Returning Player - Need Advice!!

[Ehren.7145]

Hello all! 

 

Veteran MMO player here, newbie-ish to GW2. I am just getting back into the game after about 5 years away.

I have the option to boost a character to 80, and previously I played warrior and thief. 

 

Coming back now, I am very interested in possibly using the boost on a new profession. Any suggestions for the most solo friendly, yet fun profession for me to jump back into the game with? I am just having a really hard time settling on one profession to focus on, as I don't have the ability right now to focus on multiple characters. I also don't know anyone that plays the game anymore, so I obviously want to choose a profession that won't be dying every two seconds.

 

Appreciate your suggestions! Thank you!

[mungozen.2379]

I’ll first recommend you don’t use the boost just yet.  As a returning player there may be some mechanics and play styles that you are new to you (or new again). By leveling a new profession you will have the chance to learn these mechanics in a less punishing environment as the difficulty does ramp up at 80 in Open World. 
 

Also be aware that the booster character gets Celestial stat gear which may be preferential for some professions (Guardian, Elementalist) where others it doesn’t do much. This means some professions are easier to jump in and play with the boost while others will take some time to make them playable. 
 

I’d strongly suggest you make a few alts of different professions and try out the Core weapons and profession skills for a few levels on each. This would give you far more education in what is suited best for your playstyle. You will probably prefer boosting a profession you are already enjoying then boosting and finding out you wasted the boost on a profession you don’t like. 

[Sarius.9285]

16 minutes ago, Mungo Zen.9364 said:

as the difficulty does ramp up at 80 in Open World. 

slight correction: difficulty ramps up in expansion areas, core tyria is still ridiculously easy 

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

You could try out each Profession and see if you like it before committing to one:

 

[mungozen.2379]

1 hour ago, Sarius.9285 said:

slight correction: difficulty ramps up in expansion areas, core tyria is still ridiculously easy 

There is only one true level 80 zone in Core, that being Ruins of Orr. The other two Orr zones are 70-80 and 75-80.  So yes, at least two of those zones could be easy if you over level them.  

[Buran.3796]

5 hours ago, Ehren.7145 said:

Coming back now, I am very interested in possibly using the boost on a new profession. Any suggestions for the most solo friendly, yet fun profession for me to jump back into the game with? I am just having a really hard time settling on one profession to focus on, as I don't have the ability right now to focus on multiple characters. I also don't know anyone that plays the game anymore, so I obviously want to choose a profession that won't be dying every two seconds.

 

   Fun is subjective, and professions gameplay change quite a bit from spec to spec, so I would give some advice which is entirely personal:

1) To boost or not?  Both choices are perfectly fine; in this game leveling is relatively fast: If you have materials or a bit of gold from other characters just leveling a crafting ability from 1 to 400 rises your character level from 1 to 80, so you can do that in a hour or two if needed. There's also plenty of knowledge tomes provided from PvP and WvW if you're in to that. But remember that everything in the game gives xp: exploring, gathering, reviving allies, killing foes, doing open world events, doing dungeons, etc. Mining a iron ore gives you a 1% of a level, a point of interest is ~3% a vista ~7%, a heart ~10% and a dungeon a 70%, etc. I recently rised a new character from 1 to 80 in 23'25" just exploring maps (no boosters, no tomes, no dungeons, only 2 personal history chapters and the use of mounts). 

   Now, boosting a character won't let you to learn how it works, but that is easier just enetring in the PvP hub and trying builds vs the golems to figure what the skillsm traits and stats do. What I mean is that you can manually level a character for 80 levels and still miss how they work, specially since before level 80 a lot of runes, sigils and stat combinations doesn't even exist. So, if you want to play a fully leveled just now without using time in the proccess that's fine.

2) Which one to level? The answer used to be Necro in light armor due was easy to use, tanky thanx to the large HP and the shroud mechanic and the minions for tanking; Ranger in medium armor due easy to play and a pet to tank, and in heavies while both Warrior and Guardian were easy to play the Guardian was "more meta" for end game content. The think is that they were mist first two mains and I died a lot leveling them ten years ago...

   There's also the question: which gameplay you prefer? Mele? Ranged? A mix of both? Relaxed low number of inputs x minute or demanding rotations with a lot of combo fields? Tanky but inexorable, bursty but frail? Feel free to express what you want to run, so we could help you to guide you better...

   But now the things are different, due both specs (which can't be used before reaching 80 and unlocking all the core skills and traits) and stacked knownledge over the years. For rising a level 1 character to 80 in Open World those would be my main choices:

   Light armor: a Mesmer, running staff + greatsword and using condition and vitality stats up to 80. Unlocking Dueling 223, Chaos 233 and (mostly) sigils skills Then as soon as you hit 80 start to unlock Mirage to run a double staff build. Advantages: can kill things at range at very good pace while the clones and cc deal with most of menaces, has high amount of blocks, reflects and tools to deal with both single targets and crowds without being too much exposed to risks. Rising this one was a walk in the park, and once you get the Mirage you barely would need to even use the heal skill again. If you opt to boost it, the celestial stats works wonders, also.

   Mid armor:  Engineer is more combo intensive, and Thief is oftenly a glass canon. I would say that Ranger is easier to level due the pets tanking and better AoE, but didn't tried by my self. Once at 80,  Mechanist is the easiest to play and most powerful for the lowest input ratio. Soulbeast is also easy to play and quite effective, bu I'll still pick the Mesmer over any of those.

   Heavy armor: if you have access to Revenant, get it, if not maybe Guardian. In both cases a condition build. The only drawback of Revenant while leveling is that is a mele build, and you should avoid fighting crowds (specially those with archers or other ranged attacks) untill you get your second weapon (level 10) and second legend. Once you have Jalis + Mallyx on your pocket and mace + axe and the the hammer or a staff you're fine. Corruption 131, Retribution 133 and Invocation 121.   Condition and vitality stats, once you reach 80 unlock Vindicator and you'll become prety much immortal. The best thing is that celestial stats works for Herald, Renegade and Vindicator, so you don't need to swap stats nor runes, just the weapons... 

[costepj.5120]

5 hours ago, Mungo Zen.9364 said:

There is only one true level 80 zone in Core, that being Ruins of Orr.

Did you mean Cursed Shore?

[Harfang.1507]

If you played your previous characters for a good while at level 80, using the boost might be called for. Otherwise, yes, the general advice is that levelling a character the hard way is probably the best way to ease back into the game after such a long hiatus.

As for your original question, it is extremely subjective. If you are looking for sheer survivability, pet classes are certainly a strong option: ranger and necromancer. Once at 80, engineers join that select club as mechanists. On the other hand, as an MMO vet, you may not need your own personal meat shield.

[Walker.7204]

I'd like to piggyback onto this thread rather than start another "Returing player needs advice" topic.     

 

I've been away for 3-4 years and have gotten a bit bored with FF14 and ESO (my other go to MMO's these days), and thought about jumping back in for the new expansion.      I have 10 max level characters (I think 1 for every profession, and I guess I doubled up somewhere),   all crafting leveled (unless they changed that), and around 1000 gold (no idea if that's alot).       Here's a few questions.

 

What's the best place to jump back in?    Should I just pick a new build, learn it, and bounce around to the world events, or is there a good place to hop on the new story and learn that way?      

 

Would I find it difficult to just buy EoD and start from there, or should I try something else first?     If I"m going to wait awhile on EoD story content, are there any benefits to buying the expansion anyway?     Can I work on new builds and mounts outside of the actual expansion?

 

I appreciate all of the help you guys have offered, thx.

[Harfang.1507]

Given your listed credentials, @Walker.7204, it is whatever you feel like. If story is important, pick up where you left. I guess that would be sometimes during S4 or maybe early IBS. Unless you want to do S1 remastered first.

Whether you own a skyscale mount may also be an important factor to consider; it is arguably the best mount in the game and well worth priorising. That would mean owning the whole of S4 and spending a lot of time on its maps after completing that particular story.

The main benefit in getting EoD right away ihmo is access to its elite specialisations. Completing maps and and earning mastery is dead easy. How much would you enjoy Cantha? Let's just say that one can be controversial, as people complain a lot about map population and the metas, especially Dragon's End.

[Walker.7204]

Thank you Harfang.1507.     Going after the Skyscale mount is just the sort of goal I need to get me going again.

[Ehren.7145]

On 1/16/2023 at 6:31 PM, Buran.3796 said:

 

   Fun is subjective, and professions gameplay change quite a bit from spec to spec, so I would give some advice which is entirely personal:

1) To boost or not?  Both choices are perfectly fine; in this game leveling is relatively fast: If you have materials or a bit of gold from other characters just leveling a crafting ability from 1 to 400 rises your character level from 1 to 80, so you can do that in a hour or two if needed. There's also plenty of knowledge tomes provided from PvP and WvW if you're in to that. But remember that everything in the game gives xp: exploring, gathering, reviving allies, killing foes, doing open world events, doing dungeons, etc. Mining a iron ore gives you a 1% of a level, a point of interest is ~3% a vista ~7%, a heart ~10% and a dungeon a 70%, etc. I recently rised a new character from 1 to 80 in 23'25" just exploring maps (no boosters, no tomes, no dungeons, only 2 personal history chapters and the use of mounts). 

   Now, boosting a character won't let you to learn how it works, but that is easier just enetring in the PvP hub and trying builds vs the golems to figure what the skillsm traits and stats do. What I mean is that you can manually level a character for 80 levels and still miss how they work, specially since before level 80 a lot of runes, sigils and stat combinations doesn't even exist. So, if you want to play a fully leveled just now without using time in the proccess that's fine.

2) Which one to level? The answer used to be Necro in light armor due was easy to use, tanky thanx to the large HP and the shroud mechanic and the minions for tanking; Ranger in medium armor due easy to play and a pet to tank, and in heavies while both Warrior and Guardian were easy to play the Guardian was "more meta" for end game content. The think is that they were mist first two mains and I died a lot leveling them ten years ago...

   There's also the question: which gameplay you prefer? Mele? Ranged? A mix of both? Relaxed low number of inputs x minute or demanding rotations with a lot of combo fields? Tanky but inexorable, bursty but frail? Feel free to express what you want to run, so we could help you to guide you better...

   But now the things are different, due both specs (which can't be used before reaching 80 and unlocking all the core skills and traits) and stacked knownledge over the years. For rising a level 1 character to 80 in Open World those would be my main choices:

   Light armor: a Mesmer, running staff + greatsword and using condition and vitality stats up to 80. Unlocking Dueling 223, Chaos 233 and (mostly) sigils skills Then as soon as you hit 80 start to unlock Mirage to run a double staff build. Advantages: can kill things at range at very good pace while the clones and cc deal with most of menaces, has high amount of blocks, reflects and tools to deal with both single targets and crowds without being too much exposed to risks. Rising this one was a walk in the park, and once you get the Mirage you barely would need to even use the heal skill again. If you opt to boost it, the celestial stats works wonders, also.

   Mid armor:  Engineer is more combo intensive, and Thief is oftenly a glass canon. I would say that Ranger is easier to level due the pets tanking and better AoE, but didn't tried by my self. Once at 80,  Mechanist is the easiest to play and most powerful for the lowest input ratio. Soulbeast is also easy to play and quite effective, bu I'll still pick the Mesmer over any of those.

   Heavy armor: if you have access to Revenant, get it, if not maybe Guardian. In both cases a condition build. The only drawback of Revenant while leveling is that is a mele build, and you should avoid fighting crowds (specially those with archers or other ranged attacks) untill you get your second weapon (level 10) and second legend. Once you have Jalis + Mallyx on your pocket and mace + axe and the the hammer or a staff you're fine. Corruption 131, Retribution 133 and Invocation 121.   Condition and vitality stats, once you reach 80 unlock Vindicator and you'll become prety much immortal. The best thing is that celestial stats works for Herald, Renegade and Vindicator, so you don't need to swap stats nor runes, just the weapons... 

@Buran.3796 This is fantastic! Thank you so much for the time and info on this! 

I would say in other MMO's, I typically tend to gravitate towards melee. Been playing MMO's since the 90's, with my first being Ultima Online. My longest running class would probably be a rogue in WoW. But, I do enjoy ranged classes, and am really just looking for something that is going to not just be a one button press and everything is dead. I want a little a bit of excitement, with survivability, as I will likely play solo, as none of my buddies play GW2 any more. Again, I am not "married" to any type of class, but do tend to gravitate to the melee types more.

[AliamRationem.5172]

11 minutes ago, Ehren.7145 said:

@Buran.3796 This is fantastic! Thank you so much for the time and info on this! 

I would say in other MMO's, I typically tend to gravitate towards melee. Been playing MMO's since the 90's, with my first being Ultima Online. My longest running class would probably be a rogue in WoW. But, I do enjoy ranged classes, and am really just looking for something that is going to not just be a one button press and everything is dead. I want a little a bit of excitement, with survivability, as I will likely play solo, as none of my buddies play GW2 any more. Again, I am not "married" to any type of class, but do tend to gravitate to the melee types more.

Try this one.  It's melee, it's complex, it has great sustain and solid damage and can handle just about anything open world/story has to throw at you.