Guild Wars 2 in 2023 | New Player, First Impressions

[@RoastedWalnutss]

I somehow think you have missed the fact that you can dye your armor at any time at no cost, you are always seeming to be in default colors. Just a heads up.

[@Waydots]

:o

[@Arrow333]

Actually, the game is also called "Fashion Wars 2" for the very reason that you can customize your appearance a lot. But up until level 80 you should probably only use the dyeing part as it doesn't cost anything. Changing the model of your armor or weapon will cost transmutation charges that you can gain ingame easily, but you might be a bit short of them while leveling and you also still switch gear often. Some of the most notable armor and weapon skins available during leveling would be the cultural armors and weapons obtainable in your races capital and the dungeon sets you can get in Lions Arch near the (new) central Dungeon entrance. On level 80 maps pay attention to the vendors and achievements. You might get some really nice stuff - that can not be bought using real money. While other stuff might be available at the trading post and basically be bought with real money, nobody really does that as far as I know, as there are better ways to invest your money in the game if you want to. Also, even if you buy an outfit from the shop, you won't win fashion contests in the game - yes, there are fashion contests! - as it is considered "cheating" in these contests.

[@Earthz1412]

@@Waydots check on hero panel (H is default keybind) and look dye option...

[@jorno1994]

@@Waydots welcome to Fashion Wars 2

[@ikcikor3670]

@@Waydots worth mentioning that the change of the actual 3d looks of your gear to any you've ever worn/scrapped costs those transmutation or whatever charges, you can earn quite a lot of them by playing WvW gamemode, so there is no need to spend money/gold on them

[@Nuhqoha]

Just started playing this game a couple weeks ago. Only regrets is that I didn’t start it sooner. It’s so much fun!

[@Sowa238]

Same for me! I wish i had played it sooner. I had great 600 hours gameplay last months

[@jawadshaalan5387]

I also started playimg like 3 weeks ago , I said the same thing to my friends , i played every mmo available on pc , and some mobile mmos , gw2 is the best imo , i feel like i wasted my life trying other mmos and not playing it sooner :)

[@matsug5704]

Welcome to Gw2!!

[@Wenedi]

How are you finding the combat? As a fellow BDO player I feel it is very lacking visually and doesn't feel very impactful

[@Sowa238]

@@Wenedi trust me, when there are 50 people killing bosses or doing world metas the screen is full of different animations that makes the game feel alive and the view is stunning :)

[@kasenrin3]

I started playing the original Guild Wars in 2007 and fell in love with the world and the story. I was in the betas for GW2 and I still absolutely love the world, the lore, the characters ... It is a game that I cherish so much for so many reasons. I'm so happy you gave this game an honest shot and enjoyed yourself.

[@Morvagor82]

This is one of the top videos presenting Guild Wars 2 from a new player perspective. Would like to see further videos of your joruney.

[@pokeylope6108]

Glad you chose Charr, welcome to Tyria. Also note with current expansion, you can make it so base proffs(Ranger) can use its elite spec weapons without being in the elite spec(untamed, soulbeast, Druid). Or even using Dagger main hand(soulbeast) as Druid. Unlocking is also easy and account wide for all classes. Last note two patches from now all proffs will be getting access to a new wep type

[@illmattic024]

I spent 20 years of my life on RuneScape/OSRS and I’ll always love those games but once I made the switch to GW2 I’ve never looked back. Just feels so good to play

[@Rainsb123]

I don't play rs but seeing that someone recognized you is so cool, you had to be there at the right time and place and with how big the game actually is.. it's insane for that to even have happened. I'm a casual player and I've played mmos for about 15 years now and gw2 is honestly the only game I always come back to. There's so much to do and the community is absolutely wonderful. The game respects your time and I know even when I step away for a while if there's ever anything that makes me wanna hop back in again I can do so without needing to play the catch up game. Hope you continue having fun and keep making videos for to watch. It's enjoyable seeing what new players find interesting and makes me happy and almost like I'm reliving the experience again as well

[@Highyeena]

Just a note on the "samey looking armor" problem -- someone else already told you about dyes, but also yes, medium armor has a particular problem of looking largely "samey". I'm one of those fashion-obsessed people and hated how basically all the options even at late game were variations on a coat or duster. Lol Edit: also, the whole "creating a problem and selling you a solution" thing i think is more, largely, "creating a solution to an existing problem, but it costs real money"

[@traveling.down.the.road56]

@Highhyeena, The only things that can’t be bought with in game gold converted to gems, are the expansions themselves, and they go on sale often for half price. Everything else you can buy in the gemstore can be bought without using real money by converting your in game gold to gems.

[@Nocturnia]

I haven't played GW2 in ages and never got that into it. But I agree that the best part of it was really the exploration and completionism. I had the most fun with just completing each zone and especially with the so-called "jumping puzzles" that have kind of become a recurring thing in the game, as far as I know. It was a lot of fun to try to figure out how to jump my way up to these secret areas. The one in Lion's Arch is especially memorable.

[@DocSardo]

You can use a lvl80 boost on a character that is already 80 just for the Celestial armor, trinkets and weapons set. I did this with my Mesmer alt that had leveled to 80 mostly by crafting.

[@nielsjensen4185]

Between the expansions, there are Living World Seasons. After the Core game, there are LW s 1 and 2 that lead up to HoT, after HoT, there's LW s3 which leads into PoF, after PoF there's LW s 4 that ties a know on the entire arc and expands the story after LW s 4, there Icebrood Saga which is a stand-alone version of the Living World. After that and with almost no connection comes EoD. EoD ends with a (free) mini-story that explains some of the things seen in SotO. SotO is a stand-alone expansion with minimal ties back to the game that came before it. It does contain one of the coolest easter eggs IMO. Read the description of The Desolation achievement called Path of the Gods and then look into every niche when you come to the Cellar of Obscure Point of Interest in Amnytas in SotO.

[@xdeathwishx1460]

Ayy welcome on board brother. Glad to have you join us, love seeing new ppl get into the game as much as you. if you get any questions or need help w anything dont be afraid to ask in map chat or here from me . Hope you enjoy gw2 for many years to come ^^

[@banj0804]

i just recently got into this game as someone who has never played an mmo before and it is absolutely sooo easy to get into! the diversity in the classes and the stories themselves lets for really good replayable game. 10/10 recommend for people wanting to try an mmo for the first time :]

[@abzoluterennix477]

I have been an gw2 player for 5 years now and it is my favorite game ever. I myself have not touched the dlc story yet (i know shamefull) but this game for me is just fun too boot up once in a while and just walk around all my favorite parts of the map and enjoy some little events. Grinding stuff or just walking i love this game with all my heart.

[@Alteroxx954]

Guild Wars 2 just feel super chill to play,i'm just vibing on my Reaper enjoying the story

[@piedpiper1172]

It’s interesting you said you felt directionless at the end of your personal story. I bought the steam launch bundle (all expansions and living world except the newest Xpac). So when I finished personal story it immediately directed me into living world season 1. I’m at 350 hours, and I just finished HoT masteries so I’ll be starting living world season 3 soon!

[@crowsoy]

from being there on the first RS3 video to the GIM (on both versions of RS) all i can say I really hope you recorded your progress the early game of this because I am looking to binge this series.. over and over again! I hope you enjoy GW2 dots!

[@Waydots]

[@DemoJT]

Crow you gunna buy gw2 now? >

[@weissekrahe9670]

My primary is an untamed ranger. There are a lot of different gear that can be worn and used. You get them from vendors, quests and the market. Any medium gear that is found and unlocked allows you to use that gear appearance as your current armor -while retaining the current armor stats- by transmuting it. So your gear can look like any medium armor that you have already found.

[@weissekrahe9670]

A lot of the nicer medium armor appearances are locked behind collections I think. racial armor is pretty good too

[@mikaeldp]

about alt friendliness, when you play using your main character, you still gain exp. When you "level up" you get a spirit shard. That spirit shard can be used to make money, or as currency in a certain shop, and most relevant to alts, you can consume it to get an item that levels a character by 1 level. So if you get 80 of them (which does not take long), you can max an alts level to max in an instant.

[@mirai3744]

Hey Waydot, i remembered returning to RS3 and seeing you try RS3 ironman. It was great content. Now I've quit RS3 and started playing GW2, seeing you try this game excites me again as i can expect great content. Hopefully i get to play with you one day.

[@Kreptic]

No one really quits rs3, just takes long breaks

[@attinger117]

Guild wars 2 is incredible. I think if I had to choose the best thing to talk about from the game it’s the dynamic open world events system. These are the orange markers on the map that indicate real time live quest chains. It is so cool to be out in the world and have an event spawn, and random players come together to work towards completing it. This game is so good at bringing players together in a group without having to sign up for one and the game also rewards you for it. So good.

[@RomainDelmaire]

Fun thing, I played the first Guild Wars when I was young. I had the fancy whole CD collection with the expansions...I played so much of it and I loved it. And I had absolutely no idea it was a MMORPG. It's only when I played Guild Wars 2 years later that I realized =').

[@Shapeshiftyr]

Been following your channel since your first RS3 ironman video and have always appreciated your quality. Very excited to see you play my favorite MMO - I've got over 15k hours in Guild Wars 1 and about 11k in GW2 and have played since the very first open beta. Thank you for your excellent perspective on it as a newbie! I do wanna say about the monetization - once you have a character raiding and doing fractals daily (basically, well established in endgame) you'll never lack gold again. Most of my longtime player friends will convert enough gold to gems to buy any new cosmetic release they want as soon as it comes out and have 100s of gold left over. For perspective, gearing an alt in Exotics (gold rarity - enough for any endgame open world content) is only about 30-50 gold if you buy it on the trading post. There's also a rarity of gear called Ascended (it's pink) that is account bound instead of character bound - so even more alt friendly. And Legendary (purple) rarity gear can be used on all your characters simultaneously. For anyone interested in starting, the GW2 playerbase is quite newbie friendly. Probably not to the level of FFXIV but that might be for the best because FFXIV players can be ... overbearing. Just ask in map chat in any starter map or main city.

[@Waydots]

Appreciate it man. that is A LOT of time spent in the guild wars universe. Glad you enjoyed my perspective :)

[@aleksadmitrovic940]

Started gw2 couple of weeks ago,first week was boring I was asking myself if I made a mistake buying first two expansions,now I am enjoying so much with my guild,to be real if you are f2p player you are not going to enjoy to much,but after you hit 80 and get your first elite spec and you find some friendly guild you will enjoy it so much.

[@itzajordan]

Are there any mmos that do not require an expansion pack😂

[@Beanpolr]

​@@itzajordanYes, this one. The expansion packs are only if you want more content for the most part.

[@Funkm4ster96]

Glad you had a great time with the game! It became my main MMO a few years ago and even after lengthy breaks I will always still come back. One of the best features that was recently added was the Wizards Vault, which replaced the old daily system we had before. You log in do you daily tasks and gain currency that can be used to buy some gemstore Items, cosmetics and high level crafting materials. The points are super easy to get and really incentivizes you to earn more for just playing how you want.

[@rept7]

There's some things I want to mention. While solo play isn't going to demand you min/max, group activities inevitably will. Players will either beeline past enemies in fractals or you'll need to copy a build online and learn a rotation for optimal buff upkeep/DPS output. And while GW2 doesn't have bad powercreep like a conventional vertical progression MMO, it still has enough that event metas and world bosses are very easy now. :(

[@TheMrTatero]

I remember pre ordering this game as it was one of the few MMOs that didn’t have a subscription model, I never got too far on any one character, but I remember loving the exploration and I liked how you got tangible rewards for exploring the beautiful world

[@Exonyms]

I tried getting into GW2 many times over the years, but it never stuck. Earlier this year I went in with a fresh mind instead of looking at it like another WoW or FF14, and I ended up sinking 300 hours into it. It's such an awesome game to have in the rotation as it definitely feels the most relaxing to play and you don't get punished for taking breaks. Glad to see that you enjoyed it!

[@mimmim13aiv]

Exactly my experience too. Until you let go of the "its not like WoW", "Its an odd system, BDO does it like this", you can't really have fun discovering a new game. Always comparing it with the old mechanics you know. Take it as it is and enjoy what the game is actually giving you. Change your mindset.

[@naapsulusmurmurusmurmurus2392]

i started to gear seriously and doing legendarys, enough stuff to do

[@SolaireOfToast]

I am playing it as a new player first time now for few days. And this game is kinda... it feels outdated and just not good. Do you guys have any idea if it gets better later on? I am lvl 23 currently.

[@naapsulusmurmurusmurmurus2392]

@@SolaireOfToast it starts after lvl 80, you will get rgear , legendarys and make friend s too maybe

[@naapsulusmurmurusmurmurus2392]

@@SolaireOfToast gw2 team should fix dungeons because,loot sucks and almost none doing it, you will find randoms but overall people dosent run dungeons

[@Kleinvadder]

tried many MMORPGs, but no one have all this quality of life and awesome gameplay like gw2. 11 Years, around 8k hours. Its awesome :)

[@Hytension]

If you want more group content, their are entire maps dedicated to large scale group events. As far as small group content, that consists primarily af fractals, raids, and strike missions. There might be more with the latest expansion, I'm not too sure I have yet to play it. Theirs an abundance of things to do in the game. Have fun adventurer.

[@ringobats]

Wow it’s quite the fun coincidence seeing you play gw2. That’s the mmo I play the most after I discovered it like 4 years ago. This month I just really felt like watching and playing RuneScape, but since it’s a subscription game, I’m taking another yearlong break after I play the month I paid. As for guild wars 2 right now; the plan for me is collecting the open world legendary armour. Collecting legendaries has been my hobby in this game. I was hooked ever since I got the legendary amulet from achievements.

[@Waydots]

That's awesome man, once i finish most of the story im probably going to be setting my eyes on collecting legendaries as well.

[@zachpower2774]

Just finished the video. Great commentary as always. I’m a big GW2 fan. It offers a ton to the consumer. Have a good weekend everyone.

[@Kreptic]

You too zach, see you on Monday

[@Kallan007]

As someone who has 12 maxed characters. The GW2 end game is where the game is at, everything is to help introduce the end game. This game excels at crafting, it's just beyond any other MMO I have ever played, which ties into the gear customization you mentioned. If you had started that sooner you would have unlocked looks for your characters. The game also has two forms of PVP, it has dungeons, strike missions, and raids, so plenty to do in a group setting. Oh, another cool feature is the game allows you to join Five guilds at the same time, so socializing and having new friends to do things with will keep you busy. LOL The last thing I'll mention is the achievements in the game are massive and add another layer to the game, so as you can see there are plenty more things to discover in GW2. Happy gaming.

[@Altr3551]

GW2 is a really good casual game you can go about at your pace, just chilling.

[@Jakdaddy777]

Love the video, def open to more GW2 content

[@Ix_GMVR_Ix]

I’ve always been a fan of mmo’s. Played osrs-rs3/wow/new world/black desert/wow. But I’ve been feeling burnt out and don’t really wanna go back especially with how much new content there is. Just don’t have the time anymore but im excited to give guild wars 2 a shot. Never played so wish me luck xD

[@bearbrawnson717]

Really glad you checked out this "not so hidden" gem of a game, And yes the game is very alt friendly, but once you get to late late late game, you'll understand alts are a must, each proffesion has some really powerfull and unique builds, and using ascended armor, you can share the armor among accounts with the same armor type and similar builds, for example, most proffesions have some really strong support builds that use practically the same armor prefix (ex. harier gear), so late game you can fit into any group and any slot with your alts. Also focus really hard on the new wizard's vault, easy money, easy transmog tokens, nice cosmetics.

[@Nr4747]

As a veteran player, the lvl 80 boosts are entirely worthless because I have tons and tons of Tomes of Knowledge rotting in my bank that grant 1 level each. Those mostly come from PvP and WvW, but even if you just dabble in that content here and there, you'll eventually be absolutely flooded with them.

[@cz_Angel]

new players also seem to miss that you can bind "action camera" in your keybinds! this lets you move the camera by simple moving your mouse and it binds your primary attack to left click :)

[@noahmitchell6019]

As a resident of GW for almost two decades, we welcome you! Since you played this one, I highly recommend the first game!!! Since you played this one so thoroughly, it's a great reintroduction of what these characters meant to the story. All the races had a history in the first game and really supplies so much more to the experience. It is a little dated in graphics but the scenes, landscapes, and music more than make up for it. There are still loads of players and an active server system. It gets quite rowdy during festivals. All your accomplishments in the first game can get you rewards in the second game as well and is account bound! By far the most friendly game to cross character inventory and items.

[@hanneskarlbom6644]

The inventory filling-up thing actually has nothing to do with a made-up issue, it's due to outdated systems and loot creep. Before HoT it wasn't really a problem but since then the amount of loot you get and the different kinds of random items in the game has simply increased over time, things that at one point were useful but aren't anymore. Anet has been trying to deal with this issue for years now, first, they introduced unidentified gear that stacks rather than every piece filling up an inventory slot, then they increased the max size of bags, later they added novelty items to the wardrobe and more recently made the gear loadout system. Suffice it to say, it isn't a problem with the monetization but Anet's inability to fix bad systems retroactively and plan long-term.

[@mmmdawe]

It IS made-up issue. Equipment could be infinite, junk could not exist, bag slots could be free. But they have to push sales of bank and material storage expansion slots somehow

[@nachocheez6816]

Omgg I need this to be a full playthrough pleasee papa waydot 🙏🙏🙏

[@HPFireYT]

I seriously would’ve recommended playing HoT before PoF, mainly for the lore, but it really is an experience like no other. Many players would say HoT maps are peak in their design, so I hope you enjoy your time there! This is my main mmo mostly because I can play it for 5 minutes or 2 hours and never feel like I’m missing out on anything.

[@iamboringvideos6832]

id say its better to play HoT before PoF story wise

[@ZanesZygot]

What a cool and lighthearted video! Nice knowing your experiences, the community needs more videos like these.

[@alexanderschweiger9970]

Also for group content you have a task in the friends tab where u can look for groups of specific content. Also recommend to jump into that. The raids, dungeons and especially fractals are really profitable.

[@oooSKYLIGHTooo]

Welcome to GW2 my dude. From a veteran 11 year player I can say that your review was pretty balanced. Glad you’re enjoying the game! Just one point on the shop, given you can purchase gems for gold means that once you have the base game and expansions you never theoretically need to spend a dime more on this game, which I always found pretty gamer friendly! Especially for a game that respects your time and doesn’t devalue your gear and tie you to a new grind every expansion!

[@poppamike8619]

Tx for this vid! I'm a teacher, & was a hard core WOW & D3 player, & 1 of my parents invited me to play this game. Your vid helps me get a good gist about a lot & I'll be trying it out this summer! :>

[@alexanderbowers5225]

Sounds like something I can work on when I don't want to think about portfolio projects. Thank you for the recommendation. Until now I thought the base game was still behind a paywall.

[@icevious4335]

Enjoyed the look into the game! I used to love GW2 Back in college and sunk many many hours into my favorite parts of the game, getting 100% Map completion and those damn jump puzzles. I totally agree with he take on group content as I never really felt the need to go out of my way to get a group together to do a dungeon apart from getting an achievement or two. I haven't played either of the new two expansions but maybe I'll give the game another go of it.

[@NikeGipple]

Gw2 have 4 new expansion over vanilla

[@icevious4335]

@@NikeGipple I'm aware, I haven't played the two newer expansions

[@jpathomas]

I loved the video and think you did a great job. I've been playing MMORPGs since 1999, and GW2 is by far the most player friendly of the bunch, in large part to the alt-friendly aspect you talked about, but also in the way it respects the players time. Unlike many games you can login to GW2 for half an hour and actually make meaningful progress. The leveling system is much less about gearing up for an "end game" and more about teaching players how the game works. IMO GW really doesn't have an "end game" per say, it just has a host of things to do, and all of them are achievable. I think it's worth paying some extra attention to the way the GW2 deals with map populations to prevent some zones become "dead." There are two main systems for this. Dynamically spinning up new map instances as needed is not a GW2 specific thing, lots of games, maybe every game, does this. The unique thing (in my extensive MMORPG experience) about GW2 is how it will spin down underpopulated maps. In most other games if you find you're in a map that is underpopulated you have to leave the zone can reenter it. In GW2 you get a message telling you that the zone population is low, and will spin down in an hour, you get the option of switching now or waiting. Every so often you'll see this notice again, until you chose to move or the zone shuts down. If you do chose to move early you'll get a little 10 minute buff as a reward. The other way, and the that most MMOs totally fail at, is by giving players a good reason to go to lower level zones. One example is the daily quest system that gives gold and items for completing content in zones across the game. Daily quests are sorted by expansion and type of content so no mater how you play the game (PvE, Story, sPvP, WvW) there are specific daily quests for that content and you can do just the ones you care about, or all of them if you like.

[@KaNePrime-cp7kz]

If I'm playing this would you like to teaching me

[@zaeryzenn]

Sometimes i get an idea for a new name and end up raiding with a character thats less than an hour old without spending any $/gold/gems. This game is *very* alt friendly.

[@RobertJFCalais]

I'm writing this as I'm watching the video. Every line of text that follows will be a direct response to something you've said... except the last block of text. "It's a tab-target..." No, it isn't. The game actually has action controls. I've been using them ever since they were added in 2015. You just need to toggle them on. As someone with over 43k hours of playtime on the game, one of the best advices I can give any new player is to go in completely blind. There aren't any relevant mistakes you can make early on in the game. You made the right choice there. Also, nice pick. You chose one of the two most-awesome races: charr and asura. The moment I saw you leaping towards the vista on top of the water pipe on the Plains of Ashford, I immediately knew this wasn't your first character. You had the Canyon Jumping mastery. That wasn't a jumping puzzle, it's a minidungeon. You were never supposed to complete it on your own, not this specific one at least. Side note: your jumps lose range if you're engaged in combat. The Adventurer Guide achievement category was added to the game in line with the Steam release, to attract new players and keep them entertained. Prior to that, leveling could take you several days if you just casually went about it. Your gear won't change appearance very often as you're leveling up, since new armor designs become available with higher levels and item rarities. Most of the low-level armor sets look boring. I highly suspect this was done intentionally to make sure new players don't spend too much time over fashion before they get to level 80, where the real fun begins and most of the game's content opens up. The best advice I can give you in regards of specializations and builds if you're not planning to become a meta slave is to decide which weapons you wish to use and then build up your specializations, talents and skills around those weapon choices. Keep in mind that using an elite specialization doesn't mean you have to use the weapon type it brings. Soulbeast is still one of the best choices, it's very easy to play while being insultingly effective and you can pack one hell of a punch with any combination of swords, axes and longbows. Warhorns and daggers can be great options too, but that depends on the circumstances. Guild Wars. The biggest misconception of this game lies in its title. The Guild Wars were a historical event in the first game that happened after the Six Gods left Tyria and humanity was fighting for supremacy. Like-minded individuals formed guilds and went to war with each other over territorial power. Big head or not, Zhaitan is cute. He's by far the cutest out of all the Elder Dragons. The reason why Guild Wars 2 has the same flying controls as World of Warcraft is because Blizzard blatantly copied them. You can ask any seasoned Guild Wars 2 player and they will all say the same thing. Unless they're WoW simps, of course. Actually, Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire do not follow the story chronologically. Here's the correct order: Personal Story > Living World Season 1 > Living World Season 2 > Heart of Thorns > Living World Season 3 > Path of Fire > Living World Season 4 > Living World Season 5 > End of Dragons > Secrets of the Obscure. Shared bank. Yeah, and while you're going on explaining how that works, I kindly ask you to throw away these 8- and 12-slot bags and consume your transmutation charges. You're welcome. Please do not show Guild Wars 2 and New World in the same image. Ever. You're making me cry. New World was a stillborn child and it's only dying harder with each passing day, because all Amazon care for is making money off the backs of their customers. Guild Wars 2 IS pay-to-win. I'm not going to pussy out and call it "pay for convenience". They're literally selling you the solutions to problems they created in the first place. And you know what? I'm defending it. The gem store currency exchange rate changes hourly. "...create an inconvenience and sell you the solution." Exactly. And I don't understand people denying this. Now before you shit on me, remember, I've been playing this game for over 43k hours and I still am. Need a hand? Message me under "Robert Calais.8425" in-game, if you're playing on the EU megaserver. Else I'm not of much help, since you can't play on both megaservers with the same account. I'm not a simp. I won't treat you any differently than any other player I ever met. I'm just offering my help. In fact, I don't even know you. KZbin just decided that it needs to recommend this video to me.

[@krityaRS]

He's taking off the weights! Great first video for GW2, can't wait to see more of this game and others from you.

[@Waydots]

Thanks kritya! Appreciate you brother

[@harrisonlee1]

8:39 "seize the moment" lol

[@Justforvisit]

Little correction about "Every Race has its complete own story": This is only true for the beginner parts of the story up to level 30, afterwards there are the same story paths for everybody, but they still branch out differently depending on your choice. The starter story for each race itself though even can completely branch out in very different ways at multiple points depending on your choices in character creation.

[@pattycake427]

I cycle between GW2, ESO, and Lotro. I love all 3 of those games

[@avekrso285]

I have every class at 80 and i didnt play through the main game story once , aside from 3 boosts from xpacs every other character was leveled by doing pvp and earning the level up books , which is amazing

[@yivo9996]

Getting your first exotic set was a big part of the game for me.

[@ChrisCatchTheHat]

Binged the whole series in one evening. Need more please 😅 thank you so much for that dopamin kick from pure nostalgia and love for mmos. You need more subs.

[@YizkiM]

Interestingly, all of 6 large bags, 20-24, I have on my main character are all from just playing the story line! It is a MUST to clean out your inventory once in a while though. Plus, many long time players will agree that having more inventory space doesn't mean you will never feel like you need more... This game will bring out the hoarder side of you.. haha. But so happy to see a new review from new player!

[@MKLEMX]

Waydot, you rock man.

[@JIMRbach193]

Im an 11 year casual GW2 player. Wonderful thorough new play take on the game. Subbed!

[@Arilozen]

This was awesome to watch - if you ever need help in GW2 don't be afraid to reach out. I'll have to catch a stream sometime. I'm a former Rs player turned gw2 player (I keep up on osrs/rs3) and a fairly well known streamer in GW2. Have fun my guy, you're doing it right. :D

[@Raziells]

2:17 best decision you make

[@ErikHumphrey]

If GW2 doesn't stick for people I always recommend making a thief because the playstyle of having no cooldowns on attacks is totally different from all the other professions

[@Waydots]

I'll have to try this sometime!

[@MusPuiDiTe]

Nice to have more people in Tyria! If you like the story, remember that the original dungeons have a Story Mode, propaedeutic to the main story. And if you are really invested in it, the Living World Seasons contain a huge part of the story and new maps, being actually expansions that don't change the class mechanics, buyable with gems instead of straight up money. Just know that story is not only the in payed expansions

[@paraskamu]

I played gw2 back in 2012. Now I started again in 2023. In few months I farmed wvw 350 rank + warbringer and skyscale and other mounts. Its nice to see that even if u have huge brake u can still start and play and feel like u can catch up easily. When I started again I didnt have any clue about Wvw or mounts etc.. I just kept looking videos from youtube and then just entered wvw and learned stuff pretty fast.

[@signogetnu]

I hope you are still finding GW2 good. I always come back to GW2 and have played it on/off for a very long time. Hope you are enjoying the guild and the group content!

[@JustPixelNoIDontWantAnyNumbers]

Honestly one of the greatest things is that there is no gear-treadmill. The Ascended armor I made for my Power Reaper when I started playing back in 2018 is still just as viable as the day I completed the last piece. Where as, every time I return to FF14, as much as I love that game, if I want to do the new raids or Dungeons, I usually have to spent at least a day or some Gil to catch up in iLevel

[@MunitionsDudTester]

The problem with guild wars 2 for new players imo is the horizontal progression. Once you finish the story and hit 80 the game doesn't let you know all of the hundred(s) of things you can do and work towards. It is up to the player to find out and set goals for themselves. This causes a lot of people to "bounce off" the game because they're used to being told what to do in MMOs.

[@xanithdegroot5407]

I had to drop GW2 shortly after the third expansion started getting teased due to going to trade school, but the game still holds a place in my heart as my favorite MMORPG. I still remember my first playthrough as a Sylvari Mesmer, and the time where I participated in a Bloodstone Crazed Beast world boss and recieved a lvl 80 Exotic sword. That became my motivation to keep playing, and how I became hooked. To this day I always transmog my Mesmer's sword into the exotic skin to pay homage to that epic moment from my character's history (helps that the skin is beautiful, Bonetti's Rapier if you want to look it up)

[@redblue5868]

This was very helpful, thank you for putting it together.

[@KeanuChrist]

This was helpful. I was an avid GW1 player but I dropped off quickly with GW2. I recently logged in and had 10 years worth of free items, character level boosts, and transmog/dyes. Really surprised me.

[@NTeKLullaby]

This probably has been mentioned by someone else. When they've introduced the Adventurers Achievements a few years ago, they made leveling your first character quite a bit faster. When I first started playing the game on launch I would often check Heart Vendors & other Karma merchants for gear. This combined with the dungeon armors, craftable armors, order specifc gear and general drops, gave your character a decent variety of gear. Sadly this aspect has fallen to the wayside, as Arenanet has prioritzes getting, at least the first character of an Account to level 80 via that line of achievements. I remember being among the first few that reached Orr, and grinding events for days to afford some level 80 exotic karma gear from one of the temples & crafting. Weirdly enough, the base game now plays very differently in comparison to what it felt like years ago.

[@gonzus1368]

Charr master race yeaaaah!!!!

[@Leo-qb9eo]

I find it quite funny to heard the fact the customization is quite the same at max lvl than first lvl. Because for me GW2 is one of the mmorpg with the most fashionable players I remembered. But the customization push players to explore different game mods (pvp / raid etc.) to retrieve nice piece of armor if my memory is good. Also there is a HUGE market about the dye and some very rare colors worth so much gold.

[@steelrampage2867]

Haven’t played GW2 since 2013. Stopped playing on the very last quest of the main story. Game looks like it added a lot of nice content.

[@dew_b_dew]

Gw2 is that game i always end up coming back to, its so easy to hop back in. Btw, for your alts, save your gold, dont buy the shop boosts. You can get a ton of leveling tomes by playing game modes such as pvp and wvw, and it really just happens as you play the game. Not to mention the reward tracks in those modes are solid paths to other armor sets

[@halapenopepper]

I think with achievements and masteries and all the different kinds of currencies and map activities, pvp reward tracks and in general the loot bag system, GW2 is really good at rewarding basically whatever you want to do at any point in a way that actually benefits your account in some way, and that's something I think a LOT of MMOs could take notes from. My other MMO at the moment is FFXIV, and while I adore it, I have to admit the end-game loop of grinding the same three or four duties for marginally better gear is so stale it quickly leads to burnout... while in GW2 you can just... go do something else and it won't be a waste of your time at all

[@Hagosha]

i'm sure you'll get the chance at some point to re-visit the story of the expansions in order, but I gotta recommend that at SOME POINT, you try the Heart of Thorns expansion as a Sylvari. They actually get a different quest experience than every other race and it's pretty fantastic. Not to mention, that expansion has one of my favorite map-wide meta events in the entire game.

[@xemtubex]

Welcome to Tyria 😀

[@Scott_Silver]

I know they cost money, but the Living World maps especially Living World season 4 are amazing. They did not cost money if you were playing at the time btw.

[@jg-jh3nt]

just a small thing but if you are a longer term player each birthday you get a gift package that scales each year giving you a leveling contract which will allow you to boost a character from 1 to 20,30,40 and i dont remember if there is a 50 one but i think so. they you can use tombs of knowledge 1 lvl for each to instantly boost an alt to max level completely free. so if you are actually playing the game you can make fresh 80 alts out of thin air

[@NobleViking4]

You just dropped this vid 18 hours ago. Lol something is telling me i should get this, bc i am mainly a FPS enjoyer and want to play something else. But this seems fun. And i have always been intrigued by WoW. Do the raids/dungeons feel similar to the ones in WoW?

[@KalibreSteelblast]

I was hoping we'd hear your opinion on the Living World seasons. The fact that they offer so much story depth is huge. It's also one of my main criticisms of the early years of the game, where some content was limited-time only and you could not access it if you missed out on a season. The fact that they (somewhat) rectified this with Living World Season 1 (which previously was completely inaccessible) does alot to alleviate it, though some might balk at the gem cost of unlocking each chapter. I _highly_ recommend them, though -- if you liked the story of Guild Wars 2's core campaign, you'll _love_ the characters and story in the Living World episodes.

[@rerere1569]

Damn, I actually played GW2 for a while before jumping into rs3 (that's how I found your channel). Also stopped playing rs3 recently and might jump back into GW2, a great game indeed.

[@matsug5704]

7:40 SIDENOTE here, you can "transmogr" or change the appareance of your weapons and clothes in the wardrove system of the game AND dye the color of your clothes! so yes, there is an option to make your character look badass even at lower levels.

[@kaspi001]

To not spoil anything, Heart of Thorns is Anet going 'Welcome to the rice fields, motherfucker!'

[@s0ulb0und]

Glad to hear you're enjoying the world of Tyria brother! Keep the content coming!

[@G4mus]

The thing with level 80 boosts is that you don't really get more power than anyone else by using it, you just simply bypass the leveling part but is left with nothing explored so it's a bad thing regardless. And when you have played long enough, especially if you WvW a bit you just stack so many tomes of knowledge and you can insta boost a new character to 80 for free anyways. And not to mention the fact that you get b-day boosts all the way up to 60 if I dont recall incorrectly, after a couple of character b-days.

[@roxslay1826]

I started playing this game 10 years ago and it makes me so happy to see new commers ! You'll love Heart of Thorns I'm sure !

[@Waydots]

Been playing through it recently and its definitely pretty awesome! though the verticality was confusing me at first

[@benjaminj8642]

Hey man, I was here for the RS3 content (even though I strictly play OSRS) I want to say I'm happy that you're open to doing more of this type of content, great stuff!

[@TerreusGaming]

So nice watching a new player discover GW2 and be amazed by many of it's features. Fashion Wars is the main end game, so although you didn't look much different between Level 1 and Level 80, the main reason is because that is the true end game content.

[@TerreusGaming]

On the topic of gem shop, there's definitely some things that are almost required, like some of the salvage kits and VIP passes, boosts are something you shouldn't buy though, as like mentioned, levelling is so easy and also you get them free with most basic expansion purchases. I know an awful lot of players that solely purchase gems with gold, so it's definitely a process that many players undertake. I think with $$$ to Gems to Gold, it can be pay to win, but at the same time, Gold doesn't actually get you that far in GW2, unlike other MMOs.

[@typeluminanejoyer]

Every expansion gets better! I Hope you enjoy the ride =))) And welcome!

[@LameMule]

That mesmer at 1:41 is peak fashion.

[@zombiejesus7445]

12:12 "alt friendly game".. winner is SWTOR hands down! 1. All the gear can be used on any character and put in your bank to us on any alt 2. ALL of the currencies are account wide 3. There is even a family tree you can put your alts in 4. You get bonuses for doing all the storylines of each origin story on all your characters 5. Achievements are account wide 6. Datacrons (one time collectables) are account wide and give EVERY alt stat boosts That is just to start

[@Stefo717]

Charr superemacy! Subbed! 👍

[@kyuumons]

I won't spoil Heart of Thorns but I will say, upon finishing Path of Fire, I heavily recommend grinding for the Griffon mount, and even the Skyscale mount (which you can get two different ways, but I recommend through the latest expansion as it's much easier), because having flying mounts are going to be life saving in the Heart of Thorns maps.

[@truthhitshard]

not sure if you know that already but you can change gold into gems so you can earn it by playing the game and there are tons of ways to earn gold. So you dont need to spend real money on the gem store. You only need to buy the expensions. Its also very alt friendly. All mounts are for all chars for example. You can park alts in chest locations and loot them everyday for mats and gold. Wish you alot of hours of fun in this game 🙂

[@pigtorlai]

Thanks for the awesome video, subscribed to your channel and will give GW2 a try!