I'm sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about. Up to now, there has been only one single level 40 NPC ever in the game, and that one appeared only during an "April Fools" special event and you couldn't even fight it. Level 30 monsters do exist, but are pretty rare. And, again, level is pretty much meaningless at this stage - if you know how to defeat a monster at level 20 (by countering its skills), then you could slap 10 additional levels on it and you could still defeat it, because you could counter its skills just the same, it just would take a bit longer since it would have more life points.

Feel free to deliver proof if you think I'm wrong, but I honestly don't think you can.

Note: There is a possibility that you didn't mean "levels" in your above statement (I sure hope so), but even then I can't see how it could possibly be true, since there's not a single mob of 20+ monsters (let alone 30+ or 40+) in the entire game. There are some mobs of eight or more monsters each which keep running into each other, but those just require a bit of thought on how to defeat them. You don't run into all of them at once, instead you put a bit of thought into it, look at the movement patterns, and then attack at the points when you can get a single mob without attracting the others in the vicinity.

If you think that you're going through the whole game with your one "preferred build", then - again - you're trapped in the perspective of other games, and are trying to apply that to GW, which is a very different game. GW is about adapting your build, and experimenting with skills and builds, all along. That's one of the main reasons why it doesn't get old for me.

Each time I get a new skill, I don't "put it in my book because it doesn't add to my preferred build" - instead, I look through my library for other skills that would provide good synergy with it, I start experimenting with it, and it's absolutely marvelous what you can make out of a seemingly "useless" skill if you just spend a little thought on it.

Again, my impression is that you never actually played GW - you played a bastardized vision of GW as a regular RPG like WoW or Diablo, and totally missed the actual game.

Only if you don't know what you're doing. There isn't a single overpowered mob in the game, you just need to spend a bit of thought in how to defeat them. Because contrary to other games, there is no "main build" for your character that lets you sail through the whole game spamming the same skills again and again. In GW, you need to think a bit, and adapt your build throughout. Monsters that seem totally overpowered at first turn into training practice once you know how to fight them.

Here's an example from the Crystal Desert: Most players get thoroughly stomped when they first meet Hydras. These T-Rex like monsters have an absolutely devastating meteor/fireball attack, and if you spent the whole game trying to find a "main build" that works for every monster, then you won't be able to defeat them. At all.

However, if you start actually watching what the Hydras do, you'll find out that they take a full two seconds of casting time before they can deliver these devastating spells. And once you know that, you look into your skill board, and find out that there are interrupt skills that you may have never used before. And _then_ you adapt your build and find out that Hydras are pretty much laughable enemies - you just interrupt them; if you have the right skills you can even make the interrupt damage them, and they turn into pussies.

Or, you spend a bit of time and think about why those Hydras kept killing you, and find out that both of their main attacks knock you down, so that you keep losing time getting up before you can even react. And then you find skills in your library that prevent knockdown, so you equip those.

Or, you realize that the Hydras do devastating attacks, but not _many_ of them (because they take so long to be cast). And then you tell your monk to play not as a healer (trying to heal the repeated massive damage spikes), but as a bonder, who prevents the damage from occurring. Being a bonder can be a massive energy drain, but then you find a way to deal with that - for example, if you have a Necromancer in your group, you can skill him into a mana battery, who keeps supplying the monk with energy, so that the monk can maintain the bonds (which prevent 90% of the damage).

Or, you try to turn the Hydras' massive damage against them, with reflection skills. And so on.

That's how this game is played. You watch, analyze, experiment with your skills, and succeed by being flexible and creative. And that's exactly why I enjoy GW much more than "regular" RPGs.

I'm not gonna break down a response sentence by sentence there, but it sounds like your experience with GW might be kinda skewed. A full bar of epic (ie, Elite) skills? Who'd want such a thing? Elite skills are something you build your skill bar around, not something you should want to shovel on and click your way through. Having only a single Elite skill on your bar at any one time is part of the tactical experience of Guild Wars - it's a strength, not a limitation in any way! You have complete freedom to rearrange your entire skillbar and all your Professional abilities at any outpost, and indeed you are encouraged to do so. Your playstayle might certainly steer you towards a particular set of skills, but you shouldn't ever consider them 'set'. :)

Anyhow, you may have had an unfortunate experience with GW but I don't feel that it's indicative of the way the game actually works.

Who knows? Maybe you should give it another try? :) If nothing else, if your account has been going since May 2005 you should have a TON of birthday presents waiting for you!

I checked the wiki and found out you get 2 new heroes from the winds of change questline. Makes me want to go back to play......almost. The winds of change areas are pretty damn hard last time I tried them way back.

To OP:

Welcome to GW! :D

As for the levels, everyone else pretty much said it all - it's irrelevant after Lion's Arch. I started with Prophecies as well (as an Ele/Mes) and beat the campaign with henchmen (yeah, henchmen) and with a friend - and got NF/EotN heroes for Factions and beyond. It's all about the skills and having a build that's good for what you're up against. Mesmer interrupts and hexes are godly for me, coupled with Ele mana pool and AoE damage. When you start other campaigns with the same character you start at the point where it's expected for you to be lvl20 (or around) if you started a new character in that campaign - so there's no issue. (You can go back to the starter areas if you like and do stuff there too!)

I hope you don't feel too daunted, GW is pretty big. And at times very challenging. Grab a few elite skills for your main profession as soon as you can (Signet of Capture, you can get it from LA onwards) and experiment. Gear isn't that important either, stats progress a bit with each outpost and then just hit a ceiling 3/4 in the campaign. It's all about looks later on. (Like Kurzick/Luxon prestige armor in Factions, a reward for participating a lot in Jade Quarry matches and such.)

Ask for help (and join a guild if you haven't already) if you get stuck, the community is nice, especially if you play on populated regions like the US ones. Enjoy!

I stayed in pre-Searing to reach level 20 because I wanted the title; it took a while, but now I feel like the whole world is opening up. I was initially a bit bummed about the level cap, but it's ok because now each "level" gives you a skill point. In a way it's kind of nice; one doesn't have to be so focused on "level up!" and can just work on evolving the character.

Are you saying you stayed in pre-searing until you reached lvl 20 on your first character? Because that's pretty darn motivated. I know it's easier now with the quests but still ...

I always thought that 'Legendary Hero of Ascalon' title was a bit too grandiose for what you actually had to do to earn it.... I'd have thought a title like 'Dude, where's my life?' would have been more appropriate.... :D

Well, the lvl10+ repeatable quests made it a lot more accessible. It still takes some dedication but it's far from the insanity of death leveling. Still, I didn't expect anybody to bother with this title on their first character.

Well, in my case, it was a lot of trial and error. First I tried all the different classes, to find out which I liked best, which ended up being Ranger/Elementalist (mainly for the offensive fire spells).

And then I was going a bit overboard, trying to get both LDOA and Survivor in pre. That didn't work out. Finally, around level 12, I think, I gave up on Survivor because trying for it was extremely limiting - although I know someday I'll want to create another character and actually do it. Or at least not die in pre. I don't know if you can actually get enough points for Survivor in pre, but I think it was pretty close when I finally hit level 20.
Not first character, but the one I finally decided to stick with. I've got a horrible case of restart-itis when it comes to games.
Hmm, I'm tempted to agree. :-)