What Path Should I Venture On?

Hey guys, I am starting to get interested into Guild Wars and am about to buy the game. But I was wondering if there is a good class (or profession, what ever the Guild Wars community calls it) for a beginner, or does it completely depend on my gameplay style. If that is the case I would love to be able to heal my party members but also do some good Single Target damage or Area of Effect damage. Any suggestions? Or any sites that might help a noob in need? Thanks guys!


<3

Stolenkiss

Welcome to GW! Personally, I think choosing a profession depends on your personal preferences. Since you like to heal and/or damage, a Ritualist may be right up your alley. Rits have skills that are very effective in both areas. Any good Rit will be able to run both Resto (heals)and SoS* (damage) builds equally effectively. (Not-so-good Rits stick with the standard SoS builds found on the PvX Wiki.)

*SoS = Signet of Spirits (an elite skill)

Try different professions, as they all can be a lot of fun. You'll get 8 character slots if you buy the trilogy, so make the most of them! The toughest profession to master for a newbie would be Mesmer, since it takes knowledge of the enemies and game mechanics to play one well.

Thanks for the information! I know that Rits are in the second chapter of the trilogy, but I was looking at the sticky on what game I should buy, and I think I am first going to try out Prophecies frist. But I might reconsider my choice. Also do I have to buy the game at store or is there a way to buy it and download it virtually?

Hi there,
before you decide you should consult the web for the Trilogy or complete collection.

As this an be obtained for about the same price as one standalone like proph you mensioned.

As you are considering digital download also try Steam as they have offers also for the tril/complete collections.

As it does not show where you come from if Euro try play.com Game ect

Walmart ect from NA ect I would check those out first.

Do not go to ebay ect as some may try to sell you a key thats been used hence ..it will not work .

Welcome to guild wars and Play any profession that suits your gamestyle if you get complete collection you will have a total of 8 slots so your choice is wide.and you can take any char you make to all continents if you have all campaigns at a port city.

Thank you Highlander! I appriciate your advice and will look into it! I think I will explore the Monk and Ritualist first (that is if I can find a decent deal on the whole set for the triliogy). I watched numerous videos on the gameplay of Guild Wars and I noticed that Guild Wars offers a cool game mechanic, Dual Classing. Should I take anything into consideration when deciding my second class?

Welcome to guildwars, as mentioned above I would really consider the trilogy.

Guildwars is an old game lets face it. A lot of people prefer heroes (they are from nightfall and the eye of the north expansion) over human players since they can run any build, yet they don't bitch and moan or fail without it being your own fault... This might make it difficult to get into groups, though there are some nice guildies. So I would definitly consider the trilogy to gain access to heroes as well as almost every skill. On the NCsoft site it's about 20 pounds I think, it atleast wasn't too expensive.

As for class. Give everything (or a few) a go until lvl 20 if you can be bothered since low levels on certain profs are difficult to play (usually energywise.)
Ritualist is indeed a loved choice since it's very vestile not only the things mentioned above, they are also good solo and there is the ability to make some fun melee'ish builds or AoE nuke builds if you get bored.
How-ever you might want to look into Elementalist. They make excelent healers too as well as damage (but mainly normal mode) if you go for prophecies only after-all.
Even Dervishes (currently extremely overpowered nightfall class) have abilities to adept to heal if you consider to get nightfall only.

Secondaries depend on build as well as class. Halfway a campain you get something called ascendent and you can change your secondary.

Dual class are used in specific builds I would not worry to much when you begin as ...you can change your secondary at certain areas also so no problems there .

Have a look and click the links below to give you an insight to all professions

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/campfire-f17.html

http://www.gwpvx.com/PvX_wiki

The one above will serve as a guide as its all about synergy with the team you are playing with as team play goes from 4 up to 12 in a party so you can see that its not all about you its what you contribute to the area you are playing in.

Just enjoy the game for fun and you will not be dissappointed .As with any game you will have whats the so called best ect.dont worry about that one its what you enjoy that counts not what others say if you follow.

enjoy guildwars and have fun

You find a few lines of description in the character creation screen for every class. Use this to decide which class you find interesting. Don't be afraid: if you buy Trilogy, you will have 8 character slots, so you can always roll a character with a new class without deleting your previous characters.

If you ask where to start, my advice: don't start in Factions. The tutorial is too short and the learning curve in Factions is too steep for the common beginner. You might find yourselves being overwhelmed as soon as you leave tutorial into the mainland. This might be a very frustrating experience.

Start either in Nightfall or in Prophecies. Nightfall is good, because it immediately introduces you into heroes (customizable henchmen). You need henchmen or heroes these days, since you will play quite some parts alone. And Nightfall has a moderately paced tutorial and storyline. Not as steep as Factions, and not as long (and boring in my opinion) as Prophecies.

Prophecies is the other acceptable starting campaign, since it takes much time to introduce you into the game. But it doesn't give you heroes, so you might have difficulties in the later missions. The progression is too slow in my opinion, but this is something everyone has to decide for himself.

Regarding the secondary class: You can ignore your secondary class most of the time. If you reach the endgame areas, you sometimes improve your build with one or two skills from your secondary class, but many/most good and top builds only use skills from the primary class. As beginner, choose monk as secondary class, and bring a resurrection skill from it. You gain the ability to change your secondary class freely soon enough, so this is never a permanent decision.

In fact, there is no permanent decision you cannot revert. Everything can be changed sooner or later. (Everything besides your primary class). Regarding the development of your character, it is also not important in which campaign you start. In the end, you are always able to travel to every campaign with your character, play every mission, every story line, learn every skill and unlock every secondary class from the whole game. Some aspects are acquired differently across the campaigns, but in the end you are always able to acquire everything available.

When you first start out your secondary doesn't really matter. By the time you have enough gold, skills, and experience to know what secondary you'd like, you will be able to change it at will.
For a monk you could start with a Mesmer or Elementalist secondary for some extra damage dealing. For a Ritualist (or Paragon), Monk is a good starting secondary for a better resurrect skill.
EDIT - minor brain fart, Rits already have a good rez. My Rit's secondary is Monk, but I don't think I use any monk skills for either SoS or Resto healer.

You say you want to be a bit of a healer and damage dealer (in which case, add Paragon to your list), which is ok if you are playing solo with just henchmen (and/or Heroes), or with a bunch of friends/guildmates. But, if you intend to try to join pick-up groups (PUGs), they will expect you to be one or the other - healer or damage dealer - but not both.

I would suggest that you try to be mostly a damage dealer if you play solo - it's much easier to 'direct' the group that way. If you join PUGs be sure to make it clear whether you are a healer or a damage dealer. PUGs will want 2 healers (in 8-player areas) and they'll be a bit testy if they go out and discover they only have one (or 1.5). (On the other hand a half-healer is handy in areas where the group size is 4 or 6)

I would not get just 1 game, get the trilogy at least. Then the expansion.

It's not too expensive... and anyone interested in GW should have taken up the black friday offer it was like 50% off everything

The game is ~6.5 years old already. I suggest you patiently wait for GW2.

But if you still want to play the game, get the 3 campaign bundle for about ~29 usd at ncsoft store + eotn and grind your HoM titles. And it is advisable to play PvE hardcore since the HoM investment is PvE centric (only ~5 titles I think count for PvP) You can get 50/50 without even playing PvP.

If you are just going to start with one chapter of guild wars and you don't have a preference on a assassin or ritualist.. i would start with nightfall... not only will it make your gaming life easier because its the only stand alone chapter with heroes (non player characters you can fight with and pick their skills)... it will expose you to all the features you will see in guild wars as in the others will be missing some.... in this game no particular chapter happens in order.... prophecies, nightfall, and factions all happen at the same time on the time line... where as eye of the north occurs years after.

Welcome to guild wars and good luck out there.

Mireles Lore

Thank you all for the advice! The reason for me picking GW is because I am use to all the MMOs I play to have a raiding aspect as well, and supposedly GW doesn't have it. So what do you do once you reach max level. And is the level cap only 20 for the entire trilogy or does each chapter raise it?


<3

Stolen Kiss

Welcome to GW, just me I would go Mesmer and see how you like it. You will learn what works in certain areas and what does not. Start with Nightfall. By the time you finish that you will have a lot of good heroes to set up like you want. Only when you have reached that point will you be ready for Eye of the North and if you have finished Nightfall you will wind up with a few points in Hall of Monuments.

The two most commonly recommended starter professions are Ranger and Warrior. I am a Ranger primary, but I play most of the others. The Ranger has the highest survivability. The Ranger can also farm with the SoS Rit build since the Ranger has high spirit spawning efficiency though expertise. Ranger with pet is a good way to level though the game standing off on a hill firing away with your bow while your pet and melee hero get up in their faces. And farm feathers and such to make some extra platinum which comes in real handy.

Warrior is not a tank in this game. It is a damage dealer and it deals a lot of damage. Easy to understand and effective. I like axes myself.

GW is a gigantic game. Be patient, learn one thing at a time and in a few months you will be an expert.

THANK GOD! I don't want a game that will end up boring me within a couple of months!

I just have to point out that the statement in bold is not correct. Prophesis and factions occur at the same time, NF is 3 years later and eotn is 3 years after NF, WiC and WoC occur 1 year after eotn.

As for which game to buy I would strongly recomend the trilogy + eotn or the complete collection if you think you'll really like the game as it's much cheaper and will give you access to all content and skills etc.
GW2 is still some way until it's ready for beta (this is due to the "when it's ready" statement which is the current releasedate...), so you'll be able to enjoy gw1 for the very least for a couple of months until gw2 releases.

Don't stress over the hom, it will most likely not make much of an impact in gw2 anyways, and personally I think you should enjoy the campaigns before you set out another goal.
If hom is very important for you then I'd suggest you make sure you know a way to earn a lot of cash pretty fast: you'll need ~1mil for 30/50.

I've enjoyed the game for 3 years now, and there's people out there who have been playing since release. So there's content out there alright!

Levels 1-20 are essentially the "tutorial" of the game. Everything good comes after reaching it. (Finishing Campaigns, title grinding for Gw2, Speed Clears, possibly PvP if that's your thing)

Yes, the level cap is only 20. There is no such "grind" to this game as there are others. "Grinding" is only required if you choose to take that path in making money/having fun/find it more efficient. Otherwise, chillax.

Lol, first of all I don't even know what the hell HoM even is haha. But I am guessing I will probably find out sooner or later and I already print out the guide to make cash fast along with a guide to farming as well. I just hope that there will be a lot of end game content as well.


Also, I know that Guilds are a big game mechanic in Guild Wars, I was wondering if I should worry about joining a guild in the beggining or near the end of my leveling. Any suggestions?

HoM = Hall of monuments... its a feature in guild wars eye of the north that lets you store your accomplishments, heroes, armor, miniatures, and high end weapons for exclusive rewards in guild wars 2. Its one of the big reasons people still play this game.

it can be viewed here

http://hom.guildwars2.com/en/

and by typing in your... or anyone's character name

Hi there and welcome to the community.

Its worth mentioning that you have several character slots so you can easily begin several classes play each for a short time to see what might work for you.

Thanks again for all the help. Any tips on when I should star looking for a guild. I definitely want to find one that is social but also a bit hard core if those kind of guilds exist, but also help players. Or should I first just focus on aquatinting myself with the game?

It all depends really how you want to play a game... A helpful goal oriented guild may want to "rush" you threw and skip content you might otherwise want to enjoy to arrive to help with a guild goal.....but Id suggest joining a guild because you can leave and join another at any time and you can learn from other players.

If you want to enjoy the game how it was made.... don't let people run you or bring their all powerful heroes with them... this can make the came seem boring, pointless, and grinding if someone mows everything down for you. Trained alot of noobs in my time and this is one of the quickest ways ppl get bored.

Gotcha! I was just wondering because I do not know if guilds would take a noob like myself hehe. Thanks though. I just downloaded the Trial, can't wait!

One more thing.... if you don't want appear to be a noob by asking all kinds of questions about the game.... refer to this website:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Main_Page

its the encyclopedia of guild wars.

Lol already added it to my favorites, but was wondering when I purchase the full game will I be able to play while its downloading or no?

First things first.

What class to pick. Recognize that due to the age of the game, human players will be sparse at the best of times except for elite end-game content.

Given that, it is best if you the player start as a damage dealer, and use heroes/henchmen to support you, rather than trying to heal/support your heroes.

You CAN play Monk or Ritualist, as these do have builds that can be offensive, supportive and defensive, the only problem is that the builds are either limited (i.e. the Monk has very few decent damage-dealing builds), or outright boring (the Ritualist for example is a very strong profession, but the playstyle is best described as fire and forget, basically a passive offensive profession).

I would suggest that you decide what type of offense do you want, melee or ranged, then decide what based on playstyle. Here are my recommendations:

Melee -

Dervish - is THE current Meta powerhouse, with significant recent buffs, the Dervish does well in all aspects of the game, both PvP and PvE. With a rumored upcoming armor change, the Dervish's offensive spells may see a boost as well. This class, while melee primarily can also act as a buffer or even healer, i.e. Dwaynaway, although in general is more party wide constant healing, rather than single target spike countering.

Assassin - the other melee Meta, this class excels in soloing, and in high end PvE content as a tank, utilizing various spells to be immune and ball up foes for the midline to spike. Aside from high end PvE, the Sin does monstrous damage at PBAoE range with Death Blossom (while adding in other skills like Splinter Weapon and Mark of Pain). The Sin in its current form though is somewhat unsuited to its original intended role, that of teleporting in, unloading damage and teleporting out before getting killed. In general PvE, utilization of "prots" keeps the Sin alive while doing crazy damage to everything.

Ranged -

Elementalist - has one awesome prot/heal build utilizing Ether Renewal, and many varied PvE damage builds based around the four elements. The big problem atm, which may be rectified by an update, is that in Hard Mode, the extra armor that mobs possess makes almost any Elementalist damage build sub-par, causing the Ele to be pigeonholed into an Ether Prot build, with few alternatives that include AP/Evas and Invoke builds which are still just playing catch up. They CAN hold their own of course, just not as well as classes that focus on armor ignoring damage.

Necromancer - One of the best energy management abilities in the game (Soul Reaping) combined with varied builds that utilize minions, curses, and plenty of conditions along with some armor ignoring damage, the Necromancer is extremely versatile. Using Soul Reaping a Necromancer can make a great healer when combined with Monk or Rit, do damage with minions or spirits and really ruin an enemy's day. In terms of the meta, they're only beat out by...

Mesmer - There are some people I've seen using Mercenaries to run six Mesmer hero teams and one healer absolutely curbstomping the highest end PvE content developed due to the sheer power the Mesmer acquired after its skills update. Great energy management, powerful control skills and much more make up the Mesmer. If you want to be the outright most overpowered class, in addition to learning more about how the enemy works (having to watch cast bars, learning how and what to interrupt, what skills enemies possess, etc.) go with Mesmer. As a caster they can run most any other cater's skill bars, and do it faster with Fast Casting!

Ritualist - another overpowered class generally, most of their OP skills are armor ignoring and fire and forget, such as Signet of Spirits, and can quite easily and effectively solo, farm, and play in groups. The downside is that the most powerful builds are somewhat boring, requiring little active involvement from the player, apart from watching cast timers and spirit positioning, and making sure not to stand in Meteor Showers. You can play a caster Channeler, using lightning skills, but these are generally not as powerful as an Elementalist's skills and can be frustrating to use.

My vote is to go with a Mesmer or Necromancer, then also make a Dervish. Or all three, the Necro playstyle is significantly different from the Mesmer, despite both having a lot of hexes and such.

Another question you need to ask before you start is if you care about PvE/PvP titles and the Hall of Monuments for GW2? If so, then you might want to start a Mesmer in Prophecies, work on getting LDoA (relatively easy now) then get Survivor in post-Searing, for two relatively easy titles, and make your Mesmer your main. I'd then start a Dervish in Nightfall, and play both. Just make sure that all consumables (such as booze, sweets and party items) you use one character to avoid waste, as the titles for these require 10000 points each, which is a lot of double clicking.

As for guild recruitment, just go to Kamadan or Lion's Arch, most guilds recruit from there. If you want to PvP in anything competitive like GvG its best to find an active guild that focuses on that at the Great Temple of Balthazar.

Hope I helped you out!

Thanks for the advice! Right now I am rocking out a Necromancer and monk. Pretty good, and fun.

Necro is a great choice and are still used in many high end pve teams. Lots of playstyles that you can use in various hard mode areas.

Ranger is a poor choice simply because there are no spots for rangers in most high end pve areas. Why be an SOS ranger when you could be a Rit SOS? Arenanet gimped bows years ago to get people to play other classes/buy other chapters. We still roll through the game, but aren't invited to many parties.

It's surprising that they let assassins remain the number 1 pve class and farmer for all these years even though NF came out later. I would have thought that by now Derv's would have taken the wars spot completely and that Para's would be essential to any team build.

That's the crux, they can gimp or buff any class at any time. There is no rhyme or reason to it. So play what you like and have fun cuz you never know what they will do with your main/favorite toon. Since you probably won't have time to extensively test all classes, Necro is a great choice along with Rits, Sins, and Monks. Simply cuz they work and will probably continue to work in team pve team builds. We don't know what will be better the derv or the war in the next update. Elems, Paras, and Rangers need to buffed badly. Mesmer's take a while to learn...

Guilds, play it by ear. My guild was mostly made up of people who spent most of their time solo play. Got into it by joining up with them one day on a quest in Factions, tough one. Saved their bacon. They invited me in. We all got along because similar personality types. There are good guilds out there, trick is finding out which is which. Join a few. Quit if it isn't helping.

End game content, yes. Zaishen daily quests for one thing. You need to be leveled up with a full set of heroes to try those, but they are fun; and challenging, actually often pretty darn hard. Then there are dungeons if you are into diving into those.

Plus personal projects that will occur to you. GW is not purely a game that does your thinking for you. It is to a great extent a world that provides an environment for your own creativity. Some people like the word sandbox, I don't; reminds me of cat poop.

GW 2 will be even more of an open world. Not many nice quests given out, just run out the door and get involved in righting wrongs, wronging rights, stirring up trouble, feeding maidens to dragons, being either a hero or a douche as the mood strikes you.

I have played since the day Prophecies went live, way back there. Still a very lot for me to do.

Lol, just started my trial account 2 hours ago and am level 5, having trouble finding my way, especially getting into Regent Valley...other than that I love this game.

Welcome to guild wars! I hope you will enjoy the community and the game, for that matter!

One thing I thought I should just say - use the wiki! It is your friend. It helps me out EVERY SINGLE DAY I PLAY! http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Main_Page

Other than that, just have fun and see you in-game!

Welcome to Guild Wars! I've been playing this game since day 1 and six plus years later I still enjoy it. A good guild will help immensly with advice and assistance when you need it. Just be sure not to let them rush you through everything; a level 20 character is God during the early game and you may just end up chasing a more experienced guildie without understanding (or enjoying) what is going on. There are also short cuts through the game that can be taken that speed your progress, but cause you to miss some of the story. I'd recommend that you play the game through at least once on one toon to appreciate the story and the lore. After that zoom future toons through to the higher levels and end game areas so you can unlock the skills you need. Good luck.

Hi There,

as most of the bases are now covered.

Little tips if you are new to finding how to go the quests /missions

When in game press the....F10 key you will see a list pop up if you scroll you will see the quest you are on so, if your lost just click the respective quest on the list.
It will then take you to a page to show you the map and information about it. when done just close the page and click the guild wars icon again its on the bottom taskbar and it will return to the game.

So theres no need to close the game all can be done within it. this is the same the list will give a massive ammount of info while in game like listing all the skills .

Again, thank you all for the advice. I am taking my time through the leveling process as we speak. I am level 6 right now, and am working my way through the Piken Square quest hub. Basically the way I have been playing is that if I see a exclamation mark I just grab the quest and do it.

Yes and No.

Yes - your character's "level" does remain 20 throughout the entire game.

No - In PvE - Factions, Nightfall, and, most of all, EotN, have title lines that will grant you buffs in their areas, and you can also get specific skills that are tied to the title tracts. So overall, a character who has high levels in those various titles, and also uses builds that include the PvE skills, is much more powerful than a basic level 20.
And, since you have to do certain things, etc, to get the titles and/or increase them, it's basically the same as "levelling up", but the levels don't carry over to other areas or PvP.

Hello. When I first started, I made a mesmer. And i got so bored, so quickly, i quit. When I came back I made an elementalist. I quit again. I then made an assassin, and I stayed. Since then i've made multiples of every character, but some are just too straight foward to allow for creativity while still doing something....
I reccomend starting in Nightfall to learn fast, it has a huge newbie area that takes forever to get out of, but allows you a jumpstart to necro hero, and more in depth learning of the game.

Well I finally made my first level 20 character. So what do I do now? SHould I focus on completing campaigns?

Yes. Levels 1-19 are essentially training levels. Now you get to really experience what the game is about. Do the campaigns, collect skills as appropriate, and get a set of max armor (at either Droknar's Forge, Kaineng Center, or Consulate Docks depending on the campaign).

My advice as you have just reached lvl 20... (ironic because I have just bought another account with the Trilogy and EotN) is to beat every campaign completely. Use wiki to figure out good tactics, to find recommendations for skills, and beat all the campaigns. I'd highly recommend getting your character through Eye of the North and Nightfall first, as you are able to unlock extremely useful heroes and skills.

Also, if you keep wiki open, you can investigate quests/missions for potential bosses you can kill to capture their Elite Skill. This is extremely important... Capture all your professions elites, and as many others as you can, this will help a lot later in the game.

Beating every campaign on normal mode, then on hard mode is highly advised because you will get exp, cash, titles, and general knowledge into how the game works. Experiment in the elite areas when you have progressed through the game further for some entertainment.

I also recommend doing some of the zaishen missions/boss bounties because they score you some cash and sometimes reputation points for your pve character.

Buy Eotn. Beat NF and Eotn before anything else, and it will give you heroes and skills that will be useful throughout your GW experience.

Thanks. I think I will complete EotN and NF after I complete Prophecies campign because I am almost done, and really enjoying the storyline...I DONT WANNA STOP! lol. Also I want to be able to do UWsc as well because our guild is always looking for a spiker and or MM to do UW. Thanks for all the advice...hope to see you all in game.

<3

Stolen Kiss