”

• Same applies for SIEGE PLACEMENT. This alone can make or break a battle/defense/plan. Thus your call in your forum post; “siege placement tips” might be answered by someone else with a better guide than what my knowledge holds but I will let you know; keep rams apart from each other as much as possible on gates & vice versa with catapults so the enemy cannot simply chuck 1 siege disabler down on all of your siege.

Place offensive siege such as ACs where spellcasters/AOE dmg can’t reach or make use of Shield Generators for some variation in game-play to spice things up.

Never underestimate ballis. One too many times I’ve seen players chuck down ACs to fight ACs… as soon as you get your balli up that enemy AC is toast, same applies with any other typical enemy siege – the balli reigns king at wrecking siege.

There are many other tips available but these have been the main ones I take note of as a follower of various commanders; what they do or don’t bring to the table impacts game-play experience, significantly & can reflect on them either positively or negatively.

Play it wise, make strategic & tactical decisions and most of all – have fun!

I believe ANet had done some tweaks to make a few of the core lowbie-area maps ‘easier’. Possible level scaling, removal of water content and other tweaks but the way they’ve done the reward system is more interactive & immersive.

If you fully complete a map you get an end reward, though I think that’s always been the case.

As for people in the maps; I suppose at certain times sure there’s quite a handful of players and newbies alike running around in the starter zones. You may get the feeling of players ‘fading out’ in numbers as you make your way to the mid-level zones, or, if you’re merely playing in quiet times.

Due to the mega-server system, though, little numbers should not be a problem.

Yes there are in general more people in the maps due to GW2 going F2P, if that is what you actually were asking of.

Concept art, most like as others have already mentioned.

Or if it’s genuinely in-game… I bet it’s only for NPCs. Sigh, as usual.

PART 4. DUNGEONS, DAILIES, LOG-IN REWARDS & CRAFTING

• Level 30-35 is where Dungeons start for you & in doing so reward you with nice chunks of XP. Ascalonian Catacombs, located on the East side of the world map in Plains of Ashford is the first Dungeon you get access to. It is fairly easy, even more so with experienced players in your party or in general, other level 80s.
  http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ascalonian_Catacombs

• Always do your Dailies. These are simple tasks catered towards the 3 game modes (i.e; PvE, PvP & WvW) and some may reward you with a Writ of Experience or other goodies such as the previously mentioned timed 50% Experience Booster.
  http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Daily

• Log-in rewards are plain as day – you log in each day to acquire the free goodie available. On the list for log-in rewards are Tombs of Knowledge!
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Login_rewards

• Crafting is by far the fastest way to level and gain plenty of XP yet I only recommend this if you are willing to spend gold as it is indeed, quite costly…
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crafting

- Chef is hands down – the easiest, quickest one to complete. It is generally cheap to buy all the ingredients on the TP or to an extent, if you have Karma, from vendors throughout the world.

- Jeweler is number 2 on my personal cheapo’ list. The components required are either easily obtainable or cheap to buy on the TP.

- Artificer is 3rd on the list for being fast to complete; the potions are super quick to make although may be a bit more costly than Chef/Jeweler.

SUMMARY: Dungeon runs give very nice XP and a bit of gold – be sure to look up a Dungeon Guide, gear yourself appropriately & learn the mechanics involved in regards to specific monster attacks/active defenses (dodging etc) to give the other members of your party, including yourself, an easier time.

Log-in rewards are simple & a nice freebie for you; especially if you receive the Tombs for quick levels and doing your dailies is definitely recommended to help you out.

Crafting is excellent for levelling fast but also expensive. One’s definition of expensive varies, though. Yes it is entirely possible to reach level 80 solely through crafting; I have done this many times but it is unfavorable at times as items may fluctuate in price etc. There are plenty of Crafting Guides out there available!

I hope any new players have found these tips helpful.

If anyone finds any incorrect information in my post please feel free to correct me!

PART 3. PvP & WORLD vs WORLD CONTENT

NOTE: Upon reaching levels 18-22 (confirmation needed due to “New Player Experience” in this thread: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/a-fresh-start-the-new-player-experience-in-guild-wars-2/) new players will receive notifications unlocking the ability to access these 2 game modes.

• PvP Reward Tracks are a good, challenging fun way to acquire Tomb(s) of Knowledge. These tombs grant 1 full level for free! You can boost your reward track progress with certain buffs such as the 50% Experience Bonus and if available during PvP community events; Call of the Mists/Greater Call of the Mists.
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tome_of_Knowledge

• World vs World has it’s potentials; you do get XP for taking camps, towers, keeps etc. This may be limited to how well your server is currently fairing, though. Don’t expect to cap anything if the other sides are dominating the match or are unwaveringly defending their stuff. Other options to gain XP within this game mode include defending objectives & zerg fights. When you kill lots of players (zerg fights etc) this results in many batches of XP, WvW XP alongside loot bags.

Be sure to look out for the possible daily WvW Keep Capture as completing this rewards a Tomb of Knowledge.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Transcendent_Chest_of_Knowledge

• Edge of the Mists (similar to WvW) is regarded by many as typically a “K-train” map (Karma train) ideally meaning a zerg of players following a commander tagged up and they go around capping keeps, towers etc all the while gaining considerable amounts of XP, Karma, WvW XP, champion bags and WvW Ranks; rank up chests. Despite the slight nerf to this game mode, people still bring their low level alts here to rack up all the various types of XP. I still recommend this game mode for leveling, especially for the sole intent of gaining XP alone it helps greatly with the previously mentioned plethora of buffs available in the game.

NOTE: Not every EOTM map/instance is ‘easy XP sunshine & rainbows’ – either enemy side has every right to bag farm their enemies (you), cause havok within the map & dominate how they see fit as this is a hostile, dangerous PvP environment. Also, not every commander is going to be the bees knees or know what they are doing.

SUMMARY: Taking part in either or both of PvP & WvW can be rewarding and a positive experience for improving your combat skills against real players all the while obtaining XP.

PART 2. LOW LEVEL EXPLORATION aka explore all the Heart Quests, Vistas, Hero Points etc!

The starter zones and city hubs are extremely easy. Even more so with other players to help you out on your tasks/adventures.

There are many ways to tackle how one completes tasks within the map but from my personal experience it starts with the yellow Heart Quests and in general; exploring different parts of the map grants XP, too.

• Completing Heart Quests grants a chunk of XP in the first few levels, this is still relevant at higher levels but you’ll want to reap in everything on the map if you’re hungry for XP.

• Vistas are comparable to mini jumping puzzles in that they may take a certain path to get to or simply jumping around a bit.

• Hero Points (formerly Skill Points) may include communing with the interactable object or defeating a foe(s). These grant decent XP and are mostly easy to solo, especially if you gear yourself in DPS stats and use your active defenses wisely (dodging with the “V” key etc).

• General Map Exploration grants XP; just head on over to any area of the map you have yet to explore.

• Participate in any active Events. Upon success you are rewarded with XP and in some cases, an NPC might be available for a short time to sell you things.

• Queensdale Shadow Behemoth World Boss event is low level; also good for XP & loot. Look up a World Boss time schedual to see when this boss spawns next.

• Upon your travels you may come across NPCs or players that are dead/downed/defeated. Revive them for XP!

• Killing mobs/monsters sometimes grants “bonus XP”. This means that particular mob/monsters has not been killed in a while. Yay for you, more XP!

SUMMARY: Starter zones/city hubs are easy to tackle and reward good XP for lower levels. Make sure you explore as much as you can and complete heart quests, events etc. Every bit helps!

Leveling up in Guild Wars 2 can take a while if you’re merely new to the game and exploring the open world PvE content for the first time. Here are some tips to quicken the pace in your lower levels.

PART 1. EXPERIENCE BUFFS aka stuff that gives you MORE XP!

I cannot stress enough how helpful it is with the many buffs available in the game that grant extra XP, this includes the following (from easiest obtainable):

• Lunar Newyear Firework and/or Exploding Draketail
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lunar_New_Year_Firework
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Exploding_Draketail

Easily purchasable from the TP for around 2 silver (which ever one is cheapest; both have the same effect) and grants for 5 minutes a 10% bonus experience from all sources. This item can stack up to 2 hours so make sure you buy them in bulk & use your play time wisely.

• Food and Utility Food consumables
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Food
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Utility_item

One of the most basic helpful buffs in the game (bought on TP) is consuming these 2 items categorized as “Nourishment”. Food grants 10% XP from kills (15% on certain higher level foods) and Utility Food is exactly the same at respective 10% and/or 15% variations depending on the food consumed.

These consumables have timers that may last 30 minutes, 45 minutes or up to 1 hour. You cannot stack these foods. The only way to get the most out of these foods is by purchasing from the Gem Store Metabolic Primers and/or Utility Primers which last for 12 hours; any food/utility consumable you use will have the same remaining time as the primer.

• Guild Banners/Hero Banner/Guild XP Gain
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_banner
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_XP_Gain

If you’re starting out I highly recommend joining an active guild with a Guild Hall as they provide boosts/buffs via the Tavern NPC (e.g; the guild I am in grants a 24 hour 9% XP buff).

Guilds can drop items called Banners which stay active in the world for a certain time that anyone can walk up to and interact with to gain their buffs/benefits. These Guild Banner buffs generally last 30 minutes but you can keep interacting with them to boost your buff timer back to 30 minutes if the banner is still active in the world.

• 50% Experience Bonus
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/50%25_Experience_Bonus

This buff can be acquired in various ways. (e.g; completing X WvW daily usually grants a 20 minute 50% XP Bonus). This item is also available on the Gem Store in packs of singular, 5 or 25.

NOTE: Do not confuse this buff with the ‘original’ classic 50% Experience Bonus. You may see this buff using the same icon as the new buff on some players. That is because these players may still have the, now un-obtainable, original boosters or chose it via an Enchanted Reward Boost.

• Communal Boost Bonfire
  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Communal_Boost_Bonfire

This item is acquired through either the Gem Store or as a possible RNG reward from a Black Lion Chest (needs confirmation) using a Black Lion Chest Key.

This buff is exactly the same as the original classic 50% Experience Bonus mentioned above (if the person lighting the Bonfire specifically chose the XP buff).

NOTE: You will NOT be able to acquire this buff from the Bonfire if you already have some form of the original classic 50% Experience Bonus, this is also the same for the person lighting the Bonfire in an attempt to choose the buff they already have on them, sadly.

SUMMARY: There’s so many different buffs in the game so take advantage of them if you can & use your play time wisely when you have these buffs active!

Sigh.

Not even going to bother reading through the first few pages.

Mounts are pointless in this game.

And just like glider skins no doubt they’d only be available in the cash shop for probably $25 EACH.

But money isn’t the point, the actual point is the following:

• Waypoints
• Asura Gates
• Teleport to Friend
• The what-feels-like-a-million-other-instant-teleport-to-this-location teleport scrolls in the game
• UI instant access to areas such as PvP & WvW
• 33% Swiftness Boon
• Skills such as Superspeed (50% “swiftness”)

Although cosmetically speaking, sure riding a horse would be interesting but the point is moot when we have all these MUCH MORE VIABLE options already available.

I think people are getting the terms “hard” and “challenging” mixed up.

These bosses are, yes, low level ones such as Shadow Behemoth shouldn’t be difficult or hard BUT I think they deserve more active play rather than just standing there and pressing 1.

There is not proper incentive to stray away from the face of SB – few will be killing portals and plenty camp contributing no skill or effort and I think this is the biggest “boring too easy” feeling people get.

As previously mentioned, I personally would like world bosses to be challenging but not difficult to the extent that it’s not fun. There needs to be a certain threshold of mechanics involved to pull it out of the “sit back and press 1” mood.

They on holidays, it’s Christmas time, New Years soon too.

In other words: they have lives and are human just as much as us.

Happy New Year also from Australia!

Just finished work so I’ll be home literally 5 mins before midnight to crack open a drink and watch the fireworks begin near the waterfront.

I hope 2016 brings blissful things for you all!

I don’t play the Desert(ed) Borderlands; my strong dislike for them is unwavering and it’s concrete proof the map is an utter failure – the WvW forums, map chat etc speaks for itself.

These days I’m either in EBG or EOTM for fights, testing out builds, roaming etc.

Last night I bought TESO.

I feel like ANet have taken too long with anything to do with WvW and not delivered with their plethora of promises/hints/ideas. It’s a joke.. the redheaded stepchild of the game-modes.

I really want the original WvW back that made this game-mode fun... around hammer-train meta, pre-stability ‘nerf’, Alpine Borderlands map… the tournaments, balance patches specifically aimed at WvW.. stuff like that.

EDIT: additions, typos etc.

lol EOTM in general has been fight-heavy, NA, for the last batch of months.. even more so post-HoT due to the introduction of the Desert(ed) Borderlands.

So many different guilds running around in there, it’s nice to see good fights going on.

StinVec.3621:

I believe the maximum is now at 69. At least that is what I read shortly after HoT’s release. I’ll see if I can find it again.

EDIT:

Wiki already had the info I went looking for:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Character_Slot_Expansion

• Prior to the pre-purchase announcement for Heart of Thorns, a single account could have up to 64 character slots.
• After the release of Heart of Thorns, the limit was increased so that a single account could have up to 70 characters.

So max is now 70.

Man that’s a lot.

Thank you for the answer!

Brace yourself… (personal experience:)

• Guardian is a good start; survives with many blocks/blinds yet can dish out decent damage. Fun builds to choose from including meditation, condi-burning, shout-condi-cleanser, party/team support or AH healer guardian. Enhanced now due to nice HoT elite spec F1-F3 skills and new (yet kinda’ 1-trick pony) traps build.

• Ranger is an easy start; Troll Ungent heal skill is one that heals over time so you can survive nicely whilst dishing out long-range dmg combined with pet F2 skills you may want to try out “Taunt” for some funny roaming/PvP gameplay. Condi-survival ranger is still a thing; some variations include Apothecary/Shaman ‘bunkerish’ condi annoying specs to deal with.

Druid (ranger elite spec) is welcomed for raids and/or PvP bunker role due to large healing-focused game-play/opportunity for team-mates.

• Warrior is simple but I wish their elite spec were better. Warrior stances are key in WvW (total immunity to conditions/damage for a short duration) and are very mobile if running GS + S/WH. Not sure if banners are still a thing for party support aka Dungeons/Fractals but elite banner can definitely be a life-saver in organized GvG/raid/WvW content. Very easy profession to play with variety of builds including ‘gimmicky’ rifle killshot, 25 might-stacking build, traditional Hammer/GS (not sure if still used/viable due to pirate-ship meta).

• Necromancer is quite decent at sustain due to deathshroud (their unique F1 mechanic) acts as a second lifepool and you can trait/build to siphon life from opponents or wear them down with other conditions. Necromancer is generally looked at as the king of conditions; you even have a signet that transfers conditions on you to your opponent; gg. Pretty awesome 25 might/Vulnerability is possible with necro/Reaper elite spec.

Reaper (necro elite spec) has brought new builds/tricks to the core class and I definitely recommend trying it out. (High Chill up-time build, tanky yet still decent dmg builds out there etc)

• Mesmer is a fun profession to play but takes time to get used to. Survive up-time through either clone generation process, nice position for burst dmg potential & can also lean into condition builds via traited Torment/Confusion on Shatter skills. Also considered valuable “veil/portal/time-warp bot” in Dungeons/Fractals/WvW to help players out.

Chronomancer (mesmer elite spec) is one of the most interesting/awesome specs I’ve played due to high Alacrity up-time, various builds that include near-permanent application of Slow condition & double uses of many skills via their new F5 mechanic “Continuum Shift”.

Yes, you can literally double time-warp. Double Moa. Double Alacrity. Double anything if you hit all/any skills you can in that small time-frame. It can be pretty funny.

• Elementalist is still running on the same old generic build(s) regarding PvP; Celestial D/F… bunker ele. I don’t play this class much but that’s all I ever encounter these days.

There are some debatable decent Tempest (ele elite spec) builds out there involving shouts healing & benefiting your team-mates with Auras/boons whilst doing so. You can still go traditional FULL ZERK DPS YOLO staff ele in WvW and drop hard hitting Meteor showers/well timed CC on earth/lightning attunements for zerg-play…

• Revenant is the new cool thing that came along with HoT expansion. Easy & fun to pick up. Nice dmg with Shiro stance paired with Mallyx for condi dmg = fair hybrid build for PvP use; could be use-able in PvE but I prefer Mallyx/Glint (Herald elite spec) for the instant I win button “all dmg dealt to you heals you” heal skill. Survives via certain weapon skills such as Sword #3, Shield skills, heal skill, application of Resistance Boon Via Mallyx legend etc. Overall a very versatile, hard-hitting class… speaking of which, the flavor of WvW atm is hammer rev. You can literally go full zerk DPS and spamming your hammer skill #2 on a 2 second CD for large 7k+ crits, even 15k+ if the right traits are chosen. Kinda’ cheesy but it works.

• Thief has seen better days. I’m sorry, but this class was buried in the grave a while ago. These days I think it takes great skill to survive the many condi-spamming, insane DMG from other classes/professions out there as a thief. You can still run around with D/P and heal via traited “whilst in stealth regenerate/heal over time” skills. Some mediocre condi builds still available; I run my own gimmicky venom/trap condi build involving Dire/Rabid stats. Too bad it’s hard-countered by any decent Necro or simply Diamond Skin ele. Some people have succeeded with P/P massive burst builds, but it’s extremely risky. S/D is my favorite thing in the world with thief… I’m trying to make it work again with their elite spec line.

I strongly believe Daredevil (thief elite spec) trait line is mandatory when playing this class… the third evade can mean life or death in certain situations and overall the class feels more endurable with the unique dodge mechanics involved.

• Engineer is the jack of all trades & can be rewarding if committed to learning how to play it. Their condi-removal is a bit lack-luster unless you go full crazy traited Elixers, Elixer Gun, Heal Turret etc but their condi-dmg out-put is almost, if nearly on-par with Necromancer condi dmg (situational). Awesome Burn up-time, nice mobility, perma-swiftness if traited. A fun class to play. Definitely always welcome in raids as condi engi.

Scrapper (engi elite spec) is quite interesting in that it involves the Hammer – engi’s first ever proper melee weapon and can be used in bruiser/tanky builds; plenty of combo-fields to dish out. Gyro’s are pretty meh (mere personal opinion) but at least their trait-line includes one that can finish off downed opponents FOR you (not that I’ve been too big a fan of AI mechanics but oh well).

Sorry for the immensely long post but I believe that’s a bit of a nutshell of each class & my thoughts about them in general through personal experience.

+1 a million times!

I still haven’t even done LS achieves but there are the stat trinkets from those that I want and I am willing to pay Laurels, craft my way there, convert gems to gold you name it ANet yet all those quirky ones are unwaveringly locked behind the LS.

There needs to be other ways to acquire said stat trinkets; variety in acquisition is always welcomed & a healthy game design.

Make 500 Jeweller aka ascended trinket crafting a thing, ANet. It needs to be done. I will jump with joy if such a thing ever happens…

Soon™ – ANet

/15nakedcharrs

I do not consider myself 100% WvW vet but I’ve played enough to know what’s going on atm…

I’ve literally played post HoT, maybe around 2 hours worth of Desert Borderlands WvW and I dislike it immensely.

PROs (nothing too significant):

• New map is visually beautiful to look at
• Shield Generator Blueprint(s) are a nice addition to tactical/strategic use
• Many more objectives/locations/areas to capture/defend/fight over
• Squad system is fantastic; definitely aids with supply management; groupings etc
• Sentries made more useful by tracking enemy movement on map (similar to EOTM turret spy things)
• Some lords/bosses don’t merely melt in health now; actually gives time to get there and react/defend (debatable)
• Few basic QoL features regarding Squad system, Guild system improvements, objective timers on map, pop-up alert(s) when objectives have been taken by an enemy etc

CONs: (echoing large portion of WvW community)

• New maps are useless for actual WvW gameplay (frustrating, too large, ridiculously time-consuming to navigate, towers do not have a purpose anymore)
• Automatic upgrades (unhealthy little/no ‘human interaction’ gameplay)
• Vast amount of PvE gimmicks & trashy oasis middle of map event
• ‘Pirate-ship’ meta than ever before (recent balance patches) impacting fun-factor of good old WvW times (I am biased in that I enjoyed hammer-train meta way way way better than what we are stuck with now)
• Many weird bugs/broken things that do not get fixed
• Map is dead (self explanatory in this thread post)
• HoT expansion literally took away stuff we UNLOCKED and LOCKED them behind a massive, ungodly, expensive “PvE” guild hall grind (no more +5 supply unless you have a large guild that has a lot of spare time/money etc)
• Provides little incentive to play other than “passion for WvW” primarily due to no recent tournaments, stagnant WvW match-ups, ANet focusing on other content/game-modes etc

I don’t know. Most of that is opinion & agreement with many other posts I’ve seen sprawled out on these WvW forums.

Is WvW really dead or am I just a sheep still mindlessly following the herd & hoping things will get better? …

Apparently 64 is the max amount of character slots you can buy – is that still the case post HoT expansion or have they increased it?