Help For An Apparently Slow Learner - HoM

Hi all,
First of all let me preface this post with an apology. I apologize if this question has been asked before (I'm sure it has), or if there are an abundance of knuckleheads like myself who just can't wrap their heads around this process. My inquiry is about the Hall of Monuments. I really want to start working to complete it. I'm not really concerned about how much time I will have to invest or anything like that; I know there is no quick way to a complete HoM. But I am having trouble even getting started in earnest. My biggest issue is that no matter what I try, how many new characters I make or how I stack my stats and skills, I just can't seem to make a very effective PvE character. I have searched for different builds and recommendations for setting up my characters, but nothing I've found has been of any real help to me. So first off I would like to know if anyone has any recommendations as to the best class/sub, stats and skills to make a character that will allow me to complete all of the campaigns without wanting to shoot myself in the face.

Once I have that, can anyone recommend the best guide, forum post or wiki that I can utilize to walk me through the process of populating my HoM? I know there are quite a few guides that have been compiled and published, but nothing I've read has been comprehensive or detailed enough to help me get my head around. I always feel like I'm missing something.

I love MMO games. I have experienced many of them, and besides GW1, I am currently playing 2 of what I consider the best; Guild Wars 2 and Final Fantasy XIV. I am doing very well in both of those. I have good builds, I've maxed characters and am working toward getting the best endgame gear. There's just something about Guild Wars that eludes my grasp. I suck at it. I'm horrible and can't figure out why. ANY help that can be afforded me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your time and attention.

The HoM isn't something you do as such. Remember that its purpose was to acknowledge GW1 veterans who went on to play GW2 by providing some weapon/armor skins and the like. A significant chunk of the HoM will effectively complete itself as you play through the campaigns: you'll be accumulating cash, armors, titles, minipets and so on as you go along. What you ought to do is forget about the HoM and focus on the smaller stepping stones. It would be of benefit for you to post what builds you run and where you're getting stuck. That way we can try and sort out any fundamental issues and point you towards more specific goals. The first time you play through the campaigns will be the hardest as you're going through the process of unlocking skills. Once you get through a bit of the content you'll get access to better skills (immensely overpowered, in some cases) plus some heroes to pack them on to.

Don't worry about the profession you choose. All of them are comfortably capable of completing the content. There's also a point in each campaign where you unlock the ability to switch your secondary around in outposts at will like you can with skills, so don't stress about that either. Pick a profession that you want to play. After all, playing something you don't want to defeats the purpose, and will probably end up inhibiting you more than any shortfalls the profession itself might have.

Official wiki | Unofficial wiki (official tends to be better nowadays, though there are some pages I prefer on this one) | gwpvx wiki (for builds). Note that gwpvx doesn't have builds for people starting off so right now it probably isn't good for much other than as an indication of some good skills and how to fit them together. Again, posting your builds and the like will help us help you.

One solid recommendation I would give though is to start in Prophecies. The difficulty curve is much easier than the other campaigns. It's also the original campaign and has pre-searing, which gives it its own charm. Obviously that's subjective though.

Agree all Marty said ... plus a helpful guild or Friendslist can be an improvement alot, no need to have all done just with hench and heros.

For the most part, I agree with Marty as well. One possible place where I disagree is with his suggestion to start in Prophecies. While he's right about the learning curve it also limits your professions somewhat. To add to that, I'd have to say that one of the absolute easiest professions to do GW1 content with at this point is a Ritualist, which you can only play if you start in Factions. With a rit, you can have pretty much your end-game build in just a few hours of play-time, and most encounters work basically the same way for you: lay down your spirits then stand there renewing them as needed while pinging your best target to your team.

But yeah, any profession is totally doable. What's far more important is to build yourself a good team. Since most people seem to do things primarily with heroes these days, getting the heroes you want should be one of your first priorities after getting to max level, stat points and max armor (again all of which can be done quite quickly in factions). In short, there are basically two kinds of teams that work effectively: 1) primarily physical teams and 2) primarily caster teams. With #1 you'll want some physical buffer(s) (i.e orders necros, paragon buffs, Strength and Honor monk), some meat shields (via Minions, Pets or Spirits) and a good amount of healers/protters (2-3) for an 8 person group, though probably not completely dedicated to their tasks; you don't want to drop your damage output too much. For #2 you'll want some of the same, but you have more flexibility. Nukers (like a searing flames Elementalist, or discord necros for example) combine pretty well with mesmers whose main function is large scale interrupts (via Panic or tease). There are plenty of good team builds out there for you to find, or you can build your own over time... but learning to use them effectively should be the priority. Anyone can copy and paste a skill bar, but knowing how it is supposed to work and why it does (or doesn't) is far more valuable because it lets you adapt to unusual situations.

Other things I would say that are vital: 1) Learning how to pull a mob. Fighting where you choose can make all the difference in difficult engagements. Take a longbow/flatbow with you and learn to kite in order to bring mobs to your kill-zone. 2) Learning how to use terrain effectively. There's a great way for casters to solo farm Charr in pre-searing whereby you are close to immune to their weapon damage because of taking advantage of terrain blockage. Learning things like that might take some trial and error, but knowing when you can use a corner/rock/wall to your advantage can make the difference. 3) Learning to understand positioning. This will depend somewhat on your team, but generally good teams will establish at least two lines in engagements and sometimes three. Body blocking and aggro-management are very important, especially in Hard Mode. Learn these things, and you'll be doing Hard Mode DoA with heroes only in no time (relatively speaking).