Get a better start in World vs. World

The first time you enter World vs. World can be daunting, so I've set out to make this simple overview of things you should know, be aware of and it might even help you get a better start than most new players have when they first venture into the borderlands of the mists.

Get to level 80

Before you enter World vs. World you want to make sure that you have reached level 80. If you enter below level 80 you will be scaled up, but this does not mean you are like the other level 80 players.

When you get scaled up you will still have overall lower stats than the other players and it will put you at a severe disadvantage especially as a new player.

So pull through on the leveling and make your way to level 80.

As you start playing more and more World vs. World you will also get Tomes of Knowledge that you can use in the future to level up other characters, in case you want to multi-class.

Gear up your character

After you reach level 80, make sure that you get a proper build for your character. Your PvE build is not going to cut it and just like getting upscaled in your level, using a PvE build will put you at a severe disadvantage.

As a new player I would mostly recommend you start out running with zergs. These are large groups of players running together, usually identified by a commander tag. The zerg meta is different from roaming where you are usually just yourself and maybe a friend or two, so the build needs to be appropriate for how you want to play in World vs. World.

As for the gear itself, then most build websites will show the gear in ascended quality. This is the optimal gear to run, but it is not required if you're just starting out and still working on your first set of ascended. If that is the case, then get the right gear but, in Exotic quality. This is much cheaper and much easier to get, you can literally buy it straight off the Trading Post.

So where should you find your build? As of this guide, the go-to place for large-scale World vs. World builds is GW2Mists. If you want an up-to-date place to find links to build websites, then go to my twitch, on twitch.tv/rediche and type !builds in chat, my chatbot will give you a nice list of websites to check out.

Choosing a map

There are multiple maps in World vs. World so which one should you actually go to? And are there any differences in the map you choose?

There are 4 types of maps:

1. Eternal Battlegrounds
2. Borderlands
3. Obsidian Sanctum
4. Edge of the Mists

Obsidian Sanctum is a PvP jumping puzzle, so most of the time that is not really the place you want to go, if you want to play World vs. World.

Edge of the Mists is an extra World vs. World map. Not many people play it anymore and it's kind of detached from your own World vs. World match, so I wouldn't recommend going there either. These days it's mostly used for the arena that it has, which is where people usually do organized Guild vs. Guild fights.

Now to the interesting maps. There are 3 borderlands, each team color in your match has one. They're built in a way that one team has their spawn in the top and the 2 other teams spawn in the bottom. If a borderland is your team's color, then it will be known as your "home borderland". Also, note that the red borderland has a different map than the blue and green borderlands. The borderlands are not where I would send you, as a new player though.

Eternal Battlegrounds is the perfect place for a new player to start if you ask me. If there is not a lot of action on a certain day, then this is the most likely place where you will find content. Eternal Battlegrounds is also laid out in a way where all servers have their own corner they spawn in and there is a big castle in the middle, Stonemist Castle. Eternal Battlegrounds is also known for having the more casual side of the player base in World vs. World, making it a bit more new player-friendly.

In the end, you can pick any of the borderlands or Eternal Battlegrounds to go to. Especially if you're just looking for a commander and to join a squad.

Join your server's community

Most servers in the game have a discord or TeamSpeak server. These servers are where you can get in contact with other people on your server, join their public squads on voice comms for a more coordinated World vs. World experience and potentially even find a World vs. World guild to join.

This is a very big part of the community that goes on in World vs. World so I highly recommend you find yours. This can easily be done by joining a World vs. World map and then asking in team chat for an invite link or server info. To access team chat, simply type /t before your message in the chat.

It might be, that before you can fully access the discord or TeamSpeak that you have to do a "verification". How this is done can vary from server to server, but it usually means you will have to get an API key and send it to a bot on the server. To keep it short, then an API key allows people to read the information on your account, without having to log into the game. Don't worry, they cannot change anything on your account, only read the information. These API keys are used to verify that you are indeed on the correct server in the game.

Find someone to play with

As I mentioned earlier, I do recommend you join large squads earlier on, as you learn World vs. World. This will be a way more forgiving experience for you.

This also means you have to find someone to play with and the first thing you can do is ask in team chat if any public squads are running at the moment. You can also jump on your servers discord or TeamSpeak to see if anyone is in any of the voice channels.

If there are no public squads at the moment, then asking on the discord when there will be one next time is a great way to start getting involved in the community.

I do want to quickly add that when you do find a commander, then make sure to stick close to him or her, since that will help you survive much better. Trust in your commander and it will be a smoother experience overall.

Ask questions

Now all you have to do is start playing World vs. World. But, as you might see from all the guides that I have made so far, then World vs. World has a lot of things that need answering. I would, therefore, as my last point on this list, recommend that you do not shy away from asking questions. It does not matter if you ask them in map or team chat, in your servers discord, or my discord.

Most people will be more than happy to help out a new player, after all, it's always nice to see the game mode grow, that just means more people to play with and against.

Conclusion

World vs. World is not as scary as it may seem and I hope this guide helped you get a bit more comfortable about joining us for the first time.