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Brand New Player Suggestions for Leveling in Guild Wars 2

Fine
DorkWizard
Fine
  • GW2: irongriffon.7560
Posted On: 09/14/2012 at 06:39 PM

TLDR: Not a comprehensive guide, or a power-leveling write up, but more a collection of suggestions on general leveling in Guild Wars 2 intended for new players. The first part is a basic overview of GW2 leveling with suggestions at the end. Written by a noob for noobs.

 

Hi everyone,

I've heard several people asking about leveling in Guild Wars 2. After a long discussion with a work colleague who really was confused about how to approach leveling in GW2, I figured it might be good to start sharing some tips with others. I'm sure for some of you this is just straight forward common sense, but for new players and those looking for more structured / linear play these tips might help some get started. Please post with your own tips too!

What I've heard from some folks are things like:

“What am I supposed to be doing?”

“How do I get quests?”

“How do I level?”

“I feel directionless.” 

Guild Wars 2 does many things differently than previous mmo's and the overall leveling / questing system has been tweaked enough that it's hard to approach for some people. Personally, I love it because it adds a lot more freedom and does feel less linear. Where mmo's in the past often sent you to specific places for specific tasks in a prescribed order, GW2 plays in some ways more like Skyrim or other open world RPGs in that you level by going almost anywhere, exploring and doing stuff in more or less whatever way you choose. Let's compare traditional mmo leveling with GW2.

Traditional Quest Log: You talk to NPC's who give you specific tasks in an area, say kill 10 rats. This goes into a log and you follow the related instructions. 

GW2: You will get a main storyline which is very similar to traditional mmo quest design and appears in the quest tracker on your screen. However, the rest of the time 'quests' can be identified by the heart icons on the world map. That heart icon is where to find quest details, level and instructions. It is not necessary to talk to any npc to get started; just go to the area indicated with a heart and start hunting, or whatever you need to do there. Upon arriving quest instructions will appear on your screen and a progress bar. Once you are done, there is an npc which you can talk to in order to purchase quest rewards with earned points. Sometimes these rewards can be pretty great (sometimes), so it's worth checking each vendor once you have done their quest. 

In addition, world events, often related to the heart quests, provide immediate 'live' quests such as defend an area against several waves of attackers. These world events also show up in the quest tracker on your screen and are indicated by orange circles and icons on the world map. Some are triggered by a specific event, while others seem to happen over time. As you gain familiarity with a zone, you will experience many of these live events while you work on your heart quests. 

In both cases, these events happen just in the world as you are running around; there is no quest log, no npc to tell you what to do, just an area and objectives as indicated on the map. This is also a primary method of gaining exp and leveling. So, ditch that old quest log (half the quests are grey anyhow) and start using that world map! 

Traditional Level Progression (geographically speaking): You move from the noob zone where the rats are level 1-10 to the post-noob zone where the rats are levels 10-20. If you are lucky there may be more than one zone for each level range which you can explore. Generally you want to spend all of your time in a level appropriate zone, or you are probably wasting time because it's either too hard (you die) or too easy (you get no exp). 

GW zone progression is very similar to the traditional design in many ways. If you go to a zone you are not ready for / not high enough level, you will die. Otherwise, though, for things your level or below, there are a lot of options. Most importantly, low level zones will level your character down to match the difficulty of the area. So, a level 20 entering the 1-10 zone might be lowered to level 8 while she/he is questing. This means that you can continue earning exp and questing even in lowbie zones which you either missed along the way, or really enjoyed. This adds a lot of freedom and options for exploration, especially once you have a few levels under your belt. 

In combination with the above, Gw2 has one starting area for each race (5 total) and I believe 5 post-noob zones as well. I cant comment on further leveling atm as I've still a lot to explore myself. What that means is, there is a ton of content out there for new players to try. Finished all of your nearby heart quests but still not high enough to head to the next area? Just head to a different race's starting zone. 

Getting around to the different areas is also quite easy thanks to the Asura gates. Each starting city has one Asura gate which leads to Lions Arch. From there, it's just another gate hop to any of the five starting cities and their related hunting areas. Alternatively, from any location in the world, it's super quick to open the pvp menu, go to the Mists, and from there, portal straight to Lions Arch. Please note, you'll arrive closer to the PVP gates than the city gates, which are just to the North if you take the Mists gate to Lions Arch. Once you have mastered quick gate travel, you will find experience, more heart quests, more events, more loot, and more adventure just waiting for you in that new zone. 

Below is a list of suggestions which you can use to help your leveling experience if you feel a bit lost. 

Suggestions:

#1 Set yourself goals.

Be it map completion, finding more heart quests of the appropriate level, or taming new pets you have to figure out what you want to be doing, and well, go do it. No NPC with a yellow ! is going to tell you what to do. I tend to fill my time with a lot of exploration, map completion and WvW.

Visit your neighbors early and often.

I highly suggest not sticking to one race's hunting area only. Complete some quests in your starting area, and then move to a different one if you are in a rut. Doing this will net you more skill points, easy exp and fun (imo) than sticking to your own zone and grinding away until you are ready to move on. Once you have had some fun in your neighbor's yard, come back home and complete more quests. Not high enough for your next story quest and no heart quests your level? Check out the other zones! 

Mix it up:

So many activities grant exp that when questing gets old, WvW, or crafting can be a lot of fun. Sorry guys and gals, there is no exp for role playing as of yet. Bored of doing heart quests, head to a new zone and just randomly run around, you'll get exp even doing that. 

WvW:

Find a team/zerg that is actually fighting smart, which means fighting at objectives or doing things which grant exp. A lot of groups like to skirmish on the road, or away from keeps and castles, which although fun, doesn't provide as much exp. Try to avoid random groups in fights like this and stick to things which grant exp such as taking a keep. Much, much, much experience can be found in an effective WvW group storming tower after tower. 

Craft and collect!

Gather those resources and craft. You not only get exp as you farm, but it also contributes to daily and other achievements which also give exp. 

Find world events that you like and do them several times.

Personally, I really like events which involve killing many waves of enemies since it provides lots of npcs to battle and the related experience and loot. There are several world events related to raids, skirmishes, or capturing npc camps, and these can be great fun and great exp. These events also tend to happen fairly often. If you get to know a zone well, it's possible to travel from event to event completing one and starting the next with very little downtime between them if you get lucky and are in the right place at the right time. 

Complete those maps:

Need a break from storming the castle, go see if you can complete an entirely new noob zone and get all those yummy skill points and more exp. Each zone is full of waypoints, points of interests, vistas and other ways to get experience. By hovering your mouse over the various icons on the map, you can learn what they do. Completing a map also nets you a good exp and loot reward.

What are your tips for leveling in Guild Wars 2?

I hope some of you find some of this useful. 

-Dork Wizard   

 

 

 

 

 

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Response:

Seaimpin de na Capall
Denji
Seaimpin de na Capall
  • GW2: thundermittens.2831
Replied On: 09/14/2012 at 06:45 PM PDT
  • Twitch
  • Extra-Life

wow, really nice guide, thank you O_O

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Seaimpin de na Ulchabhan
Dirkdaring
Seaimpin de na Ulchabhan
  • GW2: Runeslinger.9482
  • ESO: @DirkDaring065
Replied On: 09/14/2012 at 11:28 PM PDT
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very nice guide it should help some of the people new to mmos or those that didn`t play a mmo before wow , I like the way GW2 has done their game i was getting tired of all the wow type quest lvling treadmills and missed how game were before wow , where you were not directed to anything in the game and did pretty much whatever you wanted as you didn`t do quest for exp or to lvl but for rare magic items . Have to admit tho I always used to laugh back when i played Rift and all the NPC would tell you we are people of action ! ..... then ask you to hand him the book across the room haha .

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Caomhnoir de na Aracos Corcra
Shawntor
Caomhnoir de na Aracos Corcra
  • GW2: Khazral.7592
Replied On: 09/22/2012 at 07:39 AM PDT
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  • Extra-Life

Very useful guide, thanks for posting!

“The willow submits to the wind and prospers until one day it is many willows - a wall against the wind.”
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Muintir de na Faolchu
PepsiBlue
Muintir de na Faolchu
Replied On: 09/22/2012 at 08:42 PM PDT
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I like this guide. The only thing I would add, would be. Save crafting, until you get to like 30-40. By then you will have tons of materials, and fine crafting tools. It always makes crafting easy when you have an excess of materials. And if you have a lot, and know what your doing, you can pop a crafting booster, and maximize your efforts. Very good guide!

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Ban Seaimpin de na Fhiaigh
SummerRaine
Ban Seaimpin de na Fhiaigh
  • GW2: SummerRaine.2975
Replied On: 09/23/2012 at 02:43 AM PDT
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Very nice guide, thanks for putting it together! Myk

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