Few General Q's - Getting back into the game - Guild Wars Forums

Vibratianal · Jun 18, 2011, 12:58 AM // 00:58

Hello all just a few questions. I'm looking to get back into GW and was wondering if there were any major changes since I last played; I've played Prophecies when it first came out, did factions and stopped when nightfall was being tested...so I'm pretty sure this was around 3 years ago.

From what I've seen, it seems as though the community is pretty small now and focused on gaining titles? How's PvP in general these days? Are GvGs still pretty big?

Is EoTN worth the buy in order to have a good experience with GW? I'm playing again just to fill some time this summer...and until GW2 comes out

2 quick questions...mercenary heroes are essentially henchmen that're your characters, right? And are solo farm builds nerfed? I remember I quit right when Anet released a patch that kind of took a lot of 55 monk builds out of the game (somethign about aggro and drop rates)

Thanks!

Mr_Finesse · Jun 18, 2011, 01:07 AM // 01:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vibratianal

Hello all just a few questions. I'm looking to get back into GW and was wondering if there were any major changes since I last played; I've played Prophecies when it first came out, did factions and stopped when nightfall was being tested...so I'm pretty sure this was around 3 years ago.

From what I've seen, it seems as though the community is pretty small now and focused on gaining titles? How's PvP in general these days? Are GvGs still pretty big?

Is EoTN worth the buy in order to have a good experience with GW? I'm playing again just to fill some time this summer...and until GW2 comes out

2 quick questions...mercenary heroes are essentially henchmen that're your characters, right? And are solo farm builds nerfed? I remember I quit right when Anet released a patch that kind of took a lot of 55 monk builds out of the game (somethign about aggro and drop rates)

Thanks!

Welcome Back!

A few things first...

Get Nightfall and get EotN...they are both great games/expansions and provide some awesome content and rewards to prep you for GW2 as well as lore that sets the stage for GW2 and wraps up GW1

Heroes are basically henchmen that you get to determine their builds, give them your own weapons, and rune up their armor. You get them in Nightfall and in EotN. (I wouldn't recommend buying mercenary heroes until you collect some heroes in those campaigns so you see what they're like). http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Heroes

The community has shrunk a little bit, but there are definitely still a lot of players around the world...the main issue is that with 3 full games and 1 expansion, there are more and more outposts and towns in which players are spread around. The highest concentration are wherever this is going on http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Zaishen_Challenge_Quest

In terms of builds, there are definitely solo builds around...however the majority of them are ritualists, mesmers, necros, or warriors (dervishes too)
Check this out for a plethora of build ideas:
http://www.gwpvx.com/PvX_wiki

That should get you started! I'm sure other people will fill in some gaps

Urcscumug · Jun 18, 2011, 01:21 AM // 01:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vibratianal

I'm looking to get back into GW and was wondering if there were any major changes since I last played;

Dervs and mesmers got buffed. Dervs are the current PvP melee meta because of this, and undergoing a series of small nerfs. I won't go much into it, others will be along to explain shortly.

I'm not sure you ever used heroes seriously. They got introduced in NF IIRC. They're basically your own private henchies. Each has a fixed primary and you can set their secondary, bar, weapon/offhand and runes/insignia. Some of them are already lvl 20, some evolve as you play through NF.

Mercenaries are just heroes, but they look like the char you "copy" the looks from. They're a quick and easy method of fabricating heroes of any primary you want.

Extra content (quests) were added after the end of Prophecies, called War in Kryta (aka WiK). It's a series of quests featuring "smart" teams of foes, with very clever bars and superior AI. And in July we're expecting a similar extra piece of content for Factions, called Wind of Change (aka WoC).

There are NPCs in GtoB that give daily quests, called Zaishen NPCs. They offer zcoins, xp and gold for missions, bounty, vanquish and a PvP accomplishment.

Not sure if you left before they introduced faction/rep points for vanquishing.

Alcohol is now spamable.

Pre-Searing got daily Vanguard quests which allow you to get LDoA and Survivor without death-leveling.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vibratianal

From what I've seen, it seems as though the community is pretty small now and focused on gaining titles?

Most old timers are focused on filling their Hall of Monuments, look it up, so yeah.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vibratianal

How's PvP in general these days? Are GvGs still pretty big?

PvP is kinda meh nowadays. RA and Codex are being exploited by sync, GvG by teams who throw matches. HA, FA and JQ are pretty much all that's left. TA is gone, was replaced by Codex.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vibratianal

Is EoTN worth the buy in order to have a good experience with GW? I'm playing again just to fill some time this summer...and until GW2 comes out

Get Nightfall. If you like heroes and finish the story, get EotN too. Opinions on both NF and EotN are mixed, from what I've seen most people feel they aren't up to Prophecies or Factions level. But personally I've been pleased with them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vibratianal

And are solo farm builds nerfed? I remember I quit right when Anet released a patch that kind of took a lot of 55 monk builds out of the game (somethign about aggro and drop rates)

Some farm builds get nerfed from time to time, others appear. You can still find something to farm, don't worry.

Yeah, 55 monks are not used very much nowadays, but there's lots of other options.

Vibratianal · Jun 18, 2011, 02:32 AM // 02:32

thanks a lot guys! i suppose EotN is a potential buy.

Jun 18, 2011, 12:58 AM // 00:58	#1
Vibratianal Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Jun 2011	Few General Q's - Getting back into the game Hello all just a few questions. I'm looking to get back into GW and was wondering if there were any major changes since I last played; I've played Prophecies when it first came out, did factions and stopped when nightfall was being tested...so I'm pretty sure this was around 3 years ago. From what I've seen, it seems as though the community is pretty small now and focused on gaining titles? How's PvP in general these days? Are GvGs still pretty big? Is EoTN worth the buy in order to have a good experience with GW? I'm playing again just to fill some time this summer...and until GW2 comes out 2 quick questions...mercenary heroes are essentially henchmen that're your characters, right? And are solo farm builds nerfed? I remember I quit right when Anet released a patch that kind of took a lot of 55 monk builds out of the game (somethign about aggro and drop rates) Thanks!

Jun 18, 2011, 02:32 AM // 02:32	#4
Vibratianal Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Jun 2011	thanks a lot guys! i suppose EotN is a potential buy.