20 Helpful Tips for Our New Guild Wars 2 Players

[Kiyeri 34]

I compiled a list of 20 things that might help someone coming into GW2 for the very first time. Since there is a steep learning curve for those that have never played a Guild Wars game. Hopefully this makes it a bit easier for you all. If anyone has anything to add or correct.. please do.

 

1. DON'T TRY TO GRIND. You will miss all the fun GW2 has to offer, and it will take you much longer. You earn experience, Karma, Influence, items and currency just by playing, crafting and exploring the game.

 

2. Try to leave the old (insert game)-style mmo mentality at the door, it really will make the experience less enjoyable if you try to force old perspectives on your GW2 experience, it's probably going to just make it less fun.

 

3. There is no competition for drops. If you participate no matter how much nor how little, you will get a share of the reward. Foes that drop items for you will only be accessible to you alone. Remember to grab your loot quickly tho, it disappears after a short time.

 

4. To quickly earn experience, Karma and money, explore the zone and complete Renown Hearts, skill challenges, unlock waypoints as well as reveal vistas and points of interest. These things ALL give experience. When someone does something that triggers a Dynamic Event do those too. Even raising fallen Players or NPC's give you experience, and everyone can raise.

 

5. Renown Hearts are NOT your sole source of experience. GW2 is not about going from mindless quest to quest. I know many people went straight from one heart to the next like quests in an old MMO. However Renown Hearts are more of a guide line, there are often dynamic events happening around those areas and they draw your attention to them. So by all means do the Renown Hearts but don't rely on them solely for experience. (tip from Ben @ peoplesfront)

 

6. Do your personal Story line as soon as you are at the level to do so. You get tons of experience, Karma and money along with a nice piece of gear. If you wait to do it your rewards will likely be useless because you have out leveled them. Your friends can also join you doing your story and they will earn Karma.

 

7. Completely exploring the zone gives you a bonus chest including things like bonus experience, money and some good items, usually a rare Blue or Green item as well.

 

8. Stick around after dynamic events and pay attention to NPCS, often they link off into new events but you won't see this happen if you run right off, just wait in the area for a few minutes and listen to the NPC's conversations, or maybe follow them to wherever they're going, you're likely to find something else to do. You should also talk to NPCs, sometimes doing so will trigger off a dynamic event or what they ask you to do will trigger an event, these NPCs are sometimes marked with a gold star above their head although not always. (tip from Ben @ peoplesfront)

 

9. Renown Heart NPC's sell items for Karma after you have completed their request. You can get jewelry, weapons, gear and other items for Karma. They will also vendor the stuff you don't want anymore.

 

10. Check your mail often, you get money and thank you's from the NPC's that you help. Also there is no trading in GW2 but you can send and receive mail instantly from anywhere.

 

11. Buy Picks, Axes and Sickles and mine, log or gather when you run across them. Gathering gives you experience, and crafting materials. Even If you don't use them… someone in the guild might need them to level crafting, or they can be sold on the trading post. Also, Gathering nodes show up on your map. You don't have to worry about running out of inventory space, just right click to Deposit Collectibles straight to your bank.

 

12. Don't vender everything you pick up along the way. Sell items you find on the Trading Post. It's quite convenient because you can send things straight from your inventory to the Trading Post. There is a single Trading Post accessible by everyone on all worlds. You can also send all craftables to your storage from you inventory at any time.

 

13. Don't forget to level all your weapons skills. If you aren't swapping weapons while fighting you are missing out on some valuable skills. FYI, you can switch weapon sets when skills are on cool-down to open up available skills you can use. Weapon swapping becomes important at higher levels so learn to use it now. Also for Rangers, if your pet dies, switch your active pet, you can always switch back when the cool-down timer is reset.

 

14. Move, Strife, Dodge… Get outta the way. We are all used to standing still and fighting. In Guild Wars 2 you can attack and move at the same time and you should move at all times cuz that way you can get outta the way when you see an enemy charging up a skill to throw at you.

 

15. You can earn experience by Crafting and you can sell the items you craft on the Trading Post. Don't like to craft, no problem… you can buy crafted items on the Trading post. Keep in mind that cooking is considered an advance craft and is very expensive to level. In fact if all you like to do is craft… they say you can get 10 levels per craft, therefore you could hit the max level 80 simply by crafting on a character and never ever hit a mob once.

 

16. WvWvW rewards tons of Karma, grab some friends and go assault a base.

 

17. [shift] + [Click something] (waypoint, item etc.) will add what you clicked to the chat. This is helpful for telling your party what Waypoint to use. All they have to do is click on the link and it will bring up that waypoint for them. This can also be used to show a piece of gear or weapon to ask if someone wants it.

 

18. Mark/Call Targets with [Ctrl] + [T], Assist with [T]. Red crosshairs will appear above the target's head. Teammates can assist by pressing [T] which will lock them onto the called target

 

19. Embrace the zerg. Many MMOs have trained us to run in the opposite direction when we see larger groups of players converge on the same gameplay areas, sticking with the mob can actually be quite beneficial in GW2. While dynamic events scale based on the number of active participants, many will become much more interesting or even challenging the more players there are involved. A perfect example would be the meta events that can spark from smaller events in certain areas. Meta events will show in the same location of your UI as normal events (upper right hand corner) but will be distinguishable by the darker backdrop, and often indicated that they are intended for groups of players depending on the current status of an area. For example, Godslost Swamp in Queensdale (human 1-15 zone) contains a meta event that can eventually lead to an encounter with the massive Shadow Behemoth. When you enter the swamp, you will be able to see the status of the event chain, and if enough players are actively participating in events in that area, it can help spark progressively more challenging stages. If you're able to defeat the final encounter for the event, a giant chest will spawn that contains a wealth of rare gear and consumables. (this tip came from GW2Hub )

 

20. Don't go out with the aim to level. This is probably the best advice on the subject, remember the game isn't about being max level. There's not much in the way of endgame yet and the whole game is meant to be enjoyed, just take your time and enjoy the content you're playing and do what you want instead of rushing to the next level. Many have found that playing like this they leveled more quickly than when they were actively trying to level and would be surprised when the level up animation occurred because they were not paying attention to the experience bar.

[stubbie 21]

Wonderful post.....thanks Kiyeri

 

I have played the original Guild Wars and also got to participate in the GW2 beta.

But the two games are very different and I appreciate these tips for newbs like me.

 

Looking forward to the 28th.

 

 

[lujate 576]

Very nice!

 

...

12. Don't vender everything you pick up along the way. Sell items you find on the Trading Post. It's quite convenient because you can send things straight from your inventory to the Trading Post. There is a single Trading Post accessible by everyone on all worlds. You can also send all craftables to your storage from you inventory at any time.

...

I would go so far as to say vendor only junk. Everything else either salvage, sell at the Trading Post or save for the Mystic Forge.

[gogoblender 3,069]

Kiyeri, you're one of the clearest article-writers I've read. Not only that, but you have a touch with your words and insight that make your tips compelling as well as friendly.

 

Glad you're here with us, and glad to have had this read for the morning coffee...

 

Stoked to play, but you guys will have to forgive my newbie bumbles!

 

 

gogo

[Scleameth 19]

Nice tips here Kiyeri!

 

I saw another tip in videos for casters and that is to have "smart cast" enabled (I really don't know what the correct term or setup option is...). Basically it's to insta-cast your Area of Effect spell wherever you mouse pointer is, so there's no need to aim the Area of Effect first. Perhaps that's more a matter of preference, but something I'll surely use when rolling an elementalist one day.

[lujate 576]

...

 

Stoked to play, but you guys will have to forgive my newbie bumbles!

 

 

gogo

L2P or ... (sorry, I could not even say that without cracking up)

 

You should not have any trouble with this group. Just speak up if you feel like you are getting in over your head. I guess you could say that our eyes are often bigger than our swords, if you know what I mean.

[Kiyeri 34]

Nice tips here Kiyeri!

 

I saw another tip in videos for casters and that is to have "smart cast" enabled (I really don't know what the correct term or setup option is...). Basically it's to insta-cast your Area of Effect spell wherever you mouse pointer is, so there's no need to aim the Area of Effect first. Perhaps that's more a matter of preference, but something I'll surely use when rolling an elementalist one day.

 

I hope they fixed it so it really does cast where your pointer is and not where you are. Lujate and Wygram could better answer that since I only played a caster for one weekend.

 

@ GoGo... <3 us some newblette blunderers, just say the word and we will come hang with you anytime

[lujate 576]

IIRC, it is called Fast Cast. I turned it on during BWE1 and used it all through beta. Its opponents say it is too hard to estimate range and hard to tell where you will hit, particularly on uneven ground.

 

Edit:

As of BWE1, it was called Fast-Cast Ground Targeting.

 

Also, by default, you dodge-roll by double-tapping a movement key. I would suggest binding dodge to a key and disabling the double-tap. I for one do not want to be easing to the edge during a jumping puzzle, only to accidentally dodge-roll off the ledge.

[Flooxim 49]

Great topic! This topic deserves to be pinned so everyone can read it and will know what to expect from the game.

 

I'm not sure yet if I'm comfortable with the Fast-Cast Ground Targeting, I had this option disabled for the biggest part of my playtime.

 

 

Max

[Ryanrocker 200]

IIRC, it is called Fast Cast. I turned it on during BWE1 and used it all through beta. Its opponents say it is too hard to estimate range and hard to tell where you will hit, particularly on uneven ground.

 

Edit:

As of BWE1, it was called Fast-Cast Ground Targeting.

 

Also, by default, you dodge-roll by double-tapping a movement key. I would suggest binding dodge to a key and disabling the double-tap. I for one do not want to be easing to the edge during a jumping puzzle, only to accidentally dodge-roll off the ledge.

 

I think fast cast might be turned on default, as my Guardian always had that kind of targeting for glyphs. Also amazing idea about switching the dodge roll. Never even thought about messing up on a jumping puzzle like that!