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Need A little Insight
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I bought Guild Wars 2 awhile ago, and I WANT to like this game, which may sound odd. I need a little insight, I asked some people on twitter, but I would like some more explanation, so I thought why not here?
I know there is the story line quest, and quest hubs, but I always feel like i'm a level behind, a step behind if you will. I even bought a strat guide for the game at a local GS, but the weapons confuse me, and I really can't get a good grip on the mechanics of the game. I've never had this problem with an MMO before, but I cannot get a firm grasp. I just feel like i'm a huge step behind. Example: I'm level 4, and I do the quest hub for level 4, and the next one is 5-6, and I'm still level 4, and i'm doing them two levels behind, so when i hit 5-6, the quest hubs are already gone, I've explored the main city, got XP from way points and etc. Any information would be awesome. I'm really confused behind anything i've ever been. Thanks in advance. -Josh
Who said this won't be perfect after all we know what is right
And the sounds of bodies clashing is enough to make them cry.
You know this cannot be perfect even when it is feeling right.
And the sound of bodies crashing echo through the night.
Comments
So I never really done a post like this but lets try.
First of all you are look at it a bit wrong and here is how, I would like you to understand Dynamic Events by clicking HERE . Once you see the different types of Dynamic Events and understand what each one is, then your goal is to constantly be in the search for them and not the Hearts or "Quest Hubs" (as some of you put it on here).
Now do not get me wrong personal story + Hearts + DEs you will never be behind, rather ahead. So you will want to ask how? well that's easy.
Start doing everything you normally would e.g do your story then jump on a heart as you roam and look for vistas/POI/Waypoints, as you are doing that make sre to harvest anything in your path, and always keep an eye out on your minimap for DEs, it will show you the direction that you would travel to get to it by showing you an icon in that general direction.
Also PM me your in game name, I will help you out a bit more in game.
It really sounds like you are trying to approach GW2 with the same strategy you hit other MMOs with. It's not going to work that way. You are probably trying too hard. Lighten up with it. There is no rigidity to the game, it's not linear. Maybe try this: go hang out in one of the starting zones where a lot of people are. The human and Norn zones are typically the most populated. Wander around and pick up DEs as they happen and do the Hearts wherever they aren't completed. Watch the chats. When the Champs spawn, head over there. Even if you aren't sure where that location is, just ask in Chat for a link to the spot and port over there as soon as you can. You'll start to get a feel for the flow of the game.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
On top of everything above, buy some harvesting tools and some cheap buff food/tools.
Whenever you come a cross a harvest node, collect it. Always have a food/tool buff active. Always res dead players and NPCs.
Every 10 levels, take a 30 minute break in a town and level one crafting profession.
You'll never be behind in level again, even if you don't go to the other starting areas.
You could always go to Queensdale and join the exp train. Ask when you get there "where is train" someone will say something like troll, bandit, oak, spider or boar. These are bosses that give extra exp for killing them. If your level 4 use a ranged weapon as fighting up close to one of these will most likely kill you instantly. You will need to uncover certain wp's so as to move around the map to each location but once you have these and know where and what to kill next you will level fairly fast at your low level.
Or if you want to play the actual pve content rather than grinding the same things over and over, do as already suggested and go to all of the low level areas and do the quests there.
As other people have mentioned, there's a huge difference between GW2 and most other MMOs... in GW2, content comes to you rather than you having to go to specific points to find content. Just take your time and you'll see events pop up. If you come across an area and see centaurs attacking, help fight them off. You don't need to accept a quest or anything archaic like that, just join in and get full credit. If someone (an NPC) runs up and says "Can you help me with something" stop and talk to them and find out what. They usually direct you to events that will kick off once you get there. There's so much to do out there that you'll easily stay ahead of the leveling curve as you wander about.
Weapons. Each weapon has five skill slots attached to them. Those skills are specific to the profession you're playing. As you use your weapon you'll quickly find that you're unlocking the available skills until you have the five unlocked. Now, understanding the skills won't make sense without understanding the combat. There are three basic aspects to combat in GW2 - damage, control and support. Gone are the hard roles of earlier games... you're not a pure DPS, you're not a tank, you're not a healer. You do damage to the enemy, you help restrict the enemies ability to move about in combat (control) and you assist allies through various means (buffing them, splash AoE heals, removing conditions, damage mitigation, etc.), and you are doing all of the above to varying degrees. So right off the bat lose any ideas you had of being a tank, dps or healer. Fugeddaboudit. So, knowing this, look at your weapon skills. You'll see that they often have multiple effects that cover more than one of the different aspects (damage, control and support). For example, the mesmer staff 5 skill is Chaos Storm. You cast a chaos storm (AoE effect spell) at a ground targeted location. This spell does direct damage, it applies conditions to the enemies it hits (damage and control, such as chills which slow movement) and it applies boons to allies (support). By knowing all that your skill is capable of doing you should be able to determine, in time, when it's a more opportunistic moment to use the spell. In other words, the skills are not designed to be used off cooldown or in a rotation... you need to be situationally aware to get the best effects.
Traits... we'll cross that bridge around level 10 or 11. But as a teaser, I have traits added so that mu chaos storms also apply confusion to enemies and they reflect projectiles firing through them. Hope this helps a bit.