Quick question about returning after a long break.

Well, I put probably 500+ hours into GW2 the first year or so after launch and enjoyed it immensely. Came back a couple years ago and did some of the story year 2 stuff (I may have finished it?). But, I haven't played since before HoT came out. With PoF and all the good stuff I'm hearing I'm thinking of coming back to give it a shot, but I have a few questions.

• First, my main character is a Necro and I was thinking Reaper sounded like fun. Do I have to buy the HoT content to get access to that specialization?
• Have necros bene improved since before HoT? I know they only had a couple viable builds and were kind of buggy still when I stopped playing.
• Will my characters be under-powered or handicapped due to any of the mastery stuff in HoT if I don't buy it?
• Is the any of the story stuff worth picking up that I missed from season 3?
• Finally is there a lot of grinding of mats and stuff to be able to get gear needed for the expansion? I think I have had my fill of the daily Oric runs from the original.

Thanks for any input, it's appreciated.

Yes, you have to own HoT to play Reaper or any of the other HoT elite specializations.

Reaper Necro is awesome and way better than vanilla Necro, in my opinion. But different people feel differently about different things.

Under-powered from the lack of HoT Masteries? No. But you will have a bit of a handicap if you try to do any content that is made easier with gliding, bouncing mushrooms, or adrenal mushrooms.

If you enjoy story, then picking up Season 3 might be a fun thing for you. However, if you didn't play HoT, you'll be skipping a decent chunk of what happens between Season 2 and Season 3. The rewards for Season 3 are alright, and the maps added with each Season 3 episode provide cheaper ways to get ascended back items and trinkets. Edit: You actually have to have HoT to play Season 3.

If you want to be geared in Ascended or Legendary gear, then yes, you'll need to grind out mats or map-specific currencies for what you want. If you're content with starting in Exotics and eventually working up to Ascended/Legendary, then getting that (the Exotics) won't be much of a grind at all.

HoT is required for reaper

Necro's have been buffer majorly with the addition of reaper

HoT masteries are not necessary for content ins core GW2 or the new expansion coming out; but you miss out on gliders

I'd say all of the LW stuff is worth picking up; but a lot of the season 3 stuff is HoT/PoF related

If you have ascended gear you don't need anything else(except maybe different stat options)

Small addition to what was said above: If you get the recent LWS story stuff unlocked with out having hot then doing those story steps might be impossible as you NEED the masteries from HoT to do the recently living world story. Just something to keep in mind.

Piggybacking off of what Pookie just said: You actually have to have HoT to play LW Season 3. I forgot to mention that.

I have exotic weapons/armor and ascended trinkets/jewelry for both my primary characters from guild tokens pre-HoT, just not the back item (I ran fractals, but never enough to get the items needed). Is there a new quality of gear to work on now? I am actually pretty disappointed that I would have to buy HoT just for the Reaper spec as I'm not really interested in anything else. You can't buy any of those perks with gems?

Ascended and Legendary share the same stat levels, and those are the highest qualities of gear in the game. There aren't any plans to make a higher quality, as far as I know. And no, you can't just buy one part of the expansion content, with gems or without; if you want Reaper, you'll have to buy HoT. The good news is that you can get HoT at a discount if you bundle it with PoF (if you intend to get either one).

Indeed. HoT is required for all of the elite specs currently available. Just as PoF will be required for the new ones.

Alright, mayhaps I'll pick up HoT (its available for cheap elsewhere) and see how it goes. Still a necro main at heart and Reaper really does sound great since pre-HoT my necro was a pow/pre build that I really liked with heavy emphasis on shroud and wells. Is there going to be a new social hub or is everyone still in Lion's Arch?

EDIT: If I get HoT do I get access to all the LWS story from HoT or does it costs gems now like in seasons 1 and 2 if you didn't do it when it was released?