Patarbo-v6u: The most important thing to keep in mind is: Unlike many other MMOs the endgame isn't running away from you, so you are in no rush to catch up either. All the maps of all the expansions are still relevant and populated with players. Take your time, try things out, explore the world, enjoy the journey.

osoevil9153: I’m 500 hours in and still don’t know what I’m doing.

i0kiVids: I don't know why I keep watching these beginner videos for GW2, I have over 230 hours in this game.

mayonaze4070: As a newer player myself, my biggest advice is to play what you enjoy and not stress too much about the meta. I chased it early on, spent hours on a character, and ended up parking it to play what I actually liked. Learn this lesson early—GW2 is way more fun when you play your way.

Beriorn: Something that this video ignores is that your choice of race affects your character's voice actor. Unlike many MMOs the player character not only has a lot of dialogue, but unlike games like FF14 or RuneScape they are actually voiced. And since there's quite a bit of dialogue for your character, you'll hear them yap a lot. As such, you'll want a character whose voice acting you can handle over the course of the campaign. They also have callouts in combat, which you can disable in the options menu if it gets on your nerves. Here's a list of the actors:

Nolan North - Human Male

April Stewart - Human Female

Matthew Mercer - Norn Male

Claudia Christian - Norn Female

Brandon Bales - Sylvari Male

Jennifer Hale - Sylvari Female

Steve Staley - Asura Male

Colleen O'Shaughnessey - Asura Female

Ron Yuan (later Lex Lang) - Charr Male

Kate Miller (later Mara Junot) - Charr Female

Of note is the options for the Charr. Around Living World 4 (between Path of Fire and End of Dragons) the voice actors were replaced, which means that the story voice acting, the basic callouts and the lines of the first two Elite Specializations are by the first actor, with the later story missions and the third and fourth Elite Specs are voiced by the new one. This can cause issues where the basic callouts and the Elite Spec callouts are by two different people, which might be jarring if that sort of thing easily bothers you.

michaelauer7543: "Just take the Elite Specialisation that comes with the expansions" but don't choose wrong because you may have a spec you hate and need 250 Hero Points to unlock the next one.

sherifelmeehy2296: I bought the end of dragons saga and SoTO last month, just finished the "My story" mission last night and about to start living worlds season 1. This game is absolutely amazing and I can't wait to get to the expansions and elite specs!

larrs8887: I came back to my account after 11 years earlier in 2025. I had one level 80 full exotics and 100 map completion and that was that. Installed on whim using my new Mac mini and found it worked great. Spent a few weeks playing the base game again, silverwastes and low level fractals and was hooked. Swapped to a new main and went all in on expansions and just crafted a fourth legendary (Aurora)! I still have only completed Secrets of the Obscure story wise so need to get back to doing story content but hit level 100 in Fractals and got my mastery rank to 380. It’s crazy) how good this game is and how fresh it is even though it’s quite old now, love it! Going to focus on End of Dragons story next and I’m looking forward to the raid quick play next year.

mugenkogollo: just a little correction, if you buy the elder dragon collection you get all of the living worlds without needing to buy separetly

JakeUHB: This game, along with any other MMORPG, can be overwhelming if you decide to go in blind. First off, don't jump in BEFORE you do some research on what SEEMS fun to you; UNLESS you don't mind trial and error. Some advice and things to think about for PvE:

1. Before you start playing, decide on your playstyle: casual/challenging. Then, pick your profession based on that. Look for "low apm builds" for casual playstyles. (Fun at first can quickly turn into frustration and burnout later on)

2. Like he said, join a guild, but look for one that is oriented towards helping new/returning players. (You will notice a difference)

3. When he says: "can do just about anything", he means that all of the classes can DPS, provide party boons, and heal. (Yes they can, but buying certain expansions is required and some professions are NOT good at doing it all.)

4. If you are wanting to play GW2 specifically for endgame content (strikes, fractals, raids), you can rush through content very quickly if you purchase specific expansions/DLCs first, which gives you easy access to Ascended equipment. The Wizard's Vault also hands out Ascended equipment. (You still have to play through the story and grind a bit)

rjayjo: really want to dive deep.. but its a bummer that the anet launcher dlc sales were too short i missed it, they couldve matched the steam/epic sales sched :((

crazycritic21: @Caffeinated Dad Gaming Its SIX Guilds and Represent ONE at a time.

snack_happy656: Thanks I just started like 2 weeks ago and still feel lost at level 80 wandering around like the Travolta meme. At the same time I feel like a hyper dog constantly bouncing to the next shiny unable to focus.

Trackersled: Ah Men! I love Gw2!!

VampysWorld: Little correction: They raised the maximum of guilds to 6.

MHLGF: I've been looking for a game like gw2 but with a singleplayer option with no other players, BC of internet and ping sometimes being an issue for me, and also I don't really like the rotation, even with a simple rotation like reaper or mechanist I still don't like... maybe you can call it a class based action rpg

Balloonbot: I rejoined after only hitting 66 in 2012 and got my first 80. The only roadbloack im hitting now is unlocking the elite specialisation. I was hyped to play the scrapper when I started HoT and realised im much further away than I thought and might even have to play Path of fire before I get to it. I don't mind grinding in MMO's but i wanted to grind on the classes I expected to play is all.

sasaradetic2202: It's one of the most convoluted games I've ever played.

And i don`t mean that, in any good way.

There is too much of a con artist spirit, like those mini games on phones.

Average1212: some personal opinions added in here.

Race isn't really important, but it is easier to do jumping puzzles with smaller character models.

The GW2 base "personal" story is awful, this is an objective truth, you can spend 20-30 hours getting to 80 and "learning the skills" in a way you will never play them or you can boost spend 2 hours on a dummy and be done. (the later stories are much much better). Depending on how you level you may or may not learn some of the important tells mobs make and attack patterns but that is not a guarantee.

If you want to maximize your value for 1-80 do map completions, at least then the time spent has 100% value as you will need it when you do your first legendary(with the starter kits you are most likely to do a weapon from there)

There are many ways to play this game, finding the mode that fits you is the key. I love WvW zerg, with organized guilds and big guild on guild clashes. If you are coming from wow and like 5 man content the higher end fractals might be your thing, The challenge modes are fun and give reward levels that feel meaningful for the time put in. Meta events and Convergences (if you have the applicable expansions) are always fun and there is no barrier to entry gear wise. Meta's and convergences will also teach you also every important mechanic in the game,

EthanO4K: what are the rewards for if there is no better gear?

gw2journeypod: Great guide!

adorablegreen1: I just started crafting gifts with all the stuff im getting and now im close to finishing 3 legendary items, this is such a cool thing, i finally started understanding and having a lot more fun now!

xSaltyPotato: Yoooo! I always loved your videos and followed every guide. Super excited to see you post a new roadmap for 2026. Happy Holidays!

LordCiego: Also when you are settled. For things to do check your Achievement Tab, and if you are lost or want info of your goals the Guild Wars wiki is essential in my opinion. Very helpful to locate things or to organize yourself with pages like the event timer to see when to do public covergences, world bosses, meta events and the like.

woodenmetal2977: I remember when I first played this game. I started as a warrior and eventually reached 80 without ever using melee weapons beyond unlocking their skills. I found bow and rifle more satisfying at the time until I reached 80 and decided to try out greatsword because I saw a cool blue flame looking one in the market (I believe it's called Cobalt). I loved it. Cobalt actually remains my most-used greatsword skin to this day.

Dec 25 2025

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