Newbie Questions

[rusticgamer]

Hello,

I'll start by apologizing if I posted this in the wrong section...so...I am sorry...

Now...I just started playing GW and I find it pretty awesome, I played enough to realize most of the concepts and the game's mechanics. Also I read quite a few guides before I created my character. My only problem is that now...well I befriended some players that have been in this game for quite some time. When I'll start playing factions (not much longer until then) I want to create an assassin. Now most of these players told me that assassins are great in PVE and that I get some awesome skills from the Eye of the North expansion.

This brings me to my question. Is there any way to get the skills from the EotN during my campaign in factions? And which 2nd class would you get for an assassin. I am thinking monk but I don't know.


Thank you in advance for taking the time to read(and reply) to my question and also I apologize if I gave away too many details.

[Iuris]

No, but you can travel to EotN yourself quite early. You can work on several campaigns in paralell.

[AcidBurn22]

How do you travel between the campaigns? I was in Prophecies and clicked an NPC that took me to Embark Beach. From there I went to Elona... how do I get back to the tProphecies campaign? Do I have to go back to Embark Beach? Sorry if the answer is obvious, but I'm a bit confused on how to get back lol.

[Meow Ren]

If you have reached the major port city in Prophecies, Lion's Arch, you can map travel back there. Press "m" in-game and it will bring up the world map. There will be a boat somewhere on the map, click on it and it will give you the option of instantly traveling to any of the port cities you've unlocked. For Nightfall, this is Kamadan, for Factions, it will be Kaineng City.

If you haven't made it as far as Lion's Arch, yes, you'll need to return to Embark Beach. Again, you can map travel there or you can find one of those Zaishen NPCs in the nearest town to take you there.

[Zebideedee]

Originally Posted by AcidBurn22

How do you travel between the campaigns? I was in Prophecies and clicked an NPC that took me to Embark Beach. From there I went to Elona... how do I get back to the tProphecies campaign? Do I have to go back to Embark Beach? Sorry if the answer is obvious, but I'm a bit confused on how to get back lol.

Once you advance in a campaign you'll get a quest to travel to each of the other campaigns. I can't tell you the quest names offhand but they are all in major towns like Kamadan/Lions Arch and Kaineng so they'll be hard to miss. Once you do these quests all you do is go to the map, click on the ship icon and choose which campaign you want to go to.

Embark Beach is something different, you can pick up Zaishen bounties etc. there. If you don't have the ship icon on your map you can use the travel agents there to send you back to where you came from.

[rusticgamer]

Regarding pvp...If i want to pvp a lot should i use a roleplayong character or should i create a pvp only one??? I was thinking that if i do pve with my character i could use a pvp build and later use it to do pvp however...a pve build would bE better for my character.

Also can i reset all my stat points??? I was thinking that i could use a pve build and when i am in mood for pvP I'll just change my builds whenever i wish.

[Star_Jewel]

Originally Posted by rusticgamer

Is there any way to get the skills from the EotN during my campaign in factions? And which 2nd class would you get for an assassin. I am thinking monk but I don't know.

As Iuris said, you can travel to North as soon as you get out of the tutorial island (which is the fastest tutorial zone of all the campaigns) and to Kaineng Center (as long as you're at least level 10). Unlike some of the campaigns, whose skills are spread out over various trainers throughout the lands, you can purchase all the profession-specific North skills from a single trainer right in the outpost called "Eye of the North" (a quick run from the outpost where you originally arrive in North). After getting whatever skills you want, you can map back to Kaineng and continue on with Factions.

As for secondary, pick whatever provides a few utility skills your primary profession doesn't. You can /wiki "monk skills" and get a list to see if there's something you like. Don't sweat the decision too much -- you'll be able to change your secondary as early as after 2 mainland missions and a couple of primary quests.

[Meow Ren]

Originally Posted by rusticgamer

Now most of these players told me that assassins are great in PVE and that I get some awesome skills from the Eye of the North expansion.

Originally Posted by Star_Jewel

...you can purchase all the profession-specific North skills from a single trainer right in the outpost called "Eye of the North" (a quick run from the outpost where you originally arrive in North). After getting whatever skills you want, you can map back to Kaineng and continue on with Factions.

...er, not that I'm an expert by any means in regards to assassins...but is it possible the OP's guildmates were also referring to some EotN title-track skills? In which case it will take a bit longer than a "quick run" to pick those up. And at level 10, it could be a bit hard given the level of foes in that expansion...

[Star_Jewel]

Originally Posted by Meow Ren

...er, not that I'm an expert by any means in regards to assassins...but is it possible the OP's guildmates were also referring to some EotN title-track skills?

Mm, yeah, good catch. I specified that the profession-specific North skills were quick to get on the assumption that that's what the OP (and/or his guildmates) were referring to. But you're right -- it's ambiguous enough that they could have been referring to the reputation skills.

Originally Posted by carnage-runner

Always beat EotN first.

Easily said by a veteran player. Not so easily done by a newbie.
We've seen too many come in here with wads of hair in their hands, begging for advice for Heart of the Shiverpeaks, to indicate that blowing through North first thing isn't the best route.

[Kada]

Originally Posted by Star_Jewel

Easily said by a veteran player. Not so easily done by a newbie.
We've seen too many come in here with wads of hair in their hands, begging for advice for Heart of the Shiverpeaks, to indicate that blowing through North first thing isn't the best route.

Not true at all.

I bought the game in mid 2008 and left it alone until about 6 months ago when I picked it back up again after finding the CDs while moving. I created a new character in a new class I'd never played before having forgot all previous playing experience and went to work.

If you read the wiki for skillset suggestions and you get help from PUGs or Guildies in Central Transfer Chamber for the final mission, it is absolutely 100% possible to complete EOTN first as a "newbie".

I had EOTN completed before Proph, Factions or Nightfall - as soon as I could get to Boreal Station I went and played nothing but EOTN until it was done. Took me maybe a month of playing 1-2 hours a day.

With that said, I did have the benefit of LDoA in Ascalon beforehand and the /bonus weapons.

[rusticgamer]

I have another question that is related to traveling. I too have gone from Lion's arch to Cantha with a quest from Mehlno (I think this was his name). I explored it a bit but now I wish to return to lion's arch, but the boatman tells me the captain is not there..... I haven't picked out any quests. Do I have to get some quests and finish them in order to get back? Also I tried to press M to see if I can just teleport and I can't. Any solution on how to return to prophecies T_T I wanna finish my capaign.

[carnage-runner]

Always beat EotN first. Grab Warrior Secondary and get the warrior kurzick/luxon skill. *Save Yourselves*.

The heroes you'll get from EotN will help greatly also.

[GODh]

Originally Posted by carnage-runner

Grab Warrior Secondary and get the warrior kurzick/luxon skill. *Save Yourselves*.

You need to be at least Rank 1 of Luxon or Kurzick before you can get that skill. This is not very useful info for someone who just started playing Guild Wars

[Blackbirdx61]

Click on M for Map Travel, Click on the Boat you see on the map, you might have to zoom out but it's always there, one of your Options will now be LA, and you can return to Cantha the same way. Once in LA you can travel anywhere you've uncovered on the Prophecies Map. BTW I got lost the same way first time I reached Embark Beach.

Congrates you've just doubled the size of your world. BB.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Campaign_travel

[drkn]

You can change your build whenever in the outpost. The only thing you can't change, aside of your character's name and looks, is the primary profession.
However, if you want to play PvP quite often - even on a casual level - i strongly recommend using a PvP character for it. Here's is a summary why: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Pvp_character

[Kendil]

Originally Posted by drkn

You can change your build whenever in the outpost. The only thing you can't change, aside of your character's name and looks, is the primary profession.
However, if you want to play PvP quite often - even on a casual level - i strongly recommend using a PvP character for it. Here's is a summary why: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Pvp_character

Yes, definitely roll a pvp-only character. It's a lot easier to get perfect equippment for your build, especially when you change builds often.

[Star_Jewel]

Originally Posted by Kendil

Yes, definitely roll a pvp-only character. It's a lot easier to get perfect equippment for your build, especially when you change builds often.

This. This, a thousand times this.

Consider the two scenarios...

A PvE character: Wants to PvP. If he wants to do Factions PvP, he first has to travel halfway through the campaign and do several quests to unlock the staging outposts. He'll want PvP-friendly builds, which will require buying a few skills (at 1k each, he may have to spend 8k in total). He may also have to unlock other secondary professions. Do his armor components support his build? If not, he'll have to buy them, and then use perfect kits to pull off his PvE armor components, or buy a second set of armor for PvP. What about his weapon? Does that support his build? No? Look for a collector weapon that does and farm the trophies, or wait around Kamadan to buy a green that does, or craft a weapon and hunt down the mods. Yay! Finally ready to PvP! ...Until you want to change your build. Then you must repeat some of these steps.

A PvP-only character: Wants to PvP. If he wants to do Factions PvP, he can just talk to the Kurzick or Luxon NPCs in Temple of Balthazar. He'll want PvP-friendly builds, which he can instantly load up with any skills that have been unlocked on the account. He can also unlock more with Balthazar Faction. All secondaries (that the account is eligible for) are available. To support his build, he can upgrade his free max armor with any components his account has unlocked through IDing (or can unlock any that he needs with Balthazar Faction). He can do the same for weapons. And if he switches builds a lot, he can save his armor and weapon set-ups in a template to load up later on the fly.

It's so much more freeing to be able to play your PvE characters as PvE characters, without having to keep PvP possibilities in the back of your mind. The friend who got me into this game, for some crazy reason, likes to use his PvE characters for PvP, and put me into this mindset early on. My GW life completely changed when I discovered the joys of having a dedicated PvP-only slot.

[rusticgamer]

Thank you for the informations. They were really helpful.

[Blackbirdx61]

Originally Posted by Star_Jewel

A PvP-only character: Wants to PvP. If he wants to do Factions PvP, he can just talk to the Kurzick or Luxon NPCs in Temple of Balthazar. He'll want PvP-friendly builds, which he can instantly load up with any skills that have been unlocked on the account. He can also unlock more with Balthazar Faction. All secondaries (that the account is eligible for) are available. To support his build, he can upgrade his free max armor with any components his account has unlocked through IDing (or can unlock any that he needs with Balthazar Faction). He can do the same for weapons. And if he switches builds a lot, he can save his armor and weapon set-ups in a template to load up later on the fly.

PvP is admittedly the Weakest part of my game, So I'm expecting to get corrected here, but I'm a bit surprised by the direction of this thread; While I have created a couple perfectly good PvP Warriors or Elms, for my purposes (to roll over as Mercs) . These are Characters I have unlocked pretty good skills lists for previously in PvE-

But When I decided I wanted to add a Necro to my team; A Brand new class for me, Oh God that was awful; You could fight for 100 years and never win a single round with the 'skills' a Brand New PvP character gets; So I'm very skeptical how useful the ability to buy skills with Balthazar Faction is going to be for a new player, in reality. I don't see how a New Player can succeed in the PvP Arena myself.

Instead, it seems clear to me behind every good PvP Character, is a PvE toon, out there farming the skills, runes and upgrades, doing the work in the field if your going to then create a PvP Toon that stands a snowballs chance in the Arena; that or pony up and buy a Skills Pack, which perhaps is the better course if your real passion is PvP.
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Star thanks for the interesting - informative reply below. BB.

[Star_Jewel]

Originally Posted by Blackbirdx61

But When I decided I wanted to add a Necro to my team; A Brand new class for me, Oh God that was awful; You could fight for 100 years and never win a single round with the 'skills' a Brand New PvP character gets; So I'm very skeptical how useful the ability to buy skills with Balthazar Faction is going to be for a new player, in reality.

Unlocking initial skills is a pretty substantial obstacle for any new account, whether it does PvP or PvE. And yeah, if you load a crappy build in RA, you're going to get crushed.

However, for the situation you described, you have several options....
* If you have a PvE character that's already unlocked some skills, you can use it to do some light PvP (or make a PvP-only mirror profession so you don't have to worry about equipment).
* You can roll temp PvE characters to cheaply unlock some more starter skills to play with in PvP.
* Or you can just suck it up and use whatever starter skills they give you.

You can then take those non-optimal builds and play in the low-pressure arenas:
* Team Trials/Zaishen Challenge/Zaishen Elite for daily-limited rewards but playing against NPCs.
* Jade Quarry or Fort Aspenwood, where you can just kind of hide and help where you can. Just having some running skills and running amber for the Kurzicks in FA is a way to contribute to a win.

Getting started is not easy, but it doesn't take long at all to be able to unlock a few good skills for it to get easier. That said, if a person has an established PvE character that has been everywhere already, it's probably better that they unlock the skills by buying them from skill trainers and use their Balthazar Faction for Zaishen Keys (if they can sell them for more than 5k each).

Edited to add: If you're a hard-core PvPer and have no desire to ever set foot in PvE, I'm pretty sure you can use your 50 free Tournament Reward Points on Flames of Balthazar to put together a decent starter bar.