New Year celebration!

GW2adventure BLOG and my guild wishes You wonderful new year - 2018 !

 A lot of new paths to explore, locations to discover, gold to farm, mobs to kill...and... The same in a real life! ;)  ALL THE BEST TO YOU ALL!!!

Have a great celebration tonight!

If anyone  is interested in joining my guild, please read about the terms and other details here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Love people in fractals sometimes

The events described below are authentic and copy-pasted here with its writer's permission. You are welcome to leave comments in comment section.

"Love people in fractals some times. Joined a pug consisting of thief, deadeye, Dragonhunter, warrior and myself as a mirage. First thirty seconds into it the apparent leader, the warrior hits the deck.
We try to clear some of the mobs out as there's a few hard hitting champs. He's bitching and moaning because no-one is ressing him.
Needless to say we get him up and twenty seconds later he's down again.
We carry on fighting and try to res him again but one other member gets downed doing so.
Our high and mighty leader complains he's not being ressed again, so we try to res and another player is downed.
Two of us left me and the Dragonhunter, try to kill what's left. Still Mr wonderful continues about not being ressed with passive aggressive comments like you know guys ressing will really help.
Finally the Dragonhunter gets downed too. Little old me and my clones clear the remaining champs and clear house thank God for the mirage dodge ability, so powerful.
I res everyone up and at the end of the fractal they kick me.
WTF I'm the only one of you who didn't hit the deck, and a party wipe would have been imminent had I ressed the whiny moaning chap.
There's no pleasing some people."

S.C.

Buying new PC to play GW2

This short post is actually an update to other recent post which I wrote some time ago.

I am a happy man :)
To make long story short - I just bought new decent desktop PC, and I have to say - the game looks amazing. I was playing on my old laptop before, and sometimes the game looked like a total crap. To read more about my previous equipment, please check my other post > here.

Now , I am mesmerized by the way the game looks - the graphics, animations and sound effect are truly remarkable and beautiful. On my old laptop I was forced to play on minimum graphic settings.

Decision I had made about purchasing new desktop PC, was indeed a good decision. This is an equipment I have right now:

GW2 graphics - click image to enlarge.

Operating System: Windows 10, Home Edition
Mainboard: MSI
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00GHz
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
RAM: 8GB
Hard disk1: SSD - 128GB
Hard disk2: HDD - 1 TB
Monitor: iiyama , 27' , LED, Reaction time: 1ms.

Guild Wars 2 works fine on almost highest settings. I usually have 100fps* in most places and around 40fps in very crowded places. The game is installed on SSD.

I hope this post will help some people to make decision about buying new equipment and to clarify what kind of PC is enough to play Guild Wars 2 on almost highest settings.


*fps = frames per second
 My advice is to install Your operating system on SSD instead of traditional HDD hard disk.
And if You are a true fan of GW2  - the game should be install on SSD as well.
What is the difference between traditional HDD and SSD ?
Well..An SSD does functionally everything a hard drive does, but data is instead stored on interconnected flash memory chips that retain the data even when there's no power present. The chips can either be permanently installed on the system's motherboard. Basically speaking , we can access the stored data faster.

Razer Naga Epic Chroma - one of the most popular gaming mouse.

Buying a proper mouse would be also a smart idea. What I mean by "proper" is a mouse with more
than 3 buttons. Unfortunately I have a simple, ordinary mouse from Logitech. But... who knows... Christmas is coming ;) According to my little "research" which I made on many different GW2 forums - among the most popular devices is Razer Naga Epic Chroma.




With an average or high-end PC, and good quality mouse, the game is much more enjoyable, so all real GW2 fans should definitely think about changing the old junk into a decent personal computer...

Why I hate Guild Wars 2...

Do not get me wrong...I love the game! Guild Wars 2 is in my opinion one of the best massive multiplayer online games nowadays, if not THE BEST. On the other hand, many years ago - more famous version of Guild Wars had appeared... and that was "Guild Wars 1: Prophecies".

(Original cover for "Guild Wars"
- Later called "GW 1 - Prophecies")

 That was exactly in April 25, 2005 when the first release of Guild Wars appeared in the world of gamers, and most of us was in shock. The game was amazing. The graphics, sounds, the music , animation, the lands to explore, the mobs to kill, the plot and the fighting mechanics - it was all extraordinary. I spent so many hours, so many sleepless nights playing it!

Basically, the game had a "soul" - that special "something" that was almost forcing You to play.
... and those who have played it  - loved it!

In those old days, the graphics and animations in the game seemed to be fantastic. Virtual world that Arena Net created for us - huge, interesting and worth to explore.

There were also two things that made GW1 different from other MMOs on the market - fighting mechanics and rewarding system. These two things combined made the game unforgettable. At least for me. The set of skills that You chose to have on Your skillbar, possibility to mix two different professions and the way, in which skills were used against Your foes, made each fight interesting and clever. Especially with other players.
The game nicely rewarded You for Your efforts, for example by unlocking a skill for finishing a quest. In later version of the GW1 this possibility was removed.

The player felt the need for finishing a quest, because he/she new from the beginning what he/she gets for finishing it.

(Screenshot from Guild Wars 1)

It is a shame that developers of Guild Wars 2 abandoned those ideas. The game could be even more amazing if they implemented at least some small part of fighting and rewarding system from GW 1 to GW 2.

In Guild Wars 2 it is gone. Now we have fast, action orientated fights and battles where it is not so important what kind of skills You choose to have on Your skillbar. Just deal the damage, just heal Yourself from time to time and evade attacks. I cannot feel any usefully "connections" between my skills , like it was in GW1.  

That is why I "hate" Guild Wars 2. Hate it and love it at the same time. Arena Net gave us an amazing game, but they took from it many important ideas that made Guild Wars 1 so good. I "hate" Guild Wars 2 , because it is not what it should be, and could be. It is going too much into World of Warcraft direction and that - in my opinion - is a bad thing.

You can find out more about all the bad and good things in Guild Wars 2 in my other post over here.

If You have any questions or You want to add something to the current subject, You are welcome to leave the comment.  You can also take part in the survey on the right panel of my website. Which part of Guild Wars do You prefer?

Guild Wars 2 system requirements

These are the minimum system requirements if You really want to play GW2 , but don't have a powerful PC:

Windows® Minimum System Requirements

• Windows® XP Service Pack 3 or better
• Intel® Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3 OR AMD Athlon 64 X2, or better
• 2 GB RAM
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800, ATI X1800, Intel HD 3000, or better (256 MB of video RAM and shader model 3.0 or better)
• 35 GB available HDD space
• Broadband Internet connection
• Keyboard and mouse

Unfortunately, these requirements above are not far different from what I have. I use an old laptop with Windows 10:

•  Intel® Core (TM) i3-2370M CPU 2.4GHz 2.0 GHz
• 8 GB RAM
•  INTEL® HD Graphics 3000
• 30 GB available HDD space
• Broadband Internet connection
• Keyboard and mouse 

so the game at some parts looks a bit crappy... Within a few months I am going to by a decent, brand new desktop PC , so I can enjoy the game in full graphics.

Tell me guys, what kind of systems do You have? Is it enough to play GW2 with full quality graphics?

Pros and cons of Guild Wars 2

I am absolutely aware of the fact that I am a newbie in the game, however I played GW2 long enough to be able to notice and describe some good and bad things in the game. 

Here are some examples:

+ pros:

+ amazing graphics and animations (please, be aware that the game was released in 2012).

+ huge and beautiful world to explore.

+ really good sound effects and soundtracks.

+ big, or I should say BIG choice of armors, gears and weapons.

+ many ways to develop Your character (professions, races, weapon sets, armors, traits, skills and masteries) allowing the player to create it in really unique way.

 + possibility to play for absolutely free (with only a few disadvantages).

- cons:

- not quiet interesting personal stories.

- the game has no "soul" and atmosphere that Guild Wars 1 had , despite amazing graphics and animations.

- a bit boring begining of the game (more less until level 15)

 - there is no possibility to acquire specific skills and traits for successfully finished events and missions. There is however a possibility to exchange acquired Hero Points for skills and traits.

- the way of fighting against foes and other players is too much "action-orientated" and less clever than in GW1. Too much "damage vs damage" instead of  for example: "damage vs counter attack vs damage vs defence vs counter defence vs damage vs damage vs defense" etc. I prefer more clever fighting , just like in Guild Wars 1.

- Little amount of so called "utility skills" in comparison to larger choice in GW1.

- PARTY option is pretty useless. There is no real benefit from it. It is enough just to stand next to other player. That kills the feel of teamwork, which was good in GW1. In some parts of GW2 however, creating PARTY is necessary to be able to enter some areas in the game.

Would You like to add something to the lists above? Leave comments below.

Logging in to game

For most of us it might be a simple subject , but some would like to know more details about logging screen and about all the possibilities and limitations the login screen gives us.

Logging into game is indeed simple and I will explain it using just a few screen shots.

So lets begin:

After starting Guild Wars 2 , the first thing we see is the login screen. If You have not been playing for a while, or You starting the game for a first time - the game will launch necessary download. It will begin to download important updates and without them You will not be able to play. You must be patient as it might take a while, especially if You are first time player. You cannot skip or avoid this process. However, if You play GW 2 regularly - it is very likely that You will barely even see this screen.

(Login screen - appears right after launching the game. In this proccess, the game downloads its necessary updates).

Right after this process, the main part of the login screen appears.
If You preffer different language , You can switch to it using flags on the right-upper corner of the loging screen.  You must enter Your login credential (account name or email and Your password) and press "LOG IN" button below. If You are first time player You need to create it first using "create an account" option on the same screen.

(Login screen for GW2. Some parts of the game are being downloaded while you are logging into game.)

 While the game is waiting for You to enter your credentials - another download starts. This download is usually quicker than the first one and it is unnecesary to wait until it is finished. However You will not be able to start the game (the PLAY button will remain inactive) until the downloading process riches the certain level. Please check the picture above for more details.

When the game is ready to launch , just press the PLAY button on the bottom-right corner of the login screen. Enjoy the game!

Note! Sometimes players can expirience some temporary error while trying to log in. It does not happens often. Do You have or had any trouble to log in to game? Do You have a question regarding this subject? Leave it in the comment section. 

The beginning - ENGINEER

So today I have created my new engineer character and named it Domin The Engineer. Notice, that the name is simple and informative. Not only the name, but also profession of my character is visible. During creation I chose for it these following traits:

Name: Domin The Engineer
Gender: Male
Profession: Engineer
Race: Norn


He is currently on level 1, and I will be updating info about his progress every 10 levels (or every 5 after he reaches lvl.40) , or every time when something important happens on his journey to level 80.
After he reaches that level, the real game begins! This is going to be the point when my engineer should be ready to take part in some dangerous, hard challenges and tasks. This is the point when the game truly begins, and I will guide You through it. To stay updated - simply subscribe to this guide using options on the right panel.

(Domin the Engineer - this is how he looks on level 1)

Short characteristics of the engineer character:

Tips for a first time players

Here I have some advices , that new players of GW2 can use to play better and enjoy the game in full.
Some of them are crucial in order to play the game more smoothly and to have more fun with this amazing production. The list below will be updated from time to time.

So here we go:

1. Do not be afraid to experiment with Your skills and weapons sets. The game gives You large amount of weapons, gears , skills, and traits, that You can change any time and then change back to what it was if You are dissatisfied. Try to find the set that You feel most comfortable with, and that makes Your character powerful and fun to play.
2. Learn to dodge and to evade as soon as possible. This is crucial if You want to win a fight against stronger foe. At the beginning of the game Your enemies are weak and their abilities are not that dangerous, but as soon as You progress You will find Yourself in a larger and more dangerous battles. Dodging and evading attacks can be very helpful to get out of the fight alive.
3. Do not give up on Guild Wars 2 too quickly! The game may seem a bit boring at the beginning sometimes. There is always a lot to do, but Your character's abilities might be weak and boring , You will have small amount of skills to choose from and this feeling of boredom can appear. Believe me, this is only temporary experience - as soon as Your character gets to higher level , the things will  start to change. More to do, more to discover, more to fight for, more skills , more traits, more weapons and gears to choose from. For me the real fun starts usually around level 40.
4. Keep Your inventory clean and tidy all the time. There is tremendous amount of items and loot that You can find while playing. Arena Net (game developers) failed a bit to give as a proper inventory system and all You can do is: Buy more and more additional bags to Your inventory to have more space; Keep only useful items in there; Use "Deposit material" option to send materials that You have found strait to Your bank (if you already have one) at any time; Unpack all the loot bags that You have as soon as possible - maybe there is nothing interesting inside.
5. Buy Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire expansions if You can afford it. It is definitely worth its money. Playing a free version of Guild Wars 2 can be fun as well, but HoT and PoF gives You many additional things to do, additional territory to explore, masteries to unlock, and most importantly - a possibility to use a service of "Black Lion Trading Company". This is a huge and useful trading system. You can use it to trade in a very comfortable way with other players in the game, or simply to buy some extra goods for the real money. Be aware that the things that You can buy for real money are not giving You any advantage against other players or foes. Those things usually gives You wider possibility to make Your character more unique , and that is all.
6. Take part in the events that can occur during Your journey. By joining them You will get more experience and Your character will level up MUCH quicker. Killing mobs and foes gives you just a little amount of XP , so Your character level goes up slow.
7. Subscribe to this website if You want to stay updated with news, tips, hints, advices and new ideas. You can do it by joining our Facebook page (click the "Like Page" button on the right panel), or choose to get notifications by email.
8. Do not be afraid to ask questions. You are welcome to ask Your questions here under this post in comment section. You can also leave comments under every post on this website, to share Your thoughts. Do not hesitate to start a discussion. Knowledge is the key to victory!
9. Find Yourself a decent guild. GW2 community is one of the best communities I ever been in. Besides, It is good to always have  someone to talk to, who answers questions and helps in difficult situations. You can also join my own guild ;) -  Check the details here.
10. Subscribe to this blog or its Facebook page. You will not regret it. My blog is currently in development , but it is directed mostly towards first time players and beginners.
11. Collect all the crafting materials You can find, and don't sell them until You have no other choice. After a while you will realize how important it is to have as many of them as possible.
12. ENJOY THE GAME SLOWLY! DO NOT RUSH FORWARD TO LVL 80 !

If You are reading and You can see that You have more useful advices for beginners, do not hesitate to share them with others in a comment section.

The adventure begins

Welcome to my blog. This is my first blog post here, so this is probably the best time to introduce myself and to show You whole the purpose of creating this website.

This blog is Your guide to one of the best massive multiplayer online games ever created - 
Guild Wars 2. Once, I was, and still am a huge fan of Guild Wars 1, so about a year ago I have decided to check the second part of that amazing game out.

I am 38 year old player with a lot of experience with GW1 and little experience with GW2. What I am trying to achieve here is - I am going to create a huge and usefull online-guide through the game with some help of other players and readers of this blog. Step by step I will show You the way of developing Your in-game character from level 1 to 80. In the right side bar You can choose which kind of character You would like to follow. If You choose "Workshop" You can find many genaral, but useful information about the game there.

If You love Guild Wars 2 and want to learn something, You can follow this guide and stay updated by subscribing to it using panel on the right side.

Do You have any suggestions or a question regarding this guid?  You are welcome to write it in the comment section. 

(Concept art for Guild Wars 2. Source: official GW2 website)

So let the adventure begins!...
 

The beginning - THIEF

So today I have created my new female thief character and named it Arya Stark The One. I am a huge fan of Game of Thrones TV series - so I have decided to name her like that. I have a guild dedicated to this show, so if anybody would like to join, please read the details in this link. I wish I could name her simply - Arya Stark, but someone had probably similar idea so the name was already in use. During creation I chose for her these following traits:

The character I have created - Arya Stark The One

Name: Arya Stark The One
Gender: Female
Profession: Thief
Race: Human
Background: Anonymity, Nobility, Charm, Unknown Parents


She is currently on level 1, and I will be updating info about her progress every 10 levels (or every 5 after she reaches lvl.50) , or every time when something important happens on her journey to level 80.
After she reaches that level, the real game begins! This is going to be the point when my thief should be ready to take part in some dangerous, hard challenges and tasks. She will become a really powerful, fast assassin , dealing a sudden death to her enemies. This is the point when the game truly begins, and I will guide You through it. To stay updated - simply subscribe to this blog using options on the right panel.

Short characteristics of the thief profession (class):

(From guild wiki): Thieves are expert in the shadow arts. They utilize stealth and shadowstepping to surprise and to get close to their target. They're deadly in one-on-one combat using their agility, acrobatic fighting style, and the ability to steal to overcome their enemies. They have an affinity for setting traps and using venom. As an adventurer profession, thieves wear medium armor.

(From official GW2 website): Experts at stealth and surprise, thieves move through the shadows, vanish into thin air, or steal items from their opponents and use them as weapons. Thieves practice an agile, acrobatic fighting style, which makes them very hard to hit.

 While choosing a background for Arya, my intention was to give her characteristics which are as similar as possible to Arya's character in the TV show.


Making biography for You character.

Next step after choosing the appearance is to provide a foundation for Your character personal story
and profession. Those choices are actually cosmetics, and have a little impact on what is going to happen with Your character in the game. However the profession-related questions affect a character's starting armor (or pet if you decided for Your character to be a ranger).
In case of Arya Stark The One, I was trying to get as close to Arya Stark from the TV show as possible, but I had a hard time choosing "Regrets". Unknown Parents, Dead Sister, Missed Opportunity - none of those 3 options are similar to what happened with Arya in Game of Thrones. I have decided to stay with Unknown Parents, and I don't want to explain why - I don't want to make a spoiler for somebody, who maybe just started to watch the show.

My own GW2 guild

Today is a big day. I have decided to create my own guild. I am a huge fan of Game of Thrones TV series, so my idea of a guild is to gather beginning players from all over the world, who - just like me - love this TV show.

Guild name: Game of Thrones Fans
Server: Ring of Fire / EU
Ingame contact: SosnaPL.8079

Those are all the requirements to fulfil if You would like to join my guild:

1) At least one of Your characters has an appearance,name and profession similar to one of the characters in Game of Thrones. (The stronger similarity the better!) This is the most important requirement to fulfill if you want to stay in my guild. Please look at the example below for inspiration:

Sir Gregor Clegane

In-game name: Sir Gregor Cleagane Name in the movie: Sir Gregor Clegane Race: Norn Class/Profession: Revenant I have already create this person. If You think You can do better , You are welcome to create a better version with a different characteristics. It is allowed in my guild to create a few of the same characters from the movie.

Daenerys Targaryen

In-game name: Daeneerys Targeryan Name in the movie: Daenerys Targaryen Race: Human Class/Profession: Elementalist Another example. This character was already created by me, but if You think You can make it better , do not hesitate. I just show it to You to inspire Your imagination.

2) You must be beginner or intermediate player in Guild Wars 2
3) It is allowed (and strongly recommended) to be in another guild as well.
4) Use of communication programs such as TeamSpeak or Discord is NOT required.
5) A candidate has to communicate in English language in at least basic level.
6) Subscribing to this blog or liking its FB fanpage will be much appreciated and rewarded with the rank "Apprentice" after joining the guild. Normally every new member starts with "Squire" rank right after joining.
7) Every member of my guild has to behave properly - be nice and helpful to others, and keep in mind that most of the members will be new to the game.

What my guild has to offer?

1)We will play together after collecting enough people. We will help each other in the game.
 2) Ranks are as follows: King (me), Queen (I need to find one and it has to be a woman / a girl) , Officer , Knight, Apprentice, Squire. New members starts with squire rank.
3) Good fun and nice atmosphere.
4) In-game rewards, after subscribing to my blog (or liking its facebook page).

I wish You all great fortune in the wars to come!

If You really like the idea of such guild and You are able to fulfil all the requirements, please do not hesitate to join me in the game.
I would also like to know Your opinion about the guild like this, and about the idea of a guild filled with Game of Thrones fans. Please leave a comment below.