Guild Wars vs WOW questions?

I have been playing warcraft for a couple of months now and i really enjoy it. What i enjoy most it all the different classes and all the different spells.

I wanted to try out guild wars and noticed a lot of the same classes. Are the classes in GWs just as unique and fun as in WOW? My favorite class the hunter in WOW is in GW as the ranger. Does he play the same?

How are the different spells in this game?

What i like about GWs is that you only have 8 spells equipped at 1 time. I must say i am no longer as hardcore as i used to be remembering 20+ hit combos in Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. So only 8 at a time is manageable for me.

Can someone give me a quick list of what the characters in GW relate to in WOW?
Hunter = Ranger
Warrior = Warrior etc...

Are rangers pets viable in PvP in GW?

Thank you.

While I'll answer your question, I really really have to say that you absolutely should not view GW as a "cheap alternative to WoW". They are very different games that have very different styles of play.

That said, drawing from my brother's ridiculous amount of time spent in WoW...

Warrior = Warrior
Ranger = Hunter
Necromancer = Warlock
Elementalist = Mage
Monk = Priest
Mesmer = Pretty unique, not sure here
Assassin = Rogue, probably
Ritualist = Shaman

Ranger's pets are only moderately viable in PvP; while their damage and armor and survivability are fine, their AI is absolutely abysmal.

Guild Wars is like a collectable card game. Your main goal is not to reach a high level, it's to aquire lots of skills. From all the skills you can build a "deck" (your 8 skills) depending on what you need for what tasks you're trying to fulfill. Sometimes you might set up as an elementalist that uses fire skills, other times you would use earth magic skills. Sometimes as a monk you'd be a healer, other times you'd use Protection Magic skills, which focus more on preventing damage than reversing damage. As a warrior you might either set up your skill bar for a sword warrior, or set up for an axe warrior.

It's not really easy to compare GW to WoW directly, or to anything else for that matter. It's gameplay is pretty unique. And it could in no way be compared to arcade fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. O.o

Don't buy GW if u like WoW. They are quite the opposite.

I happen to like both. And I am sure there are other players who have played both and liked them. A bit more research on the game will determine it's value when it comes to purchasing the game.

Thanks for all the great replies. I am picking it up today most likely if i have the time. I have read the reviews and it does seem like a lot of fun. Why can't i like guild wars if i like WOW? WOW is a really fun game, yes it has "grind" syndrome. But just yesterday for example i spent my time working on my profession of leatherworking. I also fished for a little while. There is so much to do it is ridiculous.

However i do enjoy other games. Like FPS, RTS, Single RPG etc... I definately see the value in guild wars. Besides a lot of times while playing WOW i think to myself I really wish i had a great Quest/Story style RPG. Guild Wars gives you this with their PvE storyline. PLus they give you the jump in fragfest of a FPS. I don't know sounds like i would enjoy a game like that. Im not looking for a WOW clone, i already play WOW for my WOW fix.

2nd - I wasn't comparing them to Arcade fighters like MK and SF. I meant to say these games have progressed and are now to the point of being ridiculous. I mean who needs to memorize 20 moves to learn a special move or combo. No thank you.
So like in WOW i have no less than 5 bars worth of spells all over my screen(I changed the default UI). I like how Guild Wars only lets you have 8. This makes it simple for players only having to click 8 things, BUT still keeps the strategy level high when you have to decide which 8 to bring in. This gives you the best of both worlds. High level strategy and simplicity of play mechanic.

I really however have not seen any review of the classes like mesmer etc.... comparing them to their WOW counterparts. Thats really why i asked. I mean my hunter in WOW is a leveling machine, where i can pretty much tame any beast. Is the ranger the same way? What is their equivalent to the Hunters aimed shot in WOW ( Single shot highest damage dealt)?

Do the traps work the same way?
How about Aggro from monsters? I hear it is nearly impossible to fight one enemy at a time in Guild Wars because enemies have huge aggro ranges. Is this true? Is your character overpowered in this game at same level, because in WOW if you aggro 3 things at once of the same level, with most classes your pretty much dead.

Thanks.

The mesmer is pretty unique. It's not so much a straight damage class as an "annoyance class", most mesmer skills bugger up the opposition (interrupting, stealing energy, disabling or even stealing skills...). When played right a mesmer is the most hated player on the field.

All professions in GW are about equal wrt viability, and there are no gimped combinations of professions (you select two professions for your avatar) although in PvE warrior and monk are a bit more equal than the others...

Nah. It's just that for some reason people refuse to learn that if you charge into a big bunch of monsters all of them will attack.

Depends on what you're fighting, and your combination of skills, but normally you wont be fighting alone, you usually have teammates, either humans or npc henchmen.
However, maxlevel for players is 20, and there's monsters up to level 30, and they're killable (in some cases even soloable).

From what you say, it sounds to me like you'll love Guildwars. Welcome.

It's not that you can't like both games at the same time but you simply can't compare them, so don't expect GW to be anywhere near the same as WoW - GW uses a completely different concept than pretty much any other RPG game there is.

So basically when you're asking about a thing like "aimed shot" I have to say there isn't one. And traps are nothing like in WoW.

Also in GW you *always* play in a group be it with other people of henchmen, you can't just run around solo as you can in WoW most of the time. And when coming from WoW you will probably feel like you are getting jumped by monsters from all sides at first, GW is a lot more 'chaotic' than WoW.

Aggro is completely different, there isn't the hate-buildup like in WoW and you can body block - monsters will usually go after the weakest member in the group. This doesn't mean you can't try to manage aggro you just do it in a different way. And mobs pretty much always travel in groups of 3-8 (group means if you aggro one they will all attack).

Again try NOT to compare the games, it's pretty pointless they are only similar on the surface - the way the games actually work and how you play them are completely different.

It is completely possible to like both games, but you really can't compare them.

Oh and a mesmer is a 'denier' - you don't actually have many direct damage spells, but you are the master of interrupts, energy drain and such - it's probably the hardest primary profession to play.

I have a question, since I'll be new to the game as well.

Is a Mesmer like the EQ version of an enchanter, maybe?

It sounds like a class I might be interested in playing, however I plan to mainly duo with someone (and add in henchmen), and I figured to do that the best, I would probably have to be a healer type, with him being a warrior type. I figured this would be best for PVE, as well as PVP.

Would it be possible for those two types of classes to duo and still have one of them heal somehow (I'm new to the game so I don't understand how or if class skills can be combined).

Honestly I can't say I know the EQ enchanter, but I assume it would be.

But check out the Wiki, it's probably the best way to get a feel for the class

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Mesmer


And you don't need to have a "real person" as a healer, there are healer henchmen as well.

Well, I've read that some times you have to deal with a lot of monsters at once; in EQ, enchanters were the main form of crowd control. You pull three monsters, they can "mesmerize" two of them, so they sit there and do nothing, allowing you to essentially face one monster at a time.

Do Mesmers in GW have any skill like that, or is the game made so that it's not necessary to "mez" monsters so you only have to fight one or two at a time from a group?

Also, I figured that having an actual healing partner in a duo would be really beneficial in PVP, or am I wrong?

Actually no Mesmers don't have exactly that type of spell, two professions have that kind of spells - Ritualists have a ritual called "Binding Chains" and Monks have "Amity" and "Pacifism".

I never played EQ but I did play WoW and I remember that kind of spell, but again GW is not really like those games, it's much more fast paced and "taking out" a mob is not something you do a lot also spells in GW in general have a lot shorter duration than in EQ/WoW.

And yes for PvP you DO want a real healer (actually you want real everything) - I was thinking of PvE where you can pretty much play the whole game just with henchmen.

From the sound of it I think you would enjoy playing a Mesmer/Monk and it's my favorite as well, it's good for more defensive work, if you want to be more offensive Mesmer/Necromancer is good as well it will give you the ability to put a ton of hexes (curses) on mobs and is very effective.

It's a lot more complicated in GW than being able to just face one monster at a time. Check the skills here for a better idea:
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Index_of_skill_lists

In GW PvP, there are always teams of the same number within a confined match, unlike in other MMOs where people run around ganking with uber weapons. But yeah, healers are usually needed in GW PvP.

Really, you should explore the guildwiki page to learn about the game.
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Main_Page

The things I liked about WOW better were:

1. more open world (fewer instances and less forced pathing)
2. more cooperation - lots of people walking by who would help you kill stuff
3. auction house and email system - very little spam

Things I didn't like about WOW:

1. Ninjas!! - people who steal chest stuff you fought so hard to get to
2. respawning monsters - necessary due to the open world
3. level grind - unless you want to play a LOT, it takes forever to get to good equipment and stuff
4. monthly fee

In the end, I stayed with GW.

Wait monsters don't respawn? That's freaking great.

Thanks for the Wiki link

How do deaths work if the world is intanced just for you? Do you start at the beginning do the monsters respawn if you die etc...?

Thanks.

You and your team (if you all die) respawn at the closest resurection shrine. With one exception that I can think of, monsters don't respawn, but you suffer a 15% death penalty (maxed at 60%).

Many have been the quests I completed with 60% DP.

ive found that allthough you CAN like both games, people rarely do. some of this is loyalty lol but a lot of it is because they are both VERY different games. the play style is different. the main reason that i chose GW over wow is that its MUCH easier to be a diverse player. in wow it can cost LOTS of money to change "builds" to switch talents and then buy the skills you need can cost you what 50gold(wow gold NOT GW gold lol) in GW you simply change atribute specs. no harm no foul. the most you could spend would be the 8k needed to buy ALL new skills. and thats if youve already bought a lot cause the prices start at a lot less. its easy to get to lvl 20 and then play whatever you want. cause i know i sure dont like lvling.20 is enough for me. hell if they let us PvE with a premade lvl 20 id do it lol.

A death penalty reduces your Health and Energy(mana) btw.

If you (and your entire party) dies in a mission (different from quests) your entire party gets warped back to the outpost of where the mission originates.

PvP is also very different than other MMO PvPs. There is no "Free for all" arena, and because combat areas are instanced, there's no "random" killing (like in Lin2 which I hated since any high level character can go gank some newb trying to level).

The Classes in WoW may seem similar to the professions of Guild Wars, BUT in GW, you can actually pick 2 of them, and that offers quite some interesting tactics in the game... there are Ranger/Warriors who use pets and a warrior's hammer, or the Ranger/Necromancers who constantly steal health with reduced cost for the use of those health stealing necro skills, or Mesmer/Monks who use their Fast Casting Primary attribute and the Monk's resurrection skills to bring up teammates back to life at almost twice the normal speed, and so on, and so on...

It's worth a shot

Also, you get at least 4 free character slots. With easy leveling, that means you can switch not only skill and attributes (and secondary classes) within one toon, but switch from one whole character to the next easily.

GW is basically like like an MMO within an MMO. Less world-based immersive stuff, but more and denser action.

I took the plunge and bought the game today. I started two characters

Ranger/Mesmer combo. I found it to play a little different to a WOW hunter. Such as no melee needed, you can still fire arrows at point blank range.
Maybe i havent learned any skills yet, but can you actually control your pet?
For it to attack i have to attack, i cant independently control her and she has no special pet moves, like in wow they have dash, prowl, claw etc...

Is this the case or is it just early?

Okay i liked that combo but wanted the hunters pet only with melee abilities.

So my real toon is a Warrior/Hunter combo. There are 3 talents i really care about. Strenth, Swordsmanship, BeastMastery. Do i have enough points at 20 to max all 3?

Things i dont like are:
-Very linear as in you have invisible barriers, i hate that. If i want to jump off a cliff let me.
-The fact that if you left click the screen your character moves there. Dont like that - id rather have left click do what C or tab does. Highlight an enemy so i can see its level/stats.
-Lack of professions like trade skills (Leather working, mining, skinning etc...)

All in all though the game is a blast.

WOW to me is better overall (Why cant wow have instant travel!) but there is no denying the quality of this game. Graphics, lack of loading, fun factor etc...

So when do i get to first hire henchman? Im still in ascalon city area.

By the way my character is level 4 right now.

Edit:
Forget what i said about mouse walking, i actually took a look in the menus. Disbabled mouselook and enabled double click to attack interact. That should help me out big time.

No, you can't give your pet explicit commands like in WoW. There are 20+ pet skills you'll find later but they take up slots on your skillbar.

OK, here's the deal. Attributes (talents) can be raised to their natural maximum of 12. But attributes of your primary profession can be increased past 12 with runes and armour. Secondary attributes (beastmastery in this case) can't. You wouldn't have enought points to "max" all three. The best combination I can suggest is 12 Sword, 11 Beast and 6 Strength (and then you can increase sword and strength with runes). Strength is not really as effective as it might seem.

You're in the tutorial 'Pre-Searing' area right now. When you're done here you'll be taken to the real world, and there will be henchmen here.

Stop comparing it to WoW and you'll see what makes it good.

If you only want GW to be WoW without a fee you will be VERY dissapointed - as it has already been mentioned numerous times you can't compare them - so please stop doing that.

I agree with Ole Man Bourbon on this one. I picked up WoW not that long ago, and I tried to compare the two games. I gave up, there's just nothing in common that's actually worth comparing. Both are fun games, though, once you find what it is that makes each fun.

I swear, when I first started playing GW, I felt like a min-maxer. I was CONSTANTLY tweaking my attribute points and my skills, trying to squeeze out every last drop of damage that I could get (and that was back when there were still refund points for attributes). Tweaking is this game's bread and butter, spending an hour testing and brainstorming and finally suceeding in making something that actually works and does what you want it to do. No better feeling in my opinion.

I'll say MMORPGs like SWG and WoW have their charms. But for me, the on-and-on-and-on element got old after a while. GW is basically a condensed version of those games--less social element, less leveling, less camping; but much greater emphasis on tactics and strategy. It's just less BS really, in the end, at the expense of big worlds (which do get kinda stale anyway).

GW has one selling point that no MMORPG can match: the average Joe has a fair shake and even playing field upon which to test his PvP skills. PvP is actually fun in GW, not a liability as in most MMOs.