So, you’ve made a character, created some sort of backstory on which to expand, and defeated an epic monster, all in the first 15 or so minutes since logging in. Then, after the comfort of the tutorial, you are turned loose into the wide, wild, world of Tyria.  Sure, there are a few helpful scouts there to point you in the right direction, but they are holding out on you. They are not going to tell you the important tips that you need to know to really succeed in Guild Wars 2.
Luckily, you’ve got us! Here are the 5 most important things you can do in your first few minutes of gameplay:
1.  Kill a Few Mobs in the Tutorial: Before you are thrust into the wide world, make sure to take some time to kill a few things in the tutorial zone. This serves a few functions. First, it’ll allow you to get used to the controls in a confined environment.  It will also give you a chance to unlock a few weapon skills for your starting weapon, which is incredibly important.  Finally, it will give you some copper. For the next few steps, you’ll need around 100 copper.  You’ll get 40 later, but make sure you have a little pool of money to rely on.
2. Buy your Gathering Tools:  In every starting area, there is a vendor nearby willing to sell you a few essentials. Take the chance to sell any junk items you may have picked up early on and then go ahead and buy your Gathering Tools. You’ll need a Rough Harvesting Sickle, a Rough Logging Axe, and a Rough Mining Pick.  Each tool costs 24 copper, so that will net you 72 copper.  These tools will allow you to gather ore, herbs and lumber, which will be useful in crafting, or at least could get you a good return in the Trading Post.
3. Buy a Salvage Kit:  At the same vendor, you should see a Crude Salvage Kit available for 32 copper. Buy one of these.  This item will allow you to breakdown items into crafting materials, which can either be kept for crafting, or sold to others. My general philosophy is to salvage anything that I personally can’t use, and deposit the materials in my bank. This keeps your bag space open for other items you might acquire during your adventures. Speaking of bag space…
4. Equip your Leather Bag:  A simple step, but an important one. At the end of your tutorial, you’ll receive a Leather Bag, as well as your choice of a second weapon. You need to actually go into your inventory and equip this. It took me a very long time to realize this on my first Guild Wars 2 character, so the more people I can save from the pain I went through, the better.
5. Buy/Find a few Weapons: By this point, you may be low on copper. If you are not, you might want to consider buying a weapon or two. Uncovering all the Weapon Skills for all of your weapons is a very smart and very attainable goal for your first bit of play. Most of the basic weapons can be bought from the Weaponsmith in the starting area ( Normally located close to the Merchant selling Gathering Tools and Salvage Kits) and will cost you between 40 and 64 copper, so you may have to do a heart or two before actually buying these. Who knows, you might even find a few of the weapons you can use during your journey.
And this is only the beginning….