The MMORPG Guild Wars 2 offers you various tasks in the endgame. In line with the upcoming Living World Season 5, we would like to introduce you to some content.
What is the guide about? The guide is primarily aimed at newcomers and returning players to Guild Wars 2. Getting into the MMORPG is particularly worthwhile right now because expansions have been consolidated and a special event is currently taking place.
However, active players can also enjoy the tips, as points 1 to 5 can also be completed alone without teammates. Especially gamers who, due to shift changes or lack of time, spend little time with friends can find tasks on this list.
The 8 mentioned activities should provide you with an overview of the various possibilities and goals in the game. However, the general rule is that you can play what you enjoy.
1. Experience the story
Guild Wars 2 has increasingly focused on advancing the story around the Elder Dragons in recent years. This is also connected to the new Icebrood Saga, whose prologue will be released on September 17.
To prepare perfectly for the new story, it is worthwhile to play through the old content.
How is the story structured? The story of Guild Wars 2 is collected in-game in what is called the Chronicle. This has a specific order, with not all content being immediately accessible:
- Personal Story (Level 1-80, free also for Free2Play players)
- Living World Season 1 (only a video recap of the content)
- Living World Season 2 (may need to be purchased separately for gems/gold)
- Heart of Thorns (automatically unlocked upon purchasing the Path of Fire expansion)
- Living World Season 3 (may need to be purchased separately for gems/gold)
- Path of Fire (automatically unlocked upon purchasing the Path of Fire expansion)
- Living World Season 4 (may need to be purchased separately for gems/gold)
- Living World Season 5 (starts on September 17)
Why is it worth playing through the story? Throughout the story, not only will you fight against Elder Dragons, but you will also learn a lot about them and their personalities.
Moreover, along the way, you will meet NPCs who will accompany you in the upcoming story.
The story content is fully voiced and is always accompanied by beautiful cutscenes.
2. Equip the character and level professions
A fresh level 80 character naturally needs to be equipped to experience the story content or later venture into instances. Most of the equipment-related tasks can be done solo without any issues.
Here, you have the choice of crafting exotic equipment first or purchasing it directly from the trading post, or getting max ascended equipment right away. Exotic gear differs in stats by about 5% from the best gear but is significantly cheaper.
How to get the best equipment the quickest? Crafting ascended weapons and armor is easiest done through crafting.
You need to level the corresponding professions up to level 500 first. This has recently also been made possible for chefs. After that, you’ll need the so-called T7 materials:
- Deldrimor Steel Bars
- Spiritwood Planks
- Darmstad Cloth
- Elonian Leather Scraps
They are quite expensive at the trading post because crafting can only be done once a day. The exact recipes for ascended gear and the corresponding components are sold by your crafting teacher.
What about accessories? Ascended backpieces and trinkets are better earned through specific gameplay content:
- Rings are best obtained through fractals or for map currency from Living World Season 3/4
- Accessories can be obtained through guild missions or also for map currency from Living World Season 3/4
- Amulets are cheapest at 30 Laurels from a Laurel vendor. However, not all stats are available there. Alternatively, you can also go to Living World 3/4 again.
- For backpieces, the special collection Mauldrey (LW2) or the backpieces for Karma from the wizards’ lands (LW3 Episode 6) are recommended.
Is legendary equipment not better? Legendary equipment is completely identical in stats to ascended equipment. The only difference is that it’s not bound by stat combinations.
Anyone with legendary equipment can easily swap their stats, runes, and sigils at any time. Recently, these upgrades are also available in a legendary form.
3. World exploration
An interesting activity especially for solo players is world exploration. Each map offers various tasks for completion. These include:
- Completing all heart tasks
- Finding all special landmarks and panoramas
- Revealing all waypoints
- Completing all skill challenges
For exploring the entire old world, which can also be experienced by Free2Play players, you will receive an exploration gift that is needed for later legendary weapons. Additionally, you will earn the title “Seen it all, done it all”.
There are also special rewards for exploring each area. There is also a chance for a rare Black Lion Key, which you otherwise can only buy for gems in the shop.
4. Earn gold
What would a real MMORPG be without farming currencies? In Guild Wars 2, the main currency is gold, which you can earn through regular gameplay.
However, there are also plenty of tips and tricks to help you quickly obtain a lot of gold. These include:
- Daily achievements
- Gathering ores and wood
- Completing meta-events
- Doing fractals and raids with others
- and much more
We have published a detailed article on this topic.
5. Collect achievements
Guild Wars 2 relies on a very detailed achievement system through which you can earn achievement points as well as many additional rewards.
Almost every area in the game has achievements, whether it’s story, individual maps, PvP, or raids. Additionally, there are collections where you must collect certain items over a long period to then receive new rewards, gear, or special skins.
Currently, you can complete over 2,650 achievements and earn more than 35,000 achievement points. On the official website, there is even a leaderboard of the most diligent point collectors.
6. Experience instanced content
If you no longer want to wander alone through the world, you can team up with other players to experience the big world events or visit instances. Guild Wars 2 offers four different types of content:
- 8 dungeons with multiple paths – 5 players – base game – very easy
- 22 fractals – 5 players – base game – easy to hard depending on the level.
- 7 raids with 3-4 bosses – 10 players – Path of Fire – for experienced players.
- A strike mission with a boss – 10 players – Path of Fire – for beginners in raids (releasing on September 17)
The fractals, raids, and strike missions will continue to be expanded, while the dungeons have hardly changed since release. Accordingly, the dungeons are the easiest instanced content.
For the fractals and raids, you will definitely need ascended equipment. This brings us back to point 2.
7. Try PvP and WvW
In Guild Wars 2, you will find various types of PvP. The classic PvP takes place in arenas, while World versus World is fought in a large, open area.
What is arena PvP like? In the arenas, all players are automatically level 80, even if they start with a weaker character. They also have access to the same equipment. The difference lies primarily in individual skill and that of teammates.
You can enter different arenas:
- 5v5 with or without ranking
- 2v2 in privately created arenas
- Fortress mode, where 5v5 must capture the opposing guild hall
Automated tournaments also take place daily, in which you can compete in teams against other teams in 5v5 for special rewards. These culminate in monthly tournaments, which can make you a wealthy player for a day.
How is the World versus World structured? In World versus World, three servers fight against each other every week from Friday to Friday on four huge maps. There are fortresses, towers, and camps that can be captured and defended.
The characters are also set to level 80 here, but have disadvantages in terms of equipment and therefore lower attributes.
How is PvP in GW2 doing? Currently, particularly the PvP is creating a bad atmosphere in the game. In recent months, there have been few innovations and also few statements about the modes. In World vs World, players have been waiting since February 2018 for an announced overhaul.
Some veterans are therefore disappointed and also toxic in the game. However, don’t let that discourage you, as there are still many players willing to help newcomers.
8. Find your own long-term goals
Guild Wars 2 is by no means a sandbox game, but it still allows you to set many personal goals in the endgame. Due to the rapid acquisition of the best equipment, players need to get creative instead of just farming the next dungeon or raid.
What does one do in the endgame? Over the years, many content and goals that can be pursued in the game have crystallized. These include:
- Legendary equipment, as this provides comfort in attributes and is time-consuming to craft.
- Finding the right skins to look fashionably perfect.
- Achieving special titles or achievements, similar to point 5. The largest GW2 YouTuber, Woodenpotatoes, is currently working on a 100% challenge related to this.
- Low-man kills or speed clears in instanced content.
- Roleplaying in the main cities, which has decreased but still occurs often.
- Achieving special achievements in PvP or WvW, see Point 7.
But the leisurely gaming with others, leading a guild, or organizing events can also become a major task in Guild Wars 2. So feel free to share with us how you spend your time in the MMORPG.
Perhaps the Icebrood Saga still has some innovations in store for the endgame:
