New here! (*Lots of newb questions inside*)

Alright so first and foremost I would like to start off by saying that Guild Wars has been the only RPG or MMORPG I have been able to pick up and absolutely love right out of the box since Diablo 2. Now with the long awaited release of Diablo 3 coming up eventually, I needed a game to kind of get me to that day, and possibly keep me captivated after wards. I work part time at blockbuster and a lady came in one day trying to trade in a brand new copy of Guild Wars sealed up, in the box. I let her know we don't actually take PC games for trades but I would be willing to give her 5$ for the game, knowing that I have heard a lot of good things and figured I would try it and i mean for 5$ how could I go wrong, lol.
So far I have a level 10 Ele/Nec who is around the Dossiah Highlands, and a level 9 War/Nec who is coming up close to that part of the game as well, just after the Northern Wall quest. I also started a ranger who has not yet chosen a second proffesion, and a Nec who also is in the same boat of one proffesion at the moment, both are very low levels. I have thoroughly enjoyed the game to this point and I am interested in finding out how to get the most out of my playing experience while going through it. I plan on buying the other two chapters eventually when I complete prochecies and below you will find a good amount of newberific questions for some of you experienced GW players to answer. If I even get have of them answered I will be satisfied. Thanks in advace:

1. Is it recommended that I go through EVERY single side quest in the game all the way through prophecies?

2. Will the quests naturally bring me everywhere on the LARGE map that the game is comprised of or will it only bring me to select areas and the rest are in need of exploration?

3. I was looking for two high dmg builds to begin with, was Ele/Nec and War/Nec a good combination of classes? Why or why not?

4. I have probably invested just under 10 hours into each character and im already at lvl 10 out of 20, is it that quick to get to 20? And if it is when you get there, is there much more too do?

5. What are the classifications of items in terms of rarity for example blue means magical, purple means rare, green or whatever means legendary. Please lay out what this game follows as a system for that.

6. Both of these characters will be mainly PvE, will I be able to get the full experience of the game without playing PvP for a while, or is it suggested that I start a dedicated PvP character?

7. For the second chapter to buy, what do you suggest for a player looking to play through a new storyline of quests, but at the same time opening new possibilities in terms of build types, items, and other goodies?

8. What are the most popular ways of farming legendary items in the game? Are there specific bosses that people do runs of? Specific areas of the map?

9. Like I mentioned earlier I am just past the Norther Wall quest, I wouldn't imagine I am that far into the game, but exactly what percentage of prophecies have I finished?

10. In Nightfall, and Factions, do you use your same characters from Prophecies to continue through the story line or do you start new characters?

11. Do you get any extra character slots when you buy the other chapters or are you stuck to 4 with the option to purchase extra slots?

12. Are the items that Nightfall and Factions open up to dropping really worth it in terms of having an advantage over players lets say that only play prophecies?
13. What is the easiest way to generate large amounts of gold?

14. I notice that so far creatures almost NEVER drop armor of any kind for me. Is this normal? Does it change as the game progresses? Or are you supposed to buy all of your armor from Crafters?

15. Lets say I went out and bought Nightfall tomorrow and I was nowhere near done my quests in prophecies. Would my lvl 10 ele/nec be getting owned because of him not being at lvl 20? Or do the other chapters progress like prophecies does with the low level monsters scaling upwards?
16. How different are the storylines and environments in Nightfall and Factions?

17. I hear factions is mainly PvP based, what is meant by the game being more PvP based? I know there are only 13 missions in the game, so what is so PvP driven about it? Are there arenas? How does the PvP system work with ranks or something?

18. I am a packrat to say the least with my items. Is it worth keeping around alllll the collectibles that I find such as Fetid Carapces, Skeletal Limbs, Spider Limbs, Enchanted lodstones, etc etc. (Basically what I'm asking is will there be more than one collector for a certain item in the game, or is it once I run in to the once guy looking for Scorched Seeds, then ill never need them again if I have gotten the items I want from him)

19. What is the best way to farm EXP, in a party or solo?

20. What is preferred for doing runs through quests, finding someone else to go through the missions with you? Or stack up on henchmen?

21. My next character will be a ranger in starting out in prophecies. What is a good high dmg build that won't die every 5 minutes in larger battles?

22. Is it possible to build a strong character only focusing on their one main profession such as my war/nec only using his Warrior based skills?

23. What is the best way to farm EXP to get to 20? And once your at 20 is there any farming of EXP to be done, or is that basically it and your now looking to complete attribute quests?

24. Is there any way to get more shared storage eventually other than just your three pages in the Xunai Chest?

25. How do you upgrade weapons with runes? What is the whole deal with that? (Please explain thoroughly)

26. I find myself running back and forth a lot to complete all my side quests, is there something I can do to reduce the time spent doing so? (And this is not because I don't do all the same ones in one area at once, cause i do that as much as possible. I feel like I am getting the quest flow wierd)

27. What part in the game should I hit level 20 around?

28. At level 10 what level minions should be reasonably easy to take down?

29. Are the upgrades that you can buy for the game worth it in terms of adding to the overall experience?

30. Please thoroughly explain what the whole deal is with these "Heros" people talk about. What are they? Where do you aquire them? What do you do with them, do they act as henchmen? Can you level them up or are they jut lvl 20 right off the bat?

31. Pets, same as the questions above about heros, where are they, how do you get them, etc. etc.

32. Faction rating or points, what exactly is this, and how do I increase my points? What happens when I get to 10,000 on that bar when I check my experience?

32. When playing an ele, should I be focusing all my attributes on one "type" of magic such as fire, wind, water or earth, or do diverse builds fair just as well?

33. Should I buy a lockpick kit and just share it between all my characters? Is it worth the 1.5 plat?

34. Are there legendary items in the game such as Windforce bow, and Grandfather sword in Diablo? Like those sought after itmes that you know once you have them you have the l33test shit?

35. Any general advice to a new player to guild wars?

List too be continued.........



Ok so that's all the questions I have for now, but I know there are a ton that I just can't think of at the moment. I will keep this thread updated with my new questions as often as they come up. Again thanks in advance for any advice given in a response!

P.S. My characters are Killa Magik, Killa Kut, Killa Sights, and Killa Spirits add me up if you want!

Thanks again for the help in advance, i'm sure you will see me post on here again often!

I will start with a link to the wiki (which can also be accessed in-game with F10 or Help on the Menu or typing /wiki in the chat bar) and answer a few questions.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Main_Page

1. Make sure you do all the skill reward quests (check the wiki) for each character. After you have completed the profession change quests (Crystal Desert), return and do any still available with the new secondary professions.

2. Quests will send you to out-of-the-way places, but there are large areas that will never be uncovered. See maps on wiki.

3. Check the Campfire section profession subforums. Each has a stickied guide covering the basics of playing each profession.

4. Pre-level 20 is training. Life begins at level 20 as you start to learn how to use your skills.

5. white=common, blue-slight magic, purple=more magic, gold=rare high magic, green=unique boss drop

6. There is no real "amateur" PvP. At this stage in the development of your PvE characters, they do not have the necessary max equipment or skills to win against the "baby-killer" players who visit the low-level arenas.
You can drop into the ones available though and see what its like. You could create a PvP character and have the max equipment, but would still lack needed skills to be a success.

7. For the second chapter, storyline would be Factions, but many buy Nightfall for the heroes.

8. Check the farming subforum in the Campfire section.

9. Check the wiki map. Prophecies has 25 missions.

10. If you use the "Add a Key" function on your login screen to add your next campaign, you will be able to bring your existing characters to the other areas.

1: no, just what you feel like, the ones that give skills as rewards you should probabaly make sure you do though.
2: Quests will take you to the majority of the areas.
3: E/N and W/N are not very good combinations, you will rarely find any use in the 2ndry prof skills.
4: That seems fairly reasonable, GW is not an endless level grinding game. And the game only really begins at lvl 20
5: White - Common, Blue - Commonish, Purple - Uncommon, Gold - Rare, Green - Unique
6: Start with PvE, but when you want to PvP make a PvP only character
7: Nightfall has a fairly long storyline, good build possibilities, and access to heroes.
8: There a builds that are used to farm the Bosses for Unique items some can be found on http://pvxwiki.com
9: You have done the first mission, and there are 25 in the game.
10: Either
11: All except EOTN give 2 additionall char slots
12: Not realy because you can simply buy the item, they do give new oppurtunities like Alliance Battles and Competetive Missions (Factions) or diferent places to farm.
13: Put in guesses at the Xunlai Tournament House (on guildwars.com - see the competetive section), there is usually a thread on these forums that has good guesses to go for. Simply put in your guesses then trade the reward points for Z-keys and seel the Z-keys. That is easy at it takes almost no effort and only about 5/10 mins
14: Armour is only purchasable from crafters, and upon purchase it will customised to you, meaning nobody else can use it.
15: the other chapters progress, as they are stand alone games. You will need to reach Lions Arch before travelling between campaigns though.
16: Factions has an Asian theme and Nightfall has an African theme.
17: I dont know where you got that idea from, i suppose it could be because it gives you access to alliance battles and competetive missions.
18: The collectors are alwasy there, head over to guildwars.wikia.com, there are lists of collectors and what they collect and where they are.
19: You dont need to farm exp, just play through the game, do some side quests and you will have pleanty of exp.
20: Most people use henchman these days, it could take some time to find a party, If your doing missions it can often to get a group.
21: Theres not a huge amount availible at the start, take a look at the ranger forums here or on pvxwiki.com
22: Yes most people only use 1/2 skills from there 2ndry profession, there are a few exceptions such as N/Rt healers.
23: Play the game, There not much point in getting more exp after lvl 20 unless you need more skill points.
24: You can purchase a crafting material storage, and buying more campaigns also adds more space.
25: Runes are for use on armour, Weapons can be upgraded with upgrades and some can be upgraded with insignias.
26: Map travel cuts down time, travel to the closest outpost to the quest, and try and do all the quests in 1 explorable area at once.
27: Probabaly around the desert, possibly southern Kryta/Maguuma
28: I dont understand.
29: I dont know what upgrades your talking about, but buying additional campaigns is worth it.
30: Heros are a customisable henchman, basicly you can change their skills/equipment attributes etc. The are aquired in Nightfall and Eye of The North through playing the storyline. In EOTN they start at lvl 20, in Nightfall they usually are about the same level as you are when you get to them.
31: if you have a ranger 2ndry prof you can capture a pet, they are in most explorable areas, their damage is relativly low.
32: Balthazar faction is obtained for killing in PvP, winning battles in PvP. And it can be used to unlock skills and upgrades for your PvP characters, it can also be traded for those Z-keys i talked about earlier. The other faction is obtained in factions through various methods.
32 Again??: Either 1 or 2 elements, Fire is generally accpeted as the best for PvE.
33: I think your mixing a couple of items up here, At some point you should buy and Identification kit and a Salvage kit to ID/Salvage specific items.
34: Yes there and Unique items that belonged to a boss, most of these are reaonable cheap now, the majority of them dont look anything special, and if you have the right modifiers a Gold item is just as good.
35: Just enjoy the game.

If you have more questions you can feel free to add me in game. IGN: "Fries Wit Leetsauce"

To help with subarucar's #13 recommendation, here is another Q&A thread.
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10348786

all that then was beaten too it oh well have fun
mini

Perhaps. I would recommend making the first play through the game a slow one, doing all the quests. That way, you get to enjoy all the storyline (quests remain, but you can progress so far into the game that you find it annoying to, for example, rescue refugees from the margonites even though their whole army has already been well defeated - sequence broken)

ALSO: in Prophecies, quests reward you with skills. This is the cheapest way to get your skills. (skill costs at the trainers start small but quickly reach 1000 gold, so you can save a lot of money by getting skills from a quest)

At least some areas are exploration only, with no quests in them at all. But, the quests will take you to many many places alone. It's a biiiig game.

Any profession combination can work, depending upon skills used. Specific builds? Sooo many builds can work. Truth is, every single area can have a different "best" build.

Ah, the cornerstone concept of GW that is so different from most other RPGs. You are expected to level up to lvl 20 rather quickly (depending on campaign - Prophecies are very slow, while factions would see you at lvl 20 on day 1). But level 20 is rather like maturity - you are now at your full potential and ready to stop training and get to serious work. The real game is only played at lvl 20.


Big warning first: GW is not about getting best gear. You can easily get gear that will function as well as possible - getting perfect gear essentially makes you function at 100% efficiency. (even then, the gear doesn't matter much - i finished Nightfall with my monk using a staff from right outside Kamadan )System of rarity goes: white, light blue, deep purple, gold. Unique items are green. Greens are usually as good as it gets, but cannot be modified, so on the market, the golds are the top of the line.


A PvE character can play PvP just like any PvP character (while a PvP can't play PvE at all). You might need to get to an arena and actually buy your equipment, but apart from that, they are usually better at it.

There are arguments all over the place. Some will detest Factions, while some will love it with all their heart. It comes down to personal preferences.
Prophecies: slow storyline, VERY slow learning curve, a variety of environments from arid deserts to snowy peaks
Factions: fast storyline, steep learning curve, has some magnificent sights, but suffers from spending too much time in the ugly ramshackle Kaineng city
Nightfall: a bit slower storyline and learning curve, Near east and African themes, plus hellish areas, HEROES - the biggest boost in power

Well, yes. But then, do remember that legendary only means 100%. Mostly, people farm for items that look good, are prestigious. For that, it's a specific item you need to hunt to know how to farm.

Maybe 5%?

A campaign is like a passport - it allows you to take your characters to a new continent or to make new ones there.

4 start, +2 per campaign, a total of 8 for all campaigns. You can also purchase extra slots.

Never. Any campaign gets you all the functions that the items can have.

Question no1, as ever. Remember that this is now an old game - most players are already very rich, so only the rarest things are really marketable. Therefore, only a very lucky drop of a very prestigious item would do it in one go.

Ah. Creatures almost always drop something, but you only get your share of drops - the heroes and henchmen get their own drops, but you don't see them. Form a full party of players, and you'll see how man things really drop.

ARMOR is only available from crafters - it doesn't drop at all. But, you need materials for it. Also, armor is always customised to you - don't try to buy or sell it.

All campaigns include starter areas. Mind you, you can't travel to a new continent just at any point - you need to progress a bit through the game. For example, in Prophecies, you'll need to get to Lion's arch to travel. Take a look at the large map, and you'll see it due west, across the mountains, where the green starts again - quite far. This will usually at least get you to lvl 15, unless you get a run.

It's a bit shorter than the other campaigns, but it's still long. Remember - a campaign's storyline may be quick to finish, but that doesn't mean you played through all the content. There's plenty PvE in Factions, it's just that some of PvP content was included into PvE system.

Collectors stay where they are, you can always return to them. Only the presearing collectors are unavailable, but then, they don't have anything you'd want to have.

I don't know what to say. My recommendation would be to go slowly and enjoy your low level for the first time. For later games, I'd recommend getting a fast run to Factions and leveling up there as it's quickest.


Ah. Trouble. First, this is an old game, so you may not find people for an exotic quest or mission. However, people's skills vary, and I've had many many disastrously bad PUG experiences (PUG = Pick Up Group, a random group). Remember this: it's always possible to do it with henchmen and heroes.

Rangers rarely die anyway, since they are low priority targets and have great armor. But, rather try this idea:
-Warriors: tanks (mobile, tough and hard hitting)
-Elementalists AoE damage
-Rangers: best at disrupting the enemy, preventing them from getting stuff done. Some damage potential, but later in the game
-Mesmers: very special class, play a lot and make one for last. They shut down enemies, preventing them from getting things done.
-Necromancers: some damage, but best at minion mastery ( a crowd that deals some damage but also distracts enemy)
-Monk: healers and protective buffers. With last update, also have an offensive role.

Yes.

Get EXP either from quests (factions and Nightfall have high XP reward quests, prophecies not so much), and once you are at lvl 20, never worry about XP again. Really, it's not about getting more powerful - it's more like getting to 100%.

One extra page per campaign (4 total) + materials storage. No more to get.
Ah. You don't. Here's how upgrades work:

-armor: crafted by armorsmiths, requires gold and materials. Earlier areas have weaker armor, but soon you get "max" armor - in prophecies, at Droknar's forge. Each armor piece can be upgraded with 1 rune and 1 insignia.

-weapons: usually drops, though there are crafters and collectors. Takes 2 or 3 upgrades - 1 Prefix, 1 Suffix and possibly an inscription (weapons from Nightfall and EotN can have inscriptions, which are then changeable. Earlier campaign weapons have the inscription property as part of the weapon itself and not changeable)
Hmm. Some experience or a look at the wiki will let you know how to do quests most efficiently.
Grumble grumble, this again Somewhere between Lion's arch and Droknar's forge, I'd say.

A couple of levels above you with a full group.

Depends on the upgrade.

In Nightfall and EotN, you can befriend heroes. You can add these to your party instead of players or henchmen (up to 3 per player). They are advantageous because you can select their skills, give them equipment and they get to level up. In other respects, they act like henchmen.

A BIG power up, they are - being able to get a minion master, an extra monk or a good damage dealer where there is usually none can make the game easy

Pets are really a ranger skill (any secondary ranger can use it, too). You equip a skill and then capture a pet, and whenever you put that skill onto your bar, the pet will accompany you. They need to be levelled up, and rangers have skills that make them more useful.

Balthazzar faction comes from PvP. You can use it to unlock skills and gear for PvP characters. Unlocking is account wide. Unlocked skills can be used by your heroes (the players need to buy them). The 10000 is just the maximum you can have at one time - you need to spend some before you can earn more.
Usually, you'll focus your atributes on 1-2 main and maybe 1 support attribute. Remember you can change attibutes freely in outposts.

Not yet. Keys and lockpicks are really money sinks. Leave it for later, when you already have max armor, all gear and experience.

NOT AT ALL. No such thing in GW - GW's concept is that you don't get that. You don't work to go to 1000%, you just get to your 100% and then adapt your skills and tactics to your specific goal.
It's different from other MMORPGs. So, don't expect it to be like them.

Get to your 100% and then think like: those enemies are trouble with their skill X, so I'll bring skills Y and Y to counter it.

All I can add is..As a Diablo player since 09.This game will keep you occupied for a long time

Follow the storyline..as you miss a lot if you just run .Guys who do this are

mainly guys who have been playing for some time and mabe rolled a char and just wish to get up quickly as the have the skills /finance to do so.

If you immerse yourself in the game you will end up buying the other 2 campaigns plus the expansion EOTN.

If you feel stuck or need a little help just add me to your friends list. My IGN /char name at the left side .

I would really spend a few mins readin up on your class in the other sectionas plenty of good tips and friendly advice on building your char up/skills ect..

As you are in a Guild use the Guild Tab /Chat and speak to guys in your Guild who can come to assist you or answer your questions Have fun and enjoy te game

Okay.. mega quote time.

Most definitely not. Not the first time around, in any way. There are far too many sidequests available to prevent you from feeling completely overwhelmed. There are so-called "Primary Quests" which you should follow through the game. Note it's not specifically needed, but they explain a lot of the storyline and make the game more enjoyable the first time through. An other set of quests I would suggest you follow are the quests which give certain skills as a reward - this can save you quite some gold, whilst giving you more options at the same time.

The primary quests I previously mentioned lead you to the "needed" cities and mission outposts. There will still be areas and towns that you will not be led to with these primary quests, which you can explore around later. There are also parts of the map that are just not used by the game. Here is a map of Tyria (the continent Prophecies is set in), including the expantion pack "Eye of the North". Considering you don't have the add-on, you won't be able to explore everything in this map. The following cities/outposts are from EotN: Boreal Station, Gunnars Hold, Sifhallah, Olafstead, Longeye's Ledge, Central Transfer Chamber, Doomlore Shrine, Umbal Grotto, Vlox's Falls, Rata Sum and Gadd's Encampment. The areas where these cities are, are also not accessible for you until you add that expansion pack to your account. (Here is a wiki page with all maps of all campaigns.)

The Elementalist and Warrior are two of the most high damage professions in this game, at the least in Normal Mode (this game has two modes, normal (NM) and hard (HM), the latter is unlocked for each level 20 character per campaign after beating it).
Ele/Nec isn't a particularly useful combination because the necro part does not really add much use - a mesmer secondary gives more use due to energy management skills they have access to. Fire is the most useful line if you want to see constant big yellow numbers, in an area with foes.
Warriors are THE class for damage, in both NM and HM. In contrast to popular belief under new players, the thing warriors are best at is dishing out a lot of pain. A necromancer secondary isn't excessively useful, but it's not useless either. You will mostly be using skills from the Warrior profession anyway.

Yes, getting to level 20 is easy. An experienced player who has access to all the campaigns can frequently level a character from L1 to L20 in a matter of several hours. The game usually begins at L20, where Prophecies is the exception. There is a lot left for you to do after reaching L20 though, do not be surprised if you see monsters and bosses with levels up to L28 or L30 in the last parts or 'elite parts' of the game. In HM, these levels go up to L30 and L32, making for plenty of challenge for a new player.

White: Weapons and items. This drop is 'common'. It has no modifications on it. Note however that 'common' does not always mean 'cheap'. It is not only low-end weapons, but it refers to the fact that these are items which are available at traders, too - such as keys to open chests, materials to craft armor, vials of dye to color your armor and so-on.

Blue: Weapons and Armors only. These common items have a modification on them, which is revealed after identifying them with an "Identification Kit". These items are rarely 'maxed' in weapons, however note that armors often have "minor" runes and regular insignia's, usually more valuable than purple, or gold.

Purple: Weapons and armors only. These 'uncommon' items have a modification on them which has better statistics than 'blue' weapons, meaning they are closer to their "max" potential. Purple armors contain regular insignia's and purple "Major" runes, which are rarely used. The exception being the "Major Vigor" rune.

Gold: Weapons, armors and certain rare items. These 'rare' items have a modification on them that is usually maximum, or close to it. The armors come with "Superior" runes, which are also rarely used, and once more regular insignia's. The rare items in this color only drop in an area you (for now) do not have access to. These items are called "Gemstones", and are part of Nightfall's elite area.

Green: Weapons and items. These "unique" weapons are dropped by bosses. They usually have maximum mods on them (certain low-level boss drops excluded) and maximum damage. They cannot be modified by you. Green items are items with infinite uses, which are rare to come by, and very expensive - usually.

I highly suggest against starting in PvP before you know what you are doing. The community in low-end PvP is usually very hostile towards new and unskilled players. You will also have a disadvantage in the fact you do not have access to all skills and equipment yet, which will most likely lead to a very frustrating experience.

Nightfall. This campaign has a good, fairly long lasting storyline with the addition of heroes - customizable NPCs which, like henchmen, aid you in combat. The reason they're superior is because you can decide what build they should have, along with the equipment. Eventually, though, you will likely want all the campaigns. It might be worth looking in to getting the "Complete Collection", which is usually around $50 for all three campaigns (Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall) and the expansion pack "Eye of the North". Adding this to your current account will give you access to the places you had no access to before, and allow you to keep your current characters.

"Green" items are actually usually very cheap. This is because certain professions and builds can kill them on their own, very fast. Farming is usually done with 1 or 2 people, as those are all that are needed. There are several "team farms" though, but they are in so-called elite areas - the highest level and most difficult to kill foes are there. But the rewards are the highest, as well. Areas in question would be The Underworld, The Fissure of Woe (both 'core' areas, accessible from Prophecies), The Deep, Urgoz' Warren (both areas accessible from Factions alone), Domain of Anguish (accessible from Nightfall alone) and several so-called dungeons (accessible from EotN alone). Foes in these areas are usually between L24 and L28, with bosses going up to L30. They can easily overwhelm inexperienced players.

I would say maybe 2-5%, presuming you do not skip any primary quests or missions.

You can jump in to different campaigns with any character you have, skipping the first "training parts" of the campaign. You will be able to visit these, though. The other campaigns also allow you to try different professions (Ritualist and Assassin in Factions, Dervish and Paragon in Nightfall). These can only be started in their specific campaign.

Your first campaign will get you 4 slots. Per added chapter, you receive two new slot. This does not include EotN, as it is an expansion rather than a campaign. With all three campaigns added, you will have 8 character slots, with the ability to buy up to 26 total, I believe.

In items, not really. The one thing that Nightfall has as advantage is that weapons dropping there are inscribable - meaning the damage modification is changeable. For example, if you see a blue or purple weapon that has a line saying "Damage +12% (whilst health is above 50%)", this is not changeable in Prophecies or Factions (end-drops from Urgoz' Warren and The Deep excluded). In Nightfall, these modifications can be replaced by others.

Campaigns give a greater benefit in terms of new skills than new items, in general.

This all depends on the question "what is a large amount of gold?". The "best" way to earn millions is with powertrading and being extremely good at PvP. This can literally earn you millions.

However for the level you're playing at right now, a good monthly income is making "Xunlai Predictions" The predictions are explained in this thread, and predictions will be posted each month. Usually, you can earn around 100,000 gold (100 plat) per month (per account). This months' predictions are due on the 24th at 15:00 GMT, meaning the predictions in that thread will be posted on the 23rd, most likely.

Creatures might drop armors from time to time, but you will not be able to wear them. You will only be able to extract the runes and/or insignia's on it by using an Expert Salvage Kit, Superior Salvage Kit or Perfect Salvage Kit. Armor you can use has to be crafted, or traded for certain collectible drops. This page has all collectors listed, with a separate tab for the armor collectors. Just check the one closest to you for options.

You would likely be getting squished at first. This is because you jump in at a part where it is somewhat presumed you are at least around L18. The monsters do however scale up in level, just like in Prophecies.

In Factions, the storyline is the shortest. A fair part of it also takes place in a claustrophobic city environment, which I personally dislike. In Nightfall, the first parts have a marvelous landscape, the storyline is shorter than Prophecies, but longer than Factions. However at the very end, you enter an other fairly depressing landscape which has been corrupted and tormented by demons.

The main PvP in factions is Alliance Battles, a sort of mix between PvP and PvE in my opinion. It works with a shrine-capping mechanic, where two sides have three teams of four people each. Whoever captures and holds the most shrines the longest, wins. This shifts the "Territory line" between the luxon and kurzick factions, slightly influencing the PvE part of the game.

Ranks in PvP do not give any bonus. In AB, they do not matter, as people will often just start a random group by inviting random people and going in. In the more structured PvP arenas (Heroes Ascent and Team Arenas), having a certain rank is usually a requirement to join the group. This is done to be sure that the person in question at least knows what they're doing.

No, it's not worth keeping a hold of all of these items. It's more useful to check the page I linked at your armor question, check the collector for what he wants, and then specifically go farm whatever creature drops it.

You get more XP killing solo, but it can often go faster in a team. For new players, I'd say doing quests and killing stuff with your team.

PUGs (Pick Up Groups) are usually shunned by more experienced players, unless they're bored. This is because they are usually made up of new and/or inexperienced players. It is, however, usually more fun if you have a decent group. The most common party is made up of 2-4 players with the rest being heroes. Having a guild is usually a great help with missions.

PvXwiki is a site filled with builds for every aspect of the game, and every profession. However, if you die every 5 minutes, that's likely a problem with something other than your specific build. Be it either a bad team build (do you have a monk?), over-aggro (make sure to only fight one group at a time), or just old-fashioned lack of offense (don't stock your own bar with healing or prot, focus on damage). In general, rangers are used more for utility though, disrupting enemy spellcasters and spreading conditions, rather than direct focused damage.

Yes. This is actually usually the case - most of the skills used will be from your primary profession. Your secondary is usually used for utility only. An exception is the Necromancer, which can often be a superior choice for something else due to their primary attribute; Soul Reaping - which makes for near infinite energy. Once more I refer you to PvXwiki.
You will be able to get up to four vault pages and one materials tab. However, the ArenaNet live team are currently reworking storage, to give us more options for character and account storage. This update is expected to go live in April.

Runes are intended for armor. As for weapon upgrades, this page explains it all a lot better than I could: Weapon Upgrades - GuildWiki.

Not really, sadly. The game does have a fair share of "Run to point A to get object B, bring it to point C, then to D and E and then go back to A for your reward" quests.

In prophecies, I would expect around the Maguuma Jungle or Crystal Desert. Presuming you don't skip ahead, of course.

Creatures, or actual minions? Considering you do not have a lot of experience, I would say groups of L8-10, possibly up to L12. Minions (necromancer-animated corpses) around L10, should be a good asset to your party. Minions around L6-8 should die easily, if that's what you wanted to know.

It depends on what you mean by "upgrades". I have not bought any skill unlock packs, or PvP unlock packs. They make the game a bit easier, but that's all. If you mean the campaigns, yes, they are worth getting.

Heroes are NPCs, controlled by the same scripts as henchmen. The difference is that you can add upgrades to their armor and weapons and choose what weapons they wield. You also have the ability to choose which skills they have equipped, and how their attributes are set. An other valuable thing is increased control over them. Rather than one flag for the entire party, you can control them individually and order them to use specific skills at specific times.

Heroes are only acquirable if you have Eye of the North, or Nightfall (or both, obviously). In EotN, heroes are automatically L20. In Nightfall, you get heroes at various points. The one you get early in the game are low levels (L4 for 'native' characters, L15 for 'foreign'), whilst later on in the campaign, you'll get higher levels (L18, L20).

Pets can be found all throughout all of the campaigns. This article should explain it all in detail.

Right now, there are four bars you could be referring to. You however only have access to two of them, so I'll describe those two.
1. Balthazar Faction
The small purple bar with "Balthazar" above it. This is a type of faction you get for playing in PvP. It can be used to unlock items and skills for PvP play (although skills unlocked for PVP are also usable on your heroes right away). Once you reach 10,000 (your current cap), you will not gain any more faction until you spend it. It is account-wide.

2. Experience
The big green bar saying <xxx,xxx XP>. This bar indicates how much experience points you've gained on that character. When the bar reaches the end, you will gain a level. Hover over it to see how much XP you need to gain your next level. After L20, XP will give you "Skill Points", which you need (along with money) to buy skills at skill traders. They're also used in the crafting of several consumable items in Eye of the North. This bar is character-based.

In general, you should focus yourself on two, maybe three attributes. This greatly increases your effectiveness. If you spread yourself out too thin, you will not be as effective.

At the point where you are, no. Lockpicks do not have infinite uses, they have a destruction mechanism based on certain variables. Ranks in certain titles, as well as the type of chest, influence the retention chance you have for a lockpick. At the early points, if you want to open the chests you should just buy the keys from the merchant. (More detailed information on lockpicks is available here.)

No. Guild Wars works on a mechanism that makes "perfect weapons" very easily accessible. High prices for items usually just mean they have a nicer skin - you pay for looks, not the stats.

1. Do not be shy about asking questions, or asking for help (do try to do it yourself first, though).
2. Ignore impolite and immature people.
3. Try to get a few friends who can help you.
4. Do not spread your attributes in your builds too thin. Only use attributes in which you have skills on your bar. (Exceptions: Expertise, Soul Reaping, Energy Storage, Divine Favor)
5. Have fun.
6. Guild Wars Wiki
7. PvX wiki

You're quite welcome. If you need any help, you can add me to your friendslist if you want. My main character is Haxor Mastermind.

It's a long list of questions & answers. So long that I figured it was easiest just to add my own answers rather than read it all. So I may be just repeating the same stuff others have said.

1. You mainly need to do the "primary" quests and missions. You can also do any quests that have specific rewards you may want, such as skills, gold, or XP. The rest aren't necessary to do - it just depends upon if you like questing.

2. If you follow the primary quests, you will travel through most of the main areas of the map, but there are some areas and outposts that you wouldn't get to that way. For example, there is a large area in the Ascalon region which you would only go to if you did the Titan quests after you "finished" the main storyline. Also, it's possible to purposely skip most of the Maguuma Jungle region.

3. Elementalists are some of the best damage dealers, but every class can actually deal "enough" damage. During the early stages of the game, I would recommend concentrating on your primary profession.

4. GW is not based around continual leveling up. You will get to level 20 long before the game is finished. You stay at level 20, but the challenges get harder.

5. The original system was white - common drop, blue - common with a mod, purple - uncommon, gold - rare. Through the years, the relative usefulness of the items has been blurred due to the addition of things like Inscriptions and Insignias. Greens were a later addition of max weapons dropped by some bosses.

6. The PvP and PvE games are two separate experiences IMHO. You never run into a PvP type situation while PvE'ing. So PvP is up to your own preference. Try it, you may like it. (or not )

7. Nightfall and/or Eye of the North.

8. There are 3 main ways to farm Legendary (green) items. One, take a full group (or heroes and henchmen) and flag the h&h off the compass when you kill the boss. Or, two, use some sort of solo build (or 600/smite) to kill the boss. Or three, use a combo of the first two. What boss and where, would depend upon what green you want - check the wikis for that info.

9. Can't say exactly. A small percentage like 4 or 5%, or less, maybe.

10. Yes, either one - your choice.

11. You get 2 extra slots per chapter. (No extra slots for EotN.)

12. No. The only advantage would be some skills you can acquire, and they would only be a concern if you PvP.

13. Play the game. Sell the good stuff to other players. Check buy/sell forums to get an idea of what's "good".

14. You can't use the armor that creatures drop. You can salvage useful Runes and Insignias off it though. You have to get your armor from crafters (or collectors)

15. The other chapters have there own leveling up process. To get from Prophecies to Nightfall, you'd have to get to Lion's Arch (in Kryta) first, and you should be a level 20 by then.

16. How high is up?

17. There are areas in Factions where you can get into battles between the Factions (Luxon & Kurzick), but the game still does not require PvP.

18. Easiest answer is to look up those items in the wikis to see which ones can be exchanged for something you may want. But, generally speaking, no, you don't want to keep all that stuff.

19. Just playing the game will do nicely.

20. Depends on your personal preference really. If you actually want to play the game, instead of watching someone else do it, join a PUG (Pick Up Group) or take Henchmen with you. (Don't you use Henchmen already?)

21. Rangers depend more upon standing back and causing interrupts and/or conditions. If you want to do lots of damage, you'd probably want to go with some sort of Barrage/Pet build, but that would require that you get [Barrage] or [Volley] somewhere along the way.
At any rate, with the proper group or humans and/or henchmen "massive" amounts of damage aren't really required.

22. Yes, and as I suggested in #3, I would recommend that's what you do until you have more experience and a greater selection of skills.

23. see #19

24. Not really. If you fill up the 3 pages (+ materials) of storage, most people start to use characters as "mules". (I have 4 mules atm)

25. http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Weapon and associated pages.

26. Not really.

27. When you "ascend" in the desert.

28. Level 10-12? I dunno, I never kept track of the enemies level that much.

29. No. But it depends. PvP unlock packs are practically a must if you plan to PvP seriously. Extra character slots can be used as mules - and, of course, you'll need them if you want to play (and retain) all classes.

30. They are basically customizable henchmen. You can equip them with your own choice of Runes & Insignias, weapons, and skill bars. Some start out at low levels and gain XP and level up as you use them, some start out as level 20. Heroes are the main reason for my answer to #7

31. http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Animal_companion

32. http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Faction

32. Whatever floats your boat, but I generally concentrate on only one attribute.

33. You could start a whole debate about lockpicks/keys/chests. I would say that keys are your best bet when they cost less than 600g. Lockpicks have a certain chance "retain rate" which varies as you go. You can't rely upon "sharing" a lockpick between characters - they break too often. (Think of them as keys with about a 50/50 chance.)

34. The stats on weapons never go beyond "max". The fancier weapons are only sought after for their "skins" or rariety - they have no advantage over other weapons, stats-wise. (There are some green weapons that have combinations of mods that can't normally be duplicated)

35. Join a good Guild and don't be afraid to shop around until you find one you like.

Lol lots of questions...message me in game at warrior running and I'll help u

Ok so first and foremost I would like to start by saying THANK YOU all for your extremely in-deptch answers to my ever so nuberific questions. I can already tell that I will have a better handle on the game next time I log in. Now I gues something I forgot to mention was the fact that the edition of the game that I bought came with Eye of the North which I guess would change peoples answers to my questions about Heros. So I can already getheros in EOTN? Where is this?

Anyways I will be adding pretty much everyone who posted in this thread to my buddy list for in-game questions that I have. In a way I feel more confused than I did before asking all of these questions but I think its just because I have had my eyes opened to a much different game than I thought I was playing. I am signing on now and seeing what I can do, i am a little bit disapointed in my build choices now that I hear people saying that Nec as a secondary class will barely be used but we'll see what I can do with them. If I really hate it by the end I suppose I will just restart the builds.

Anyways thank you guys so much again, and keep an eye out for this thread getting bumped if I have any more questions. Again I appreciate all the help, you have definitely helped explain a lot of my doubts and questions about the game!

Apologizes beforehand if I'm just repeating what others have said. It is, as mentioned, a long list of questions and I don't feel like reading everybody's replies.

1)I would recommend that you do all the skill quests, which are quests that include skills as a reward. It saves you money(and skill points in the early game) since you would not have to buy those skills from the skill trainers yourself. The rest of them, are up to you. Most only serve to add some lore into the game.

2)The Primary missions/quests will bring you to outposts throughout the map, but not into many of the explorable areas. The side quests will help open up what remains of the map, but there are still entire areas that you'll only get to if you go exploring on your own.

3)I should quickly point out that you can change your secondaries at a later point in the game, so whether or not you/I feel its a good combination, you can play around with it to your heart's content. That said, there is synergy to some Curses based degen builds for the ele and hex based builds that work with melee chars such as your war. You shouldn't limit yourself to just 2 builds, but you'll figure that out in time.

4)Yes, reaching lvl 20 is very easy. Most of us view reaching lvl 20 as little more then an extended tutorial. Most of the game(and the fun) begins after you've reached lvl 20.

5)Item Rarity

6)I would suggest you learn more of the game basics while in PvE, before you more into PvP. In fact, its not uncommon for some players to never venture into the PvP aspects of the game. And the vice versa.

9)Not very far, at best I would say you're about 10% into the game. A good, though not exactly accurate way to check is via your Cartographer title. Open your Hero panel("H" by default) and move to your titles tab. The Tyrian Cartographer title will show you roughly how much of the map you've been to, though not what percent of the game content you've actually done.

10)Up to you. You can bring your chars over(and back again) or start new ones.

11)You get 2 additional slots of every campaign on your account after the first campaign. EotN, btw is not a campaign and is only and expansion, hence you won't get additional slots from it.

12)No. The heroes that you would get from NF(and EoTN) are helpful in some of the more empty parts of the game and the additional skills available to players with more then one campaign would give them more versatility. But nothing in terms of items, will give players from other campaigns an advantage over you.

13)XTH predictions. I saw that someone above posted a link to another thread that I've responded a lot in.

14)You have to buy all your armor from the crafters or from a few armor collectors scattered about. Mobs do drop armor, but its nothing you can wear. They are useful for the materials you can salvage off them or the occasional rune/insignias that come with them.

15)Factions has a very steep progression. By the time you get out of its port city, you'll be up against lvl 20(+) mobs. NF has a quick progression as well, but not as fast as Factions. That said, you're still some ways away from the Proph port city of Lion's Arch and you should be around lvl 15-8 by the time you get there.

16)Factions feels shorter and a lot more cramped. While NF is more spacious and beautiful, but imo, a bit more forced in terms of the storyline missions/quests.

17)Alliance Battles, which are a Factions only thing.

18)Here's a list, find what you have and what you can trade them in for.

20)Find yourself an active guild. They can do wonders for your gameplay. Pug'ing(pick up groups) is no longer something I would recommend and given the choice between pugs and hench I'd rather play with henchmen(and heroes when you have them too).

22)Yup. You can change your attribute and skill bar easily, so if your primary is enough to get you through something, focus on what your primary has to offer.

23)Just play, no need to farm or try to power lvl. You're reach lvl 20 in no time. And once there, while you won't gain any more lvls, you do get skillpoints each time you would normally lvl so you can buy more skills.

24)Materials storage, plus one storage tab, plus one storage tab for every campaign on your account. Again, EoTN is only an expansion. Anet also mentioned that in he coming April, we'll be getting more storage but the details of that still remain unknown.

25)You don't. Runes and insignias go on your armor. Weapons get upgraded with a prefix and suffix, in addition to the inherent/inscription on the weapon.

26)You can look them up here beforehand and plan out the quests that are in the same area. Or do and complete the goals of more then one at the same time before you go collect the rewards. Scroll through your quest log("L" be default) and do them as you're there.

27)I'd say somewhere in Kryta or into the Jungle. Thats about a third of the way into Proph.

29)From the online store? No, not worth it. Just a convenience for the PvP crowd.

30)Advance henchmen whose skillbars/weapons/armor gets chosen by you. And because of that, you're limited to 3(of yours) per party. The ones in EoTN come as lvl 20, but the NF ones start at various different lvls and you'll have to lvl then up to 20 with you.

31)Pets. You'll need a ranger(primary or secondary) and the [[charm animal] skill to get one.

32)The Bathazar faction? You get it by playing PvP and can be used to unlock things for your PvP chars(and Z-keys, see question #13). Once you reach your cap(which can be raised), you simply won't gain anymore until you spend it.

33)Lockpicks are not worth it. Especially not for the loot in the chests from where you are right now.

34)There are some rare skinned weapons out there and some weapons that stat-wise no longer drop. Chance of you getting one, though is slim to none. Sorry.

Once you get to the port city(LA) you'll be presented with the option to go to EoTN(you must also be at least lvl 10). You'll get the heroes as rewards for completing certain quests.

There's a helper's list in one of the other sub-forums that you might be better off asking your questions to.

Don't stress too much about your seconday profession, you will reach a stage later in the game where you can change it. Until then just play around with the skills you have until you find a combo that works and you enjoy. As others have recommended, check out the Campfire section for some ideas on builds.

Haven't got anything much to add as your questions have already been pretty thoroughly covered, so just take it slow first time, do all quests (with at least one character) and most importantly have fun.

Cheers

As Thowra said, it doesnt really matter, personally if im using a warrior i rarely use skill from my 2ndry profession, and if i do, i only use one.

Like getting to the other campaigns, you basically need to get to Lion's Arch to get a small quest that takes you to EotN.

As Thowra said, don't worry about it too much, you will be able to change your secondary later in the game (in the desert). Many people take Monk as a secondary at the start so that they can get a better Rez skill and maybe a bit of self heal, but that's about the only difference. There would be no real need to re-roll a character.

Wow, thats quite the releif to hear because my Ele is now just coming to the point where i love using him, and is able to take on the minions of where im at in the game with ease with only one henchmen.

Can't wait for the heros.

Heres another quick question, with the Heros I know they are like customizable henchmen, but do they stay with your char every time you log on and join or do you have to like re-hire them every time?
Also, do they level up with you, or do they just start at 20?

If you logged off with some heroes in your party, they'll be there when you log back in. The heroes that are not in use(while you have under 3 heroes in your party) will appear in a little drop down menu under your name in the Party window. They also have their own tab in the Party Search window.

The ones in EoTN start off at lvl 20. The ones in NF come in at various lvls and will lvl with you(while in your party) till lvl 20.

Just out of curiosity - is there any particular reason why you only use one henchman? I know that you would get a bigger share of the loot, but it would be much easier and faster with a full group.

Also, when you say "minions" can we assume you mean enemies (or foes, or MOBs) in general? (Minions are temporary creatures summoned by Necros.)

As someone already said, the NF ones level up with you. However, if you crossed over to NF, they're probably still behind you in level, and you don't always want to bring the poor little level 15 guy out with you.

If you're doing quests, especially the ones that give you skills (which you should do!), you can simply switch to the heroes you want to level when taking the quest reward. (: They get xp from it too. So you don't always have to level them up by fighting.

Thanks again to everyone who helped out in this thread. I feel as though I have a much stronger handle on all concepts of the game now!