battlebots1: To answer your question, no, most players do not grind to get good - in fact the vast majority of players have never done a raid.
Aereton: People recommending not to boost isn't necessarily about learning to play your class. Sure, some core class mechanics still apply for most elite specs (virtues from guardian comes to mind, or the shroud from necro).

But it's more about learning the gameplay loops in general:
Learning how to navigate maps (gets really important in xpac when they throw metroidvania exploration at you!), learning emergent group play (how do I join a squad? how do I follow the commander's instructions if I need help?), how does map completion work, what can I expect in jumping puzzles, what is the break bar, how do I manage my inventory, how do I handle currencies, how do I make gold, etc etc etc..

This is why MightyTeapots advice is best: Try playing the game normally without boosts, but if you feel like you won't learn anything new or you get bored by the leveling experience then go ahead and boost.

Also, in terms of sweatiness in PUGs: Most friction doesn't come from people not hitting arbitrary benchmarks (though, it may happen from time to time, and more commonly if you're support and not getting acceptable boon uptime), most friction in PUGs comes from people not understanding encounters, failing mechanics or just generally not doing what they are required to do in specific situations. Since the game has a more pronounced player autonomy in group content compared to other MMOs, having someone not dancing to the tune can cause issues for the whole group every now and then. In GW2, the old adage "can't heal stupid" rings true even more than in other games - and in some cases, the group can wipe because of it.

Usually though, as a commander, taking the time and talking people through encounters alleviates most problems that can occur. And I'd say if you encounter sweaty players, it's gonna be most likely in raids, since people just wanna get through their weeklies as fast as possible. Strikes are way more relaxed in terms of inter-player relations, especially if you avoid any groups in the LFG that require kill proof. Basically, it's only as sweaty as you want it to be. If you want to do raids in a very non-judgemental environment, you can always join a raid training community too. I think the way this community organized itself around typical MMO issues is pretty neat.
mangoman93: One thing you should be aware of when "getting good" is that different builds are good for different content. A top dps raid build even played very well probably won't let you solo most group content, including champions in the open world. A tanky build with lot's of boons for yourself, however, will probably let you solo most things outside of instances, but be pretty horrible in a raid.
Oatmeal-Savage: Once you hit Heart of Thorns, you can look forward to questions like "Can you show us on the doll where the bad pocket raptors touched you?"

Heart of Thorns was the first expansion, and didn't come out until the core game had been out for something like 3 years. As such, by the time it came out there was a sizable portion of the player base who were maxed and knew their class. Anet erroneously focused on them for this expansion and as such the expansion overall was a fairly significant jump in difficultly from the base game. Bear in mind there were no mounts, and gliding was only introduced in that expansion. Raids were introduced, too. You're going to have fun in that expac. The next one, Path of Fire, was toned down a bit in a lot of areas. Mounts were introduced. If you're a completionist, you'll want to get the mount masteries up. Skyscale came later during living world season 4 I believe. And my fav mount, the turtle, came in End of Dragons. With the Warclaw mastery of 20% to mount energy regen, plus the End of Dragons jade bot item that gives you 30% mount energy regen, that's 50% total mount energy regen. That's enough for you to keep your griffon flying level with no loss of altitude. And you can fly for a LONG time with your turtle jets, and with turtles you can carry a passenger. I've helped people lots of times get to content they couldn't get to otherwise as they didn't have the proper mount, just by flying them there on my turtle. It was fun. They nerfed turtle slam (for fun, watch Mukluk's video of his raid group beating the End of Dragons meta using just turtles before they nerfed turtle slam), but it's still fun to ferry people around.
deadvodka: having played since beta and living through most of the game developement, it is so much fun watching you learn it from scratch. getting a few nostalgia hits from your aha! moments
you obviously do, but I hope you continue to enjoy your journey!
luca7675: There are sweaty people in pve but usually you are not going to encounter them because they are in quads that require killproofs to join. Most of the toxicity is directed towards people that dont perform the task they joined for but then are unresponsive in chat when people point it out (even in a nice way). As long as you are transparent with it when you struggle with something almost noone is gonna flame you.
jhmi7877: Honestly, I wouldn't suggest ArcDPS yet. When you're getting into the harder content, sure? But I feel like people (or maybe just me lol) can get tunnel vision over their dps, to the point of you being neglectful over other things. Like fun, for instance XD Or the multitude of things that you still need to learn at this point, like rotations and if you even want to play a class that relies heavily on them (some classes or builds can be very, very forgiving). Or various mechanics. Paying attention to the boons and conditions you have over your bar, and what they all mean. Boon upkeep, condition cleanses, break bars. Dodges, kiting, and using terrain to your advantage. A ton of other stuff.

DPS meters can come later, IMO, when you've got a bit more knowledge and muscle memory under your belt. It can be your next step up.
lunarezlycablood1838: by the way. it is always good to remember that raid/fractal builds can feel a lot different than openworld builds despite using the same gearset. since you're starting out, it's ok to use raid builds as a baseline and then editing them according to the contents you're going for.

for example, raid reaper buid will mostly use Well of Suffering and Signet of Spite as they're the strongest dps option. In openwold you may find Well of Power to be a really good option since it is a condi cleanse/ break stun/ knock down prevention all-in-one. Signet of Locust is also a mobility option that let you move around the map faster.
ginster458: When I started raiding while not hitting 30k reliably I got „called out“ twice or so, but always nicely and by someone that knew the build and then also offered a quick tip and followed up with the offer to give some pointers, that helped a ton! I think it’s fair to join even if you’re still learning, you gotta do it somewhere- what IS important though is learning the lfg language used in group listings and being upfront so you know what expectations and goals the group has you’re joining. (Lara and Teapot have guides on that and there’s and abbreviations page on the wiki)
My recommendation would be to not just jump into raids and strikes immediately- play the story, do it chronologically, or you’ll get spoiled. Old Lions Court is technically (story wise) the first strike that takes place in LS1 and is a good place to dip your toes in and get a feel how mechanics work in gw

Sep 16 2024

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