WoW player coming to Guild wars :Factions and needs HELP!:)

First thing i am very sry for the noobiness and the noobi questions you will encounter in this post and sry if it is in the wrong topic

Hi, i am an ex-wow player that canceled my subscription, i am coming to Guild wars and just wanted to know some things about the game.

k so if u are wondering why i want to play guild wars: Factions is cuz many of my friends play it and they say it is good overall. On WoW i was a lvl 64 UD mage which is now gone So i leveled my char on WoW to lvl 28 then i started AOE grinding if u dont know what that is its means that u gather a whole bunch of monsters and kill them all at the same time with Area Effect spells which lvled me from then on to lvl 60. I was wondering if there is such a way to do that on Guild wars and what profs can do it.


My friends have a guild and they are mostly rangers and they say that they majorly OWN if u go with a good build, whats a build? cuz on WoW u have talents where u put points on what type of magic/weapon skill tree u want to go in i think it is similar.

Now i have played guild wars once and have totally forgotten how it was, it was on my friends acc. I remember that if u go in a portal u cant see any1 except monsters, but if go in a party you can see them.. right? And last question about profs, since i hate spell dmg classes i no i wont go elementalist , i want something like a leader of the group and like a armor tank that can heal himself and take on many monsters and ppl in pvp, im looking forward to something like that.

If u actually read this and will try answer it thx alot

Thanks in advance

-Syanix-

1) I'm pretty sure the level cap for Guild Wars was made to abolish any sort of grinding. If you just go through the primary quests and missions, you'll definitely get to level 20.

2) A build is a collection of 8 skills that are supposed to synergize in some way. Talents in WoW are almost identical to Attributes in Guild Wars. Each profession has 4-5 attributes. You use attribute points to higher these attributes, which, in turn, make related skills, weapons, and special effects of that attribute more powerful.

3) No class is really WAY better than another. My friend plays WoW and says that Rogues and Hunters are considered uber nubs. This is not the case in GW. All classes are somewhat balanced. You need strategy to compile a build. Then, you need skill to use the build to maximum effectiveness. Rangers are pretty good due to the fact that they can deal good damage, spread conditions, protect themselves to an extent, and have pets.

4) GW is an instanced game. This means that when you enter an area, the game makes a private copy of the area for you and your party. Yes, you can see your party when you enter a new area. This kind of play has its pros and its cons, but I don't want to create an argument here, so I'll leave that for you.

5) WoW has made you hate spell damage classes because your only experience of them is pressing buttons and grinding. About a class that you describe as "a leader of a group and like a armor tank that can heal himself and take on many monsters and ppl in pvp," THERE IS NO SUCH THING. What a horrible imbalance that would create, eh? An indestructible class... whew... Here are some classes you may be interested in:

Warrior: Highest armor in the game (80 and a little extra vs physical). Can wield swords, axes, and hammers. Is a viable tank. Has some potent healing skills. Equivalent to a Warrior in WoW.

Ranger: 70 armor with an extra 30 armor towards elemental damage. Wields bows. Condition applier. Mild survivability. AKA Hunter.

Dervish: My personal favorite class. Wields a scythe and wears magical robes and a hood. A scythe has the highest damage range of any weapon in Guild Wars. Has extremely powerful self-heals. 70 armor. Only available in Nightfall, though.

By the way, if you're a first-time player, Factions IS NOT the game for you. Try and buy Nightfall or Prophecies. Factions is a bit difficult and short-storied.

Also, GuildWiki is your friend.

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

All the information you'll ever need is located there.

I hope this helped, my hand is starting to hurt.

~Polynikes

lol thx for help and yes pressing buttons basically made me bored of mage and spell casting, i just hate waiting for spells ta cast. Mesmers seem a really weird and kool class cuz of illusion magic and stuff wat do they really do? and 1 more question can ranger do melee dmg aswell?

1) Mesmers deal indirect and direct damage through hexes. They are deadly in PvP, but not so much in PvE. With the new expansion coming out, ArenaNet says they will buff Mesmers in terms of PvE.

2) No. Rangers attack with bows. Their pets, on the other hand, are melee attackers.

GuildWiki ftw.

~Polynikes

buy nighfall, and start there since you get heros, which make everything easier

focus on one character, in propheses you wanted 3 characters to cover all 6 class permutations; with heros that isn't necessary, just take one character all the way (add others if you like, for fun)

choose ranger, necromancer, or elementalist for your primary profession; these 3 have seriously good primary attributes that permit you to use secondary professions of other classes; while the monk and warrior are popular (required, actually) for most parties, they arn't flexible -- at this time, avoid the mesmer for PvE, it's primary "fast casting" just doesn't matter in a PvE setting and Guild Wars keeps putting the "really good" skills in inspiration or domination where other classes can use them

play pvp, unlike wow, guild wars is about strategy and pvp is just fun; (mesmers rock in pvp btw)

oh yea, buy gold from the people selling it, it is a great way to get your account banned

Firstly, welcome to Guild Wars!

Now...I'd also recommend picking up Factions after one of the other campaigns. It's not the most newbie-friendly campaign out of them all. If you pick up Nightfall I think you might like playing the Dervish (wields a Scythe, can transform itself temporarily into a god).

Hope you enjoy your stay

Welcome to GW. If you want to solo farm, you're screwed.

KANE

Personally Prophacies is your best option, you don't need to but ALL most of your skill's the leveling up process is slow (your reahc max half way through the pve in prophacies in others you'll level up ATLEAST twice as fast

The profession and attribute information you will find on guildwiki will explain most of what you want to know. The site also has info on skills for each profession.

With Factions, the only professions available are Warrior, Ranger, Monk, Elementalist, Necromancer, Mesmer, Assassin and Ritualist. The mesmer and the assassin are the hardest to learn.

Playing a mesmer requires knowledge of what skills the monsters will be using (also found on the wiki) in order to create a build with the skills you will need.

The assassin requires a lot of practice. It is not a very forgiving profession as ineffective builds abound resulting in characters that die quickly in battle.

Your friends are correct in that a ranger is very versatile (bow attacks, traps, interrupts, pet, spirits) and is quite often the last one standing when battles go wrong. But they cannot play melee due to the inability to take large amounts of physical damage.

If you want to play safe, make a Warrior or a Ranger. Most pick-up-groups look for a "tank" which can be a Warrior.

Elementalist - you don't like magic -_-
Mesmer - a bit advanced ; never picked up
Assassin - hard to play ; also never picked up
Monk - if you liked Priests or Paladins, this is the class for you (except these guys have low armor and not-that-great damage output ; excel in Potection and Healing) *PARTIES ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR MONKS, THIS IS AN EASY RIDE THROUGH THE CAMPAIGN =]*
Ritualist - you can, but I don't suggest it. Spirits get boring. Channeling Magic is OK, i guess, but meh.
Necromancer - like dead bodies? play this class.
Ranger - As versatile as a Warrior, perhaps a bit more ; less armor

~Polynikes

from a GW and WoW player, i think you may be very disappointed from the pvp, and pve difference in each game

step 1. forget everything you learned in wow
step 2. stop thinking like a wow player
step 3. listen to the tutorials, you should get the game easily if you start fresh

I think depending on the class you want and choice, you can pick the right campaign...

If you want basic, the Prophesies is definitely my idea of a good run.

The grinding is pretty much gone in Factions. If you want to play for 'real' quickly, then factions is fine.

For the most options, Nightfall is definitely your best shot. Every class so far, faster grind than prophesies, but not as lightning as Factions.

I personally love factions cause I have an asian girl fetish [sadly, sin chicks don't have any busts, despite the cool cg intro movie regarding Shiro's sexy assailant...]

That and Factions kills the one thing that made me leave Ragnarok Online, the year long grind for level 99 [in real life, I shit you not]

If you already purchased Factions, don't go buy another chapter until you get alittle more experienced with the game. (You don't want to spend a ton of money on a game you don't enjoy!) If you didn't already buy Factions, I would recommend purchasing the original Guild Wars, Prophecies. Prophecies is pretty much set in the standard RPG setting, while Factions has an Asian theme and Nightfall has an African theme. Prophecies gives you access to the six core classes - Warrior, Monk, Ranger, Elementalist, Mesmer, and Necromancer. Factions gives you access to the core classes as well as Assassin and Ritualist. Nightfall gives you access to the core classes and the Dervish and the Paragon, but not the Assassin or Ritualist.

I would recommend that you play a ranger. They are one of the easiest classes to learn the basics of when you first learn the game. They are also useful in almost any party. As previous posters said, they are very flexible.

You may think you want to play a warrior. They are in pretty much every party that you encounter throughout the game. The problem is, they are way overabundant and it can sometimes be difficult to find a group. They're often steriotyped, too. Everyone wants you to play a tank, which isn't always fun.

Someone said that playing a Monk would be an easy ride through the campaign. While monks are in pretty much any party and are highly sought after for groups, playing a monk is difficult and might be boring to play for many people. This is why you shouldn't make a monk as your first character.

Elementalists, at least in early PvE, are sortof like your generic spamming spellcasters. In PvP, they can become much different, however. I honestly wouldn't make your first character an elementalist because you'll probably get the feeling that they are a spell-spamming character when you first play them.

Yeah, you should go with ranger.

lol ive got another question, my friend gave me his account and it has a lvl 20 ranger/ monk and a lvl 12 m/n and a lvl 7 warrior. The ranger has armor with full black color(What ever that is??) he says its really expensive.Well should i play that ranger or should i start a fresh one?

Yeah your right I don't know JACK about the game+if i play the lvl 20 char i would prolly suk ALOT

Welcome to GW!

I would start off with a brand new character. You'll hit the level cap and be able to afford max armor very quickly, especially if you're running Factions (can hit the level cap there within the space of a single afternoon). If you start with a brand new character, you'll have more time to learn the ins and outs of the game and how to create builds for yourself. 99% of Guild Wars is about your build (the selection of up to 8 skills you can fit on your skillbar) and how you use it, so the more practice you get the better you'll become.

And a note about the black armor that was "really expensive" - the armor itself wouldn't have been too pricey unless it's one of the prestige armor sets. Prestige armor has exactly the same stats as regular max armor, but looks a bit more flashy and can cost 10 times as much (or more, depending on the materials needed to craft it). However, black dye (needed to give your gear the black colour) is extremely expensive. Visit a dye trader in any major town to see how much the different dye colours cost to buy. If you get a dye drop in the game, hold on to it. The dye may be worth a lot more at a trader than you'd think.

Lol Im really confused in what GW to play theres ups and down for both, Prophecies has more missions and is harder to lvl and Factions is good for pvp and fast short lvling....which one?? i know there is many arguments over this but i don't want one on this thread

Prophecies campaign is too long, the map is huge as well. You don't level as fast and it'll take you quite some time til you're able to get max armor or higher level henchmen that'll actually help you some. Also, the two 15 attribute points quests are far into the map, max attribute points for a level 20 is 200.

The good thing about Prophecies is the ability to 'run' forward to towns/missions, sorta cheating yourself, which says something about this being a good thing. Also, skills and reward quests. There're quests that reward skills, so it's pretty cheap to get skills but you have to find and do the quests. There're quests that give weapons or items as rewards and some of them are 'valuable,' such as the furious mods for sword, axe, hammer, and that grim cesta for 55 monks.

Factions campaign in comparison to Prophecies is shorter. It is possible to reach level 16-20, get full attribute points before leaving the newbie island if you do almost all the quests there. Once on the mainland the quest experience rewards are a lot and it'll be easy to get to level 20. Made easier if you are careful and let the level 20! henchmen do most of the work. You can also get max armor upon reaching mainland.

There are no skill rewards in quests or weapon rewards, except the Monastery credits, Imperial Commendatioins, Equipment Requisitions or Luxon Totems which you can exchange with Quartermasters (npc) for items. No running really since most towns with the next mission are closed until you do a quest or mission leading to it.

There're also some nice skills in Prophecies you can't get in other campaigns such as Meteor Shower and Spiteful Spirit. Non-elite skills are sometimes scattered all over Propchecies and most of the good ones are near the end of the campaign, Ember Light Camp. Factions, has a skill trainer who offers a ton of skills pretty much as you reach mainlaind (Kaineng Center). Of course you can unlock skills at the Priest of Balthazar with your Balthazar factioin points, gained in pvp, to be able to get skills earlier in Prophecies trainers. Lastly, green (unique/boss) weapons drop all over Factions map while they only drop in Sorrow's Furnace and a couple other spots in Prophecies.

I prefer Factions over Prophecies. Separate the facts from opinions from everyone's posts and figure out for yourself what you want to do. If you're really into pvp you'll likely buy every campaign to stay competitive. If it's only pve, it doesn't really matter.

Diffenately DONT play the level 20. If it were me, I wouldn't even touch him unless I become experienced.

I reccomend Prophecies for sure, then Nightfall, then factions. Make a necromancer ranger or warrior, the first two are in my opinion some of the best classes for beginners. Once you do get the game send me a pm and I could give you a hand.

dude just play the game. quit hanging around the forums until u have a max lvl character of your own with at least 50k in the bank.

I've had a good 4 maxed characters and have never broken 30k; unless items count too.

okok 10k and i meant the OP.

Also remember that the Ultimate Boxed set edition is due for release any time now and that will include all three chapters and lots of collectors edition gubbins all in one box ready for GW:EN's release in september...

This may be your best bet, wait for it and see how much its going to actually be depending on where you are from, then with that installed, its just a case of asking which chapter to start you character in

Misleading I think...yes Rangers can be mele attackers, they can use sword, hammer, axe, etc as can any character in the game. The only thing is that in PvE it would be silly to give your ranger a axe and send him in with low level armor when you can just use your warrior...in PvP Rangers are used with hammer lots

Yeh ill think ill go factions, im installing it right now lol and all my good friends say it dosen't really matter which u play.

Hello!!

Ive played Guild Wars since it's releash and let me tell you it has gotten better . So you were wondering if there was something similar to AOE Grinding in Guild Wars? Well Anet have done a brilliant job in removing the whole grinding thing, as the max level is 20 and you level as you go through the storyline (Except pvp as you start already at level 20 hehe).

Well Im an elementalist and they can do Aoe spells, along with some other classes i might add. Were not exactly like the mages in wow, besides the whole magic thing. We have four elements we can command at will, kinda obvious eh? Water, air, fire, earth. ^^

Theres many other proffessions that have a different way of playing, warriors do melee, rangers do ranged. Theres ten professions in all, i read you have factions so that allows you all six core classes, plus assassin and ritualist. Nightfall has the other two, being paragon (Spear wielding ranged suport class) and dervish (Scythe wielding melee support)

Well i can give more info if theres anything you require assistance with. Feel free to whisper me ingame. Shadow Avatarn the name

Edit: Just a few typos etc

lol wtf???? i seriously got a problem i started a charachter and it has to dl 6000 DAMN FILES??? whats wrong?? do i have to dl maps every time i go somewhere?

Guild Wars will download stuff as you go along, unlike WoW where you have a huge install to start with GW will only download areas as you need them. Once you've downloaded the files, they'll stay cached on your computer and nothing will be downloaded unless there's an update. Updates are usually quite small, since the streaming download system means that fixes can be implemented as soon as they're ready instead of waiting until there's enough to justify a new patch.

The initial downloading sessions are a pain, I'll grant you that, but they let off. You can also let the client idle at the login/character select screens and if there's anything to be downloaded it'll do that in the background.

in total the game needs 95,000 odd different files and its worth getting them all before playing for the first time, especially as it increases loading times expenentially...

here's how to do it:

Make a second GW Icon on your desktop and rename it to "GW Image" or something similar

Right click on that new icon and goto properties and in teh Target box, you should have, "C://program files/guild wars" or similar (depending on where you installed to of course)

Now at the end of that add -image, so you end up with -

"C://program files/guild wars" -image

Now click Apply and double click this icon, now depending on the time of day and your internet connection, this can take as long as 5 hours to download (mine usually takes only an hour, 2 at the most and I do it every other weekend), but it will download and decompress all the game files so that it doesn't need to do them when you load into a new area for the first time

On a persoanl note, i have now moved this new icon into the start up area under Programs in teh start menu in windows and it checks for any new updates each and every time i load up windows and uses sweet FA system resources to do it... Just remember to us the unaltered icon to actually load the game though as the Image icon will only do as I mentioned above, and not load the full game

Hope that helps

~LS

Sorry, Syanix. We always forget to mention the initial download. Not intentionally, it must be hiding from bad memories. Basically, the initial download gives you all the static data that you need to that point of the game, and then additional data downloads occur as you move to a new area.

To avoid an a download while playing, follow Lonesamurai's instructions. The best time to do the initial download is while you sleep, it's less frustrating.

Sorry to bring this post up again but i've started and i made a warrior/monk its now lvl 12 because they seem really fun to play with, but there is one question i was thinking over, every one says hammer build suks?? i mean, i use hammer and it is really ownage it has way more dmg then axes or swords+ the skills are much better, and who cares if its slow it a 2H what do u think lol, and thx everyone for the help from this thread for me starting guild wars.

I like hammer myself too... but I don't use one in PvE and they really only come into their own with a good build

but yeah, nothing wrong with hammer

Well if hammer isnt good for PVE what is? i have a fiery dragon sword and a perfect shield but i hit very low with it.

Well if hammer isnt good for PVE what is? i have a fiery dragon sword and a perfect shield but i hit very low with it.