Returning player finding the game EXTREMELY hard, advice appreciated. - Page 2 - Guild Wars Forums

Star_Jewel · Aug 21, 2011, 10:13 PM // 22:13

I'm going to echo the people suggesting you start a new character to get a grip on earlier, easier parts of the game for that reason plus this: New characters spend less on skills. A cheap way to get some skills unlocked for your heroes is to create some temporary newbies of each profession (preferably in Factions or Nightfall), do some of the starter quests to level a little and get some skill points, then visit the local skill trainers. Unlock what you can up to it costing ~700-800g each, then do it again. You'll also unlock a lot of the freebie training skills this way. It can save you some plat in the long run.

Nelien · Aug 21, 2011, 11:19 PM // 23:19

While playing a new character is not something I feel like doing I do plan on getting started with the Prophecies and Factions stories soon on my Dervish which has only done Nightfall so far so that should give me a smooth start.

As for runes, I've been crunching and cramming information and I think I have a fairly good idea now of what to choose. Noticed that good information can be found on the class specific forums. I imagine runes that would work well on a player would work similarly well on a hero.

I tried running, now with 70 armor, with a full henchman group except for one hero monk (so that I could put him on "avoid combat") and it went surprisingly well on a little bit of exploring. Again, thank you all very very much for the help!

Verene · Aug 21, 2011, 11:21 PM // 23:21

As far as weapons go, don't underestimate collectors. You can get a bunch of max weapons with good mods from collectors - Prophecies is especially good for getting good weapons for caster professions.

And yes, upgrade your armor ASAP! Even though Dervishes have increased armor with active enchantments, 55 armor is far too little. Sure, it might be tempting to just keep with your current armor until you have enough for Vabbian, but you should really just spend the money and materials on a set of max Sunspear/Elonian/Istan armor. The ~7k or so that it costs is really just small change, and with being able to stay alive better because you have max armor you'll be able to make it back fairly quickly.

You'll also be able to get a lot of runes for your heroes simply by IDing colored armor drops from enemies and salvaging off the runes. Virtually free (just the cost of an ID kit and salvage kit) if not a bit time consuming, and you'll make money on selling off the stuff you don't need.

A good way to make money and get lots of runes is to farm the Sensali in Jaya Bluffs in Factions; you should be able to do this fairly easily with either your Ele or Dervish. Collect all of the feathers and scalps (salvage the latter) and sell those in stacks, while also picking up all the armor they drop. They drop a lot of runes, as well as dyes. It's a quick easy farm that's normally done in normal mode, and very profitable. So long as you've got a way to do damage and heal yourself, you're pretty much good to go.

Quote:

These trainers require Hero Points that you earned by leveling up your heroes.

Actually, you get hero skill points by ranking up in the Sunspear, Lightbringer, and EOTN title tracks.

Quaker · Aug 22, 2011, 02:45 PM // 14:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laraja

You do know you can get good basic, very usable runes, by salvaging unidentified blue armor.

Actually, blue, purple, or gold armor.

KrakenAZ · Aug 25, 2011, 06:30 PM // 18:30

Some good stuff in this thread for a true noob like me (i.e. not a returning player). I wanted to get back to the salvage a bit:

Is there a general guideline on when to use a standard salvage kit vs. an expert? The wiki states that the expert gives a higher chance of rare materials or more common materials. Should I just always use expert and call it a day? Or maybe some guideline like 'use expert if it dropped off level x mobs'?

Quaker · Aug 25, 2011, 06:47 PM // 18:47

You could check the item on wiki to see what it can be salvage into. Some things, like for example, most bows, only salvage into wood, so there's little point in using an expert salvage kit (I don't find that the chance of getting more common materials is worth the extra cost of the Expert kit).

I would recommend that you only salvage things if you want/need the materials. Most of the time the value of the materials you get (if you were to sell the mats to the trader) is less than the value the merchant would give you for the un-salvaged item. But, conversely, it can be cheaper to salvage for materials than to buy them from the trader - because of the difference in buy & sell prices.
Selling materials to other players is somewhere in between. It also varies depending upon the value of the materials. A stack of (250) feathers is worth a lot more than a stack of wood.

One thing though, if you get a blue item (without an inscription) that is "highly salvageable", it is always cost effective to salvage it. "Measure for Measure" (highly salvageable) inscriptions are best used on inscribeable items that can be salvaged into rare materials like gems, etc.

Kendil · Aug 25, 2011, 09:34 PM // 21:34

I'm not sure if anyone have mentioned this before, I just skimed through the responses. Anyhow, roll a pvp only ranger, put on the best trapperbuild you can muster and do zaishen elite. This way you'll earn 6k balthazar faction per day (that's the cap). First use it in order to unlock a really good trapper's build, then start unlocking skills for your heroes. Before you know it your heroes will have decent builds as well.
You could also unlock skills for yourself and then use tomes to learn them.

Related liks to elaborate on my post: http://www.guildwiki.org/Zaishen_Elite and http://www.gwpvx.com/Build:Team_-_Ba...aishen_Trapper

Quote:

Originally Posted by KrakenAZ

Some good stuff in this thread for a true noob like me (i.e. not a returning player). I wanted to get back to the salvage a bit:

Is there a general guideline on when to use a standard salvage kit vs. an expert? The wiki states that the expert gives a higher chance of rare materials or more common materials. Should I just always use expert and call it a day? Or maybe some guideline like 'use expert if it dropped off level x mobs'?

I always use the superior salvage kit because I'm lazy and don't want to buy a new kit all that often, it also saves storage space. But it is indeed more expensive, that doesn't matter to me though.
However, when I had little money I went with normal and expert alternating depending on if I wanted rare or common material. If you want bolt of cloth for example it's easier to just use the common one because then you don't risk getting linen or other stupid rare crafting material

I guess the answer depends on how lazy you are and what you want to accomplish.
On a sidenote: always salvage runes that are more expensive than 100g at the runetrader, it can pay off pretty neatly when you get the right runes.

Verene · Aug 26, 2011, 04:52 AM // 04:52

About salvaging and selling runes - there's only a handful that are really worth anything at the rune trader. Most purple and gold runes you might be better off IDing and selling to a regular merchant. There are always exceptions to this, though, so see what the rune trader is offering before going that route. But if you've got, say, a rune of Superior Motivation (to name one that's completely useless), the rune trader will only offer 10g. IDing it and selling it at a regular merchant will get you much more than that. Still small change, all things told, but it does add up.

Crom The Pale · Aug 26, 2011, 08:26 PM // 20:26

Though it has likely been stated before I will say it once again, make certain you have runed your Heroes (minor runes only is often the best route) before merching any. It can be tempting to just sell off a minor vigor once you have a major on your armor but check our your heroes, they can certainly benifit from it as you will likely be using them a fair bit.

Aug 25, 2011, 06:47 PM // 18:47	#26
Quaker Hell's Protector Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Canada Guild: Brothers Disgruntled	You could check the item on wiki to see what it can be salvage into. Some things, like for example, most bows, only salvage into wood, so there's little point in using an expert salvage kit (I don't find that the chance of getting more common materials is worth the extra cost of the Expert kit). I would recommend that you only salvage things if you want/need the materials. Most of the time the value of the materials you get (if you were to sell the mats to the trader) is less than the value the merchant would give you for the un-salvaged item. But, conversely, it can be cheaper to salvage for materials than to buy them from the trader - because of the difference in buy & sell prices. Selling materials to other players is somewhere in between. It also varies depending upon the value of the materials. A stack of (250) feathers is worth a lot more than a stack of wood. One thing though, if you get a blue item (without an inscription) that is "highly salvageable", it is always cost effective to salvage it. "Measure for Measure" (highly salvageable) inscriptions are best used on inscribeable items that can be salvaged into rare materials like gems, etc. Last edited by Quaker; Aug 25, 2011 at 06:51 PM // 18:51..

Aug 21, 2011, 10:13 PM // 22:13	#21
Star_Jewel Jungle Guide Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Denizen of Tyria since Feb. 2009	I'm going to echo the people suggesting you start a new character to get a grip on earlier, easier parts of the game for that reason plus this: New characters spend less on skills. A cheap way to get some skills unlocked for your heroes is to create some temporary newbies of each profession (preferably in Factions or Nightfall), do some of the starter quests to level a little and get some skill points, then visit the local skill trainers. Unlock what you can up to it costing ~700-800g each, then do it again. You'll also unlock a lot of the freebie training skills this way. It can save you some plat in the long run.

Aug 21, 2011, 11:19 PM // 23:19	#22
Nelien Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Aug 2011	While playing a new character is not something I feel like doing I do plan on getting started with the Prophecies and Factions stories soon on my Dervish which has only done Nightfall so far so that should give me a smooth start. As for runes, I've been crunching and cramming information and I think I have a fairly good idea now of what to choose. Noticed that good information can be found on the class specific forums. I imagine runes that would work well on a player would work similarly well on a hero. I tried running, now with 70 armor, with a full henchman group except for one hero monk (so that I could put him on "avoid combat") and it went surprisingly well on a little bit of exploring. Again, thank you all very very much for the help!

Aug 25, 2011, 06:30 PM // 18:30	#25
KrakenAZ Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Aug 2011	Some good stuff in this thread for a true noob like me (i.e. not a returning player). I wanted to get back to the salvage a bit: Is there a general guideline on when to use a standard salvage kit vs. an expert? The wiki states that the expert gives a higher chance of rare materials or more common materials. Should I just always use expert and call it a day? Or maybe some guideline like 'use expert if it dropped off level x mobs'?

Aug 26, 2011, 04:52 AM // 04:52	#28
Verene Furnace Stoker Join Date: Jan 2009 Guild: [SOTA] Profession: D/	About salvaging and selling runes - there's only a handful that are really worth anything at the rune trader. Most purple and gold runes you might be better off IDing and selling to a regular merchant. There are always exceptions to this, though, so see what the rune trader is offering before going that route. But if you've got, say, a rune of Superior Motivation (to name one that's completely useless), the rune trader will only offer 10g. IDing it and selling it at a regular merchant will get you much more than that. Still small change, all things told, but it does add up.

Aug 26, 2011, 08:26 PM // 20:26	#29
Crom The Pale Furnace Stoker Join Date: Nov 2006 Guild: Ageis Ascending Profession: W/	Though it has likely been stated before I will say it once again, make certain you have runed your Heroes (minor runes only is often the best route) before merching any. It can be tempting to just sell off a minor vigor once you have a major on your armor but check our your heroes, they can certainly benifit from it as you will likely be using them a fair bit.