Guild Wars 2: Newbie Questions Answered!

Item hierarchy

- white, BLUE, then GREEN, Yellow, Gold Purple (not really sure which one is higher lvl, gold or purple)

- this is the first mmo in which i've seen that Blue comes before Green in rarity

- i've found what distinguishes an item between blue and green is that green are upgraded with runes

- runes give special set bonuses if you have more than one

NOTE: you can use high level salvaging kits on items with runes in it to re-use those runes in other gear (every piece of gear i've encountered has a slot for an upgrade)

NOTE 2: you do not benefit twice from the same rune; only one benefit is received

ie. Rune A

Gear with 1 rune: +5 Power

Using gear with 2 of the same rune still results in only +5 power, not +10 b/c you have both. It only means you get the second bonus IF there is one.

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Attributes
There is:
- Power (direct damage)
- Precision (crit chance)
- Toughness (damage reduction)
- Vitality (health; 1 point = 10 hp for every class)

Extra stats (things to consider when speccing):

- Crit Chance

- Magic Find%

- +Condition damage; this is important if you have alot of conditions for your weapon skills (conditions = debuffs such as bleeds, burning, confusion, etc)

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Zone wide rewards & when to move to the next zone
- you get experience for nearly everything you do: fighting/farming, crafting, gathering (materials from resource nodes), doing heart quests, personal quests, dynamic events, exploring new areas, discovering Points of Interest, Vistas, World vs World (aka PvP)
- there are no traditional quests in Guild Wars 2; there are 3 main kinds of quests which imho was created to develop immersion into the game:

1. Heart Quests
- appear in the top right area where the quest tracker normally is
- the npc to return to get rewards has a Yellow Heart symbol above their head and on the map
- each zone has more than 10 Heart Quests which are area quests that start by either talking to a certain NPC, but most of the time happens when you walk into the appropriate area
- similar to Warhammer Online's public quest, as you contribute to the heart quest, you gain 'influence' 
- you gain influence by doing one of many (up to approximately 5 different) things for the NPC
- normally there isn't a time limit
- once you have full influence, you get experience and a small amount of karma and gain access to some rewards you can purchase from the NPC with that karma (more about karma soon)

2. Dynamic Quests

- there are no NPCs that give the quest or to return to, there is only the orange text in the quest tracker to let you know what to do

- normally there are orange icons on the map: Gears (normally something to interact with), Crossed Swords (something to attack), or a Horned Helm (a mini boss)

- it is my belief that the (GW2)game system can tell where players are and it will spawn a quest in that area

- similar to a Heart Quest, but it may not always happen if you're in the area

- you can do a Dynamic Quest as many times as you like

- there are Dynamic Quest CHAINS, whereas a Heart Quest normally only has one stage

- unlike the Heart Quest, the Dynamic Quest SCALES in difficulty depending on how many players are participating

- depending on how much you contribute, results in you gaining either bronze, silver, or gold rewards which is always experience, karma and a bit of money

- these quests will recycle over and over, even if you've already completed it

- there is sometimes a time limit

3. Personal Quests

- denoted by the Green colored text under the quest tracker

- what makes it special is it is a special quest only for your own character, although your party can help you

- each race has their own Personal Quest which is special and personalized at the beginning by the background choices you make

- each Personal Quest will force you to make choices that has an impact in your world/instanced home setting/story

- the PQ increases in difficulty after each consecutive quest

- PQs give the greatest lump sum increase in experience, other than possibly capturing a major keep in World vs World

- PQs also give money, gear for that level (not YOUR level), and other materials (Black Lion keys, gathering materials)

Each zone is appropriate for certain levels; when you zoom out a bit, it'll show you the appropriate level bracket (1-15, 15-25 etc). The game is great for partying with new players as when you go to lower levels to play with them, your character is de-leveled for that area so it is still challenging. Best thing is you still get rewards for the area. By questing in the appropriate level for your character, you'll get better experience, although it is normally easier to do lower level tiers.

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An important thing to remember:
1. Daily Quests
- Every day you can complete the same 5 challenges:
1. Kill X different kinds of creatures
2. Kill X amount of creatures total
3. Gather X amount of different times
4. Participate in X amount of (Dynamic) events (does include doing many WvW captures)
- completing a daily quest will give money, experience, a transmution stone and a Jug of Karma (gives 4500 karma)

2. Map Completion
- you'll notice to the left of the major map (M), the game tracks the different things you've done (Heart Quests, Points of Interest, Vistas, Skill Point Challenges, Waypoints etc)
- if you complete everything and get 100%, the game rewards you with a zone appropriate (not level) reward of usually gear, gathering tools or materials, money and experience
- it doesn't feel like the reward is that impressive, but it does reward a completionist

Click me!

How to read the basic map

- Basically, put your cursor on everything and anything

- the Green Star is for where your Personal Quest is

- a black weight/money scale is to denote the Auction House (called the Black Lion Trader)

- the black round bag denotes the bank

- A diamond is a waypoint, which are used for fast travel (for a cost that increases with distance and level)

So that is just part one, of many. I wrote this a bit later than I wanted, but I was busy leveling my character. Please feel free to correct anything in the comments section or add more things you'd like me to write about. Cheers!