What can I expect from Guild Wars?

My brother and I are ready for a change. We've been paying for our online games for the last 8 years or so and have grown to the enjoy the MMO environment, especially PvP. Due to life's changing circumstances, we no longer have as much time to invest into characters, and money has grown to be an issue as well. Guild Wars is free and doesn't seem to require any time investment, or at least a minimal amount of time, to prepare for PvP. I'm looking for some more information regarding PvP in GW:

1. Are PvP created characters truely a viable option, or will every lvl 20 PvE toon with quested gear destroy us regardless of skill. I understand that there is an inherent imbalance between PvP toons and PvE toons, but how large is that difference? Which leads me to question 2...

2. Is skill truely a big part of PvP in GW? I recognize that only having 8 abilities at any given time can have a huge affect on skill level, similar to EQ. But, is there a specific class with a certain skill list that has an IWIN button that kills all? I've read a few forums posts and have seen "IWAY Axe Warrior" mentioned more then once. One thing I really hate about most online PvP environments is when a game unintentionally creates a lopsided class in the area of PvP. For one, I tend to dislike melee classes like warriors to begin with, and secondly I don't enjoy it when half of the people I fight against are IWAY Axe Warriors because they happen to be the easiest class to win with. Now, I'm not trying to pick on Axe Warriors, I'm just using an example that I've found else where to make a point of whether or not a specific class is duplicated over and over because of its ease in PvP. (I, for one, have and always will play necromancer type classes, regardless of ease of play or not).

3. How much time and energy is needed to create a lvl 20 toon with good gear if we choose to go that route. And how many people are needed to group up to complete quests? We may have a 3rd friend joining us in the move, but will 3 people not be enough? If so, are there many friendly guilds still completeing the "noob" PvE content in GW? Or are most guilds focused mainly on PvP at this point in the game?

4. Is there high end PvE content? PvE is completely instanced from what I've read, but does that mean the group size is always the same, or does it depend on the quest? Are there some 5 man quests, and some 10, or even higher? And is each quest given a specific instance? OR is there 1 large instance with tons of people completing that same quest? Or can you even complete multiple quests in one instacne (similar to a zone environment?)

5. How, exactly, does PvP operate within the game? I've watched a few videos and read the manuals, but all I can gather is that you enter an area and begin killing other players. There also seem to be tournaments and arena matches, not sure if they are the same thing or not though. Do these matches occur in instanced environments? I realize that world PvP does not occur in GW, which is kind of a downer for us because we've always enjoyed world PvP ala Rallos and Sullen Zek and WoW. But we've also grown accostumed to instanced PvP after playing WoW the last year or so.

Looking forward to your replies.

1. All PvP characters are created at level 20 with max stat armor and use max stat weapons. Players might use a PvE character to unlock skills for their account which makes them available to that account's PvP characters.

2. While there are popular builds, there is no one character build that is best. The focus is for team builds, where your skills and actions mesh with the rest of your team's.

3. You can create a fully-equipped level 20 PvP as your first character the day you start playing. For PvE, it depends on which chapter you buy (see the sticky on this forum about "new players which game".

4. The instances are for your group (1-12 people including heroes/henchmen dependent on area/quest) only. The instance is created every time you leave a town or outpost or enter a mission.

5. PvP is team vs team in an arena or small map setting.

You should check our wiki for more detailed info at http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Main_Page

PVE characters have no advantage over pvp characters with the recent addition of free instantaneous pvp item crafting. Some people will tell you that weapon requirements are an advatage for pve characters, but this will make zero difference for all but a few circumstances that you'll probably never encounter.

From time to time there might be a certain team build that excels, in certain game formats. IWAY was only such a build for a brief time, and in a single pvp format, and that format, Heroes ascent, often has a popular build, not necessarily because it's the best, but because heroes ascent has alot of random pickup groups and having a popular build that everyone knows about makes grouping easier. The criticisms you hear on the forums, while justified and correct, don't pay much respect to just how balanced guild wars is compared to other rpgs. While there might be a *dominant* metagame, there's always a variety of viable builds you can run, many of which can counter that metagame.

Depends on the chapter you get. Prophecies will lvl you slowly, factions the fastests, nightfall somewhere in between. This is irrelevant for pvp. If you choose to pvp primarily, it can be just as fast to unlock skills solely by pvping with a lvl 20 pvp only character, who starts with perfect gear, that doesn't have to be leveled.
If you get nightfall, you can easily quest alone with 3 npcs called heroes, whose build and movements you can control, and 4 other npcs called henchmen who's build you cannot control. For others you only get henchmen, but they can still be beaten with only henchmen. Adding humans instead of npcs can make the game easier, and parties can have up to 8 people in them, but up to 8, you can get by with as few humans as you want.
Guilds and random players still play low end content, because it's normal to play through the campaigns many times on many different characters. If you join a pve centric guild, you will have no problem getting help.

Party size is always 8 max, but some people farm areas with fewer for increased drop rates. Every area is instanced except for towns, there will never be other players in a monster zone with you except your party. Also, there's tons of high end pve content for after you've beaten the game.

Here are the pvp types:
1) Random arenas: Random team of 4 vs random team of 4 on a random map, try and kill each other.
2) Team arena: Same, but you choose your team.
3) Heroes ascent: 6v6 (used to be and may be again 8v8), choose your team, and fight through maps with a variety of objectives, and then try and keep winning a gametype called Halls for good rewards.
4) Guild vs Guild: 8v8, your guild vs another in one or the others guild hall. Objective is to kill the other teams guild lord, an npc, but there are lots of extra things on every map that make this gametype very deep and complex.

There's alot more to than that on each gametype, but you should read guild wars wiki for more information about them.

Thanks for the replies and I'll check out the GW wiki, I"d read the GW website but I found it very lacking in specific information about the game. Everything was put in generalities.

I do have one more question pertaining to the PvE content of the game. How long do quests take? Is there a big difference between lvl 1 and lvl 20? And is alot of lvl 20 content focused on huge quests that take hours?

Welcome to GWs Warlike;
First I must say this has to be one of the best thought out and most intelligible question posts I have ever seen.

PvP only characters are never at a disadvantage to a PvE character aside from the fact when you first start off you will not have a great deal of skills available to use but the are easy enough to unlock either with a separate PvE toon or with faction which you will get from PvP battles.

Armor/weapons in GWs have a max so there is no leet gear that anyone can have an advantage with.
As far as skill for PvP every build/class has something out there that can shut them down and Anet goes to a lot of effort to keep classes balanced, probably the biggest thing that comes into play is teamwork and skill selections based not only on what you may be using but what classes and skill setups your teammates have.

There are several build sections here on guru that can get you started with what works and what doesn't but always keep in mind just because everyone else is doing it doesn't make it right or the only way to go. most people don't even understand the builds I make.

On the PvE side there are tons of people around and a lot of them who never get into PvP, sadly many of each dislike the other form of game play and I'm sure some will show up in your thread to tell you how much the other type of game play sucks so take that with a grain of salt and find out for yourselves.
All PvE content is instanced for your team and there is a lot of high level content spread throughout the 3 chapters to give you something to do while your not killing axe warriors

Theres a ton more for you to find out but just checking out the forums here and the wiki that Darcy linked too can answer a lot for you.
Feel free to PM me here or in game [Kanwulf The Viking] and I would be happy to help you get your bearings.

peace

There's plenty of difference between 1 and 20, but it won't take you much more than a day or two to reach it (or a week in prophecies). Everything before 20 is basically tutorial content, so you're meant to reach 20 quickly.

Quest times vary, but I've never seen a normal quests take longer than an hour, and that's on the very long end. It's worth saying that there are two types of quests, normal quests, and missions. Quests are as you'd expect, while missions have their own instance where you don't do any other quests, and cutscenes, complete with voice acting. Missions are usually to advance the storyline, and take longer, but they're still pretty fast.

It's very easy to get lvl 20, fully maxed out gear (look into "green items"), and complete the storyline in a reasonable time period only playing for an hour or so a night. The rewards for massive grinding and time investments are usually aesthetic, such as cooler weapon skins, or ego-related, like titles that appear below your character name (i.e. drunkard for drunking alot of alcohol, or explorer titles for exploring x% of the continent).

Quests and missions in general are fairly short through the game other than the high end areas and basically the level system is just a learning curve for you to get the hang of playing the game.
You will normally be level 20 well before the halfway point of any chapter of GWs.

ok, firstly, go here: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Main_Page

best source of info on anything GW related. as for your questions:

1. there is no difference between a lvl 20 pve char and a lvl 20 pvp char. you have max weapons and armor available to you when you start a pvp char. the only thing is you will have to unlock the bonus mods for you armor and weapons as well as all the skills, which are account based. this can be done either by playing pvp, which awards you in points that can be spent to unlock the mods, runes, skills, ect. the other option is to unlock them through playing pve, making them available to any pvp char you create.

2. skill is the backbone of GW. while you will have shifts in the meta-game, they are usually related to team wide strategies rather than a single uber class. as for your concern for concern about IWAY, you missed it by about a year. IWAY is a dead build format that was never that strong to start with, just easy to pick up and roll with. yes, you will always find skill combinations that work better than others, but there is enough diversity to keep the game from becoming stale.

3. leveling time depends on the chapter you pick. prophecies goes at a much slower pace, while factions gets you there rather fast, with nightfall somewhere in the middle. times range from a couple weeks to a couple days, depending on the chapter and your play style. and yes, there are many, many, many guilds who are devoted solely to pve or pvp, and many more that cater to both.

4. party size changes as you advance through the game. you will start out with a party limit of 4, later going up to 6, and eventually 8. there are a handful of places with more, but you wont get to them until later in the game. you can fill your ranks with either PUGs (pick up groups, random ppl in town who want to quest) or with npc henchmen. when talking about high end pve content, there is some available in each chapter. some have increased party sizes of 12 (the factions elite missions).

ok, ill try to explain how the instances work. you are in a town filled with people playing on your regions server. you form up a group with however many ppl/henchies you want. when you are ready, you leave the town and enter the instance. the only players in this zone are you and the members of your party. its your own little world. the same goes for doing the main story missions. once you enter the missions, its just your party and the enemy AI.

5. as for the different forms of pvp:

Random Arena: you enter enter one of several smaller scale maps with 3 other randomly selected player, and square off with another team of 4 randomly assembled player. considered the low end of pvp.

Alliance Battles: mob format pvp. 12 vs 12 (3 teams of 4) go up against each other on a series of different maps with a set of objective. a step up from RA, but still considered by many to be a lower end pvp.

Team Arena: same concept as random, except you choose your teammates and go up against other teams of players. miles ahead of RA and AB as far as skill/talent level goes.

Heros Accent: 6 vs 6 format. your team will fight through a series of maps with different objectives, with the winner progressing to the next tier. not what it use to be, but still can be fun with the right guild.

Guild vs Guild: top tier pvp. two guilds, 8 members each, go head to head. different maps have different things on them, but the objective is to kill the other teams Guild Lord, an npc located inside their base.

again, all this is rather simplified. check out the wiki for a more extensive look at everything ive already discussed.

*edit*
one thing to remember is that GW really starts when you reach lvl 20. everything before is just the learning curve to get into the play style.

Others have thrown in their ideas, but I'm bored and I will mine too. Where I contradict them do not take it as "disagreement" but rather a different experience.

Once you get to a certain point of unlocks, the PvP toons are *superior*. For instance, I have a dervish primary with a warrior secondary. That specific toon has nearly all the Dervish skills learned and about 3 or four warrior skills learned. My account, due to a previous warrior and time in PvP arenas, has probably 75% of the skills unlocked. What this means is that as a D/W my PvE toon can only choose skills she has *learned*. However, my PvP toon can use any skill *unlocked* - that means the PvP toon many many more skills to choose from. Same goes for items - my dervish has never found an ebon scythe of enchanting (and has never had a combination wherein I wanted to salvage the appropriate mods - in every case there has been a different mod I wanted more and the item was destroyed by the salvaging). However, having found them before (and unlocked them) my PvP Dervish can make *any* combination of things I have unlocked.

In the end, PvE toons take time and money to get full changeability that is character based, PvP toons take unlocks and that is account based. Unlocks come from finding them in PvE or through faction earned in winning in PvP. PvE rewards work in PvP, PvP awards do not work in PvE. As to which is faster - depends. Mostly play the PvE campaigns for fun, once done unlock the rest with faction. The thing that PvE toons gain is that we have access to rare or expensive skins on weapons/armor. GW is about balance - max stats on anything are pretty easy to get. After that skins and what color it is dyed is where the rarity comes in. PvP toons all get the exact same choices and nothing is harder to get than anything else, PvE has many many many choices in very very different cost/difficulty levels. However, stats are identical - only looks are different.

I cut a lot of your questions because they are all answered the same. Max stat weapons, armor, and skills are trivial to get in GW. Grind only gets you a larger pool of builds to choose from or unusual looks - not good/bad builds. This is true in PvE also - skill is always greater than time spent. For some this is great, for other not so. If you hit a block that you can not go further then you can not grind for more levels - you have to learn how to get past it. Time or gold spent is easy to increase - skill is not.

Depends on several things. First, which campaign are we talking? Prophecies has a shallower learning curve and leveling curve - it take the longest. Factions has the steepest. As to which is better - dunno. I started in prophecies and liked the learning curves and generally think it is better. Nightfall is a good compromise. In the end, if you are used to other MMO max stats will be available VERY quickly no matter what - in fact so fast you will probably not believe they are max

Well, that depends on several things. First, guilds will vary. There are many that are PvE oriented and will help any where. Since I play with the AI only you will have to ask about PUG's. If you play Nightfall then the heroes allow only two humans to group and have a pretty good AI team. Each human can have three AI constructs that they can control (in missions that allow more than four people) so two can have a full team of heroes and humans. In the absence of that you can have one human, three heroes, and four hench (Anet supplied AI). If you do not have Nightfall then only you and the rest henchies. Heroes are only acquired in the Nightfall campaign. Hench are the same for everyone, heroes *you* give them their weapons, skills, and runes (skills from unlocks, the rest like a normal PvE toon). This is both good/bad in that they really are only as good or bad as you are - there is no one else to blame if the fail.

It depends on the outpost one starts from. Instanced will always be your team, and you team only. The size of your team depends on where you are in the game.

There is high end PvE content. As to how much you will enjoy - unknown. My experience is that PUG's or solo (with AI) - not so much. Guilds lots. I rather suggest you see other threads on this.

Since I do not PvP enough to comment I will leave the rest to others. I probably know the answers, been around long enough to see them. But without personal experience I will not say.

Finally - to counteract any negative things I have said - I have never had over 200 hours total in any other game. My Dervish - a class that is exclusive to the last campaign - has 241 hours. I have well over 1000 hours in game. To many hard core players that is absolutely nothing, I do not present it as something to be awed by. What I do say is that I have never found another game that I enjoy as much. The constant skill balances (yes, once you find a powerful build it *will* get nerfed - you will *never* be uber or "get ahead"), the focus on skill vs time/gold spent, and the general story in general has kept me here. Not only is each character a different play through the game, the constant skill balances mean I can replay missions and still find them fresh from time to time.

-- you can accumulate hundreds of different skills across all your characters' professions, but each one can only carry 8 at a time
-- you can only carry one Elite skill (out of the 8 you're allowed to have at once) no matter how many you've accumulated
-- high level or end-game weapons/items are only minimally better than mid-range equipment (the biggest difference would be in armor protection differences from starting PvE to end-game PvE armor); in many cases, high level equipment really isn't all that fantastic even when compared to low level items
-- game is so well balanced that there is no one class nor one particular skill nor any one skillset/build that can best anything else in the game
-- developers are constantly tweaking various skills if any of them appear overpowered or underpowered
-- realize that unlike many other games, you can achieve the max level rather quickly; the game isn't about grinding for levels, it's about the successful and knowledgeable use of the character skills at your disposal

Now, take all that I wrote above (and what some of the others have said here) and know that in order to be successful, you need two primary things:

(1) player skill -- by this I mean your own ability to learn the skills at your disposal, which skill works best with other skills in your selection, which skills work best with other skills that other players in your team will be using, and which skills will work best against what you think you may be faced with; you'll only learn these things as your own personal skill with the game gets better

(2) teamwork -- again, which skills will work best with the other players in your team, how well do you communicate with other members of your team (if in a guild, do they use TeamSpeak or Ventrilo?), and ultimately, the realization that you absolutely must work together as a cohesive team

Good luck, I hope you enjoy Guild Wars, and welcome!