At what level should i buy the DLC?

[ZoraergazU]

Currently getting close to level 30, and i havent felt any need to pay anything yet.
i get the feeling i should start buying expansion sometime soon.... (its just nature of free to play)

[Carnasid]

All the expac and living world content starts after the base game's story, which takes you to level cap.

[woop]

only when you hit level 80

[</>]

If you can stomach the limit of 2 characters and the tiny bag slots then yeah, until maybe after the base story / hitting 80.
But honestly, if you're just at 30 I heavily suggest playing the game from their native launcher and starting over.

It's a loss yes, but you'll be better off in the longer run should you decide to play the game more & pay :D

[ZoraergazU]

Originally posted by Whoka:

If you can stomach the limit of 2 characters and the tiny bag slots then yeah, until maybe after the base story / hitting 80.
But honestly, if you're just at 30 I heavily suggest playing the game from their native launcher and starting over.

It's a loss yes, but you'll be better off in the longer run should you decide to play the game more & pay :D

is the native version that much more profitable than the steam version ?

[</>]

Originally posted by ZoraergazU:

Originally posted by Whoka:

If you can stomach the limit of 2 characters and the tiny bag slots then yeah, until maybe after the base story / hitting 80.
But honestly, if you're just at 30 I heavily suggest playing the game from their native launcher and starting over.

It's a loss yes, but you'll be better off in the longer run should you decide to play the game more & pay :D

is the native version that much more profitable than the steam version ?

It probably is, I haven't done the math but if you commit to steam your account is linked to your steam account, you cannot redeem gem codes, you will have to buy gems through steam as your only source.
if you somehow lose access to your steam account, you cannot play the game through their launcher.

It's honestly just risky and blocks you out of options, similar to final fantasy xiv: a realm reborn on steam... You're better off getting it from their website rather than steam.
--
Only reason I have it on steam is because I didn't do my research & didn't know any better. Bought expansions and two of my characters are already at 80 etc
if I hadn't been this deep, would have definitely grabbed it from their website instead.

[Sychon]

I think that given the direction the discussion is heading, it's important to note that you are not hindered in-game in any way if you are playing on a Steam account.

The only difference is the way Gem purchases are handled. Content-wise, you are just as free to do anything as if you were playing on a non-Steam, regular account.

[</>]

Originally posted by Sychon:

I think that given the direction the discussion is heading, it's important to note that you are not hindered in-game in any way if you are playing on a Steam account.

The only difference is the way Gem purchases are handled. Content-wise, you are just as free to do anything as if you were playing on a non-Steam, regular account.

True, other than gems and the possibility of being unable to play should something happen to your steam account, it's relatively the same. It's just much safer to have a stand-alone account for the game overall.

Seeing as how it's a big thing for me, figured I'd warn others if they care about it. Sure wish I've known myself beforehand :p

[TheTool]

Steam version = non-potable.
Native version = portable.

[Nico]

Considering that all expansion content is requiring lvl 80 there is not much of a need to get any of them before reaching lvl 80. Besides the few free2play restrictions, like less inventory bags.

Btw, just as a small hint, in case you ,maybe first want to buy just a few expansions and not yet the complete edition: Be aware that once you buy na expansion you no longer can buy the complete edition. So to then get the Living World, which would cost 40€ in the Complete Edition you then have to buy the Living World ingame, for a total of 4160 gems, which costs roughly 52€. So if you already know that you eventually want the Living World as well, which you want if you want to play the game for a long time, since it has lots of content, like actually more maps than all the expansions together and the Living World story is just as important as the expansion story, you might as well consider to just buy the Complete Edition.

But hey, if you wait up until you are lvl 80 you should have a much better idea if you like the game enough to actually spend that much money and time on it. Even though the expansion content is in general better than the base game content.

[ZoraergazU]

from all the comment this just made me sad...
i downloaded about 65gb of data for basically an inferior version of the game...

[</>]

Originally posted by ZoraergazU:

from all the comment this just made me sad...
i downloaded about 65gb of data for basically an inferior version of the game...

It's not, it's the same game. The only difference is how you obtain gems and how one is a stand-alone account and the other is linked to steam.

You already know my opinion on this, definitely getting a stand-alone account for the game is the better option. There's really no reason to get it on steam, outside of maybe logging hours? lol - there's nothing beneficial from getting it on steam.

[Aerine]

Originally posted by ZoraergazU:

from all the comment this just made me sad...
i downloaded about 65gb of data for basically an inferior version of the game...

if you wanna restart to Native version you dont need to redownload all the 65GB, just copy the 63gb file from steam

[Vuyek]

"Steam version = non-potable."

UMMM
You can buy a new computer and log into steam, with the only check having to login with the code from your email

[TheTool]

Originally posted by Vuyek:

"Steam version = non-potable."

UMMM
You can buy a new computer and log into steam, with the only check having to login with the code from your email

That's not what portable means.

[Tyrian Mollusk]

Originally posted by ZoraergazU:

i downloaded about 65gb of data for basically an inferior version of the game...

The Steam install and the standalone install are exactly the same files, so you can just use it as the standalone. More importantly, you can run the Steam install, from Steam, as the standalone version by adding the "-provider Portal" launch argument. Be sure to understand that if you do that you may look like you are running the Steam version, but you are not a Steam account and you CANNOT buy through Steam or it will just go to your Steam account instead of your standalone account, and they won't refund your mistake.

We don't really know what difference it makes between going Steam and standalone. Maybe the expansion sales will be in parity between the two, but there are almost certainly going to be some losses to having a Steam account, eg there were 20% gem discounts on Amazon during the Summer Prime Day, and Steam accounts can't buy gems anywhere except directly through the game, where they never go on sale. Discount gems is a pretty big deal, on the rare occasion it happens.

Also, living seasons go on sale once or twice a year (generally 30% off), so the gems bundle can be a better deal than paying upfront, depending on the LW discount and whether you catch it (you generally need to watch the sale thread[en-forum.guildwars2.com] because the sale window will be brief).

As for the original question, I'd buy at least the Path of Fire + Heart of Thorns bundle as soon as you know you'll be playing the game a while. You can certainly hold out for a sale (that used to go for 50% off before the Steam release), but it adds value like the mount, a level-80 boost so you can skip leveling one character entirely, login rewards each day you log in, extra character slots, extra inventory slots, elite specs (adds fun options but also pretty essential for group or competitive play), gear stat prefixes (including the best prefix for condition damage builds), raids, etc, etc. Sure, most of that is for level 80, but you do get the boost to skip leveling (remember to be patient with yourself figuring out the game) and leveling goes a lot faster now than it used to, with the character adventure guide achievements.

Basically, getting two expansions for $30 is a good game deal, and you do get some value before 80.