I got chided the other day in Guild Wars 2 for using my skill point scrolls in lieu of the upcoming expansion, with new Revenant profession. When used they provide this flashy whirlwind-boom, which lets everybody know I gained a skill point. I politely asked if I should start, “yet another stack of skill points”. The response was a cat-face, my most hated emote ( :3), which makes no sense to me on any level. I could not punch through the internet.
Regardless, this is the vibe I have been seeing throughout the community. Gather Tomes of Knowledge to level, gather skill point scrolls for unlock all skills immediately, gather orichalcum and make mithrilium to get weapons and armor ASAP. I have not done any of that, at least not for the purposes of a revenant.
Bit of a poignant, on-point aside, I have hated alt’ing. I like “maining”. And in Guild Wars 2, I have 9 filled character slots, but they have been seen as tools. 3 non-main “alts” are level 80, and each one is a master chef, along with Mordremoth-knows what else I used to quickly level them. I just started an engineer, and I have decided to eschew all helpful devices except for the occasional XP buff. No tomes, no scrolls, just a nice walk through Tyria. I realize where I went wrong all those MMO’s ago in trying to alt.
Alternate characters created as tools will remain as tools.
I don’t want my revenant to be a mere tool. I plan on enjoying the curve as I head him towards the jungle. I see no reason to rush, especially seeing as how with the current pace of content updates, there seems to be no reason to rush things around.
A new reason has just emerged, in that Guild Wars 2 will be implementing first person POV camera on March 10. I have hated screenshot taking where I am either fiddling with my character or /sleep’ing with my character to get her out of the way. Running through the game with the revenant at a slower pace lets me go through in a more tourist fashion to re-see the sites, and take new pictures.
The camera stuff is a pretty big deal, and it makes me wonder what else is coming on March 10th? Usually ArenaNet likes to bundle.
Back to my revenant, it is going to be a hard balance for sure. New shiny jungle zones or enjoying the revenant. I can see how many want their cake, additionally in their mouths. If I knew the revenant was going to become my main, I might feel the same way. However, I am ready to fall all the more in love with my necromancer, to spite you all, when I have a greatsword. Given what I have seen of the revenant, it will likely be my second slot.
Now, it would be nice if I knew whether that slot is going to come with buying the expansion, eh, ArenaNet.
–Ravious
Two stacks of skill scrolls in the bank, with the third stack well on the way. The main has over 500 skill points, two or three alts 200+ skill points, just by mere playing. I guess I kill way too much yellow mobs with bonus xp just for the hell of it.
My recent PvP toe-dipping has added on Tomes of Knowledge back to a total of 73, and that’s after using some 50 Tomes in a rare speed-power-leveling whim to make an instant-80 warrior with clean inventory slots for dungeons.
The writs of experience are getting shoved into the bank too. I hear 20 of them make one level or something like that.
But I just haven’t really found any need to break open the hoard yet, beyond that one warrior. As you say, I really prefer to level my alts the old fashioned way. Why would I rob myself of the fun of learning my character’s skills and wandering the world by speeding past it?
In the meantime, the hoard is there, for emergencies if needed, in case Anet suddenly decides to put a new 25 SP skill that a lower in SP alt needs for some purpose, or I decide to turn a less used alt into a main and need all their skills unlocked, or whatever.
There’s still parts of some maps that I’ve only lightly touched on, despite having all 8 professions levelled, like Iron Marches for one. Have a fair few Tomes of Knowledge, but I was thinking that a fitting way to level a revenant is in EotM, thematically that where it’s power comes from and where it should start out in my canon and if there is plenty of other revenants that are willing to fight and not just grind, it could be fun too, possibly who knows.
FoV and height sliders should make a huge difference to the experience, GW2 has always felt a bit claustrophobic especially after returning from playing other games.
I have hundreds of skill scrolls and by the time HoT arrives (it’s months away) I’ll almost certainly have enough Tomes for an instant 80. Wont use them though. ‘The most fun I’m having right now is leveling my new Engineer on the third account I bought in the fire sale.
The two things I most want from GW2 (now we have First Person Camera) are the option to switch off all xp gain altogether and the option to have all “Account based” functions toggled to “Character Based”. Which isn’t going to happen, leaving me with the expensive and unwieldy option of buying a new account every time I want to start another character.
How do you use alts as “tools”? If they were crafting alts, I’d understand, but you said they’re all the same profession!
No, not same “class” profession. They all have cooking because it is a super cheap way to jump up 8-10 levels (depending on when you did it).
I have a Guardian for dungeons. A Thief for WvW roaming and other things that need stealth. And a Warrior for that dumb meta.
I don’t have a Mesmer “tool”, but I wish I did. Perhaps if I level my engy to 80 before HoT, I will start on a true Mesmer.