Returning player feeling a bit lost

Hello all,i recently came back to the game from a long break. Last time i played they had just introduced the living story,so ive been gone a while. I have 4 level 80 characters. Im just not really sure where to pick back up at. I enjoy the mesmer,necro and ranger. I usually want to focuse on wvw as well as fractals. I dont have any ascended gear at all,but i do have most crafts leveled to 400. Where should i begin? I have yet to obtain 100% map completion,nor have i finished any of the main story quests. Should i just continue my personal story and go on from there? should i focus on completing all maps? How do i obtain ascended gear?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Ascended weapons and armor are usually crafted. Ascended trinkets are usually purchased with laurels, guild tokens, or, in the new Living World Season 3 zones, zone-specific resources.

As for where to start...first thing I'd do is go to one of the expansion zones - Heart of Thorns or Path of Fire, either one (although you might have better luck in the HoT zones) - and join a hero point train, so you can unlock the new elite specializations.

After that? Well, it depends. I liked the story, so I might work on that next...but you'll also want to get your character some good gear. So go where the story takes you, save up your mats, and get your crafting to 500 so you can craft Ascended stuff.

After that? Do whatever strikes your fancy! Map completion, zone events, fractals, raids, whatever you prefer.

I'd say not to worry about ascended gear first, since full exotic gear is cheaper to craft and is fairly close to ascended stat-wise.

@DebraKadabra.5278 said:I'd say not to worry about ascended gear first, since full exotic gear is cheaper to craft and is fairly close to ascended stat-wise.

OP said he wants to do fractals, so he does need ascended gear eventually for the AR.

@OPIn terms of gearing, get ascended trinkets first (least expensive and quickest), then weapons, and leave armor for last (most expensive and gives the least % stat boost).

Also, again going the fractal slant, the ascended amulets cannot accept AR infusions anymore, so you can skip those in favor of the other trinkets if time or resources are tight.

Right, but in the meantime he/she will need to level crafting to get to the ascended level anyway and exotic can help bridge the gap while the ascended crafting is being worked on.

@jerryfingers.6273 said:Hello all,i recently came back to the game from a long break. Last time i played they had just introduced the living story,so ive been gone a while. I have 4 level 80 characters. Im just not really sure where to pick back up at. I enjoy the mesmer,necro and ranger. I usually want to focuse on wvw as well as fractals. I dont have any ascended gear at all,but i do have most crafts leveled to 400. Where should i begin? I have yet to obtain 100% map completion,nor have i finished any of the main story quests. Should i just continue my personal story and go on from there? should i focus on completing all maps? How do i obtain ascended gear?

You can get Ascended gear by doing only WvW. There are reward tracks now so you do not have to do any PvE.

i appreciate all the responses,I will focus on finishing crafting and story zones.

I just came back recently too, but I didn't have any characters to 80 yet -- my highest was at 69. I made a new character first and played her to 20 to both remember mechanics and get used to the way the new specialization systems work. Then I went back to my main/highest and worked on Personal Story and map completion until I hit 80. Then I went to HoT areas to get my first gliding mastery. I just finished my personal story day before last. I've been watching the Living World Season One movie on Youtube and plan to start Living World Season 2 as soon as I get through all of that. (It's 3.5 hours long!)

@Tairgire.4836 said:I just came back recently too, but I didn't have any characters to 80 yet -- my highest was at 69. I made a new character first and played her to 20 to both remember mechanics and get used to the way the new specialization systems work. Then I went back to my main/highest and worked on Personal Story and map completion until I hit 80. Then I went to HoT areas to get my first gliding mastery. I just finished my personal story day before last. I've been watching the Living World Season One movie on Youtube and plan to start Living World Season 2 as soon as I get through all of that. (It's 3.5 hours long!)

I definitely recommend what Tairgire has done. You'll miss a lot of important info and practice with game mechanics, otherwise. This also allows you to determine what portions of the game you enjoy playing, and how, giving you a place to focus as you continue on from there.