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Advice on starting the game


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I played guild wars 1 long ago back in the day, in fact I have 16/50 things unlocked in the HoM... that said when GW2 came out I took a quick look but decided to wait on playing.

I play games in "action mode" or using a mouse look camera view, you know where you use W or S to go forwards or backwards and moving the mouse allows you to steer which direction you are going in and allows you to look up and down. While this is often a basic option in the game setting in many games it wasn't for GW2 back when I took a look and was wondering is this is now provided by Arenanet in the game settings or must we still use a macro or mod to make this possible?

Also my wife and son would likely be playing with me both of them on f2p account while I have a core account, if we really like it we may upgrade so we have access to all expansions.

Question is any advice on what classes would play good together all three of us, I think my son would like warrior, have good synergy to make the game easier and maybe links to decent builds we can use and follow....my son tends to like playing sword wielding melee types I like them too but also enjoy mage types and my wife usually plays healer type but might like to try something else.

Any other advice for people just starting out, you know things we should be doing or know and things to avoid doing, that are behind some of you that have been playing since day one would be nice too.

Also what kind of currency should we be looking at saving up etc, I guessing there will be several different forms so start fresh with zero knowledge can be confusing.

We will be more into PVE and not so much into pvp,

EDIT: was looking into Ele's but seems they have been nerfed pretty hard over time so was wondering what are some OP class and builds, I like being able to steam roll stuff so to speak lol

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Don't get hung up on what is op and what has been nerfed. Most players cry "nerfed hard" when things don't go their way. All classes can steamroll in open world. Instances is where any changes Anet makes gets affected. Profession are adaptable to different styles and situation. For example, my necromancer is a Reaper and with his greatsword I can play him in a more bursting hack n slash style without being burdened by minions.

If you like swords, ele eventually gets the option to wield a sword in more complex version released with PoF called the Weaver. These are elite specs you can transition your core class into. Mesmers also have access to swords and mesmers are pretty good team players.

Weapons don't necs act in the way you traditionally think. They are basically there to utlise certain skills. Sword particularly rarely feels like a sword on any class. I would think Warrior is about the closest and combined with shield or maybe even mace off hand works pretty well.

GW2 has an action mode in the options.

If you are going to play together, play the same race. It isn't essential, but your race determines where in the World you start. You can join up, it can just be a bit confusing for a first time player to find your way around otherwise

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In GW2 most classes are self sufficient in the open world but based on your description.

  1. Son --> Warrior
  2. You --> Guardian (Firebrand would best match you but you need POF expansion for Firebrand). Can use greatsword and is a good support/caster and can be carry support healer/quickness for Fractals. I'd recommend to get your hp to around 15k mixing your stats to avoid being one shot by champs.
  3. Your wife ----> can either be a Mesmer to Chrono or Ranger to Druid.

This game is very alt friendly so you will probably have 2 or 3 classes you'll play regularly when it's all said and done.

Note when you get expansions, especially HOT, you'll want to slot in some more survival skills/traits. Mainly a stun breaker and condi cleanse. You'll find out :).

Good sites for builds.

https://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki --> Lots of WVW roaming(small scale) builds are good for solo. 3 man teams you can pick builds that synergize(provide boons,etc) with each other but in open world shouldn't need to be too concerned. Just don't all 3 of you pick support. 1 support is enough for tougher content. You'll most likely tweak some of the builds.https://snowcrows.com/ ---> good builds/info for instanced content. You never know, you may do instanced content, especially dungeons/fractals. Don't use the optimal dps builds for open world until you're more familiar/comfortable with the game.

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Cool ty all.

I am all set on builds with the the metabattle/snowcrow sites and for early builds with the A Leveling Guide: Early Builds and Tips link. I have the action cam toggle turned on in the game settings, this wasn't there way back before HoT when I bought a core account, and does the trick nicely.

Only thing I am missing is add ons or mods using the api that might be interesting. Was looking at something like AugTyr and the mount radial thing.

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@"Calistin.6210" said:Cool ty all.

I am all set on builds with the the metabattle/snowcrow sites and for early builds with the A Leveling Guide: Early Builds and Tips link. I have the action cam toggle turned on in the game settings, this wasn't there way back before HoT when I bought a core account, and does the trick nicely.

Only thing I am missing is add ons or mods using the api that might be interesting. Was looking at something like AugTyr and the mount radial thing.

AugTyr wasn't updated for long now. afaik. It's taco time

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First off, forget Snowcrows right away (and discretize too while at it). The sites are great for what they provide: optimized 5 and 10 mann group builds. That's not what you should be aiming for and will actually be counter productive/efficient for regular play and getting to know the game.

Metabattle was already mentioned for WvW. Go to their open world tab and get some builds from there. Then once you've reached level 80, understand your class and how group play works, transition to a Snowcrows or discretize build.

Otherwise as mentioned, don't focus on what is flavor of the month. First off, balance shifts constantly, second all content is doable on every class and finally if you move into serious group content, sticking to 1 class will not cut it.

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@Calistin.6210 said:Was looking at ... the mount radial thing.

For changing mounts I find using hot keys much easier than using a menu. You can set different hotkeys for each mount in the control settings (there's nothing set by default). I use shift+1 for Raptor, shift+2 for Springer, etc. Any of the hotkeys you set will also dismount you from any mount, so it makes it quick and easy to switch from one mount to another - all you have to do is press the hotkey for that mount twice: once to dismount, then again to mount up again.

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@"Mushuchalaka.9437" said:Here's a good site for crafting costs and other stuffs.

https://gw2efficiency.com/

Dulfy is a good site for quests/skins/heropoints, etc, but she's been inactive lately for real life reasons.http://dulfy.net/

Reddit is the unofficial forums but has many members. You can find good info there also.https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/

Thanks for the links, I had actually run accross the efficiency site but wasn't sure about it but seems like it could be really useful.

@Cyninja.2954 said:First off, forget Snowcrows right away (and discretize too while at it). The sites are great for what they provide: optimized 5 and 10 mann group builds. That's not what you should be aiming for and will actually be counter productive/efficient for regular play and getting to know the game.

Metabattle was already mentioned for WvW. Go to their open world tab and get some builds from there. Then once you've reached level 80, understand your class and how group play works, transition to a Snowcrows or discretize build.

Otherwise as mentioned, don't focus on what is flavor of the month. First off, balance shifts constantly, second all content is doable on every class and finally if you move into serious group content, sticking to 1 class will not cut it.

Yes I thought snowcrows looked too specific for what I want for now and was planning on using the link to early basic guides while keeping an eye on metabattle open world builds.

@Tommo Chocolate.5870

Yes I will look into the hotkeys, if I don't need to add a mod for mounts I wont if its not really necessary.

I have looked into Taco though and it looks really interesting,, especially for the jumping puzzle stuff so I will be using it I think as it seems it allowed even though anet does not officially endorse it.

I wonder what are some good marker packs to use?

I have run across these which seem to be more or less up to date which look interesting:https://www.heinze.fr/taco/?lang=enandhttp://tekkitsworkshop.net/index.php/gw2-taco/download

What do you guys think about em?

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We would like to get both expansion but since I need to buy 3x of everything I kind of need to wait for a sale on the, I see there was one in march that sadly we missed.

After some googling I think I can expect the next sale to be in August? Any other way or legit place/site to find coupon codes or rebates for the game?

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Keep in mind you have multiple character slots, and it's not hard to level a character to 80 in this game.

So go for an Elementalist. They're probably one of the more difficult classes for new players due to having to switch between all four elements, and they can be very weak against heavy hits, but if you like mage types and really want to try one, Ele is definitely your pick.

For your second character slot, you can try for a more durable spell caster like Necromancer with all minions out, Necros can survive a lot of content that kills other character classes. Or you could simply try out a variety of classes up to level 20 in a free character slot and delete them when finished. That way you test drive them all - and pick up some bonus Black Lion Keys just for completing the personal story up to level 20 on each of them.

Finally, keep in mind that ALL classes play very differently depending on the weapon they have equipped. A Guardian with a greatsword acts like an in-your-face melee warrior. But switch him over to staff or scepter, and suddenly he'll remind you a lot more of a mage warrior in armor. Try out different stuff.

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Just wanted to say the son is playing warrior, wie is guardian and I am a mage. My wife and I are also playing 2nd characters, she is a ranger (longbow and greatsword) and I am a thief (daggers and pistols) we are using core open world build from metabattle and are quite enjoying doing map completions. I especially like using the Taco add on with that all in one map marker thing!

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Great to hear you're having fun!My 2 mains are warrior and Firebrand, although at one point I enjoyed Firebrand more, my warrior(spellbreaker) is really fun for open world. I also use him for pvp and wvw roaming.

For warrior open world, core warrior, Greatsword axe/axe is as fun as it gets. Wait till you guys get to Heart of Thorns, once you get better. You'll enjoy the bump in difficulty more and will be glad you guys roam together :).

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  • 4 weeks later...

Looking for a pure cheese build to solo champions and dungeons, I have read about warrior and necro any tips on these? Was reading this thread from reddit but it's nine months old.https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/9lkq1t/show_me_your_solo_champion_builds/and this:http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQRBHbhG2IDthmmaTtt12a8qd1webvtMNY6R1raXdqldBqASDgCQAA-jxRBQBQV/jFOqCpVJoWV/5H7PQWlfA4FFEAABYj1YNWj14G34G77acjbcjbcjbcjbcjlCgztWA-e

Was looking at this build for necro.https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Reaper_-_Power_Minion_Master

btw I am not into pvp

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@"Calistin.6210" said:Looking for a pure cheese build to solo champions and dungeons, I have read about warrior and necro any tips on these? Was reading this thread from reddit but it's nine months old.https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/9lkq1t/show_me_your_solo_champion_builds/and this:http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQRBHbhG2IDthmmaTtt12a8qd1webvtMNY6R1raXdqldBqASDgCQAA-jxRBQBQV/jFOqCpVJoWV/5H7PQWlfA4FFEAABYj1YNWj14G34G77acjbcjbcjbcjbcjlCgztWA-e

Was looking at this build for necro.https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Reaper_-_Power_Minion_Master

btw I am not into pvp

The reddit thread remanis viable, but let me explain shortly what your approaches are:

First off dungeons are quit old content and were designed with certain gimicks in play. Many bosses have 1 central mechanic around them and if not executed properly (can be as simple as dodging the correct attack or interacting with an object) will often kill you. As such expect some basic trial and error if you want to figure things out without guides.

Second, the most often approach chosen by experienced players is just to kill things as fast as possible. Less viable with fewer than 5 people even if damage output of classes has more than trippled. Some classes are better at being glass canon thanks to their innat tankiness, say power reaper (necromancer) for exmaple. Other classes have very high front loaded damage with enough sustain, like power Dragonhunter (guardian). Power is often chosen since it delivers the damage a bit faster, condition builds are easier built tanky with less sacrifice in damage (because contidion damage relies on 2 stats mostly).

Finally especially dungeons favor certain utility skills greatly (remember, these were delivered with the games release). Utility skills of special note for dungeons are:

  • reflects (most dominant on mesmer and guardian) are VERY strong on much of the content both in reflecting damage back at enemies as well keeping the group safe
  • stealth (again mesmer and thief) allows for skipping unwanted trash enemies
  • stability (guardian mostly) to not get knocked around as well as prevent skill interuptions or lockouts
  • aegis (guardian) often 1 press button damage reduction on next attack
  • blinds are very strong in reducing incomming damage since vanilla enemies (except for Dredge) are fully affected by this

It was not uncommon to always have at least 1 guardian in group during vanilla. Still a very strong class to bring for dungeons and in general.

Which ever approach you take, try to keep all players involved on a similar damage type. Go full power or full condition.

Also make sure to take a look at metabattle under the dungeon/fractal tab. The meta builds are all power or power cupport related but the great builds incorporate a vast majority of condition builds.

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@"Calistin.6210" said:EDIT: was looking into Ele's but seems they have been nerfed pretty hard over time

They are still a powerful profession.

As for your question: all professions team up well in PvE. It really doesn't matter what you pick as long as you have fun with it. Here are a couple of links you might find helpful: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/581676#Comment_581676

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