Question about content purchases

[Wandering Minstrel.7645]

My wife and I just started playing yesterday. We bought a package that included PoF Ultimate and HoT Standard. I assumed that included everything, but now I see posts from people about the "Living World" chapters and their individual cost. Could someone please explain to me what LW is and describe the various other content chunks that we could buy? We just started out so we're only lowbies still, are any of these content packages even relevant to us now or soon? I don't mind paying for content if it's a fun part of the experience that we came here to enjoy.

 

Thanks for any info

[Turin.6921]

LW updates are extra content (maps and story) that are released between expansions. They come in episodes thus you have a season format for them. Just like a Tv series. If you login while an episode is live you unlock it for free for all characters. Even if you do not have the expansion that the episode is linked to. An episode remains "live" until the next one is released. If you miss it you have to buy it with gems. And gems you either buy with real money or in-game gold. Currently the episode that is live is LW season 4 episode 2. So that you have unlocked for free

 

The story time-line goes as such:

Personal Story (core game) -> LW season 1 (it was temporary content so you only get a summary)-> LW season 2-> HoT -> LW season 3 -> PoF -> LW season 4

 

That is pretty much it. All living world seasons are 80lvl content so until you reach cap and finish anything before them there is no need to unlock them. Unless you really want a reward coming from a specific episode. There is nothing else that you need to buy in terms of content. Generally i would say they definitely worth the price of admission. And you can make them cheaper using in-game gold.

[MarshallLaw.9260]

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World#Unlocking_Living_World_episodes

 

_Unlocking Living World episodes

Personal storyline section

Episodes of the Living World must be unlocked in order to play them. Unlocked episodes can be accessed by any level 80 character on your account. There are two methods for unlocking episodes. Episodes can be unlocked for free simply by logging in to any character during the episode's original release window. This lasts until the next episode is released; for Season 3, episodes are on a cadence to be released two to three months apart. After the release window, players can unlock the episode for 200 Gem.png. The journal will indicate this with a "lock" icon and a "Buy Now" button._

 

In short, there is some content which would have been free if a player logged in during its release, but can also be accessed through purchases. This currently excludes Season 1 due to the events of that storyline causing significant changes to the open world.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Seasons 2 and 3 can be acquired in bundle form at a discount, as well.

 

As newcomers, my best advice would be to familiarize yourself with the GW2 Wiki. (Link above or accessed in-game by typing /Wiki in chat.)

 

Welcome to Tyria, and good luck.

[artemis.6781]

As people stated before, familiarize yourself with the wiki. It's a great source, plus here on the forums. Most people are helpful and knowledgeable. Also, feel free to give a shout out in map chat if you have questions. Welcome to Tyria!

[Gaile Gray.6029]

I hope you both have a marvelous time in Tyria! As you can see above, several of our excellent forum members have given you the details on the Living World series. I have enjoyed it very much, personally, but you can catch up on the details via the [Living World Section](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World "Living World Section") of the Guild Wars 2 Wiki.

[LucianTheAngelic.7054]

> @"Wandering Minstrel.7645" said:

> My wife and I just started playing yesterday. We bought a package that included PoF Ultimate and HoT Standard. I assumed that included everything, but now I see posts from people about the "Living World" chapters and their individual cost. Could someone please explain to me what LW is and describe the various other content chunks that we could buy? We just started out so we're only lowbies still, are any of these content packages even relevant to us now or soon? I don't mind paying for content if it's a fun part of the experience that we came here to enjoy.

>

> Thanks for any info

 

As a side note, since others have explained what you can/can't buy, I would HIGHLY recommend you play the content in order, if only because the difficulty between Core content (personal story/maps) and Heart of Thorns (or even Path of Fire) is a BIG jump. Without playing Living World Season 2 you'd essentially be barely learning how to swim in the shallow end and then immediately diving into the deep end. Living World Season 2 does a pretty decent job at bridging that gap, so make sure to play it. Additionally Living World Season 3 and 4 both have great maps, content, and more importantly are really good ways to get more expensive ascended gear you might need.

[starlinvf.1358]

Another word of warning. Living story episodes have heavy ties to achievements and currencies...... so from HoT on, they're all very grindy between story sections, as you need to unlock something in order to progress. The story segments are incredibly short, but you'll easily spend a couple of hours between them either navigating the map, scavenger hunts, farming map specific currency, or any combination of the 3.

 

Depending on your opinions about power creep and progression, if you want to go Content tourist through the story, its highly advised that you get the majority of Hero points in Tyria maps while doing the Original Personal Story, and immediately unlock one of the Elite specs once you're level 80. Depending on what your class is, having strong personal sustain going into LS2 will save on a lot of frustration, and give you time to practice with it before going into Heart of Thorns....... the point where the difficulty goes from Nerf Gladiators to almost literally DDay at Normandy. I believe its 250 Hero points to fully unlock an Elite spec, so you'll have just enough to pick one. While its not "required" to have an Elite spec unlocked to do the story, the power bump and access to CCs are a major objective that makes the expansion content function properly.

 

Note that some Elite specs NOT built for PvE content, and as such, don't function correctly without a team present. Druid (Heart of thorns) is one example, that trades a lot of its damage and personal sustain for group sustain. Firebrand had the same design choice for Path of Fire. Both of these perform poorly in most solo set ups, which can make story fights frustrating due to lacking DPS. So if you're going to be working through the Story lines for the Expansions, its highly recommended you seek help with builds for your class around the time you're going to start them. Since the older maps see less traffic, personal damage and personal sustain becomes increasingly important to completing the content at your own pace. Also note that Elite specs are not directly tied to their expansion beyond the purchase requirement, so using PoF builds in HoT is viable. The whole reason I'm pointing this out is that GW2's development history is notoriously clunky until they reached Path of Fire..... so it lack the kind of flow most games have to ease players into new mechanics. When you start Heart of Thorns, you WILL get your ass kicked for the first several hours while our brain tries to adjust to the massive design shift, and sharp difficulty spike. Thats the reason I put a lot of emphasis on making sure you can get access to an Elite specialization as you go into it, as the difficulty is designed around the mechanics they offer over Core Specs.