What Should I Prioritize At Level 80? - A New Player Quick-Start Guide (Up To Date)

[@traveling.down.the.road56]

For new people viewing this video for the first time, the Living World Season 1 has been reworked and released for free to all players, even on Free to Play accounts, so the part of this video that mentions that you can't play Season 1, is no longer correct. Other than that, Wooden Potatoes content is some of the best anywhere for GW2, so enjoy.

[@Krystalchan2009]

gonna also tag on; Season 1 aka Scarlet's War also gets you into some of the end game large group content. These are special instanced maps (Tower of Nightmare and Battle for Lions Arch) can have 30-50 players in it rushing the objective. ToN is far easier for randoms to clear than BfLA, as randoms tend to fail on the final bosses DPS check by not knowing the mechanics. Do a run every day for a decent chest.

[@clonerstive]

Came here to check this. THANK YOU! :D

[@lavenderlovee]

Just started gw2 today, no idea what this living worls is. Just watching as many videos as possible, cause I'm confused and lost in the game and trying to understand 🤣

[@traveling.down.the.road56]

@@lavenderlovee I’m happy to help you with any questions you have about the game. I also have a small guild that I’m trying to build up with mostly new players that you are welcome to join if you want. The Living World is what Arenanet calls the extension of the core story in the game. They release it in seasons and later changed the name to a “Saga”, for one season. It’s the fill in story content between each expansion of the game as well.

[@lavenderlovee]

@@traveling.down.the.road56 oh i would love to join, I'm not in any guild yet so that'd be great but I'm not sure if we have to be in same srever to join guild or play with guild members? Also thank you for explaining, that makes sense now :)

[@BlackLightAttack]

WP: I'm going to assume you don't have any friends me: fair

[@erock.steady]

heeeey - i resemble that remark lol

[@zeehero7280]

the chances of having any friends who actually have a somewhat compatible schedule with you and play the same game are next to nothing, down from almost next to nothing last year.

[@larevolution13]

@@zeehero7280 say no more..

[@Thomasnmi]

He knows his audience

[@xKotun]

He nailed it. 😅

[@SaneNoMore]

I left GW2 for like 3 years and now that I'm doing the story again i saw this name "WoodenPotatoes" and was like "oh hell ya I remember him". Glad to see your still around. You kept me playing GW2 far longer than I would have initially.

[@VicolGrigore]

Amazing explanation that's gonna give the players such a boost to their experience. I have only one request, to add time tags for your videos. Will be so much easier to just go to the right time stamp one might need, if they choose to re-watch at a later date.

[@allighast9714]

Instructions unlclear, I spent the afternoon kissing my dad and I still have no gear, UwU

[@qlitch]

@@allighast9714 ???

[@OniZai]

"What do I do at level 80?" Me: Levelling five more alts to 80

[@MrBenioPL]

It's actually 8 more alts, one per profession :P After the first one, the rest is very easy.

[@OniZai]

@@MrBenioPL True, but I already have my holo main and 2 alts at 80 :P

[@SmellsVishy]

more like 20+ alts

[@MrBenioPL]

@@SmellsVishy storages on legs?

[@SmellsVishy]

@@MrBenioPL more like fashion models with weapons

[@WoodenPotatoes]

Phew! A tonne of subject material gets covered in this one. I'm trying to decide if I prefer this style or the previous one on picking a race right now, so any thoughts on that let me know. Oh, and I totally stand by saying players should skip season 2 and 3! You're asking way to much time and investment from relative casuals and noobs, for them to get all that gold / IRL money and all those gems so fast. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the work I put into the video. Have fun!

[@Matthias-pj6th]

Minor correction to something early on in the video, Ascended Gear is only a 5.2% increase over Exotic.

[@Jonaelize]

I like the style in this video better, very informative and nice selection of video clips

[@Dawn.Marigold]

Only thing you forgot to add about ascended trinkets is that you can't equip 2 of the same stats that have the same name/looks (in most situations) but for a new player that could be a big deal, finding out they bought the same one twice and not being able to use it. Great guide over all and i preffer this version ^^

[@eleeyah4757]

20:36 - You mention that the chest piece of the Bladed armor set is a reward of the "meta event" itself, but do not explain what that is. How do you find the meta, where do you need to go, and is it a daily/weekly reset kinda thing?

[@notLura]

@@Matthias-pj6th yeah but it's how stats add, for example having +5% to power, precision and ferocity means a lot more than +5% DPS

[@eon6274]

Honestly the mounts are amazing coming from other MMOs. The animations are fluid and gratifying and the movement *feels* very good. Personally I used the 80 boost and got the raptor before going back and leveling my first character and it made the game feel so much better. Running around on foot is okay for awhile, but doing things in the order vets did them isn't going to give the authentic experience that they had when the content was current. If a new player is stuck running around watching everyone else with their cool raptors and dragons, it feels like you're missing out and gives them more reason to quit. Watching everyone in 'trains' leave you behind on their mounts to get attacked by mobs and left in a place you can't navigate without mounts until you level your masteries isn't a fun experience, and it probably wasn't the one the vets had when doing HoT or base game content for the first time. It's frustrating to feel limited when everyone else isn't. Mounts are pretty much what kept me hooked on the game when starting because I could keep up with others. The controls and animations for them are truly a step up from what i expected from MMO's.

[@ashkitt7719]

I just started HoT a few days ago, and I finally got the updraft function on the glider. Should I beat the HoT story before doing PoF to get the mount?

[@eon6274]

@@ashkitt7719 I still haven't done the HoT story despite finishing PoF and getting the skyscale

[@superhello443]

@@ashkitt7719 You've probably already gotten it sorted out, since HoT is quite short. I'd always encourage someone to just do the PoF prologue with their brain off, or even sound off if it's that important, and then redoing it when actually starting PoF. ANet should just add a BS mount that's kinda like a somewhat slower raptor without the leap, that's just given at like personal story level 20.

[@TheSilverSkeejee]

My god, thank you for just *explaining* how to get gear. Trying to find *anything* to help gear my thief after an 8 year break was like trying to get blood from a stone! Now I've got my Nika's armor and can just enjoy going through the Expansion storylines.

[@thetrin]

Yeah, I haven't touched my Guardian since I got to 80 almost 10 years ago. This explanation for gearing up is fantastic.

[@MarkusAndersen96]

I also looked this up because I recently started playing again after 8-9 years. I started when it came out but pretty much stopped after half a year. I've started out chronologically with The living world but I am actually struggling with mobs sometimes, and achievements with "kill X person within x minutes" is impossible because I sit around with crap gear! No cool mounts unlocked, no glider, no specializations, but I want to experience the story chronologically D:

[@chillax319]

I can also recommend to anyone with a decent gear that hits 80 lvl to go and do beginning of the Path of Fire expansion to unlock the first mount. For me, having a mount made the overall experience of the game far far better than before. I cannot imagine me trying to run on foot through chak filled tunells in the Heart of thornes.

[@Ahlgreenz]

For an experience with a higher level of easy-of-use, getting a mount before going through HoT is definitely the thing to do. For me though, I wanted the more "authentic" HoT experience, so I decided to do HoT befor PoF, and I did have a great time doing HoT I must say - and I think for me, it was because I didn't have the mount.

[@manweyggdrasill7190]

Then, imagine us older players, who did precisely that... when mounts weren't even a thing yet xD I totally agree with you, they are game changing for sure!

[@KM-bc3lm]

@@manweyggdrasill7190 The pain we went through when mounts were not even a thing. My Skyscale, you would have to kill me before you took her from me. Mounts were a game changer.

[@donkunes8630]

I started when we had to walk the maps

[@silversun1736]

The short answer - So many things …. So many … things.

[@eyecandy_IlI]

I'm easily the most casual mmo player out there, I know there's a fuck ton of stuff and I know min maxing everything is simply impossible for me but it's difficult to find out where to go first, how to do what and when.

[@jermu8706]

i gave the game a go but you never feel powerful which is like the main draw of a mmo for me... grinding good gear and feeling powerful, not just unlocking new content and being scaled down in the old while just looking better

[@weelp2158]

@@jermu8706 even when you are scale down in low level areas you are still powerful enough to 1 shot almost all monsters there.. at least that's my case, i actually enjoy this scale down system because there's always a challenge, i've been op in several other mmorpgs and i just get burned out of the game once i see that i can easily kill almost anything on the game without a sweat, also this scale down provides new players an AMAZING experience while leveling in the newbie areas :D

[@traveling.down.the.road56]

@@jermu8706 That’s the difference between GW2 and most other MMORPG’ s, GW2 is skillful based, not gear power based. Plus build craft is much more varied and important in GW2, so make sure you have a good build and learn how to use it by researching the proper rotation sequence.

[@jermu8706]

@@traveling.down.the.road56 you cant clear content in other games just because you have good gear thats not an excuse

[@TNTspaz]

I've been confused by other mmos at level cap but this game was on another level. If I had anything to critique about GW2 is they really need a better flow to end game. You can literally play 100s of hours and miss lots of basic stuff

[@MageSkeleton]

i feel sorry for those who attempt to complete the storyline at level 80 with sub level 70 gear.

[@FalconStrikeGames]

@@MageSkeleton that would be me. I actually stopped playing because it got a little difficult. However since then ive recently come back and grinded for new gear and build to help me through it

[@xXDESTINYMBXx]

@@MageSkeleton the core story instances dc on me so many times I almost gave up on the game again.

[@carnifex2005]

New player warning about buying ascended trinkets from the laurel vendors (From the GW2 Wiki)... With a few exceptions, all ascended trinkets are unique, meaning two identically-named trinkets cannot be equipped at the same time. However, for any given set of attributes there are usually multiple equivalent rings or accessories (with different names) that can be used together. Also, for the purposes of uniqueness, infused and attuned versions of rings count as different items, so if you accidentally buy two identical rings you can upgrade one of them to avoid this limitation.

[@johnconstantine5880]

can we equip a trinket one infused and the other one attuned?

[@jmonie02]

Let them learn the hard way

[@jmonie02]

@@johnconstantine5880 can't be identical. so, no.

[@traveling.down.the.road56]

@@johnconstantine5880 yes

[@MageSkeleton]

Yes, when something is "unique" you can only have one of it's name equipped at any given time.

[@DOMDZ90911]

Now the real endgame starts: Fashion Wars

[@The_Quaalude]

Basically...

[@Wattermelondog]

Isnt that warframe?

[@robertklem2638]

This is the way.

[@Razorblade47]

Man I just try to find a good look for my thief and it hurts my head :(

[@nativedisciple2452]

That’s my WoW endgame lol

[@kaeldrarhiannon]

As a former GW2 player coming back after many years of hiatus, I discovered that I remember absolutely nothing about how to play or where to go. So I have a level 80 character and no clue what to do with them. This video was exactly what I needed, thank you.

[@infantryplankton]

A small tip about that Dire armor that I wish I knew: toughness is how raiding determines tanking. So if you want to check out raiding, make sure you don’t bring that gear to dps or you will start to tank on accident 😛 That being said, knight and Dire was how I stayed in the game. The game was too tough for me until I started equipping those.

[@Colathan]

The Shoulders of the Ebon Vanguard Choice Chest is a nice stat-selectable shoulder piece. It's quite cheap on the Trading Post much like the Ice Golem's Maw Box.

[@paulogaspar8295]

I know wooden said the core story can be skipped, and it can. But for most new people I still recoomend you do it. It doesn't take that much time, it gives good experience, it makes people have specific objective while leveling up instead of just farming random mobs and it's going to make you not lost in the story. And in my opinion was a good story for what it is, to introduce your character to that world. It's basically world building. And even if you don't like the story it doesn't take that long to do it. I still liked it very much.

[@ciraxa]

Its a trash story that almost made me quit the game after a week and took me months to complete in the end. 0 Gameplay, all NPC talk. So yeah, very good for someone who´s never played a mmo or game in general before.

[@paulogaspar8295]

@@ciraxa You are really mad. Are you ok? Have you played FF14 the most popular mmo right now and WoW? It's all text with almost no voice acting, everyone just skips that shit or tortures themselves reading hundreads of lines of text about a guy who needs you to kill some boars. How is that "good story"? And 0 gameplay? For you to say this you must now even know your rotations, the builds or anything about the game. What did you do in the game? FF14 pvp it's a joke, WoW is only dailies to keep you occupied so you don't understand that the game doesn't have any content. Content from previous expacs it's obsulete and no one does it. Shadowlads has 0 content. FF14 only valid content is doing raids or dacing naked in the city. How is this content? I seriosly want to see your examples of "good story" and "gameplay". Have you done any pve content at all besides open world in gw2? For the way you speack I seriosly think not. And you have more pvp content than FF14 and WoW.

[@paulogaspar8295]

@@ciraxa I really don't get why you are here. If the game was so trash why would you waste time writting this shit and make you look stupid with how ignorant it is? Are you just venting? I saw a guy some days before also saying that the expansions are not worth buying because with the new specs he couldn't kill anything and because HOT mobs in the open world where too hard. For him to say this it's because he clearly didn't knew how to play his class and he was just furstrated for being bad at the game, are you like that too? I can give you some tips if you want. I know that people coming from FF14 have trouble understanding how the game work since they are used to the game baby sitting them until max level. And some WoW players have trouble understanding how things different than WoW work since they only know how to play WoW, nothing else.

[@ciraxa]

@@paulogaspar8295 Im just saying how it felt playing the story on f2p when I first came to gw2 - its not a joke that it almost made me quit. I´ve never played ff14 and quit WoW after 10 hours, but I did play Witcher 3 and that is how a story should be. Gw2 core story is like a movie where you sometimes need to click continue, very rarely you need to kill some enemies that dont even fight back. In the end i just bought the expansions and skipped the boring core stuff (aside from the story gw2 is a great game). Now I´m in full ascended, HOPE crafted, halfway done with my Legendary Armor, 2 legendary trinkets and Juggernaut. Got my skyscale and reserves laying around if I ever want to buy Griffon. Nowaday with the Return to Lw achievements I´m still dreading to play story, but I´ve come to accept that I just need to tab out of the game and research things on the wiki/efficiency/bltc/sc/discretize while waiting for the NPCs to stop talking.

[@paulogaspar8295]

@@ciraxa you know that witcher 3 is not an mmo right? You never played the two biggest mmo's in the world and you claim to know better than me how mmo stories are? Did you even played the story from the expacs? In the way you phrased it, it seems that you don't. In your previous comment you also said that the game has 0 gameplay and now you say the game is great? You are very confusing let me tell you. The npc's don't stop talking because they are made to make the game feel alive and not just run around and see npc's with walls of texts that nobody will read. It seems more like you don't like mmo's as a genre which is fine.

[@matthewalva6641]

As a player who has been playing this game casually since launch, there are tid-bits in here that even I found useful. Thanks for all your hard work wp!

[@Robert-kx8mp]

Returning veteran player here, and long time fan of WP. I appreciate the tone on this explanation, and found some useful information. As a veteran player, I can only remember some of what it was like when I started playing in 2012. It was a drastically different game than today, so none of what I experienced would be useful to new players today. I'm glad someone has taken the time to put out a fresh guide for new players. If "knowledge is power" then /wiki is the greatest source of power creep ever!! Cheers

[@johnroberts9212]

I think you specifically compiled this guide with me in mind. I am *exactly* the player you describe. Whilst I have been playing MMO's for over 20 years now I am brand new to GW2. So far I have been enjoying the experience greatly but it hasn't taken long for me to become aware of the depth & complexity of choices that will soon be facing me (especially with regard to gear) as I get to L80. This guide has been extremely helpful in that regard. Thank you very much 😊😊😊!

[@Vengfoul]

Just got back into the game after 9 + years and was SO lost. I bought the expansions because I know I want to commit and joined a helpful guild, but this video really set me straight for an authentic experience - thanks man!

[@ZJtraylor]

Bruh I love all the personal insight and detailed advice based on YOUR experience. It’s so down to earth and much easier to digest because of it. Wonderful guide. Thank-you.

[@Mike2137]

I just started game 2 weeks ago, I have 12 years WoW experience but your channel helped me tons to find outnin this game. I dinged 80 yesterday so this video will be a big help. Keep it up you're doing great job mate :)

[@Thomasnmi]

You got to 80 in 2 weeks?

[@Mike2137]

@@Thomasnmi easly mate.

[@Thomasnmi]

@@Mike2137 did you focus on one character? I don't have a main, I have 4-5 mains :)

[@traveling.down.the.road56]

@@Thomasnmi there’s so many ways to get experience for leveling up your character, if you need advice, just ask any veteran players or send me a message in game to Ahkima Tal and I’ll gladly help

[@remongrabu]

As a returning GW2 player, this is the best video of its kind out there, well done mate

[@AndreeaValceanu]

What should I do first when I hit level 80 ? Step by step I don't understand many of the words used in the video and I want a clear answer for what to do first then going forward please help

[@_Banjo_]

The laurels for ascended trinkets. I know it was hinted at in the video that WVW has slightly different costs. A trinket may be 10 laurels cheaper in the place of 250 Badges of honor (wvw currency). Check you wallet, because even if you havent been to wvw yet, you may have got some from early achievment milestone chests. That should save you some laurels to put towards another trinket

[@Lymew]

Wow rather than a "what to do" this is almost a "gear and build" video ! Maybe not what people are expecting of such a title, but i agree it does help enjoying end-game !

[@RSmeep13]

Watching this as a vet with 4k hours it's really helpful because I can commit and repeat the things in this video to the newbies I frequently recruit. I never thought about getting my friend who wanted to play a healer the gear from AC, I took them to VB and we got bladed gear for Harrier! Ha... The free monk runes are icing on the cake.

[@X1OProductions]

100% agree with telling new players to not even bother with the Living World releases. It's years past time these were included in the box price of the game. New players may be interested in a summary video series linking the personal story -> HoT -> PoF -> EoD. With the video filling in the gaps of LW S1,2,3,4, and 5.

[@NaoyaYami]

I think you forgot to mention that it's not necessary to go full set with one prefix. For example if Marauder is too hard to obtain, it's okay to mix Berserker and Valkyrie to achieve similar result. I know it sounds logical to most of us, but sometimes even the best minds overlook the simplest things.

[@duncanrobertson6472]

I would highly reccomend Rabid/Dire/Carrion as a budget Trailblazer, or more forgiving viper set for new players. If you're ever having trouble surviving - a condi build with lots of toughness and vitality is very effective. Even as a 4k hour veteran, I have some rabid gear on my engi's condi build that I use for soloing Champions. I've heard of way too many people quitting because they decided to play a thief with berserker gear, and can't get through story instances.

[@nathanielnizard2163]

1- PoF(mounts, flying mounts cost a dece amount of gold and the quests are a PAIN, especially for the wyrm but a mastered raptor goes a long way, and the bunny is nough to give you verticality most of the time) 2- Setting up a farming routine, what you do first hour(fractal daily achievments, daily farming routes, can be puzzles or challenges as well). You need a decent gold generation if you want to do anything. A big part of the daily routine is understanding where you will get the most gold if you play for more than just doing the daily stuffs. It's something where you get better over time, there are farming events in the base game as well(the sand stuffs), but without a mount it won't feel that good and you can still farm dj but generally the best pve party specs are expansions related) 3- Getting fractal mastery then auto loot mastery, do whatever it takes to be up to date in mastery points to spend and do content that gives xp at first place) 4- Story content(LW3 > HoT/LW2), carefull there HoT content is a chore, doesn't feel good unless you are playing god tier builds that are not that good at zerging at first place like mirage mesmer. Ascended gear heavily recommended for HoT content. 5- Icebrood Saga 6- Improve step 2 by introducing thing you have unlocked with 3 -4-5 in your daily routine 7- Pick objectives, one step at a time. Anything in this game is related to achievments, most zones have their "unique" activities and unlock. Some are quite long but extremly rewarding, you can get legendary jewelries from living world content, wich is insane confort wise(bound to account ascended gear with swappeable stats), and stuffs that accelerate your general grind(there is a recycler in LW3 content if I recall that generates values from shitty almost no value items), there are legendary armor pieces through raid grind as well 8- Gain more and more achievments points to gain more and more, try getting into full ascended territory, include raids in your routine, maybe try pvp 9- Get lost and facepalm daily on the wiki, leave and uninstall after 15 days every 2 years and buy LW with hard cash

[@Taneru123]

I've watched this like 6 times since I've started playing a few months ago. Golden advice all around. You haven't led me wrong yet!

[@june_o9]

I remember when I first started playin this game, I had no idea the scope of things to do. Seriously there is a shit tons of different things to do and im still not bored.

[@katmannsson]

This game is genuinely over whelming for 'new' players, the first like 300 hours are WILD cause you're always tripping over some new system or function you didnt know about, and then you go look at achievements and collections and faint.

[@MaasLanderNLD]

this is by far one of the best videos i seen, i have been playing for over 2 weeks and with no sense of direction, am all over the place. and some times confused. this helps a lot.

[@KidDynamite22]

WP, three more good stat selectable options on the TP - Ebon Vanguard shoulders, the Lucky backpieces and the Iron Legion weapons none of which are extremely expensive

[@kingkarl8018]

small addition regarding masteries: The Pact Commander Mastery line is probably one of the most important ones and should be prioritized in core, since Advanced Logistics in the end gives auto-loot.

[@lamaface]

hah yeha the Pact Commander was the very first thing I mastered when they came out. I wanted that autoloot BAD, man. Spent hours in that damn lava dungeon with my shiny new revenant levelling that mastery line.

[@Bruh-ye7dg]

Just came back to the game and realized I could of saved a lot of gold with my first level 80 lol but this will help with the new rev i'm leveling, here's hopping rev gets greatsword in EoD!

[@mishking9547]

Rev is really fun for new players imo, can get free exotic gear doing a collection specific to them....do hope they add this in EoD, not to every class cause that would be too much but atleast light and medium armor collections for those classes and maybe a new heavy collection that isnt tied souly to rev

[@frenchmagpie4433]

Yes!!! I want gs on rev too, eternity would look so cool with the revs portally attack styles!

[@katmannsson]

@@mishking9547 I dont think it would be too much frankly, Just create subsections of the Collections Achievements for Each Class and then just conglomerate the Specialization Collections into their respective Classes. Now again just my opinion, but its also rooted in the fact that I know I myself, and therefore since the answer to EVERY "Does anyone else" is always yes, deeply enjoy and prefer Collections to Crafting so if anything it will simply add an appropriate amount of content for those who wish to engage with it.

[@mishking9547]

@@katmannsson For sure totally agree with ya here, they need to revamp alot of crafting in general and collections are alot more fun to do imo, specially cause anet has gotten really good at making them, plenty of lore for the lore nerds, easy grinds

[@simonharris2804]

@@mishking9547 looks like you got your Rev greatsword in EoD!

[@alan0jjang]

Good to see you're still on the ball for GW2. I followed your channel back in the day for content and tips & tricks, but had a massive burnout later. (stopped playing around 2017) I might get back into playing GW2 soon! Idk how you made it all this way, but kudos to you for continuing to dish out GW2 content to this day.

[@connorsapp5235]

Come baaaaaack

[@scientio3695]

Concise and in-depth guide of anything you need to know about where to start when reaching endgame.

[@xenic2494]

As a returning player this was immensely helpful! The gearing guide from the wiki is just over the top. This makes a lot more sense. Thank you!

[@Lymew]

Hey WP, a friend just started GW2. One of his first question was about inventory managment - so how to get bigger bags, what to keep, what to sell, what to recycle, how to deposit, etc.

[@ThrottleFox]

10:54, neat fact, all those names for the armor are characters in Guild Wars 1

[@gjits5307]

Minor pushpack on exotic vs ascended: the stat difference may be minor, but for power builds (i.e. in berserker gear that was recommended), the weapon slot gains a disproportionate amount of gain from the "base damage" value. I don't think this is a bad thing, newer players can be encouraged to level crafting, or to do content that tends to drop ascended weapon chests (fracs, teq and triple trouble!)

[@SupraSav]

Thanks for this video. I bought all the expansions and got the 80 boost with it.. Trying a thief(deadeye) for my first class and I am quite enjoying it. You are totally right about learning the game and playing through it. Even with the 80 boost I found myself going back and playing the game from the start(still on chapter 1). I did like being able to hop ahead chapters and get the mounts though, heh. The story is great and the world is so vast and scenic.. I am enjoying every bit of it. If anything, I'm sad I didn't start this game 10 years ago.

[@linkgannon4560]

As a long time veteran, I actually found a lot of very helpful tips in this video for when I'm teaching new players. Considering all of my characters are at minimum in full ascended, I didn't realize that I didn't know the "ins and outs" of getting exotic armor. I had still been recommending the best way to get berserker's being in Or for Karma.

[@RoryRips]

If you're a new player this is a ~~**!!!MUST WATCH!!!**~~ As a new player to GW2 I basically have KZbin playing non-stop on my 2nd monitor and THIS video has given me the most valuable information and the most sense of direction yet! This is an amazing video, mostly regarding GEAR!! Trying to Wiki gear or learn anything about gear has been the HARDEST thing to learn by far!! There is just too much information thrown at you and it's confusing. This is the first time I feel like I have some idea of what I need to do! Thank you! My only recommendation would be to add the game's name to the title making it WAY WAY easier to find this AMAZING video!

[@DecayingReality]

I've played for 8 years with about 3 years of that actual play...this is what I did when I came back to the game I bought both expansions did mounts first then stories then got the living worlds. Good tips man. There is always crafting >:D tbh I like the lore videos cause the story is kinda old and feels empty now a days. If EoDs get Dx11 I hope they add plants! grass...make it less empty! Also you can mix and match armor sets, on my heal/cc tempest side I run Minstrel and Wanderers with a Trooper rune set and its very hard to die and you always have water element heals with Wash the pain away and Rebound. Tempest is a heal master if youre good at it.

[@jamiedownes2801]

the thing to keep in mind as far as LWS's is that that is basically the only thing u should buy and is basically the only thing they try and force you to buy compared to things like SWTOR and WOW there is no subscriptions the expansions are a hell of a lot cheaper and give 3 expansion types each going up with more rewards so is good for limit money use + last a hell of a long time. i honestly say this is one of the LEAST PTW (Pay To Win) game ever. even GW1 you have to buy merc's and stuff too get anywhere in harder zones. but i like the video defo helped :>

[@reepermaple]

"I'm hoping you didn't just use the level 80 boost without playing a core of the game" heh, you severely overestimate my intelligence....

[@JosephSaintClair]

That’s what I love about the game. I can go MIA for ages, and still be viable when I log in again. Aside story… I like the advice for gear mentioned and agree with paying attention to build and gear sets. If you’ve played the game and got a bit of gold, it’s easy to get exotics from the TP

[@NanzoGonzo]

16:00 As a returning Vet this was a super helpful tip. My Berserker armor was tough to use in some of the story quests solo and I would die fast so I was looking into making a Condi set. Now I know I can get a relatively cheap one off the MP, thanks!

[@paradachshund]

Marauder stats are the tankier version of berzerker, and honestly more fun most of the time. The only problem is they are one of those harder to get sets he mentions in the video so getting them with Bladed Armor or other stat selectable gear is the way to go.

[@ciraxa]

The condi equivalent for Berserker is usually Viper gear. But if you´re struggling to stay alive Trailblazer might be a better option.

[@jonathanabgrall6075]

I really, really really don't agree with you on skipping on the core story or even the living world. I'm new to the franchise, picked the game up roughly 3 years ago and the only way i enjoyed it is that i decided to do everything in order. I actually have a strong connection with the characters now, and my main "'Commander". The Living Worlds are particularily good at building that connection as the stories are less focused on the "grand scheme of things". That's coming from someone who highly values storytelling though, if someone just wants to bash other player's head or something, none of that is relevant.

[@windingtwilight]

Unsurprisingly, this still holds up to this very day. Every player should see this atleast once.

[@MattConor]

Fresh lvl 80 or boosted either way 1. Get the path of fire expansion. 2. Start the story, enter the first map 3. Unlock all the mounts while doing the story and completing each map. Skip the griffon mount for later. 4. Start the season 4 War eternal story, skip the rest till later. Enjoy that new map its great. 5. Get started and unlock the skyscale the best mount by far. By this time u would have played long enough that you most likely wont be lost and have found loads more to do. Gw2 wiki is ur friend.

[@MrBenioPL]

I think that one we very often see on forums would be: How do people start raiding/strikes/fractals? etc. I've always recommended starting with a guild to get into some trainings much easier.

[@xshu_.]

This is exactly what i needed! just bought the 2 expansions since i already fell in love with the free 2 play model of the game ^^

[@waynehastings970]

This is great news for a returning player. I stopped playing around the release of the first expansion, have a bunch of level 80s, and all have a mix of exotic and ascended gear. As much as the game has changed since I was away, it is amazing how much has stayed the same. GW2 is doing a lot of things right.

[@cfjlkfsjf]

I used the 80 booster to get the mounts, I have other toons I level up. Finally got my griffon mount today. Used to play this when it was new, moved onto other games and now I am back and overwhelmed with things.

[@horseradishwithchives]

Stop calling them toons. They're characters. It was fine calling them characters for decades.

[@spudsmackenzie13]

Thanks for taking the time to make this great video. I just hit level 80 so this will help.

[@goldendragonrider5237]

Wow, I learnt something new in that gear section regarding cheap exotics, and I’ve been playing for 7 years.

[@michaelpeloquin6336]

Returning player here, haven't played since 2013. Extremely useful. Thanks for the vid :)

[@pokeylope6108]

The only thing I wish is, GW2 had a class system like FF14. As in, you make your char, and you can swap classes mid game on the spot(barring instanced stuff or in combat etc.). Other than that, I just quit WoW and I'm gonna just dive into this with a fresh mind. Stuck choosing between Ele, Mes, Guard lol

[@Priscabc]

The thing is GW2 is designed around you having a character of every class. Most stuff in the game is account-wide, so once you get a character to 80, you can just get a set of exotics on your main's accumulated resources, or even use hand-me-down gear from your other characters. Also if something is unlocked, chances are it's unlocked for your entire account.

[@pokeylope6108]

@@Priscabc I know I'm aware of this. However, having one character with all your classes/trades crafts is just so nice. And me personally I choose one race, so all my characters look the same, so for me it feel redundant to have to have a char for each class I wanna play.

[@BrokeScape]

From a returning player (still noob) (literally returned yesterday) all these videos are super helpful! Many thanks!

[@Thrinduil]

I look forward to more videos in this series. I played a bit around launch, but every time I try to get back into the game I feel overwhelmed and lost. I hope pointers like these will make it less intimidating to jump in again.

[@ccosta55]

This video is EXACTLY what I needed. I have had GW2 for a few years now, but my highest level character was 51. GW2 was on the shelf while I was playing WoW. I dropped WoW as it was no longer fun, and picked up GW2 again, levelled a new Ranger from 1 to 80 and then... now what do I do? What the heck is this "Masteries" pop-up that keeps appearing? Should I do any crafting? etc. Thanks for the info!

[@BobRichmond]

Didn't read all the comments so don't know if anybody else has mentioned this SO... Many guilds don't do guild missions much past the point that they get the guild fully upgraded and favor capped However those same guilds usually let anybody in the guild start guild missions, so you can start the missions and get your personal commendation rewards. With a guide you can usually do any single (sometimes two) guild trek location to get a personal reward of commendations. Races are another somewhat more difficult guild thing you can do solo and you will get a personal reward for finishing it once (sometimes twice). Last is easy guild bounties for which you will probably need others to assist you. If you do those bounties at prime time for your region you can usually get other guilds or players to help you. For all of these types of guild missions you will find multiple guides on line or a wiki page to assist you.

[@Skkymy]

Thank you very much for this video!! I started playing last month with my gf and just reached lvl 80 and we were so confused and overwhelmed with all the things there are in the game :3

[@MichaelAbramo]

As someone who left GW2 alone for the last 7 years after hitting level 30, and now starting up again, this video helps a lot. A lot has been changed. And now because of my character birthdays I have all these free boosts; so I can try different professions without grinding out the starting areas. You described a lot of game mechanics that I was never aware of, has been added over the years, or I simply forgot about. I'm looking forward to soloing story content and getting into PvP. Also looking forward to recovering my GW1 account and finally finishing that campaign content after 16 years...

[@DdavidoffC]

Thank you for pointing out very explicitly that Ascended gear shouldn't be an immediate short-term goal. I've had a few friends now get the idea in their heads that they must IMMEDIATELY begin working towards Ascended gear despite my urging otherwise, and they've burnt themselves out really quickly doing it, which is a shame, because there's so much of the game they missed. Hell, I have multiple sets of Ascended gear for all three armor weights and I still craft/buy exotics all the time for different builds because it's more than viable. You barely notice the difference if you're not really pushing higher-tier content.

[@R0ukan]

I can say you get the nearly same experience as someone who just started and boosted to 80 when you last played somewhere between launch and the release of the first expansion and now you try to get back into the game. I didnt know much anymore, i dont know that much atm and i rly dont know what i'll do when i finish the free parts of thr story + hot + pot stories. I am somehow overwhelmed

[@TheLiquidCat]

Holy crap this is the best GW2 beginner video out there. Fantastic job, I can tell I will be referencing this video quite a lot.

[@frenchmagpie4433]

Crazy story prediction for EoD: what if it pulls a shadow of the colossus style twist and the elder dragons are actually protecting tyria. Maybe the dragons each consume a part of the magic in the world so that one single being can never poses all of. And now unknowingly we have given Aurien the power of 5 elder dragons and she has been playing double agent all along!! Sorry is this has been thought of before.

[@katmannsson]

I am a Shadow of the Colossus fan girl, and will never argue ripping off its plot wouldn't be a radical move in both the dictionary and colloquial meanings

[@frenchmagpie4433]

@@katmannsson yeah it's a wonderful game. One of the first I ever played and it blew me away. Amazing story

[@TheFilyng]

Please GW2 should stop with the dragons. 8 years with dragon after dragon. It's time to stop and explroe other plot lines...

[@Radial9Gaming]

@@TheFilyng hence why the expansion is called “end of dragons”

[@TheFilyng]

@@Radial9Gaming Yes, I know. I hope from now on they explore more the Gods.

[@hexen2801]

I had no idea about the existence of named armor or even that the bladed armor set was stat-selectable, good information.

[@neil2051]

Honestly, for any MMO out there, there will always be a lot of stuff to do, sometimes even after you hit max level. The point is to focus on one thing at a time. Focus on your trinkets and maybe on the side better armor and weapons. After that, focus on completing PS and LW series, as they will give you a lot more in the long run. And ofc on the side just do some crafting every now and then. Leveling up your crafting can be tedious at first if you don't have the right materials, so it's hard to do it if you don't have any money. But honestly, just have fun with it, and find stuff in the game that truly interests you and delve into it :))

[@DavidHerscher]

Dang, i miss this game. I played from beta all the way up to HoT, then drifted away because i hated the HoT maps. So many great memories here. The early days were magical. The first living world, Scarlet! Just so much cool stuff happening all the time, brilliant game.

[@PetrSojnek]

Talking about Berserker's, Cleric's etc. I think it would be really interesting to have a video that will go through all (or at least major) stat combinations and give you some ideas what builds it would be used with. I think this would be immensely useful for new players, but even older players that don't think about buildcrafting too much will find it very interesting (e.g. me :D )

[@cactusc9519]

agree !! although there are a * lot * of stat combos. so if that gets too long, i could still see making a vid about the basic ones that leaves aside for a moment some of the ones you can only get in specific locations, etc.!

[@traveling.down.the.road56]

@@cactusc9519 I’d like to see a spreadsheet of all the stats with the most used meta builds at the top and their total stats in a column at the far right. It would be great if it were interactive and you could type in your build to compare the stats against the meta builds and have it update automatically by just typing in Dire or Beserker in the chest piece column. I might try to make it if nobody has done it already.

[@creakinator]

Excellent video. Thank you so much for the details. I played GW2 years ago and came back to it and was so lost. Now I understand the game much better.

[@Greedman456]

Very good video, helped a lot as a reference for a few friends who are just starting

[@Morbidmic]

Learning the superspeed flying mechanic of the Griffon mount to do acrobatic stunts is like playing a whole new game mode :D

[@flyrow3712]

I knew it! I knew that those videos are worth even for a day one vet. Those Named Armor, had no idea about them. Gonna be helpful with the alts, thanks!

[@OpticalGreen]

Such a great way to explain everything, thank you! One thing I wanted to know, is GW2 a game that respects my time? I mean there are other mmo's out there that constantly push us to do things that are time limited, daily or seasonal chore for some fancy rewards. If GW2, for whatever reason doesn't do these things, it earns my respect.

[@scorpios_corz]

Core story is my favourite it really sets the stage for the expansions and the living story, pity they didn't keep living world season 1 a thing, the replay a few weeks back was a heap of fun, wish they make it permanent and I still have legendary crafting to unlock and PoF Masteries to complete still to this day lol

[@Konpekikaminari]

this is, in my opinion, the biggest mistake they made it's kinda hard to connect to the Dragon's Watch without having the gang properly introduced I recently bought LW2 and I will admit it helps, but I wish I wasn't straight up told "these are your friends"

[@zedyagoh]

This month they added LW s1 back into the game! :D

[@rockmcdwayne1710]

Its been a long time since i last played at 80 but as i remember there were these achievement/quest lines in heart of thorns that gave you ascended jewelry when you completed them. I remember getting mine from there without paying a dime for them.

[@klavakkhazga3996]

I do not recommend getting healing or say soldier type gear at all if you're new, in my experience. Go for damage, whether your build is crit or condition based. Personal story instances and game story is not balanced for it and takes so much longer to complete simply due to the healthbars you have to go through that you would be incredibly frustrated.

[@bowtieneo8]

the question new players always ask me is "whats the fastest way to level?" But I tell them to just have fun! so my question is, what are some things to do while leveling?

[@Robert-kx8mp]

I leveled 8 characters to 80 doing map completion and exploiting a few key dynamic events around level 50. It's boring and kind of slow (even with XP boosters), so I can't imagine it's the recommended method. You might be able to level up fast by attending lots of world bosses.

[@bowtieneo8]

@@Robert-kx8mp I changed the question to ask about fun things to do while leveling. leveling up the absolute fastest way without tombs would probably be pretty boring lol

[@paradachshund]

I always urge people to prioritize events over map completion. The game really was made for the events, not the hearts, and they give great XP and let you see a lot more of what's going on in a given spot in the game. You can always do map completion later and you'll be faster at it then, too.

[@ciraxa]

Tell them to do everything at the same time: - Killchain neutral (yellow) enemies with exp boosters while running somewhere - Daily Achievements & Gathering - Tag random events - Collect PoI/HP/Waypoints on the way - Kill world bosses I wouldnt recommend playing explorable modes of dungeons to new players as they´re badly balanced and most enemies can easily one shot without a warning. Story mode is fine.

[@wisniamw]

@@ciraxa Do I get exp from PvP? Can I lvl a champion by this way?

[@TheOfficialMMPRG]

Good to know all the actual stuff and be able to prioritize from this list. Great job

[@6riffln64]

PERFECT assumption at the beginning lol, got me hooked perfectly

[@Mypreist123]

One thing in all my days playing Guild Wars 2 is learning enemy animations and telegraphs, as you'll be facing mostly the same foe type. Learning the movements gives you the idea timing when to evade attacks. Invincibility frame are long enough that you'll be able to dodge mostly everything.

[@HaruShindo]

I've seen people ask similar & I only follow through with trying to do more of the game. Expansion, dungeons or Fractals. And you'd be surprise how many people start off w/ a Lv 80 booster & still don't know why they're missing skill 4 & 5.

[@CipisekAMV]

Hey WP! Even tho Im not a new player per se I think WvW is something that needs explaining more, what to do, how to keep your participation up, what gear you should get and things like that.

[@LemonFlavoredTea]

This was the best intro I’ve seen! Thank you

[@pierrebitant]

I had 200 laurels in my bank without knowing what these were about, tyvm

[@originality9273]

Thanks so much for these vids it's really nice to have a recent source to go to with an Old game like gw2, I loved gw1 and played it to death but found 2 to be overwhelming and end up quitting, glad to come back to this

[@ghostmajesty]

Awesome gear guide. I just reached lvl 80 and I am having a blast. I'm glad I finally gave gw2 a chance

[@WhySoSushi]

This was an incredibly comprehensive guide!

[@Drotokogan]

Love this video series. As a subject suggestion : achievements, collections (I know you touched on these here a bit) and side stories. Loads of content in these but lots people have no idea it's there.

[@lnnova2436]

I agree with skipping to buy the seasons of Living World but maybe just one Episode, especially the one which unlocks Bitterfrost Frontier for the Winterberry farming is very worthwile and reasonably affordable. Over time, I think this is one of the most convenient way to farm a full set of ascended trinkets of any stat type. Note that you can buy various harvesting tools for karma which add great passives that speed up this process even further, especially ones that give more currency or unbound magic in that case.

[@ayransever47]

*Mismatched Exotic armor* *Yellow and Green tier trinkets* *An inefficient build I came up with on a whim* *And a goddamn dream...!*

[@ragekage7790]

I run raids in Exotics, Ascended is really only for fractals for the infusion slots to do more fractals

[@Winterreise189]

The stats are around 6% better though, there's no reason to not used ascended if you have the power to. However, you're right in that the stat change isn't massive so you can get away with exotic in any content besides higher level fractals

[@battsonbikes1919]

Best ever GW2 vid i have seen

[@ciraxa]

If you´re going to heal, most builds in endgame instanced pve and wvw run with harrier or minstrel (sometimes mixed with magi or giver) because of the boon duration.