After a long hiatus I´m back playing.

[DonQuixote.6347]

Bought the game when it came out and leveled a Ranger all the way to 80. For many reasons had to leave and now, after all this time I am able to play again.

 

I have not yet bought the expansions, will do it soon, but wanted to get some insights on how the game has changed. Have to say that it was an incredible surprise to open my characters and find out that after all this time I had a yearly mail with rewards on all of them.

 

I am thinking about playing the game all the way up to 80 without expacs and then get them. Would I be missing on something?

 

Also, since I guess most people have leveled many alts by now, would you say is more enjoyable to play all the starter zones first and then level up? E.g. create a Norn, play her starting zone and travel to other starter zones to find out the story of all the races and then level, or is it better to play just my character starter zone, level and THEN play the rest of races' starter zones?

 

Feels incredible to be back.

[Rogue.8235]

Welcome back!

 

The way GW2 is set up aligns with how I like to enjoy MMORPGs.  Whenever I create a new character, I just go wherever without a plan.  I'm enjoying the character and the feel of it, as all professions play differently enough to freshen up the gameplay.  

I never worry about leveling nor achieving any goals in-game.  Sometimes when I'm revisiting places in a new character, I explore it as if it were the first time all over again.  I have always found all sorts of little things I never knew existed.  9 years into the game and I'm still discovering new things in the starter zones.

 

If you like to play with more goal[orientation, I think map completing a few of the starter zones is a good way to start.  By then, you'll definitely know if this is a character you want to keep.  The hearts provide guided tours of the maps and and you might even get lucky and get a black lion key for map completion.  Still, transmutation charges are always welcome.

 

As for missing out without having expansions.  Gliding and mounts trivialize content and are absolutely not required.  You won't have access to the Mastery system, which may or may not bother you.  It didn't bother me that my experience bar wasn't moving because I really don't care about things like that.  Your personal tastes may differ.

It's also good to note that revisiting old maps with mounts and gliding brings back the feeling of new exploration.  If you really don't remember much about the game, exploring without gliding and mounts may actually be beneficial.  You get the feeling of exploring a new world twice (one on foot and again with glider/mounts).

 

It is also notable that the revenant profession is only available if you own Heart of Thorns.  You don't need to do any HoT content to be able to play revenant, you just need to own the expansion.

 

As is true of the Guild Wars franchise, don't feel the need to rush anything.  Enjoy at your own pace, you don't really miss out on anything.  Even the current events of Return to Living World can be done at any time you want to.

 

Last note, kick chickens in Ebonhawke.  You absolutely have to kick them over and over again.  It is a requirement.  There is no choice.  Kick all the chickens in Ebonhawke repeatedly.

 

 

[DonQuixote.6347]

Thanks for the reply.

I am enjoying the game so much. Rediscovering it all is exiting. I am 100%ing every map and it feels great.

 

I do not care for flying mounts yet. Even if I get the expansions soon, I don´t think I would level up the "first" time (again) with them since, as you´ve said, I feel it would kind of trivialize the content. I am thinking more about, would I be missing aspects of the personal story or lore if I don´t get them? I know it sounds a bit weird, since one would think an expansion develops the story of the core game, but I have played mmos that changed core lore when they introduced an expansion.

 

Kick chickens? I am getting some frightening OoT vibes here. :shivers:

 

Still, I will make sure to kick those chickens. Repeatedly.

[AliamRationem.5172]

4 hours ago, DonQuixote.6347 said:

Thanks for the reply.

I am enjoying the game so much. Rediscovering it all is exiting. I am 100%ing every map and it feels great.

 

I do not care for flying mounts yet. Even if I get the expansions soon, I don´t think I would level up the "first" time (again) with them since, as you´ve said, I feel it would kind of trivialize the content. I am thinking more about, would I be missing aspects of the personal story or lore if I don´t get them? I know it sounds a bit weird, since one would think an expansion develops the story of the core game, but I have played mmos that changed core lore when they introduced an expansion.

 

Kick chickens? I am getting some frightening OoT vibes here. :shivers:

 

Still, I will make sure to kick those chickens. Repeatedly.

 

You might feel differently in the expansions.  They were designed with masteries in mind and using them to navigate the terrain can feel pretty rewarding, in my opinion.  It turns the world into a big playground!

[Rogue.8235]

10 hours ago, DonQuixote.6347 said:

Thanks for the reply.

I am enjoying the game so much. Rediscovering it all is exiting. I am 100%ing every map and it feels great.

I do not care for flying mounts yet. Even if I get the expansions soon, I don´t think I would level up the "first" time (again) with them since, as you´ve said, I feel it would kind of trivialize the content. I am thinking more about, would I be missing aspects of the personal story or lore if I don´t get them? I know it sounds a bit weird, since one would think an expansion develops the story of the core game, but I have played mmos that changed core lore when they introduced an expansion.

Kick chickens? I am getting some frightening OoT vibes here. :shivers:

Still, I will make sure to kick those chickens. Repeatedly.

The expansions don't change the core story (level 1 tutorial to level 80 Orr).  There is a Living World Season 2 that does not require the expansions.  This leads to another point.

Living World seasons are not bundled with expansions and are purchased separately.  If you keep logging in (at least weekly), you'll be getting most of Season 4 and the Icebrood Saga for free as they are re-released.  

Living World seasons bridge the stories of the core game and each expansion.  So not playing them will lead to gaps in the story and some perceived anachronisms.  

However, for just the core game and the core story, you are not missing anything except the Revenant profession, which has no bearing on the story.

 

Side note:  Even though you are told not to touch it, you must touch the Shiny in the Ruins of the Unseen.  It is mandatory.    The Shiny wants you to look with your hands.

 

[DonQuixote.6347]

Loving almost everything so far. Will defo be getting the expansions when reaching lvl 80 with my mesmer so I can travel with a mount, but for the time being (re)exploring everything is incredible.

 

The only disappointment: just got taken to Lion´s Arch through my personal story. What a bummer the new city is, compared to the old one. The intro cinematic to it is a total let down, I got yanked out of the game and it made me think I was watching a tv advert for some resort in Florida or southern Spain.

[voltaicbore.8012]

1 hour ago, DonQuixote.6347 said:

Loving almost everything so far. Will defo be getting the expansions when reaching lvl 80 with my mesmer so I can travel with a mount, but for the time being (re)exploring everything is incredible.

 

The only disappointment: just got taken to Lion´s Arch through my personal story. What a bummer the new city is, compared to the old one. The intro cinematic to it is a total let down, I got yanked out of the game and it made me think I was watching a tv advert for some resort in Florida or southern Spain.

Poke around in Lion's Arch, you'll run into a pair of NPCs where one of them discusses how much lamer the new version of the city is.

On the upside of things, ANet is the only studio I can think of that torched a well-loved player hub city, replaced it with an inferior version, then installed NPCs chatting about that inferiority lol. There was a time when I had faith that ANet really could do so many more things differently. Now, I'm just pleasantly surprised when certain systems (like mounts) turn out to be really cool and unique, while the rest of the game feels a bit uninspired.

[Rogue.8235]

17 hours ago, DonQuixote.6347 said:

Loving almost everything so far. Will defo be getting the expansions when reaching lvl 80 with my mesmer so I can travel with a mount, but for the time being (re)exploring everything is incredible.

 

The only disappointment: just got taken to Lion´s Arch through my personal story. What a bummer the new city is, compared to the old one. The intro cinematic to it is a total let down, I got yanked out of the game and it made me think I was watching a tv advert for some resort in Florida or southern Spain.

 

Aimless exploration is why I keep playing GW2.  I still find new things after re-re-re-re-exploring the core maps.  That or I forgot about it and rediscovered it as if for the first time.  

And yes, that is exactly what the Lion's Arch Architectural Planning Committee was going for.  It's a tourist trap paid for by the broken backs of Pact Commanders who died evacuating the citizens of LA (because we were still learning what dodge is and red circles are back then).

 

Side Note:  While in Lion's Arch, be sure to check out the entry-level job opportunities and eat the paper!

 

[DonQuixote.6347]

On 9/23/2021 at 8:27 AM, voltaicbore.8012 said:

Poke around in Lion's Arch, you'll run into a pair of NPCs where one of them discusses how much lamer the new version of the city is.

😄 😁 Haven´t seen them yet. But gotta say it is because I barely go there. Just to use the Mystic forge a couple of times and to travel to one of the expansions.

 

On 9/24/2021 at 1:23 AM, Rogue.8235 said:

Aimless exploration is why I keep playing GW2.  I still find new things after re-re-re-re-exploring the core maps.  That or I forgot about it and rediscovered it as if for the first time.  

 

I have reached lvl 80 with my mesmer and got the two expansions. Got mount and have to say you were absolutely right, traveling the early maps with it is a very different experience. Planning to level up another profession, but cannae decide which one. Which one would you say is like a bruiser/spell-sword?

Also, I have a question. I see 'outfits' is a tab on the hero panel. One of the outfist they sell is the Pirate Outfit. I bought the Pirate Outfit 9 years ago (I can actually see it as my last purchase all those years ago) but it is not available on the tab. It only tells me is on the shop for purchase. I am wondering if perhaps they changed things related to the wardrobe or it was just a temporary thing?

[Urud.4925]

Outfits have been changed in April 2014, and they are now account bound. According to the wiki, the Pirate Outfit was considered a town clothing, so if you find the original item in one of your characters' inventory, you should be able to change it for the account bound version if you talk to one of the NPCs near the trading post in Lion's Arch. I've just tried and I didn't find the Pirate outfit among the available outfits though. If you find the original outfit and the NPC doesn't have the option to change it, you could submit a ticket to Support. If you destroyed it for some reason, it seems that it cannot be recovered...

 

As bruiser/spell-sword... maybe a guardian? It has burst dps (with the greatsword) and can cast some spell (with the utility skills), although it's not really a mage. Warrior is more bruiser than a guardian but less of a spell-sword. Mesmer is more spell-sword but less bruiser.

[Rogue.8235]

21 hours ago, DonQuixote.6347 said:

I have reached lvl 80 with my mesmer and got the two expansions. Got mount and have to say you were absolutely right, traveling the early maps with it is a very different experience. Planning to level up another profession, but cannae decide which one. Which one would you say is like a bruiser/spell-sword?

 

Seconding the guardian suggestion.  It's one of two core professions that can wield a sword and focus (the other is mesmer).  It has low health but it mitigates damage through skills (blocks, invulnerability, etc.).

The only other sword/focus combo is Weaver, an elementalist elite specialization.  Not sure if you want to wait that long for a spellsowrd bruiser .  You have to be level 80 and acquire 250 hero points to fully onlock Weaver.

If you run into any problems with Urud.4925's instructions for unlocking the account-bound version of your pirate outfit, I suggest contacting support.  You have the evidence of ownership for them to help out.  Try to find that priate outfit item first, though.

 

[DonQuixote.6347]

Many thanks about the "Town clothes" tip. Have a char (my only lvl 80 when I left) that had all this gear called "something something of carnelian" that had a Piratey look to it, I have no idea if that is the armour, but went to the armoursmith and changed the town clothes and now I got the Pirate outfit, so many thanks!

 

Tried a bit of guardian. Tried a bit of ele (I left one at level 35). Was watching some vids of lvl 80 Engi Scrapper gameplay and I think that is absolutely what I am looking for. Now, it is either a female Charr engi or a Male Norn engi for me. What do you guys reckon?

Edited October 5, 2021 by DonQuixote.6347

[Rogue.8235]

1 hour ago, DonQuixote.6347 said:

Tried a bit of guardian. Tried a bit of ele (I left one at level 35). Was watching some vids of lvl 80 Engi Scrapper gameplay and I think that is absolutely what I am looking for. Now, it is eaither a female Charr engi or a Male Norn engi for me. What do you guys reckon?

Race and gender are completely aesthetic choices.  So it depends on what you like the most.  

 

You can be a Norn that embraces engineering with the cleverness of Raven as a means of building his legacy/legend, or you can be a female Charr of the Iron Legion, master craftsman of war machines.  Those are the first things that pop in my head.

Every profession fits with every race/gender/background story combination.  This is evidenced by NPC's of every combination possible being present in the game (I'm not sure about revenant now that I think of it).

 

Also know that engineers don't have to be mechanical engineers.  Elixirs are all about chemical engineering.  Holosmith is more like applied particle physics.  Scrapper is... well yeah that one's mechanical engineering. No matter how you play and what combination of race/gender/background you play it all fits in lore.

 

So again, it's just all personal preference.  My engineers are asura, human, and sylvari.  My Iron Legion charr is actually an elementalist.  It all works!

 

When you make your engineer pay special attention to the animations and combat dialogue.  If you have two character slots, make both and compare them side by side.  Then just pick the one your most feeling!

 

 

[Talia Caribdus.9726]

I've also recently returned to the game after 6 years being away. I was wondering about the mastery system. Exp seems to be totally capped unless you unlock masteries after level 80. I have things I want to do in game before I play Heart of Thorns and unlock the mastery system. So, does that mean that all the exp I'm earning doing other things is just wasted? There's no way to forego masteries for the time being? I have to unlock all the masteries before earning spirit shards again with my exp?

[AliamRationem.5172]

54 minutes ago, Talia Caribdus.9726 said:

I've also recently returned to the game after 6 years being away. I was wondering about the mastery system. Exp seems to be totally capped unless you unlock masteries after level 80. I have things I want to do in game before I play Heart of Thorns and unlock the mastery system. So, does that mean that all the exp I'm earning doing other things is just wasted? There's no way to forego masteries for the time being? I have to unlock all the masteries before earning spirit shards again with my exp?

Not exactly.  Masteries and the experience that goes toward unlocking them are specific to the area of the game they are a part of.  If you're working on pre-expansion content, your experience will go toward core Tyria masteries.  Once you unlock all of those, your experience in those areas of the game should produce spirit shards as normal.  However, if you venture to an area like HoT, your experience will go toward HoT masteries until you unlock all of those.

[Rasimir.6239]

On 10/10/2021 at 7:15 AM, Talia Caribdus.9726 said:

So, does that mean that all the exp I'm earning doing other things is just wasted? There's no way to forego masteries for the time being?

A lvl 80 character gaining experience that does not go towards an active/unlocked mastery path will have that experience applied towards a (hidden) repeating bar that gives spirit shards instead. It doesn't matter if you have maxed all masteries, don't have enough points to unlock already filled bars (or forget to do it), or haven't unlocked the mastery system to begin with.

 

Ultimately you will gain way more experience than you could ever put into the mastery system, so not funneling all of your experience into masteries will not waste said experience, it will just delay finishing them and instead give you spirit shards for the exp you gather now.

[DonQuixote.6347]

Have been having a blast with Engineer. Got him to lvl 80 and got my scrapper going on, fantastic!

Decided to do a bit of the expansions (just the starting zones).

Preliminary thoughts:

HoT. Too hard, too complex for it being GW, but I will not give up. Have to learn my character better, learn rotations and get gear. As far as map layout and goals: too confusing. There´s no hearts or hubs the way I am accustomed to. It is confusing because it kinda feels like a different game (not too much though) or like an experiment where the developers wanted to see if they could do something else. Also, it feels like in these map you are meant to be on a group for almost everything (so is mostly I teaming up with randoms).

PoF. Too easy. Map too empty. I don´t mean devoid of things, because it is pretty and there´s tons of things to see. Problem is there are not many things to do. Where HoT feels crowded, this feels: is there nothing else here? Perhaps it´s because I just arrived from Tyria where maps have the exact, precise amount of things to see, do and discover. Perhaps map could be smaller and feel denser.

[voltaicbore.8012]

11 minutes ago, DonQuixote.6347 said:

Have been having a blast with Engineer. Got him to lvl 80 and got my scrapper going on, fantastic!

Decided to do a bit of the expansions (just the starting zones).

Preliminary thoughts:

HoT. Too hard, too complex for it being GW, but I will not give up. Have to learn my character better, learn rotations and get gear. As far as map layout and goals: too confusing. There´s no hearts or hubs the way I am accustomed to. It is confusing because it kinda feels like a different game (not too much though) or like an experiment where the developers wanted to see if they could do something else. Also, it feels like in these map you are meant to be on a group for almost everything (so is mostly I teaming up with randoms).

PoF. Too easy. Map too empty. I don´t mean devoid of things, because it is pretty and there´s tons of things to see. Problem is there are not many things to do. Where HoT feels crowded, this feels: is there nothing else here? Perhaps it´s because I just arrived from Tyria where maps have the exact, precise amount of things to see, do and discover. Perhaps map could be smaller and feel denser.

Your assessments of the expansion areas are more or less in line with what the community generally seems to think., but HoT really isn't "too hard" once you figure out what it takes for you to operate in the jungle. Every class has more than enough tools to solo clear some pretty tough enemy groups, and enough countermeasures to be safe even when you're jumped. The big thing is probably not panic-pressing various buttons too quickly.

On a scrapper with a hammer, hammer 4 is probably your best bet for immediate safety when you're taking damage and you really don't know what's going on. It's a 360-degree general block, meaning that it isn't limited to just projectile attacks. Bulwark gyro is also a great general panic button to have around, as it provides a good deal of barrier - usually more than enough for you to move out of the immediate harm, clear your head, and move back in aggressively with hammer 5 to lock down a things chasing you. Bulwark gyro also has the added benefit of giving a toolbelt skill that provides you a fairly long duration projectile block and stability, all while still leaving you free to move and act (unlike something like guardian shield 5, which only gives you a projectile block while you channel it).

It all comes down to learning the class and the encounters a bit better. From the sound of it, you'll get there.

I'd like to add that repositioning enemies is a big deal in this game (like many others). Just standing out in the open desperately trying to murder one mob at a time is a recipe for disaster in the jungle. Gaining a sense of where you can make a strategic retreat and force enemies to move into your counter-ambushes is both essential and satisfying.

Edited October 15, 2021 by voltaicbore.8012