How far can i play without expansions?

[ClaritySence.3716]

Hello people. I bought gw2 heroic edition like 4 or 5 years ago i played the game, leveled up few characters to level 20 and stoped playing. I came to revisit the game yesterday and i was stunned how good the game is, i cant even understand why did i stoped playing it. Maybe it has something to do with me having better PC so i can play it smoothly on highest details which i couldnt before. The game just sucked me right in and Im ready to play. However two expansion were released since i last played and i want to ask how far in game can i get with just basic game without expansions? Dont get me wrong, I definitely want to buy expansions in future, just want to know if i can get to max lvl of 80 wihtout them. Will i miss some story, features, locations or other stuff while lvling or is it possible to lvl up and then buy and move on to content from expansions? And one last thing, can i get mounts earlier or do i have to be max lvl and have purchased latest expansion?

 

Thanks in advance for all answers.

[phs.6089]

You can get to cap, lv 80 with no issues whatsoever. All the content from core game, pvp, wvw, fractals are open for you.

Mounts are locked behind PoF (second expac), so no, you need it, you need lv80 and first chapter of PoF done.

 

[Hoodie.1045]

> @"ClaritySence.3716" said:

> Dont get me wrong, I definitely want to buy expansions in future, just want to know if i can get to max lvl of 80 wihtout them.

 

You definitely can reach level 80 without the expansions. Ever since expansions were introduced to Guild Wars 2, any type of content past the vanilla game requires you to be level 80.

 

> Will i miss some story, features, locations or other stuff while lvling or is it possible to lvl up and then buy and move on to content from expansions?

 

You will definitely miss out on the expansion stories, the mastery system, raids, food, utility items and the elite specializations for every profession that were introduced in the expansions. This also includes the Living World stories, though some of them can be played for free if you don't own any of the expansions like the chapters that take place before the Heart of Thorns expansion.

 

Some chapters are locked behind a pay wall and you have to purchase them in order to play them, but not all of them are. The best part about these Living World chapters and expansion stories is that you can replay them as many times as you want.

 

> And one last thing, can i get mounts earlier or do i have to be max lvl and have purchased latest expansion?

 

Like I mentioned previously, content past the vanilla game requires you to be level 80. The expansion stories can only be played if you're level 80, so yes the glider and the mounts do require you to be level 80 in order to access them. But the good thing about this is that if you've unlocked the glider, the mounts and their respective masteries, you can use those for low level characters. Meaning if you create a new character, you're able to use the glider and mounts once you leave the training area.

 

> Thanks in advance for all answers.

[Pifil.5193]

> @"ClaritySence.3716" said:

> Will i miss some story, features, locations or other stuff while lvling or is it possible to lvl up and then buy and move on to content from expansions?

 

You will not miss anything while levelling, all expansion content is level 80, you also cannot really access any expansion content without being level 80 as most expansion content is unlocked through the mastery system that only unlocks on a level 80.

 

The exception to this is the revenant class. Revenants require an expansion but if you own either expansion then you could create a level 1 revenant without having a level 80 on your account.

[Steve The Cynic.3217]

> @"Hoodie.1045" said:

> You will definitely miss out on the expansion stories, the mastery system, raids, food, utility items and the elite specializations for every profession that were introduced in the expansions. This also includes the Living World stories, though some of them can be played for free if you don't own any of the expansions like the chapters that take place before the Heart of Thorns expansion.

 

Correct.

 

@"ClaritySence.3716" Specifically Living World Season 2 (eight episodes), which sets the scene for the Heart of Thorns expansion. Season 3 requires HoT and sets the scene for Path of Fire (but does not require it). Season 4 follows (and requires) Path of Fire.

 

Beware, though, of a few things about the Living World stuff:

* I mentioned Seasons 2, 3, and 4, but not 1. Season 1 was a series of short-duration in-game sequences, and each episode had to be played when it was released, or you missed it. Nobody can play the actual events of Season 1, although some of the Fractals incorporate versions of those events.

* Episodes are unlocked for free by logging in while they are the most recent, "live" episode, or by paying gems in the gemstore if they are past episodes., although the Roller Beetle Racing event also allows you to unlock Season 4 Episode 3 (which is where you unlock the collections required to get the Roller Beetle mount) even though it isn't current any more.

* To play an episode, you must have unlocked it *and* have the relevant expansion unlocked.

[Dayra.7405]

> @"Hoodie.1045" said:

> Like I mentioned previously, content past the vanilla game requires you to be level 80. The expansion stories can only be played if you're level 80, so yes the glider and the mounts do require you to be level 80 in order to access them. But the good thing about this is that if you've unlocked the glider, the mounts and their respective masteries, you can use those for low level characters. Meaning if you create a new character, you're able to use the glider and mounts once you leave the training area.

 

Raptor is just at the start of PoF. Clearly you are not able to do it alone if you are low level. But if you own PoF you likely be able to get a Raptor with Lvl 2 as Gw2 has a lot of friendly and helpful people.

If you stay in Lionarch, open a party in LFG "Please Help lowlvl Newbie to get Raptor" I am sure you will get a Raptor very fast even with Lvl 2

 

But if you buy pof you get a free lvl 80 boost as well: use it on another new char you may like to play later, get the raptor with this lvl 80 (and still a party of helpful people, you will have a hard time solo it if you don't know class and mechanics)

[Swagger.1459]

> @"ClaritySence.3716" said:

> Hello people. I bought gw2 heroic edition like 4 or 5 years ago i played the game, leveled up few characters to level 20 and stoped playing. I came to revisit the game yesterday and i was stunned how good the game is, i cant even understand why did i stoped playing it. Maybe it has something to do with me having better PC so i can play it smoothly on highest details which i couldnt before. The game just sucked me right in and Im ready to play. However two expansion were released since i last played and i want to ask how far in game can i get with just basic game without expansions? Dont get me wrong, I definitely want to buy expansions in future, just want to know if i can get to max lvl of 80 wihtout them. Will i miss some story, features, locations or other stuff while lvling or is it possible to lvl up and then buy and move on to content from expansions? And one last thing, can i get mounts earlier or do i have to be max lvl and have purchased latest expansion?

>

> Thanks in advance for all answers.

 

There is a really helpful wiki that will provide you a ton of game info.

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_2

[Dayra.7405]

> @"Swagger.1459" said:

> There is a really helpful wiki that will provide you a ton of game info.

> https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_2

And even integrated in the game :)

just type

/wiki Return-key

into the chat to get this front page

or

/wiki shift-click-an-item return-key

to get a page describing this item.

[Cedric Ambidexter.9174]

> @"ClaritySence.3716" said:

> Hello people. I bought gw2 heroic edition like 4 or 5 years ago i played the game, leveled up few characters to level 20 and stoped playing. I came to revisit the game yesterday and i was stunned how good the game is, i cant even understand why did i stoped playing it. Maybe it has something to do with me having better PC so i can play it smoothly on highest details which i couldnt before. The game just sucked me right in and Im ready to play. However two expansion were released since i last played and i want to ask how far in game can i get with just basic game without expansions? Dont get me wrong, I definitely want to buy expansions in future, just want to know if i can get to max lvl of 80 wihtout them. Will i miss some story, features, locations or other stuff while lvling or is it possible to lvl up and then buy and move on to content from expansions? And one last thing, can i get mounts earlier or do i have to be max lvl and have purchased latest expansion?

>

> Thanks in advance for all answers.

 

Get the Path of Thorns expansion. The map is a lot of fun and you won't regret it!

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

> @"Cedric Ambidexter.9174" said:

> > @"ClaritySence.3716" said:

> > Hello people. I bought gw2 heroic edition like 4 or 5 years ago i played the game, leveled up few characters to level 20 and stoped playing. I came to revisit the game yesterday and i was stunned how good the game is, i cant even understand why did i stoped playing it. Maybe it has something to do with me having better PC so i can play it smoothly on highest details which i couldnt before. The game just sucked me right in and Im ready to play. However two expansion were released since i last played and i want to ask how far in game can i get with just basic game without expansions? Dont get me wrong, I definitely want to buy expansions in future, just want to know if i can get to max lvl of 80 wihtout them. Will i miss some story, features, locations or other stuff while lvling or is it possible to lvl up and then buy and move on to content from expansions? And one last thing, can i get mounts earlier or do i have to be max lvl and have purchased latest expansion?

> >

> > Thanks in advance for all answers.

>

> Get the Path of Thorns expansion. The map is a lot of fun and you won't regret it!

 

Did you mean Path of Fire, or Heart of Thorns?

They both offer content that appeals to many players.

[Etterwyn.5263]

I would go about it this way:

 

1) Buy POF and unlock the raptor but don't play it too far beyond that (so you don't spoil too much of the story). Even vanilla raptor will be great for mobility

 

2) Finish base game story, map completion, etc.

 

3) (if you don't want story gaps), buy and play LS2. it bridges vanilla GW2 and HOT

 

4) buy HoT. if you don't mind spoilers, go back to POF and play up to acquisition of the Springer mount. it will be a GODSEND for HoT maps.

 

5) (story continuity again) buy and play the six LS3 maps

 

6) go back to Amnoon and continue POF story. max out all mount masteries, get the griffon.

 

7) buy and play LS4 maps.

 

playing casually, you'll be caught up to the current story by late spring

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"ClaritySence.3716" said:

> [...] just want to know if i can get to max lvl of 80 wihtout them. Will i miss some story, features, locations or other stuff while lvling or is it possible to lvl up and then buy and move on to content from expansions? And one last thing, can i get mounts earlier or do i have to be max lvl and have purchased latest expansion?

 

1. You can savely level your characters to level 80 with only the core campaign, then buy the expansions and Living World seasons later. However, until you do, you won't have access to or the means to level any of the elite specializations.

2. Yes, you will absolutely miss a lot of story content, naturally, that came with the two expansions _and_ the four Living World seasons.

3. You _can_ use mounts even if you are not level 80 yet - but without the Path of Fire expansion, you won't have access to them, so it makes no difference.

[Aaralyna.3104]

Just want to add that during events they usually have rental mounts available for all players (with or without expansion), but those are only working to do a specific race and aren't usefull to use for travelling means .(They only work on same map as race and once dismounted you will have to go back to rent npc to get a new one).

[Cedric Ambidexter.9174]

> @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> > @"Cedric Ambidexter.9174" said:

> > > @"ClaritySence.3716" said:

> > > Hello people. I bought gw2 heroic edition like 4 or 5 years ago i played the game, leveled up few characters to level 20 and stoped playing. I came to revisit the game yesterday and i was stunned how good the game is, i cant even understand why did i stoped playing it. Maybe it has something to do with me having better PC so i can play it smoothly on highest details which i couldnt before. The game just sucked me right in and Im ready to play. However two expansion were released since i last played and i want to ask how far in game can i get with just basic game without expansions? Dont get me wrong, I definitely want to buy expansions in future, just want to know if i can get to max lvl of 80 wihtout them. Will i miss some story, features, locations or other stuff while lvling or is it possible to lvl up and then buy and move on to content from expansions? And one last thing, can i get mounts earlier or do i have to be max lvl and have purchased latest expansion?

> > >

> > > Thanks in advance for all answers.

> >

> > Get the Path of Thorns expansion. The map is a lot of fun and you won't regret it!

>

> Did you mean Path of Fire, or Heart of Thorns?

> They both offer content that appeals to many players.

 

lol thank you :)

[Linken.6345]

You could ask anet if you can get the black friday deal in a support ticket since it ended yesterday december 5th it was 50% of hot+pof

Edit

You might get a no but it dont hurt to ask.

[ClaritySence.3716]

Wow, thanks to all for your answers. You did provide very usefull information to me which helped a lot! I was so amazed by the game that im going to buy both expansions today. Going to boost one character to lvl 80, get myself a raptor and then start with revenant from scratch. I think i will somewhat follow steps that Etterwyn provided, those seems reasonable to me.

So again, thanks to all of you and i wish you all happy winter holidays! :)

 

 

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"ClaritySence.3716" said:

> So again, thanks to all of you and i wish you all happy winter holidays! :)

 

Happy holidays to you, too, and welcome back to GW2! :)

[dandamanno.4136]

I bought PoF and Hot as a bundle two weeks ago for only $25 bucks. It was a 50% off sale for black Friday, but was a week or two long. You should see if it is still available if you are going to buy them at some point anyway. Great buy.

[zionophir.6845]

I have F2P accounts. And I play them with core customized builds. Mostly PvP. After you get to rank 20, you can do rated, which will give you gold from chests. Gold is not transferable tho. But after you get to level 80, from Tomes of Knowledge that you can get (From PvP reward tracks), (almost) all stuffs in the TP is buyable. So you can even fashion your F2P account, from the gold that you earned. So your F2P account characters will still look good.

 

And you can even WvW with that F2P account. Exotics are still ok (which can be augmented by Sigils and Runes to be at par with nonduplicated Ascended version of your armor customization).

 

or if you're bored from PvP/WvW, explore Tyria.

[Linken.6345]

> @"dandamanno.4136" said:

> I bought PoF and Hot as a bundle two weeks ago for only $25 bucks. It was a 50% off sale for black Friday, but was a week or two long. You should see if it is still available if you are going to buy them at some point anyway. Great buy.

 

it ended the 5th of dec sadly

[ClaritySence.3716]

> @"Linken.6345" said:

> > @"dandamanno.4136" said:

> > I bought PoF and Hot as a bundle two weeks ago for only $25 bucks. It was a 50% off sale for black Friday, but was a week or two long. You should see if it is still available if you are going to buy them at some point anyway. Great buy.

>

> it ended the 5th of dec sadly

 

I indeed missed black friday deal by one day but i found bundle of both expansions with 43% off for 34€ and bought that. Already got myself a raptor with ranger and now im leveling revenant which i find interesting to play as i already tried all characters to a certain level i think this is the one for me.

 

> @"zionophir.6845" said:

> I have F2P accounts. And I play them with core customized builds. Mostly PvP. After you get to rank 20, you can do rated, which will give you gold from chests. Gold is not transferable tho. But after you get to level 80, from Tomes of Knowledge that you can get (From PvP reward tracks), (almost) all stuffs in the TP is buyable. So you can even fashion your F2P account, from the gold that you earned. So your F2P account characters will still look good.

>

> And you can even WvW with that F2P account. Exotics are still ok (which can be augmented by Sigils and Runes to be at par with nonduplicated Ascended version of your armor customization).

>

> or if you're bored from PvP/WvW, explore Tyria.

 

Thanks for tips, right now im going to focus to level up and do all of story i missed. I really like storytelling in this game and i would like to do personal stories from all races, did those only up to lvl 20, but norn is my favorite for sure.

 

[Cyninja.2954]

If cost is no significant factor, do get yourself the Living World Episodes of past seasons. They are unlocked without cost when released but since you were away a while you will have to purchase them now. Most of them go on sale often too.

 

The chronological order is:

- vanilla campaign

- Living World Season 1 (not available, there are youtube videos of it to fill in the gaps)

- Living World Season 2

- HoT campaign

- Living World Season 3

- PoF campaign

- Living World Season 4

 

Going through this story will take you days if not weeks alone and is quite fun, especially if you are into story and lore.

 

Edit: episodes go for 200 gems a piece base. At 8 episodes LW2, 6 episodes LW3 and 3 episodes LW4 (since the current one will get unlocked for you for free) you are looking at 3,400 gems for all living world episodes (before any deal and price reducing savings).

[dandamanno.4136]

> @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> If cost is no significant factor, do get yourself the Living World Episodes of past seasons. They are unlocked without cost when released but since you were away a while you will have to purchase them now. Most of them go on sale often too.

>

> The chronological order is:

> - vanilla campaign

> - Living World Season 1 (not available, there are youtube videos of it to fill in the gaps)

> - Living World Season 2

> - HoT campaign

> - Living World Season 3

> - PoF campaign

> - Living World Season 4

>

> Going through this story will take you days if not weeks alone and is quite fun, especially if you are into story and lore.

>

> Edit: episodes go for 200 gems a piece base. At 8 episodes LW2, 6 episodes LW3 and 3 episodes LW4 (since the current one will get unlocked for you for free) you are looking at 3,400 gems for all living world episodes (before any deal and price reducing savings).

 

After reading about LW S3 online I went ahead and bought it, and was pleasantly surprised it only cost 480 gems. Wasn't a sale either, just looks like the cost if you buy them all in one go.

[Linken.6345]

You probabely had some of the episodes unlocked already.

[Cyninja.2954]

> @"dandamanno.4136" said:

> > @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> > If cost is no significant factor, do get yourself the Living World Episodes of past seasons. They are unlocked without cost when released but since you were away a while you will have to purchase them now. Most of them go on sale often too.

> >

> > The chronological order is:

> > - vanilla campaign

> > - Living World Season 1 (not available, there are youtube videos of it to fill in the gaps)

> > - Living World Season 2

> > - HoT campaign

> > - Living World Season 3

> > - PoF campaign

> > - Living World Season 4

> >

> > Going through this story will take you days if not weeks alone and is quite fun, especially if you are into story and lore.

> >

> > Edit: episodes go for 200 gems a piece base. At 8 episodes LW2, 6 episodes LW3 and 3 episodes LW4 (since the current one will get unlocked for you for free) you are looking at 3,400 gems for all living world episodes (before any deal and price reducing savings).

>

> After reading about LW S3 online I went ahead and bought it, and was pleasantly surprised it only cost 480 gems. Wasn't a sale either, just looks like the cost if you buy them all in one go.

 

As mentioned by Linken:

> @"Linken.6345" said:

> You probabely had some of the episodes unlocked already.

 

The complete package sets are discounted for each episode already unlocked to your account. Given the 6 episodes cost a total of 1,200 gems it seems as though you had 3 episodes unlocked, thus reducing the price to 600 gems, then got the 20% discount on buying the entire set (it usually is discounted by 20% at all times). Thus reudcing the cost to 480 gems for the 3 missing episodes.