10 Things I Wish I Knew Earlier as a New Player in 2023 | Guild Wars 2

After 6 months in Guild Wars 2 I've put together 10 things I wish I'd known earlier as a new player in 2023. This is intended to be broader themes or mindsets rather than a shopping list of 'tips and tricks'. I hope this helps a few new players out there!
0:00 Intro
0:22 Settings overhaul
1:24 Experiment with your profession
2:04 Home Instance
2:33 Alts
3:00 Engage the community
4:16 Wiki
5:13 Inventory management
6:27 Build types and stats
8:08 Instanced endgame content
9:44 Do NOT rush

[@SheenaMalfoy]

On the topic of settings changes: turn on target health percentage! A lot of bosses (open world or instanced) have mechanics at certain health thresholds, and knowing exactly when they're coming up is invaluable.

[@damedasti]

I done your first recommend mistake😅. As a veteran wow player i just rushed to end game but after 80 i just came back to map complition and huge fun in world of triya. I regret why i did not play gw2 sooner rather than playing wow for 15 years...

[@WilstormGaming]

Yeah I'm going back through world completion now and the zones that I played have been much quicker and easier! Fun to go through all the zones I never even saw though

[@davidmorris2234]

2nd time watching this video, and must admit, you have a lot of talent at explaining the GW2 game, which is surprising because you are still a fairly new player to the game. It's hard to believe that you didn't start making YT content, until after you began playing GW2, and you enjoyed it so much that it inspired you to begin making this content. The quality of your videos, and your talent at explaining things is much better than many other content creators I've watched. Keep up the great work, and I hope you will create a one year anniversary video, which shows how far you have progressed your GW2 account, and what you are doing in the game now. Have a Happy New Year!

[@kevind.6105]

great video. I didn't know a home instance even existed before your video, I'm shocked

[@WilstormGaming]

Right! I only found out watching some of Muk Luks videos

[@eduardogomes7037]

Really good video dude! I'd just add the combo fields/finishers interactions, is something else that new players take ages to realize.

[@WilstormGaming]

Yeah that's true! I was actually considering putting them in but I feel like they aren't as impactful as they apparently once were. You can kind of ignore them and it doesn't make a huge difference for most content

[@vidaliver1447]

@@WilstormGaming stealth wvsw thief here absolutely disagrees with you. There was a funny encounter of mine once, i was capping a camp in WvsW and an enemy thief came in. No mobs were left around and i didn't use any of the cooldowns, full initiative - so we were very much even. I obviously don't know what build in details he had but apparently it was pretty much the same as myself: condition damage shortbow + dagger/dagger. The one thing we did very differently: i used the ultimate spin-to-win (trick dagger storm) standing in the poison field from shortbow 4. It spammed enourmous amount of poison bolts and my enemy lost ridiculous amount of HP to that. Was easy enough to end afterwards. He, meanwhile, didn't do that - was spinning just on a straight place - therefore apparently didn't know of the possibility and probably didn't even understand how he lost. I really wish they would've.

[@WilstormGaming]

When it comes to PvP and WvW you are absolutely right. I've actually just started playing some more of this content recently and discovered that on my ranger smokescale smoke field + finisher can give me stealth. For PvE everyone is always stacked so not something you need to think about too much for the most part.

[@davidmorris2234]

Just started watching this video and I know it’s going to be great because your first suggestion was about settings/keybinds, which is an excellent item to start with. I’ll watch the rest now to see what other gems you have to share.

[@gusblacksmith9]

Been playing the game for over 2 years on and off and I've watched pretty much every major GW2 creator out there, from Wooden Potatoes to Mukluk to Mighty Teapot, Lord Hizen, Caffeinated Dad and many others. I can safely say that your content fills a gap I didn't know existed within the community. Kudos to you, my friend! I really hope your channel explodes in views and popularity.

[@Marl2381]

Just started playing GW2.. I was a vanilla/classic wow vet and this list is by far the best beginner video I have seen yet. Thanks!!

[@WilstormGaming]

Thank you I'm glad it was helpful!

[@Chilli_Thing_]

The only caveat to the home instance I would add is that it’s not worth buying nodes for the home instance unless you wanna use it for guild members and stuff. It takes years to get the gold you put into it back out of it. That being said, if you do do it, it is a nice daily ritual and usually you can drag other players into it to gather your stuff as well.

[@WilstormGaming]

Yeah I've just been using it as a quick daily farm. The quartz crystals is good and you can make the charged every 25

[@Chilli_Thing_]

@@WilstormGaming quartz crystal charging will save you in the future for so much. Keeping a stock pile is always a great idea!

Related: as you inferred, people can invite a party with them to their home instance. So keep an eye out for guildies or random people offering a spot on their home instance run. Especially just after server reset there's bound to be offers on racial capitals' map chats

[@Chilli_Thing_]

@ Rata Sum is the most common because it’s one of the better layouts.

@@Chilli_Thing_ I personally much prefer Hoelbrak (it's even better than rata). I have no idea which is the most popular, though

[@MusPuiDiTe]

Completely agree on all points! Very well done!!

[@Lanzetsu]

I think the hardest thing in this game is how to decently be able to enjoy the combat system. There are only 2 dodges... a lot of stuff is telegraphed but in a lot of situations you already wasted your dodges and didn't recover on time or the mob is viciously attacking you. There is where most people tend to die, I've seen plenty of super high grinded armored characters with 400 mastery points jump into a fight with not even an Champ and go downed almost instantly. There isn't many videos showing how to fight most of the hard enemies to understand their patterns and that also is why most people die or elude high end content, they can't tank, they can't dodge, they eat the ground.

[@CalliKira]

Settings: set a keybind for Toggle Action Camera. Home instance: is an account thing, every account has 5 home instances and you can enter any racial city home on any race character. Need to split stacks of items? Alt-click-drag Hover over things and right click things! So much information and options when you do this more! Most important though; if you're not having fun, change things up! Maybe it's not the right weapons for you? Maybe the class doesn't click right? Maybe you feel like you're forcing yourself to do something? Take a break whenever! It's not going anywhere and games are for fun. ❤

[@kaltaron1284]

On the stats for power vs. condition: Both have a secondary stats that are very important. Precision (crit chance) and Ferocity (crit damage) for power and Condition duration for Condi. There's also sometimes bonuses to specific conditions. Not everything is possible with exotic gear. Well, almost everthing is but high level Fractals are the exception to the rule because you will need Agony Resistence and you can only get that on Ascended gear. But trinkets are pretty easy to get and are enough for quite a bit. There is an order to the maps if you follow the personal story of course. Each race has 2 (or was it 3?) starting maps then the stories converge in Lion's Arch. After that they split up again into the 3 different factions but converge again later into the final part of the story. The differences aren't major but IMHO it's worth it to try them out. The expansions are more streamlined.

[@arkanaloth2617]

great list, been playing GW2 for 11 and this is a great new player list

[@agriosbr]

Same! To this day I didnt know about the /wiki click on item....thats amazing!

[@WilstormGaming]

oh that's one of my favourite tricks. I use that every single time I'm playing at least a few times. It's the best for all those random items that clearly do something but you're not sure what clogging your bag

[@LexpressionQc]

Ty! We have the same guild. It's true that people help newbies, some of them quite extensively

[@Xyoss]

I've been on and off GW2 for almost 9 years now, there are tons of things and features that I love in the game, but I'd say the #1 thing that I love is the community! I mean... why are we playing an "mmo" anyway? It's other people who make the game fun for us, and GW2 community is a combination of active, helpful, and pro players. PS: Love your videos man. you should do x100 more!

[@jdgual]

This is so incredibly well studied and put together list. An easy sub from me. I'd also like to add a fairly balanced graphic setting between appearance and performance. Just set it to Best Appearance, then set: Reflections to None; Shadows to Low; Postprocessing to Low; CM Limit to High; CM Quality to High. Game should look great and work great too.

[@WilstormGaming]

Thank you, I appreciate the feedback! The graphics settings is a great addition! Something I probably looked over.

[@boschmitch]

You may have missed the Achievements and Rewards panel. It is most often missed because its very subtle. You can basically gear up to end game a character by doing the chievos

[@izzyg8316]

Thanks. I just started to play GW2 yesterday and this video came in handy.

[@ginster458]

If you have Heart of Thorns, you can buy bladed armor boxes for the map currency in Verdant Brink, those are stat selectable exotic armor pieces, currently the best way to to get a full exotic set of the stat set you need Also if you like to use add ons: Blish has tons of QOL, as well as an event timer overlay that is super useful. GW Efficiency is great for everything from tracking progress to breaking down crafting recipes and costs!

[@kaltaron1284]

They don't have all the stat combination though, do they? But the usual culprits should be available that you need for most builds.

[@ginster458]

no they actually have all stats selectable! The only downside is that the vendor doesn't sell the chestpiece, you need to succeed in a T4 meta in Verdant brink to get that. Or you can buy the chestpiece on tp, which for celestial, harrier or viper which are usually more expensive, will run you about 10-15 g @@kaltaron1284

[@saeravi]

Really great video, thank you! I think that if you keep it up you will have a ton more subscribers some day!

[@MM.T00]

Very well made and helpful video!

[@DanTheMan596]

Take advantage of home instance farms offered in map chat. (Make sure to have enough harvesting equipment.) Those with full instances are happy to share them. Tipping is totally optional. One of my guildies sometimes sends me the winter's day gift he farms from within my instance.

[@SwedudeEPIC]

Wish I could be a new player again😀 Great tips for new folks!

[@sc_3433]

awesome video, very informative

[@Rebellionofself]

Simple, concise and easy to understand

[@bmw9616]

Combo fields are something I didn't understand until I watched a video on them. They're something that isn't explained well in game.

[@joshpittman3712]

Love the content - keep it up.

[@WilstormGaming]

Thank you, appreciate it!

[@FireChildSlytherin5]

What helped me a little bit is that I am a huge collator. IDK if i should sell this item? Put in the bank. I am not going to do ascended or legendary crafting atm, so i did the once a day crafting items knowing that in the future I may. Because of this I was able to give my hubby who also plays this game, 2 stacks of items to help him with his own legendary armor crafting. Oh and alt farming areas too is a must.

[@myiurimochizuki1284]

Getting the exotic gear off tp once you reach lvl 80 is generally a good idea, i was so much worse than the friend i played with in my newbie days and he never told me it was because i was still running in rare and blue lvl 40-70 gear at max lvl and dragged me down lot in harder open world content like defending a fort in silverwastes

[@WilstormGaming]

Oh no haha I love that you can get straight to hear that is 85% as good as BiS.

[@LisaSummers1988]

when it comes to community, its mostly the openworld community youre good with, instanced can get tricky as there are alot of risks in only SOME instanced content, NOT all, and time sinks involved. not everyone is happy about it undertstandably.

[@NigthSprings]

Asesome video. As a returned player there is a lot of good infos. Thanks 👍!!

[@WilstormGaming]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Ralipsi]

I see that you recommand a certain Salvage kit that is infinite (for 3 copper each try) but also with low level of salvaving. Is there a better version of the tool where i salvage more from each item?

[@bartaz1601]

Great Video but one tip dont buy exotics from tp, from couple weeks u can buy whole set rly cheap from WvW vendor with selectable stats :D

[@DocOverlord]

I've been playing GW2 since launch (with a few year break but still), and I've always completely remapped my keybinds, but WHY didn't I ever think to remap Dodge to 'Left'-Alt'?? That allows you to easily dodge in any direction you want, far better than any of the other option I tried. Thanks! Now I just have relearn years of playing with this new keybind lol

[@SpoofMan73]

You showcased KSC as a guild in this video do you do much with them by chance?

[@WilstormGaming]

Yeah I raid with them every other week

[@SpoofMan73]

@@WilstormGaming that’s awesome I’m in that guild we should group up sometime

[@lstxny9818]

That is the name of the dps count overlay? Is it a Blish hud mod?

[@WilstormGaming]

it's Arcdps the dps meter

[@agriosbr]

The only thing I would do different was making my first character as a Guardian instead of Warrior.

[@marinhrabric6162]

Why?

[@agriosbr]

@@marinhrabric6162 because Guardian is much more versatile than Warrior.

[@rob_mason]

Most of the suggested changes to settings are the defaults already.

[@Cashcash08]

Wow you're from ksc? 😮😮😮

[@foncess]

You weren’t just lucky with the community. People have been nothing but kind to me in that game over the years. Even if I was making us lose in pvp or something, they would try to help me improve instead of insulting me. It’s a very positive environment

[@foncess]

I also somehow had no idea about the usable object names setting until you brought it up, so this video is helping more than new players lol

[@WilstormGaming]

Absolute game-changer that setting!

[@WilstormGaming]

The community is great, and surprisingly the community are for the most part positive about the game, compared to WoW for example where everyone playing the game hates on Blizzard

[@evelynn2790]

imagine buying the copper salveg kit pack after 3 years xD.................... i didnt know what it named lol... and i thout it costed 2k XD...........and only on limited time o cs was thrilld thoe to find it real price :P

[@WilstormGaming]

Oh damn hahaha I got it after a few weeks hahah

[@ValkoinenShiro]

Me as a veteran player: Hmm, interesting.

[@theadventuresguild6514]

Ask for help! So everyone in the map chat can send you to the wiki and offer no actual answers, lol.

[@WilstormGaming]

Experiences vary obviously but I've had a bunch of help over the last few months from map chat. Not everyone will be helpful though

[@Insig385]

I would say being told that you can /wiki is pretty useful too, new players wouldn't know about the function, or that there's an event timer. it's a bit like being given a fish vs being taught how to fish. I usually answer the q in map chat and then let them know they can easily /wiki as well. I personally would prefer being taught these things rather than being given a wall of txt explanation that disappears/isn't permanent, that I will barely retain if I'm in middle of playing.

[@krm5693]

that typically happens when there’s a lot of things to explain. GW2 is too expansive when it comes to the content in game so its easier to get to the wiki. The community is still incredibly helpful. The new players that join the game thinking that they deserve help and throw a fit because people are doing their own thing are the worst lol. Not saying that’s you since you might be a vet or whatever, but those ppl are awful.

[@blacksabbath2559]

i come from lotro and wow( vanilla tbc wolkt / and classic/sod/hc). i have tried gw 2 for one week. this game is ugly, the world and story is terrible in comparison of the other mmos. It is too flashy, mounts are ridiculous. i don t know f i m in sci fi game or heroic fantasy one. In fact it has the same flaws than retail wow i despise.