soloing

hi a friend just recently gifted me gw1 because i missed the beta days that was offered to me (and still regret it to this day) and everything has been so much fun and making me feel like a time traveler learning about the past of gw2.

so onwards to my question:

i made a sin and having fun with it but its getting more painful and painful to progress (halfway through factions and halfway through eotn) solo since i cant really find groups or a guild to join for some reason (or am i looking at the wrong areas?) ive searched for builds and a friend told me to go the shadowform way dealing conditions damage and going to the pvx website but its getting to me that i dont have time to learn everything since my limited amount of time

so the question is: what is the best solo class to play with and is it still worthit to go back from the start to make my experience smoother than my sin? (lvl 20 with tissue paper armor from shing jea, unlocked some heroes)

if sin is viable whats the best build i can go with? im having a difficult time dealing with damage even with 2 healers and 4 block/heal skills and the pvx website is making me confused (but its better than the meta websites of gw2 imo)

how can i farm out armors am i doing something wrong? (used up all my earnings at shing jea and even then those exploding plague guys keep killing me)

im in this for the lore and maybe 21 hom points but mostly the lore (playing through helping jora killing svanir has got to be the best highlight since its my favorite story in gw2)

shameless plug: where can i beg for stuff (im sorry i know) im tracking the giveaways section and read the rules i hope i dont get banned here for asking this

first, welcome to guildwars!

onto the questions. I would check out the wiki (http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Main_Page) for a lot of the questions you have...that said I would also invest in max armor for your class--if you can not afford the 5k plus materials I would see which collectors offer pieces so you can at least have max armor. (http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Armor)
(by the way, the exploding afflicted are just really annoying).

Easy classes to play: elementalist or ritualist (who can also solo pretty dang well). If you have been playing gw2 you should be familiar with the ele (there is no rit in gw2).

Since you also have eye of the north and a few heroes unlocked--you need to get them a few good skills, monk skills--protection--would help with the damage you are taking from the corpses as well as other damage.
You might want to think about starting a few other classes just to unlock a few skills for your heroes (I usually do this anyways when I get a new account, its cheaper than buying some of the skills and you get to play a new character for a bit).

as for the pvx...I would stay away from it, its not really made for new players as you have found out.

and for your 'plug', yes we do not allow begging, but you are more than welcome to continue to watch the giveaways for stuff. I would suggest kamadan for getting more stuff, but that would require nightfall (which you didnt mention that you had or not).

hope this helps a bit

Also, there's no need to play solo. There are hundreds of very full and active guilds, some of which are in full alliances with up to 1000 people per ally.

Kamadan is the place to pick up a guild, but also Lions Arch in Prophecies. Use the American servers, and listen to the local chat in those two towns to pick up a guild.

Max

hi thanks for the replies! i was thinking going ele next and then you said it so im definitely gonna do it now.

thanks for the links it definitely helped me alot. im just wondering though upon reading the armor charts about "max" armor its still not gonna be like gw2 where i can barge in enemies without fear of dying yeah? (except maybe with enough survivability?)

also auto attacks from weapons tend to be a bit low... (ranging from 9 - 14 damage) even with max stats from the weapons table from the wiki thats normal right? its gonna depend on me with modifiers on how to increase them?

also also are there still ways to gain stat points or is it limited to what they give you when you become 20?

Yup. You need a lot more brains in GW as opposed to GW2.
Barging into the enemies is always a great way to suicide (Except for a few very specialised farming builds that only work against certain opponents in certain areas).
The main damage in GW is not from the weapons themselves, but from the additional damage you get through skills in melee classes.

For Caster classes, the damage is nearly 100% only through usage of skills, Wanding an opponent deals negligent damage in comparison (But can of course be enough to tip the balance for a faster kill if you are not effected by any punishment hexes such as Spiteful spirit or Empathy).

As for attribute points past level 20; There are no additional attributes possible through leveling. All additional levels give you then are skill points you can use to purchase skills from the trainers in certain towns. There are however 2 quests per character depending on what starter game you chose which give you an additional 30 attribute points to spend (2 times 15 points);
http://guildwiki.gamepedia.com/Attribute_quest

ooh cool thanks for the reply

trying to learn kiting and pulling rn at COF kinda intense since im still using my shing jea stuff. have to relearn alot of things since i cant apply my gw2 skills here which is great since its a new experience

im reading and trying (by trial and error) to effectively pull with a shortbow... enemy AI is grouped here and will pull everybody with its grouping yeah? if no is there a more effective way to pull mobs?
does crit damage affect AA's or the skills too?

sorry im also trying to read the stuff in the wiki and trying to understand the diff terms
just trying to gather enough information before i go again
thanks!

longbow for pulling, shortbow is basically wanding range. Some mobs can be pulled by individuals, others---well, its all or nothing. Remember if you are with heroes or henchmen when you are trying to pull that you flag them behind you or they will run into the mob and thus undo the whole pulling idea.

recurve bow and hornbow are wanding range, shortbow is spear range, even worse :P
longbow is great for pulling, but sometimes you are obstructed my the ground, and flatbow is better at that

i use both for pulling, depending on what that char has, lol (mostly use the bonusitem bow)

and yes, as been said, you can find plenty of guilds in kamadan american district 1
just find guilds doing everything in pve, so no pvp, faction and speedclear based guilds would be best

Make money by killing stuff and selling items to merch. Also salvage the materials with kits that you need for armor. Cheaper than buying the material. I've never ever had a problem with money for 20 max armor in GW because it is so cheap.

In eotn you should try out Kilroy at Gunner's Hold. You can max out experience points and, since it is a solo game, you get all the drops. Also ID the blue/purple/gold armors you get there. Many have very expensive runes you can attach to you max armor to boost your skills, health and energy levels.

Just hold on to the ADVANCED knuckles you win after the second part of Kilroy cause you only get one pair and they are essential to getting through that game. Since you have a Sin already his dagger mastery should be maxed out and that is the one skill that helps in that game. (The knuckles are like daggers, you can mode them with same. Get a +5 armor - or +7 vs slashing is it - and Sundering and it makes the runs way easy).

You have to re-district to reset the game each time but you can play it endlessly. It gives you dwarf (Delimor) points as well that helps you in some dungeons there and gives you free skills from the guy standing next to Kilroy as you go along up the levels. Also make sure you have the NM Heros book from him since when you turn it in filled with your trek through eotn you get a nice amount of gold in return as well as points to the title.

Also the drops there will easily merch for more than enough money and add in salvaged leather and iron etc to get max armor in KC back in Factions or Boreas Station in eotn which are the two places you seem to have open to get them at now.

Also you can go to Nightfall for more heroes immediately. Check wiki for the quest you need. You will get two healers, a war and a derv right off. Then an ele (don't take the ranger, you will be offered a choice and you can get a ranger in eotn later) and then soon you can get Olias a necro. Get him, Livia in eotn campaign and Master of Whispers later in NF (again take him and not another ranger offered, very important to take him) and those 3 necros can keep you alive through most anything with the Discordway builds. You can get the two NF rangers after you finish that campaign anyway but the necro especially is gold now.

That is a basic set-up. Get other fancier ones later. I like Heroway myself which still has 3 necros involved along with two mes, a smiting monk and 2 rits. (As you progress you will find rit heroes make better healers/protectors usually than monks). I hardly leave home without them.

And again get better armor asap. Max 20 doesn't cost that much. What? 5K plus materials most of which you get by salvaging them yourself. Max armor is EVERYTHING in this game and 20 is max. You can get "elite" armor down the road but it is the exact same values, just better eye candy for some. The max you can get in KC and Boreas Station is as high an armor as you can get in the game. Good luck to you.

You've already been offered great advice but I want to mention a few other things you may not have considered.

Instead of playing your Assassin in melee range of enemies, you could play him as a caster by changing your secondary to Mesmer and investing your attributes only in Deadly Arts and Inspiration Magic. You skills would be Assassin's Promise, "You Move Like a Dwarf!", Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support, "Finish Him!", Auspicious Incantation, and maybe Signet of Deadly Corruption (in case Finish Him! doesn't kill your target). The other 2-3 skills are entirely up to you. This build requires a rank 5 in Norn and Ebon Vanguard titles for best use and it's generally used when you have a somewhat reliable team with you. So, for example, if your allies are depending on you as their primary source of DPS then this build won't work that well. But, if your allies are mildly competent then you're going to be a major asset to your team.

I've used a build similar to that one to get Legendary Guardian and Legendary Master of the North on my own Assassin, so I'm quite fond of it And the only thing I changed was taking out "You Move Like a Dwarf! and putting in Web of Disruption and Cry of Pain.

Also, you are correct that most people won't like it if you beg for stuff... however, you seem pretty cool to me so I'll donate some stuff to you. My IGN is Schmerdro Ravissen, my timezone is UTC -4, and I assume your IGN is Pocket Raptor.

I'll give you a short description of how to get 21 HOM points.

1. I'll donate to you 1 rare (gold) miniature which will give you 2 HoM points. If you want to get a unique (green) miniature then I suggest you read about the Black Moa Chick which would give another HoM point, but this is not necessary for you to have 21 HoM points.

2. We could hunt for Cloths of the Brotherhood in the EoTN so you can upgrade the armor of 10 of your EoTN heroes. Then we could hunt for Stolen Sunspear Armors in the Nightfall campaign so you can upgrade 5 of your Nightfall heroes. Afterwards, I can show or help you get the Black Widow Spider, Black Moa, and Imperial Phoenix animal companions. And now you'd have 20 companion statues which would increase your HoM points by 4.

3. I could help you do the Sorrow's Furnace and the Fissure of Woe elite areas. Then, if you can get the Protector title for Tyria, Factions and Elona, you'd gain 5 HoM points. Alternatively, if you don't want to get some of those Protector titles then you could try to get some other title that seems more convenient for you.

4. I can give you the materials and gold to buy a cheap elite armor. Just tell me which one of your characters you want to have this armor, and I'll tell you which armors are the cheapest for that profession. This will give you 1 HoM point.

5. I'll give you a Destroyer and an Oppressor weapon, which will give you 3 HoM points.

If you want to look at your own (or other people's) Hall of Monuments, you may do so with this website.

Enjoy the lore of GW and the scavenger hunt for your HoM points! And, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask

hello again and oh god that was alot of info to take in but every single info i get is valuable so thank you

ive been trying to study what to salvage and what to sell directly to merchants but sometimes it kinda bothers me to sell than to salvage is there a drawline on what to sell and what to salvage?

e.g: i always salvage with a superior salvage kit runes and inscriptions from stuff i get and then sell the weapon especially if it says "better sale value" and then salvage everything that is below 90g with a normal kit.. am i doing this right? what do i do with the runes or inscriptions i dont need since the use of the superior salvage kit outweights the sell value on merchants (25g+)

do i have to sell them outright and remove this feeling im being scammed by my own fears? (sorry trying to nitpick every action i do to make things smooth since i did the same errors in gw2 and ended up doing things the hardway)

im now 3p and 200 tanned leathers away from max armors so im getting it done woo!

@schemrdro i would be so thankful if you did ill pm you in game QUQ

yes, use the expert or superior salvage kits for removing the stuff from armor drops, for most of the weapons, unless you like them or need them for your heroes, just sell them after you id them (id blue, purple or gold weapons). Most of the skins you will be getting arent worth that much (nor the time it takes to sell them---). Some of the weapons will have really nice mods like +30 health etc but the rest of the weapon is useless (not max, not a type you need etc), at which point I would then salvage off the mod I wanted and if the weapon didnt break, sell it to the merchant (and put the mod on a weapon I needed it on instead).

also remember when doing quests in factions and nightfall, many will give you money, xp and possible an item like an imperial commendation--which can be turned in to an npc for id kits, salvage kits, etc. (many of the quests in prophecies give weapons as rewards or skills---which are nice for other reasons).

Keep in mind that some of the drops you get might be very valuable indeed. Anything r8 with max stats can net you a fortune (in some cases millions of gold), as well as max r9 weapons with +5e. Also non-inscribale shields with two max mods. Don't merch everything as a general policy, try to spot items that might have resale value using my pointers above, and periodically create a price check thread here on guru to ask the community if you have won the lottery.

Max

The runes can net you a lot of money that you or your heroes don't need. And yes you can rune out your heroes as well to make them stronger.

But the runs you don't need take to the rune trader in your guildhall (I assume you have joined a guild by now) or at Embark Beach or some larger towns. Never ever sell runes to a merchant. By looking over what the rune dealer charges for various runes you can see which extra ones you can get a lot for.

Example. Something like Windwalker can net a lot of loot for you. But some rune that is only worth the minimum 25 gold isn't worth salvaging off an armor really.

Also when you salvage for raw material save money and salvage with a regular salvage kit most of the time. It will get you your iron etc just as well and costs next to nothing to replace. The expert salvage kit will sometimes get you iron ingots instead but if you want plain iron (and it has other values than for armor too) most of the time so just use the cheap regular salvage kits. That's what it is there for.

I hardly ever salvage for raw materials with anything but a regular kit and save the expert one for worthwhile runes. Only use the perfect salvage kit if two really expensive runes need salvaging and then just use it on the first of the two.

Sounds like you are getting the hang of things quickly. Nice the person here is being so helpful but it is way more fun and rewarding to do 95% of this stuff yourself. Too many freebies takes away the whole point of playing the game I believe. So where it might be tempting to take all that is offered I think you will regret it later if you do. Just take a little. Help in a difficult mission and maybe a weapon or two is gift enough. Otherwise it all becomes too spoon fed and you never earn anything yourself and the game gets ruined for you.

Also the main point of the campaigns is to go through them and learn the story lines and lore as a result. I'd stick with that for now. Other stuff can happen as it happens but best not to be pulled in a hundred different directions at once. You needed to stop to get max armor. Once you have it you are good to go and do the missions. Enjoy.

hello! its me again thank you all for the great advice im slowly but surely am learning the gamplay as much as re learning and playing through the lore which is great. last question though

what is the meaning of r8, r9 and +5e? also what colors am i vying for?

thank you for this i was really tempted and schmerdro was so generous but yeah i wanted things to go on my pace so i can suck in every info story and characters i encounter. i cant thank him enough for the stuff and it really helped making things smoother and bumping up my hom points as well!

thanks for the great advice guys and im hoping this will be the last question ill ask

r8, r9 etc refer to item requirements, e.g. an r9 sword is one that requires 9 swordsmanship. I'm not entirely sure why people use q rather than r.

+5e refers to a +5 energy mod.

----

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Item_rarity

The basic stat of an item (e.g, damage range for weapons, armor for shields) can be max regardless of the colour. However, the strength of the mods depends on the colour. For inscribable items this is a non-factor because the mods are fully interchangeable, making colour entirely aesthetic. Staves are an exception, as they still have an inherent mod. Uninscribable items have a limited capacity to have their mods changed (none, in the case of shields, wands and focus items) and as such their usefulness is entirely down to the quality of the drop. Rarer item colours will have stronger mods and are more likely to have the maximum number of mods for that item. As mentioned in that link though, there are some anomalies such as collector items, which are blue but can still have max mods.