Guild Wars 2 handles these activities differently. As you enter a region and move around, you’ll encounter events, which encompass just about anything that’s going on in the area. New events occur regularly, and they’re heralded by a message across your screen. In addition, if you look on your minimap, there are icons indicating event locations.
A standard event in Guild Wars 2 would be to go over to, say, a dam and drive out harpies. The harpies have a concentration of force over the dam, and they have strong morale. As you kill the harpies, their morale decreases, and once enough of them have been defeated, the rest of the flock scatters and runs. You get experience from killing the monsters and from completing the event! Events that require gathering materials from the ground or bodies are easier to complete than the typical MMO model. Instead of having to find an NPC and have them ask you to do something, you have more control over how much you want to help and where you go. First, the NPC is clearly marked on your minimap (by an asterisk), and most of the time you don’t even have to talk to them to start participating. As you move around or defeat foes, you pick up the materials. Once you feel like you’ve gotten enough, then you talk to the NPC and drop off the stuff. The event meter tells you how much you contributed and how close the event is to completion. You can choose to stay and complete the event or go on your merry way; you will always get some reward for your trouble, but the more you help, the better the reward. Escorts are marked by shield symbols on the minimap. Generally, you talk to the NPC and off er to help them by protecting them (and/or their group or beast of burden) as they go between locations. is gives you an opportunity to see more of the world and can lead you to new and interesting locations (with new and interesting events in them).
COME ONE, COME ALL
Events in Guild Wars 2 are open to everyone. All it takes to join the event is simply to be in the area. Killing one enemy (or even just hitting several as you run by) can help to complete the event and gain you a little bit of a reward. Even if the event fails, you’ll get something. And this works for escorts and gathering events as well. If you’re in the area, all you have to do is walk for a few feet and help protect a caravan; if you have a gathering item, all you need to do is pass one to the NPC for it to help. There is no reason not to chip in on an event! Conversely, there’s no penalty for not doing the event. You won’t miss out on subsequent follow-up events or a vital piece of rare equipment. You simply won’t get the rewards (money, experience, or karma) associated with the event’s completion.
Getting Better Equipment
Gaining more powerful or higher-level equipment is a huge focus of character progression in MMOs, and Guild Wars 2 has a number of ways for you to get nice stuff.THE EQUIPMENT RAINBOW
The color of an item gives a quick indication of how powerful it is. The rarer the quality of an item, the stronger it is. Exceptional items (such as those of exotic or rare quality) have higher stats and more powerful sigils; common items have lower stats and minor or no sigils. Sigils are added benefits you gain by equipping the particular item to which the sigil is attached.
The easiest way to find weapons and armor is as loot from killing monsters. If an enemy’s body is glowing, there’s loot for you to pick up. If you’re in a party and you see a glowing corpse, that loot is for you and only for you, and no one else in the group will ever see what you’ve acquired. Monsters drop a wide variety of items, and you can usually keep yourself moderately equipped with what you find.
There are periods when you haven’t found something you need in quite a long time or you want something special. In general, it’s more prudent to keep your weapon up to date than your armor; after all, if you kill something quickly, you won’t have to worry about it hitting you! Still, if you’re running around with the same gloves you had at level 5 and now you’re at level 30, it’s time for a change.
At the Trading Post, you can fi nd anything that other players feel is worth putting up for auction.
These include weapons, armor, and runes, as well as containers (bags, packs, etc.), dyes, and crafting components. Trading Posts are found in every major city, and in major settled areas around the world. Another way to gain equipment is through crafting. Crafting is a means of making your own equipment by combining the raw materials (like thread, cloth, metal) at a specifi c location (such as a forge or loom). Crafting can be very addicting and satisfying, but it does require a time, money, and material commitment. If you want to know more about crafting, see the Crafters and eir Fine Goods chapter.
You can also buy equipment directly from vendors. Vendors are found in all the capital cities and scattered throughout the world. In fact, sometimes they even appear after you have successfully reclaimed an area in an event. Most armorsmiths and weaponsmiths sell gear at 5-level intervals (you gain access to new gear at levels 5, 10, 15, and so on). us, the majority of vendor equipment can fi ll out any gaps in your character’s gear that you haven’t been able to satisfy in other ways or if you simply don’t feel like going back to the Trading Post.
You accrue karma while completing various renown tasks and events. You can spend this resource to purchase higher quality equipment. Look for karma vendors as you explore. Sometimes these are unlocked by completing renown tasks and talking to the NPC around which the task centered (they’re still marked with a heart on your map). See if they have anything fun to purchase.
