I don't know what I'm doing

Hi, I'm a newish player, I have no idea what half of y'all are talking about and I'm looking for some advice. I've been playing just for the story, but I want to at least try to understand what the other half of the game even is. I have no clue how I've made it this far by button mashing through all the quests and almost dying like every time (Im a level 80 Charr Thief-Daredevil fyi)So...yeah. Help.

Which mode? PvP? WvW? instanced PvE?

For fractals, staff daredevil thief is offmeta (basically not the preferred but workable).For strike missions it is decent as a DPS role (damage dealing with little to no party boon or support for others , the only real exception is venoms).

For WvW it is usable for roaming and as a "pick team" that destroys players way off tag or downed. Staff has high cleave and vault is one of the highest damage skills currently in WvW. To influence battles with downstate enemies, choking gas on shortbow can be used to interrupt and poison an area ; cluster bomb damage is largely intact so it does decent ranged damage.

For PvP you generally want to use evade/blind/weakness/stealth on thief when in fights because it is a medium armor class with low HP pool. That''s why you more commonly see sword mainhand (sword+dagger has boon rip) or dagger pistol (pretty much since the start of the game). It fulfills the decap of capture points role and roamer role , as well as "+1ing" a fight through high mobility.

@Infusion.7149 I use double dagger right now, because my character is based on an oc of mine and i want to remain accurate to her, she uses daggers. Also im most interested in Instanced PvE (thats the story quests right? Terminology is confusing sometimes)

As mentioned: What game mode are you trying to do?

Also... Even the uber players get downed on the regular. Don't feel bad about it.

@thepenmonster.3621 I guess what im trying to say is i dont understand the concept of the other game modes? right now im mostly interested in how to get better at the story quest's battles? but other info is always good

Oh I thought you meant instanced endgame content rather than instanced story content which people typically don't repeat on the same character and especially after finishing the achievements.

If you're talking about 5 man instanced content (i.e. fractals or dungeons) there's generally quite a few additional mobs which is why staff is run (for the cleave but also evade frames). For 10 man strikes/raids you can get away with dagger , especially if there's firebrands around.

It's usually easier to fight with sword or staff because of weakness/blind on both those weapons to negate major attacks. Unless you're using double dagger (death blossom is mostly condition based) then you won't have evade ; dagger pistol usually requires comboing off smoke field for stealth and has the advantage of the gap closer on dual attack. Double dagger became weaker when the deadly ambition trait was changed to only affect dual attacks once so more or less condition stacking isn't as high. You can still run it as a power build with low cleave (it hits 2 targets on auto) though.

@"TheLuckOfTheClaws.4592" said:right now im mostly interested in how to get better at the story quest's battles?

Hi, WoodenPotatoes has released a series of builds for PvE/story mode.If you don't mind to change your elite spec and weapons, it could make your life easier in story mode :-)

He made a video for gear advice and another one per class :

• Gear video :
  ]
• Thief build video :
  ]

As far as I can tell these builds are nice, he explains how the build is supposed to work and some variations you can make depending on your preferences. These video contain a lot of info but you should watch the Gear and Thief video entirely at least once to have a good idea of the build' synergies. Then feel free to rewatch the part about traits, it usually makes sense the first time listen it then you realize later that you forgot/missed half the things he said ^^'

If you choose to give it a try, remember that a new build require some time and practice to be played properly :-)

I hope this helps

@Infusion.7149 i did mean the endgame content, i just beat that underwater temple with the secrets god

@TheLuckOfTheClaws.4592 said:@"Infusion.7149" i did mean the endgame content, i just beat that underwater temple with the secrets god

That's not really "endgame content" but a very easy story mission, though...

@Ashantara.8731 i have repeatedly stated that i dont know what im talking about, i have never played this game's story all the way before so excuse me for assuming that reaching max level means you are near the end of the game. you dont need to be rude

@TheLuckOfTheClaws.4592 said:@Ashantara.8731 i have repeatedly stated that i dont know what im talking about, i have never played this game's story all the way before so excuse me for assuming that reaching max level means you are near the end of the game. you dont need to be rude

I did not mean to be rude, I was merely pointing out that it wasn't endgame content.

Besides, you've already acquired an elite spec, so you have been to endgame content regions.

@"TheLuckOfTheClaws.4592" said:Hi, I'm a newish player, I have no idea what half of y'all are talking about and I'm looking for some advice. I've been playing just for the story, but I want to at least try to understand what the other half of the game even is. I have no clue how I've made it this far by button mashing through all the quests and almost dying like every time (Im a level 80 Charr Thief-Daredevil fyi)So...yeah. Help.

It's not quite clear what kind of help you want. Do you want to know what the modes are, how to access these other modes, and/or something else?

For a start, there are these modes:

• PVE Category
• ...Personal story (which you have been doing)
• ...Open-world PVE - going to the various areas in the world map, and doing vistas, hearts, events
• ...Dungeons
• ...Fractals
• ...Raids
• PVP Category
• World vs World

I'll just drop some tips for you. I'm going to assume you own both expansions (Heart of thorns and Path of Fire). Some might be pretty basic and you know all of this but you seem lost.

• You can start or restart story missions from basic game (core) or expansions in your hero panel. If you get fed up with one story you can always start a different one and always come back, nothing will be lost.
• Story missions will lead you to new maps. Expansions stories will open expansion maps which are much more interesting but also more challenging. There is more to do in expansion maps.
• Starting Hot story will soon grant you gliding, starting Pof story will very fast grant you mounts (very cool and really fastens your travels).
• Explore maps, get to the way points, this way you will be able to fast travel anywhere later.
• Exotic gear (orange) is good enough for almost everything in this game. It is cheap on trading post. You probably have much valuable materials in your material storage (access through bank) and don't even know it. Salvage useless gear drops, they give materials, materials sell. But stats are important, more than color of your gear.

A bit on the world bosses and meta events. These might be the pve content you are looking for, for now:

• There are world bosses and meta events. These are big events with big bosses in the open world that require lots of people but are quite casual and anyone can join, no pressure. They are often linked to the main story of the game. These events are on timer and you can see the timers here: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Event_timers

• Each map of the open world is split into several instances. Once one map has enough people a new instance opens. You can join another instance by joining a party or a squad which is in that instance and right click on their names in squad interface and click join instance. Maybe there are no people doing the event in your instance but many in some other instance - see point below. Instances can get full.

• Use "looking for group" interface - in the upper left menu. Get yourself familiar with the interface. Choose the map where you want to do stuff or the activity you want to do and join group. Don't be afraid to join groups. For example I want to do "chak gerrent" meta event in Tangled Depths map which is part of hearth of thorns expansion. I open looking for group tool (lfg) 10 - 15 mins before the event and go to hearth of thorns /tangled depths and find a group (usually there are, maybe not if strange time of day. Also depends on the event). Join group, go to the map and join their instance. Voila suddenly there are 100 people on a map doing a big event. Some events are popular, if you are late the instance with your group can be full - sorry tough luck, try more maybe someone leaves.

• Join a guild, they will help. Maybe forum can help find a nice guild for you, maybe you can ask in game in Lions arch /map chat. You can join up to 5 guilds.

• Don't be afraid to ask. You can always ask in /map chat. This way everyone on the map will see your message. People are usually helpful in this game.

• gw2 wiki has info on almost anything. And if it is unclear usually youtube helps.

• Just checked youtube for some beginners guide and this one seems very good and relevant:

There is one "job" in GW2 that let you do all things possible in this game!

Achievement Hunter:Do every achievement in the Achievement tab (2nd from bottom) in the Hero Display (H)If you did all, you've done the game (but new ones are added over time, so it make take a while)Looks a bit overwhelming at beginning I guess, simply start somewhere where you like to start (and not with the ones that require you to do things thousands of time, these ones just happen on their own over time)

If you need more info about an achievement, type/wiki achievement-nameinto the chat