torn

tarutaruman

well i was going to get guild wars.

i played ffxi for 3 years and just the long leveling has made me crazy.

i want more PvP and i heard guildwars can give that to me.

but i was wondering which i should get, i dont have any of the three.

and i dont really want to spend 150$ right now =0

can i get one and still PvP decently?



i really just want something fresh and a team to just make a plan and fight it out against another team.

think thats a really cool concept.



well i've been babbling.

thanks sooo much for all your help.

ill be here guys so feel free to message me or anything.



if its a real long response you can im me on aim.

panicandcambria

and i can ask all my questions there

thanks so much fellas

enjoy!

Rageahol

yeah guild wars will get you pvp  but if you are going to play manily for the pvp then buy any of them  night fall ahs to most people playing on it right now     just cause its the new one         but yeah once elvel 20 you can do allaince battles and fort aspenwood

AutemOx

I think Anet has a special PvP bundle for people who like to PvP and dont want to be hindered by GWs PvP character progression.  I'm not sure if you'd be able to use the campaign specific skills for PvP without buying these campaigns though.

It doesnt matter that most players are in Elona (the newest continent), unless you are thinking about playing PvE in Cantha (which is somewhat empty right now, since it it's PvE isnt very popular).  All three campaigns have the primary PvP on a seperate continent, the Battle Islands, and let me tell ya...  Those Islands will be swarming with players for at least another decade.

 

tarutaruman

yeah i read something like i can skip and go right to PvP at level 20.

i rather learn spells and go through some PvE though.

So ill probably just buy nightfall.

or which has the widest variety of spells and skills

or most dominant ones available?

Rageahol

yeah  buy the bundles dude  they give you all the skills for the campain if you just want to do pvp    but if you want PVE   go to nightfall

 

proph still has a  few but factions is pretty quite

but yeah the bundles are worth it

tarutaruman

i mean, can i still take part in guilds if i just do PvP.



and all these big tournaments they take place for people who do the bundles only and PvE together.

or these tournys only open to people who play in PvE as well.



i'd like to try and become ranked and move up in ranks.



thanks for your time.

tarutaruman

to be more clear.

i mean what are the pros of getting this bundle and what are the pros of just going through PvE what do i gain in player vs player in the long run by also doing PvE?



thnks.

jak_o

I would recommend starting with just getting Nightfall, you will want one pve edition campain anyway (both so you can get a feel for game mechanics by playing pve, and to get the 4 character slots), after testing the game with such an account, you should be able to decide if you want the pve or pvp-edition of the other two campains.

(lots of text follows, recap at the end)

When you create a new character, you can chose to create it as a pve character or a pvp character. The pve character starts as lvl 1 with no equipment to speak of and no skills, but it can play both pve and pvp. If you make a pvp character, it will be lvl 20 have all skills you have unlocked on your account (so he will get the skills you buy on your pve character for free), and most importantly, he will have acces to a eqiupment creation screen, which can be used to make basicly every possible item in the game, but of course he can't be used in pve. In other words, there is no advantage in using a pve character in pvp, except you can get different looks for your armour and items.

The difference between the pve, and the pvp editions of a campain, is that the pve edition will includes all the missions and explorable areas but all skills and items are locked. The pvp edition doesn't have any missions, its just the pvp arenes, but it does have all skills unlocked. If you play alot of pvp, it wont matter that much that you have all things locked though, since you gain faction as you play, and the faction can be used to unlock skills, most people gain faction faster than they need it for new skills, so its not a big issue.

I see you talk about playing competetively, and gaining ranks and such. This probably means you want to join a guild and go guild vs guild battles (the version of gvg that has the best competetion, and the only version that has tournaments with cash prices). But this will mean you have to join a guild good pvp'ers, to get into any of the good guilds you will need all three campains most likely, you are just too limited if you can't use skills from all three campains. It wont be a problem for you in the beginning, since you will lack the experience with the game anyway, but later on you will need it.

To sum up
-It is not an advantage in pvp to use a pve character, a pvp character is more flexible though
-If you want to compete with the very best you will need all 3 campains
-If you intend to play any pve at all, it is probably best to get the pve editions of the game
-Start with buying just one campain, probably nightfall, to see if you like the game

CaleSentari

I will agree with the last poster on some of his points.  It is a good idea to get a PvE edition to get a feel for gameplay, and alot of people are populating Nightfall right now.

In terms of PvP play, they allow you to "skip" to level 20 by allowing you to make lvl 20, PvP-only characters.  More flexible because you can unlock weapon mods and skills thru PvP play, and as you do they can be used by any PvP-only characters.   But of course they are only useable in PvP arenas, Guild vs. Guild, and other PvP play.  PvE characters can enter either.

There used to be slight advantages to using PvE characters for PvP play, mostly relating to having multiple armor and weapon sets to switch between during combat depending on the situation.  With Nightfall and some of the patches in last few months these advantages have been pretty much nullified.   They have now implemented a "equipment-builder" so you don't need to re-roll your PvP characters as often, as some other skill template features.  PvP characters actually have a big advantage of being able to use any skill or weapon mod unlocked on your account right away, whereas a PvE character will have to go out and acquire it, even if it's near the end of a chapter.  There is of course, also the element of surprise in PvP.  If you use a PvP char., the opponent may not recognize you right off if you constantly use different names or such.  In PvE if you always do such and such arenas with a certain build or style of play, people may start to recognize how you play. 

The PvP-Bundles they sell I believe are basically allowing access to the chapter-specific skills for your PvP characters to unlock and then use.  In GW, there are core skills (ones present in all chapters) and then other skills only present in chapter 1, 2, or 3.  You can get by in PvP as a beginner with just one chapter, if you were to get heavily into it and try for the top Guild vs. Guild competition, you may find more of them own multiple chapters.

I don't think the cost is that much less than the full PvE edition of the respective games, but you'll have to compare the costs yourself. 

I heard someone mention Alliance Battles and Fort Aspendwood.  These are PvPvE (PvP but have NPCs that play key points to the objectives on each side) modes that are available from Factions.  The person who mentioned it seemed to say it was from Nightfall but this is not the case.  You need Factions to participate in these. 

Yes you can still be a part of guilds if you only do PvP.  There are several guilds that have a much heavier PvP focus, but may still have a PvE character or two. 

Yes the large tourney's they hold are *usually* open to all, both PvP and PvE characters alike.  I recall a recent tourney where they restricted the guilds to use only core skills, or maybe Core+Nightfall skills, but I think that was the Wintersday tourney...can't say for sure.  Usually they are open to any and all skills/chapters.

In Nightfall you also get Heroes for PvE play.  There are NPC henchmen you can add to your group in PvE play (and some forms of PvP) in all chapters, in Nightfall they allow you to unlock "heroes" which are henchmen for your character that you can change their skill sets, upgrade their armor, or change out their weapon sets.  These make playing in prior chapters alot easier in PvE.  They do add a degree of micro-management, but on the bright side you'll also be kind of forced to learn the skills for the different classes (and you must have a good understanding of the classes and how to counter them if you want to rise in PvP play).

Good luck!

Torquemada40

I agree with the above, playing a bit of PvE is almost a prerequisite to PvP unless you have a kind tutelage of a veteran PvP guild. That and building a contact list in the progress - PUGging won't take you very far in GW PvP.



Skillset and purely PvP wise, I'd recommend getting original Phropecies, which has many skills you don't get in expansions - which are must have, though Nightfall has it's own set. While some may disagree, you can skip Factions PvP-wise mostly, unless you want to play Assassin and he fills mostly a very specialized role as base ganker and occasional flag runner in Guild vs Guild format.



I recommend you some research on GWGuru (for PvP builds and general tactics) and GW Wiki (for skill and class descriptions). Based on your preferance you can then choose in which GW "chapter" to begin. I recommend original GW,  "Prophecies" but that's just me. And be warned I quit playing around Nightfall's release, so don't count on total accuracy of the above because I'm not that acquainted on current metagame - meaning new classes (i.e. Paragon with his elites) and new elite skills (heard that "You're all alone!" is bit overpowered in PVP, it's description certainly sounds so, but may have been nerfed...). So it's not that simple - so start lurking the GW Guru or some other site's forum and read all you can on current meta to decide where to begin with).