Please, help a casual noob understand the endgame

[FairyRozie.2046]

Hello guys! I have started playing gw2 about 2 weeks ago and my biggest regret is that I haven't tried it earlier 😄 

First of all, I want to say that I am a casual player and enjoy adventuring and simply play for fun. Thus, all the hardcore that awaits me is really scary tbh. I just want to enjoy the game by doing the bare minimum XD

So, I've reached lv 80 on one of my characters and found out about all the endgame full of grinding. Yet, I was wondering if I have to do raids, fractals and all that stuff full of "elitists" and months of daily farming. I just wanted to know if I can have a full set of exotic equipment to enjoy all the zones, all the events, never-ending character progression,  farming maps or those many modes, excluding the hard-core ones, yet keeping something to do every evening to get my satisfaction from the beautiful world of fantasy. I don't exclude doing some raids once in a while, but committing myself to it doesn't really suit me. As far as I understand, I need ascended and legendary equipment to stay relevant and do the challenges but do I require them only for raids and etc? Like doing raids to get better armor to do more raids... Do legendaries affect other aspects of the game? 

I used to play LostArk, yet I had to leave it as the game simply kicked away all the casualties later on. When I got to equipment score 1400+ I had to do raids to progress further. Yet, the only two ways to do raids were to already have enough experience and gear lv to perform perfectly or to pay for a carry. An option to learn wasn't even considered. On the contrary, in gw2 I see many training guilds to get acquainted with the mechanics and not being kept away from trying to clear them. I haven't tried them yet, but they do seem promising. Thank you guys for caring for new players!

So...I gave this example to show what I mean by being cut off from progressing further in game and doing other endgame content. Please tell me whether I can do some content with exotic gear or simply collect enough gold to buy the legendaries or at least do some low lvl fractals. I really liked the game, yet I am afraid to get left behind in case I won't do raids or even get scammed while paying for someone to let me join their party. 

Would be really grateful for any advices! 😄

~May the Six bless you~

 

Edited March 12 by FairyRozie.2046

[Chyro.1462]

There's nothing you 'have to' grind. You can just play whichever content is fun to you. Getting a full set of exotics doesn't cost much and can be aquired in various ways, through pretty much any game modes you enjoy. Most content isn't gated by gear, though it would be good to have a full set of exotics with a proper build if you want to dive into harder content. Fractals are the one thing that gets really gated by gear, cause you requrie agony resistance for higher tiers which can only be slotted into ascended quality gear - but entry level fractals up to scale 20 can be done quite easily and without any agony resist.

[Antycypator.9874]

Exotic equipment is perfectly fine for Open World stuff, Raids, Strike Missions and low level Fractals. The difference in stats between Exotic and Ascended is something around 5%.

Ascended equipment is required for T2+ Fractals because you need Agony Resistance (infusions).

Legendary gear is literally the same amount of stats as Ascended, but with free skin and stat change — it's mostly QoL improvement.

[FairyRozie.2046]

I see. It's good to hear that there isn't much content gated by the equipment lv and exotic sets will do for the most of the content. The 5% difference seems irrelevant to a guardian with fulll bar of boon applying skills XD 

Thank you for replying! You've really risen my spirits guys 😀 

[evilcat.6817]

Fractals 1-19 has 0 agony, so you can jump in with just exotic gear and the dream. You can buy tear of alba consumable to tempoarary add 10 AR, for that last lv25 fractal.

As for some chill content... open world world bosses are very chill, most open world meta event are chill. Fractals T1 are generally chill.

Bitterfrost Frontier is chill map, and you can even get cool reward from that.

 

[Padrion.7382]

You don't have to do anything in this game. You can get best in slot gear by literally wandering around and chopping wood, if that is what you aim for. As stated above, you don't really need that gear in the first place. The only important question is: what do you want to do? I for example do pretty much the same, as I did during leveling: exploring the world and following the story, occasionally mixing it up with a fractal or something. The important thing is: I don't do these things to achieve something or to reach a certain goal. I do them because I find them genuinely fun.

This concept might need a bit getting used to as it is completely opposite to most other MMOs where you do a lot of boring chores and in turn get your dopamine kicks from gear progression, from seeing higher and higher damage numbers and therefore getting more and more efficient at these boring chores. As long as the next major patch drops at least, which makes you start all over. In GW2 there is no gear treadmill, so I can take my time and play other games in between. That way the experience stays somewhat fresh every time I return.

 

 

[DeanBB.4268]

Yep, just do what you want. In addition to the things already mentioned, you might check out achievements and/or their rewards that are of interest (wiki is your friend). I particularly enjoy doing the achievements that involve a scavenger hunt, with my brother. Or peruse the weapon and armor skins on the wiki and figure out how to acquire those of interest.

Here are a few things to consider:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Eclipse (plus 2 other skins from a contest)

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ley-Energy_Matter_Converter

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Knight_of_the_Thorn

[Entara.3075]

Getting Ascended gear is now easier than ever as well without any high level content. Assuming you don't want to level a craftering profession and make it you can also buy 3 pieces of aacended armor and a weapon once a season from the wizards vault.

I personally recommend casually leveling a profession for the most long term advantage and their are guides that tell you how to do it easy.

Overall there are options if you do decide you want Ascended equipment.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

4 hours ago, Entara.3075 said:

recommend casually leveling a profession

I think this poster means Crafting Discipline (such as Artificer, Weaponsmith, Chef, etc.) rather than 'profession', as Professions are what other games may refer to as 'class'.

Professions in Guild Wars 2 (and One) are the 9 choices offered in character creation, such as Warrior, Elementalist, Ranger, etc.

[FairyRozie.2046]

Everyone, thank you for your responses! As far as I understand, I can do a lot of other stuff except raids, like getting achievements, crafting and doing some random events in the open world.

About those "meta events", do I require some knowledge of their mechanics like in raids or can I just join them on the spot and read what to do. I mean, I can't join raids with a lot of experienced guys as I will simply join, say I have no idea how to clear this boss and that's it, everyone's time is wasted. What about other stuff including fighting and adventuring? 

Edited March 13 by FairyRozie.2046

[Danikat.8537]

One of the nice things about GW2 is that there's almost nothing you have to do, just lots of options and you can focus on what you want to do.

The only thing you literally can't do without ascended equipment is high tier Fractals, because they have a mechanic called agony which you need protection against and agony resistance infusions can only be slotted into ascended equipment. (There are temporary sources of agony resistance you can use at lower tiers, but I don't think they provide enough resistance for the higher ones.)

Ascended is recommended for raids and if you want to spend a lot of time in WvW, but there's no gear checks or anything like that, it's just that you'll want the best stats you can get for those areas and that comes from ascended. For everything else exotic is fine. (Legendary is exactly the same stats as ascended, but with some convenience features, it's completely optional.)

However the other reason many players will recommend going for ascended equipment is because unlike in some games it's not difficult to get. You can get ascended weapons and armour from the Wizard's Vault by doing dailies, and buy ascended trinkets with laurels (which also come from the wizard's vault). You can get ascended pieces from some achievements, including story achievements. Or you can craft it. If you get lucky you can get it as random drops in some areas. You don't need to be a hardcore end-game player to build up a full set of ascended equipment so its sometimes not worth putting a lot of time and effort into getting exotics. For example if you want trinkets with one of the newer 4-stat combinations it's likely to be quicker to quicker to farm Season 3 and 4 maps to buy the ascended version than to farm materials to craft exotics.

But for now I'd say don't worry about getting ascended equipment and just focus on playing what you want.
 

1 minute ago, FairyRozie.2046 said:

About those "meta events", do I require some knowledge of their mechanics like in raids or I can just join them on the spot and read what to do. I mean I can't join raids with a lot of experienced guys as I will simply join, say I have no idea how to clear this boss and that's it, everyone's time is wasted. What about other stuff including fighting and adventuring? 

You've probably done some already. 'Meta events' are events made up of many smaller events.

Meta is a Greek prefix which means 'self encompassing', 'bigger', 'beyond'. You've probably heard of it in the context of meta gaming which means 'playing outside the game' - pre-planning builds, tactics etc. ahead of an encounter instead of simply getting in there and trying to figure it out as it happens. In this context it means 'events which are made up of events'. (There's also meta achievements, which are ones you complete by doing other achievements.)

Meta events vary in size and complexity but they're all things anyone can do. A small one you might have seen is the build up to the Shadow Behemoth world boss in Queensdale - players have to complete 3 different events at the same time to trigger one big one in the middle, then the boss spawns and during the fight additional steps appear where you have to destroy portals to make it vulnerable. There's also big meta events which take over the entire map. Silverwastes is a good example - players have to do different events at all 4 forts simultaneously to get access to the boss, then there's 3 'lanes' who each have their own objectives to complete that all have to be done together to kill it.

They're basically an open-world form of end-game and a major part of the game once you get to level 80, but they're open and available to everyone and like other events you can just join them when you find them.

[FairyRozie.2046]

I see. Thank you very much for the explanation! Sounds like I have a lot to do in the game from now on 😄

Now my evenings are full of new content to explore 🙂

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

After the upcoming Return to Season 2 Bonus Event, there may be some upcoming Return to Season 3 and Return to Season 4 Bonus Events and at that time there may be a discount on (Living World) Season 3 and (Living World) Season 4 bundles in the Gem Store.  If you decide to purchase any Living World Season bundles, I would suggest waiting until said Bonus Events are active, in case there are purchase discounts available.

Example: 

Note:  There may or may not be a purchase required for the Season Two Bonus Event, though I would guess it is likely.  🤷‍♀️

Edit:  Looks like Living World Seasons are discounted presently.

Edited March 14 by Inculpatus cedo.9234
new info

[Padrion.7382]

2 hours ago, FairyRozie.2046 said:

About those "meta events", do I require some knowledge of their mechanics like in raids or can I just join them on the spot and read what to do.

If enough players are on the map they are usually very easy and it doesn't matter whether you contribute or not. Of course it is more fun to actually contribute. Usually it is enough to read the on screen instructions and do what other players are doing but some are a little more complicated like the jungle worn at Bloodtide Coast. In case you didn't knew, the wiki has a super useful event timer page: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Event_timers

If you're doing those events in the evening hours best be 5 minutes early on the respective map. Else it might be full and you end up in  a low populated instance. Also if there is a commander tag on the map you can right-click on them to invite yourself to their squad (optional but you can see fellow squad members on the mini map now).

[Seraph.7923]

Welcome to the game, the endgame is pretty casual too and not gated like in other mmorpgs, 

things to do
PVE
- pve meta trains https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Event_timers
- fractals (above t2 you need ascended gear to put agony reistance in, dont worry T4 (100) only needs 150+ AR, so thats full ascended and weapons. but good news fractals can give you ascended gear and gives you lots of raw gold)
- Raids , there are few raids. it can be hard to get into but there are training raids guilds do and on public finder. eventually you will get the hand of it, but A net not making more raids (that i know of) instead they make
- Strikes - single boss raids. more challanging than most raids and quite fun

PVE challenge mode, the "hard mode". generaly this is reasonably gate kept as ppl just use it more in the vein of a speed running community than the more freidnly causal part of the game. not a requirement in anyway of the game but there for fun and rewards

PVP
i dont really do pvp but there are a lot of automated tornaments, good news pvp gear is free and you have everything unlocked at lvl 2 (they lvl you to 80 automaticaly)
so there isnt a barrier to pvp, its all skill baised. but beware bots

WVW 60vs60vs60 pvp, its pretty nuts and fun. embrace the zerge. sadly its like 30hours a week of wvw to max out your pip reward track

Achivment hunting. lots of achivments 

Legendary crafting.

strictly speaking these are just quality of life, and 10x-20x as expensive as their ascended equivalent (stats are 100% same) just there for convinace
- looks pretty
- bragging rights
- gives you ONE for every chariter you have for that slot (see legendary armory)
 so if for example you have bolt (1h sword) you can use 1 x 1h bolt on every chariter, but if you need 2x 1h you need to get 2 bolts (or the other swords)
- Free stat change at any time
- Free transmog for ever for that part (dosnt use transmog charges)

Welcome to the game, 🙂

[RavensSorrow.6128]

Never be afraid of doing anything in this game. There are guides online, raid training guilds/discords, and even just putting in the Looking for Group "hey I'm new, no idea what I'm doing" can get you assistance as well. I have a social anxiety and hate feeling like I let the group down because I messed up. So, I waited for my gear to be "good enough" and when I finally stepped into Strikes/Fractals, I was blown away how over prepared I was. I could have used all that time doing those strikes and getting currency to get the high-level gear I was trying to dig up. Don't get me wrong there are some harder ones even on normal but once you clear them a lot of them are laughably easier than even some world bosses. I now "lead" newbies through a few to show people what they are missing. It really doesn't take a lot. So come play. Fractals, Strikes, Raids get in there and hit stuff!

I'm even about to craft my 6th legendary! All this with semi-casual play. Some weeks I can do more and some I do less. I've almost never grinded for anything. I log in, do some dailies and then chase achievements*, do some strikes, or just bounce around to world bosses. Just have to learn how to turn what you get into gold or materials for your own crafting. It does take a minute to learn and I'm even still learning it. I came from WoW so the fact that I wasn't handed gold and had to instead use currencies and the trading post to get it through me for a loop at first.

As I was learning I found Mukluklabs and his streams to be very helpful. His guides on the strikes and fractals let me know what I was in for, and his guides are gear gave me goals.  The guildwars wiki is a great resource too. Type "/wiki (item/place/ect)" in game to get the page open on your topic. Great for finding those hidden PoIs on maps or looking up recipes for the mystic forge!

Welcome to the game, hope you enjoy your time in Tyria!

*You can get skins, gold, items and even Gems from the achievement chests as you get higher Achievement Points. Don't sleep on these!