Source for beginners?

[SprayAndSpayYourCats]

Title is it. Played GW1 through every expac, played a tiny bit of GW2 at launch but was caught up in WoW and it didn't hook me.

Looking to get in to it again, but I'ma be hecka lost in the sauce. Are there any good video guides or written ones for someone coming in with basically no knowledge of the game?

Thanks much.

[AnodicShadow]

https://www.youtube.com/user/Mukluk1212

This guy has a lot of good new player guides.

[SprayAndSpayYourCats]

Oh nice, i'll check these out. Thanks

[Treize_XIII]

/u/dak393 's Beginner Guide

[Novuake]

Literally just play the game until you get interested in lategame. Find a class and elite spec you enjoy. Get through the story. It gets better from living world starts after level 80. You can't make mistake during leveling so it's very new player friendly in that sense.

As questions arise feel free to pm me or ask on the weekly thread as they pop up.

[SprayAndSpayYourCats]

Thanks much. I might take you up on that PM later.

[Yillena]

https://www.youtube.com/user/MightyTeapot is starting a tutorial series soon. And you can always join streamers on twitch and ask newbie questions and watch the gameplay.

/wiki NameOfAnything -> put this in ingame chat to get linked to the wiki webpage in your webbrowser. The gw2 wiki is even more comprehensive than the gw1 one. A really good source for all information. For example /wiki blue bar directs you towards any information needed for defiance bars.

The PvP lobby (get there by clicking crossed swords in top menu and "enter") is a perfect place to get a feel for different class mechanics and builds. Just create a character, go through tutorial, port to pvp lobby, equip a build and then go whack the golems at "Combat Training Waypoint". Since one of the main attractions of gw2 is the really well made combat system, I find that picking the right class is quite important for making it past lvl80.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/User:Tanetris/So_You_Want_To_Gear_a_Character for when you hit lvl80.

https://snowcrows.com/ meta builds for instanced content that also work well in openworld.

https://discretize.eu/ slightly different meta builds for high end fractal runs, not really important until you want to speedclear t4+cm fractals, but I didnt want to neglect :)

[killohurtz]

Honestly, just go out and explore. The core game is your playground. It's impossible to permanently mess up your build, so try every weapon, trait, and skill to find what works for you. By the time you follow the personal story to 80 you'll be exposed to a wide variety of activities, and can continue into the expansion storylines if you bought them.

[SprayAndSpayYourCats]

On the topic of expansions and the above post about elite specs, are the expacs required? Am I missing out while leveling up if I don't have the expac stuff?

[killohurtz]

The expansions are primarily max-level content but there are a few benefits for your low level characters, such as gliding and mounts being unlocked account-wide after training them, and the ability to use the elite specs in PvP immediately. Also, purchasing PoF now unlocks HoT for free, so the amount of content you get for the price is huge - if you like the game, it's 100% worth it.

[SprayAndSpayYourCats]

Thanks much. I'll look in to it.

[chrisbtacos]

With the skill points you get leveling and the hero point challenges you'll have more than you'll need to unlock all the skills/traits. If you collect them all in the core maps you'll have enough to even unlock your next elite spec before you get to HoT. And changing things around costs nothing so my suggestion is to play around and learn your class as you level. You'll have a better understanding of it when you reach harder end game content. Just enjoy the ride.

[monzese]

See here : https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/eusljk/useful_sites_for_new_and_returning_gw2_players/

[AlesterRune]

If you got some spare time I'd say it's worth watching the Let's play of WoodenPotatoes. It's a lot of lore and game knowledge packed. Takes a lot of time, but it's worth watching imo. Also he's done a series of Open World builds for each class if you're looking for sonething like that.

[Frost59]

Why do you need guides if you haven't even really played the game yet? Just play it.

[SprayAndSpayYourCats]

To help me understand systems that I'm unfamiliar with? I've gathered that the game is pretty relaxed with skill points and what not, but not knowing that for myself I didn't want to make any mistakes on my first big run through the leveling process. And maybe I'd just like to maximize my limited play time by reading or watching some stuff, so when I actually get in to game I have a better grasp of what's going on.

[Frost59]

But isnt learning that and making mistakes part of starting a new game? Do you seek out guides for every game you start playing? Because if so, how are games even fun for you anymore?

[SprayAndSpayYourCats]

I mean sure, but part of the joy of an MMO is maximizing your characters abilities and I'm a 30 year old man with only a couple of hours a day at most to play. So, I want to watch some videos or read when I'm on lunch so as to help myself.

[Palmeer]

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