New player questions

Hi there,

I am having some trouble deciding which build to give my heroes.

Today I was going to try and start collecting elite skills but I wasn't sure which to get because there are so many builds to choose from.

I am a new player so I am looking for builds that don't rely too much on other heroes, because I don't have a good understanding of how skills synergize.

I am a smite monk.

Are there any basic builds I could begin with that you'd recommend?

Thank you

Get the following elites, most are good in specific builds for heroes. I might ofc be forgetting some skills but capping these will keep you busy for a while.

Necro - Feast of Corruption, Pain of Disenchantment, Spiteful Spirit, Aura of the Lich, Discord

Mesmer - Panic, Energy Surge, Ineptitude, Shared Burden, Fevered Dreams

Ritualist - Signet of Spirits, Soul Twisting

Monk - Ray of Judgement, Unyielding Aura, Word of Healing

Also be on lookout for new Ele builds popping up on sites like http://www.gwpvx.com/PvX_wiki since Eles just got a buff.

If you are going skill hunting in Normal mode, a Discord team will handle just about anything if you start off with smaller groups add a warrior and a monk and you should have no problems anywhere.

Usually most players build/set team builds that works with their chrs profession.
Eg A monk would have caster support teams opposed to a physical support team.
Monks mainly are healers so early in the game you can missmash the heros builds and you can keep heros alive or buff them .In 8 man areas and before 7 hero teams players would use 4 henchmen and 3 heros - henchmen would have set builds but they would get the job done.Also normal mode is good for ele nukers as nm allows them to dish out serious dmg .

An easy teambuild for all your ele heroes that's quite easy to get would be a searing flames build. It can look something like this: http://www.gwpvx.com/Build:E/any_Sea...s_Elementalist When I was fairly new I used 3 eles with monk as secondary so I could bring ageis on every ele as well as protective spirit and spirit bond (I couldn't really figure out a good similar skill for the last ele, so I went with shield of absorbation).

It isn't the best teambuild, but it's not that bad either (all the eles using searing flames means that the target will be burning constantly, letting many SF cause damage). The best thing with it is that it takes very few skills to fill up many skillbars, which makes it a great first step until you have the resources to gain more skills for the rest of your heroes.

It might have some troubles with the current flux though.

Ritualist, SoGM ie...Signet of Ghostly Might to add to Maya's list. If I think of anything else I will edit post.

Monk, ZB..Zealous Benediction(maybe, its not great)..Life Sheath for a prot...again not great.

Thanks a lot guys. I am have been getting skills for the discord setup and have nearly finished.

My veteran friend I met said I should go 3 Necromancer 2 Ritulaist 2 Monk. The problem is I was preparing for 3 N 2Rt 2 Mesmer.

Also, I was wondering what I would be best to spend money on. I was going to put it straight into my HoM but maybe it's better I get runes for my heroes first? Will that make an easier time in getting 30/50?

with some heals on your discord necs and a ST rit you don't rlly need monks unless you want to run a RoJ/Discord mix
I would get any cheap green 20/20 death staffs and Death magic runes for head pieces 1st,

At the moment My skill bar is

Ray of Judgement
Banish
Bane Signet
Signet of Rage
Castigation Signet
Spear of Light
Smite Hex
(optional)

Are there any skills I should definitely change if I were to run 2 Mesmer 3 Necromancer 2 Ritualist?

The builds of my heroes are from the Discord section here http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/h...t10474776.html

getting to 30/50 will take time for a totally new account (most of us older accounts have some old birthday gifts lying around to help us along).
I wouldnt even start on the Hom...I would play the game, as you go along be mindful of things that will help you out---picking up ALL drops, id-ing them (you can get some runes this way--its how I got 90+% of mine for all my characters AND heroes)....you will get money from this which will help with getting armors (which are needed for the HoM)...
as you play, you should bump the walls as much as possible if you wish to work on the carto titles (they require NO money, just LOTS of time); you should also do all the missions from each chapter--these give you titles (finish the bonus/masters for them all and another title)...once again the cost=0. Capping a pet and leveling it to 20--free, and counts toward the Hom.

so there are plenty of things you should be working on which will help with the HoM and require no monies to do so...Play the game and the titles and such needed for the HoM will come along in time.

I would definately say that you shouldn't skip the mesmers because they are just so strong, I use necros, mesmers and ritualists for my 7 heroes. The thing is that mesmers control large groups while still providing quite a lot of damage to those foes.

If I just started out new today I would defenitely finish the campaigns before I set out to do anything else. It is very dificult to complete 30/50 if you just start from nothing, but if you've completed all campaigns then you're not starting from scratch any more!

You should look to get dwayna's sorrow on one of your heroes as well (I currently run it on one of my mesmers) because it's just such a strong skill if you have a minionwall.

When you're just starting out there are no 'builds', basically. Anything that would qualify as a 'build' requires access to a lot of skills - skills you only really get later in the game. Most newer builds will also involve skills from multiple campaigns and EotN.

When you first start off, just play around with the skills you have available and use the ones that work best for you. Also, don't spread yourself too thin. It's best to concentrate your attribute points into only 1 or 2 lines, and essentially, ignore your secondary, until you have nearly the max attribute points (200) and a good enough pool of available skills.

Thanks guys.

I was wondering what would be the best option for the elite armor staue. I was going to get ancient but I saw Luxon/Kurzick elite armor awards 2 points.

I think Luxon is about 160k? I'd be spending all of my money if I bought it. What do you think; Ancient, Luxon, other or just wait?

If Even at 160k, it's still a cheaper way to get two points than, say, buying five elite sets to fill the monument for the second point.

Luxon is only going to cost you that much if you buy all the jadeite. If you aren't in a tearing big hurry, just earn faction and exchange it for jadeite until you have enough. Doing vanquishes, especially when they come up for Zaishen Vanquish, is a good way to do this while also earning cash. If you spend the cash from each vanquish on buying jadeite, along with the jadeite from turning in the faction, you should have what you need in short order without draining your current bank balance.

I got my jade by doing AB, FA and JQ on the respective zaishen challenge quest. This will not only net a good amount of luxon faction, but you'll also get a flow of zaishen coins, which you can turn into silver coins and sell, and balthazar factions which you can turn into zaishen keys and sell. This will pretty effectively increase your valet. I do indeed enjoy these gamemodes.

Thanks Kendil and Brett. Are there any particular places you would suggest?

I have also never vanquished before and am not sure what it is but I will read the sticky. Any tips would be much appreciated.

Amber is almost always worth more at the rare materials trader, so if you're just starting out and can go either way, it would probably be more economical to work on your Kurzick track by trading for amber, selling the amber and buying the jade for Luxon armor.

You just have to keep an eye on the mats trader to make sure you buy/sell at the right times.

Or you could make trades with other players to get better prices, but that would require a time investment.

To Vanquish is to clear all foes in a particular location in Hard Mode. As far as tips go:
1. Run at least two copies of "Fall Back!" (Paragon: Command). Most people use this skill as a secondary class (a primary Paragon isn't needed).
2. Offense, offense, offense, offense. Pump your teams DPS up as much as possible, even if it means you'll take a death here and there. It's faster to just Res the person and keep movin'. It will net you HOURS in time saved when you can clear an area in 15-20 minutes compared to 40-60 if you stack defense. You'll also learn intelligent pulling and aggro management, which is the best defensive tool you can have in your arsenal.
3. Do one Vanquish per day and get it from the Daily Zaishen Vanquish. You'll make much more money this way and it won't seem as boring. You'll also get Coins, which can be exchanged for goodies!
4. Put some good music on. Vanquishing takes a while!
5. Have fun. Try crazy stuff in your builds. Most areas, once you learn the game, aren't very hard, even on Hard Mode. Keep it interesting for yourself!
6. Try to bring Signets of Capture (you can bring up to 3 at a time). You can capture Elite Skills while Vanquishing, which will unlock them for you and help you level up your HoM!
7. Scrape walls when possible. This way, you uncover as much of the map as possible and have more leeway in your Cartographer titles.

That's all I got. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me in game if you catch me on. I'll answer as best I can. Good luck and welcome to Guild Wars!

Very useful information . I just got my Luxon Elite armor.

I have been using Discord way but I was going to try another team setup which is found here:
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/7...t10494328.html

It consists of 2 Necromancers, 2 Mesmers, 2 Ritualists, and a Smite Monk. I thought I would make my build the smite monk instead of a hero so what should my 7th hero be? Could it be a 3rd Necromancer?

Also, I was wondering outside of Deldrimor talismans, etc; what is the best way to upgrade hero weapons?

Have a look around,perhaps the search function may prove useful.