PvE vs PvP - is this possible?

I'm planning on buying an MNMORPG, and so far, Guildwars:Factions is my number 1 choice. Character creations seems to be really great, and nicely balanced too. However, I've been reading about separate PvE characters and PvP characters. I was hoping to spend time doing PvE quests to get good items and such, and then using THAT character and THOSE items to compete against other players. Is this possible? And will this give me an edge against other players, or will an instantly-created lvl 20 PvP character be just as powerful?

p.s. I am aware that Factions is generally considered the worst chapter. This shouldn't be a problem, because if I like the way the game works, I will just buy the other chapters after a month or so.

It will give you know edge. Maybe even less of an edge. If you make a PvE character, you have to do quests that give you 30 attribute points. Then, you would have to buy a Perfect weapon. Once you have both of those, you'll only be EQUAL with a PvP character.

you do not gain any edge over pvp chacters by playing thru the pve portion of the game. All you gain is cool looking armor...weapons and such...but any of thier equipment is or can be just as good as any that you have or will have thru playing the game.

Yes, you can do it either way - work on a PvE character until you reach level 20 or just roll a PvP character. You can tell the difference visually when at the Battle Isles - the PvE have fancier armor bought during the gameplay and the PvP-only have the basic max armor.

More info at http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Main_Page

So does this mean that PvP just get maximum basic armor, but I could have a slight strategic advantage by taking an equal or, perhaps, lower armour which has a special magical ability or something? That's good enough for me

There are no magical abilities...You will have absolutely no feasible edge.

PvP characters are created at the maximum level in the game, they have max armor and weapons and can make use of any unlocked upgrades/skills.

A PvE character is created at the minimum level and work towards the maximum, the sam maximum as PvP characters. The only difference is the looks of armor and weapons, their stats are the same.

Actually, when I gvg, it does scary me a lil when i see three Warriors all in black dyed Primeval Armour, running at my lil PvP warrior with black dyed hand Axes and Black dyed Gloom Shields...

but yeah, PvE characters just look better

Not even differently coloured armour that might give me an edge because I could pick a colour that's hard to see?

I don't know. I think I'd feel cheated if I spent ages working on my character, and then someone would defeat me by clicking 3 buttons and getting a superior version of me. It'd be like losing a boxing match to a guy who just shoots you in the face with a gun - none of the skill and hard work, 10 times the power.

Also, doesn't the lack of magical abilities mean that even with all 3 chapters of the game, there are only 90 effectively different characters you could create? Since eventually, you will have all the skills and all the top items, and then every warrior/monk is an exact duplicate of every other warrior/monk. So what reason is there, then, for me to play Guildwars instead of, say, DotA, which is cheaper and has nearly a hundred different heroes, all of which can be played with about 20 valid late-game item configurations, leading to a total of close to 2000 effectively different characters?

there ARE "magical" armors, such as armor that +energy, +hp, +armor vs damage type, and +armor when you meet x condition, etc. however, pvp characters have access to all that as well, meaning that it is possible to create a pvp char that's equal to a well-equiped pve char.

it used to be that pve chars had a definate edge compared to pvp chars because of armor swaps and multiple weapons. now that's taken away for the better of the game.

Guildwars is about player skill, not who has the best weapons/armour.

Don't you think strategically picking the best items for your character is a skill? And don't you think people who have the skill to complete the hardest PvE quests should be allowed a slight advantage? Just giving them armour with 1 more defense than the maximum armour a PvP character could get would be stupid - but I'd like armour with less defense and some minor special abilities. Not more brute power, but more strategic options.

1 - You will have an edge over someone buying the game and just making a PvP char if you make a PvE character and play through the game first. You will have more unlocked skills,runes and mods. You will also have a fair idea on how the skills/spells work. This is the only edge you can have.

2 - Nope not a max of 90 characters. Each character has a primary and secondary profession so taking into the accoun the number of skills for each profession and the range of primary and secondary professions you can imagine just how many builds you could face, of course there are some favourites out there.

The only possible "edge" is that you could use for instance Slashing dmg type daggers, wihich is better if you run into "shields up!".

No, grinding should not give any benefits.

Well there are still a few things PvE characters can have and PvP chars can't, such as different kind of pets (different evolution, ie more damage and less hp or the contrary - also eventually pets dealing a different type of damage), a few weapons with weird mods, etc, but generally it doesn't make a difference.

I should also add it's really easy to make a PvE char just as good as a PvP char (who has the best equipement), thx to "green" weapons (with perfect stats - they're really cheap generally). Only sup vigor runes are quite expensive. However the advantage of PvP chars over PvE chars, even if you have the best equipement possible on your PvE char, is it's easier for a PvP char to change his armor/runes to enhance his build (you can't afford to have all the armor pieces possible with all the runes possible on your PvE char - nor the space for that!).

stategicaly picking the best weapons and armor is not a skill. if there WAS a best weapon and armor dont u think everyone would have it? skill is knowing what skill to use at what time and what skills counter other skills and such.

this is where i think your missing the point of GW. that pvp char is no stronger than your pve character, and vice versa. you are both on equal ground. what determines who wins is not who spent the most time grinding to get that uber sword or armor, but who is better at the game. GW is a skill based game, not a grind based one. top tier armor and weapons are easy to obtain in pve as well as the max char level.

you have the ability to have the exact same items as that pvp char, and again, its not that hard to obtain them.

as for lack of variety, your armor does not determine your play style. your weapons dont determine your play style. your build is going to determine the bulk of your play style. because GW only has an 8 skill bar, you cant just bring every single spell/skill that you like. you have to work and tweak your build so that it both is able to fit into your teams strategy, and can maintain its viability against whatever team you encounter.

Alright, some mixed reactions here. I've heard one thing I like:

"you have to work and tweak your build so that it both is able to fit into your teams strategy"

That's good. If you've got steady teams, there's room for clever skill combinations with a teammate. That just might persuade me to buy it after all

"stategicaly picking the best weapons and armor is not a skill. if there WAS a best weapon and armor dont u think everyone would have it? skill is knowing what skill to use at what time and what skills counter other skills and such."

This was just a stupid reply. I was clearly talking about DIFFERENT items (I'm used to items which give you bonus spells and stuff like that, that really affect the way you play) - not strictly better ones. And I definitely do think that choosing items that combine well with your skills and your play style takes more skill than cramming all the "spell X counters spell y" info into your head.

I just think that doing PvE quests should be rewarding, rather than merely something to do while waiting for your team to get online. But I guess the reward is that you're equally powerful, but look more stylish. And I like the idea of legendary characters that everybody fears to encounter. This won't happen if anybody can just click up the exact same character in a few seconds.

here is some good advice for you as well... check out the gladiators forum here on guru read some topics about the class you want to start with. Buy the game...create both a PVP and PVE character....Play in Random arenas so you can see what its like...then log into your PVE character to get a feel for how the game is played...once you understand the mechanics of the game and limitaions of an 8 skill bar...and 200 attribute points...then go back and play PvP if that is what you are mainly interested in or continue with your pve toon.

As far as the idea of a Legendary character...that is mainly your name. alot of people use the same name on thier characters with slight variations..but there is no doubt who you are up against..

if u value PVP i would definetly suggest buying the game and trying to find a good guild to get into. The pve portion is fair (i am a big pver but tis the truth) If you are really into ultrauberextradinaryweaponsofmassdestruction go play WoW