Questions before downloading the game

hi everyone, I m not an actual player yet and I m loking forward to join Guild Wars 2 when it comes out. As someone who have not played the current Guild Wars, I may have a lot of questions that seems obvious to you guys. Please don't mock me for asking common knowledge.

And I have to admit that I m a bit lazy, even though by looking through ALL the stickys and wikis I might find answers...it still takes too much work.

So I really appreciate anyone who can help me with my confusion, thank you to all before hand.

1. Lets's say I bought all possible expansions, when I create a character in Eye of the North, does that character have acess to all other expansion areas? I m assuming yes?

2. so PvP only characters that you bought with real money have no access to PvE? If I created a pvp only char and entered the game, what can I do before I find a guild? (solo pvp?)

3. This whole thing about elite skills, I don't get it. So is it that you can only have 1 elite skill in your 8 skill slots in PvP? Is it that you can only get a max of 5 elite skills in PvE (boss)? and when you leave the zone the elite skills are all gone except 1 of them? in that case, does that mean you don't get to LEARN the elite skills and you have to capture them every time you want to change a new elite skill for pvp?

4. in guild vs guild, I see alot of times in the video that players get killed and just stood right up as if they revived (after about 2-3 seconds). Does that mean in guild vs guild each player has more than 1 life? or is it that they are not real "dead".

That s it for now, thank you very much again

1. Eye of the North is not a campaign, but an expansion. You cannot create a character in it. But any character created in any campaign can travel to all the others and complete them.

2. There are several low-end PvP arenas to play in. But you don't buy PvP characters, you create them just like your PvE characters (with all campaigns you will have 8 character slots). They are created at level 20 (max) and have max armor and weapons available. Only skills and weapon/armor mods will need to be unlocked. http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/PvP

3. Whether PvE or PvP, you can only have one Elite skill on your bar. Once you capture an Elite in PvE, it is unlocked on your account and available to any PvP character.

4. Death is not final in any part of the game, you can be resurrected by your teammates. In GvG in particular, there is an automatic 2-minute resurrection cycle.

thank you for clarifying things, maybe I ll think of getting gw right away.

by the way, since each campaign has its own set of skills, can characters who learnt one skill in one campaign bring their skills to the next?

Yes. Once a character knows a skill they cannot lose it (unless of course it's a temporary skill (these are only given out during a couple of missions and one specific explorable area)).

ok, I see, so after finishing all campaigns a char could collect and own all skills related to his or her professions.

Yes. You can even change your secondary profession after you get to a certain point in a campaign and collect those skills as well. You swap it as much as you like as long as you're in a town or outpost.

PS: Collecting all the skills isn't necessarily a good thing. I recommend doing it for your primary profession but it's a waste of money for your secondary profession. Just get the ones that you'll use at first, then get the ones that look fun/interesting, then get the rest if you want to burn some cash.

A PvP only character is created at level 20 with a basic set of skills. It can only play in PvP arenas. It earns more skills by acquiring Balthazar Faction with which you buy skills and other things.

A PvE character starts out at low level and you acquire skills in various ways as you level up. Level, equipment, and skills are permanent once acquired. PvE characters may also play in PvP, but they do not start at level 20!

Starting in Nightfall for a PvE character is a good idea since you will also acquire heroes. Heroes will level up with you. Their armor levels automatically. You must have armor crafted for the PvE character, or obtain it from collectors. Weapons you get from drops can be used by your PvE character or your PvP character or your heroes. But PvP starts with good weapons that only need a few mods that you unlock along the way.

GW is a very large game. A lot to learn, but all of us learned it the same way, just one bit at a time.

wait, burn some cash?, you need real money to buy some of the skills? or are you talking about in game currency?

He means in-game gold, as buying skills you don't need is a waste of your funds that you will need for other items.

He means in game currency.

btw

if pvp only players can't do pve, then where do they get their elite skills without capturing from boss? do they have access to all skills (including elite) by using Balthazar Faction?(I m assuming u acquire it by participating in pvp?) or is it that pvp chars can also capture skills from bosses?

what are the "few mods for armor" for pvp only characters? do you mean upgrade or enhancement or something?

Yes, if you have all campaigns you can purchase any skill with balthazar faction. 3k for elite skills, 1k others.

Also, when a character learns a skill (either by capping or buying) it is unlocked on that account. Meaning you can go cap an elite with any character and it will be unlocked on any pvp character.

Armor mods are avaliable in a similar way. You can unlock these with faction, or if you can identify an item that has that mod, and then it is unlocked.

once a pve toon learns an elite skill, that skill is unlocked for your entire account, Your pvp guys can use anything that is unlocked on your account.

ooh, ok, so it's unlock on account.

what about the "mods", are they just like most MMORPG where you can upgrage or enhance you weapons?

Yeah, pretty much. For example a sword pommel of fortitude could be put on a sword to give you a health bonus. Only one type of each mod can be on each thing though, so you couldn't have two sword pommels or two shield handles. Armor is basically the same; each piece can take a rune and an insignia.

Here is another question:

if you caste a spell with upkeep, can you cancel it manually or is it that you have to wait until you can't pay the upkeep anymore?

You can cancel it whenever you like. When you cast it, a little icon of that skill will appear (by dafault it's above your skill bar). Double clicking it will allow you to drop it.

how does the expansion eye of the north work? do I have to buy the original guild war first in order to install the expansion?

how does the pvp access kit work? do I have to buy any of the original guild war first in order to unlock it?

if I created and purchased a guild war accound & campaign on one computer, what do I do when I changed a new computer? how do I reinstall (I m pretty sure I dont have to buy it a second time right?)

EotN is an expansion, not a stand alone campaign, so you need to have one of Prophecies, Factions, or Nightfall on the account. You can access the EotN content once your characters reach level 10.

The PvP access kit unlocks all the skills and weapon/armor upgrades so your PvP characters can use them straight away. It is not required to PvP. You still need to buy a campaign in order to PvP.

Just redownload the client from the official website. All information about your account is stored on Anet's servers.

thank you

If I created a pvp only char, it appear in the game as a lv 20 right? if so, how do I choose my second class for this pvp only character. Do I have to talk to a specific NPC who is representing that class and it will give me the second class?

A PvP character starts at level 20 and can only access PvP content. They automatically have access to any weapons/armor/skills you've unlocked on the account. You can change your secondary profession through the skills menu like you do in PvE (though in PvE you need to pass a certain point in a campaign to be able to do it).

ok! finally this is probably my last question, the rest I will figure out in game
(I feel bad making u reply all the time Marty Silverblade, thanks for all the help)

Can armors and weapons be enhanced to increase certain attribute like critical hit rate or physcial attack damage? (I have seen pics of armors that give energy, so..)

ty again (PS: probably buying guildwars in December after I get my new comp)

Weapons and armor can accept mods. See the following links for possible upgrades:

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Weapon_upgrade
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Inscription

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Insignia
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Rune

You are incorrect. You are referring to the Unlock Packs, which are different from the access kit.

Another thing that hasnt been mentioned regarding this Question in your OP.

You can equip only 1 Elite Skill at one point in either PvP or PvE, but in PvP you can use 2 Elite Skills temporartily if you bring a speciffic Skill from the Mesmer line called Arcane Echo and copy the elite skill from a teammate.

In PvE, you can bring up to 3 Sigents of capture from which you can learn a skill from a beaten Boss foe, if you fill all those up with Elites, and have your own Elite and the Mesmer skill Arcane Echo it is possible to have up to 5 Elite Skills on your own Skillbar at once. What happens after you change zones is that you loose the first 3 regular elites (not counting the Echoed one as the skill Arcane Echo is not an elite in itself) on your skillbar from the left.

These skills are not lost, because you have learnt them. You just need to zone to an outpost so that you can equip them again (only one Elite can be manually equipped at once though).

ty, I ll find the rest on gww

The pvp access kit allows you to access pvp content from all three chapters and the expansion. It does not give you access to the PvE content. Buying the PvE campaign gives you access to both PvE and PvP. You would only be able to create a PvP character with the PvP access kit. If you wish to play PvE, you need the campaigns. The PvP kit will not unlock anything at all other than the PvP arenas. You would start with the basic items and have to unlock all the skills and mods through faction.