Clueless Returning Player

[Nikasaur.4713]

Hi guys, I quit the game before the first expansion came out having pretty much played from launch. I had 2 maxed out characters with a legendary weapon (which was HARD to get then!) and did allot of pvp and played the marketplace flipping items like rare skins. I've tried logging back in but I literally have no idea where to start or where to go... Should I buy the expansions? Can anyone suggest what to do for a few days to get me going again? Thank you for any help :)

[lezbefriends.7516]

Buy the Path of Fire expansion -- it comes with Heart of Thrones FREE and is worth it on its own. Do the early missions until you get raptor mount, then explore either expansion, doing story journal missions.

[Luthan.5236]

Hi!

I played from release (headstart) until end of 2013. Then I had a loooon break and returned June 2019. So ... a bit similar ot you. Only that I did not even get legendaries back then. (I had played PvP and WvW though.)

I'm now back in PvP and PvE (not WvW). After my return I tried to to the stuff in release order in PvP. First living world season 2. Then HoT. Then season 3. Unlocking/learning the new elite specs in order. (First for my main the one that got released with HoT. Now soon PoF ... and alt chars.)

The masteries are easy to get into ... once you start with HoT (or PoF). Story guides you through a few basic ones you need to learn to progress. Then you can easily get the other ones.

Depends on what you need/want. ... if you want mounts ... PoF first of course. (And having gotten my first mount recently ... I think it is worth to get them.)If you want to play in release order like me ... then HoT of course.

Since HoT is bundled with PoF ... it it totally worth getting the expansions. I got it on sale (deluxe PoF with normal HoT bundled) but even normal price is okay. Cheap price for getting access to mounts and the fun maps. (I liked HoT have not tried PoF yet.)

[Headhunter.4796]

I got the game on 16-4 without ever having played it. HOT was a struggle (every map has like 3-5 layers). Finished HOT a day or 3-4 ago and now doing POF. Soooooo much easier to navigate, damn. So QOL wise I’d first to POF, but whatever you prefer I guess. If you’re on EU, feel free to look me up and I can help you get some mastery or hero points. Have fun!!

[Danikat.8537]

My advice (for all returning players) is to start by making a new character. Keep the ones you've got, but make a new one to play through the early parts of the game and re-learn how it all works. Then when you feel like you've gotten to grips with the basics you can switch back to your existing characters with a better grasp of what you're doing.

As for what to do I don't know if you're aware but level 80 is still the maximum and ascended and legendaries (which have identical stats) are still top tier equipment. (And legendaries are still hard to get, they did add a way to a precursor without RNG, but it's long and expensive.) So in terms of preparing your character you're pretty much good to go. You might at some point want different stats, but you won't find anything you're unable to do because you're using old equipment. So you can focus on whatever you want to do, whichever areas of the game interests you. That's another reason making a new character could help - it will remind you what's available. If you decide to get the expansions I recommend getting at least the raptor mount, maybe the others too because they're really useful and give you new options for moving around the world.