Confused about how I should experience the story

[VaryNia]

Hi,

I started playing this game a few weeks ago and I am confused on how I should experience the story and lore of this game, so I understand what is going on.

I've been doing the personal story, events and hearts and talking to most NPCs, all of which I mostly understand, but sometimes factions etc. show up randomly, some of which I don't get to know anything about (for example: The Flame Legion showed up in my personal story for one fight, but they weren't mentioned before or after this fight. Every NPC seemed to 100% know the Flame Legion, but I don't.)

Now I am invited to do a dungeon or something at Lvl 30, but the area the dungeon is located in is completely new to me. Am I supposed to play through that region or not? Also, apparently I had some kind of mentor (in the story, not a player mentor), but I never heard of them.

I am just very confused, I like the game, so maybe some of you can help me get on the right path.

[Hefutoxin]

You aren't a newborn (unless Sylvari, but then again you get your knowledge from the Pale Tree anyway) so generic stuff will be familiar to your character, but maybe not to you, yourself.

You'll understand the various groups over time as well as what's going on each zone. There is A LOT going on and it's just not worth dragging the player through each and every little thing going on in each zone.

This is not a linear game where the story leads you through each and every faction, describing the history in detail. Most of the information is contained in various NPC conversations, books, and even the previous game.

To be honest, you level so fast now that it's probably just better to burn through the Personal story and utilize the Wiki if you are interested in learning more about something. What you are going through right now is over 10 years old at this point.

Personally, I just skip any Story missions that I don't need to do to unlock things.

[~T~D~]

Do main story, and follow that. If you have the whole game it gets messy after awhile.

[Teratus]

The base game is a bit messy like that as the story has a different starting point based on your characters race.

Each Race has it's own or multiple enemy factions so to speak.

Humans have a Bandit problem as well as an ongoing internal war with Centaurs.
They also deal with some Risen problems, thanks to the Death Dragon.

Norn have the Son's of Svanir as well as Icebrood the Ice Dragon's minions.
They also have some minor issues with the Dredge and Grawl.

Charr mainly have a problem with the Flame Legion, evil fanatic Charr who once ruled the legions before they fell from power.
They also have a serious Ghost problem, former human Ascalonians killed in war have returned to plague their former lands that the Charr now rule over.

They also have a lot of issues with Sepratist and Renegade groups, those being radical racial groups of Humans and Charr respectively who mainly hate the idea of there being peace between the two races after centuries of war.. they hate the other race with a passion due to losses and things that happened in the war and just can't let go of that hate.
Both factions have been branded as extremists and criminals by the Human and Charr governments.
Charr also have some issues with the Dredge and Grawl as well as Harpies but these are mainly annoyances.

Asura mostly deal with natural threats but they have a faction called the Inquest.
Inquest is interesting since they are part of Asuran society and not recognised as openly criminal like some other factions are in other racial territories.. they even have members in the Arcane Council.. they wield a lot of power in Asuran Society despite many Asura having negative views on them.

That said they're definitely evil, morally bankrupt and have no issues with resorting to criminal or malevolent means to get what they want.
They're more than happy to use and experiment on anything and anyone if they think there's benefit to be had from it, as well as steal and/or sabotage other Asura's work.
They do not share their own discoveries or power either, even if it could benefit everyone.
That's the kind of Asura they are.

Aside from that Asura do have some issues with the Skritt, Human Bandits and the Fire Dragons Destroyers as well.

Sylvari mainly deal with natural threats too as well as the Inquest but their biggest enemy is the Nightmare Court.

Evil Syvlari whom have disconnected from the Dream and the Pale Tree and embraced their darker and more twisted sides which they believe to be their true nature.

Sylvari also have some problems with the Death Dragon too and Human Bandits.

Some of these bad factions also have associations if not direct connections to other factions but that tends to be exposed later in the game so to save from spoilers I won't go into that.

As for the dungeon's.. sadly this is a big mess.
The dungeon stories are connected to the personal story and the way the game introduces you to them is all wrong.

Currently the game introduces you to the first dungeon at level 30 and the second at level 40.
But the first dungeon does not place in the story until after you have completed a level 40 mission in Lions Arch, where you meet with your mentor.
You will get a free Black Lion Chest key for this mission so it's easy to remember that this is the point where you can do the first dungeon story without confusion.

As for the second dungeon that one is trickier.
The events of this dungeon directly succeed the event's of the Vigil Order's first storyline.
I would advise you to wait and do the second dungeon story after you have completed the level 40 missions for the Order you choose and before doing the level 50 ones which will start with you having to pick a lesser race to study.

The Third dungeon takes place after a level 60 mission where you get asked to visit the Pale Tree and get shown a vision.
This mission without spoiling too much, indicates the importance of certain characters and how them being brought together will be important.
All of these characters will be involved with the various dungeon stories.

After you've done this mission you can freely do all of the remaining dungeon stories in their level order, except for the Final Dungeon in Arah which you will have to do as part of the main story.
I advise doing them as your level allows you to.

After the 3rd dungeon Twilight Arbour (Ignoring the Aetherpath as that takes place in living world season 1) You'll want to do in order.
Sorrows Embrace, a level 60 dungeon which you can do right away.
Citadel of Flame, a level 70 dungeon which you should do asap once you hit level 70.
Honor of the Waves, I think this one is level 76.
And finally Crucible of Eternity at level 78-80.

As far as I know these later dungeons don't have any direct story ties like the first 3 do but they do all take place after that level 60 mission with the Pale Tree.

The main other issue is that you will often get mail from your mentor at certain level s talking about situations that don't make sense to you.
These are related to dungeon stories so there maybe some mess there.
But if you follow what I said it should minimise most of it at least.

[SinisterSlay]

To add, a lot of Charr story is starting from gw1.
gw1 spoiler In the first game, humans own Ascalon, but the char find a magic cauldron that basically nukes the place, killing all humans and destroying the place. Then the Charr move in. And thus the ghost problem.

[Jin-]

Originally posted by SinisterSlay:

To add, a lot of Charr story is starting from gw1.
gw1 spoiler In the first game, humans own Ascalon, but the char find a magic cauldron that basically nukes the place, killing all humans and destroying the place. Then the Charr move in. And thus the ghost problem.

Not really, they used the cauldron magic to break the wall and the king of Ascalon nuked the place turning his own people in to ghosts and killing the nearby charr

[SinisterSlay]

Originally posted by Jin-:

Originally posted by SinisterSlay:

To add, a lot of Charr story is starting from gw1.
gw1 spoiler In the first game, humans own Ascalon, but the char find a magic cauldron that basically nukes the place, killing all humans and destroying the place. Then the Charr move in. And thus the ghost problem.

Not really, they used the cauldron magic to break the wall and the king of Ascalon nuked the place turning his own people in to ghosts and killing the nearby charr

Sorry I guess I misremember.

[Teratus]

Yeah the Searing was the Charr, they used magic to destroy Ascalon turning it largely from a beautiful foresty paradise into a burnt and tar covered wasteland..

Humans remained in the ruined cities of Ascalon, defending what was left of their people for many years after the searing, licking their wounds and striking back at the Charr whenever they could.
But it was all futile, the Charr had dealt a decisive blow against the Ascalonian humans with the Searing and once the Great Wall had fallen the Charr forces stormed through Ascalon reaching far down south and westward invading the other human territories of Kryta and Orr as well though they were largely repelled.

The Krytans managed to drive the Charr back to Ascalon but down in Orr a human sorcerer under the guidance of his God used ancient magic to repel the Charr invasion.
He succeeded in killing most of the Charr invaders but at great cost.. his own country was devastated in the process and collapsed into the depths of the ocean.. killing every single person unfortunate enough to be there when it happened.

All those poor souls would then become the first undead victims for Zhaitan's army in Gw2.

Back to Ascalon though, the war with the Charr was futile as I said earlier..
Prince Rurik recognised this and fell out with his father King Adelburn, deciding to leave the country and take as many Ascalonians to Kryta to save them from the war.
Sadly he fell in the process, sacrificing himself for his people but succeeded in saving many of them.

Back in Ascalon the King lead his forces against the Charr for many years but ultimately could not defeat them.
Eventually the Charr overran Ascalon's last defences and the King in an act of pure defiance used his sword.. a divine weapon given to humans by the Gods themselves and passed down through the Ascalonian royal bloodline for generations, to unleash the Foefire.. a godly magical power that decimated every living thing in Ascalon, destroying his sword in the process and transforming all of the dead humans into restless ghosts to continue fighting their enemy for all time.. or if rumours are to be believed.. until one of the two divine blades returns to Ascalon in the hands of the rightful king.. then the dead can finally rest.

[ala]

thx

[SinisterSlay]

Originally posted by Teratus:

Yeah the Searing was the Charr, they used magic to destroy Ascalon turning it largely from a beautiful foresty paradise into a burnt and tar covered wasteland..

Humans remained in the ruined cities of Ascalon, defending what was left of their people for many years after the searing, licking their wounds and striking back at the Charr whenever they could.
But it was all futile, the Charr had dealt a decisive blow against the Ascalonian humans with the Searing and once the Great Wall had fallen the Charr forces stormed through Ascalon reaching far down south and westward invading the other human territories of Kryta and Orr as well though they were largely repelled.

The Krytans managed to drive the Charr back to Ascalon but down in Orr a human sorcerer under the guidance of his God used ancient magic to repel the Charr invasion.
He succeeded in killing most of the Charr invaders but at great cost.. his own country was devastated in the process and collapsed into the depths of the ocean.. killing every single person unfortunate enough to be there when it happened.

All those poor souls would then become the first undead victims for Zhaitan's army in Gw2.

Back to Ascalon though, the war with the Charr was futile as I said earlier..
Prince Rurik recognised this and fell out with his father King Adelburn, deciding to leave the country and take as many Ascalonians to Kryta to save them from the war.
Sadly he fell in the process, sacrificing himself for his people but succeeded in saving many of them.

Back in Ascalon the King lead his forces against the Charr for many years but ultimately could not defeat them.
Eventually the Charr overran Ascalon's last defences and the King in an act of pure defiance used his sword.. a divine weapon given to humans by the Gods themselves and passed down through the Ascalonian royal bloodline for generations, to unleash the Foefire.. a godly magical power that decimated every living thing in Ascalon, destroying his sword in the process and transforming all of the dead humans into restless ghosts to continue fighting their enemy for all time.. or if rumours are to be believed.. until one of the two divine blades returns to Ascalon in the hands of the rightful king.. then the dead can finally rest.

Good summary

[Teratus]

Thank you ^^

I love diving into game lore, especially in games with such huge backstory and set in rich worlds full of interesting characters.
Guildwars is definitely among my favourites for it.

There's a lot that you don't see much of in the games themselves but you can read about it on the games official wiki if interested.

[RotherHans]

WoodenPotatoes is an OG GW1&2 lorefanatic on youtube,
lately he even returned to GW2 again.
I recommend checking his vids out, if you want to really deep dive GW lore.