New Player here

[Dragule.2174]

Hello everyone I haven't played this game since launch 2012 so what did I miss lol? Should I purchase the expansions right away ? Life events kept me away from gaming for about 7 years, but now I'm finally back and I would love to enjoy this game. Any advice or direction would be greatly welcomed!

[Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.294]

You've missed pretty much everything. Good news is that you are getting back into the game and can get caught up! Take a deeeeeeeep breath and prepare to go back to school. :)

First advice, level a character at least a little bit - play through the personal story a bit, etc., etc. Make sure you really want back in before you spend the money. Personally, I think you will invest in the game, but, give yourself a chance to make sure.

Heart of Thorns introduces Revenants as a heavy armor class, 4 maps, 2 guild halls, an elite spec for each class, and GLIDING. Path of Fire introduces a new elite spec for every class, 5 new maps, 1 new guild hall, and a variety of mounts. Buying the expacs grants you access to everything in that expansion. There is also a new mastery system that is basically 'leveling' post level 80. In addition to the expansions, to get everything, you will need to purchase Living World Season 2, 3, and the first 5 episodes of season 4 - if you login right now, you will unlock episode 6 of season 4 (but you won't be able to play it until you purchase path of fire - season 4 is tied to PoF and season 3 is tied to HoT, but not included with the expansions). Season 1 is un-replayable since it was done as 'live' events, but you can watch video recaps of it. Season 3 and 4 have introduced a new map into the game with each episode, so 12 extra maps in addition to the base game, 4 HoT maps, and 5 PoF maps.

Welcome back, and enjoy yourself!

[joneirikb.7506]

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:

+1 to everything they said, good advice.

I'd say take your time and play as much as you want before deciding, you don't lose anything by not buying the expansion before you turn level 80 at least.

Also there is quite a difficulty leap from Core game to the expansions, takes a lot of people off guard.

[Bobzitto.8571]

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:Welcome back, and enjoy yourself!

In addition to that, I'd that if you do decide to buy the expansions and you gotta choose one first, go with PoF. It's less of a difficulty spike than HoT, and the mounts are waaaay more useful than Gliding in general (and will prove handy when you do venture into HoT). However, if you care about seeing the story in the correct order, then go Season 2 -> HoT -> Season 3 -> PoF -> Season 4

[Ashantara.8731]

@Bobzitto.8571 said:

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:Welcome back, and enjoy yourself!

In addition to that, I'd that if you do decide to buy the expansions and you gotta choose one first, go with PoF.

Don't do that. Play the game in chronological order, or else you will spoil the fun of the story and will experience story gaps:https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Story_Journal

[Bobzitto.8571]

Plenty of people, specially in MMOs, who couldnt care less what the story is. If he's one of those, going with PoF first is the way to go.

[Tarlonniel.6534]

@Ashantara.8731 said:Don't do that. Play the game in chronological order, or else you will spoil the fun of the story and will experience story gaps

Unfortunately, there's a built-in story gap where LWS1 used to be, so jumping in somewhere other than LWS2 won't be too much more confusing. And those PoF mounts are so incredibly useful while grinding masteries in HoT...

[Donari.5237]

Welcome back!

Important: Do not delete your characters from launch, unless you fully understand and accept that you are giving up on years of birthday gifts for them. Super valuable dyes, unique armor and weapon skins, level boosts, these are all available to your older alts. This August we'll get the 7th Birthday gifts, and if you still have characters from August 2012, so will you!

I wouldn't say to leap right on buying the expansions unless you have the funds to easily do so. There's plenty to do in core Tyria and trying to see everything at once from all three areas will be overwhelming. Explore the core maps and story while re-learning the game mechanics, then move on to the new places. They aren't going anywhere. Maybe keep an eye on the store, sometimes they put the expansions on sale (they very well might do so in August, for example, as an Anniversary month). You have plenty to catch up on in the next month while waiting for possible sales.

[Dragule.2174]

Thank you everyone for the advice! It is greatly appreciated and always welcome!! I'm just soaking it all in like a sponge.

[mindcircus.1506]

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@Bobzitto.8571 said:

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:Welcome back, and enjoy yourself!

In addition to that, I'd that if you do decide to buy the expansions and you gotta choose one first, go with PoF.

Don't do that.

Play the game in chronological order, or else you will spoil the fun of the story and will experience story gaps:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Story_Journal

Or they can play how they want because they are paying for it and Arenanet has created a system where they can if they want.

Seriously... such gatekeeping. Much wow.

[Hashberry.4510]

@mindcircus.1506 said:

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@Bobzitto.8571 said:

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:Welcome back, and enjoy yourself!

In addition to that, I'd that if you do decide to buy the expansions and you gotta choose one first, go with PoF.

Don't do that.

Play the game in chronological order, or else you will spoil the fun of the story and will experience story gaps:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Story_Journal

Or they can play how they want because they are paying for it and Arenanet has created a system where they can if they want.

Seriously... such gatekeeping. Much wow.

Good advice is gatekeeping now....

[Ashantara.8731]

@Hashberry.4510 said:

@mindcircus.1506 said:

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@Bobzitto.8571 said:

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:Welcome back, and enjoy yourself!

In addition to that, I'd that if you do decide to buy the expansions and you gotta choose one first, go with PoF.

Don't do that.

Play the game in chronological order, or else you will spoil the fun of the story and will experience story gaps:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Story_Journal

Or they can play how they want because they are paying for it and Arenanet has created a system where they can if they want.

Seriously... such gatekeeping. Much wow.

Good advice is gatekeeping now....

LOL, that's what I was thinking. :+1: But hey, perhaps some folks these days enjoy reading a book starting at the beginning, skipping to the end, then proceeding with the middle part. Who know? ;)

@Tarlonniel.6534 said:

@Ashantara.8731 said:

Don't do that.

Play the game in chronological order, or else you will spoil the fun of the story and will experience story gaps

Unfortunately, there's a built-in story gap where LWS1 used to be, so jumping in somewhere other than LWS2 won't be

too

much more confusing.

Or you can confuse yourself even more going out of the chronological order. After all, there is a fan-made movie that covers the gap that is Season 1, so no excuses.

[Etria.3642]

To me the game is night and day with and without mounts.

Without: nothing special. Take it or leave it.

With: Wow! This game is really cool!

If you truly value story then use one of the 80 boosters, do one chapter to get the raptor with the sound off and skipping anything you can skip. Return to your other characters(I agree with the person who said don't delete) and enjoy the actual story.

[Ygdrasill.9135]

@Etria.3642 said:To me the game is night and day with and without mounts.

Without: nothing special. Take it or leave it.

With: Wow! This game is really cool!

If you truly value story then use one of the 80 boosters, do one chapter to get the raptor with the sound off and skipping anything you can skip. Return to your other characters(I agree with the person who said don't delete) and enjoy the actual story.

I agree with this. If you don't want spoilers from the main story (which is pretty good) this is the way to go. I went full monty and played through PoF before going back to the original story and pretty much treated it as a prequel. That didn't bother me and flat out having the mounts (including the griffon) made it a lot less grindy and more fun for me personally. If you do this, for the love of kitten, choose one of the less complex character classes. A warrior is pretty easy to deal with at any level and they offer some good roles in group stuff once you want to get into that. If you do it with an Elementalist or Mesmer, you'll be tearing hair out trying to figure out the mechanics all at once while dying regularly.