Guild Wars 2 (game): Getting started

This is advice from a guy that is by no means an expert. I have not made this, or any other game a massive part of my life. I am a casual player and would never try to suggest that my methods are the best ones. However, i will address a few of the common aspects of the game that new players frequently have questions about and answer them in a simple way.

For those that don't know Guild Wars 2 is a free-to-download, free-to-play, no subscription fee massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG.) I have been playing it since shortly after launch or around 5 years.

The first thing you will discover is the character creation screen where you are asked a bunch of question and it doesn't matter at all how you answer these questions. The starting stats for your character will be the same regardless of how you answer them. I honestly don't even know whey they ask them to be honest.

The race you choose is also irrelevant in any capacity other than what you want your toon to look like and where they start on the map in the game. It is very easy to meander over to other parts of the map once you reach a reasonable level so this too is quite meaningless so i would suggest to simply choose a race that you think looks the best.

Your profession or class is very important as far as how you attack and how much damage you can take but remember, you can always make a new character if you don't like the one you initially chose. Like in most other games the heavy armor classes tend to melee and the "squishy", easy to kill ones tend to fight from range and are more DPS (Damage per second) oriented. There are no healers (and i wish there were.)

So just pick whatever. It honestly doesn't matter a great deal.

When you start the game one of the first things you will notice is that the world map is absolutely massive so there is no reason to attempt to grind to get to max level.

this is just one of like 20 maps you have access to with the free version of the game

As far as leveling is concerned I say don't worry about it. The game's max level is 80 and you will be surprised about how quickly you can achieve said level so again, just take your time and try to enjoy the game. You will level up so quickly that there is a good chance you will forget that you are leveling.

Do your personal story (available in the "hero" menu at any time) in order to go on prescribed quests in order to not only advance your level, but to get a glimpse into the story of the game and also get some reasonably good gear in the process.

One of the most commonly asked questions is "what kind of gear should my (insert whatever number) level character be equipping?" The answer to this is very simple: Just wear whatever. Do not put much effort into worrying about this. You will find a lot of gear that gets dropped by various kills all the time. Do not concern yourself with the stats at all. This doesn't become terribly relevant until you are already level 80. Some people waste a lot of time worrying about buying new gear every couple levels - this is a complete waste of money.

When you are leveling up, make sure to bring your harvesting sickle, axe, and pickaxe with you at all times and harvest all the plants, trees, and ore that you see. It might seem trivial now, when you are new, but trust me, you are going to need a LOT of this stuff later. Just stick it all in the bank and worry about crafting later.

Overall, I feel as though it is actually very easy to level up in this game and there is never a reason to grind in one location in order to achieve that.

Here is the TL;DR

1. Don't worry about which race you choose other than the look you want for the toon as it makes no difference at all
2. Don't try to grind levels, it isn't necessary in this game
3. Don't try to buy armor or weapons until you reach max level. It doesn't make any real noticeable difference
4. Collect all resource nodes as you are "growing up" as you will need the stuff later.
5. try to have fun and don't stress getting to max level so much :)

I hope this is helpful. If you do decide to download and play this FREE game let me know and I will team up with you in-game.