Returning player since Living World 1 - NEED HELP

So, as of yesterday, i decided to return to GW2 but I felt completely lost. I was going through youtube trying to catch up but I think it didn't give me the right answers, i learned there are new currencies, ascended gear, etc... but still felt lost nonetheless.

One of the reasons i left guild wars was because of the grind, i grinded so much i got bored, i remember doing champion farms, going around a map killing champs and farming boxes, over and over again, so i dont want to go that way ever again, This time i just want to do whatever i please, enjoy the PVE, try the PVP (wasn't a fan back then, but i think i would like it now) do a little farm ofcourse but not too much.

As the title suggests i left GW2 at the end of the living world 1, so I'm at ZERO since then, I just want to know where do i start to continue my journey, I didn't buy any of the expansions as of yet, i thought i needed some guidance on this, maybe there are things to do in the core game I haven't done yet.As of right now i have a ranger lvl 80 with the personal story completed, Map 100% completed (at least back then it was), full exotic gear, ascended trinckets etc.. all the good stuff, i also have 4 others characters with no personal story, i didn't care much about leveling my characters back then.

What im looking for here is where do i start? Should i pick one of my characters and start over? I dont want to get bored doing the same things all over again, like completing maps and vistas etc...Should i start again, i can chose from these classes, what would you recommend?

• Elementalist (LVL 20 BOOSTED)
• Thief (LVL 20 BOOSTED)
• Warrior (LVL 20 BOOSTED)
• Mesmer (LVL 80, with 80% (ish) story completed)

Should i start by doing an ascended gear? and go on from there?Should i buy the expansions immediately?Should i start by buying the living world season 2 and 3 and start there? is it doable alone?What are you guys doing to have fun and to farm these days?Are fractals still a thing? Being a returning player, how can i learn the mechanics so i don't get called out? I still remember the "old" fractals like the back of my hand, but the new ones im at zero here.Is there anything else in the core game to do?

Thanks, guys. Any info would be helpful.

I'm very much a "play sequentially" kind of person, so my recomendation would be to get and play Season 2. I think it will reintroduce you to the game in a good way. Then get the expansions and Season 3. The order is LS2, HoT, LS3, PoF, LS4 (ongoing, ep2 launches tuesday. By logging in now you have already unlocked ep1 but will need PoF to actually access it).

Don't bother with ascended gear before being solidly back in the game. LS3 give easy access to ascended trinkets, so wait until then for those. Make sure you have a coherent set of lvl 80 exotics, with runes and sigils and weapons all complementing each other. For Power-based builds, Berserker is still king so I doubt you even have to get new armor.When upgrading to Ascended, do armor last - it matters the least per piece (apart from Back item).

things that I discovered when I returned about 7 months ago:

• mastery system for level 80's (Pact commander is very useful)
• pact supply network (linked to Pact commander mastery), spend karma for high tier material
• auto loot (linked to Pact Commander mastery)
• map bonus rewards (doing events on maps gives additional bonus rewards, you can see which ones on the world map view)
• wvw reward tracks
• elite specializations
• revenant profession

2 new maps should be accessible for you (Silverwastes and Dry Top) both have map wide events on timers that you can join easily and both have unique weapons/armor. You can unlock the mastery system if you buy any of the expansions, I would buy POF asap, you can do POF story to unlock the new mounts (once you unlock them it is account wide, meaning even your low level characters will have the mounts).

When PVE gets boring I jump into WvW, thanks to the reward tracks you can get loot that you otherwise would have to farm in pve maps. Check out the daily wvw events, there are some very easy ones that you can solo (big spender, master of monuments, guard killer, camp capture, dolyak killer, veteran monster).

about characters, I prefer to buy a new character slot, otherwise you lose the birthday presents.

Fractals are fairly easy to get into, just use your LFG and look for people wanting to do low-level ones. There are groups all the time doing that, and since you need Agony Resistance at higher levels, there are always people at the bottom. Some have received massive overhauls, like swampland.

You unlock Living World episodes just by logging in while they are live, but you can't play them without the requisite expansion - HoT for LWS3, PoF for LWS4. The Living World Episodes are, generally, solo-able. The final fight in the last Season 2 episode kicked my butt and I need to take someone with me some time to complete it, but, generally all of them - even season 3 & 4 are solo-able. Some classes seem to have more difficulty than others, but that's just as true IRL as in-game. :)

LWS3 introduced 6 new maps, each with a map-specific currency that is used (along with a season-specific currency (unbound magic)) to buy, among other things, STAT-SELECTABLE ascended accessories (rings, earrings, amulets, and backpacks). LWS4 introduced a new map (so far) and a new season currency (Volatile Magic). We'll find out if Kralkatite ore is a new map currency or what, when Episode 2 drops next Tuesday.

Some of the world bosses have been updates/reworked - Shatterer in particular. Others, not so much.

HoT introduced gliding and jumping mushrooms (part of the mastery tracks). PoF brought us 5 mounts. When you get the expansions and unlock those masteries...you'll wonder how you ever lived without them. You can even glide in WvW now. Also, when you buy the expansions, you will get a level 80 booster with each. It will allow you to boost a toon to level 80 and trick them out in full exotic level 80 gear. Necro get's sinister gear, I think thief gets assasin's (stress THINK), and everyone else get's soldier's.

Welcome back!

Well... personally, perhaps an unpopular opinion but playing this game in sequencial order would be out of the table for me, considering that you have to pay for each living world along with the expansions, i haven't even played season 2 and 1 myself xD so if i were you:

Buy both expansions, go mid way thru Pof until you have the first 2 mounts...then start with Hot story... having the mounts will really ease the pain of traversing the jungle without masteries, thats what made it so frustrating, the fact that many cool things were locked behind masteries, so mounts will help you access those places early on, making exploration way more rewarding...

Or you can do PoF midway, obtain 2 mounts and start all over since the beggining of the core game, will help you experience the game in a whole different light, but if you care about following the story in order, then, i probably should't reccomend any of this...

Hope this helps!

@Alledzebu.1037 said:Well... personally, perhaps an unpopular opinion but playing this game in sequencial order would be out of the table for me, considering that you have to pay for each living world along with the expansions, i haven't even played season 2 and 1 myself xD so if i were you:

Buy both expansions, go mid way thru Pof until you have the first 2 mounts...then start with Hot story... having the mounts will really ease the pain of traversing the jungle without masteries, thats what made it so frustrating, the fact that many cool things were locked behind masteries, so mounts will help you access those places early on, making exploration way more rewarding...

Or you can do PoF midway, obtain 2 mounts and start all over since the beggining of the core game, will help you experience the game in a whole different light, but if you care about following the story in order, then, i probably should't reccomend any of this...

Hope this helps!It's not a bad advice at all, and im actually considering the 2nd option, buying pof, getting the mounts and start from the core game. thanks!

Welcome back.I suggest you to take in mind some informations before doing or planning anything:

• Experience is converted into masteries instead of spirit shards ( until you cap your masteries ), so the sooner you get your expansions, the faster you will be able to cap your masteries ( remember that you can gain mastery exp only in the related zones. Core mastery exp and points -> Core zones, and so on )

• Ascended equipment can be obtained through the whole game but consider that trinkets ( rings, accessories and amulet ) obtained through fractals, SPvP and WvW can change their stats whenever you want ( for more or less 80s per piece ), which could be definitely worth it instead farming for static ascended offsets. Also remember that ascended stuff can be moved from chara to chara.

• Fractals are quite a challenge now ( i assume this because there are way more whiners than before ), and they can provvide you all the items you need.

• Remember that a new ELITE could make the game different and more plaesant, so i suggest you to buy at least HoT and give it a shot ( even if you plan to start from the core game ).