Starting a Character and need the opinion of the populus - Guild Wars Forums

I Might Avenge U · May 15, 2007, 12:15 AM // 00:15

I want to start a Ranger, and I'm pretty much set on what I want as far as build, armor, pet etc....

Only have one debatable question (or is it? O_o), What do I do after I start?
By this I mean that I already know I want my new ranger to be born in Tyria, but I have all 3 games, and I want to take her through all 3 of them. So I plan to start in Tyria and enjoy the game, up until I get to LA, where it could get complicated. I don't know whether or not I want to go to Elona and grab some Heroes then return to Tyria? If so, then how far into the game would I got then return to Tryia?

Also..

Here is the order in which I plan on completing the game:

1. Prophecies

2. Nightfall

3. Factions

I'm still quite confused about how I'm gonna do this... but that's where you peoples can help (*Cricket Sound in the background*) Help me debate this, give me the pros and cons. All criticism is accepted I guess..

-IMAU

Hyper Cutter · May 15, 2007, 12:18 AM // 00:18

Do at least some of Elona first, heroes make the other campaigns a lot less painful to do...

Spazzer · May 15, 2007, 02:15 AM // 02:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Might Avenge U

I want to start a Ranger, and I'm pretty much set on what I want as far as build, armor, pet etc....

This is a smart choice. If you are playing through the PVE game the first time, I would always suggest that you play as an Elementalist or a Ranger, but Ranger at the top.

Midline characters get full advantage of playing with Henchman. When you are in a crimp, you can always see what is going on in the fight unlike a Monk, and you can always react to the enemy fast, unlike a frontlike [warrior/assassin/dervish].

Rangers are adaptable and can focus on many builds. As a ranger, you can always counter anything that you will face in PVE.

Cliffs: You are on the right track.

[edit] And the poster above me is correct, Heroes do make the game much easier. Also, in Elona, you will be able to unlock skills very fast via Hero Skill Points and also for the fact that every mission can grant you 3 skill points.

strcpy · May 15, 2007, 02:47 AM // 02:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Might Avenge U

I don't know whether or not I want to go to Elona and grab some Heroes then return to Tyria?

If you hench the game then yes, by far this is the best thing. It is up to you if you purchase max armor or go to Cantha to quickly level to 20. For a first time through, I probably would not but it isn't a big deal - second or later time through I do as quickly as possible. It's not like you would be the first to do so and most of the three games content is level 20+ so it's not like you would be missing out, just that a decent part of Prophecies will be easier than normal.

Quote:

If so, then how far into the game would I got then return to Tryia?

You can get to Zhed Shadowhoof quite quickly, Margrid isn't that bad. At the least pop over and get to which ever Zaishen you want (even as a ranger I suggest getting Jin, you can make a mini-b/p team fairly easily) and the quest for Olias. You may have to gain more levels and will need to purchase max armor to get Zhed - that's up to you.

Quote:

Here is the order in which I plan on completing the game:

If you are going to go in a specific order then only consider swapping Prophecies and Factions as Nightfall's story is MUCH better if you know both of the others. However, Prophecies and Faction's stories are separate (well, at least until you get to Nightfall).

Personette · May 15, 2007, 02:52 AM // 02:52

As far as heroes go - you'll get Tahlkora, Dunkoro, Melonni and Koss (the two monks, the dervish, and the warrior) immediately. Then, at the same time, you get to choose between Jin the ranger and Sousuke the elementalist - if you're a ranger, that's an easy decision, get Sousuke.

If you play a tiny bit more, you'll get to the Consulate Docks mission. At that point you can pick up Olias the necromancer in Tyria and Zenmai the assassin in Cantha - these are both very short, easy quests.

At that point you can stop and move on, or not, but it's the first obvious stopping point IMO. You get seven heroes very quickly, for very little work.

After that the heroes are fewer and farther between - you have to play through bigger and bigger chunks of the campaign for each new addition. Things will probably evolve naturally for you by then.

clawofcrimson · May 15, 2007, 02:57 AM // 02:57

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10151254

read this about the paragon.

I Might Avenge U · May 15, 2007, 03:25 AM // 03:25

Actually this isn't my first character, I have 3 lvl 20s, A dervish, Assassin, and actually a ranger. BUT I've been away from the game for about 6 months. So I wanted to remake a ranger.

So I should go Though Prophecies to LA, head over to Elona, grab at least 5 heroes, and then continue on with my normal plan?

I have no idea how that helps me ClawofCrimson....

Winston · May 15, 2007, 03:33 AM // 03:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Might Avenge U

So I should go Though Prophecies to LA, head over to Elona, grab at least 5 heroes, and then continue on with my normal plan?

That's what I would do (and am currently doing with a new Tyrian born char).

I Might Avenge U · May 15, 2007, 04:23 AM // 04:23

Alright, cool. It's nice to have a plan, now if I could just decide on a pet...lol

Thanks for all the help!

Anyone else have anything more to add?

NeHoMaR · May 15, 2007, 04:21 PM // 16:21

One tip for you: Just ENJOY the game! This game is open, this mean you can take whatever path is available for you at the time, forget about plans and enjoy, you always will have something to do, believe me.

**cosyfiep** · May 15, 2007, 07:04 PM // 19:04

I had a similiar quandry a little while back.....after the april fools weekend I decided I liked my male monk as female so I started a new presear monk (ranger 2ndary)....after leaving searing and getting to LA I had to decide where to go next....well good armor was my first choice...so Kaineng was the first stop on my list (I also had some jade brotherhood capes and a remedy still left in storage from my last 2 canthans so was able to get some easy xp too)....then off to elona for some heros....however; they are only level 15 to begin with so I have taken them back thru tyria to level up (I also want to complete all the missions in order in chapter 1 so I will acsend in the desert as a tyrian should, and the free skills quests are a bonus!).....after getting to dorks then I must decide if I want to complete cantha or elona......my first inclination is cantha since I have 3 characters currently doing the kurzick factions quests (had decided not to with them previously) and want to get some kurzick armor too. SO I might just get to house zu heltzer, get the xp and then run back to elona (need to cap barrage when I save koss!---easier than killing markis)....
So it really matters about what you think is important (or which armor you like better...) .
good luck on which ever way you decide to go!

seraphite86 · May 15, 2007, 07:18 PM // 19:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Might Avenge U

Only have one debatable question (or is it? O_o), What do I do after I start?
By this I mean that I already know I want my new ranger to be born in Tyria, but I have all 3 games, and I want to take her through all 3 of them. So I plan to start in Tyria and enjoy the game, up until I get to LA, where it could get complicated. I don't know whether or not I want to go to Elona and grab some Heroes then return to Tyria? If so, then how far into the game would I got then return to Tryia?

Odd, I also had a sudden urge to make a ranger. What I did for my warrior was get her to LA, get max armor from Cantha, grab those heroes in Elona, and then move on in Tyria. Going to Cantha saved me whatever the price and time for a Droknar's run since max armor is something I consider to be used temporarily.

I Might Avenge U · May 16, 2007, 12:07 AM // 00:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeHoMaR

One tip for you: Just ENJOY the game! This game is open, this mean you can take whatever path is available for you at the time, forget about plans and enjoy, you always will have something to do, believe me.

Haha, that's exactly what I plan on doing. Heck I would stay in Pre-Sear and get Legendary defender of Ascalon, if it wasn't so time consuming (and I'm pretty sure I would never want to go back to Pre-Sear after that endeavor

). I'm not actually able to play until Summer (June 13) so I figured that I would use the 20 sum days I had left to figure out:

1) Where I'm gonna go

2) What Build I plan to eventually use (I know it really depends on where your at, but it is really a preference to know exactly which and what skills I want)

2) What Pet/Pet Attribute I want

1) What Armor I eventually want.

So it's good to know what I want to EVENTUALLY achieve. 15k Female Druids FTW!!

RPGmaniac · May 16, 2007, 05:16 AM // 05:16

Alright, about pets:

Which pet you choose is entirely cosmetic, they are all the same as far as mechanics are concerned. There are many different types of pets you can get throughout all 3 games, some examples are the warthog, the crocodile, the lion/lioness, the phoenix (only availible when you beat Factions), melandru's stalker (basically a panther with a fancy name), crab, sand lizard, moa bird (giant chicken, also comes in black with spike things on his ankles), spider, wolf, tiger, the list goes on a little from there. However, you do have a little customization in terms of your pet. As you play with your pet, at levels 10 and I believe 15 (though maybe 20) your pet will "evolve". Depending on how much damage it deals and receives in relation to what you put out and take, it will either gain more health and deal less damage or lose health but deal more damage. If you want a more offensive pet (also known as "dire"), make sure he is doing more damage than you. One way to get him to evolve to dire without that much work is to just death level him to level 20 and charm him then. Quick note though, there is a stage between normal and dire called aggressive. It's basically a weakened version of dire that occurs at level 10, but 90% of the time, they will evolve to dire at 15 or 20. If you want a more defensive pet (or "hearty"), basically have him tank for you. Degen and lifestealing isn't figured into the damage factor though. There is also an intermediate stage between normal and hearty called playful, which again is a weakend version of hearty and will usually go away at 15 or 20. There are some cases where your pet will stay balanced and will either not evolve or will become "elder". Most people will go for a dire pet because of their superior damage output, so I would recommend doing that. If you don't like your pet for whatever reason (evolved the wrong way, don't like the skin), there is a pet tamer in every campaign who will take your pet permanently so you can go tame another one. Just know that if you use a pet in combat, you must have charm animal equipped or your pet won't show up, and you will probably want to bring [skill]Comfort Animal[/skill] or [skill]Heal as One[/skill] plus any pet attacks. Pet attacks will restrict you from using bow attacks and you have to put attribute points into Beast Mastery as well (meaning you gotta take points out of the other attributes).

*catches breath* Alright, so that should be about everything you need to know about pets, I hope this helps and enjoy playing your ranger when June rolls around!

Dawgboy · May 16, 2007, 06:20 AM // 06:20

After you pick up your heroes you might want to go back to Cantha and do some fed-ex quests. You should be able to have everyone up to lvl 20 in a few hours.
There's not a whole lot of fighting, just mostly running around, so even a bunch of lvl 15s shouldn't have any problems other than boredom.

Risa · May 16, 2007, 09:35 PM // 21:35

The ranger's a great choice for a character. It's "The Jack of All Trades" in my opinion. About the campaigns...
Since you're starting in Tyria, progress to Lion's Arch. Do the missions here if you wish. When you reach LA, travel to Elona, get up the the point at which you get Zhed Shadowhoof, and maybe nab Margrid or the Master as well. Here you can either finish up Elona, or head off to one of the other two campaigns. It's very nice to have heroes when finishing Prophecies or Factions, as they're much more reliable than a PuG.

RPGmaniac · May 16, 2007, 10:44 PM // 22:44

Adding on to what Dawgboy said, you actually can do any of the Canthan quests without them as long as the hero is in your party when you collect the reward. That way you can lvl them up without them hindering you.

I Might Avenge U · May 16, 2007, 11:18 PM // 23:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPGmaniac

Alright, about pets:

Which pet you choose is entirely cosmetic, they are all the same as far as mechanics are concerned. There are many different types of pets you can get throughout all 3 games, some examples are the warthog, the crocodile, the lion/lioness, the phoenix (only availible when you beat Factions), melandru's stalker (basically a panther with a fancy name), crab, sand lizard, moa bird (giant chicken, also comes in black with spike things on his ankles), spider, wolf, tiger, the list goes on a little from there. However, you do have a little customization in terms of your pet. As you play with your pet, at levels 10 and I believe 15 (though maybe 20) your pet will "evolve". Depending on how much damage it deals and receives in relation to what you put out and take, it will either gain more health and deal less damage or lose health but deal more damage. If you want a more offensive pet (also known as "dire"), make sure he is doing more damage than you. One way to get him to evolve to dire without that much work is to just death level him to level 20 and charm him then. Quick note though, there is a stage between normal and dire called aggressive. It's basically a weakened version of dire that occurs at level 10, but 90% of the time, they will evolve to dire at 15 or 20. If you want a more defensive pet (or "hearty"), basically have him tank for you. Degen and lifestealing isn't figured into the damage factor though. There is also an intermediate stage between normal and hearty called playful, which again is a weakend version of hearty and will usually go away at 15 or 20. There are some cases where your pet will stay balanced and will either not evolve or will become "elder". Most people will go for a dire pet because of their superior damage output, so I would recommend doing that. If you don't like your pet for whatever reason (evolved the wrong way, don't like the skin), there is a pet tamer in every campaign who will take your pet permanently so you can go tame another one. Just know that if you use a pet in combat, you must have charm animal equipped or your pet won't show up, and you will probably want to bring [skill]Comfort Animal[/skill] or [skill]Heal as One[/skill] plus any pet attacks. Pet attacks will restrict you from using bow attacks and you have to put attribute points into Beast Mastery as well (meaning you gotta take points out of the other attributes).

*catches breath* Alright, so that should be about everything you need to know about pets, I hope this helps and enjoy playing your ranger when June rolls around!

So Pets really haven't changed at all. I really want a dire black widow if I can get my hands on one. I just need good luck lol.

So yea I guess I'll just grab a few heroes then run on back to Tyrian to kick so uber mantle A$4...

Coloneh · May 16, 2007, 11:48 PM // 23:48

do a few elonian quests for skills and heros, then do canthan quests til you are satisfied with your level, then back to LA for you.

ThE CrUsAdEr · May 16, 2007, 11:51 PM // 23:51

Hi

im new and was wondering what i should play as

can ppl give me the best combinations of proffesions

thx

May 15, 2007, 12:15 AM // 00:15	#1
I Might Avenge U Jungle Guide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: California Profession: R/	Starting a Character and need the opinion of the populus I want to start a Ranger, and I'm pretty much set on what I want as far as build, armor, pet etc.... Only have one debatable question (or is it? O_o), What do I do after I start? By this I mean that I already know I want my new ranger to be born in Tyria, but I have all 3 games, and I want to take her through all 3 of them. So I plan to start in Tyria and enjoy the game, up until I get to LA, where it could get complicated. I don't know whether or not I want to go to Elona and grab some Heroes then return to Tyria? If so, then how far into the game would I got then return to Tryia? Also.. Here is the order in which I plan on completing the game: 1. Prophecies 2. Nightfall 3. Factions I'm still quite confused about how I'm gonna do this... but that's where you peoples can help (Cricket Sound in the background) Help me debate this, give me the pros and cons. All criticism is accepted I guess.. -IMAU

May 15, 2007, 12:18 AM // 00:18	#2
Hyper Cutter Desert Nomad Join Date: Jun 2006 Guild: Knights of the White Eye [HINA]	Do at least some of Elona first, heroes make the other campaigns a lot less painful to do...

May 15, 2007, 02:52 AM // 02:52	#5
Personette Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: Feb 2007	As far as heroes go - you'll get Tahlkora, Dunkoro, Melonni and Koss (the two monks, the dervish, and the warrior) immediately. Then, at the same time, you get to choose between Jin the ranger and Sousuke the elementalist - if you're a ranger, that's an easy decision, get Sousuke. If you play a tiny bit more, you'll get to the Consulate Docks mission. At that point you can pick up Olias the necromancer in Tyria and Zenmai the assassin in Cantha - these are both very short, easy quests. At that point you can stop and move on, or not, but it's the first obvious stopping point IMO. You get seven heroes very quickly, for very little work. After that the heroes are fewer and farther between - you have to play through bigger and bigger chunks of the campaign for each new addition. Things will probably evolve naturally for you by then.

May 15, 2007, 02:57 AM // 02:57	#6
clawofcrimson Desert Nomad Join Date: Sep 2006 Guild: Crimson Claw Profession: W/	http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10151254 read this about the paragon.

May 15, 2007, 03:25 AM // 03:25	#7
I Might Avenge U Jungle Guide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: California Profession: R/	Actually this isn't my first character, I have 3 lvl 20s, A dervish, Assassin, and actually a ranger. BUT I've been away from the game for about 6 months. So I wanted to remake a ranger. So I should go Though Prophecies to LA, head over to Elona, grab at least 5 heroes, and then continue on with my normal plan? I have no idea how that helps me ClawofCrimson....

May 15, 2007, 04:23 AM // 04:23	#9
I Might Avenge U Jungle Guide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: California Profession: R/	Alright, cool. It's nice to have a plan, now if I could just decide on a pet...lol Thanks for all the help! Anyone else have anything more to add?

May 15, 2007, 04:21 PM // 16:21	#10
NeHoMaR Desert Nomad Join Date: Feb 2006	One tip for you: Just ENJOY the game! This game is open, this mean you can take whatever path is available for you at the time, forget about plans and enjoy, you always will have something to do, believe me.

May 15, 2007, 07:04 PM // 19:04	#11
cosyfiep are we there yet? Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: in a land far far away Guild: guild? I am supposed to have a guild? Profession: Rt/	I had a similiar quandry a little while back.....after the april fools weekend I decided I liked my male monk as female so I started a new presear monk (ranger 2ndary)....after leaving searing and getting to LA I had to decide where to go next....well good armor was my first choice...so Kaineng was the first stop on my list (I also had some jade brotherhood capes and a remedy still left in storage from my last 2 canthans so was able to get some easy xp too)....then off to elona for some heros....however; they are only level 15 to begin with so I have taken them back thru tyria to level up (I also want to complete all the missions in order in chapter 1 so I will acsend in the desert as a tyrian should, and the free skills quests are a bonus!).....after getting to dorks then I must decide if I want to complete cantha or elona......my first inclination is cantha since I have 3 characters currently doing the kurzick factions quests (had decided not to with them previously) and want to get some kurzick armor too. SO I might just get to house zu heltzer, get the xp and then run back to elona (need to cap barrage when I save koss!---easier than killing markis).... So it really matters about what you think is important (or which armor you like better...) . good luck on which ever way you decide to go!

May 16, 2007, 05:16 AM // 05:16	#14
RPGmaniac Desert Nomad Join Date: Aug 2005	Alright, about pets: Which pet you choose is entirely cosmetic, they are all the same as far as mechanics are concerned. There are many different types of pets you can get throughout all 3 games, some examples are the warthog, the crocodile, the lion/lioness, the phoenix (only availible when you beat Factions), melandru's stalker (basically a panther with a fancy name), crab, sand lizard, moa bird (giant chicken, also comes in black with spike things on his ankles), spider, wolf, tiger, the list goes on a little from there. However, you do have a little customization in terms of your pet. As you play with your pet, at levels 10 and I believe 15 (though maybe 20) your pet will "evolve". Depending on how much damage it deals and receives in relation to what you put out and take, it will either gain more health and deal less damage or lose health but deal more damage. If you want a more offensive pet (also known as "dire"), make sure he is doing more damage than you. One way to get him to evolve to dire without that much work is to just death level him to level 20 and charm him then. Quick note though, there is a stage between normal and dire called aggressive. It's basically a weakened version of dire that occurs at level 10, but 90% of the time, they will evolve to dire at 15 or 20. If you want a more defensive pet (or "hearty"), basically have him tank for you. Degen and lifestealing isn't figured into the damage factor though. There is also an intermediate stage between normal and hearty called playful, which again is a weakend version of hearty and will usually go away at 15 or 20. There are some cases where your pet will stay balanced and will either not evolve or will become "elder". Most people will go for a dire pet because of their superior damage output, so I would recommend doing that. If you don't like your pet for whatever reason (evolved the wrong way, don't like the skin), there is a pet tamer in every campaign who will take your pet permanently so you can go tame another one. Just know that if you use a pet in combat, you must have charm animal equipped or your pet won't show up, and you will probably want to bring [skill]Comfort Animal[/skill] or [skill]Heal as One[/skill] plus any pet attacks. Pet attacks will restrict you from using bow attacks and you have to put attribute points into Beast Mastery as well (meaning you gotta take points out of the other attributes). catches breath Alright, so that should be about everything you need to know about pets, I hope this helps and enjoy playing your ranger when June rolls around!

May 16, 2007, 06:20 AM // 06:20	#15
Dawgboy Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Guild: Antisocial Misfit	After you pick up your heroes you might want to go back to Cantha and do some fed-ex quests. You should be able to have everyone up to lvl 20 in a few hours. There's not a whole lot of fighting, just mostly running around, so even a bunch of lvl 15s shouldn't have any problems other than boredom.

May 16, 2007, 09:35 PM // 21:35	#16
Risa Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Aug 2006 Guild: The Nights Watch [Crow] Profession: Mo/	The ranger's a great choice for a character. It's "The Jack of All Trades" in my opinion. About the campaigns... Since you're starting in Tyria, progress to Lion's Arch. Do the missions here if you wish. When you reach LA, travel to Elona, get up the the point at which you get Zhed Shadowhoof, and maybe nab Margrid or the Master as well. Here you can either finish up Elona, or head off to one of the other two campaigns. It's very nice to have heroes when finishing Prophecies or Factions, as they're much more reliable than a PuG.

May 16, 2007, 10:44 PM // 22:44	#17
RPGmaniac Desert Nomad Join Date: Aug 2005	Adding on to what Dawgboy said, you actually can do any of the Canthan quests without them as long as the hero is in your party when you collect the reward. That way you can lvl them up without them hindering you.

May 16, 2007, 11:48 PM // 23:48	#19
Coloneh Furnace Stoker Join Date: Nov 2006 Profession: D/W	do a few elonian quests for skills and heros, then do canthan quests til you are satisfied with your level, then back to LA for you.

May 16, 2007, 11:51 PM // 23:51	#20
ThE CrUsAdEr Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: May 2007 Location: Australia, melbourne	Hi im new and was wondering what i should play as can ppl give me the best combinations of proffesions thx