Thinking of returning - what have I missed?

[Day Trooper.3605]

It's been ~ 2 1/2 years since I last played GW2. I'd been a hard-core player of the franchise since 2005 and basically needed to take a break to due to a variety of reasons. But now I'm thinking of playing again (the addition of Cantha really grabbed my attention).

So basically what have I missed? For one, I'm sure there have been multiple living world updates over that time.

Also, I currently have ~30k APs. To say play fractals again, is this number going to be an issue?

And lastly, is the game still going strong? On the main page I see that there are over 11 million players - is this true?

And finally, what is the current mesmer meta-build for stuff like fractals?

Thanks for any input all!

[Randulf.7614]

I'm going to bullet point for speed (and for clarity because you will get some walls of text answers)

• Fractals haven't changed in that time. A new one is due though next month. AP has no effect on getting into any group for anything
• Strike missions have been the new instance thing. They are one boss fights that range from easy - sub raid difficulty. They require Icebrood Saga (LS5)
• Yes the game is doing OK, no it does not have 11m players. That is accounts made since launch. It's well past its peak though, but the population is decent enough just very spread out. It's imminent Steam launch will bring more people in

What have you missed;

• Path of Fire Expansion possibly including all content therein - raids, maps, story, 5 mounts
• Nearly 2 seasons of story and maps and world bosses (1 of those seasons is ongoing)
• Strike missions
• Partial return of LS1 in solo instanced format via LS5
• Build templates (not entirely well implemented for a lot of players)
• 3 additional living story mounts - roller beetle, the WvW Warclaw and Skyscale (a semi-flying dragon)
• Return of Dragon Bash and Queens Jubilee/Festival of the Four Winds during the summer
• Lots of drama ;)

[Day Trooper.3605]

Thanks for the reply! I actually completed Path of Fire, and so at least I'm up to speed there.

Wow, fractals haven't changed during all that time?

Regarding the Living World updates, do you think it will be hard for me to catch up on the APs there? (given that the zones are probably dead now?)

And if anyone knows of a guild that perhaps can help someone like me complete older content then that would be great - thanks!

[Randulf.7614]

@Day Trooper.3605 said:Thanks for the reply! I actually completed Path of Fire, and so at least I'm up to speed there.

Wow, fractals haven't changed during all that time?

Regarding the Living World updates, do you think it will be hard for me to catch up on the APs there? (given that the zones are probably dead now?)

And if anyone knows of a guild that perhaps can help someone like me complete older content then that would be great - thanks!

They may have been 1 or 2 fractals since PoF, I forget but overall the only changes will be meta changes from balance patches and I have no interest in those so couldn't comment.

The population is spread and you wont find LS4 quite as populated for various reasons;

• They changed Living World dailies to be one map per day on rotation. So one map a day is decent, the others less so
• On EU, there is extreme server lag which is causing a lot of problems and preventing play. This has been going on since at least April
• The game World is huge, the game is not young and the population is spread thinly and concentrated in latest maps or festivals

You will get stuff done, but perhaps not as easily as before and maps will sometimes feel very empty or lonely at times (but not always). The Skyscale for example is not going to be a fast gain for an incoming player.

Icebrood Saga (LS5) is generally fine for player population

Strike Missions have lost a lot of novelty. Players in LFG are demanding raid proof for the harder ones which is somewhat self defeating. Anet have made a daily for Strikes, but there are barriers imposed by the community themslves. If you are good enough to raid/T4 Fractal though, you should be able to overcome them easily

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

You can browse this site to see what's been released over the past 2-3 years: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/

Welcome return.

[Lurana.7506]

There are a few new Fractals. I know for sure that Twilight Oasis, Deepstone and that pirate fractal (I forgot the name of) came in after PoF. Maybe more, I don't know since I started Fractals only well after PoF launched.

[Lurana.7506]

Apart from that I always felt the game quite populated - even in starting zones (I'm on EU).