Returning player from Vanilla

[Danco.2847]

Hey all,

I originally played GW2 way back at release for about a year. I have also purchased heart of thorns, and path of fire, but to be honest I never really played them. Partially due to the fact that I played wow for quite a while and due to the fact that I was also pursuing university and busy with my previous job.

I'm posting here because I'm sure the game has changed a ton since I first played at launch. I have a necro that's max level but i'm debating on getting back into the game and starting fresh.

I was wondering if there were any resource sites available that provide things like build guides, quest guides, so on and so forth? As a player migrating from wow (I just cant support blizzards practices anymore), is there any kind of "refugee guide" if you will?

I remember world pvp suffering at some point as well, is that still a thing?

I guess I'm just looking for guidance here on things to prioritze, and some direction.

Any advice/comments is appreciated!

[phs.6089]

There is no questing guide really for leveling. If you need breadcrumb to follow, check hearts level and go after them, like lv2-done, move to lv3 etc.Do story every 10 levels. For leveling preferable to use gear with 'power' stats but nowdays mobs die fast so just use what you get from leveling reward and events.Otherwise you can do what you want on map, if you are bored from your race starting zone, there are waypoints in front of every large city, you can use to get into different race starting zone.For builds on cap level, check here https://metabattle.com/there are couple of other sites specialized on end-game mods but it's a long way :)

One thing I would recommend is start doing dailies for pocket change, unlike any other MMO, those take like 15-20 minutes here.Press H-Achievements, dailies, do any 3, get your 2 gold.Edit: Forgot to add if you have max level character, start PoF, struggle a bit trough first chapter, get your Raptor, it will make new leveling very pleasant.

[joneirikb.7506]

I'd recommend making a new character to level to re-learn things. A lot in Core Tyria is unchanged, so you'll recognize a lot again, but it's a good way to get back into things with combat and re-learning how to deal with enemies etc.

This game is largely about making your own goals, so what work for some, might not work for others etc. But if you're unsure, start with the story, and then just see if you stumble across something that seems interesting.

PvP is only in the dedicated modes sPvP and WvW, which are completely separated from PvE (rest of the game), so if you're interested in those, there are buttons on top right of your screen to go there. Don't really know what you mean with suffering, both have shrunk over the years, but that is only to be expected.

If you want recommendations for what you should focus on, first of all tell us what kind of player you are, what are your priorities etc. No point recommending PvP for a player that really loves Achivements etc.

[Danco.2847]

@phs.6089 and @joneirikb.7506 thanks guys, With WoW what I liked doing was raiding high end pve content, When I had a guild that was very active, it was nice to have the community aspect. Like the idea of achievement hunting as well/collecting. PVP is more so bottom of my list, but I do enjoy it from a casual perspective from time to time. phs, I may try to do the raptor thing if it would make leveling easier, as I do have a max level necro. or whatever max was during vanilla.

Thanks guys.

[joneirikb.7506]

@Danco.2847

Then start with the Dungeons (you can do them while leveling from level 30+), they're abandoned content now but good to learn how dungeons work here in gw2 since it's completely different from WoW. Then move onto Fractals which are basically smaller dungeons with increasing difficulties from 1-100, and includes the main "gear grind" in the game, by getting enough agony resistance. Then try to find a guild to do raids with and aim for that later on (requires expansion), these are closer to WoW style, but not quite the same. If you want the community part, work hard and find a good guild (or more, can have 5 guilds here).

Achievements are more of a, just start doing things and a bunch will come by itself, as you play more you'll have finished of most of the easy ones, and then you can just browse through the AP tab in hero panel and pick ones you want to work on. Try to combine it with other things so you don't grind yourself out, AP grinding can get really tedious.

If you just want the first mount, take your necro, Hero Panel -> Story -> Path of Fire -> Start. Do the first mission, you get the raptor (first mount) during the first mission, once you finished that mission, you can leave and continue with the rest of the game before continuing the story later on. (Just go back into story panel and click another story to progress, the POF one will wait until you want to continue it again). It makes exploring much faster in Tyria, I think it has its ups and downs personally, and find that you also miss out on a lot of fun small stuff in the world that way. Do as you like.

[Ojimaru.8970]

If you need a beginner's guide to each profession, including leveling builds, try this guide found in this sub-forum.

[Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.294]

Gliding unlocks with the first story mission of HoT and you get your mount in the first story mission of PoF. Doing either one will open up Mastery tracks for you. Make sure you are training them, and I would suggest concentrating on getting the Pact Commander one done in core Tyria - it opens up auto loot and is pretty much life changing from from QoL perspective.

I'd also suggest making an account at gw2efficiency.com and following the instructions there for creating an API key and plugging it into your account on that site. Gw2efficiency.com will tell you everything about your account that you ever wished to know and didn't know you didn't know. Plus it makes it sooooo much easier to track down that one achievement you need to get that last mastery point you just have to have. :)

Welcome back to GW2. Feel free to hit me up in game if you have any questions.