New player/ Returning

[NYXXX.7819]

hello new player here. well, I'm technically returning all thew way back from launch. this game is amazing the world is so immersive and fun the combat is also amazing. the player customization is very good as well. there is no lack of content either which i love. which leads me into why I'm here. i understand that this is coming out on steam soon and just wanted to give you some of my experience as a new/returning player. I'm all for games not holding your hand but this is actually somewhat overwhelming. it seems that no matter what i spend my time doing in game it's the wrong choice. what do i mean by this? i bought EoD so naturally i wanted to go straight into the new zone/ content so i used the boost (first mistake) played through the entire story which also amazing. by the time i was done with the story i had a small grasp on what the game was about. i say small not because I'm slow or anything but there are a lot of systems in the game, a lot of currencies. a lot of different activities. a lot of different game modes, a lot of different in game playable spaces, a lot of different ways to spend your time in general. as i have been spending more and more time in Tyria its harder and harder to feel like I'm on the right path. Like i said the first thing i did was go to  EoD but then i realized that the mastery system is vital to my character, around this time i also learned about the amazing legendary weapon and armor system. i also learned about loot boxes from pvp rewards i learned about fractals and strikes, also that in order to utilize these systems to their full potential i needed to leave the new zone and go back to the base game. which in and of itself isn't a problem but now I'm not getting the currencies from the meta events I'm not gaining the mastery points i need to be able to unlock the crafting systems from EoD. as a new player im not able to zip around the world and be super optimal with my time so i feel left out. less left out and more like I'm doing the wrong things with my time. also, as it stands currently i still have zero idea of how long it's going to take me to craft a legendary weapon, or even how to do it at all or what i should be doing to get the materials to make one. it feels like the game should put you on this path no matter where you start from. as far as player progression, as i said i boosted. so, i haven't gained one item yet that's an upgrade. this feels unusual. i know this game has a lateral progression system I.e mastery. but it does feel very weird to be playing an mmo rpg and because i boosted my toon i haven't upgraded myself once in almost a month. at least not anything meaning full. the first week i at least got a mount. Which felt cool but that was the last thing i did that made me feel like I'm progressing. I would love to get a flying mount but then i have to leave the base game and now I'm wasting more time not getting the unlocks for legendries. it feels disjointed. i understand that this game is balanced around people playing it for years at this point but for me (new player) it seems like a monumental task just to get my character viable for the things i want to be doing. like fractals like working towards a legendary weapon or ascended gear or raiding or getting into world PvP which i really really want to but don't want to slow down my mastery even more. I'm not sure how to solve this problem but it is an issue i would say and just wanted to give you my experience so far. 

[CashCow.9548]

Oh boy this is hard to read.

 

Any tl:dr?

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

One massive block of text, everything written in lower-case ... (only did optical adjustments, not content). The tl&dr is basically the last paragraph. It sums up the problem the topic-creator has.

20 minutes ago, NYXXX.7819 said:

Hello new player here. Well, I'm technically returning all thew way back from launch.

This game is amazing the world is so immersive and fun the combat is also amazing. The player customization is very good as well. There is no lack of content either which i love. Which leads me into why I'm here. I understand that this is coming out on steam soon and just wanted to give you some of my experience as a new/returning player.

I'm all for games not holding your hand but this is actually somewhat overwhelming. it seems that no matter what i spend my time doing in game it's the wrong choice. What do i mean by this? I bought EoD so naturally i wanted to go straight into the new zone/ content so i used the boost (first mistake) played through the entire story which also amazing.

By the time I was done with the story I had a small grasp on what the game was about. I say small not because I'm slow or anything but there are:
- a lot of systems in the game
-  a lot of currencies
- a lot of different activities
-  a lot of different game modes
-  a lot of different in game playable spaces
-  a lot of different ways to spend your time in general

As I have been spending more and more time in Tyria its harder and harder to feel like I'm on the right path. Like I said the first thing I did was go to  EoD but then I realized that the mastery system is vital to my character, around this time I also learned about the amazing legendary weapon and armor system. I also learned about loot boxes from pvp rewards I learned about fractals and strikes.

Also that in order to utilize these systems to their full potential I needed to leave the new zone and go back to the base game. Which in and of itself isn't a problem but now I'm not getting the currencies from the meta events I'm not gaining the mastery points I need to be able to unlock the crafting systems from EoD.

As a new player im not able to zip around the world and be super optimal with my time so I feel left out. Less left out and more like I'm doing the wrong things with my time. Also, as it stands currently I still have zero idea of how long it's going to take me to craft a legendary weapon, or even how to do it at all or what i should be doing to get the materials to make one.

It feels like the game should put you on this path no matter where you start from. As far as player progression, as I said I boosted. So, I haven't gained one item yet that's an upgrade. This feels unusual. I know this game has a lateral progression system I.e mastery.

But it does feel very weird to be playing an mmo rpg and because i boosted my toon I haven't upgraded myself once in almost a month. At least not anything meaning full. The first week i at least got a mount. Which felt cool but that was the last thing I did that made me feel like I'm progressing. I would love to get a flying mount but then I have to leave the base game and now I'm wasting more time not getting the unlocks for legendries. It feels disjointed.

I understand that this game is balanced around people playing it for years at this point but for me (new player) it seems like a monumental task just to get my character viable for the things I want to be doing. Like fractals like working towards a legendary weapon or ascended gear or raiding or getting into world PvP which I really really want to but don't want to slow down my mastery even more. I'm not sure how to solve this problem but it is an issue i would say and just wanted to give you my experience so far. 

Edited May 28, 2022 by HnRkLnXqZ.1870

[Crono.4197]

Going straight to the latest expansion was a big mistake. The game is made so that everything should be done in order, but it also gives the liberty to people to play only a certain expansion if they wish to (probably because Guild Wars 1 did this too).

You need Heart of Thorns, Path of Fire and the Living World seasons in order to open up all the game content and to learn everything in a natural way. You should play the story in order and when you take a break from story, do world bosses, fractals, strike missions, achievements, jumping puzzles, PVP or just purely do random stuff to have fun.

Legendary gear takes like 6 months to make from what I heard from others. It's not mandatory, as it has the same stats as Ascended, only that legendaries can hot-swap stats on them, but if you want certain stats and you will stick with them until the end, you can just stay Ascended.

Gear doesn't matter that much in Guild Wars 2, as long as you have at least exotic, you're fine for most of the content. You can take your time to get Ascended gear, you don't need to get it ASAP.

Raids...I'd experience the rest of the game first and then try raids, as the community there isn't the most friendly because you're expected to know all the mechanics from the beginning and the community requirements for raiding are very high.

Long story-short, there isn't really a "correct" way to experience the game, just do the story and other than that do random stuff that you find fun. The game is what you make of it mostly.

[Danikat.8537]

3 hours ago, NYXXX.7819 said:

Hello, new player here. Well, I'm technically returning all thew way back from launch.

This game is amazing the world is so immersive and fun the combat is also amazing. The player customization is very good as well, there is no lack of content either which I love.

Which leads me into why I'm here: I understand that this is coming out on Steam soon and just wanted to give you some of my experience as a new/returning player. I'm all for games not holding your hand but this is actually somewhat overwhelming. It seems that no matter what I spend my time doing in game it's the wrong choice.

What do I mean by this? I bought EoD so naturally I wanted to go straight into the new zone/ content, so I used the boost (first mistake), played through the entire story (which also amazing). By the time I was done with the story I had a small grasp on what the game was about.

I say small not because I'm slow or anything but there are a lot of systems in the game, a lot of currencies, a lot of different activities, a lot of different game modes, a lot of different in game playable spaces, a lot of different ways to spend your time in general. As I have been spending more and more time in Tyria its harder and harder to feel like I'm on the right path.

Like I said the first thing I did was go to EoD but then I realized that the mastery system is vital to my character. Around this time I also learned about the amazing legendary weapon and armor system. I also learned about loot boxes from pvp rewards, I learned about fractals and strikes, also that in order to utilize these systems to their full potential I needed to leave the new zone and go back to the base game, which in and of itself isn't a problem but now I'm not getting the currencies from the meta events, I'm not gaining the mastery points I need to be able to unlock the crafting systems from EoD.

As a new player I'm not able to zip around the world and be super optimal with my time so I feel left out. Less left out and more like I'm doing the wrong things with my time. Also, as it stands currently I still have zero idea of how long it's going to take me to craft a legendary weapon, or even how to do it at all, or what I should be doing to get the materials to make one. It feels like the game should put you on this path no matter where you start from.

As far as player progression, as I said I boosted, so I haven't gained one item yet that's an upgrade. This feels unusual. I know this game has a lateral progression system i.e mastery, but it does feel very weird to be playing an MMORPG and because I boosted my toon I haven't upgraded myself once in almost a month, at least not anything meaningful.

The first week I at least got a mount, which felt cool, but that was the last thing I did that made me feel like I'm progressing. I would love to get a flying mount but then I have to leave the base game and now I'm wasting more time not getting the unlocks for legendries. It feels disjointed. I understand that this game is balanced around people playing it for years at this point but for me (new player) it seems like a monumental task just to get my character viable for the things I want to be doing, like fractals, like working towards a legendary weapon or ascended gear, or raiding, or getting into world PvP, which I really really want to but don't want to slow down my mastery even more.

I'm not sure how to solve this problem but it is an issue I would say and just wanted to give you my experience so far. 

Slow down. Your big problem is you're trying to do everything, all at once, as quickly as possible and no game works like that. As you've already discovered GW2 is a big game (as all MMORPGs are) and you can't do everything at the same time. That's not a problem or a design flaw, it's just how games work. Even relatively small single-player games won't let you earn all the rewards at once, you have to focus on one thing at a time.

As for some of your specific concerns:

Overall direction: You're right, there isn't one. At level 80 this game becomes very open-ended, allowing players to focus on whatever they want with very little they're required to do simply to progress. The downside is the game will give you almost no direction, you're not going to be funneled into the next area you have to complete to get the next item you have to have to be allowed to keep playing, because that doesn't happen. The upside is that you can simply play what you want without needing to worry about figuring out the process to get there. For example if you want to Fractals or World vs World or whatever you can do that now, you don't have to collect a bunch of stuff to be ready for it. (There are progression systems built into each of those modes, but because it's built in you don't need to do it in advance and will do as you're playing. More on that below.)

Legendary equipment: The short answer here is stop worrying about it, at least for now. Legendaries are entirely option, largely cosmetic items. The stats are exactly the same as ascended (same numbers, same stat combinations available, same upgrade slots). They have a slight convenience advantage in that you can equip them on all your characters at once so once you've got one you don't need another item of that type (except things that can be equipped twice, like one-handed weapons) but that's all. Other than that they're purely for the skins and the effects.

They're also designed to be optional long-term goals for veteran players. That's why the game doesn't push you to start making one as soon as you get to level 80, because Anet doesn't want or expect you to do that. Some people have been playing this game for 10 years without any legendaries, because they're not required for anything. If you want to make one or more (even a full set) that's fine as a long-term goal, but not something you need to worry about right away and certainly not something that should hold you back from what you actually want to do.

Horizontal progression: I touched on this earlier but wanted to go into more detail because it's another thing you're clearly struggling with. There are a lot of progression systems in GW2 but they're all largely optional and self-contained, which is why you're finding it impossible to work on them all at once. That's ok because almost none of them will make your character stronger overall (in particular they won't give you higher stats), but they will be helpful for their respective game modes, which means you only need to prioritise the ones for the game modes you want to play.

For example you said the mastery system is vital to your character, and to some extent that's true, but each mastery track has a specific purpose so you won't need them all right away and may not need some at all. For example the Fractal Attunement mastery track has no effect at all outside Fractals, so unless you're expecting to play Fractals a lot you don't need it at all. Even the legendary crafting mastery track is only required for gen 1 and some gen 2 weapons, the others can all be made without it. None of the masteries are needed for World vs World, because it has it's own system.

The second part of this is that a lot of rewards, including a lot of the ones from end-game areas which players spend a lot of time and effort to get are purely cosmetic (often weapon and armour skins) and you only need to aim for the ones you like.

My advice is to stop worrying about what you need to do to progress and try out some of those game modes you've been waiting to try. You might need to change your build to be effective in some of them and you might even need new equipment (not something with bigger numbers but a different stat combination because having the right stats for your skills and traits does make a big difference), but you won't know what you need until you've figured out what you want to spend your time doing. Also fairly importantly it will be more fun than running around like a headless chicken chasing some vague idea of progression.

Edited May 28, 2022 by Danikat.8537

[Einsof.1457]

Okay here is what you should do. Also I want to emphasize GW2 is a STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES sort of game. Gear does NOT become outdated. There is NO treadmill. You CAN take your time! 

1. Make a level 1 character.

2. Do the story and level up naturally, exploring the vanilla zones and HAVE A GOOD TIME. Make friends, join a guild, say hi in map chat.

2a. As you use your heropoints to unlock traits and skills, READ THEM. Be aware of what they do. Learn what the little boon/condition symbols mean, and try to stay aware. Never click a skill, get used to holding right click to move camera around fast at all times. This is especially important if you intend to raid and do CMs in the future. Don't set bad habits!

3. At the end of the vanilla story, continue season 1 

3a. At around this time you will get to the level cap, level 80. Consider spending gold or learning crafting to craft a good EXOTIC (orange color) gear set. You'll likely want berserkers if doing power build or Viper's if youre doing condition (DoTs) build. metabattle.com will give you an idea. 

4. Buy season 2

5. Play Season 2

6. (also use metabattle.com if you would like to have an idea of fun builds for open world stuff)

 

7. Play through Heart of Thornes

8. Play through Season 3

9. Play through Path of Fire

10. Play through Season 4

11. Play through IBS

12. Play through EOD

13. Grats! Story stuff is done!

Casual endgame:

Achievement hunting

World exploring

Tier 1 and Tier 2 fractals

Normal mode Strikes

WvW roaming and zerging

(most) Legendary trinkets/weps

Unlock more mounts and get their masteries

Open World Meta farming for gold for Gem shop skins

 

Midcore endgame:

Structured PvP 

WvW in a structured coordinated group/guild 

T3 fractals

 

Hardcore endgame:

PvE raids for Legendary Armor other stuff

T4 and Challenge Mode Fractals

Challenge Mode Strikes

 

Edited May 28, 2022 by Einsof.1457

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

There is really no absolute need for Core Tyria Mastery track for Legendaries.  The Precursors are often the same cost, or even cheaper on the Trading Post.

Here's a great tip:  Use the Wiki (link above, or in-game by typing /Wiki [topic of choice]) to learn about just about anything Guild Wars 2-related.  https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mastery

Welcome to Tyria, and good luck. 

 

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by Inculpatus cedo.9234
grammar

[lezbefriends.7516]

Masteries are just another ego boost number next to your character’s name. Like achievement points. Not mandatory.

[Einsof.1457]

10 hours ago, lezbefriends.7516 said:

Masteries are just another ego boost number next to your character’s name. Like achievement points. Not mandatory.

Not really. Masteries generally enhance the gameplay experience. 

[Skynet.7201]

Set goals and put them into a strict progression order to avoid being overwhelmed.

Narrow your list by the amount of time you have to play and what will best fast track you to get involved in the game modes you most want to participate in. Occasionally add subheadings with your "I wants" carefully so you're not sidetracked from the main things you want to get done as quickly as possible.

Welcome back to the game and best of luck in your endeavors!

[Sobx.1758]

Seems to me like the main problem you have is trying to rush everything, while at the same time trying to rip as many rewards from different zones as you can. I'd probably advise just slowing down and going through your unlocked content a bit more in order it was released. You're trying to skip stuff and then realise you shouldn't have skipped stuff. "Bee lining" to the legendary gear doesn't seem like a great idea imo.

Edited May 29, 2022 by Sobx.1758

[captrowdy.9561]

Dear lord is your enter key broke???? From what I can gather from this my advice is to spend a lot of time on the wiki and watching YouTube videos. I’m a year In and still have a lot to learn. Awesome game tho. 

[lezbefriends.7516]

10 hours ago, Einsof.1457 said:

Not really. Masteries generally enhance the gameplay experience. 

Not really. EoD masteries are pointless since you'll leave EoD once you get them.

[SamuelW.2685]

7 minutes ago, lezbefriends.7516 said:

Not really. EoD masteries are pointless since you'll leave EoD once you get them.

It's not fair to call them all useless, sure, they're not as valuable as other masteries, but they have their purpose. Some people enjoy fishing, skiff is neat, and the Jade Bot is a pretty big QOL thing.

The others though? You can def make the argument for them being meme-y, especially the turtle, the only good use for the turtle I've seen is for destroying enemy bases in Drizzlewood.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

It's not like we use all previous Masteries once we leave the associated map(s).  The red/green/blue Mastery, the HoT Lore Masteries, almost all of Ancient Magics come to mind.  Oh, and Fractals outside Fractals, what does that do?

[Einsof.1457]

1 hour ago, lezbefriends.7516 said:

Not really. EoD masteries are pointless since you'll leave EoD once you get them.

If they were pointless, they wouldn't help the gameplay experience, which they do. So, maybe go read them. 

[lezbefriends.7516]

On 5/29/2022 at 10:00 PM, Einsof.1457 said:

If they were pointless, they wouldn't help the gameplay experience, which they do. So, maybe go read them. 

Can't, I'm illiterate.

[Linken.6345]

8 hours ago, lezbefriends.7516 said:

Can't, I'm illiterate.

Then go outside and feel the wind on your skin and the grass/sand/pavement etc under your feet.

[lezbefriends.7516]

1 hour ago, Linken.6345 said:

Then go outside and feel the wind on your skin and the grass/sand/pavement etc under your feet.

You're the one who still plays this gaem.

[DeanBB.4268]

On 5/28/2022 at 10:39 AM, NYXXX.7819 said:

hello new player here. *snip*

TLTPTR 

(too long too painful to read)

Sorry.

[Keehra.4621]

Being a rather new player as well. I did a few things:

1. Boosted one character and got the raptor ... convenience;
2. Same boosted character: went into EoD for the skiff (convenience) and the fishing (I always loved fishing in games but not IRL 😜).
3. Left the boosted character and created a new toon and  went through the story historically (thanks for LW1 now becoming available again).
4. Made some alts to experience the other professions in order to be able to get a feel of how they play. And also, to be able to play an alt if I got burned out on one or other character. 
5. Made characters of different races in order to experience the personal story from different perspectives, also with different choices on how to proceed. Played it like nine times now. And I will probably do this for most - if not all of the content - just to see what I like and find fun.
6. And lastly, I made sure that the combination of all my alts had all the crafting professions covered. I made myself some good exotic gear for a few different builds on my characters. Now, I'm slowly (!) starting to work on ascended gear.

 

• TLDR; I'm very casual with mostly limited time to play. But still, I get a sense of 'progression' even if it's horizontal. TBH, I was overwhelmed as well with all the different moneys, build possibilities and whatnot ... when I came back, but - as said many times above - there is no pressure. Masteries are fun but again, not all are necessary for my playstyle. I'm not actively going after upping my mastery number. For me, it's winding down and having fun ... all 'side-effects' being appreciated.

 

Just my 2 cents ...

Edit: avoid Wall of Text 😛

Edited June 2, 2022 by Keehra.4621

[Blue D Phoenix.7260]

On 5/30/2022 at 7:30 AM, Einsof.1457 said:

If they were pointless, they wouldn't help the gameplay experience, which they do. So, maybe go read them. 

Help gameplay experience? 

Fishing and skiff masteries are only useful for completing achievements, there's no much use with it.

Jade bot is glorified revive orb, only use for it is personal wp. 

Arbourstone is a more useless line, only for unlocking legendary merchant. 

Seige turtle is no different from othe Mounts. 

 

These all can be taken away and no one will miss them, not like taking away hot/PoF masteries. 

[Einsof.1457]

8 hours ago, Blue D Phoenix.7260 said:

Help gameplay experience? 

Fishing and skiff masteries are only useful for completing achievements, there's no much use with it.

Jade bot is glorified revive orb, only use for it is personal wp. 

Arbourstone is a more useless line, only for unlocking legendary merchant. 

Seige turtle is no different from othe Mounts. 

 

These all can be taken away and no one will miss them, not like taking away hot/PoF masteries. 

Thats fair criticism but my point still stands that they do help the gameplay experience of their specific activities.