Back after long break from mmo's

I played quite a bit in Rift and was in the beta for GW2. Played for a while and my schedule got so busy I couldn't play much. I have a lot more time now so I reinstalled, got the expansion, and noticed this interesting thing in my inventory...

Could this thing really level me to 80 instantly?...Yup...

i sort of regret it, but it's done now. I was mainly thinking I would insta-level to 80 just to group and participate in events.

i managed to figure out how to unlock mastery Xp and unlocked the Glider. I'm very overwhelmed as there is so much I want to do. I still want to finish my personal story quest and explore all the zones.

Is there a starter set of dungeons that I should start to get used to small group play? How about group friendly builds for Rangers? My gear selection is basically just the stuff you get from using the 80 token...

Welcome back ol friend :) I look forward to showing you how fall damage works :D

Good place to look builds is http://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki From there you can select build on different playstyles whether it is PvP or WvW or Raids etc. If you want to do more PvE then I suggest going for either Fractals or Raid build. That way you are building your character for end game stuff and it is suitable for PvE. 

Dungeons so yeah first dungeon is for lvl 35 character called Ascalonian Catacombs. What is beautiful in GW2 is that even if you have 80 lvl character, everything scales to zone level so you can use your 80 lvl character on that lvl 35 dungeon and your toon will be scaled to level 35 so no worries there. I suggest tagging along with the events. For example on Sundays there is event for dungeons where people completes series of dungeons. Also there are throughout the week map completion events for low level maps, middle level, high level and Heart of Thorns map events. Great group fun and you get your maps explored pretty quickly. 

Also Namrie's Fractals teaching event is happening on Wednessdays where we go through Fractal dungeons. Those are lvl 80 dungeons. As being teaching event, you don't have to worry about anything. Just tag along and everything will be explained in detail. 

And as always you can ask in-game about the stuff or in Discord, our voice / text chat platform and here in the forums of course :) Anyway welcome back and have fun journey in the world of Guild Wars 2. 

Welcome back to the game. :) There are a few map clear and dungeon events that the family runs that can help you out with exploring the map and doing small dungeon groups. The metabattle link that Villaovi posted is a nice place to start for a build, but lots of people just run whatever they're comfortable with. The only time you need to get strict with that sort of thing, in my opinion, is if you want to try out raiding - that's end game content that you really need a good build and ascended gear to beat. 

Welcome back!

I would suggest going through the entire personal story for starters even if your character is already 80. It brings you to a number of places in Tyria and will get you some essential waypoints while you are doing it. To make the process less painful you might want to look at utility skills that can help increase your running speed - I believe rangers has a signet that does that. Oh yah while you are doing that you can also "recruit" pets to increase your pet variety for gameplay. 

The lvl 80 boost token gears are pretty good actually, all exotics and with runes and gems - basically if you want anything better you will be looking at ascended gears (pink colored ones).

At any point of time if you need help just send a holler via the guild chat, and if you need more immediate information you can try searching the wiki by typing something like.. "/wiki waypoint" in-game. It will trigger a browser pop up that brings you immediately to the wiki site with the exact item you are searching about. 

Welcome back...

From the looks of your profile page, you've got a few different lower-level characters.  The instant-80 token is nice, but I don't think it's too hard to get a character to 80 the long way, with the bonus of getting to try out different ways of playing the build.  I'd probably recommend going through the personal story of whichever one you enjoy the most, focusing on experimenting with different weapons and builds.  Try to complete all the home instance maps (Divinity's Reach, The Grove, etc.) for some quick XP while you're lower levels.  Once you get through the story stuff, you should be familiar with the different weapons and utilities and be comfortable playing the character, so now you can work on getting level-80 exotic armor and weapons to be able to survive HoT.

For your insta-leveled Ranger character, I think it's still a good idea to try different weapons to see which combination you enjoy most.  Metabattle has some great builds, but it's focus is more for raids/dungeons and PvP and IMO it's better to find a build you like to play than to worry about the best meta.  For my Ranger, I stuck mostly with Longbow/Greatsword, though I haven't used that character since HoT came out so I don't know how differently the Druid plays out.

Anyways, once you're comfortable with a character and have some decent equipment, then I would do the HoT stuff.  It's pretty challenging content, particularly if you're rolling solo.  I can't comment on raids or dungeons since I have yet to do either and haven't really had a chance to join up with a group to knock any of it out.  

Also, try to join in on as many GSCH events as you can, and rep the guild in game so you can ask questions or seek help while playing.  This community is what makes the game fun IMO, and few things are as rewarding in GW2 as jumping in to help newer players or being able to ask one of the veterans to help me out.

See ya online!

Welcome home!

Thanks for all the great advise!

I've been doing my personal story quest and some dynamic events in HoT. Nothing to crazy. Just getting comfortable.

I want to get into a place where I am comfortable running dungeons or PVE content, and also running group WvW or group PvP. I am not there yet. Side focus I guess is gathering some spare equipment so I can try out other builds. The build that you get put into with the 80 token is very fun though GS/Longbow. Seems great for general adventuring out in the open world, but I really really want to get my Druid stuff unlocked so I can mix that in for PVE content. For that, I need lots and lots of Hero Points!

Welcome back :3

Whatever you need just shout and we will take you to adventures.

I strongly suggest you to check the calendar and participate in Gma's event, she map completes the low level areas and she is delightful to run with, knows much, very sweet and patient!! :D

Also for dungeons poke Old Goat, he is as sweet, and patient and knows much about dungeons, also he has the prettiest characters in the guild :3

I will definately get into all the events that I can get into! While I technically have an 80 character, I won't bog down events that I know are aimed at characters with level 80 knowledge. As I am quite aware I do not possess that knowledge yet. But I will be there as soon as my peers deem I am able =)

I will also try to get my profile up to date today or tomorrow. It's a bit outdated, although it does have my correct GW2 ArenaNetID#

So. Things I have done so far.

Almost completed personal story quest. Think another hour or three and it will be completed. 

Spent a lot of time gathering hero points for Druid specialization. I am about 70% complete with that, I think I need 75 more hero points -ish.  I've done all of the easy ones in Verdant Brink 10/11 (Missing a mastery for the last one) and in Auric Basin 4-5/11. I need to find a few more of the HoT points then I will head back to the base game and start doing the old world hero points to finish out the 75 I need yet.

Ran a ton of dynamic events in HoT. I did some "meta" event in Auric Basin where a forgotten city was unlocked. I happened to have about 20 of those keys and was able to open a massive amount of chests in the city. Tons and tons of random loot was generated. Only 1-2 pieces were instant upgrades. I have no idea when I acquire a rare piece if I should be salvaging or selling on the Trading Post.

I have been gathering literally everything I see, but I have not dipped my toe into the crafting pool yet. Just amassing materials and funds right now until I know whats best.

I've attended two Guild run events focused on map exploration this weekend. I wanted to join the WvW event, but I am not really sure what I am doing yet =P

I strutted around the Fractals area for a bit and pretended like I knew how to run them. I have run countless dungeons in many other online games, but I have not done a single one in GW2 yet. It would be my first step outside the holy trinity of tank/healer/dps.

I've had a ton of fun so far. I think my main goal for now is completing the Druid spec unlock and then working on gathering a few extra weapons so I can start switching builds and trying some stuff out. I am still 100% using the token gear and spec. I am also working on HoT masteries just to get around and hopefully be able to join more events.

» Edited on: 2016-05-02 11:58:12

Welcome back!

Marrra and I were in the same boat as we came back 2 months ago or so and trying to get used to a game we left in August 2013! Aside from missing out of nearly all of Season 1 Living Story, the rest has come back fairly well :)

I hope you find it as fun as we have since our time away :D

Welcome!

Welcome back and same here ive been gone as well.