New GW player :) Needs advise - Guild Wars Forums

Tidemore · Feb 23, 2012, 03:35 PM // 15:35

Hi Guild Wars players!

I am an ex WoW player who is tired to death of it and I am giving GW a go and I can't wait!! I just had some questions that I hope you guys can answer, I hope I'm on the right forum.

1. I have bought the Prophecies CD and I am busy updating it as we speak. How big are the updates that I need to download?

2. I have done a bit of research and was advised by some posts that I should start with prophecies for learning curve purposes. Do you agree with this? or shall I buy all the games?

Any other info you guys can give I will be very grateful.

Gabs88 · Feb 23, 2012, 03:43 PM // 15:43

Get all campaigns, sorry but having prophecies only is the equivilent of missing out on 2/3 of the good skills. You're also missing out on heroes.

Factions campaign is quickest to max level.

NF campaign gives heroes and is by a far the easiest for a starting player.

Prophecies doesn't fit a starting player at all really. Everything is slower, harder, buggier and more tedious. You don't get max armor early and it's hard to come across the skills you need.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCAdzCB5eRM

Watch this video to download the entire game.

I pwnd U · Feb 23, 2012, 04:17 PM // 16:17

Prophecies is a good place to start imo for Pre-Searing. It does a good job of introducing you to the game and helping you learn how to play it well. I thought Prophecies did the best job introducing new players to how GW works when compared to Factions and Nightfall. Those I felt as though they were geared more towards veteran players to jump in to.

As Gabs88 pointed out, the rest of Prophecies, after the Searing, is more difficult. It would be easier to start from a different campaign, Nightfall being the best option as Gabs already said. If you want an easier time start with Nightfall, get all the heroes and max armor then go back to do Prophecies. Will make your life a lot easier.

Drakar Shadowbane · Feb 23, 2012, 04:47 PM // 16:47

Yes, you should get all the games.

Prophecies is the best campaign to start in for brand new players, Factions the worse one, and nightfall is in between prophecies and factions.

Ignore the advice about people telling you to get heroes as they will be only as good as the henchmen you can get in outposts since you have no skills unlocked at all as a brand new player.

Skill wise, starting in prophecies and playing through the prophecies campaign will get you alot of free skills for your primary profession and your secondary profession.

Lastly, http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Main_Page and http://www.guildwiki.org/Main_Page will be your best help, also ignore the PvX wiki for now until you get more experience in guild wars.

Tidemore · Feb 23, 2012, 05:09 PM // 17:09

Thanks very much for the replies guys, you have been most helpful.

I will buy the other 2 games tomorrow then.

Anyone else able to advise on how many updates I'm going to be downloading? With buying a new game I would have thought it was at least almost updated. :P

Wish the down-loader would say which update I'm downloading, that would help. xD

kidochipark · Feb 23, 2012, 05:14 PM // 17:14

Hey man, I'm a new GW player too. PM me and lets do some quests together if you want.

IGN Doctor Ore Oz

ogre_jd · Feb 23, 2012, 05:46 PM // 17:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tidemore

Thanks very much for the replies guys, you have been most helpful.

I will buy the other 2 games tomorrow then.

Anyone else able to advise on how many updates I'm going to be downloading? With buying a new game I would have thought it was at least almost updated. :P

Wish the down-loader would say which update I'm downloading, that would help. xD

The current gw.dat is 3.85GB with everything in it. However, you don't need to download nearly that much. After just a few hundred megabytes, it should let you into the game and then download just what's needed as you go from zone to zone (so you'll eventually get everything, but zone transitions'll be slower 'til you do).

Tidemore · Feb 23, 2012, 05:51 PM // 17:51

Awesome stuff I'm glad to hear that! thanks for the reply ogre_jd!

@kidochipark that would be great as soon as I'm up and running I'll PM ya, thanks all again for the help.

MisterB · Feb 23, 2012, 05:52 PM // 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tidemore

Anyone else able to advise on how many updates I'm going to be downloading? With buying a new game I would have thought it was at least almost updated. :P

Wish the down-loader would say which update I'm downloading, that would help. xD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabs88

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCAdzCB5eRM

Watch this video to download the entire game.

Just do this. By default, every time you load an instance, the client will download any missing files. You can instead use the image command to download everything, and never download again until any updates. The gw.dat file is about ~4 GB. See also:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/-image#-image

Side note: aspect ratio in that video is incorrect. That annoys me.

Blackbirdx61 · Feb 23, 2012, 06:34 PM // 18:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabs88

Get all campaigns, sorry but having prophecies only is the equivilent of missing out on 2/3 of the good skills. You're also missing out on heroes.

Factions campaign is quickest to max level.

NF campaign gives heroes and is by a far the easiest for a starting player.

Prophecies doesn't fit a starting player at all really. Everything is slower, harder, buggier and more tedious. You don't get max armor early and it's hard to come across the skills you need.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCAdzCB5eRM

Watch this video to download the entire game.

I've got to 2nd Gabs opinion here; as a new player myself, only playing about 3 months and just about to do my Ascension Quests I'm not that far ahead of you, but I've had a good look a Prophecies and it is pretty slow to start; and I've banged around Factions and the level of Challenge is considerably Higher; and definitely kick started my game.

While I have not explored Nightfall so much I would seriously consider starting there if I were you; When I was researching Henchies and AI I soon found all the Henchie threads were years old.

Henchies are really a Legacy Item; and while they make great models for Mercs. The game is focused on Hero's now so if you don't start in Nightfall you'll be making a side trip soon enough to get them just because all the online content you encounter is focused on Hero's.

I'm working up a PC Necro in Factions just now just to peek around the Newbie Island Map, and Farm Skills for a Merc and that???s working out just fine. So I'm not so sure I agree with the conventional wisdom that you start out in Prophecies to Farm skills, (BTW Mercs are just custom Hero's.)

If you do start in Prophecies and if feels like its tooo slow post searing and the story is dragging its feet start a 2nd Toon in NF and I think you'll find the level of Challenge closer to your overall skills as a gamer.

Oh consider buying the Trilogy; you'll get a really powerful Hero called MOX to Unlock (not day one) who you can keep back for particularly difficult Quests; and it will probably save you a few bucs over purchasing Fac and NF Separately.

Deadfalk · Feb 23, 2012, 07:36 PM // 19:36

Trust me. Downloading will take a while; it depends on Anet's server status and your own internet, but generally takes around half an hour on mid-range connections during normal server times.

On your campaign choice; personally I found Prophecies the longest and worst campaign to start in, although it does have a VERY long learning curve; you can be sure you are able to beat what you encounter in the entire storyline.
Like someone noted before; having one of the campaigns limits your ability severely, but seeing how you just got this game, I'd advice you to play it for a while and then find a full-campaign high-tier player to complete Sorrow's Furnace; if that is to your liking, be sure to get ahold of the rest.

Edit: Just saw the post above me, mercs are heroes modelled after your own characters, including class, and they cost extra money to acquire; not to mention they're pretty much useless if you take the effort of getting the normal heroes (which requires : complete NF and EotN, and do some Brawling Tournament).
If you need help, catch me (IGN: Arazel Kingslayer) online and I'll help you if i can.

Blackbirdx61 · Feb 23, 2012, 07:59 PM // 19:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deadfalk

Edit: Just saw the post above me, mercs are heroes modelled after your own characters, including class, and they cost extra money to acquire; not to mention they're pretty much useless if you take the effort of getting the normal heroes (which requires : complete NF and EotN, and do some Brawling Tournament).

It's true Merc's cost Extra Money, and they don't confer any huge advantage; I think describing them as useless is unfair. For myself the ability to customize the look, and classes of the party so I can run a Unique crew was well worth it; I picked up my first Merc about 3 days after unlocking the First Group of Hero's in NF and have never run a single standard Hero since. Its all a matter of Taste. BB.
------------------------
BTW Some missions require including this or that given hero; but thats later days yet. BB.

Showtime · Feb 23, 2012, 08:05 PM // 20:05

PROPHECIES is the best place to start and learn the game. FACTIONS was a pita and many people quit the game after it was released. Poor storyline... Lots of tedius tasks. Nightfall offers heros and that makes it ideal since the majority of pve will be done solo (with Heros) nowadays. At least until you get to end game content. Which is where, arguably, the most fun is to be had.

Play through Prophecies to learn basic mechanics and how to play your chosen profession. If you enjoy it and want to further your characters add NF and Factions for the skills, heros, and extra content. To do end game content well, you will also need EOTN skills. You probably should have just bought the trilogy. Goes on sale for like 20 bucks all the time. There should be deals on the expansions so no worries.

Find a noob friendly guild or just a decent active guild to help you along and for people to run with.

Starlet · Feb 23, 2012, 08:41 PM // 20:41

Welcome to Guild Wars! Don't worry about picking the wrong starting campaign or the wrong class. There is no one right answer. <3

Just do one campaign at a time and enjoy the storyline, don't get overwhelmed like my husband did trying to do everything at once.

tichi · Feb 23, 2012, 09:28 PM // 21:28

first of all welcome to guild wars.

second you said in one of your posts: "I will buy the other 2 games tomorrow then."
there's actually 4 games (just thought i'll point that out)

based on my experience you don't need to buy them all too early tho. just take your time, play at your own pace and you'll get into it easily and won't feel forced to do anything.

also feel free to PM me with any questions ingame (i don't really check my messages on forums here) IGN: Tichi Geekswad
but before you start asking questions remember that guild wars has a very useful "/wiki" command which will take you directly from the game to the official wiki page

(i'm sure you don't want to make a fool of yourself by asking obvious stupid questions

)

Guillotine Princess · Feb 23, 2012, 09:53 PM // 21:53

If you are unaware of the answers then the questions will not necessarily be obvious. Wiki is a good source for answers to a lot of the question you may have. You could always join a guild as well, many are still recruiting and helping new players.

caballo_oscuro · Feb 24, 2012, 01:27 AM // 01:27

From a continuation point of view, the story order is Prophecies->Factions->Nightfall->Eye of the North->GuildWars Beyond(Free extra story bridging to GW2 but don't worry about it until you finish the other storylines)

I would recommend on your first play-through to do it in this order as there is some linearity to it.

As for the downloading, GW was designed with gametime in mind. It will download enough to get you into the game world and the rest comes down as needed. Major updates happen in the background while you play and if something is missing when you move to a new area that will be queued next.

Just go out there and enjoy the game story and figure out how it works. It is very different from WoW but as was said, the wiki is full of useful information describing pretty much every aspect of the game. Enjoy :-)

enter_the_zone · Feb 24, 2012, 02:26 AM // 02:26

Given you're a WoW player, I assume you're fine with wikis and such.

If you're not, Prophecies is probably the best place to start because it introduces new elements at a rate you can easily absorb them at. The problem is that this severely gimps you since there are no heroes available. Of course, you can always get a run to Lion's Arch to open campaign travel and get the EOTN heroes.

Factions will make your head spin with how fast it throws everything at you, and you will die, a lot, as a newbie. Outside of late game NF and EOTN in general (not counting WiK and WoC which are "post-game" content), the mobs in Cantha are amongst the hardest in the game, especially as you'll be facing them without decent builds or equipment.

ogre_jd · Feb 24, 2012, 12:50 PM // 12:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by enter_the_zone

Given you're a WoW player, I assume you're fine with wikis and such.

If you're not, Prophecies is probably the best place to start because it introduces new elements at a rate you can easily absorb them at. The problem is that this severely gimps you since there are no heroes available.

It's not so bad, actually. The henchmen have definitely improved since that big update back in '09. Without Heroes, it just means you'll want to find real people (preferably a decent, friendly guild - though personally, even with 7 Heroes, I prefer to skip this one and just walk to the Henge of Denravi) for Aurora Glade (a huge PitA to do the main part of the mission without being able to split the party), the 3 Crystal Desert missions (and maybe for the Dragon's Lair), Thunderhead Keep, and the Ring of Fire Islands missions.

Kada · Feb 24, 2012, 11:11 PM // 23:11

WoW updates and launchers etc are MASSIVE compared to GW so you're safe with us

Once you have the first inital post-install download done, you never find updates taking more than a few MB to download...they're totally insignificant.

It's not like WoW where you get 2GB patches on a regular basis LOL.

Feb 23, 2012, 03:35 PM // 15:35	#1
Tidemore Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Feb 2012	New GW player :) Needs advise Hi Guild Wars players! I am an ex WoW player who is tired to death of it and I am giving GW a go and I can't wait!! I just had some questions that I hope you guys can answer, I hope I'm on the right forum. 1. I have bought the Prophecies CD and I am busy updating it as we speak. How big are the updates that I need to download? 2. I have done a bit of research and was advised by some posts that I should start with prophecies for learning curve purposes. Do you agree with this? or shall I buy all the games? Any other info you guys can give I will be very grateful.

Feb 23, 2012, 07:36 PM // 19:36	#11
Deadfalk Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The Netherlands Guild: The Edge of Insanity [EDGE], a quite desolated guild. Profession: D/	Trust me. Downloading will take a while; it depends on Anet's server status and your own internet, but generally takes around half an hour on mid-range connections during normal server times. On your campaign choice; personally I found Prophecies the longest and worst campaign to start in, although it does have a VERY long learning curve; you can be sure you are able to beat what you encounter in the entire storyline. Like someone noted before; having one of the campaigns limits your ability severely, but seeing how you just got this game, I'd advice you to play it for a while and then find a full-campaign high-tier player to complete Sorrow's Furnace; if that is to your liking, be sure to get ahold of the rest. Edit: Just saw the post above me, mercs are heroes modelled after your own characters, including class, and they cost extra money to acquire; not to mention they're pretty much useless if you take the effort of getting the normal heroes (which requires : complete NF and EotN, and do some Brawling Tournament). If you need help, catch me (IGN: Arazel Kingslayer) online and I'll help you if i can. Last edited by Deadfalk; Feb 23, 2012 at 07:41 PM // 19:41..

Feb 23, 2012, 03:43 PM // 15:43	#2
Gabs88 Desert Nomad Join Date: Jan 2011	Get all campaigns, sorry but having prophecies only is the equivilent of missing out on 2/3 of the good skills. You're also missing out on heroes. Factions campaign is quickest to max level. NF campaign gives heroes and is by a far the easiest for a starting player. Prophecies doesn't fit a starting player at all really. Everything is slower, harder, buggier and more tedious. You don't get max armor early and it's hard to come across the skills you need. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCAdzCB5eRM Watch this video to download the entire game.

Feb 23, 2012, 04:17 PM // 16:17	#3
I pwnd U God of Spammers Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: in the middle of a burning cornfield... Guild: Scars Meadows [SMS] (Officer)	Prophecies is a good place to start imo for Pre-Searing. It does a good job of introducing you to the game and helping you learn how to play it well. I thought Prophecies did the best job introducing new players to how GW works when compared to Factions and Nightfall. Those I felt as though they were geared more towards veteran players to jump in to. As Gabs88 pointed out, the rest of Prophecies, after the Searing, is more difficult. It would be easier to start from a different campaign, Nightfall being the best option as Gabs already said. If you want an easier time start with Nightfall, get all the heroes and max armor then go back to do Prophecies. Will make your life a lot easier.

Feb 23, 2012, 04:47 PM // 16:47	#4
Drakar Shadowbane Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2011	Yes, you should get all the games. Prophecies is the best campaign to start in for brand new players, Factions the worse one, and nightfall is in between prophecies and factions. Ignore the advice about people telling you to get heroes as they will be only as good as the henchmen you can get in outposts since you have no skills unlocked at all as a brand new player. Skill wise, starting in prophecies and playing through the prophecies campaign will get you alot of free skills for your primary profession and your secondary profession. Lastly, http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Main_Page and http://www.guildwiki.org/Main_Page will be your best help, also ignore the PvX wiki for now until you get more experience in guild wars.

Feb 23, 2012, 05:09 PM // 17:09	#5
Tidemore Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Feb 2012	Thanks very much for the replies guys, you have been most helpful. I will buy the other 2 games tomorrow then. Anyone else able to advise on how many updates I'm going to be downloading? With buying a new game I would have thought it was at least almost updated. :P Wish the down-loader would say which update I'm downloading, that would help. xD

Feb 23, 2012, 05:14 PM // 17:14	#6
kidochipark Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Feb 2012 Profession: N/Rt	Hey man, I'm a new GW player too. PM me and lets do some quests together if you want. IGN Doctor Ore Oz

Feb 23, 2012, 05:51 PM // 17:51	#8
Tidemore Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Feb 2012	Awesome stuff I'm glad to hear that! thanks for the reply ogre_jd! @kidochipark that would be great as soon as I'm up and running I'll PM ya, thanks all again for the help.

Feb 23, 2012, 08:05 PM // 20:05	#13
Showtime Forge Runner Join Date: Sep 2005 Guild: WTB Q9+5e Bows/Q8 14^50 Weapons Profession: R/P	PROPHECIES is the best place to start and learn the game. FACTIONS was a pita and many people quit the game after it was released. Poor storyline... Lots of tedius tasks. Nightfall offers heros and that makes it ideal since the majority of pve will be done solo (with Heros) nowadays. At least until you get to end game content. Which is where, arguably, the most fun is to be had. Play through Prophecies to learn basic mechanics and how to play your chosen profession. If you enjoy it and want to further your characters add NF and Factions for the skills, heros, and extra content. To do end game content well, you will also need EOTN skills. You probably should have just bought the trilogy. Goes on sale for like 20 bucks all the time. There should be deals on the expansions so no worries. Find a noob friendly guild or just a decent active guild to help you along and for people to run with.

Feb 23, 2012, 08:41 PM // 20:41	#14
Starlet Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: The Underworld Profession: Rt/	Welcome to Guild Wars! Don't worry about picking the wrong starting campaign or the wrong class. There is no one right answer. <3 Just do one campaign at a time and enjoy the storyline, don't get overwhelmed like my husband did trying to do everything at once.

Feb 23, 2012, 09:28 PM // 21:28	#15
tichi Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Jul 2007 Guild: DAD Profession: E/R	first of all welcome to guild wars. second you said in one of your posts: "I will buy the other 2 games tomorrow then." there's actually 4 games (just thought i'll point that out) based on my experience you don't need to buy them all too early tho. just take your time, play at your own pace and you'll get into it easily and won't feel forced to do anything. also feel free to PM me with any questions ingame (i don't really check my messages on forums here) IGN: Tichi Geekswad but before you start asking questions remember that guild wars has a very useful "/wiki" command which will take you directly from the game to the official wiki page (i'm sure you don't want to make a fool of yourself by asking obvious stupid questions )

Feb 23, 2012, 09:53 PM // 21:53	#16
Guillotine Princess Academy Page Join Date: Mar 2011 Guild: Noble Honor Profession: A/	If you are unaware of the answers then the questions will not necessarily be obvious. Wiki is a good source for answers to a lot of the question you may have. You could always join a guild as well, many are still recruiting and helping new players.

Feb 24, 2012, 01:27 AM // 01:27	#17
caballo_oscuro Krytan Explorer Join Date: Aug 2008 Guild: Aura	From a continuation point of view, the story order is Prophecies->Factions->Nightfall->Eye of the North->GuildWars Beyond(Free extra story bridging to GW2 but don't worry about it until you finish the other storylines) I would recommend on your first play-through to do it in this order as there is some linearity to it. As for the downloading, GW was designed with gametime in mind. It will download enough to get you into the game world and the rest comes down as needed. Major updates happen in the background while you play and if something is missing when you move to a new area that will be queued next. Just go out there and enjoy the game story and figure out how it works. It is very different from WoW but as was said, the wiki is full of useful information describing pretty much every aspect of the game. Enjoy :-)

Feb 24, 2012, 02:26 AM // 02:26	#18
enter_the_zone Jungle Guide Join Date: Nov 2007 Profession: R/	Given you're a WoW player, I assume you're fine with wikis and such. If you're not, Prophecies is probably the best place to start because it introduces new elements at a rate you can easily absorb them at. The problem is that this severely gimps you since there are no heroes available. Of course, you can always get a run to Lion's Arch to open campaign travel and get the EOTN heroes. Factions will make your head spin with how fast it throws everything at you, and you will die, a lot, as a newbie. Outside of late game NF and EOTN in general (not counting WiK and WoC which are "post-game" content), the mobs in Cantha are amongst the hardest in the game, especially as you'll be facing them without decent builds or equipment.

Feb 24, 2012, 11:11 PM // 23:11	#20
Kada Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Reykjavik, IS Guild: [Hero] Profession: R/Rt	WoW updates and launchers etc are MASSIVE compared to GW so you're safe with us Once you have the first inital post-install download done, you never find updates taking more than a few MB to download...they're totally insignificant. It's not like WoW where you get 2GB patches on a regular basis LOL.