A Question about Chapters/Expansions and Character advancement...

Hi guys/gals

I've recently returned to the world of GW. At the moment I only have my "old", original Prophesies box w/my lvl 11 W/Mo

Been doing some quests and getting re-familiarized with the game and mechanics again, my plan is to continue to play PvE and do all the Quests I can and explore the map and lvl my character/s.

But I'm also interested in the other Chapters, I just don't know exactly how they would "fit" into my current character.

I know you can create new toons with each expansion, but in EotN you need a lvl 20 character, which I don't have atm.

My "main" Goal for playing GW again is PvE and working through the Storyline and complete Quests & Missions and such...I normally play SP and use henchmen to form my party, as my time available is hectic and erradic...I've learned this works best for me most of the time.

With this playstyle in mind I'd like to ask the community what you think my best path of working my way through the games/chapters would be?

Should I continue through Prophesies with my Main (which i intend to do) and then carry him over to Factions and work on the Quests there as a higher lvl toon?

Or I could create a new character/class combo in Faction or NightFall and begin again, possibly re-work my way through what little I've seen of Prophesies with a different type character...

Or (lol) I could complete prophesies and then create a new toon to work through the Factions/NightFall and onto EotN chapter once I have a lvl 20 character...

So lots of different directions I could go in...but for me, who's looking for the RPG path(PvE) and Story, what would you suggest I do?

Perhaps I'm missing something that would effect my decision, this is why I thought I'd toss it out to you...the Experts

I'm just not sure how the character progression connects through all the different chapters, is it better to use the same character through all if you have that choice? Or would I miss out on Quests and story opportunities because of having a higher, no-new character in a new Chapter?

Any thoughts or opinions and advice will be most appreciated!

Thanks for your time and hopefully a bit of your guidance here for an old "new" player heh

Best Regards,

Rolland

so 20 views and no post...hum, that means this is either a very bad (stupid?) question or there just isn't a right answer

How about there shortened version then?

Can you play your original Prophesies toon on the maps/areas of all the Expansions? If lvl requirements are met?

I believe you can, but I'd just like a verification

Thanks

Good hunting!

Yes, you can take your original toon to any area of the game and play all the storyline missions. The only problem is that you cannot do any of the quests that occur prior to your character's arrival on the continent. For storyline purposes, it's best to go to Factions next, since some of that storyline is built upon in Nightfall. However, since you like to play solo, Nightfall might be better so you can get the customizable heroes.

Considering that you like to play SP I would suggest purchasing Nightfall as your next expansion, if you purchase any at all, simply because this gives you the option of Heroes (customizable Henchmen) which will aid you in your solo play more effectively than standard Henchmen. Beyond that, Nightfall offers a lot of easily accessible loot & money to aid in building up your character with runes, insignias, mods, and inscriptions. I'm not necessarily recommending you buy Nightfall & play through the entire game before completing Prophecies, but just that you utilize the benefits of the chapter to attain your goals in the other. Factions, in and of itself, doesn't have much to offer the PvE player aside from skills & some really great scenery.



Character progression is an odd term in relation to this game. Once you hit level 20 the only "progression" you can make is to unlock skills, open areas, and grind for various titles. There is no inherent benefit in doing anything at all beyond level 20 outside of those goals, which are not based on skill but rather depend on how much time you want to spend achieving them. Having a cartography title grants you nothing other than the ability to show it off, likewise for any Rank title or mission & bonus completion. Unlocking all skills and/or capping every elite skill does have a small benefit, insomuch as you have access to a wider variety of skill combinations (most of which you'll likely never use). Rather than character progression there is some semblance of storyline progression. That is to say, after Prophecies the story moves to Factions, then after Factions the story moves to Nightfall, and Eye of the North is a big advertisement for GW2 with a few bits of lore thrown in to keep people happy. For a consistent storyline progression I'd recommend completing the chapters in order, but sneaking into Nightfall to get Heroes at some point simply to assist your solo playing and make your life in the endgame areas of Prophecies & Factions a lot easier to complete.

Soo.. with that in mind, the only benefit to playing the same character through each chapter in order is the access to a wider pool of skills. There is some content in each chapter that is only accessible to characters made in that chapter but it's nothing life changing or storyline altering. Factions characters cannot access Pre-searing in Prophecies, and there are similar limits for both other chapters. Beyond that there isn't much of consequence, and there are no limitations in regard to title achievements.


Hope this helps some.

Rolland, I'm surprised there hasn't been much of a reply before now.

Simple answer to simple question - your characters can be dragged through any campaign you want, as long as you meet the requirements.

How character progression works...
Those who are used to the typical D&D format might find GW confusing.
Lvl 20 is the cap, as you probably already know. Past that "customisation" exists in the form of (basically) vanity items and skills.

Some pve'ers are into the vanity thing more than others. GW has a stack of pve titles to persue if that tickles your fancy, and it is to these titles that pve skills are tied - rather than attributes.

Perhaps more to the point (in regards to your original post) lvl20 is easily achieveable, and it really doesn't matter in which order you complete various campaigns. I do warn you however, that you may find spoilers in various campaigns for other "earlier" campaigns if you take the path of not playing/buying in order. Does it really matter? Depends on you. For me, no.

If solo play is more your thing, my recommendation is either:
1) Wait till you hit lvl20 and do EotN, or
2) Buy Nightfall and complete that with your warrior.

For a smoother storyline, option 1 is probably better, the entire story is set in the same region as the original game, with familar locales and faces
But be warned though, it could suffer *spoiler* instances.

If you are up for a challenge, or find a guild, or friends my honest opinion is to buy them all, but play them in publication order. You could sneak-steal some of the heroes from NF to to make it slightly easier before doing Cantha.

My sugestion would be to play through as much of Prophicies as you can, then pick up Nightfall and play through that. Picking up Heros will definately help you out with your hectic play style.

Thank you ALL!!!

That was exactly the information I needed to make a game plan in my head as to what I both wanted, and needed to do

I had read about the Heroes in Nightfall but wasn't aware that you could get them and then go back to the Prophesies Quests with them. That's fantastic news heh

I love using Henchmen, kind of like Squad based Fantasy tactics And Heroes that you can manage with gear and spells/talents is fantastic!

This is the path I will take for the time being and finish my progress through Proph and then move on to Nightfall (might dabble with Factions as I love to just explore) and then move into EotN.

Knowing that I can utilize the Heroes give me perfect justification to purchase Nightfall now and not wait till later!

Thank you again

Good Hunting!

edit/ after reading the new replies (TY), would you say that Heroes would make my Quests in Prophecies "too" easy? Or is it close enough to be a wash, with a bit of a boot from the ability to customize the heroes specifically?

It's not a matter of easy as in, "Hey, that was easy to do!" so much as a matter of, "Hmm the henchies can't do what I need them to do and there's no one here to help me.. but I can use Heroes! Easy!"

Ya dig?

There's nothing overtly hard in any chapter that you NEED Heroes to help you complete, but as a solo player they make it much easier to go about your gaming at your own pace. If you encounter an obstacle that Henchmen can't seem to overcome you don't have to rely on other peoples schedules, you can simply use Heroes. That's all I meant when I said that Heroes make things easier.

Gotcha

Thank you for the clarification Obastable, much appreciated.

Regards2All

My recommendation:

1. Buy all the expansions.
2. Get your main warrior to Lion's Arch so you can go to Nightfall.
3. From Nightfall the very first quest offered is to get several heroes.
4. You will also get to choose between a ranger and an elementalist. I recommend getting the elementalist.
5. From Kamadan, request a "ferry" to Consulate docks but don't pay more than 500gold for this.
6. Get the quest to pick up Olias as a hero (all for one and one for justice).
7. Use your new-found heroes to complete Prophecies.
8. Use your heroes to beat Factions.
9. Use your heroes to beat Nightfall.
10. Use your heroes to beat Eye of the North.

You will pick up a lot of heroes along the way (well over a dozen across nightfall and EotN) but general consensus in my guild is that the necromancer is your #1 draft pick, so to speak, which is why you will really want to get Olias as soon as possible. A properly set up minion master necro will make mincemeat out of the vast majority of the gaming areas in all campaigns and is a huge tactical advantage, not only with extra damage dealers but also the body blocking and extra damage soakers. And if an MM necro is not appropriate, a cursing necro with the Spiteful Spirit elite is also an awesome way to sweep aside your enemies.

I don't intend this to be a strategy guide, but having heroes will add a much greater depth to your gameplay experience if you are primarily doing the game with henches. Once you get Olias you can easily finish the campaigns in order with a single character, which is what I did with my warrior. It makes you feel like you're a visitor to a foreign land experiencing a little bit of culture shock. Plus the storyline flows together fairly well.

EotN is somewhat independent of factions/nightfall so you could probably do it first before the other two campaigns, however EotN doesn't feel like it has a really definite "end" like the other two campaigns do so I prefer to save it for last.

Definitely finish factions before you finish nightfall though, as the end of nightfall has a little bit of a spoiler about factions. however get Olias first.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me. My advice is free, but the advice comes with a no refund/no return policy.

Thank you very much Nechronius, that indeed will help me plan my journey's

I purchased Nightfall yesterday and began a Paragon character just to get a feel for the area. I love it

I will follow your advice to get Heroes to work with to finish Prophecies, this was my goal actually once I learned that you could bring heroes back.

Thank you for taking the time to give me an outline of how to accomplish this, Much appreciated!

And yes, I do plan on getting Factions and EotN too, very glad I decided to give GW another look

Good Hunting & Regards2All

One thing you may want to consider is the time it would take you to do all of the chapters plus EoN. You may want to consider whether or not you think you would want to move on to GW2, and how much of the rest you could get done before that.
In any case, I would recommend you do prophecies, then EoN, then Nightfall, and, if you still have time, Factions.
EoN is a more natural follow up to Prophecies. It uses many of the same type of locations and is all on the same "map". It introduces you to Heroes, and adds many PvE only skills, which can be used in other chapters. It's also cheaper to buy.
Most players, (including me), consider Nightfall to be more enjoyable than Factions. The areas in Factions around Kaineng City are a bit dismal.

One thing about heroes is that you can only set their skills according to the skills you have unlocked on your account. They do come with a small set of skills when you receive them but any further tampering with their builds need you to have skills for those professions unlocked on your account. So in this regard heroes become more powerful the more you play the game and unlock skills for different professions.