New to Guild Wars - Guild Wars Forums

Karg · Jun 18, 2009, 10:43 PM // 22:43

Hi iam looking for a new game to start playing and have always wondered if guild wars is any good i have played alot of mmos (WoW,Lotro,FF11,WAR & more) but have gotten bored with the ones i still play at the moment iam downloading the trial as i type but really wanted to know other peoples opinion on the game like what makes it good and what doesnt etc

PS. sorry if this is in the wrong section

kupp · Jun 18, 2009, 11:30 PM // 23:30

Well you came to a GW forum so you'll be getting some good opinions.

GW is different than all those games. Grind is practically non-existant, the game doesn't keep you in that level up mentality. The level cap is relatively low compared to other games, 20, below that everything you'll do can be considered a tutorial, when you reach level 20 that's when the game will really begin.

My opinion: yes it's a great game. I like MMO's but I never could really keep playing one for more than a month, it ALWAYS got boring. I've been playing GW for 2 years so you can see for yourself.

It generally won't get boring. There's a ton of stuff to do, all sort of elite missions and dungeons, and everything is playable through Normal Mode and Hard Mode (with increased rewards and other bonuses of course). So you can be kept in PvE a long, long time and with 3 campaigns and one expansion pack, trust me there's a lot to do. Even I haven't done everything.

PvP is nothing compared like other games, this is 'real' PvP. Not gear dependent, not level dependet, time>skill doesn't exist, in fact, it's the other way around. If you like it, you have the option from the get-go to create a level 20 toon with maxed stats and equipment strictly for PvP so you can jump right on it, you'll start off with the very basic stuff though. You can unlock those from both sides of the game however.

The combat system is very different as well, you'll notice that as soon as you get ingame. You only have 8 skills in your bar at any moment, but that is so you can strategize and create very different builds. Sinergy between skills and your party setup is key in GW and you'll find it out pretty quickly. It's more action focused as well. Also the dual profession system allows you to combine very different stuff to create unique builds and cover so much, I really don't know how to explain this to you.

That's all I can think off. Welcome to Guild Wars btw.

Lady Syve · Jun 18, 2009, 11:37 PM // 23:37

Also, just a small point I want to add to kupp's excellent description is that this is a team oriented game. Don't expect to solo the entire game or any part (except for a few farming locations, quests, and one mission). Even if you are the only human, you will have AI henchmen or heroes (customizable henchmen) with you to fill out your group. You will have to think about how your skills work together and how your entire team will work together. Each profession is good at a certain thing and the other professions help to fill in missing roles such as tank, healer, aoe damage, etc.

Hope that helps.

Helix Dreadlock · Jun 18, 2009, 11:45 PM // 23:45

Pretty sure everyone on this forum has good opinions of Gw, not sure though...if not....creepy lol

Karg · Jun 18, 2009, 11:53 PM // 23:53

sounds alot different to other games which is really what iam after
no high level grinding sounds good and the A.I henchman/heros sound very good and have me intrigued

would it be worth it to buy the guild wars complete collection or would i be better off buying them one at a time ?

kupp · Jun 19, 2009, 12:03 AM // 00:03

Get the collection, it has everything for 50$, seperatelly would cost twice as much.

Obrien Xp · Jun 19, 2009, 12:53 AM // 00:53

Get them all in the collection, then get eotn cheap. Be sure to connect the codes not make a new account. Also, a good guild will keep you happy the whole time.

Karg · Jun 19, 2009, 12:59 AM // 00:59

i looked around and the collection really is alot cheaper like you said thanks

what is eotn ?

gremlin · Jun 19, 2009, 01:09 AM // 01:09

eotn = Eye of the North its an expansion to the other games so you need to already own one or more of the three games to use it.

Its the newest addition to the gw world.

Karg · Jun 19, 2009, 01:20 AM // 01:20

ooh thanks it says collection comes with propheices,Factions,NightFall & Eye of the north am i missing any or is that all of them ?

RevenantGrail · Jun 19, 2009, 01:25 AM // 01:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karg

ooh thanks it says collection comes with propheices,Factions,NightFall & Eye of the north am i missing any or is that all of them ?

Hi welcome to Guru and Guild Wars, yes thats all you need unless in the near future if you so decide you can purchase from the NCSoft/GW Store the Bonus Mission Pack (Missions that have you be the characters from the lore/story of Guild Wars such as gwen with pretty good rewards).

if ever you decide to play the game my IGN: Revenant Grail

o i have been playing GW since October 2005 and believe me i tried and still am trying new upcoming mmo's and so far this game is the only one that i keep coming back to.

subarucar · Jun 19, 2009, 03:47 AM // 03:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karg

ooh thanks it says collection comes with propheices,Factions,NightFall & Eye of the north am i missing any or is that all of them ?

Just to confirm, different countries seem to have different packages availible.
One package is the Trilogy, which has Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall. (All except EOTN)
The other is the Complete Collection, which contains all 4 of the games.

refer · Jun 19, 2009, 04:43 AM // 04:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karg

ooh thanks it says collection comes with propheices,Factions,NightFall & Eye of the north am i missing any or is that all of them ?

technically that is all of the games but there is also a bonus mission pack, which is as it says, a couple more missions you can do for different skinned weapons.

Karg · Jun 19, 2009, 11:32 PM // 23:32

would it be worth getting the bonus mission when i start playing or would i be better waiting ?
also i have been reading up &trying the classes with the free trial and iam leaning towards the mesmer & elementalist classes and was wondering which sub class would be better suited for each AND i was also wondering at what level or time i can start useing henchman & where to find them

refer · Jun 20, 2009, 12:43 AM // 00:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karg

would it be worth getting the bonus mission when i start playing or would i be better waiting ?
also i have been reading up &trying the classes with the free trial and iam leaning towards the mesmer & elementalist classes and was wondering which sub class would be better suited for each AND i was also wondering at what level or time i can start useing henchman & where to find them

I would wait. They are only bonus missions and recreate historic events that you probably have no idea about now. Mesmer and Elementalist go together pretty easily, or you can change it later. Choose it based on which skills you use more... primary attribute determines primary attribute, ability to go over 12 attribute level, as well as runes. I go Necro with Mesmer but I never play Elementalist so I'm not sure.

*Darcy* · Jun 20, 2009, 01:01 AM // 01:01

Heroes are available in Nightfall and Eye of the North. If you create a character in Prophecies or Factions, you will have to wait until you reach a port city (Lion's Arch or Kaineng Center) to travel to Nightfall or EotN.

You can check the requirements and quests for travel between campaigns on the wiki (in-game help on menu or F10 or type /wiki in chat bar) at http://www.wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Campaign_Travel

This is a great game and very addictive. But it is great for both full-time and casual game play. There are no penalties for respecing or deaths. There is no boss camping, loot stealing, uber weapons, uber armor, etc. There is just learning to use your skills and synergize your team build better than your opponents.

gremlin · Jun 20, 2009, 11:38 AM // 11:38

My personal view for someone who has never played the game before would be start in prophesies.
Its got the lowest learning curve and one of the best story lines.

You can cross over to the other games later on when you reach the first major port city.
The other 2 games have a much quicker character development time as they are somewhat condensed.

You can get to lvl 20 much quicker and get all your character attribute points faster in Factions and Nightfall.
Still I feel Prophesies is the best to go with for a first character unless you really want to run one of the Factions or Nightfall classes that can only be started in those areas.

Whatever you do don't rush your first experience take your time and enjoy the ride.

Karg · Jun 20, 2009, 12:46 PM // 12:46

i always like to take my time with mmo's even more so if the story is good you cant beat a good story i intead to start with prophecies no matter how much that paragon shouts pick me at class selection =/ but at what lvl/area do henchman become available in prophecies also what is a better sub class for mesmer out of monk & elementalist ?

Hollygen · Jun 20, 2009, 02:49 PM // 14:49

Prophecies starts you off in a starter area, known as pre-, where you can have a maximum of 2 party members. There are no henchmen here, and most the area can be done solo
Once you're out of pre, you're in an area where the max party size is 4 team members, and the option of running with real people and/or henchmen.

As the game progresses the party size increases, to 6 and then to 8 members, and the level of the henchmen increases relative to the level of monstors in the area. Every town and outpost has henchmen you can add to your party.

Most the Level 20 content is done in 8-man party areas. There's a couple of areas which require 12 players in Factions

Playing in Nightfall and Eye of the North also gives you access to heroes, who are customisable henchmen. You aquire these by completing key quests, and once aquired
that particular hero will be available to add to your party. Heroes level up the same way as you, by earning XP, so if you don't play a particular hero for a while they can get left behind levelwise

Second professions for mesmers....
Monk's always a useful secondary for any character, since this gives you a hard res. Mesmer, Monk and Elementalist are all casters, so really it's down to play style
Monks are more a support class, whilst the ele is more offensive. It doesn't make too much difference, as at a certain point in the game you'll aquire the ability to swap secondary professions.

glacialphoenix · Jun 20, 2009, 05:22 PM // 17:22

Heya, welcome to GW and Guru

Starting in Prophecies is a good idea, as it gives you the best learning curve - assuming you want to play one of the six core classes. Many people have mentioned that NF and EotN have heroes, and I thought I'd mention this: heroes have access to skills that you unlock. There are two ways you can unlock skills without actually buying various unlock packs - you buy the skill ingame, or you pay Balthazar Faction (earned via PvP) to 'unlock' the skill. Since you're just starting out, I don't think there's any point going to NF for heroes quickly as you won't have the skills to kit them out properly yet - which kind of defeats the purpose.

Quote:

but at what lvl/area do henchman become available in prophecies

Henchmen are available at every outpost once you hit post-searing, and their levels will depend on the difficulty of the area. Early-game henchmen will have lower levels, and end-game henchmen will be max level.

Jun 18, 2009, 10:43 PM // 22:43	#1
Karg Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Jun 2009	New to Guild Wars Hi iam looking for a new game to start playing and have always wondered if guild wars is any good i have played alot of mmos (WoW,Lotro,FF11,WAR & more) but have gotten bored with the ones i still play at the moment iam downloading the trial as i type but really wanted to know other peoples opinion on the game like what makes it good and what doesnt etc PS. sorry if this is in the wrong section

Jun 19, 2009, 01:09 AM // 01:09	#9
gremlin Furnace Stoker Join Date: Oct 2006 Guild: GWAR Profession: Me/Mo	eotn = Eye of the North its an expansion to the other games so you need to already own one or more of the three games to use it. Its the newest addition to the gw world. Last edited by gremlin; Jun 19, 2009 at 01:11 AM // 01:11..

Jun 20, 2009, 01:01 AM // 01:01	#16
Darcy Never Too Old Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Rhode Island where there are no GW contests Guild: Order of First Profession: W/R	Heroes are available in Nightfall and Eye of the North. If you create a character in Prophecies or Factions, you will have to wait until you reach a port city (Lion's Arch or Kaineng Center) to travel to Nightfall or EotN. You can check the requirements and quests for travel between campaigns on the wiki (in-game help on menu or F10 or type /wiki in chat bar) at http://www.wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Campaign_Travel This is a great game and very addictive. But it is great for both full-time and casual game play. There are no penalties for respecing or deaths. There is no boss camping, loot stealing, uber weapons, uber armor, etc. There is just learning to use your skills and synergize your team build better than your opponents. __________________ That's me, the old stick-in-the-mud non-fun moderator. (and non-understanding, also)

Jun 18, 2009, 11:30 PM // 23:30	#2
kupp Jungle Guide Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: The Shiverpeaks Guild: [KISS] Profession: W/	Well you came to a GW forum so you'll be getting some good opinions. GW is different than all those games. Grind is practically non-existant, the game doesn't keep you in that level up mentality. The level cap is relatively low compared to other games, 20, below that everything you'll do can be considered a tutorial, when you reach level 20 that's when the game will really begin. My opinion: yes it's a great game. I like MMO's but I never could really keep playing one for more than a month, it ALWAYS got boring. I've been playing GW for 2 years so you can see for yourself. It generally won't get boring. There's a ton of stuff to do, all sort of elite missions and dungeons, and everything is playable through Normal Mode and Hard Mode (with increased rewards and other bonuses of course). So you can be kept in PvE a long, long time and with 3 campaigns and one expansion pack, trust me there's a lot to do. Even I haven't done everything. PvP is nothing compared like other games, this is 'real' PvP. Not gear dependent, not level dependet, time>skill doesn't exist, in fact, it's the other way around. If you like it, you have the option from the get-go to create a level 20 toon with maxed stats and equipment strictly for PvP so you can jump right on it, you'll start off with the very basic stuff though. You can unlock those from both sides of the game however. The combat system is very different as well, you'll notice that as soon as you get ingame. You only have 8 skills in your bar at any moment, but that is so you can strategize and create very different builds. Sinergy between skills and your party setup is key in GW and you'll find it out pretty quickly. It's more action focused as well. Also the dual profession system allows you to combine very different stuff to create unique builds and cover so much, I really don't know how to explain this to you. That's all I can think off. Welcome to Guild Wars btw.

Jun 18, 2009, 11:37 PM // 23:37	#3
Lady Syve Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: PWNZILLA team Guild: X Legion Of Doom X [LOD]	Also, just a small point I want to add to kupp's excellent description is that this is a team oriented game. Don't expect to solo the entire game or any part (except for a few farming locations, quests, and one mission). Even if you are the only human, you will have AI henchmen or heroes (customizable henchmen) with you to fill out your group. You will have to think about how your skills work together and how your entire team will work together. Each profession is good at a certain thing and the other professions help to fill in missing roles such as tank, healer, aoe damage, etc. Hope that helps.

Jun 18, 2009, 11:45 PM // 23:45	#4
Helix Dreadlock Jungle Guide Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Imperial Sanctum Guild: Legendary Drunken Masters [DUI] Profession: E/Me	Pretty sure everyone on this forum has good opinions of Gw, not sure though...if not....creepy lol

Jun 18, 2009, 11:53 PM // 23:53	#5
Karg Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Jun 2009	sounds alot different to other games which is really what iam after no high level grinding sounds good and the A.I henchman/heros sound very good and have me intrigued would it be worth it to buy the guild wars complete collection or would i be better off buying them one at a time ?

Jun 19, 2009, 12:03 AM // 00:03	#6
kupp Jungle Guide Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: The Shiverpeaks Guild: [KISS] Profession: W/	Get the collection, it has everything for 50$, seperatelly would cost twice as much.

Jun 19, 2009, 12:53 AM // 00:53	#7
Obrien Xp Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Canada Guild: The First Dragon Slayers [FDS]	Get them all in the collection, then get eotn cheap. Be sure to connect the codes not make a new account. Also, a good guild will keep you happy the whole time.

Jun 19, 2009, 12:59 AM // 00:59	#8
Karg Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Jun 2009	i looked around and the collection really is alot cheaper like you said thanks what is eotn ?

Jun 19, 2009, 01:20 AM // 01:20	#10
Karg Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Jun 2009	ooh thanks it says collection comes with propheices,Factions,NightFall & Eye of the north am i missing any or is that all of them ?

Jun 19, 2009, 11:32 PM // 23:32	#14
Karg Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Jun 2009	would it be worth getting the bonus mission when i start playing or would i be better waiting ? also i have been reading up &trying the classes with the free trial and iam leaning towards the mesmer & elementalist classes and was wondering which sub class would be better suited for each AND i was also wondering at what level or time i can start useing henchman & where to find them

Jun 20, 2009, 11:38 AM // 11:38	#17
gremlin Furnace Stoker Join Date: Oct 2006 Guild: GWAR Profession: Me/Mo	My personal view for someone who has never played the game before would be start in prophesies. Its got the lowest learning curve and one of the best story lines. You can cross over to the other games later on when you reach the first major port city. The other 2 games have a much quicker character development time as they are somewhat condensed. You can get to lvl 20 much quicker and get all your character attribute points faster in Factions and Nightfall. Still I feel Prophesies is the best to go with for a first character unless you really want to run one of the Factions or Nightfall classes that can only be started in those areas. Whatever you do don't rush your first experience take your time and enjoy the ride.

Jun 20, 2009, 12:46 PM // 12:46	#18
Karg Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Jun 2009	i always like to take my time with mmo's even more so if the story is good you cant beat a good story i intead to start with prophecies no matter how much that paragon shouts pick me at class selection =/ but at what lvl/area do henchman become available in prophecies also what is a better sub class for mesmer out of monk & elementalist ?

Jun 20, 2009, 02:49 PM // 14:49	#19
Hollygen Core Guru Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: UK Guild: Blinkie Ponie Armie [bpa] Profession: R/	Prophecies starts you off in a starter area, known as pre-, where you can have a maximum of 2 party members. There are no henchmen here, and most the area can be done solo Once you're out of pre, you're in an area where the max party size is 4 team members, and the option of running with real people and/or henchmen. As the game progresses the party size increases, to 6 and then to 8 members, and the level of the henchmen increases relative to the level of monstors in the area. Every town and outpost has henchmen you can add to your party. Most the Level 20 content is done in 8-man party areas. There's a couple of areas which require 12 players in Factions Playing in Nightfall and Eye of the North also gives you access to heroes, who are customisable henchmen. You aquire these by completing key quests, and once aquired that particular hero will be available to add to your party. Heroes level up the same way as you, by earning XP, so if you don't play a particular hero for a while they can get left behind levelwise Second professions for mesmers.... Monk's always a useful secondary for any character, since this gives you a hard res. Mesmer, Monk and Elementalist are all casters, so really it's down to play style Monks are more a support class, whilst the ele is more offensive. It doesn't make too much difference, as at a certain point in the game you'll aquire the ability to swap secondary professions.