OLD Noob looking for Advice

Hi Everyone,

I'm a 40 Year old, which probably is very old compared to some of you here, who play GW.

I started playing around 9 months and I'm a very casual player and looking for some general advice. Some questions that Wiki is not really going to answer for me.

I play about 4-5 Hours a week. I can go a week or two without playing hence my slow progress. I've got Prophecies and Eye of the North installed. My Character is a Mo/Me and I just made it to Level 20, I'm sure others can do that in a weekend, but I'm old and play very casual.

So here are some questions

I've been looking at some builds and wanted to utilise them and improve so I can join teams or others and be able to effectively help them, or be able to go farming on my own without having to rely on 6-8 Henchmen. But it seems I wont be able to build most of the popular builds unless I buy the other campaigns? If thats the case should I bother with GW2 around the corner?

Am I wasting my time with Mo/Me? Should I go with something else?

When I first started playing, this guy who was like lvl 15-18 helped me and a few other guys to farm/level and he was amazing. Being a total noob, I didnt think to see what character he was playing. But he had an army with him. He would res all sorts of minions out of the ground and bring with him.

I Hope I didnt break any forum rules with this post, I did the Q&A before posting this.

OH one other thing, I did join a Guild about 4 months ago and then the leader quit and so did everyone else and all of a sudden I'm the guild leader. So should I keep the Guild? Is there any benefits of keeping it? other than I can go into the Guild Hall?

Hey and welcome!

First off, at 40 you're not old :P Say that in about 4 more decades.

I'm not really up to date with current monk builds unfortunately so I can't give you much advice in that respect. It is likely though that most of them would require skills from Nightfall or Factions on top of what you've got. However, you don't need them. You can go through the game very well just just the Core, Prophecies and Eye of the North skills.

GW2 isn't exactly around the corner, but that really depends on how much you play. My guess is that's it's probably going to be at least one more year before it's out though.

The guys at Arena Net would surely appreciate it if you bought everything, but even if you do, you'd have to go through those campaigns as well before you would have all the skills. What I'd do if I were you is to play through Prophecies and Eye of the North, and when you're all done with those, get the other two chapters.

You're not wasting your time on Monk. No class is a waste of time really, it's just a matter of choosing something that fits your style. There's pros and cons for every single one of them.

That guy was a Necromancer.

Most importantly, I think you ought to leave that guild and join one with people in it. That way you'd get advice when you need it and people to team up with. And if you're getting along well with someone and they agree, add them to your friends list (N key).

Best of luck to you! The game is sure worth it!

cc

I'm early 40s also so you're in good company. For the best builds, yes, it's great to have all the campaigns so you can pick and choose best skills that go well together. But there are some great PvE skills from EotN that together with Prophecies should get you a serviceable bar.

I hear monks are quite desirable for grouping with others on the fly (pick up groups or PUGs). I don't know because I never played as a monk and don't do many PUGs either since they're spotty at best and I can usually get a guild/alliance mate to come with if I don't want to solo or play with just heroes and henchmen.

Guy was either a primary or secondary necromancer using death magic to be a minion master. Very effective for lots of areas in the game. I have a Rit/N I play as a minion master/bomber and I think it's a lot of fun. Just something cool to me about summoning undead creatures to do my bidding (especially when using them as bombs ;-).

I wouldn't start over though if I were you. Monks are very versatile and you should play around learning the different ways to be a protector, a healer, and a smiter.

Lastly, I agree that GW2 is further off than you think. And even when it's released, it's not like they're going to pull the plug on the GW1 servers the same day. I plan to finish Factions (on last mission now) then tackle Nightfall then go back and finish Prophecies in HM, etc to get Legendary Guardian. Then I'll probably run around EotN until I max all four reputations there and get the max title (Master of the North) there.

I'm pretty casual too and all that will take me months so I expect I'll still be playing GW1 for a while after GW2 is out personally. Even if all the outposts are ghost towns.

As far as the guild hall, there isn't much in it that would be a must...although if it has most of the addons, merchants, etc (which can be costly) you could try to sell it to someone for some change (full hall 10k or something). The key is finding people to play with, or learning a play style you enjoy. I get lots of wife aggro, so can be afk for 3 minutes to 3 hours often, which is why I tend to h/h most things.

I like having access to all of the games (but as crimson said, it is not a must). There are some holidays that are in Cantha I really like, so I would suggest adding that game just for that (and the skills too I guess). Nightfall offers numerous heroes, so if you decide to go the solo route with hero/hench, it can be a plus (same with the skills).

Just remember, when it comes to age, you're only as old as your age added together. I'm 38, which is 11 added together, which is my justification for playing games too much.

Other than that...good hunting.

I wouldn't call you an old Noob - I'm 66 myself, and have been playing GW since shortly after it came out. I mostly play with guild mates - or with H/H - and my play style is now casual - RL takes precedence.
I would advise getting Nightfall - because of the heroes. Other than that, visit every skill trainer and check out what skills they have to offer. If you're having fun with your Mo/Me, then keep it. Monks can be very versatile, as can mesmers.

As others have said, I think GW2 isn't going to be out for a while. Still feel that getting the other campaigns would be worthwhile, but not mandatory.

Monks are in demand, you could easily join groups for missions.

Definitely recommend that you join another guild for company, help and advice.

Agreed with the above poster and if you call yourself old at 40 that's scary cause I'm close to that :P I would get all the campaigns as they are all fun. And join a guild that doesn't mind that you play when you can and that you'll get the help you need.

Hi there from another oldie "60", there are more of us about than you would think.

GW2 is realistically not going to be out for at least 6 Months plus, I do expect it some time next year.

All of the campaigns were designed to be completed using the skills from those campaigns.
Its true many of the builds you find online contain skills from all campaigns but its not worth buying the other games just to get those skills because you may well need to complete a large part of each campaign to get those skills.

So only buy the others if your enjoying the game or you want to start a character class from the other two campaigns.
The guy with the army was a necromancer, Necro's can raise minion armies usually around 10 in number.
Some other classes can call upon aid Ritualists from the Factions game can summon spirits and of course Rangers can have an animal companion.

You can alter your secondary later in the game if you want to try this out Monk/Necro could be fun or you could just start a necro as a backup character even if you don't play it much you can dump equipment on it if your short of storage.

Since you plan on getting GW2 you may want to visit Eye of the north and start looking at what you can add to the hall of monuments.

On the guild front there are good and bad best way is if you play a mission with someone and like their style ask about possibly joining their guild.

Give a yell if you want to know anything else I'm usually here when I am not having a nap.

Hah, not old at all. Mid-thirties here, and both my wife and her parents play.

Though my main's a Warrior, I do have a Monk, and I've finished all chapters but Nightfall with her (just due to laziness, and having 9 other characters to play, not difficulty). In normal mode (as opposed to hard mode), you can pretty much play whatever build you want, and by the time you get to the harder areas you should have a pretty good idea of what works for you and what doesn't.

If you'd like, add me to your Friend's List in-game (Syllibus Pendragon), and if I'm online, I can answer any questions you have and/or help you out if you get stuck in a quest or mission.

Poking 40 with a short stick here, play mostly with my wife who is beyond that, and our guild leader is my mother in law, who owns every kind of game console there is as well and last I checked was not far from drawing social security.

Rule #1 is, play a class you enjoy. Having said that, I'd encourage you to roll a character for some of the other classes and play around with them a bit to see if you enjoy them too. None of them are a waste.

This...also.

Yep, young fellow, you are not all that old! Much older than that here, 64, and there are many much older than me!

Recommend obtain Nightfall and Factions. Be careful to associate them with your present account. Then you have access to a large number of heroes. At present you can only include three heroes in your full party of 8. The final four must still be henchmen. But those three heroes make all the difference in the world!

A Necromancer Hero can be a Minion Master (MM) and the Hero AI is very good at raising a minion army. You have seen how useful this can be! Time out to play through Nightfall and have a character with a full set of heroes is a very good idea. (Ranger my suggestion) Then you will know how all this works. Nightfall has its own starting area, a very large island that you can return to later on. There is an excellent story line in Nightfall also.

Having finished Nightfall you can go straight into Eye of the North, get even more heroes, and some good skills there too! Most importantly, you can enter your own personal Hall of Monuments. This is where you register titles and accomplishments that will give you some unique armor and weapons and titles in GW 2 when it comes out.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Main_Page is the official GW wiki.

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page is the unofficial GW wiki.

http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page is a repository of useful builds for main characters and heroes for different purposes.

The unofficial GW wiki and the pvx.wikia are both moving to Curse.com which also hosts this site.

I think the demographics for MMOs change as the game ages. I'm 64 also.

While the convenience of owning a guildhall is very nice (as long as it has NPCs), it won't help you learn the game or gain people with whom to play. Trying to recruit is a time-consuming business and, unless you know at least 10 people who will join and stay, an exercise in frustration. People will join, then leave the next day as there will be no one help them.

Sell the guildhall and join a guild (check out our Guild Connections section) that can help you with the game.

If I were you-- I think I would buy Factions and Nightfall. It adds a lot to the game and I agree that GW2 is probably not going to be out for a while. (at least several months, maybe a year?) You would have plenty of time to enjoy them.

If you choose to buy the other campaigns check Amazon (or someplace like that) because the prices are so much cheaper than the online store.

If 40 is old then I guess I am old too.

This is awesome!! I'm humbled I don't know many in my age range that actually play online games never mind older

Ok that is some great info here, I'll have to make notes and make a plan on what direction I want to go next.

I forgot to mention, I did do some missions in Eye of the North so I do have two heros available, and managing them is something else I'll have to look into.

Selling the Guild Hall and joining one with people sounds like a good idea. I'll have to join one that people realize I'm a casual player, I dont want the pressure of being kicked out because I haven't participated enough or didn't go on quests.

I think its cool that some of you have your wife and other family members involved. Right now my wife hasnt been bit by the bug, she does watch me play she has her own set of casual games (mostly flash), maybe one day she can join me in on the action.

Thank you all very much with all the info.

Update:
I sold the Guild Hall which was almost full for 10K was easy to sell for that price

But, then again, younger than some of us.

I don't think GW was around when you were 9 months old.

Considering how cheap the game is these days, yes you should buy the other parts. Get the Trilogy + EotN or The Complete Collection for the best deal. Just add it to your account, it doesn't matter that you already have Prophecies.

Depends upon what you want to do. RoJ monks are good damage dealers and heal/prot Monks are always in demand.
But a spirit spammer Ritualist is a good choice for farming and Assassins are used in many speed clears. It's good to have several characters.

He was a minion master Necro. MM can be fun, but a little boring. I basically stopped playing MM when I got a Necro hero - they do just fine at it.

You could sell the guild to someone - in-game for in-game gold. (Edit: 10k is really cheap ) Or simply find someone who wants to be a guild leader and make them leader.

old 40pfft... half past that already and my husband plays as well (yes women play this too)

so welcome, and yes there are tons of casual players out there (my husband doesnt get to play much since taking on a 2nd job)....so not to worry on that front.

Yes you would be more helpful if you had all three chapters--the skills from those would be beneficial especially for a monk (and monk is a good profession, you have the option of going healing or smiting).

At 52, I'm glad to read here how many others are older gamers too. I bought the Trilogy and the EotN this year after hearing positive things about GW for some years now, and I'm playing the four campaigns simultaneously. So far I'm a solo player, with henchmen, though henchmen won't be available in Guild Wars 2.

Nightfall was getting a little tedious until my character got to Kourna, but it's interesting again after that. I recommend getting Factions also. The landscape is among the most beautiful in GW, and the Ritualist profession becomes available.

Eye of the North is interesting so far but a little tough; it's meant for level 20 right from the start. Anyway, good luck to the forumites who have posted here.

I am 52 also and my guildie is 57 (only 2 active on our guild now),there are plenty of us older gamers out there, now if I could get my husband to play he is 59

Monks are always good choice whether you play healing/protection or smiting, just have fun. Try all the professions see what you like. No need to start over, you have slots to make more chars. so you can try out the different profs.

Having all the chapters is good, lots of content, skills and professions to choose from, but you don't have to buy them all yet if you don't want to, there is plenty of time to get them in the future.