User:Vahkris/WhatToDoAtLevel80
Upon reaching level 80, a lot of players (specifically new players) tend to ask the same question: What do I do now? This guide is an overview for players that have reached level 80 to introduce them to all the content that is available in Guild Wars 2, in hopes of answering that question. The simple answer is: "Whatever you want".
Guild Wars 2 is designed much more horizontal instead of vertical. This means the goal of playing content is more for different experiences instead of constantly getting more and more powerful through gear/other means. Your gear will basically plateau, and improvements will mainly be you as a player. When you are level 80, you can do all the same things you could do prior to 80, due to downscaling.
PvE:
Equipment[edit]
When you reach level 80, one of the best things you can do for yourself is baseline your equipment to level 80. This means acquiring level 80 (preferably exotic) equipment, amulet, rings, accessories, back item, and weapons, as well as basic runes and possibly sigils. This will get your stats close or at max and allow you to take on all the challenges available to you until you refine your build(s) and possibly work towards Ascended (which will take a long time).
You will preferably want to get Exotic level gear (second highest tier), which will last you for a really long time, but you can get Rare if you're unable to get Exotic easily. The goal is to get the level of the gear baselined to 80 as many players will still have really low level gear that doesn't provide nearly as much benefit. It's not unusual for a player's first level 80 character to still be wearing a level 20-40 amulet and rings. Upgrading everything can be really cheap and the benefits from it are tremendous.
There are three major types of gear: Trinkets, Armor, and Weapons.
Trinkets[edit]
Collect level 80 trinkets (accessories, amulets, and rings) for cheap if you can. These are the most likely to be in desperate need of an upgrade and actually make up more stats than your armor, so they do help a great deal at first. It's not unusual for a fresh level 80 to have level 20-40 rings and amulet.
- You can pick these up for cheap at temple vendors for karma in Orr, if you're okay with those stats. Don't spend much money on these items right now, as these are the easiest to upgrade to the next tier, so get them as cheap as possible.
Armor[edit]
Collect a full set of level 80 armor in your desired stat set. It can be Rare at first, they're cheap on the trading post, but work towards exotic. You have multiple ways to get exotic gear:
- Loot = Named armor, available on Trading Post also. Other armor can be 80 and exotic, but these are most common.
- Crafting = Heavy (Draconic armor), Medium (Emblazoned armor), or Light (Exalted armor), available on Trading Post also.
- Karma = Temple armor and accessories. These are usually gained in Orr for karma.
- Badges = World vs World armor
- Dungeon tokens = Dungeon armor
- sPvP = Glorious armor, from the reward tracks.
After getting your armor, buy 6 runes with the desired stats for the build you want. Pick up runes that focus on Power or Condition Damage (whichever playstyle you're using). You can get a lot of them extremely cheap, and I recommend getting the cheap ones right now (couple silver each for Superior runes) and leaving the expensive ones for when you know more about the gear you want to use going forward. You're not working on a meta build at the moment. Don't worry about the 6th set bonus, focus on the primary stats (1/3/5) for now.
Weapons[edit]
You will want to collect level 80 weapons. Rare is okay at first for cheap upgrades to baseline your gear, but work towards a set of at least Exotic. If you know enough about sigils, pick up a few for your weapons to help out. Again, the goal here is getting your gear close or at level 80, not working towards a specific build. Focus on the build later
If you get all level 78-80 gear in Exotic or Rare, with runes, you'll be in a good, solid place for tackling all the content you can do now that you're level 80.
Storyline[edit]
Guild Wars 2 has a lot of story missions. The Personal Story has 8 chapters, which takes you up to level 80. After that, players continue their story through the Living World and expansion storylines. Each storyline takes place after the previous one.
- Personal story - 8 Chapters
- Living World Season 1 (currently unplayable, but there is an in-game recap: Remembering Scarlet's War, and there are multiple videos of the content).
- Living World Season 2 - 8 Episodes
- Heart of Thorns - 4 Acts with 16 chapters total.
Dungeons[edit]
There are 8 dungeons in Guild wars 2, each with a Story mode and multiple Explorable modes. The story mode for each dungeon tells the tale of Destiny's Edge as your character helps them reunite after a tragic incident. The explorable mode tells events that happen after the story mode is completed, and are more difficult in comparison. Groups of up to 5 players can enter and complete the paths, which are chosen via decision made after entering the Explorable mode.
Fractals[edit]
Fractals of the Mists is a dungeon of mini-dungeons accessible via Lion's Arch. Each mini-dungeon is associated to a scale, which increases the difficulty as the scale goes up.
Guild Missions[edit]
Jumping Puzzles/Minidungeons
Collections
Scavenger Hunts/Progressive Items
Legendary Weapons
Commanding
Adventures
Activities
Raids
Crafting
Wardrobe
Exploration
Hidden Gems
