Old player returning

So... I used to play GW back when prophecies was the only thing around and quit before Factions came out.

I'm thinking of getting back to the game but because I've lost all this content I'm thinking of getting the whole package for ~32 euros and starting anew. I do have an Ele/x and Ranger/x, obviously both 20 but i'm not sure I want to play either. New classes sound interesting though I have pretty much no clue about em :D

So, my real question:

1. Start a new char or not? How good are the new professions? For example, is Elementalist still the king of the hill when it comes to raw dps?
2. Assuming I start a new char, which campaign to go into? I'm mostly into PvE for now, I won't PvP until I learn everything all the new content has to offer, especially skills etc. I hear Nightfall is the one to go, advice needed.

Thats all for now, I'll be back to pester you guys some more :)

New professions must start in the campaign they're introduced in. Rit or Sin must start in Factions, and Derv or Paragon must start in Nightfall.

Nightfall is nice to start in because it's well balanced and has heroes. Factions is nice to start if you want to level fast, but it's also a steeper learning curve.

There's many fairly balanced ways to do raw dps. D or W are good for melee-range. Sin is good for single-target melee too, but generally more fragile. Melee tend to have better dps than caster-range, but are more easily shut down via blind, hexes, snares, etc.

In casting range, E, Rt, and N are good choices. Rt tend to use spirits quite a bit for the damage function, which also act as bodyblockers. Necros tend to use curses, which are somewhat more effective in hard mode. Rits and Necros can also use minions for damage & bodyblock.

If you add the keys to your old account, you get the best of both worlds imo. You get to keep your old chars, and make new ones. But you lose the ability of having a 2nd account.

I personally enjoy having multiple characters, so I'd advise trying new classes. I currently enjoy playing Rt a lot, as I can spirit spam, heal, or play minion master. I have also not fully explored the straight dps aspect of Rits.

Awesome, thanks a lot for the info Alaris.

Moar questions!

1. I assume that legacy professions (ele, war, ra etc) can be created as new chars in factions/nightfall or you can only create their respective new professions on each campaign?

2. Hows the community? I hear a lot about being completely different than it was back in prophecies. They say that no one groups for missions anymore, everyone just uses heroes for pve and the only interaction is trading/trolling/spamming crap in trade hubs. I'm sure there's a lot of exaggeration on the above so whats the reality?

Legacy characters can be created anywhere.

They who? There's a lot of exaggeration above. But it's not 100% false either.

But to be honest, if you want to group in normal mode non-zaishen, you're better off finding a Guild. The game is getting old, and there's lots of people hunting titles or doing endgame content. There are still players new to the game, or starting new characters everyday, but don't count on being able to find them easily.

I get into groups (PUGs) for missions regularly, but I time it with zaishen missions, so that makes it a lot easier to get into a group. For normal mode stuff, I tend to do it with Guildies, or with heroes & hench.

There's a lot of trading etc in hubs. Again, if you want meaningful interaction, join a Guild. There's a few recruiting in the recruiting thread.

Thanks. But can you tell me what Zaishen is? :D

I don't mind doing missions with heroes/henchies. Actually I like solo play quite a lot (because I can be less focused and go on my pace). What I don't like is ghost towns, I don't wanna feel like I'm playing a single player game, thats all.

Each day, there are 3 zaishen quests given. One is to do a mission. One is to kill a boss. And one is to participate in some PvP style.

These quests give extra gold, xp, and zcoins. zcoins can be used to buy equipment backpacks, skill tomes, and other cool stuff.

Some of the outposts really are deserted now. Mostly out of the way villages, or mission starting zones (where no zaishen quest is active at the moment). There is still lots of activity in other outposts, and -as Alaris said- if you can manage to time your missions with the zaishen quests, then you will find groups.

Why no one mention ranger?

Originally Posted by Noa Brightington

Why no one mention ranger?

What about them?

Originally Posted by Alaris

Each day, there are 3 zaishen quests given. One is to do a mission. One is to kill a boss. And one is to participate in some PvP style.

These quests give extra gold, xp, and zcoins. zcoins can be used to buy equipment backpacks, skill tomes, and other cool stuff.

Yeah and you can find these quest at the Great Temple of Balthazar using the campaign travel icon that looks like a ship. There'll be 3 flag stands for each of the 3 quests there.

The ship will look like this:

I believe the ship will appear as soon as you take a character across to another campaign. (you'll have to do a small quest to 'unlock' them, don't worry - they're not hard) Then it'll randomly appear in the list to travel to. I think mapping from your Guild Hall will work also if you have one.

If I was you I'd keep your old Ranger and Elementalist as you can take them through the other campaigns from the start - only difference is you'll have a better advantage than having to start from scratch in each campaign as you've already got your weapons and some skills, so your character will just learn even more skills and gain more weapons!

EDIT

Oh and adding the other games (namely Factions and Nightfall) will give you more character slots on your current account. You get 2 new character slots by adding Factions and another 2 more if you add Nightfall. So you'll have a total of 8 character slots anyway, so that's enough to make 8 out of the 10 professions, assuming you've got enough time to play that many. :p