When does this game pick up?

Hey. I'm at Ascalon right after the searing and I'm having trouble getting into it. I don't dislike the core gameplay mechanics I'm just finding a lot of the quests to be dull. Does this game get better or is it just not for me?

Quests are largely optional and only serve to teach you skills and level you faster, in addition to game lore. If you want the "action", that's the main story which will be told through missions. Your first one should be available by now, The Great Northern Wall.

Follow the Primary quest line and it will take you through missions and the meat of the game.

It gets fun as soon as you get to the mountains. That's really only a few missions away.

Either do the missions in a direct line or bag Ascalon (it sucks really bad anyways) and get a run to Beacon's Perch. That's where the game gets fun and interesting, and you start to get an actual selection of skills. The run to Beacons is like 500g-1k, or there's even people doing it for free (like me).

If you have any other of the Guild Wars games, then stop playing prophesies and start Factions or Nightfall.

The first GW game is the most dreary, watching-paint-dry experience of the lot. You can tell it's their first attempt, with a lot of the annoying things removed or changed in later episodes of the game, ie the appalling explorable areas with bad mapping, multiple dead-ends and glitches.

I only ever went to Tyria (Apart from EoTN, which is fun to play) to get GWAMM on my main, and it was the most grinding, mind-numbing area to play in. Oh, and virtually all drops there are worthless.

Made me laugh but there is some truth here.

The prophesies storyline is great but if it doesn't grab you or your a naturally gifted player then move on.
The slow progression of prophesies will teach a lot about how the skills work and you may well be a better player because of it.
But if you begin GW with one of the other games and like the faster play style then indeed this posters comments hold good.

My first 3 characters went right through prophesies "no option here as it was the only game out"
Naturally enough my second pair started in Factions and characters 6 and 7 began in Nightfall.
So in deed did 9 through 14, I don't dislike prophesies but have moved on and am a different player now.

Heroes are a part of the game so is becoming 20th early level and starting to enjoy the game at its best.

New players should try prophesies but if they are bored or otherwise not having a good time then get one of the other games in the series.

Na I disagree with the ones saying proph is bad. If you're just bored by secondary quests, that in ascalon are too many and often boring, just do the main storyline. It's very fast going on that way, as almost all cooperatives follow each other with no primary quests in the middle and you're not required to level out of those because level is balanced on that.
The other 2 campaigns instead require you to do all secondaries or grind mobs, cause the level required for coop missions goes up very fast and you can't keep up by just doing those.

Prophecies is the slowest for new characters. You don't get heroes, and it takes much longer to level up. If you are a traditionalist, you might choose to start in prophecies. But from your thread, it doesn't sound like that is a concern. So I'd suggest starting in Factions or Nightfall. You get heroes rather quickly in Nightfall, which can help speed things up considerably so you can get to the fun stuff.

I agree 100%. I found beginning prophs to be more of an annoyance than anything.

For story and mood it's supposed to be slow at that point, it amplifies the contrast between the idyllic pre-searing Ascalon and the burned down ruines and ashes after the searing.

It makes hunting charr in Eye of the North all te more enjoyable.

Prophecies is really the best campaign, but if it's too slow for you, just follow the missions, or restart in another one.

I've only been playing Guild Wars for 45 days. I initially started with Prophecies, actually stayed in pre-searing for about 2 weeks, until I was level 12. I was enjoying myself, and there was just something sooooo satisfying about heading over the wall and killing charr. LOL

Moved over to post, and honestly, I was kind of emotionally blerged on it REALLY quickly. I lost enthusiasm for the experience, it felt like a bit of a grind, and the storyline seemed kind of pointless. I pushed through it... and that's what it was, a push. "I have to do this in order to do that other thing..."

I got Factions, Nightfall & EotN a few weeks ago. I haven't done much with Factions (other than get good armor/weapons), I've started Nightfall and done the first bits of that, but I focused a lot of my attention on EotN. I really wanted to start War in Kryta, and the best way for me to do that (given that I wasn't interested in pushing through both Factions & Nightfall so I could complete Zinn's Task) was by getting into EotN.

I'm sucked in completely, now... I LOVE it. Storyline, environment, monsters... I am having a fabulous time!

I doubt any future toons I make will be for Prophecies, other than maybe one so I can do the whole "make level 20 in pre" title thingy... but otherwise, I have to say I'm glad to be done with Prophecies... it just didn't do it for me the way other content has.

1. Focus on your "Primary Quests" -- these lead you to the next mission. Do the missions, work thru the game, get the heck out of Ascalon.
2. Once you complete a mission, the next Primary Quest is usually right in front of you when the loading screen is gone, watch carefully for it.


Prophecies was their first Guild Wars. It's the slowest of the bunch in terms of how fast you level up, how fast you go through the map, and how fast you complete the storyline. Honestly, most of Prophecies content is pre-20 content.

When they made Prophecies, they thought that spending half the game leveling up to max would be fun. Then, they realized that's not true, and that the real fun is doing things at level 20. So in Factions and Nightfall, they you get to 20 much faster.

The bulk of Factions/Nightfall is lvl 20 content, whereas I'd say less than 1/3 of Prophecies is lvl 20 content.



*ahem* Long story short: Get thee out of Ascalon!

Personally, I love Prophecies and the story and all the areas, but then I like to take my time and look around and check things out and explore when I play a game. For legendary cartographer and vanquisher I saved Prophecies for last because I enjoy it... saving the best for last. It's just such a beautiful game.

Factions is awful until you get out of the city, which is probably close to halfway through the game. Then when you pick between Kurz or Lux, it gets interesting. Kaineg City is cool in concept, but a pain in ass to get around. I understand it's suppose to be a giant slum and a warren where people just built crap willy nilly, but navigating it is horrible... just awful.

Nightfall was by far the biggest grind for me whether it was vanquishing or cartographer or guardian title. The heros are nice, and the story is ok, but the areas are ugly and monotonous. However, the palaces in Vabbi are gorgerous. I loved the idea of being inside a wurm, but it got old quick. Oh, and the Hidden City of Ahdashim explorable area is amazing. One of the few really beautiful areas in the game.

It all depends on what you like. As you can tell, I like eye candy and exploring. To me, it almost sounds like you might want to just hurry through the stories, unlock skills and go straight to PvP where there is no story and just fighting. PvP is frustrating, irritating and sometimes makes you want to punch a hole in the wall, but it's never, ever boring.

P.S. As people said, do all the noob missions in Ascalon skipping the bonues and completing only the main objective. Wiki is a good place to look for quick reference if you can't find a group. OR, get a run to Lion's Arch. You could also get a run to Santum Cay and from there get to the Crystal Desert, but it's best you're lvl 20 or close when you get to Amnoon Oasis, the first outpost in the desert.