Greetings and Questions

Greetings, Gaiscioch! Faireach (my brother) and I are planning to sojourn in GW2. It appears Roisin Dubh will not be putting in an official appearance, and so we would beg to be blazoned with the devices of our Gaiscioch brothers in arms, if you'll have us. To that end, I have a couple of questions for anyone who might care to answer them.

For those who might not know Faireach/me/us, we're two ancient curmudgeons, brothers, who live together. We're both on Disability, and so our budget is quite limited. We're hoping that Ramen noodles will save us enough pennies to be able to buy two copies of the game before Early Start. However, how "behind" would we be if one or both of us had to wait till the first of next month, when our next Disability payments arrive, to purchase? Coming up with $120 all at once for something that doesn't qualify as a necessity tends to be a budget-buster these days. =\

Also, as you might imagine from what I said, our reflexes are those of the old and disabled. We're simply not going to be the best at "twitch" classes. Faireach tends to gravitate toward heavy armor melee tanky types. From what little I've read, I think I'm leaning toward Necromancer... but I'm pretty flexible when it comes to playstyle, as long as there's not a lot of "everyone is going to point and laugh if you don't perform right on cue" to it. Anyone have any suggestions for classes for us?

We're very much looking forward to once again taking the field with Gaiscioch! We've missed having a game to play in.

Hello and welcome... As far as behind... I think that is a non-issue with this game as it "scales" to where you are in the world at the time, so you could be level 40 but if you are in a "starting" area you will scale down to like level 3... And as far as toons go play what is most fun for you!!! :)

Welcome to the GW2 side, Faireach & Tetharel! As for classes, each of them has several possible playstyles ranging from "Glass Cannon" to "Survivable" to "Group Support". For non-twitch players, leaning toward the survivable end of things will probably increase your fun. :) Other than that it's playstyle preference: do you always play in group? Do you prefer to get into your target's face, or be a sniper from afar? Do you love to round up a bunch of baddies then AOE them? These are just my opinions, but I feel the most tanky class is Guardian. The other heavy armor class, Warrior, is a bit more DPS focused, but it can be built for decent tankiness too. And Necro is actually a pretty good choice for the low twitch crowd too, particularly if you build for survivability. Ranger is another good low-twitch, survivable choice (let the pet do some of the work for you). On the "probably too much twitch" end: Elementalist. It's the "high risk, high reward" class: super squishy, with high DPS. You'll need to kite and use a lot of different skills to get good results from it. The other classes fall in the middle, and they are all pretty fun (at least in the lowbie levels where I've tried em). As Rumpz mentions, it's always possible to run with folks who are lower level on an equal basis because of the automatic level decrease.

» Edited on: 2012-08-12 09:42:13

Thanks, y'all! Yes, survivability is definitely a plus, as we both tend to wade in and worry about the consequences later. ;)In past games, Fair has typically tanked and I healed his butt. As I understand it, there are no dedicated healers in GW2. Not that I'm especially enamored with heals... but I do tend to enjoy roles that can offer good group support, especially if they can still take a hit or two when they have to. But I don't care too much for "spotlight" support (as in, if I mess up the whole group will wipe). Actually, on the "falling behind" issue, I was more concerned about the other way around: if we're 10 levels behind most others in the guild, will we still be able to participate in activities, or will we constantly feel like we're playing "catch up" to you guys? Again, thanks for the replies, guys.

Teth, for the falling behind issue it really depends on what you like to do. Certainly there will be folks who zoom to the level cap and run dungeons -- those DO have a minimum level. I think Fog plans a PVE zone event once a week, but if it's anything like Rift we'll be sticking to the lowbie zones for a while. But if you like to WvW (we have 4 WvW events scheduled per week), you are golden. You can pop into WvW at level 2 (as soon as you finish the tutorial) and you'll be auto leveled up to 80 and can play with everyone. (Same with the PVP battlegrounds, if you like those.) The thing about GW2 though is that PVE is not gear-gated (unlike Rift). So you won't be grinding lots of dungeons to (try~ to) catch up to the pack. When you are the right level you can just go in. The flip side is that there is no real PVE raiding, so at level 80 I think you can expect folks to go back to lower level zones to finish those up for the completionist rewards, or trying to craft legendary gear, or WvW.

Thanks, Lakshmi! That sounds encouraging. :) And yes, I'm mostly interested in the massive WvW Gaiscioch tends to get into. ;) As far as dungeons, I generally like to do them at least once, just to "see the elephant", so to speak, but it's not really my "thing". Still hoping to be in game for Early Start, but if not, you should see us in game within a week or two after that.

As far as survival goes I've yet to see a class best a Warrior. You can build them to be very tank and have certain skills that can make you invincible for 9 seconds. As far as a class thats really support orientated i would suggest an elementalist focused heavily into water spells or a guardian with a staff.

Welcome! With respect to playing ability, please don't fret about it. I've been in family groups in Rift with new tanks or new healers, and have found patience to be high, and if your dps is low, no big deal either. Have fun and everything else works out. The most twitchy/pressure will be found in sPvP. All aspects of GW2 are optional. There's decidedly not the gating in GW2 that there is in other games. Gear doesn't matter all that much, and even the character's level is adjustable. No tanks and no healers, but a lot professions can contribute to support in various ways. It sounds like you're PvE-oriented, ya? Dungeons are the one place that content is level-limited. But don't worry, you'll both get there. One suggestion: leveling a tradeskill will get you good number of levels. If you do a lot of gathering on the first account, saving up ingredients, then when you get the second account you could use 'em to level up pretty quick before even leaving town!

" One suggestion: leveling a tradeskill will get you good number of levels. If you do a lot of gathering on the first account, saving up ingredients, then when you get the second account you could use 'em to level up pretty quick before even leaving town!" ~ Mulch Yup, if i remember right each tradeskill provides 10 levels worth of experience (not counting gathering). There being 8 different tradeskills, its actually possible to get to max level without killing a single mob.

Wow, that's interesting about the tradeskills! I'll definitely have to look into that. Thanks for the tip! :) Just to demonstrate the sort of family we have here, the question about whether we'd be able to come up with two copies of the game before Early Start has been settled, thanks to the gracious generosity of a Gaiscioch member. I won't mention a name, because I'm not sure this person would want me to, but s/he (I know which gender, but you don't ;-) ) can jump in here if s/he wants. That was completely unexpected, but totally appreciated in our current circumstances! So... see y'all in Early Start! Really looking forward to the fun and fellowship of journeying with Gaiscioch once again!

Tetharel, don't be shy about using a necro for support either. They can be built to take conditions off of buddies as well as provide healing and other support skills through their well abilities. If you like the idea of a necromancer, I say stick with it because of all the cloth classes, they can turn into a lich and become very tanky that way if by accident you can't help but take aggro from your brother. When it comes to what your brother wants in a tanky heavy armor class, the best way to sum up the difference between a tanky warrior and a tanky guardian is this: Tanky Warrior can stop damage to himself very well, heal himself and others very well (healing shouts), but also can do somewhat decent damage. Tanky Guardian can stop damage to his party well, but doesn't have quite as much personal defense as a tanky warrior. He can heal his party, but surprisingly not as well as a heal shout warrior with 3 shouts (though it's not far behind). A tanky guardian can't do as much damage as a tanky warrior, but he has a lot of bubble and wall abilities that help retard movement of lots of enemies and prevent damage for your entire party (which a warrior doesn't really have). TL:DR Tank Warrior: Best personal defesne, best party healing, average dps. Tank Guardian: Best group defensive, good party healing, low dps, Best damage prevention to party

» Edited on: 2012-08-13 09:36:00

Welcome back Faireach we've missed you :). You should feel right at home. If you want a class that you can stand back and blanket people the ele and ranger are pretty fun. Usually i can keep people away without having to dodge a lot. I played quite a bit of guardian and unless they fixed the heals they aren't really that great for healing. I see better healing output on my ranger and ele than i do on the guardian.

Vampiresbane, I've pretty well decided my first character will be a Necro. It sounds like it has some really interesting possibilities that fit in with my playstyle. Based on what I can see without trying, I think I might want to try going with a pet-heavy (Minion Master) build. That said, however, I have a really bad track record when it comes to my first character being what I eventually end up with as my main. ;-) We'll see, I suppose. I soooooo want to get in game and try out what I've been reading up on. ;-) Can't wait for the 25th... Fog, Fair's main in LoTRO was a hunter, so he might well be open to the Ranger class. I'll run that by him and see what he thinks. :) Mulch, thanks for the encouragement on playing ability. :-) Most of the time, Fair and I are both squarely middle of the pack in ability, due mostly to "old man lag" in eye/hand coordination. On rare occasions, things "click" and we both manage to go toe-to-toe with the best and hold our own. But on bad days, when we have more pain/health issues, we can definitely be all thumbs and screw up in ways those without our issues sometimes have trouble understanding. One thing you can count on is we'll both be doing the best we can to pull our weight. ;-)

At least you guys have an excuse for having bad reflexes, my fingers are just plain clumsy, so I can't play twitch classes either :/ I've tried staff elementalist, and kind of like it. It doesn't rely on quick reaction, so much as good strategy for placing aoe's.

I have found great flexibility on many of the professions... I tend to play casters or ranged dps since I am also a tad old (61) and my reflexes aren't the greatest either, but sometimes I just have to jump into the fray and make my presence known. The elementalist, depending on what you have equipped can do this (I love "ride the lighning" and "burning retreat"). This is even more true with the Ranger who can quickly swap from bow to sword, great sword, or daggers. Even the thief has ranged attacks and then can swap to melee - and the engineer is just a jack of all trades depending on the tool kit they have - they can heal, do ranged damage, and I guess even some melee. I am going to have more alts than I wanted to... but the elementalist is my first love and then the engineer comes second just like in Warhammer. ps. What you mentioned about the family "Just to demonstrate the sort of family we have here,..." We do have a great family - keeping it strong should be what we do. I had a battle cry I used in Warhammer - not sure if I can make that macro in GW2 - but I would occassionally yell (in "say") by hitting my macro... "Gaiscioch Forever!" or "I am Gaiscioch". This is how I feel. It is a great family thanks to Fog and our other leaders. ... and I remember you from the previous games - it's great that you'll be joining us in GW2 and I can't wait to run with my Gaiscoch brothers and sisters again.

» Edited on: 2012-08-13 14:05:52

To echo what Lakshmi has said, there should be no concerns about "falling behind" in GW2. * A dedicated player will probably be maxed out in level and gear within a couple of months. A casual player probably in as little as 6 months. Compared to most MMOs, catching up should be a breeze. Arenanet want people playing the game because it's fun to play, not because they need to grind out endless hours to get to a finishing line that is constantly moving just beyond their grasp. * There are no "Quests" in the traditional sense, just lots and lots of events. You won't find the issue Rift had of dozens of players all at completely separate stages of questlines and struggling to find another player looking to complete the same quest you are. World Events are often and repeatable, and happen in real-time, so anyone in the immediate vicinity can jump in and assist you at any stage. * Levels (and some drops) scale to wherever you happen to be. Once you outlevel a zone, there is ample encouragement to go back again with even a maxed-out toon, as it should remain both challenging and rewarding. There should be no shortage of players happy to drop back a few zones to help you catch up faster at any stage. In WvWvW, the levels even scale up, so (in theory) you can jump into WvWvW and fight alongside (and against) players of much higher level. In PvP (the equivalent of Scenarios in Warhammer) you become a true 80 with max gear and all your skills unlocked.

Faireach & Tetharel - it's great news that you can join us for the headstart (we have such a great family!). I'd urge you to go setup your GW2 account ASAP and download/patch the client right away. They've said that it's the same client they'll update for the live game, so it's a good way to get a jump on downloading those 25 GB. ;) Also we've had a few stress tests over the past couple weeks. If there's another you'll be able to try out the game a little even before the headstart. Client Download - this is on your account page so you'll need to have a GW2 account, and be logged in.

» Edited on: 2012-08-14 07:43:24

Hey there! Glad you can make it with the family to headstart. =) As for playing with disability, I'm right there with you. I have MS and the thing it has decided to mess up the most is my left arm, primarily the hand. Sometimes I just can't get it to do the walking on the keys correctly. The only reason I can still type near 40wpm is due to having learned it in high school. I just have to back space more often now. ;) I usually played cleric or ranged classes in a lot of games though in Warhammer, Briseadh was a Swordmaster, and she got played when I was on a positive side of health for the most part. In this game I've played around a few of the classes during beta testing. Briseadh is going to be a Norn Guardian - that's what seems to fit for her in my mind for this game along with the roleplay I'd do with her. I have fun with that because when I just need to be in someone's face, I can do it with her. Now I like the thief, too, but I tend to mess her up a lot faster than the guardian. Dirt naps happen more, but I still have fun with her. Sadly I like WvW, but there are times when I know I'm either too fatigued (the other annoying thing with my MS) or my hands are too stiff to keep up with that insanity.

Briseadh, I remember Teth the swordmaster standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Bris the swordmaster in many a Warhammer keep as we executed yet another Pandora's Box and destroyed our enemies. ;-) Doctors can't seem to agree on what to call what's wrong with Fair and me (other than the emphysema we both have that qualifies on its own for the US government's definition of disability). The closest thing to a consensus there is would be that we have Fibromyalgia. But Fair and I both have had doctors tell us what we have is MS (not to mention CFS/CFIDS and it was even called Lupus by one doctor!). Our mother developed Muscular Dystrophy (Myasthenia Gravis) late in life, and so there was even early speculation that was what we had. IOW, they're just guessing when it comes to us. But I can definitely identify with what you're saying. And yes, we've pretty well learned to have fun with our toons regardless of how much they die or run off in unexpected (and often lethal) directions we never intended. It really doesn't bother me unless my mistakes start impacting other people's ability to enjoy what they're doing (like causing multiple wipes or such). That's the main reason I've tended to avoid end-game raiding... and one reason I'm glad GW2 doesn't have that! :-P Lakshmi, thanks for the advice on downloading/patching! That was actually the first thing I did after receiving my code, but it never hurts to have people reminding me to do things. :-) Denji, Morigana and Dargron, thanks for the encouragement! I hope to be as encouraging to others as y'all have been to me!

I had to chuckle to myself when you mentioned "causing wipes" although I totally realize it was on a serious note - I chuckled because I have been known to cause wipes just from my typical game play - as I stated in the previous reply ... "but sometimes I just have to jump into the fray and make my presence known" - well that "sometimes" sometimes comes at the worse possible moment. As it stands right now I am probably naming my engineer "Morigana Na Mire" which I have translated as "Morigana the Mad" and if we ever get to play together - which is a great possibility - you'll see my little mad bomber in action :) Safe Journ.

LOL @ Morigana. I know exactly what your talking about when it comes to "sometimes comes at the worse possible moment." So if your ever in WvWvW and you charge unknowingly into the fray of incoming arrows from an arrow cart? Don't be too surprised to see a mad little engineer by the name of Invader Timm running along beside you yelling "Mwa ha ha ha! Taste my fiery flame thrower of DOOM!!... wait, are those arrows?"

That is pure genius. Pure twisted genius.