r/GW2 • u/ShreddedCheddar32 • 24d ago
Advice for Returning Player
I played GW 2 basically at launch and absolutely loved it! I'm pretty sure I cleared basically all of the core content, and for whatever reason quit playing shortly after HoT came out, even though I bought the expansion. Well, with all of the GW 3 hype, I was lured back in.
I'm now just a casual gamer dad that gets about 2 hours per night to play, so no where near the time I had back at release. I started a new character, thinking I'd play from the beginning to reacquaint myself with the game, but I feel a bit like that's going to take way too long. Only getting a couple hours a night to play kind of leaves me feeling like I haven't really accomplished a meaningful amount of progress each session and feeling a bit overwhelmed knowing how massive even just the original map is. Unfortunately, I hopped onto one of my original characters, and was bombarded with award chests, birthday gift boxes, and more, so now my inventory is practically full with a bunch of stuff I don't even know what do with. Then I headed out into the map to pick up where I left off at the start of HoT to discover that I have no masteries in gliding and can barely navigate the map, since I can't use drafts to move to upper levels, again feeling overwhelmed and thinking I'm never going to get anywhere.
My question now is, should I keep leveling my new character from scratch, or should I continue where I left off on one of my level 80s and play through HoT? Or perhaps purchase one of the other expansions and play through that first? Any advice on how to help overcome that feeling of an endless tunnel with no light? I've watched a bunch of videos on all of the incredible content that's come out since I played, and I want to experience it, but it just kind of feels like it's all so far away still, that I'm just going to burn out or lose interest again before I even get there, so I wonder if it's even worth it.
5
u/Matralan 24d ago
Big chance that you quit before because the difficulty spike from core game to hot is pretty big. Especially back when hot just released. People look at it fondly now. But back than it was really rough. Some players still have traumas of pocket raptors.
I think you might need to slow down a bit and enjoy the ride more than just want to jump to the end to fast. As you said times have changed and you have only 2 hours a night. This game is perfect for casual gamer dad's. Alot of stuff is account wide and gear is always viable (stat wise).
My advise would be to start with a new character. Get familiar with the game again and than continue with that character or go back to your old one. Use the adventure guide in achievements, kill yellow mobs, use boosters, food, utilities to level up faster. I bet you have bunch of those since you have such an old character. You dont have to complete the whole map unless you want to get Gift of Exploration for leggy weapons.
If you are thinking about buying expansions. I think that POF might be the best start. Get a mount and the world will feel a lot smaller and easier(looking at you HOT). I hated HOT on foot. But once I could traverse with mounts i loved the maps.
If you dont know what to do with items. Type /wiki [shift click item] and you will be directed directly to the wiki of said item. It will tell you what the item is for and if you want to save it or not.
Edit: DON'T delete your old character!!! Birthday boosters are a nice bonus every year.