Inquiries from a newbie

Hello, I'm fairly new to Guild Wars, and I play TQ anyway, so I'm really not used to these kind of games.

I'm sorry if these questions are answered in any other thread, but some of them I couldn't find answers.

How exactly do the Zaishen Menagerie Grounds work? If I turned in, let's say, a level 16 Melandru's Stalker, could I recharm it if it's in the grounds? Or would it go back to level 15?

As in Titan Quest, there were a variety of overpowered builds, like a Conqueror, Brigand, Oracle. But I haven't heard of any overpowered builds in Guild Wars yet, though I see many Necromancers around. I have a Ranger/Fire Elementalist, and it's pretty good when it comes to shooting something from a cliff or whatever, but I'm always running out of spaces on the skill bar. What skills would I use for a decent level 16 build?

And lastly, when will I start to find unique bows? I've found a gold forked sword, but where are the unique bows? Do they just spawn randomly or is it assigned?


Thanks in advance.

First of all, welcome to Guild Wars from a fellow TQ player!

The menagerie is a place to store pets so that you can quickly get them on different characters without having to start from scratch. That being said, there are some limitations... the pets you get OUT of the menagerie can only be one of the following levels: 5, 12, 15, 20. Thus, if you dump in a lvl 16 pet, it unlocks that pet and evolution for all levels below 16. So yes, you can only get a lvl 15 out that way. Its best to release your lvl 20 pets into the menagerie, as this unlocks all evolutions of that pet, as well as lvl 20 pets.

There are certainly some over-powered team builds/skills out there. Pretty much every profession has an over-powered build available, though some (like Paragons) have basically one. The best advice is to play the game as normal until you get an idea of how everything works, and what is most effective. After that, check out various sources online (or from friends in game) for builds. One place that has some decent builds is PvXwiki.com, though many of the builds there are poorly related. If you look through the meta builds you should find generally quality material at least.

As for good bows... well they drop all over the place. Drops are generally random (although certain things will only drop from certain places of course) so keep playing, you'll get a good bow eventually. Or, you could always buy one or get one from a collector.

A good source which will help you answer many of your questions is

http://wiki.guildwars.com

Its also a good idea to join a guild, even if you are not normally interested in playing a lot with other people. Guild members can help each other out a lot with information, builds, equipment and in game help. If you have other questions, feel free to contact me in game... some of my In game names are to the left. Good hunting!

Thanks!

And is it possible to set Henchmen to avoid combat like heroes so they won't attack when I charm an animal? 'Cause I couldn't find anything that would.

I used a Shocking Ascalon Hornbow from Piken Square all the way to Kryta, until I found a slightly better bow. But does the Shocking Ascalon Hornbow add lightning damage to piercing damage, or does it convert the damage to lightning damage?

And I would join a guild or at least a party, but I'm waiting for the guy who gave me the game to get past the Searing at least.

Finally , what does it mean by pet's aggressive combat and dire pets? How would I get a dire pet besides from the menagerie? Use pet attack skills often?

You can use the flag located under your minimap to flag them away from your location so they are out of range of attacking the pet.
All elemental mods simply convert the damage into their respective element.

Dire bets deal more damage but have less health, heary pets have more health but deal less damage, elder pets are in the middle. http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Animal_companion
This is how dire pets were done before the Menagarie, not sure if its still used now.
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Guid...ing_a_Dire_Pet

Also Gold itemsw are not unique, they are simply rare, if an item has green text then is unique, green items have a small chance of dropped by a boss or boss-like foe.

Once again, welcome to Guild Wars from (another) fellow TQ player.

You cannot set the fighting style with henchmen, but you can use the ping controls to have them stand away from you while you are charming, so that they cannot attack the pet.

The Shocking weapon modifier (you can find it on any martial weapon) only changed your damage into lightning damage. It does not add any damage. However, there are skills (like Conjure Lightning, an Elementalist enchantment) that will add damage if your damage is of a certain element.

Pet evolution is primarily based on the amount of damage the pet receives/inflicts.

The different effects of each evolution are as follows:

* Hearty: -(~12-14)% damage, +60 health
* Playful: -(~5)% damage, +30 health
* Elder: -0 damage, +0 health
* Aggressive: +(~5)% damage, -30 health
* Dire: +(~12-14)% damage, -60 health

At the first evolution (level 11) you can get either playful, aggressive, or no evolution. At the second evolution (level 15) you can any of the five, depending on what stage it was at previously. A great article on pets is here: http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Pet

And if you ever want to party or join a Guild (not a shameless plug, I swear >.>) you can send me a message. My main character is Orphus Stonerage. Good luck, and have a great time playing!

If by "unique" you mean green bows with names, you get them from ranger bosses. The drop rate is fairly low, but you can keep going out there to "farm" that boss until he drops it for you.

Just an additional tidbit of information. When you show the level 16 pet to Emryd the Tamer, you do not have to release the pet. You tell Emryd to look at the pet, and you get a dialog: "Thanks, I've added pet X to your menagerie" (and this will also indicate which evolutions, if any, are unlocked). You then have the option of releasing the pet fully, or keeping it around.

Thanks everyone for the information! I'll experiment with this stuff!