New player - Which DLC to start with?

[Zor]

I'm a little confused on what to start with for DLC. I'm planning to wait for the next sale, but would like to get a mount and elite specializations. What could I get away with for now until the next sale?

[Hefutoxin]

Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire bundle.

First expansions?
Best expansions?
Most mounts?
Best value?
Most content?
Most elite specializations?

Whatever your question is going to be, it's the same answer.

[Nico]

Definitively the first expansion, Heart of Thorns (which is always sold together with the second one, Path of Fire). Simply owning any expansion sgives you the first mount, the Raptor, which is good enough for pre PoF. And it also gives you 2/3 of all elite specs, only missing the ones from the third expansion, End of Dragons.

Though if you are willing to spend a bit more money, I would suggest buying the Elder Dragon Saga Complete Edition instead, as that not only contains the first 3 expansions but also all of the Living World, which are content comparable to expansions inbetween the regular expansions. As without them you would have huge haps in the story, so in case you care about the story that's quite important. and especially season 3 and 4 are also pretty good content and also give access to 2 more mounts.

Also, be aware of that once you own any of the first 3 expansions (on Steam) you no longer can buy the Complete Edition and are forced to buy the Living World seasons via the ingame gem store instead directly on Steam. Which is probably in conflict with you wanting to first buy something small to get a mount until later when it's on sale so you can buy something bigger.

[Zor]

I'm considering switching to the standalone client since i'm not too far. Can I upgrade to the complete edition there?

[Hefutoxin]

Originally posted by Zor:

I'm considering switching to the standalone client since i'm not too far. Can I upgrade to the complete edition there?

https://buy.guildwars2.com/en-us/collections?tab=3

[FantasyFilth]

Get the complete edition when it's on sale if you can stretch to that, if not grab the starter pack :)

If you value story, the living world stuff is pretty crucial, it goes in order of ;
Core game > Living world 1 > LW2 > Heart of Thorns > LW3 > Path of Fire > Lw4 > Icebrood saga (LW5) > End of Dragons > SOTO > Janthir Wilds

[SinisterSlay]

Originally posted by Zor:

I'm considering switching to the standalone client since i'm not too far. Can I upgrade to the complete edition there?

Good choice. There is very limited reasons to use the steam version.

[Septimus Prime]

You should buy dlcs and play and unlock game according to the Story journal!
Living World season 1 is free + also you can actually unlock all other Living world seasons with ingame gold -> ingame gems and buy them, but it involves some heavier grind, which nowadays with many metas and events and world boss killings aint so hard anymore imo.

Here is how the story progresses in this game:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Story_Journal

[Spirit]

when its on discount go for the elder dragon saga , it has the most content for its money
(hot + pof + eod + living world 2-4 + icebrood saga) , obscure and janthir are not part of it

[Ranch]

So im a "new" player too. I had gotten into this game in 2022, went from 1 to 80 with a mesmer. Then hit the dlc and got confused and quit. I got back into the game december of last year, and i have been playing ALOT since then. I was doing the content in order, which i suggest from a story standpoint but i dont think its "necessary" The order is personal story, living world season 1, 2, heart of thorns, living world season 3, path of fire, living world season 4, 5 (also called icebrood saga), end of dragons. Then secrets of the obscure and janthir wilds but they arent as connected.

I skipped ahead briefly to unlock the skyscale mount and farm hero points to get my elite spec maxed, which made the game far more enjoyable and accessible imo. A part of me wanted to play through the game "'as it came out" and enjoy the story in order, however there are some serious QoL issues that were resolved later on, hence why i skipped ahead briefly. I do suggest you do the story in order if you care,

[ebaG-gamma]

Originally posted by Zor:

I'm considering switching to the standalone client since i'm not too far. Can I upgrade to the complete edition there?

Good call, still gonna leave my guide here just in case since it's a one-stop source for all questions you might have about that topic (or at least I hope it is):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3335333185

Originally posted by SinisterSlay:

There is very limited reasons to use the steam version.

much agreed … but you all know that 😅

[ebaG-gamma]

Originally posted by Ranch:

went from 1 to 80 with a mesmer. Then hit the dlc and got confused and quit.

Was the DLC you hit Living World or Heart of Thorns?
Going straight from base to HoT is tough. 😋

[Torinux]

The BIG reason to get the Steam version of the game, is if you live outside the USA because of the regional pricing. On Steam, you can get the Dragon Saga that includes everything but 2 expansions.

With the Dragon Saga, you'll get all the Living World stuff and the first 3 expansions. And you'll also get everything that you unlock with every single expansion i.e. inventory tabs.

[iRocks]

Don't buy any never ending money for quality of life upgrades. You can get banned without any recourse fairly easy.

[ebaG-gamma]

Originally posted by TorinuxCthulhu:

The BIG reason to get the Steam version of the game, is if you live outside the USA because of the regional pricing.

Good point. I mention that in my guide as well, but since OP is in the US going standalone is the reasonable choice.

Originally posted by iRocks:

You can get banned without any recourse fairly easy.

Usually, if people get banned there's good reason for that, and ArenaNet support is very helpful when it comes to restoring account access if it got locked for security reasons.

Don't buy keys from unofficial sources and don't be a ♥♥♥♥ in game and you'll never have any issues.

[Ranch]

Originally posted by ebaG-gamma:

Originally posted by Ranch:

went from 1 to 80 with a mesmer. Then hit the dlc and got confused and quit.

Was the DLC you hit Living World or Heart of Thorns?
Going straight from base to HoT is tough. 😋

I actually was trying to unlock mounts which at the time in 2022 to get the raptor i had to start path of fire. So i did path of fire to get the raptor, then over to heart of thorns to get the glider. And i honestly just felt so lost and i was getting my ass kicked so i quit lmao.