New player looking for feedback on next steps (and a few questions)

[myrek.9436]

Hey everyone!

I'm a new player. I just got my 1st character to 80. Here are my best next steps as I understand them. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Finish the personal story (I bought the expansions but not any of the seasons)
2. Scarlet's War
3. Do HoT
4. Do PoF

It seems like if I do that, everything else will take care of itself.

Questions

1. Should I jump to HoT to unlock masteries (and get rid of that annoying popup)?
2. At what point should I look at joining a guild?
3. Is it worth joining a guild? I don't know if I'll ever do group content since I almost never have hours to play the game. I'm a self-employed 45-year-old with a family. Large blocks of uninterrupted free time are hard to come by.
4. Did I miss anything? Is there anything else I should be working on?
5. This is just my "learn the game" character. Should I wait until I have a keeper to join a guild?5.1. If I should wait, what are the easiest group content characters to learn? The idea is to lower the learning curve on the character so I can focus on learning the group content.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any help is appreciated.

[TamX.1870]

Hi!

@myrek.9436 said:

1. Finish the personal story (I bought the expansions but not any of the seasons)
2. Scarlet's War
3. Do HoT
4. Do PoF

Story is anything but mandatory. I would suggest you to get grasp about just everything and decide where to put effort.

@myrek.9436 said:

1. Should I jump to HoT to unlock masteries (and get rid of that annoying popup)?

HoT is generally a tough place for a new player. I suggest you to jump to PoF, maps and hero points are easier. Of course, start the HoT story at the point where you can enter Verdant Brink, but you can leave it there until you are more ready to continue.

2. At what point should I look at joining a guild?

Guilds are useful from the beginning, so yes, start looking for a guild right away.

3. Is it worth joining a guild? I don't know if I'll ever do group content since I almost never have hours to play the game. I'm a self-employed 45-year-old with a family. Large blocks of uninterrupted free time are hard to come by.

It is, people in the guild can give you all sorts of advice, info and help out in different situations.

4. Did I miss anything? Is there anything else I should be working on?

The game has so vast amounts of things to do, that it is impossible to say to anyone what to do. Take your time and explore the possibilities.

5. This is just my "learn the game" character. Should I wait until I have a keeper to join a guild?

No need.

5.1. If I should wait, what are the easiest group content characters to learn? The idea is to lower the learning curve on the character so I can focus on learning the group content.

I think low tier fractals can be such. Just be warned, that not all low tier groups have any kind of support, so they can be bit hard if you don't bring some sustain in your build. But on the other hand, many T1 groups have one or two more experienced players carrying some of their kinnies, so it is possible that you have some support. And in any case, people don't generally expect you to shine there.

[Ashantara.8731]

@"myrek.9436" said:Please correct me if I'm wrong. [...]

1. Personal story
2. Scarlet's War (not playable)
3. Living World Season 2
4. HoT
5. Living World Season 3
6. PoF
7. Living World Season 4
8. The Icebrood Saga (a.k.a Living World Season 5)

QuestionsShould I jump to HoT to unlock masteries (and get rid of that annoying popup)?

Yes. Just doing the first mission is enough - however, it's a story spoiler.

At what point should I look at joining a guild?

Whenever you feel like it.

Is it worth joining a guild?

Depending on the guild's level of activity. There are plenty of guilds out there that have mostly inactive players.

I don't know if I'll ever do group content since I almost never have hours to play the game. I'm a self-employed 45-year-old with a family.

You don't really need a guild then. I mean, it's nice to have access to the farming nodes in the guild hall, boni like cheaper use of waypoints, and access to guild missions that provide you with Guild Commendations. But it is not a must-have.

Did I miss anything? Is there anything else I should be working on?

Ascended gear.

This is just my "learn the game" character. Should I wait until I have a keeper to join a guild?

No.

If I should wait, what are the easiest group content characters to learn?

All are "easy" once you are familiar with the mechanics. I always recommend a Guardian, but it takes practice (like most professions). Necromancer is probably easiest to learn in comparison, but it has mechanics too that you need to understand if you want to become a valuable member of a group (e.g., Heal Scourge, with teleporting downed players).

In any case, take it easy and have fun. Don't stress yourself. The rest falls into place with practice.

[Danikat.8537]

@"myrek.9436" said:Hey everyone!

I'm a new player. I just got my 1st character to 80. Here are my best next steps as I understand them. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Finish the personal story (I bought the expansions but not any of the seasons)
2. Scarlet's War
3. Do HoT
4. Do PoF

It seems like if I do that, everything else will take care of itself.

Questions

1. Should I jump to HoT to unlock masteries (and get rid of that annoying popup)?
2. At what point should I look at joining a guild?
3. Is it worth joining a guild? I don't know if I'll ever do group content since I almost never have hours to play the game. I'm a self-employed 45-year-old with a family. Large blocks of uninterrupted free time are hard to come by.
4. Did I miss anything? Is there anything else I should be working on?
5. This is just my "learn the game" character. Should I wait until I have a keeper to join a guild?5.1. If I should wait, what are the easiest group content characters to learn? The idea is to lower the learning curve on the character so I can focus on learning the group content.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any help is appreciated.

You'd don't have to finish the story unless you want to, it's optional. But if you're interested in it then it may be helpful to know that the Living World seasons actually fit in between the base game and expansions and often set up the events of the next release. The full chronological order is:

• Personal Story
• Scarlet's War
• Season 2
• Heart of Thorns
• Season 3
• Path of Fire
• Season 4
• Icebrood Saga
• End of Dragons (not out yet)

(Also Scarlet's War is a short summary of Season 1, which was a series of tempoary releases between January 2013 and March 2014, if you're interested in the story it might be helpful to look up a longer review online which covers more of the details.)

It's worth doing the very first bit of HoT or PoF (either will work) to unlock masteries if you don't mind spoilers for the end of Season 2/3. You only need to complete the intro to one expansion which is quite quick, but it will give away some of the story.

It's worth joining a guild as soon as you feel ready. Guilds in this game aren't just for running difficult group content with and there are many guilds aimed at new or casual players, including ones who will help you learn and prepare for harder content and casual ones who will offer people to chat with and friendly people who aren't strict about builds or gear when you do play together with no expectations that you'll fit a schedule.

The only thing I'd say you need to do first is think about what you like to do and what you'd like and expect from a guild, so you can find one which is right for you. As well as content you might want to consider things like what time of day you're most likely to be online, whether you prefer using text or voice chat and whether you're willing to use Discord (which can be purely text chat) or sign up to the guild's website. When considering joining one don't be afraid to ask the recruiter questions, or to turn down a guild which isn't right for you.

The only thing you haven't mentioned and might want to think about is making sure you've got decent equipment for your character, which is pretty easy to do. Exotic (orange text) gear is the 2nd best in the game and good enough for everything except higher level Fractals. Ascended is the best, but the difference between the two is minimal and ascended is designed as a long-term goal so it's expensive or difficult to get. Exotic equipment can be bought from the Trading Post relatively cheaply or found in a variety of places in-game. (If you do buy from the TP make sure you use the filters to choose stats, don't search by the name of the stat combination or you'll end up paying more than you need to.)

The important thing is to make sure you're equipping stuff with the right stats for you, which depends on which weapons and skills you're using and how you like to play. You can either use the Wiki to find out what the different attributes do and choose ones which are best for you or look up build guides and use those to decide what to get.

[Mungo Zen.9364]

Adding some thoughts on Mastery and HP/Elites...

If you want to be efficient then unlocking Masteries will allow you to earn XP towards those, which in turn will give your account access to new stuff such as Auto Loot in Core Tyria, Gliding in HoT and Mounts in PoF. You by no means need any of these to enjoy the game but, the game does become a 'bit' easier with these available. As noted above, running the first part of HoT story will unlock these. Mastery Points are account wide so do once and applies to all characters.

Hero Points and Elite specs (each prof gets 2 eSpecs, one for HoT and one for PoF, maybe more in the future) which are not necessary but do expand your build options to play with. These are character specific, and some may say are more powerful than Core builds, but, playing Core and experimenting with it will give you a better understanding of the game and mechanics before stepping into an eSpec.

If you do not care about spoilers you can open up HoT or PoF by starting their story and joining an HP Train. This will get you enough HP to unlock one or both Elite specs available to your class. HP Trains are community player run and can be found in the LFG tool under the HoT or PoF maps. However you will be limited until you unlock Gliding (HoT Mastery) and Raptor (PoF Mastery) as they are required for most HP trains (fortunately these are also the first Mastery for each expac).

That aside, there are a LOT of things you can do as a new player and it can be overwhelming. It is totally okay to play the story in the linear fashion and ignore eSpecs and Mastery until they naturally become available to you. It is okay to spend countless hours in Core Tyria just soaking up the content and stories before moving on even.

Welcome to the game, welcome to lvl 80,. have all the fun!

[myrek.9436]

Thanks for the help!