A beginner needing help

I plan on buying all of the expansions for Guild Wars to try and work towards getting rewards for Guild Wars 2, my problem is that I have no clue where to start, when it comes to professions (1st/2nd), the best way to get through content, the best way to find other places that want to do what you want to do to.

I'd like to play an assassin but I heard they are complicated and not great for PVE?

I also like Necromancer.

I'd also like to know what campaign to start in to be able to obtain rewards quickly or help me on my way.

I understand there are guides and things around the internet and I've looked at them, I'd really appreciate a players direct insight on my questions and any information you make think is valuable for a beginner.

Where to start:
Depends upon your approach to the game - for example, it depends a bit upon how important the "look" of your character is to you.
Since you seem to be aiming toward GW2, I'd say the fastest way to go through the content is to start out in Nightfall. But, if you want to start an Assassin or Ritualist, you will need to start in Factions. If you want to experience Pre-Searing, you'll have to start in Prophecies. If you don't start in Nightfall, then go through the early parts of the game until you get to Lion's Arch or Kaineng Center and then travel to Nightfall to get some Heroes.
Also, from L.A. or K.C. or Consulate Docks, you can then travel to Eye of the North to get more Heroes and more PvE-only skills.
In order to go the newer War in Kryta etc. content you'll want to finish either Prophecies or EotN.

What to play:
Play whatever class floats your boat. Don't get distracted by those who will say that this or that class is better or worse. Most of it's BS. And, you can always start another character later.

Once you've gotten a good group of Heroes (and equipped them) you can start on whatever you want towards GW2.

I keep hearing Nightfall is the place to start, I actually don't mind being any class really as long as I won't have trouble getting through the game. I'm actually leaning towards being a Ranger as my main, not sure about the secondary, maybe a monk? Is there a class combo you recommend?

I've also noticed that on the Europe servers it's quite empty, should I join the US servers even though I'm from the UK?

Also.. by "finish" is there a certain amount of quests you do in each campaign and then it is considered finished? And should I try and play with real people or henchmen?

Thank you for the info.

You mentioned interest in necromancer and assassin - both are ok to play. The ranger as well. Go ahead if you feel they match your playing style. In fact, every profession is worth playing. There are classes that are more beginner-friendly than others, however. From these three, the ranger is the most beginner-friendly, the necromancer is also somewhat beginner-friendly, and the assassin is bit more difficult to start with.
From where you start may depend on the class - to start an assassin you have to start in factions, and not only because of that it's not the best class for a beginner. I recommend Nightfall if the class you choose allows that.

Finishing a chapter means playing every mission up to the final mission of the chapter. The storyline is built from a mix of primary quests and missions - and in the final mission of each chapter the story comes to an end.

If you play on european servers or american may depend on the language you want to communicate with other players. The german and french districts are still quite populated, but all english-speaking players gather in the american districts. There are in fact no distinct "servers" but only districts. You can change freely between them at any time with no restriction at all.

Thank you for your info. I just purchased Triolgy digitally through the website however I can't seem to log into the main game, what info do I need to use? I try to make another account within Guild Wars it says it's in use and won't let me log in using ncsoft information.

Prophecies has the gentlest learning curve, and it's also a pretty "classic" high-fantasy setting and storyline. It makes for a very easy transition into the game, although you may get stuck at a couple spots at times (although that will happen with any campaign).

If you're just learning, I'd suggest starting a prophecies character and getting the hang of how the game works. By the time you've mastered the basics, you'll probably be in a spot where you can campaign travel if you want or just start a new character in another campaign. Both are viable options.

But, in all seriousness, the best thing you can do is just start and try to enjoy the game rather than worrying about maxing titles and being l33t on your first day. I've been playing since October and feel like I'm just starting to get the hang of playing a Warrior, which has been my main character since day one.

There's a lot to this game and no need to rush.

I like to start in nf because that campaign have the best character looks imo, it also doesn't have a very long beginner zone, and not a really quick one either. NF also has heroes from the start (henchmen who you can chose their build etc). If you're really new thought, I'd suggest prophesis, because pre-searing is so pretty

Yes, people hang around the american servers only, been so for quite some years now actually.

Imo it's funnier to play with humans, but you're going to have trouble finding people, I suggest you go with humans when they're available, otherwise go heroes.

A bit of advice, in order to fill your hom you will need some cash, you can gain some just by playing, but that takes time... I suggest you roll a PvP only ranger, do zaishen challenge until you've gained enough factions in order to unlock a decent trapper's build and until you've unlocked zaishen elite (ZE) (http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Zaishen_Elite). Then you farm ZE every 24h for 6k balthazar factions, which you can use to unlock more skills for your pvp only character or for your heroes. Here's how you farm ze http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Build:Team...aishen_Trapper
I've had trouble just now with connecting to gw, so maybe you experience the same thing... You should add your new key to your existing account if you already have an account, otherwise you should create a new account and then add the other keys to that account. (at least that's how it works with non-digital copies)

Nightfall is a good place to start a character. But an even faster method is to start in Factions, do the first 2 Canthan missions, run from the Marketplace to Kaineng Center, and then go to Nightfall and finish that campaign. Then come back to Factions and finish it as well. Oh, and as soon as you get to level 10, I suggest you go to the Eye of the North campaign just to get Vekk (Elementalist), Ogden (Monk), and Gwen (Mesmer) as heroes and then experiment with their builds (or just copy them from PvX Wiki); but EotN is the most difficult campaign so you may want to save it for last. You will "finish" a campaign after you've done the last mission and you can not find any other "Primary Quest" in the respective campaign.

This may sound a little overwhelming but it will make more sense in the game. If you have a simple question, I suggest you search the official GW Wiki. If you're still stuck, then feel free to ask right here

Using the American servers is a very good idea if you want to team up with other players. But, since you're still at the beginning of the game, you will probably be fine with henchmen or heroes. You can join a Pick-Up-Group later on, if you get stuck.

The Ranger is an excellent choice for learning the game but, in my opinion, they don't have many strong builds to choose from. Later on, when the game becomes more difficult, a caster profession like the Necromancer, Mesmer, or Ritualist would probably have an easier time getting things done. You should have at least 8 character slots so just try different profession and see which one you like most.

In the hands of a skilled player, any profession can accomplish anything. All that matters is how much effort are you willing to apply in order to understand the mechanics of the game.

I've added the key to my ncsoft account however it doesn't seem to recognize my nscoft details when I try to log into the actual game.

Thanks for the information! It'll help a lot, I'm just stressed out as the game isn't letting me log in, I'm sure my details are correct. I'm supposed to use my ncsoft account, right? As it won't let me make an account with the key in game as that's used by the ncsoft account.

I don't really remember how you do when I create and account... so I don't know. But maybe you just need to wait a bit for the server to register that you actually exsist? There's always the Anet support though...

I've contacted support, no luck figuring it out myself yet.

If you bought Trilogy in the built-in store, it's got automatically added to your trial account. I suppose you started with a trial account and started the store from there. Just log on to your trial account and find it upgraded to the full game. Don't forget to fill the "security question" (under the password) with the name of one of the characters you created - it's always a required field as soon as there are at least one character on your account. If you forgot the name, look for screenshots you may have made. If you cannot remember the name even then, contact support.

One should keep in mind that there is no official "completed" for primary missions/quests, and some secondary quests as they can be repeated. About the only way to know if you have truly beaten all of them is to keep your own personal log of the ones you have done.

As for which campaign/chapter to start with, it really doesnt matter as the storylines of each campaign are not related to each other. Only EotN is directly related to Prophecies. The rest are just different stories from the same fantasy world.

Thanks everyone for the help, if I were to play the 3 main games WITHOUT Eye of the North, will my achievements and progress count once I buy Eye of the North and will they also then count to GW2?

I've also figured out my log in problem.

That's great enjoy the game

Yes, that is correct.

Feel free to contact me in game, Maya Kendil is the alt I use the most at the moment (you bring up your friends list by default "N").

Okay I'm glad they will count. I will add you now!

To find more information on professions and which secondaries work best with each, visit the sub forums in the Campfire section. Each sub forum has a basics thread stickied at the top. Enjoy the game.

Thank you!

Hi Asterai.
I would say start with Factions that way you will level up faster and move on quicker too. Playing a Assasin is a very lonely profession not many players accept them in parties, I would suggest you start with the necro or atleast try them all to see which one you will enjoy the most.
There are many guilds you can choose from just hope you find a nice one that will aid you.

To add on:

Play what you like. or else it would be hard to continue. Sins aren't that bad in PVE. With the right build, you can do a lot with a Sin too.

I would say to try all the profession till they are level 20 and then use the one you like the best.

Thank you for all the help everyone. I was wondering, could anyone link me to a good PVE Ranger or PVE Necromancer build please? I'm having trouble finding an all around good build for me to be able to compete in PVE.

PvX wiki all the way: http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Or use http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Main_Page in order to find all skills for your profession (search on ranger and then click on whatever attribute you want and you'll see all the skills in that attribute line) and eventually work your way towards your dream build.

That's the old wiki. The new one is here: http://www.gwpvx.com/PvX_wiki

Always avoid wiki's with 'wikia' in the url.

:S started playing again after ~1.5 years. That's why I had an old link. Thank you for the new one

Likewise, if you haven't found this out yet either, the unofficial wiki has moved to here: http://www.guildwiki.org/Main_Page

My (sorta) main is a Ra/Mo, but the only thing I use from the Monk side is Rebirth. Basically, the build I use nowadays is sort of a mixed bag of things, including the PvE skills Pain Inverter and Never Rampage Alone.

Many Europeans play on the America servers - the America servers seem to have the most players atm - but note that it's "America", not "U.S.". There is more to America than just the U.S.

Each campaign and EotN has a main story line consisting of Primary Quests and Missions. One you've gone through the story line and done the final mission you can say you've beaten the campaign. At that point you can start to do Hard Mode. The fastest way through any campaign is to only do these Primary Quests and Missions.

Until you get a group of decently equipped Heroes, you should try to play with humans when possible and fill the party with henchmen.

Most of the better builds these days include a few PvE-only skills that you will only acquire later on. The problem when you are first starting is that you may not yet have obtained the skills needed for a 'build'.
So, in the early stages it's best just to try to pick the skills you have that are most useful to your style of play. I would recommend you get and bring a pet - they are very helpful as a body blocker, even if you have no points in Beast mastery and use no BM skills.

Thanks a lot for the help.

Just to clarify, if I don't have Eye of the North, but then eventually buy Eye of the North, the things I earn towards GW2 rewards will count?

Yes. Things such as titles that you have already earned can be put into your HoM.

EotN contains the HoM which is where you put your achievements, but the stuff you put in is acquired while you complete the other content. Thus, not having access to the HoM does not have any effect on your ability to earn rewards (although some rewards require EotN, which means you won't have access to them until you buy it).

Thank you for clearing that up!