beginner

hi im starting guild wars in a few days but i need some advice if someone may advize me. first of all which game do i need? i see there is 3 and a new one is coming, are they expansions or can i get any? and can some tell me wat proffesion goes best with ranger

thanks if u help

Zenith

Three of them are campaigns (Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall), newest (eye of the north) is expansion pack, which need one of campaigns. You have to buy at least one of these campaigns to play, Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall. But don't buy Factions, Prophecies and Nightfall are much more better.

Yes, most recommend Prophecies or Nightfall (I just started GW on Nightfall a few weeks ago, its fun and entirely too addictive O.o)

Although you can find great builds on GuildWiki and on the Ranger section of this forum (go to those places when you want to build skill for skill), I think you'll find that most rangers tend to have the ranger-elementalists, ranger mesmers, or just ranger primaries (secondary doesn't matter) for PvE builds... PvP builds are a tad more versatile but often have monk secondaries. Well this is just my experience, I'm sure others could offer their opinions/advice.

why not factions? It's actually my favorite. Of course, I myself don't own Nightfall, but my friend does and I play more on his acount than mine anyway. I've played all of em, like em all the same.

Here's what it boils down to; Prophecies (just Guild wars if you buy it in a store) is mostly PvE, or player vs environment (normal rpg) until the end. I think factions tries to blend pve and pvp throughout, and nightfall is the best for PvE solo (in my opinion, i love heroes, and I can't have them on my acount 'cause I don't have nightfall ).

Prophecies begins off based on ascalon in desolation (once you leave pre-searing), though you move to snow settings and jungle and desert later, respectively. It has the least amount of characters to choose to begin off with.

I don't know enough about factions or nightfall to push you towards them, but I personally like nightfall the best (though i don't have it), with Factions my second favorite; for beginers, I recomend factions first, since level 20 (it's max level) is attained relatively quick. Prophecies, well... you can be about 50% through the plot and only level 18 (happened on my own ranger).

Hope this helps.

thanks for your help ill get nightfall i think
the game sounds quite complex but i hope i get used to it, any other beginner advice?

Best advice i can give is to find a decent guild when you first start playing. Any good guild will give you answers to any questions you may have and can even help you if things get tough.

you can either check out the guilds section of guru or go here to search through a bunch of guilds.

If you start with Prophecies which is the first game you start out in pre-searing which is the newbie area so you can learn. You have the option to try out the different secondary professions before deciding on one. That way you can see for yourself what works best for you. Just switch to the next secondary and wait to decide which one you will keep. Once you decide be sure to visit all the trainers for that profession so that you learn the most skills and can choose what build works best for you.

With any of the games you have this training period so you really can get a feel of what you like. The Nightfall game you get heroes that level up with you as you grow so that gives you a little extra help. Any of the games allow you to change your secondary about 1/2 way through the game with additional training or for a cost so you are not forever stuck with that choice if you decide later something else would work better for you.

Personally I would suggest Prophecies and Nightfall. GW:EN (eye of the north) is for level 20 players and can not be played without at least one of the other games. There are some bundled game packs that give you more than one game for a pretty reasonable cost so you may want to look for that.

Take your time, have fun. Don't sell your dye to the merchant for 1 gold as it is worth lots more to the dye traders. There are many guides that will answer all of your questions and help you make decisions.

Besides starting out on one of the best fan and information sites right here you can also check out http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Main_Page is a great resource. If you choose Prophecies you may wish to check out http://www.presearing.com/ as that site is devoted strictly to pre-searing.

Have fun and good luck!

1st off grats on choosing to play as a Ranger...definetely the best prof. in my opinion!

Nightfall is probably one of the better games to start off with if you are a newb!

the 1st mission acts a as very basic tutorial to the game...and how it works...

you can aquire quite a few skills at the start of Nightfall that will serve you well at every stage of the game!

for the 2nd prof. I would probs have to advise monk! just for the infinite "rez" power for your team-mates...

Aquire a good guild is always a good thing...check the forum a few below (PvE guild recruiting) look for a guild that say willing to help and take players of all levels and caliber!
they should be willing to help you develop your char...

if you have any questions feel free to send me a PM in game

my in game name is:- payne storm

im a ranger fanatic and can most likely help you with any questions you have...

BIG NOTE I FORGOT xD - the game is not complicated at all, seriously...it gets harder as you progress through it but thats the same for all games :P
the game is very simple to get used to and you will pick it up very fast...people in the majority are very friendly and willing to offer help..myself included...

feel free to send me a PM with a question...i will try as hard as i can to answer to the best of my ability!

any-who Nightfall probs. is best to start with as you can aquire heroes...(better versions of the henchmen) as you progress through the game...

so good luck have fun and looking forward to seeing you in the Guild-Wars community.

one other question is, is there one server or must i pick one, i hav a frend who has nagged me to get it and i wana be able o be on his server, do i need the same chapter as him also?

to give a small list of pro's and con's :

Prophecies :

+ nice learning curve, seperated tutorialish area
+ good story line
+ Probably the cheapest (be sure to check out the Platinum Edition, which basically is GW:P and GW:EN in one)
- the henchies suck, and so do most pugs, so you might be screwed till you get to know people

Factions :

+ Nice, relaxed PvP options
+ Elite missions
- very steep learning curve
- short storyline

Nightfall :

+ Heroes
+ nice storyline
- Newest campaign, so still expensive ...

Ranger goes with pretty much any secondary. However, for the sake of being able to resurrect someone more than once, monk or ritualist would be nice. Later on you can switch your secondary profession anyway.

if you want to play PvE with your friend, you need at least one of the campaigns he owns aswell (so you both have access to the same content. Other than that GW is "one big server" (ok, not realy, but you can meet up with everyone easely)

there are multiple servers...english,french (grr :P) german, dutch, int. (which is for if your mate is american...all you have to do is ask for your mates server then you can choose to enter that server!

ok so i can contact all u guys coy ur so helpful =)

yer if you need any help just send me a pm my names in the above post and
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good luck with guild wars...if you need help just send me a pm and i'll help you!

one last thing, Name, any ideas how to pick a good one i like having a good name. any decent name generators (non download) or any thing else?

nah...all you need to do is pick a name...it can be anything as long as its at-least 2 words no more then 19 characters and non-offensive...just choose something that you think is cool or neat! its up to you...just make a choice and you are happy with.

just dont make something that will make you look like a total idiot...i.e monkey scrotum or however its spelt saw a noob with that the other day...just makes you like like a pillock if you have a dum-ass name!

this might help hopefully!

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...42#post3086142

link to what appears to be a decent guild recruiting..seeming as they take people with any level of exp...might be really appropriate for you...probs. show you the ropes of playing the game ect.

Depending on which campaign you choose, just about every user-populated area has people spamming (or politely posted in the party menu (p)) guilds recruiting. If you can't find something here, you might want to look for people offering help in each area. Some charge for help, but it's not rare to find help. Just ask around in-game like you did here.

Well, think you're ready? Which game you think you're gonna get? If you get prophecies or factions, see you around!

thx again storm you've been a great help, i hope i can meet u in game

wouldn't be a problem if you want to...on mostly every day...if Im free I don't mind helping you with some quests or missions...normally vanquishing (title in-game) send me a PM and i'll tell you if and when I may be free to help...

do u hav nightfall payne? i think its the game ill get

well yeah About Proh its relly good but its allbout opinion according to nightfall and Factions Personaly Storyline in Nightfall was boring to me and quests as such werent the best lol
Factions are fun if you ask me one Its my favourite(maybe cous eit was the first 1 i got)
Rangers no problem are 1 of the best proffesions in the game now what they forgot to mention i thyink is about proffesions in Prop you get i belivee 6 basic profesions let me check
Warrior
Ranger
Monk
Mesmer
Necromancer
Elementalist
For Factions you get 2 additional
Assasin
Ritualist
Nightfall another 2 but you cant chose 2 from Factions
Paragon
devrish
Yeah unles some 1 else mentioned these sorry for repeating

I've got and completed all the games

Nightfall and Prophercies are the best games to start with...Heroes on Nightfall will make your life simpler (except for a few, who are just retarded and will annoy you persinstently).

Prophecies does have a nice newb enviroment at the beginning of it though (something for consideration) the starter area (pre-searing - you'll learn about the searing if and when you get Prophecies) has plenty of easy and fun to do quests in it! all enemies with a few exceptions are lv3/4 or lower so it is a good way to gain an understanding of how the enemies attack and respond to players etc.

its up to you, both games have serious pros / cons to them, have a look on www.guildwiki.org
www.guildwars.com

both are good sites...wiki is the ultimate guide site, guides to every quest,mission,skill and title...guildwars.com is the main official site, just something worth browsing over!

the game is up to you...I started with prophecies then played Nightfall and then Factions but it is up to you which game you start with...I've got chars who started in both Prophecies and Nightfall, my Prophecies char is my Ranger and my main character, Pre-searing is fun, lots of simple monsters and quests to do, nothing challenging;newb island in Nightfall (Istan) has just as many quests with a few basic missions that introduce the basic game mechanics to you...heroes big plus to Nightfall, Prophecies the enemies are weaker so you have a greater chance to survive and are less likely to be "pwned"!

small added note on the rangers!

rangers are probably the most versatile profesion you could probably choose to play, they have amazing ranged attacks, they can attack up close with melee without the massive risk of dying like some professions have (casters) they can "tank" (hold enemy aggro - while the rest of the team kills them - don't try till your adept with the ranger though, could go horribly wrong :P)
they are very good interupters, can actually play as a caster fairly well as well! had mine as mesmer 2nd'ary for a while, ran a nice mesmer build with my ranger (kinda rubbish - but good laugh)! worked too!

rangers are versatile thats what makes them so great, and an awesome choice to start out the game with...

one bit of advice, don't set your heart on playing as a ranger, best advice is create a char of each profession play a few quests and so-on with them until you find a profession you enjoy, may find there is something much more fun to play to you other then the ranger!

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professions note:-

warrior:- strong profesion specilise in melee attacks with either a sword,axe or hammer. good starter profession in gaining exp. with melee
ranger:- versatile with decent armour levels, can charm pets to accompany them into battle, ranged attacks hit enemies from above or from behind obsticles
monk:- heal your allys or smite your foes. god aweful armour (as of all caster professions) - maybe not a good idea for a newbie!
mesmer:- use your enemies strength against them, bad armour levels as with all casters, not good for newbies as they take some ability to play well
necromancer:- summon minions to aid you in battles, or curse your foe. caster, 'nuff said on armour.
elementalist:- use elements to your favour, air,earth,fire,water...casters armour ^^. nice professions easy to use, can aquire good skills early on!

Nightfall professions:- paragon:- use spears as your weapon, ranged attackers, along with warriors have the best armour levels in the game...can be used as either and attacking profession or a supporter to your monks
dervish:- use a scythe as your weapon, decent damage output, not the greatest profession ever (my opinion) mid-armour levels...

hope that helps a bit!

To add peple delberatly forget Assasins and Ritualist(Dont like either Warrior and its far not easiest proffesion to be trust me on this)
Assasin-dagger mastery like using e3ffects of the weapon poison the enemy and kill the enemy as fast as posible teleportation etc(good for suddent attaks and a good support unit
Ritualist-Summons spirits to protect attak give boosts take damage instead of the party good support as well but hard to manage in my opinion so take those 2 in And its all about opinion which is the best i must say story maybe fast but its interseting in my opinion lots of cultures in factions very good Different alliences wich will give you accses to certain points in the map an dbonuses as well So dont believe all you hear from Nightfall lovers and Prophesies exprts

Thanks Omel for ur advice, ive just ordered nightfall so i should be on soon!