The endgame makes me want to quit (new player)

[Hermes.8159]

I manually leveled up to 52 and made the story up to that point before I decided to use the 80 boost...

They gave me a kitten weapon that I am forced to use because it has very good stats...

And I just don't udnerstand the kittening endgame, its too complicated and for no good reason, nobody bothers to explain to you what the kitten are you supposed to be doing, and I watched many videos of what the kitten am I supposed to be doing but its overwhelming to the point that it feels like a MASSIVE CHORE. 

Who thought this endgame was a good idea?, I bet this is one of the reasons this game has bad retention of new players.

Now... what the kitten am I supposed to be doing?

In WoW I know at endgame I will be doing dungeons and raids, this game has so many kitten, so many kittening currencies, and you only know this because of videos not because any of this is explained in the game.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Hermes.8159

[Crono.4197]

The main problem you're facing is because you're comparing it to other MMO, when this game always aimed to be different.

Guild Wars 2 is a horizontal progression game, meaning you get your gear and everything you do and then you keep it forever, because there won't be a new level cap and new gear coming out every few months. It's different compared to your usual MMO where you always get new level cap and new gear and you always have to grind for more.

The end game here is to do what you want: map completion, achievements, world bosses, dungeons, strike missions, raids, pvp, world vs world, story, farm for gold, work on your fashion and so on.

It is not like other MMOs where the main goal si always having to get better armors and leveling up. Maybe you were expecting something like WoW where the focus is vertical progression. This game is for people who don't always want to grind for gear and level and many new players make this confusion and expect it to be like WoW/TERA/FFXVI and so on and then complain why they aren't like those MMOs.

The game model is good, but is not for everyone. Not everyone likes to grind new level, new gear and repeat the process every few months.

If you want something to focus on, work on the game story first. The story itself will take you to new content and new regions along the way.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Crono.4197

[Hermes.8159]

You are making a red herring fallacy. I know this game progression is different, I'm not complaining about that, I am complaining that the game doesn't explain the endgame activities at all!

I don't know what to do if I want to work towards better gear because even if you say the game isn't about that it actually is until you get your exotic gear and I don't have it yet so I don't know how the kitten am I supposed to get it, I actually like that there isn't a constant push for best gear like other MMOs is just that I don't even understand what the kitten am I supposed to be doing and the game doesn't explain the endgame content to me at all.

[Parasite.5389]

58 minutes ago, Hermes.8159 said:

I manually leveled up to 52 and made the story up to that point before I decided to use the 80 boost...

 

21 minutes ago, Hermes.8159 said:

even if you say the game isn't about that it actually is until you get your exotic gear and I don't have it yet

those two statements completely contradict each other, since you get Full Celestrial Exotic equipment when you use a lvl80 boost.
so lets's start again, Please define what you mean by 'Endgame', what content are you trying to get into?

[Hermes.8159]

Just now, Parasite.5389 said:

 

those two statements completely contradict each other, since you get Full Celestrial Exotic equipment when you use a lvl80 boost.
so lets's start again, Please define what you mean by 'Endgame', what content are you trying to get into?

Then I'm talking about ascended gear Mr smart kitten. I don't even know what endgame content exist to get this asscendeded gear

[Parasite.5389]

Just now, Hermes.8159 said:

Then I'm talking about ascended gear Mr smart kitten. I don't even know what endgame content exist to get this asscendeded gear

okay, cool

As Crono previously mentioned 'Endgame' covers a lot of content "map completion, achievements, world bosses, dungeons, strike missions, raids, pvp, world vs world" to name a few. 
you can happily play all that content in Exotic gear and don't need Ascended equipment to perform you role
the exception to this is Fractals of the Mists which have a scaling mechanic as you progress called Agony, this will eventually require you to switch to over to using Ascended in order to socket it a special type of upgrade called 'Agony Infusions', BUT if you're getting into fractals and enjoying it, you wont need to get ascended for a little while, and will be earning currency to purchase the required gear, have it drop as loot, or earn the materals to craft it if you prefer.

I'd recommend trying a little bit of everything and see what kind of content gravitates you in.
in the meantime, i'd recommend watching some guilds like Mukluk's 'What now' video

 

[AliamRationem.5172]

31 minutes ago, Hermes.8159 said:

You are making a red herring fallacy. I know this game progression is different, I'm not complaining about that, I am complaining that the game doesn't explain the endgame activities at all!

I don't know what to do if I want to work towards better gear because even if you say the game isn't about that it actually is until you get your exotic gear and I don't have it yet so I don't know how the kitten am I supposed to get it, I actually like that there isn't a constant push for best gear like other MMOs is just that I don't even understand what the kitten am I supposed to be doing and the game doesn't explain the endgame content to me at all.

First, you boosted to 80 so you already have 80 exotic gear.  Understand that GW2 is not like other MMOs where endgame is structured around acquiring better and better gear.  The gear you were given along with the boost is only 5% below best-in-slot (ascended/legendary).  The only thing you need ascended gear for in this game is fractal progression.  You can do absolutely everything else in the game using cheap, ubiquitous level 80 exotic gear just like the gear you were given for free along with the boost.  So, don't fixate on acquiring better gear.  It's not important in this game.

So, what should you do?  I'd recommend unlocking an elite specialization for your class ASAP.  This involves earning hero points by completing hero point challenges in the expansion maps.  End of Dragons and Path of Fire maps are easier to navigate, but you might consider looking for a Heart of Thorns HP train.  These are squads that assist players in navigating HoT maps to acquire hero points.  Most of them require minimal masteries (if any), but it might be a good idea to unlock basic gliding, bounce mushrooms, and updrafts just in case.

Beyond that it really is a matter of choosing your own adventure.  When you choose an objective for yourself you'll start to find other things that you want or need along the way and naturally branch out that way.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

1 hour ago, Hermes.8159 said:

I manually leveled up to 52 and made the story up to that point before I decided to use the 80 boost...

 

there's probably where you made a mistake.

 

i think you should've kept taking it slow, learning the game and your class and naturally progressing through thee early- to end-game content. this game uses horizontal progression which means everything after a certain point is end game and is mostly shared with other players, and outside of the personal story you'll generally be expected to know what you're doing to a reasonable extent (yes, even in the open-world).

 

the game starts introducing you to this stuff with story dungeons at level 30 which intermingle with your personal story. that's right--there's end-game content here that isn't even level 80, and is shared with other low-level players. this is why almost everything is explained by the community, because its designed for and played as a community game from the very start.

 

if you're new to horizontal progression games, i suggest you step back, ignore the character you boosted and re-roll. after you do that, immediately join a guild and take it easy while other players teach you at a steady and manageable pace.

Edited July 8, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Buran.3796]

1 hour ago, Hermes.8159 said:

Now... what the kitten am I supposed to be doing?

   The reason to play a game for me is to have fun. I had fun in PvP and WvW so I kept playing even long after the WvW clan in which I was faded away. In the path I started to stack a notable amount of legendaries, including all the armors and most of trinkets plus tons of weapons...  And after the introduction of the legendary wardrobe the answer is very clear: the end game in GW2 is getting your toons in full legendaries ASAP, since they are the ultimate quality of life/convenince items: no longer worried about changes in the meta, new gear stats, etc.

    This is one of the reasons why I don't give a crap about anyone comenting on "GW2 end game" if they haven't grind AT LEAST one legendary weapon. If you haven't entered in the legendary race there's no point for you to lecture about "end game", you don't even known what it sis...

[Cyninja.2954]

Oh look, another "I boosted, am overwhelmed and it's every body elses fault" thread. 

Better lash out at everyone else who is giving advice because THAT is certainly going to improve my situation. 🙄

[Dayra.7405]

Maybe a general remark at the beginning:
If you just want to repeat "End-Game" forever, go back to WoW, if you like to explore a massive new world free your mind of "end-game" and continue exploring this new world step by step. You just skiped the tutorial (lvling to 80), step out and look what happens 🙂

11 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

Now... what the kitten am I supposed to be doing?

Unlock the Mastery System, there are 455 (mastery-) lvl to go. 😀 The first one to go is Pact Commander: Autoloot (Adv. Logistics), next ones could be better Mounts (->PoF) or Gliding (-> HoT) or the skyscale (new expansion to be released mid aug.)

But getting the masteries is a side-job to have a look at from time to time, not a good goal in itself. So choose a goal, possible goals could be (but are not limited to):

1. Choose a build you like (dps, quick-dps, alacrity-dps, quick-heal, alacrity-heal) for your class, look it up in google (e.g. dps guardian) look which elite it requires, get hero points for that elite, also look the equipment to play the class (make it a bit more defensive or you die a lot solo in open world), get gold to buy it in the AH (or look up one of the millions other ways to get it). Learn to play your build by doing something with it 🙂 (core-Tyria is much easier then the rest of the game, don't be shocked to die a lot when you leave it.)
2. Play Story, there is a lot (Your current pers. Story, Living Story (LS) 1, LS 2, HoT, LS3, PoF, LS4, Icebrood Saga (IBS aka LS5), EoD, new Expansion is the chronological order).
3. Explore the maps (and I don't mean rush over it to get map-exporation, but also play events, they tell a story per map)
4. Play timed events (/wiki et), e.g. to earn a bit money
5. Play dungeons or Tier 1 fractals
6. Learn Jumping in Jumping Puzzles
7. Repeat stuff you just did to get achievements for it.
8. ...

Switch goals when you think you want something else.

11 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

nobody bothers to explain to you what the kitten are you supposed to be doing

There are good explanations to everything in the gw2 wiki, e.g. try

/wiki Ascended

in the chat. If you prefer goggle try "gw2 Ascended", i.e. prefix everything you search with gw2.

9 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

Then I'm talking about ascended gear

The first Ascended to get is probably the Amulett. Simply play Gw2 for 28 days to get 28 login rewards, this includes: 35 Laurels (or 55 if the Laurel reward is selected from the Chest of Loyalty) for 30 laurels (or 20 laurels + some WvW Badges of Honor) you can buy an Ascended Amulett at a Laurel merchant (marked as Laurel on the Map in cities).

Edited July 8, 2023 by Dayra.7405

[Maria Murtor.7253]

I think it's funny that you said, you "know WoW endgame". When I (recently) played WoW as a new player it took me days of external reading, asking and watching videos to understand how mythical+ dungeons work, scaling, old content, raids and many, many other things. And even after three months I still find new complicated stuff.

Skipping content as a new player is never a good idea. Funny enough, I had a fierce conversation in WoW about exact the same topic. These "pro players" were convinced to a offending degree, that I should stop wasting their time asking questions about leveling, old content and slowly learning about the game. Instead, I should just buy a instant level 60 item and f off. Because that's the way the game is supposed to be played. (And yeah: Even after slowly adapting into the late game, people in a dungeon were rude about my performance. Now imagine the atomic blast I would have created if I hadn't even a slight understanding how my profession works.)

Like Aliam already said: There's almost no need for ascended gear. And even if you want to play fractals, you should not skip the early fractal experience (see the rest of my post), which does not require ascended gear. You will slowly get new gear by simply playing fractals. At some point you will start to get locked behind ascended gear when attempting to play high fractals. And here's where you might feel a bit of grind. But the game also offers you other ways to get ascended gear (achievements for example). 

If you're unhappy with the gear you got right now, you can get cheap level 80 exotic gear for 20 - 30 silver a piece. Doing you daily achievements once (= 2 gold) is almost enough to 50 % change your characters stats. Doing eight different dungeons = five gold. But before you jump into any impulsive purchase, you should really think about how you want to play your character and what your priorities are. 

[Hermes.8159]

1 hour ago, Parasite.5389 said:

okay, cool

As Crono previously mentioned 'Endgame' covers a lot of content "map completion, achievements, world bosses, dungeons, strike missions, raids, pvp, world vs world" to name a few. 
you can happily play all that content in Exotic gear and don't need Ascended equipment to perform you role
the exception to this is Fractals of the Mists which have a scaling mechanic as you progress called Agony, this will eventually require you to switch to over to using Ascended in order to socket it a special type of upgrade called 'Agony Infusions', BUT if you're getting into fractals and enjoying it, you wont need to get ascended for a little while, and will be earning currency to purchase the required gear, have it drop as loot, or earn the materals to craft it if you prefer.

I'd recommend trying a little bit of everything and see what kind of content gravitates you in.
in the meantime, i'd recommend watching some guilds like Mukluk's 'What now' video

 

The problem also is I don't know where to go to do this activities.

I have still 3 chapters left of the story would those introduce me to those activities or not? Someone said here in a response that they would.

[Linken.6345]

6 minutes ago, Hermes.8159 said:

The problem also is I don't know where to go to do this activities.

I have still 3 chapters left of the story would those introduce me to those activities or not? Someone said here in a response that they would.

Did you watch the video?

Mukluk litteraly point to the icon or areas you need to go to.

For dungeons you should have started getting mails as lvl 30 in your mailbox that you could click that showed you the door.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Linken.6345

[SlayerXX.7138]

2 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

Now... what the kitten am I supposed to be doing?

That is kind of normal for an old MMO if you are new to it. Imagine playing WoW with your previous knowledge deleted, it is as bad as GW 2. It is just a lot of systems at once.

3 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

I manually leveled up to 52 and made the story up to that point before I decided to use the 80 boost...

Understandable. Level Progression does come to an halt at that level. Did the same with tome of knowledge(An item from the competitive modes that gives you levels).

3 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

And I just don't udnerstand the kittening endgame, its too complicated and for no good reason, nobody bothers to explain to you what the kitten are you supposed to be doing, and I watched many videos of what the kitten am I supposed to be doing but its overwhelming to the point that it feels like a MASSIVE CHORE. 

You can do what you want^^. It is certainly overwhelming. Gold in contrast to wow doesn't come in form of raw currency, but by selling materials in the Trading Post(GW 2 AH). Gear is acquired by buying it of the AH(exotics only), Crafting, instanced PvE content of your choice, competitive mode of your choice or some Currency in one of the many maps. The Reason it is complicated is because there are many ways to get gear.

2 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

I don't know what to do if I want to work towards better gear because even if you say the game isn't about that it actually is until you get your exotic gear and I don't have it yet so I don't know how the kitten am I supposed to get it, I actually like that there isn't a constant push for best gear like other MMOs is just that I don't even understand what the kitten am I supposed to be doing and the game doesn't explain the endgame content to me at all.

If you want a WoW centric answer: Do fractals, that are dungeons that work like mythic+ dungeons in WoW. Entrance is in Lion Arch. Gear drops sometimes and also can be bought with fractal currency. Lower tiers are doable as a beginner. Looking up a guide does help of course. If you bought the Ice brood saga dlc(living world) or End of dragons expansion you can unlock Strikes after doing the story. Strikes are 10 man boss rooms. Strike also have a currency to buy the gear you need. Have gold to buy exotics of Trading post, as baseline. Done.
 

[SlayerXX.7138]

20 minutes ago, Hermes.8159 said:

I have still 3 chapters left of the story would those introduce me to those activities or not? Someone said here in a response that they would.

The story does not really guide you through all content, just through the story. You may not want to play through 10 years of story content and have other priorities. Competitive modes are accessible via the interface. PvP and WvW you can join with the icons on your top left screen. PvP doesn't need real gear and gives you stat templates. Fractals are in Lions Arch.
Most exotic gear is really cheap, if you just want good enough gear, the trading post is a very good place to get most of it. 

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

3 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

And I just don't udnerstand the kittening endgame, its too complicated and for no good reason, nobody bothers to explain to you what the kitten are you supposed to be doing, and I watched many videos of what the kitten am I supposed to be doing but its overwhelming to the point that it feels like a MASSIVE CHORE. 

Endgame for a WoW player:
- Fractals: A variety of single-instance dungeons which do not belong together, lore-wise. They have a moderate difficulty & loot scaling system, progression based.
- Strike Missions: Upgraded bossfights of the story. So can see them as arena battles, where it is your team against a boss. There are easier and tougher encounters and challange modes for the ultimate difficulty. Rewards scale with difficulty. Currently split into two lore-specific sub categories:
=> Icebrood Saga (IBS) - accessible via the Eye of the North [&BAkMAAA=] (unlocked for every level 80 character)
=> End of Dragons (EoD) - accessible via Arborstone [&BGMNAAA=] (unlocked via EoD story progression, or just entering the place/teleport-to-friend - just ask in LFG/mapchat for a taxi to Arborstone)
- Raids: Sets of instances connected with their own lore and story, challenging mechanics and bossfights. Require very good team coordination. Accessible via Lion's Arch Aerodome [&BCAJAAA=]

Note: While we have a LFG for this content. I highly recommend joining a guild, which runs that content frequently. They have the patience to teach you the mechanics and also help you with gear acquisition and solving your questions. There is a LFG tab for guild-recruitment. They also tend to advertise in mapchat in the big cities, hubs (Eye of the North, Arborstone), starting zones and during worldbosses. We also have a sub-forum here with a very long list of guilds, just be careful to pick the correct region: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/forum/30-looking-for-guild/

Low tier instanced content:
- Dungeons: There exist 8 of them, each with multiple paths. There is always one story-path, that is an addition to the personal story. The exploration-paths are for farming and offer greater challenges. This content is played because it comes with the base-game, which means you can even do it as a F2P account. There are also a couple of gear-upgrades which are relevant for the meta. Thanks to the last rework, you can just play any dungeon (exploration) you want, to obtain currency to buy the upgrades (runes). Previously we had 8 currencies, now we only have 1, which is a huge relief.
- Dragon Response Missions: Intended to be entry-content for the above mentioned Endgame. If you have never done instanced group-content, this is a good warmup. There do exist challenge-modes that can be enabled. Loot is not very good, but you can get some really nice cosmetics. It also offers a few shortcuts to older collections.

Worldbosses & Meta Events:
Located in specific maps, they spawn according to a time-schedule (ingame: /wiki et). Can write multiple pages of explanations, but it is best to just click on the links. As a WoW player who is interested in Endgame, you are probably only interested in the ones that offer huge profit: https://fast.farming-community.eu/open-world/farmtrain

tl&dr for gear:
You pick a build fitting to your class, preferably a meta-build and follow the instructions. (e. g. Snowcrows, discretize, hardstuck, metabattle, mukluk).
1.) Exotic gear is fine for pretty much all of the above mentioned Endgame content. You start as a beginner, like everybody else. The content rewards ascended gear on the go.
2.) Fractals are the only place where ascended gear actually matters, but you do not need a full set to do your first run. Go for trinkets, fitting to your build and slot in a few AR Infusions from TP. The more you play this content, the further you progress, the better gear you will get. If you are not lucky with fulldrops, you can use the currency to buy the gear, which also drops there guaranteed.
3.) The stat-difference of ascended gear to exotic gear is minimal. Most players think "I'm a noob, so I get the best gear and deal acceptable damage anyway." Does not work here. To get ascended gear working for you, you need to be an expert already. The stat-gain is useful to push peak-performance, but way too low to fix a lack of skill. It is not worth bothering with going for full ascended BEFORE you run Endgame. The more you play the content and your class, the more experienced you become. And that allows you to perform better. Even slight improvements have a massive impact. If you remember the mechanics and manage to get downed less times, you improve more than upgrading your whole gear from exotic to ascended.

About Living World:
While it offers a lot of ascended gear, each map has its own currency system. The different Living World seasons also have different main-currencies. You usually need a combination of map-specific and season-specific currency to buy the gear. This is rather time consuming, which means you end up grinding a lot. Just focus on the things listed in the farmtrain link.

Content creators:
Each of them offers guides and help finding your way. Pick one or two, which you like. All of them are players with different opinions and pov, which means they can contradict each others. Some of them enjoy talking for hours to explain stuff that can be told in two sentences. I recommend Mukluk, who makes his videos as short as possible. If you are not in your teens or twenties anymore, I recommend Caffeinated Dad. The others are awesome, too. 

-
I'll stop here. If I write more, it gets just confusing. There is a lot more, but this should get you covered for a start - i hope. Keep asking question in mapchat/guildchat and on the forums of course. The game is rather complex. But it is not impossible the get things sorted. Just have a little patience. 

[Tachenon.5270]

You've already found the endgame. The only REAL and FOR TRUE endgame. Which is . . . arguing about the game on the the forums!

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

Boosts character, complains that they don't understands the game.

This is why level 80 boosts need to be restricted from being used on an account's first character.

[Ashantara.8731]

8 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

I manually leveled up to 52 and made the story up to that point before I decided to use the 80 boost...

They gave me a kitten weapon that I am forced to use because it has very good stats...

And I just don't udnerstand the kittening endgame, its too complicated and for no good reason, nobody bothers to explain to you what the kitten are you supposed to be doing, and I watched many videos of what the kitten am I supposed to be doing but its overwhelming to the point that it feels like a MASSIVE CHORE. 

Who thought this endgame was a good idea?, I bet this is one of the reasons this game has bad retention of new players.

Now... what the kitten am I supposed to be doing?

In WoW I know at endgame I will be doing dungeons and raids, this game has so many kitten, so many kittening currencies, and you only know this because of videos not because any of this is explained in the game.

Have you tried what every new player is supposed to do, namely follow the story that will guide you through the game?

P.S. Using the f-word in every sentence is a pretty embarrassing way to communicate. Perhaps you might want to revert to proper language? Just as thought.

[Zebulous.2934]

If you have the Path of fire expansion I would suggest getting the mounts.  Leveling the mastery of each mount will also make them more mobile.  You could also start the heart of thorns expansion. You will get a glider in that expansion. A glider is nice to have, just to avoid fall damage. Gliding down slopes also feels more fun than running down hill.

[Hotride.2187]

Start making a legendary weapon you think looks cool, read up on it and get going. Its what I started doing first after finishing the personal story. Had a blast, learned a lot of things about the game.

[Gehenna.3625]

17 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

You are making a red herring fallacy.

Le sigh... 

17 hours ago, Hermes.8159 said:

I don't know what to do if I want to work towards better gear because even if you say the game isn't about that it actually is until you get your exotic gear and I don't have it yet so I don't know how the kitten am I supposed to get it, I actually like that there isn't a constant push for best gear like other MMOs is just that I don't even understand what the kitten am I supposed to be doing and the game doesn't explain the endgame content to me at all.

You're right, this game doesn't take your hand and tells you what to do or where to go. You're going to have to join a guild or just ask around in map chat or...the horror... look it up on the wiki. The real question is what do you want to do? Because endgame means very different things to different people, especially in GW2. This game is all about discovery over time. Even after 10 years I still find out stuff about this game that I never knew before. It's just part of how this game is. 

If you want this game to take you by the hand and show you...don't hold your breath. It's not going to happen. Love it or leave it.

[Shadowmoon.7986]

This hit on the core issue with gw2 end game, anet's consistent inconsistency in development of the end game. Instead of just sticking dungeons and eventually raids, they have at least 4 varients of 5 man content and 3 variants of 10 man content. Each of these were developed then abandoned soon after. 

People who been here since the start know this favor of the month development style but someone entering the game fresh will often be confused.  For example, playing the core game trains you to want to do dungeons, once you hit a certain level you get letters to do the story dungeons. But that has been abandoned content. Hell they could not even add the small side story of fractured into the ls1 rerelease to guide player into doing fractals which is the only barely actively developed 5 man content in the game.

At least strike does have a story step to get people willing to do those, but is all the way in IBS visions of the past.  If you do not have that content chapter you would never get lead following the story to that content.

[Aelin.9317]

I have a question. Maybe older forum users can answer. This person says they are new, but they use the same "kitten" censor that I see other posters use regularly. If you were new you probably would not use such language. 

So does the forum change any swear into kitten? Or are they just an obvious troll account from an existing player posting to rile people up? ^^