After diving into Guild Wars 2's World Vs World game mode I am sharing my first impressions, including what I loved (and some things I hated) about WvW.
Though I can see why the experience you shared (of just running away from what essentially looks like a horde, and sometimes just dying over and over) is scary and can also be punishing for people, I feel like they set the tone for WvW pretty clearly from the get-go. And to me, that's one of the best tutorials you can get lol However, I do think there are things that could be added to let people know that there are other things you can do in WvW outside of the big or small skirmishes. I left some of this info in one of the comments already, but essentially: Using and building siege, repairing structures, and scouting (a bit tied to roaming but your purpose is to just keep an eye out on enemies, not to have 1v1s) are also things you can do in WvW. These are pretty much the main things I do when I pop in there, unless my guild is running a zerg that day or I'm feeling like testing a build on people lol. I scout and defend. I see dots or swords on the map, I either check it out or call it out. I build siege on useful spots (this can easily turn a fight around when you have a well placed balli that can take out the enemy's golems, for example). I check walls and gates to see if anything needs repairing, and I team up with other players and do supply runs by protecting and speeding up yaks. Though skirmishes/fights are obviously at the core of the game mode, there's more to do, especially if you're not keen to fighting. And I feel like people miss out when they don't know these things. It makes it look like the game is just this one dimensional thing of "oh it's like pvp but in a wide map/more people". But there's actually some strategy involved, and if you're in a server that cares about this stuff, it's even better.
WvW was very daunting to start, but I really wanted Conflux (the legendary WvW ring) so I forced myself to do it. I joined a random group of people and joined their Discord. I ended up joining their guild as well and do regular WvW content with them these days. I like the social aspect and when you have large even fights over capturing objectives, it can lead to very clutch moments and is a unique experience. When it comes to performance, I lower the amount of player models on screen. GW2 isn't well optimised for today's standards and is heavily CPU based, so even though I have a monster of a PC if I don't lower the amount of visible models, I get frame dips all over the place. Another tip I can give is to disable other player's effects. It will make everything much clearer to see if you don't drown in explosions and lightning storms all the time.
Yeah good tips thanks! I almost instantly had to turn off all my shadows and reflections, I didn't see the option for other player animations I'll definitely go get that, the visual clutter is real!
your negative points are pretty manageable - anything new will take a while to grasp, just enjoy the ride, explore, ofc people will gank you now and then but take that on the fun side and ride on out. As for the maps, they're pretty intuitive as well, just look at the colors and where they are. I won't dispute the complaint about tutorials though I think the best way to learn anything is by just getting your hands dirty so to speak - I think when people complain about lack of tutorials/explanations is just a mindset that can be shifted to exploring and figuring things out on your own, which is not only rewarding in itself but part of the experience.
Yeah I definitely agree, I think just doing and exploring is always the best way to learn and ofcourse for the new players we do just run towards other colour camps and towers and start capturing but it's still good to understand the impact that is having and understand what else is happening on the map.
I’m primarily a WvW player and have been since launch, so might be hard to relate to new players. 😂 The one thing I can say is that joining a guild or two makes the greatest difference. They can teach you and hold your hand through the learning curve. There is a very friendly competitive scene specially with ocx guilds and of course some bitter rivalries. It’s this extra level of competition (and yes, sometimes drama) that keeps the game fresh for me after so long. Welcome to the battlefield and hope to see you soon!
I play almost exclusively WvW now. The best way to learn is to join a good competitive WvW guild, with a competent tag. It may take moving between several to find where you belong. Some are fight guilds, and some are PPT guilds that try to take objectives, but run from fights. Some are skilled, and some are terrible. It will take time to find where you fit. Once you do, it is the best game mode in the game hands down. Also, you are going to want to look up meta classes and builds for WvW, many guilds will have guild builds in their discord. They are very different from PvE builds. Good guilds are going to want you to play a meta class to fit in the squad comp. Nobody wants a soulbeast in their comp. Keep that for when you are roaming. I find comped squads of 15 to 25 with a good driver the most fun. 50 man squads just hitting the W key running over people with no skill are boring for sure.
NICE! Our new wvw champion has been born \O/ I am personally not a pvper, even ppl told me that I can view enemies as potatoes in WvW, I still don't like it. But I want to craft leggy O
Yeah each are very different too! I experience some of this, I don't think I've had the entire zerg head to head clash yet though... that must be chaos.
@@WilstormGaming Exactly lol If I wasn't mistaken, you are in Borlis Pass or linking with Borlis Pass, right? If you see Prosecute, mainly [SE] guild tag, you can consider following him, although he was a lil bit controversial sometimes. But he might be able to bring you some GvG content. Well, it depends on your enemy servers as well. Your previous enemy, Darkhaven, is also a GvG heavy server, especially when you see [PPT] or [BBC]. I hope they won't avoid each other but, well, we'll see. If you see [SE] is doing GvG with [PPT], especially when the drivers are Prosecute and Penguin, grab the chance to join them. It is not easy to see I assume lol And I forgot, Congratz on your 1st legendary \O/ If you also don't mind keep doing wvw, you can also consider crafting wvw legendary backpack and rings. They are not hard to craft and all your characters need backpack and ring, so even if they are not flashy, they are really useful^^
Wvw is my fave gamemode, however myself and lots of other vets. have been advocating for a better tutorial at the start for newer players for some time. Another thing many of us would like to see is either a warclaw rental npc, or that being an automatic unlock provided you have the expansion. As this is a very large disadvantage for a new player if the group they are trying to run with happens to be on the other side of the map. One good thing they did do is allow us to unlock a buff that lets us share the movement speed with new players, however you have to know they need it, as it takes some time to apply.
WvW is my favorite game mode in GW2. I was a PVEr before but the achievements and collections are so obnoxious it rubs me the wrong way. PVE is unplayable here without opening the Wiki or add on. Unlike WvW where I just login or join with my guild and listen to a commander in discord.
I think WvW it's not explained too badly, but it lacks just one thing: the "seems you are new to the mist wars, try capturing [Nearest enemy objective to one of the wayponts] to start"...it would help heaps and bounds, just something like that
One lesson that GW2 took from older games like Albion Online (which for some reason they forgot for Warhammer Online) is that a 3-way free-for-all works better than a 1v1. Add to that that servers are constantly rematched and they avoided the worst downfalls of similar systems in other games. It's also nice that you can always do something even solo or as a small group although that's often more PvE than PvP.
You may want to try standardized player models in options which will show standard armor on all players in wvw and pvp; that way in zergs you wont see everyones flashy armor and you will get really smooth fps in zergs
I've never been a fan of PvP in general. I have over 1000 hours in GW2, and only just started getting into WvW when they did the bonus event a couple months ago. So with that sort of perspective, I largely agree with your points in this video. Getting started with WvW is super confusing, but once I started to figure things out a bit more I did find myself enjoying it more than I thought I would. It's still not my favourite, but I can at least tolerate it enough to work on those Gifts of Battle now lol. 1000+ hours in and I still don't have a legendary other than the amulet from the return achievements xD
Gift of battle won't take you too long, I've got two now. But I definitely recommend using XP boosters! Makes a heap of difference, and then just maintain tier 6 by flipping camps if you don't enjoy the PvP elements.
Hey, do you play from aus? Back in the day I was a massive gw2 fan but went back to wow due to ping, do you use a VPN and still find yourself to be decently capable in end game content?
I just started playing Guild Wars but I’ve played MMOs for years and I spent almost a decade in cyrodiil in Elder Scolls online and it is very similar to Guild Wars WvW and both suffer from a similar issue. The huge size of faction stack Zergs the go into an under populated zone and just steam roll everything. ESO has the same issue. Overwhelming numbers is the answer to everything, I think restrictions should be put in to force people to spread out. There is nothing on the entire map that needs 40 people to take. It’s not fun and engaging combat it doesn’t promote people to get better at PvP and it is a huge cause of poor performance and lag in PvP
as strictly pve player i find it upsetting you have no choice but to do wvw if you want to have legendary and to me spending any amount of time in wvw would cost me bit of my sanity, to be trying to get participation and then rolled over by a squad or player whos way better than me at pvp and i dont even fight back cause i dont want to pvp. would say thats one of the negatives of wvw, you need to do it (or pvp) for the gift of battle Ty for new content to watch though, i enjoy it a lot, keep it up!
Yeah I definitely understand that I'm a little like that myself in many games. It's unusual for GW2 too, which usually is pretty good at letting you play how you want.
A few tips for making it a bit less daunting (since there isn't an alternative right now for PVErs): -Repairing structures and building siege still counts for participation. -You can focus on defending structures and using siege against enemies, as opposed to actually fighting them on your own. I did these two things exclusively when I first started playing, because I'm not typically a pvp enjoyer either. In fact, even now, I still avoid fights out on the field when I can. When defending, you can call out to your team when your structure is being attacked. Focus on the the big important buildings (essentially the keeps or the castle), because the smaller towers tend to get raided too easily if they're not fully upgraded. You can then just shoot people with ballistas/arrow carts/cannons, or use the shield generator to bubble a wall (or knock people back with the ball that it shoots out). You can use siege to break their siege too. All within the safety of your keep :) Then, if you ever feel more comfortable, you can join a zerg. That way, you're not facing anyone alone. Or just protect yaks as they supply the keeps!
I used to loathe the thought of having to go into WvW to earn gifts of battle now I look forward to it. I have joined a very active and great guild that runs scheduled rally’s where we have quite an operation while Zerging we have scouts everywhere and we are constantly on the move and in fights very intense and very fun. I struggled at first but I had a personal IRL friend show me the ropes which helped greatly. I still do PvE a lot but now I wish I could trade PvE players my gifts of battle for PvE gifts of exploration. I’m over having to explore all the Tyrian maps I have 18 gifts of exploration but I have I think 70 gifts of battle lol. Anet should make those two items trade-able they could be traded for each other lol. So I guess some gripe about needing to do WvW and some gripe needing to go PvE content to make legendary items. They wouldn’t be legendary if it was easy.
Though I can see why the experience you shared (of just running away from what essentially looks like a horde, and sometimes just dying over and over) is scary and can also be punishing for people, I feel like they set the tone for WvW pretty clearly from the get-go. And to me, that's one of the best tutorials you can get lol
However, I do think there are things that could be added to let people know that there are other things you can do in WvW outside of the big or small skirmishes. I left some of this info in one of the comments already, but essentially:
Using and building siege, repairing structures, and scouting (a bit tied to roaming but your purpose is to just keep an eye out on enemies, not to have 1v1s) are also things you can do in WvW. These are pretty much the main things I do when I pop in there, unless my guild is running a zerg that day or I'm feeling like testing a build on people lol.
I scout and defend. I see dots or swords on the map, I either check it out or call it out.
I build siege on useful spots (this can easily turn a fight around when you have a well placed balli that can take out the enemy's golems, for example).
I check walls and gates to see if anything needs repairing, and I team up with other players and do supply runs by protecting and speeding up yaks.
Though skirmishes/fights are obviously at the core of the game mode, there's more to do, especially if you're not keen to fighting. And I feel like people miss out when they don't know these things. It makes it look like the game is just this one dimensional thing of "oh it's like pvp but in a wide map/more people". But there's actually some strategy involved, and if you're in a server that cares about this stuff, it's even better.
WvW was very daunting to start, but I really wanted Conflux (the legendary WvW ring) so I forced myself to do it. I joined a random group of people and joined their Discord. I ended up joining their guild as well and do regular WvW content with them these days. I like the social aspect and when you have large even fights over capturing objectives, it can lead to very clutch moments and is a unique experience.
When it comes to performance, I lower the amount of player models on screen. GW2 isn't well optimised for today's standards and is heavily CPU based, so even though I have a monster of a PC if I don't lower the amount of visible models, I get frame dips all over the place. Another tip I can give is to disable other player's effects. It will make everything much clearer to see if you don't drown in explosions and lightning storms all the time.
Yeah good tips thanks! I almost instantly had to turn off all my shadows and reflections, I didn't see the option for other player animations I'll definitely go get that, the visual clutter is real!
your negative points are pretty manageable - anything new will take a while to grasp, just enjoy the ride, explore, ofc people will gank you now and then but take that on the fun side and ride on out.
As for the maps, they're pretty intuitive as well, just look at the colors and where they are. I won't dispute the complaint about tutorials though I think the best way to learn anything is by just getting your hands dirty so to speak - I think when people complain about lack of tutorials/explanations is just a mindset that can be shifted to exploring and figuring things out on your own, which is not only rewarding in itself but part of the experience.
Yeah I definitely agree, I think just doing and exploring is always the best way to learn and ofcourse for the new players we do just run towards other colour camps and towers and start capturing but it's still good to understand the impact that is having and understand what else is happening on the map.
I’m primarily a WvW player and have been since launch, so might be hard to relate to new players. 😂 The one thing I can say is that joining a guild or two makes the greatest difference. They can teach you and hold your hand through the learning curve.
There is a very friendly competitive scene specially with ocx guilds and of course some bitter rivalries. It’s this extra level of competition (and yes, sometimes drama) that keeps the game fresh for me after so long.
Welcome to the battlefield and hope to see you soon!
I play almost exclusively WvW now. The best way to learn is to join a good competitive WvW guild, with a competent tag. It may take moving between several to find where you belong. Some are fight guilds, and some are PPT guilds that try to take objectives, but run from fights. Some are skilled, and some are terrible. It will take time to find where you fit. Once you do, it is the best game mode in the game hands down. Also, you are going to want to look up meta classes and builds for WvW, many guilds will have guild builds in their discord. They are very different from PvE builds. Good guilds are going to want you to play a meta class to fit in the squad comp. Nobody wants a soulbeast in their comp. Keep that for when you are roaming. I find comped squads of 15 to 25 with a good driver the most fun. 50 man squads just hitting the W key running over people with no skill are boring for sure.
NICE! Our new wvw champion has been born \O/
I am personally not a pvper, even ppl told me that I can view enemies as potatoes in WvW, I still don't like it. But I want to craft leggy O
Yeah each are very different too! I experience some of this, I don't think I've had the entire zerg head to head clash yet though... that must be chaos.
@@WilstormGaming Exactly lol If I wasn't mistaken, you are in Borlis Pass or linking with Borlis Pass, right? If you see Prosecute, mainly [SE] guild tag, you can consider following him, although he was a lil bit controversial sometimes. But he might be able to bring you some GvG content. Well, it depends on your enemy servers as well. Your previous enemy, Darkhaven, is also a GvG heavy server, especially when you see [PPT] or [BBC]. I hope they won't avoid each other but, well, we'll see. If you see [SE] is doing GvG with [PPT], especially when the drivers are Prosecute and Penguin, grab the chance to join them. It is not easy to see I assume lol
And I forgot, Congratz on your 1st legendary \O/
If you also don't mind keep doing wvw, you can also consider crafting wvw legendary backpack and rings. They are not hard to craft and all your characters need backpack and ring, so even if they are not flashy, they are really useful^^
Wvw is my fave gamemode, however myself and lots of other vets. have been advocating for a better tutorial at the start for newer players for some time. Another thing many of us would like to see is either a warclaw rental npc, or that being an automatic unlock provided you have the expansion. As this is a very large disadvantage for a new player if the group they are trying to run with happens to be on the other side of the map. One good thing they did do is allow us to unlock a buff that lets us share the movement speed with new players, however you have to know they need it, as it takes some time to apply.
WvW is my favorite game mode in GW2. I was a PVEr before but the achievements and collections are so obnoxious it rubs me the wrong way. PVE is unplayable here without opening the Wiki or add on. Unlike WvW where I just login or join with my guild and listen to a commander in discord.
I think WvW it's not explained too badly, but it lacks just one thing: the "seems you are new to the mist wars, try capturing [Nearest enemy objective to one of the wayponts] to start"...it would help heaps and bounds, just something like that
Yeah absolutely, wouldn't be hard to automate some basic guidance/direction for new players.
Gw2 is so good!!!
One lesson that GW2 took from older games like Albion Online (which for some reason they forgot for Warhammer Online) is that a 3-way free-for-all works better than a 1v1. Add to that that servers are constantly rematched and they avoided the worst downfalls of similar systems in other games.
It's also nice that you can always do something even solo or as a small group although that's often more PvE than PvP.
You may want to try standardized player models in options which will show standard armor on all players in wvw and pvp; that way in zergs you wont see everyones flashy armor and you will get really smooth fps in zergs
I've never been a fan of PvP in general. I have over 1000 hours in GW2, and only just started getting into WvW when they did the bonus event a couple months ago. So with that sort of perspective, I largely agree with your points in this video. Getting started with WvW is super confusing, but once I started to figure things out a bit more I did find myself enjoying it more than I thought I would. It's still not my favourite, but I can at least tolerate it enough to work on those Gifts of Battle now lol. 1000+ hours in and I still don't have a legendary other than the amulet from the return achievements xD
Gift of battle won't take you too long, I've got two now. But I definitely recommend using XP boosters! Makes a heap of difference, and then just maintain tier 6 by flipping camps if you don't enjoy the PvP elements.
Hey, do you play from aus? Back in the day I was a massive gw2 fan but went back to wow due to ping, do you use a VPN and still find yourself to be decently capable in end game content?
Ever thought about giving sPvP a review? It's my favorite game mode but I know it's not for everyone.
This guy has to take a look at how Guilds Work. They're definitely not your typical guild affair.
I just started playing Guild Wars but I’ve played MMOs for years and I spent almost a decade in cyrodiil in Elder Scolls online and it is very similar to Guild Wars WvW and both suffer from a similar issue. The huge size of faction stack Zergs the go into an under populated zone and just steam roll everything. ESO has the same issue. Overwhelming numbers is the answer to everything, I think restrictions should be put in to force people to spread out. There is nothing on the entire map that needs 40 people to take. It’s not fun and engaging combat it doesn’t promote people to get better at PvP and it is a huge cause of poor performance and lag in PvP
as strictly pve player i find it upsetting you have no choice but to do wvw if you want to have legendary and to me spending any amount of time in wvw would cost me bit of my sanity, to be trying to get participation and then rolled over by a squad or player whos way better than me at pvp and i dont even fight back cause i dont want to pvp. would say thats one of the negatives of wvw, you need to do it (or pvp) for the gift of battle
Ty for new content to watch though, i enjoy it a lot, keep it up!
Yeah I definitely understand that I'm a little like that myself in many games. It's unusual for GW2 too, which usually is pretty good at letting you play how you want.
You don't have to feel bad. Think of it as "involuntarily" sharing your generosity in the form of free loot bags.
A few tips for making it a bit less daunting (since there isn't an alternative right now for PVErs):
-Repairing structures and building siege still counts for participation.
-You can focus on defending structures and using siege against enemies, as opposed to actually fighting them on your own.
I did these two things exclusively when I first started playing, because I'm not typically a pvp enjoyer either. In fact, even now, I still avoid fights out on the field when I can.
When defending, you can call out to your team when your structure is being attacked. Focus on the the big important buildings (essentially the keeps or the castle), because the smaller towers tend to get raided too easily if they're not fully upgraded.
You can then just shoot people with ballistas/arrow carts/cannons, or use the shield generator to bubble a wall (or knock people back with the ball that it shoots out). You can use siege to break their siege too. All within the safety of your keep :)
Then, if you ever feel more comfortable, you can join a zerg. That way, you're not facing anyone alone. Or just protect yaks as they supply the keeps!
I used to loathe the thought of having to go into WvW to earn gifts of battle now I look forward to it. I have joined a very active and great guild that runs scheduled rally’s where we have quite an operation while Zerging we have scouts everywhere and we are constantly on the move and in fights very intense and very fun. I struggled at first but I had a personal IRL friend show me the ropes which helped greatly. I still do PvE a lot but now I wish I could trade PvE players my gifts of battle for PvE gifts of exploration. I’m over having to explore all the Tyrian maps I have 18 gifts of exploration but I have I think 70 gifts of battle lol. Anet should make those two items trade-able they could be traded for each other lol. So I guess some gripe about needing to do WvW and some gripe needing to go PvE content to make legendary items. They wouldn’t be legendary if it was easy.
This dude isn't playing GW2 - bet he's on WoW SoD