New(ish) player needing help

[Prof.7810]

So I bought this game when it launched and played it a little but soon discovered you couldn't progress because the quests levelled faster than the player did.

 

I decided to revisit this game after finding out that it has had some big updates since then. However, I am struggling with the starter quests and would like some help/advice if possible.

 

It doesn't seem clear what you need to do for quests. Is there somewhere in game you can clearly see what needs to be done once a quest is accepted.

Why when I attack using the key '1' does the icon seem to rotate, there is no explanation in the tutorial what is goin on. Should i be clicking it in time with the animation or is it just being fancy?

I have been turned into a wolf for a quest and all it keeps telling me to do for the quest is 'Learn how to dodge'! I have no idea what to do to advance this quest.

 

If there are some good guides for a new player what are the links to those (although tbh isn't that what tutorials in game are for?)?

 

TIA

 

[Turin.6921]

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It doesn't seem clear what you need to do for quests. Is there somewhere in game you can clearly see what needs to be done once a quest is accepted.

The game is open ended. It more based on exploration and dynamic event that pop randomly than traditional quests. A find you own adventure thing. The closest to traditional quests are the hearts so for the start just consider the hearts as quests. In the first maps there are even scouts that explain it to you.  But have in mind that the bread and butter of the open world are the dynamic events. Focus on finding these more than the hearts (they are often linked anyway). The hearts are there for guidance. Also follow your personal story. It pops up every 10 levels (it is explained in the journal).  The open ended style of the game might be very different if used to in other games but it is a strength of the game. You can enjoy without any handholding. Just explore anything you find interesting, you will find something cool behind that.

 

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Why when I attack using the key '1' does the icon seem to rotate, there is no explanation in the tutorial what is goin on. Should i be clicking it in time with the animation or is it just being fancy?

Its different forms of the same skill with different effects. Its basically an autoattack (skill 1) skill chain. If you hover over the skill you will see a full description of all forms. Please engage with the UI. Read descriptions. Everything is explained. Just do not skip reading the UI.

 

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I have been turned into a wolf for a quest and all it keeps telling me to do for the quest is 'Learn how to dodge'! I have no idea what to do to advance this quest.

These are probably two different things. They should be differently color coded in the UI to show they are different things. If you turned into a wolf from a heart the heart NPC will explain everything about what you have to do. Again do not skip reading either the dialog or the UI in the top right. These are the tutorials. You are skipping the tutorials and then wonder why is there no tutorial.  The "learn to dodge" part should just be a small tutorial on dodging that you have to dodge to take a chest near by. 

Some good guides for new players:

 

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by Turin.6921

[Rasimir.6239]

Welcome to Tyria!

There is one fundamental thing about this game that you should know: This game does not "do" quests in the way you know them from similar games. Instead, it works on the basis of events that happen around you. You can participate in them, but they usually come and go on their own schedule, not based on where you are in your leveling process.

 

Instead of quest rewards you gain loot and experience from everything you do: uncovering areas, waypoints, points of interest, taking part in dynamic events, killing creatures (which is only a small part of experience gain in this game), gathering crafting resources, and lots of other things.

 

There is no "clear" path through this game. It relies on you exploring your surroundings, participating in events, and doing what you find fun. You can even try out different map areas to see which one(s) appeal to you most. There are five starting waypoints unlocked for you on the world map that drop you off in different maps all made for level 1-15 characters. If the one you are on doesn't appeal to you, or you find yourself outmatched by the map (or map area) you stumbled into, just check out the other maps.

 

The rotating icon on the 1 key means that the weapon you have equipped has a skill chain on that key (for your character ... different classes have different skills on the same weapon). Hover over it when you're out of combat, and you will see a tooltip with all of the skills that are chained. Since 1 is usually set to auto attack, the game just automatically goes through that attack chain whenever you are in combat and your target is in range.

 

The "learn to dodge" event is just a simple explanation of the dodge mechanic. There should be a circle nearby with a chest in its center. Dodge through the barrier around the chest (default is the v key) and open the chest to complete the event. Getting turned into a wolf sounds like you started in the Wayfarer Hills as a Norn and either joined an event or a heart area (similar to quests in other games, although you are free to "fill" the heart with different tasks rather than having to do one specific thing), but they are not related to the dodge event, just possibly happen in the same area.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Here are some official resources:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/new-player-guide

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page

You can access the Wiki in-game by typing /Wiki (topic of choice) in chat.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Extended_Online_Manual

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions

 

There's this, in-game, to help guide you:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tutorial_(achievements)

 

Welcome return, and good luck. 

 

 

[Danikat.8537]

The main problem you're having is that this game doesn't have quests in any conventional sense. There's the personal story which is available in chapters every 10 levels (and from level 80 the living story) and other than that there's hearts and events but they work quite differently from what you're expecting.

 

Hearts

 

These are area specific and always available. When you're in range a notification on the right side of the screen will pop up with instructions. If you want to know more look for an NPC marked by a gold and black heart symbol and talk to them for more detailed instructions and the story behind it, but that's not required to start, you can just complete the tasks. There's usually a few options and any combination will fill the bar, once that's done you'll be rewarded automatically.

 

It is a good idea to talk to the NPC afterwards (whether or not you did before) because they turn into a vendor and offer some unique and potentially useful items for karma (and sometimes other currencies).

 

If you leave the area your progress will be saved, so you don't have to complete the heart all in one go. (Except in Path of Fire maps where they're repeatable, but you don't need to worry about them until you're doing the expansion.)

 

Events

 

These are functionally like quests but they start, progress and end on their own time scale, whether or not any players join in. If someone says bandits are attacking a town they won't wait until you're ready, they'll just attack and if no one fights back they might destroy or claim it. Like hearts you don't have to tell anyone you're willing to help, you just do it. There will be orange text on the right side of the screen giving instructions, markers on the map where it's relevant and there may be named NPCs you can talk to for more information if you want it.

 

Everyone gets their own XP and items based on their participation so don't worry if other players are already doing it, you can join in if you want to. On the other hand events cycle around so if you can't or don't want to do it now you'll have another chance later.

 

But it's a good idea to join in when you see them because they're one of the best sources of XP and items and most importantly they can be fun. You'll often see players talk about meta-events which are big chains of events that can impact an entire map with their success or failure (like unlocking unique vendors, or killing everyone). They often require large coordinated groups to complete and can be some of the most profitable activities, including chances at several unique rewards. They're actually one of the 'end game' activities in GW2, in as much as that term makes sense for this game.

 

8 hours ago, Prof.7810 said:

It doesn't seem clear what you need to do for quests. Is there somewhere in game you can clearly see what needs to be done once a quest is accepted

 

Yes, when you're in range the text on the right side of the screen will give you instructions. (Gold title and white writing for hearts, orange title and text for events.) If you want to know more talk to the NPC marked with a heart symbol for hearts or named NPCs involved in events.

 

You have to be in the area because as explained above you don't need permission or to state your intention to join in with either, you're either there and doing it or you're not. Progress on hearts is saved (and this can be seen by hovering over the heart symbol on the map), progress on events is not because they're tempoary, once it finishes it's done, whether you joined in or not.

 

8 hours ago, Prof.7810 said:

I have been turned into a wolf for a quest and all it keeps telling me to do for the quest is 'Learn how to dodge'! I have no idea what to do to advance this quest.

 

That's two different things happening in the same area.

 

Learn to dodge is a mini event tutorial for exactly that: there will be a chest nearby surrounded by two red circles which will knock you back if you run into them. To complete it you need to dodge into the circle, open the chest and dodge out again, so that you know about the dodge mechanic (which will be explained by a pop-up when you're close).

 

Being turned into a wolf is one of the events or the heart for the nearby wolf shrine, although I didn't think any of them turned you into a wolf any more, I thought they just had you follow some wolves. Either way there will be a seperate set of instruction on the right side of the screen explaining what to do to complete it.

 

8 hours ago, Prof.7810 said:

Why when I attack using the key '1' does the icon seem to rotate, there is no explanation in the tutorial what is goin on. Should i be clicking it in time with the animation or is it just being fancy?

 

The 1 skill is the default auto-attack and usually chains a few different skills, the icon changing is just showing it cycling through it's chain. You don't need to click it each time, or at all unless you've set your auto-attack to something else. If you interrupt the chain with another skill it will reset but that's only important in certain situations where you're aiming for the best possible DPS, which almost never matters.

[rotheche.2964]

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Being turned into a wolf is one of the events or the heart for the nearby wolf shrine, although I didn't think any of them turned you into a wolf any more, I thought they just had you follow some wolves.

There's the one nearby that turns you into a snow leopard.

 

[Danikat.8537]

23 minutes ago, rotheche.2964 said:

There's the one nearby that turns you into a snow leopard.

 

There is, but I don't think it would be possible to get from there to the dodge training area while transformed, if you leave the area of the heart it changes you back and the area for that is pretty small.

 

Unless it was bugged again, I know at least once in the past the automatic transformation if you leave the heart area stopped working and it was possible to run all over the map as a snow leopard.

[ReaverKane.7598]

On 7/14/2021 at 1:14 PM, Prof.7810 said:

So I bought this game when it launched and played it a little but soon discovered you couldn't progress because the quests levelled faster than the player did.

 

I decided to revisit this game after finding out that it has had some big updates since then. However, I am struggling with the starter quests and would like some help/advice if possible.

 

It doesn't seem clear what you need to do for quests. Is there somewhere in game you can clearly see what needs to be done once a quest is accepted.

Why when I attack using the key '1' does the icon seem to rotate, there is no explanation in the tutorial what is goin on. Should i be clicking it in time with the animation or is it just being fancy?

I have been turned into a wolf for a quest and all it keeps telling me to do for the quest is 'Learn how to dodge'! I have no idea what to do to advance this quest.

 

If there are some good guides for a new player what are the links to those (although tbh isn't that what tutorials in game are for?)?

 

TIA

 

As for your original "problem" that's a matter of pacing, and patience. I've started playing on the betas, and the quest pacing never bothered me, the quest level is mostly indicative, and instead of diving into the quest right off, i'd just explore the new maps the quest took me on, before doing the steps related. Just doing that kept me ahead of the quest requirements.

Nowadays, the quest pacing was rearranged so as not to be so in control of the player, and you get a new "chapter" every 10 levels, which alone insures that you'll always be at the quest's level.

There's a green quest objective indicator for quest objectives in the game at all times. But if you're having trouble, the wiki is pretty comprehensive.

The #1 skill is the "autoattack" in most weapons, especially melee ones it goes through a chain of 3 attacks, usually the third being the strongest. You can hover the skill icon out of combat to see each of the attacks in the auto-attack chain.

Learning how to dodge is important, all starter maps have a dodge tutorial, which is a chest surrounded by traps which you have to dodge through to get to the chest. Learning this is crucial for end-game. To dodge, you just press the dodge key (default V) and a direction if you want to dodge in a particular one. If you just press dodge it defaults to dodging backwards, so if you want to roll forwards, for the tutorial, you press dodge and forward (alternatively you can double tap a direction key to dodge, i'm not sure if its enabled by default, but you can enable it in the settings menu (default F11).

[rotheche.2964]

10 hours ago, Danikat.8537 said:

Unless it was bugged again, I know at least once in the past the automatic transformation if you leave the heart area stopped working and it was possible to run all over the map as a snow leopard.

BRB, gotta go see if I can be a snow leopard everywhere now.