Played From '05 to '10, No Idea Where to Start

I have each expansion, but I wasn't playing as regularly once NF/EotN came out (I remember something about rep grinds... yeah, didn't do that).

Is my gear from Droks/Granite Citadel still going to hold up or do I need to track down some new vendors and mats?

What are the 'new' end-game areas that I should be fitting builds for/what is the community still running? I only remember SF, both UW's and FoW, along with lots of solo grind routes for some greens. There are some vague memories of an area or two from Factions, but it's been so long that I can't remember what the end-game content was for that xpac.

On that subject, what are the largest surviving GW communities and how should I approach finding some consistent people to play with? I always appreciated that GW had tons of solo content, which is one reason I'm coming back, but I still want to run group content as much as possible.

There's a lot of meat to go through on forums and wiki's, if anyone knows of a returning player guide or a "how to progress with every xpac out" guide, I'd appreciate it! I swapped to Warcraft and, being only interested in PvE, once you've gotten your AotC's and the guild is calling raids due to mythic roster issues, there's not much to do for the next 9 content-less months. My rose-colored glasses have been burning a hole in my pocket and I really want to dive into this game again.

The maximum value for all gear has not changed. So, if you're playing a Necromancer and you bought 60 armor gear from Droks/Granite Citadel then that's equally powerful as the gear that can be bought anywhere else.

This depends on your guild or PuG party. I'm pretty sure nobody does SF unless they want to get their Black Moa Chick minipet but you can find the most common speed-clear builds on PvX wiki.
Also, people regularly tend to do the Zaishen quests.
They're called Urgoz's Warren, for the Kurzick side, and The Deep, for the Luxon side.
You can find the guilds that are recruiting in the "Guild Recruitment"; LGiT claims to be the largest but there are other alliances that are quite big. Feel free to make a post in that part of the forum, if you are looking for a guild.
Well, what have you completed in GW so far? Just Prophecies and Factions? Then I suggest you look into Nightfall and EoTN (of course) but also Guild Wars Beyond.

Welcome back, feel free to ask any other questions

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'll definitely go drop a post on the Recruitment Forums.

I've completed all of Prophecies and Factions, most of NF but zero of EotN; I was much younger when I played (I picked GW at 15 because I had old-fashioned parents that didn't see the need for a sub based game), so long rep grinds for items turned me off. I may be wrong, but I think EotN had a lot of that.

I checked the wiki for info on Beyond, but I can't tell if it's only added story content/missions, or if it brings any new 'end-game' content to the table.

What town/city is the most populated atm? Say I wanted to spam and pawn off all the mini pets I've gotten from birthdays... is there even a market for them nowadays?

Again thanks for the info!

The only advantage that elite armor has over non-elite armor is that elite armor can be dedicated to your Hall of Monuments. It has no stat bonus of any kind.

And yes, EoTN does have a little rep grind for the Asuran, Deldrimor, Ebon Vanguard, and Norn titles. Rank 3 unlocks certain consumables, rank 4 unlocks weapons, and rank 5 unlocks elite armor. FYI rank 10 is the maximum so I don't think the grind is that bad.

GW Beyond is basically 2.5 mini-expansions. The War in Kryta and Hearts of the North reward you with Medals of Honor, which can be exchanged for Oppressor's weapons (which can be dedicated to the HoM) or green weapons. The Winds of Change also gives various new weapons and rare crafting materials. The War in Kryta also offers a new hero at the end, while the Winds of Change gives 2 new heroes.

Most people would highly recommend you go through WiK and HotN, but would consider WoC a little tedious and much more difficult when done for the Hard Mode rewards. I completed all 3 of them on more than 5 of my characters so I'd say they're a good time

I don't want to annoy, but one more question!:

I see people asking for Xe when it comes to selling (X being random value), I'm assuming that's X ecto? What is X a?

a = armbraces of truth, usually referred to just as 'armbraces'.

You may also see people trading for z, which refers to Zaishen Keys.

For some reason I missed this question, anyway, most people trade in Kamadan (Nightfall) but, if you want to sell a lot of minipets, then you'll probably have better luck just making a new topic in the "Ventari's Corner" / "Sell" part of this forum.
Marty already answered this but I just wanted to say you can ask as many questions as you want, no worries :P

As to where to start. Well since you haven't played through Nightfall or gone North, do that. NF campaign and EotN expansion are the only two areas where you can pick up heroes. I'd head North first and pick up at least the first three heroes you get by just going there and running to the Eye (where the hall with titles is). And the North heroes are already level 20.

You are now allowed to use 7 heroes too instead of only 3 back in the day when the rest had to be henchmen. Makes a big big difference when playing alone. And it's fun to collect the skills you need for them, rune them out and learn different party compositions. There is a site that gives some good builds to use as a jumping off place.

BTW because you can use 7 heroes now there are a lot of players playing solo as well. So there isn't as much action in outposts. So just because a lot look like ghost towns doesn't mean there aren't anyone playing. People spend more time playing and less time trying to find people to play with these days. If you want to play with people then start with joining guilds. And I mean guilds plural. Go to Kamadan and ask around and start guild hopping until you find a good fit. Even if you don't like some guild there might be some members you click with you can add to your friends list. Friends list is just as important as a guild these days I'd say. So it is still a social game too just connecting is a bit different now.

Also as to what to do; a lot of people use the "Hall of Monuments" lists (see the site online) to help set goals. It was meant to encourage people to bring titles over to GW2 but a lot of us have zero interest in buying that clunker so we use it as goals in GW1 game. So once you go through campaigns with all your characters you still have tons to do here because of all the titles to earn. You can maybe set the ultimate goal of earning GWAMM some day. "God Walking Among Mere Mortals" takes a lot of work but there are so many things to do to earn it you have plenty of different stuff to do and never get bored.

You may not have been on since Embark Beach was created. Go there via your travel menu or by talking to a Zaishan guy in an outpost. There you find different stuff to do each day that rewards you with experience and titles points in some areas as well Z coins which are very handy for stuff. Probably only place in the game where you can still find PUGs too. Each day the offerings change but you can queue up up to 3 under each category if you want to do something but not right away. Z Missions, Z Bounties and Z VQs are the three categories for PvE play.

Of course the most important thing is to join a guild like I said but you know that already. But just keep in mind you don't have to join a mega one or one that pressures you to grind. There are plenty of small ones around just having fun and helping each other. And finally always always always Wiki for reference and you will get your sea legs back quickly.

You know you are about the 5th or 6th person in last week or two posting here about returning to the game. Maybe you guys should get together at least friends list wise.

First off, welcome back!

I don't know if anyone mentioned profession-wise what is popular for things nowadays in the community, but Speed Clears are still very common to do in the community. Speed Clear-wise, at least one Assassin with Shadow Form and Shroud of Distress is still used in every single speed clear run except for The Deep [although you can tank Deep on Sin, it's mostly used for just HM runs and not Speed Clears] for either tanking or team composition or whatever.

The spike roles are a lot different now than back then with the SF Nukers or MS Echo Nuker and B/P and such that you probably would have seen around. Today, melee spikes are done by Dervish for the most part and caster spikes are mainly Mesmer. There will always be to be more than one method, however these are the ones who have acquired the fastest times so far. Another form of clearing areas for "rare" items that became popular would be Dungeon Speed Clears in Eye of the North [EotN]. I think the most overall Dungeons farmed would be Shards of Orr [SoOSC], Bogroots [BogSC], and Rragar's [RragarSC]. I'm not sure where the appropriate place to list all of these would be, but I can list the popular ones that I at least know about. In all Speed Clears it's common, and easier, to learn from the spiker role first.
Note: All DungeonSC's can potentially be formed at Vlox's Falls.

Here's a small list of some spiker roles per area:
Fissure of Woe - Dervish Spike [Core]
Domain of Anguish - Mesmer Spike [Endgame NF]
Shards of Orr - Ranger Spike [Dungeon - leaves from Vlox's Falls]
Bogroots - Dervish Spike [Dungeon - leaves from Gadds Encampment]
Rragar's - Dervish Spike [Dungeon - leaves from Doomlore Shrine]

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As far as other dungeons go, there is a couple ways to do Cathedral of Flames with sin spikes or derv spikes and whatnot. You'll just have to figure out what is the popular way for the people you go with when you are able to. Frostmaw, Slavers, Kathandrax, Ooze, Oola's, and Ravens are done with sins generally. The builds vary.

If you pose an interest in Speed Clears, acquiring the builds can be as easy as asking people in game or you can contact me in game and I can send you lots!

........

As far as everything else PvE goes, I personally still do chest running & farming of sorts for "Oldschool Items" (i.e. items with no Inscription Slot / also called OS items). Some of these can sell for quite a bit and come with mods that cannot be acquired by other means of playing in Nightfall or Eye of the North campaigns (i.e. +10 Armor versus Creature types like Demon, Dwarves, Plants, etc). Note that also if you want +10 vs Fire AND -2/3 Damage received mod on a shield, you can only get this from an OS Shield as both mods come in inscriptions and only 1 inscription can be applied to a shield). Also, there are skins that come in OS form than cannot be replicated with inscription items. However, the same goes for inscription items.

I'm sure if you are an old player you may have some "Prenerf" (no longer exist as drops) items on your account as well. Before you go salvaging and merching items I'd have someone trustworthy check out your wares in game or something to determine if it has value nowadays, even if it didn't in the past. I'm willing to help you out with that if you would want it as well as other Guru members I'm sure.

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And finally, if you need anymore info or help, there are numerous guilds out there who will take you and guide you along in your attempt to get back into GW1. Best advice, have some fun and go try everything. See what you enjoy! Good luck!

< For anymore advice/help/etc. my IGN [in game name] is the same as my Guru name.

This was extremely helpful; I kept seeing the term "Spiker" and didn't know what it related to aside from " I guess that's just a burst build?" ...and YEP! Echo Nuke and Barrage/Pet were big when I last played; I think my last build was a ObsiSkin W/E for FoW.

Thank you for that dungeon list too. Going off of that, D/A and D/- are solid choices right now? I just happened to delete my Derv to level another as a way to get back into the swing of things, it being a NF profession and all.

I've been going through various build lists, but it's a little overwhelming with so many EotN rep specific skills. When I was playing, 55monk undead farming and W/Mo troll farming outside Droks were still popular ways to farm valuable runes/affixes. Say I went with a Derv (though Monk, Necro, and War are all on the table) where should I start? I used the Leeroy Stoneskin cheese to hit 20, rounded up AoB and AoD and then started on farming a weapon to replace my Hand of the Forgotten; the UW build I was looking at recommended the scythe off of Asterius. (http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Build:D/Me...azar_UW_Farmer) But I feel like going right to ecto or shard farming is a little ambitious when I'm so behind in a game with a learning/skill curve that is VERY high compared to most recent MMO's.

On the subject of old greens... I do have a Zelnehlun's Longbow ( q9 marks 20/20 sundering, +30 HP, +15% dmg/-10 armor while attacking) and the Malyx's Monk mh/oh from what I think was the non ToA UW ( the area where B/P was high in demand). My Necro has a curse staff from SF ( I think I used it for a SS build) and my War has a 20/20+30hp Zodiac Axe/Exalted Aegis. I did sell a Destroyer tonic for 30e, which I found out was pretty solid.

I'm sorry btw guys, I might be rambling. Things seemed so much simpler and I feel way over my head, so I genuinely apologize if I ask stupid questions or if I'm all over the place.

On that note, aside on somewhere simple to start with my Derv, I feel like I'm struggling to kill most mobs ( I know heroes/henchmen are idiots, even with all my old elites and good builds) in Far Shiverpeak areas; Maybe it's because I'm not perfectly optimized, but the game seems much harder than it used to be. I am using appropriate insignias and runes, maybe getting a zealous/enchanting scythe will help.

@Marty: thanks!

@Gadd Fan: I did pick up Zaishan quests. Considering I didn't pug until I have a better idea of what I'm doing, what's the difficulty like?

About Z stuff. I usually just run them myself with heroes and concentrate more on the ones giving EotN title points or extra Faction points since I never faction farm. The Z missions are the same as you've done in the campaigns. The bounties can vary from very easy to very hard. You can wiki info to scope out ones you have taken in advance to see if it is worth it to you since it is all about what you want to do.

Also if you wiki an area that's up to VQ the Tips area gives you a rough idea of how many bad guys you have to kill there with and without quests open and if there are some weird roving bands that might slip past you.

Also you might want to try http://gwpvx.gamepedia.com/PvX_wiki for ideas or reminders for both builds for your derv and/or your heroes party. Some people don't want any help but most like somewhere to start from.

I've found Heroway with it's seven hero party of 2 Mes, 2 Rits, 2 Necros and a smiting Monk will get me through just about anything and use it as my go to base. Modify as needed like it there isn't going to be many bodies around then ditch the minion necro for something else etc. Others like other combos or make their own from scratch. You seem to know a lot so you could probably use this more as a refresher to get you up to 2015 and make your own builds riffing off of it.

For my derv (I play all professions -- way too many characters -- though not equally well and my monk is always a smiter/whatever, never healed a lick ever, hah) I like a good energy build so I can keep whacking away while my rits and necros keep me nicely healed and protected and my mes interrupt spells right and left.

Number one thing, have fun. Number two thing, it's not a race. Enjoy the journey. No need to rush around under pressure ever especially in a free to play game.

-GW wikis with 'wikia' in the URL are old and should be avoided. Use the gwpvx link posted above.

-Simple optimisation of your builds and equipment aren't going to make a ton of difference. Perhaps your builds aren't as good as you think they are. Post them (a screenshot with your hero panels open will suffice) and we can provide critique.

-Also, in EotN titles will provide you with benefits. Having the norn title active will give you and your heroes a boost to their maximum health. Content will be balanced with that in mind, so make sure it's on.

-Remember that EotN is considered end game content. It's aimed at people who've completed the campaigns. If you're just coming back and aren't really comfortable with the game in general yet then it's going to seem disproportionately hard (though not impossible). If you feel like you need to invest time in something to make your EotN experience easier, you're better off going back to the campaigns rather than farming for cash for specific weapons and whatnot.

Yeah, I settled on finishing the campaigns; I finally realized that Eye is the only actual "expansion" and I want to make sure I have followers set up with weapons/runes/insignias before I keep pushing through it.

I took the time to collect some elites and now things are rolling along just fine. Once I got Master of Whispers, things turned around a bit because I had very strong, albeit old, builds for Necro (echo SS and MM with Golem). I'll drop a post with a screen when I get home for any advice you guys can give!

I do have one more question about something that's confusing me: how do I initiate Z quests? I didn't see an NPC after collecting them and google/wikis have not been helpful. Do I need to have already completed the mission/area that the quest is based on?

Thanks again for all the help guys.

I'm not saying this to brag but I got Legendary Guardian and Legendary Master of the North on more than 7 of my characters that had heroes with no runes except Superior Death Magic and Superior Domination Magic. Just saying, it is possible.

You go to Embark Beach or the Great Temple of Balthazar and talk to one of the sign post that has a green exclamation mark over its head. Once you accept the quest for the respective mission, boss, or vanquish then you can go complete it. The description for the zaishen quest should say what you have or have not accomplished and how many Copper Zaishen coins you get for each objective (so you get more coins if you do it in Hard Mode). Does that clear things up or did I misunderstand your question?

Like Schmerdo said. but to add that at Embark Beach the reward giver is next to the Z Coin takers and/or exchangers (copper to silver, silver to gold) right in front of the big ship on the beach in the Proph/EotN section. And yeah you can turn them in at the great temple too except for the vanquishing ones. They can only be turned in at Embark Beach. Temple overs a PvP one instead of the VQ one instead.

Also each week there are perks in general. Like next week is Double Faction week when you turn in either your Kurz or Luxon faction to the proper guy. So 5000 as a donation from your guild which normally gets doubled to 10,000 anyway now jumps up to 20,000 faction points towards a faction title of your choice all of next week.

There is EotN week at times too where you double title points there turning in quests including Z quests. Another week there is double Z coins for turning in mission quests that week. Wiki has the list of this cycle in their top right box where they list the current Z daily quests. Click on that menu for quest rotations etc too.

So if that week is coming up soon and you have room to hold onto turning in the quest for the reward (up to three under each category remember) you can really up title points and Z coins.

Quite frankly I found EotN far easier than any of the campaigns except maybe Factions. And since you are upped to level 20 there whether you are in reality of not and you get level 20 heroes right away -- first three being Ele, Monk and an all important Mes -- I always head North right off.

Not trying to force North on you if you wish otherwise. Just pointing out that you can go there and pick up 2 heroes immediately and, after a couple of minutes very easy run to the Eye outpost itself, pick up the Mes. Also opens your Hall of Monuments which is attached to the Eye so you can register your minis and elite armor and get your statues for protecting Prophecies etc. Then you can stop and go back to the other three if you like but with that very very important Mes hero available and a level 20 Monk and Ele in tow too.

And like mentioned above as soon as you get the tapestry to one of the areas you get their "perk" like an extra 100 health points in Norn territory, an extra 10 energy in Asuran, big advantages against Charr (Vanguard) and Destroyers (Deldimor). Just activate which one helps you in a territory from your Titles menu. And the boost in killing Charr works in the old Proph areas too.