I love the game - I just don't understand it.

This is my first MMO, and I'm having a bit of trouble understanding how I should go about my GW life. I'm in post searing now, as a lvl9 W/Me. I've joined a Guild and the people there have been very helpful, but I still have a few questions and the in-game chat is too limiting, so here I am.

1) How do you go about acquiring better weapons and armor? Do you just talk to merchants until you find something you like, then get him to craft it for you? Or are you supposed to get them from mob drops?
2) Speaking of mob drops - most of the time I get stuff that doesn't even apply to my class or is far weaker than what I'm carrying. Should I straight-up sell this crap to merchants or keep on using salvage kits to bulk up my collection of crafting materials in my Storage Box?
3) How should I pace myself? It's easy to just run from quest to quest in a tizzy, but is it better to take it slow, go hunting, help weaker players, etc? I guess I'm just wondering if finishing PvE and being Level20 is the main goal or if just getting there is the best part.
4) Is there an easier way to enter trading with someone or invite them to your party than hitting TAB through the entire town's roster until you find him/her?
5) How do I fight PvP matches? Where are the arenas?

I think that's it. Answers to any or all of these questions would be greatly appreciated.

Take care!

1) Basically, yes, as you progress through the game, talk to armor/weapon crafters and collector NPCs and see if they offer something that's better than your stuff and that you can afford (the last point is always an issue for th first time). Weapons also drop from slain monsters, but it is a matter of luck to find something that's really good. For the start I would recomment you to keep a close look on collectors, as they offer the most affordable stuff.

2) Pick up everythign that drops and bring it straight to the merchant, as long as it doesn't have any other use. That's how you make money. Identify everything that isn't white (in later areas you should even identify the white stuff, it will increase in worth), salvage only what is "Highly salvagable" or Runes and Weapon Mods that are interesting.

3) GW has different goals, depending on your play style. For your first character, you should definitely take it slow until you know what it actually is that you want to achieve with your character. Give everything a try.

4) You can directly enter their name in the party formation window. You can also hold down the CTRL key to highlight all names in range and look for the right one. That's not feasible in large or crowded outposts, though.

5) I'll leave the PvP part for someone who actually does PvP.

5) At your level, you are able to battle in the Ascalon Arena which is for characters of under level 10. Essentially, it's RA (random arena). You hit "Enter Battle" (or Mission, I forget), and after you enter, you are placed with 3 other human players. You are either on red or blue, and you fight the other side. Remember to bring a Resurrection Signet. Once you reach level 11, you are barred from entering the Ascalon Arena. Your next arena is at Yak's Bend. Same as Ascalon, but up to level 15.

Good luck.

Thanks guys.

Eightyfour - so you're saying I shouldn't salvage standard items, like Charr gear? I should just sell it?

Shadowfox - Where is that arena located? I'm having a heck of a time finding it.

This is often said in this section,- but it can never be said to often:
check the Wiki - it is your friend providing you with many, many answers to many, many questions

Wiki have several guides for getting started (one for each campaign),- lists of armor with pictures, prices, where you can get them, etc.

Hope you find your feet in this wonderful game and keep asking questions when you get stuck!

Cheers!

Edit: There's several maps here (Wiki map section ) - with all towns and outposts.

Salvaging things may not be worth it. You waste 1 salvage try for some tan hides or something. Higher the item is, the better the salvage. Case in point, you can get a fur square from a Char Hide, or a Tan hide from a Char hide. You can get like 5 or even 15 tan hides from a piece of armor from a more powerful monster (or even steel ingots). Remember drops from weak monsters tends to yield weak materials.

Ascolon Arena is the opposite end of the entrance to Ascolon city (in post war). Near Sir Tydas (just follow the wall and you'll see a guy for the arena.

Hope that helps.

5) Other then the arenas designed for new players under lvl 20, when you get to lvl 20 you will be able to fight in the battle isles which is where most of the arenas are located at. If you are in a guild, you can travel to the battle isles through your guild hall which is also located on the battle isles. If not, you can travel by boat which you will unlock by reaching the city of lions arch.

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

Talk to Meghan the Arena Guard in Ascalon City.

[QUOTE=Pick Me]Salvaging things may not be worth it. You waste 1 salvage try for some tan hides or something. Higher the item is, the better the salvage. Case in point, you can get a fur square from a Char Hide, or a Tan hide from a Char hide. You can get like 5 or even 15 tan hides from a piece of armor from a more powerful monster (or even steel ingots). Remember drops from weak monsters tends to yield weak materials.

Ok yes that is true but there are 2 things to keep in mind...

1) If you want rare materials like steel ingots than you need to use an expert or superior salvage kit
and 2) dont just assume that a sword will give you steel ingots as i have salvaged more steel from canes and truncheons then swords (go figure) .

The Alt Key is your friend. Hold it down and spin around in town. You can find anybody that is supposed to be there that is an NPC, gates, merchants, etc. They will highlight. It is also very useful out in the game as it will show you where things are like treasure chests, zone gates, collectors, etc.

Holding down the ctrl key in town and you will see the names of other players. This is great for finding guildies or getting over to people who are taking to you that you want to trade with.

Guild wiki is your friend.

1) First off, in GW you can only get armor from merchants--nothing from mobs or even other players is wearable. Now assuming you are talking better in terms of functionality, rather than aesthetics, I think you can get decent stuff to drop from mobs. I've never purchased from merchants. You know that there is a maximum "damage rating" for swords: 15-22 ? If you aren't above asking your higher level guildmates, they should have no problem finding you stuff that would be worthless to them but you could use.

2) I'll only salvage items if my inner pack rat is telling me that I don't have enough tanned hides/cloth. When it is satisfied, I go back to selling all that crap.

3) The game story can be completed in just a couple of days. So eventually you'll have to do other things like hunting etc. In my experience, if you found something last time while hunting, then you'll want to hunt more. If you had a good time grouping with someone last time, then you'll want to do it again--and there are a lot more memorable things that happen when you group with other people. But on the flip side, if you've recently been burned while hunting/grouping/etc., then you'll want to just keep to yourself for a bit. Really, it all depends on what you feel like doing at the moment. There is no grand objective to these MMOs...one reason why they suck so many people in though is for the (random) human interaction. The pace you play at will figure itself out.

I've tried out some of your suggestions and they seem to work. And I'd seen the Wiki before, of course, but I hadn't explored it yet - had no idea how much info there is in that thing.

And I fought in the arena today. (And actually won, amazingly.)

Father: No, I actually didn't know there was a cap on the sword damage. I guess that means I actually have a pretty sweet sword right now. I was expecting insane equipment - 1000 damage, etc., but maybe GW is more mellow than that.

15-22 is the base range for swords, but then with attack skills the damage is added on etc etc, so you can do more than that. But don't want to confuse you overly much atm

But good to see you having fun and enjoying yourself

On your first time through (and sometimes second and third) it is definitely the journey, not the destination that matters.
And unfortunately no, there really isn't a better way to trade than to just invite them into your group, click on their name, and click the trade button (top of your screen in the middle).

most of your questions seem answered, but the best way ive found to find someone in a town is to click their name in chat. copy it(ctrl +c) from the whisper box. and paste it(ctrl +v) into the party window. then click the name and hit spacebar. you run right to them.

There's a collector in Ascalon who will give you a fur square for 5 (I think) charr hides. It sounds like a lot but it's a sure thing.