New Here and to Guild Wars - Seeking Advice

Hi there everyone. Firstly, I'd like to start off by thanking everyone in advance that reads and then provides advice.

As I'm sure many of you here have been doing, I've kept a close eye on all the GW2 news and coverage over the past several months. I would like to play Guild Wars between now and the release of GW2, but when I began looking for information online I'm immediately inundated and overwhelmed by the number of expansions / additional content.

That brings me to my question: What should I buy to get started? Is the core game, Guild Wars enough? Should I just pick up all the expansions? Is the game in its current state still friendly to newbies, even years after its release?

Thanks again,
Blake

Edit: And... I just realized there's an actual thread for this somewhere else. Apologies for redundancy... Mods - please feel free to delete.

What should I buy to get started? Is the core game, Guild Wars enough? Should I just pick up all the expansions?

Get all the expansion. There are lots of skills and heroes from other expansions as well as GW:EN that will be extremely useful for you.


Is the game in its current state still friendly to newbies, even years after its release?

I only started playing a little over a year ago. You can solo the entire game if you choose to because of the henchmen and heroes and if you want to team up with human players, go to the Amercian district. That is where the usual population is.

You will want the trilogy, and there are many places it can be found much cheaper than what I paid one expac at a time. Add Eye of the North to that.

This game is newb friendly.. but I suggest going NF first and getting the feel of the game with hero backup. Or, you could level to at least 10 now in Pre Searing ascalon and then get to EoTN to get heroes. They are a huge help when you have trouble getting grouped for the lower level content.

Accomplishments in this game carry over into GW2 somewhat, through the Hall of Monuments in EoTN. Many different things in game count for points in the Hall, and there are a number of unique items you can get in GW2, as well as your character name, I believe.

But, this game stands on it's own merits.. and I would strongly recommend it to anyone regardless of GW2. I played many other mmos.. since 2003, and this gem of a game was like the best kept secret in the industry. I don't regret dumping my subs to EQ2 and SWG and playing this full time. It is an incredible, polished, fun game and no subscription cost is just the icing.

Can you be more specific what you mean by NF and heroes? I'm not sure what that means... Thanks!

NF=Guildwars Nightfall
Heroes are NPC's that follow you everywhere you want, and you can customize their skills etc. You will undertand it once you start playing

Hey there GT!

Nightfall is the campaign where heroes were introduced. A hero is basically your own personal henchman to help you out. You outfit them and set their skills as you would for your character. They usually function better than the game henchmen (the NPCs you see standing around in the cities that you can add to your party).

As others have said, the Trilogy is going to be your best value.

If you're brand new, this still might be a little confusing. If you like, once you get started you can add me to your friends list and I'll try to help get you oriented. Check your private messages for a message from me with my in game name.

Above all else, take your time and enjoy the game!

Shana

Rest assured that the game is getting easier all the time. The Guild Wars Live Team has been working on making the game easier to play, so that you can complete it with much less dependence on other players. The latest update introduced the ability to have nothing but those heroes (customizable henchmen) in your party for the majority of PvE.

Meanwhile, the game is fun, the commmunity is friendly, and you will have lots of time to complete GW before GW2 is released.

A friend and I were talking about this recently. For the longest time, there's always been lively debate about which is the best campaign to start with -- and we have a sticky that reflects that -- some people favor Prophecies for its gentle learning curve, but you lack heroes, while others like the more metered learning of Nightfall, where heroes are readily available. There's no doubt that heroes are very helpful, and almost required at this stage of GW's life.... But my friend and I were talking about the value of starting in Prophecies (Pre), where you don't have AI to cover up your inadequacies and you can actually take the time to learn proper skill use, tactics, etc.

With the added quests in Pre, I now wholly advocate a newbie starting in Prophecies, just to get those valuable basics.
That said, once they've gotten on with the game, unlocked enough skills and understand the mechanics a bit more, hopping over to NF or North to pick up heroes is imperative. By then, they can outfit them better without feeling overwhelmed.

Or they can just start a character in each -- Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall. Nothing wrong with experiencing everything.

As for the OP's original question: Get the Trilogy (Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall) with Eye of the North if you can. There are great deals to be had on the set, and each campaign contributes something different to your overall gameplay: Professions, character appearance, armor appearance, skills, heroes, etc. If you only get one campaign, you will likely feel a pinch as you see people playing professions or wearing armor or suggesting skills that you can't access. It's cheaper to just dive in and buy the bundle rather than "testing" one campaign and then buying the rest.
No matter which campaign you begin in, your characters can travel to any of the others to gain the benefits. And with North, you can add your in-game achievements to a Hall of Monuments to earn rewards for GW2.

I've just started the game about a week or two ago. I only have the first game at this point but I may get the expansions if I continue to play. My plan was to start with one and try and learn the game before getting too overwhelmed.

I've been playing the Trilogy and EotN since last summer, and I agree that you should buy all four if possible.

I haven't finished any of the games yet, but once you finish the first game "Prophecies" you'll be able to play the War in Kryta, and when you finish "Eye of the North" you can play the campaign "Hearts of the North". The upcoming Canthan "Winds of Change" campaign will require us to have finished the second game, "Factions".

It's a great series of games and after playing them, I can see how they've evolved over the years. The recent ability to put seven heroes in your party (instead of the unmodifiable "henchmen") is a plus for me, since I haven't joined a guild.

You'll find that the more powerful heroes of "Nightfall" and "Eye of the North" will spoil the older games a little for you. For example, if you travel to the "Factions" starter area of Shing Jea Island from a later game, you can do so, but an NPC will warn you something to the effect that "There's little for an outsider to do on Shing Jea" (since it's meant for "Factions" characters starting out).

Thanks to everyone for all the great advice! I ended up buying the trilogy, and will add Eye of the North once I'm finished with Prophecies.

Thanks again!

If you'd like for someone to run around with you and act as a general guide, feel free to add my ingame name, Ian Luminus, to your friend's list (press N to open it).

And if you don't need a guide just add me to your list. We'll go kill random things, it will be fun.