Introduction
In this section of our Beginner’s Guide, we will cover everything
that happens in character creation. There is often a tendency for
people to just rush through and make random decisions here, because in
other MMOs doing so doesn’t really have that much of an impact on the
game. Guild Wars 2 wants your decisions to matter, however, and the
story told by these choices clearly reflects this design philosophy.
Races
In the original Guild Wars, you could only play as a Human, really at
the height of their power in Tyria. While many other races existed and
you interacted with them, their backstories weren’t well fleshed out.
In Guild Wars 2, we have a wide variety of races to choose from with
rich and well developed backgrounds and personal stories for each of
them.
Human
Destiny’s Edge has every race represented by its members.
The humans are mostly what you’d expect – they are human looking.
However, don’t be taken in by the typical MMO trope of the human race
being boring. They are anything but. The Human race has a lot of
back-story from the original Guild Wars game.
Humans are relative newcomers to the world of Tyria. They were
brought here, from somewhere we don’t know about, by the Six Gods of
Tyria, who themselves only pre-date humans by a small margin of time.
Once on Tyria, they spread rapidly and as they spread, they pushed out
the current residents of the land: the Charr. This conflict was a major
setting in the original game.
In modern day, the humans find themselves weakened, fighting multiple
enemies and no longer in the favor of the Six Gods. Though fallen from
their previous heights, they are enduring and faithful. You will find
the story of the humans immediately engaging and exciting.
You can read more about the Human Lore in the original
Guild Wars Wiki as well as the
Guild Wars 2 Wiki, and check out the New Krewe article
Meet the Humans.
Charr
The Charr originally lived in the area known as Ascalon before the
arrival of the Humans to Tyria. A highly militaristic people, they
divided themselves into four legions, though infighting between those
legions quickly began to take its toll. While the actions of human King
Adelbern created a zero-sum game for the Charr, essentially meaning
they could never truly take the area of Ascalon City, they have
re-conquered the rest of the territory, save for the one Human
stronghold of Ebonhawke.
The Four Legions of the Charr are:
- The Blood Legion: The ground-pounder and the infantry, the Blood Legion is made up of those Charr that fight on the front lines.
- The Ash Legion: Infiltrators and assassins, the Ash Legion specializes in covert tactics.
- The Iron Legion: The engineers and builder of the Charr warmachines, this legion is the creator and ‘ruler’ of the Black Citadel.
- The Flame Legion:The Flame
Legion has been since cast aside by the other three legions. They
continue to have the greatest number and best quality shamans of all the
Charr legions. They worship Gaheron Baelfire as a new god.
You can read more about the Charr at the
Guild Wars Wiki and the
Guild Wars 2 Wiki, as well as a more in-depth article from the New Krewe,
Meet the Charr.
Norn
The Norn look a bit like large humans with an alcohol problem. They
would most likely argue it was only a problem if they ran out. They are
a race of Nordic-like hunters who have strong connections with the
Animal Spirits of the Wild.
The Norn existed in the original Guild Wars but were not a playable
race. Currently, they are in exile from their homelands due to the
Elder Dragon, Jourmag, awakening in the Northern Shiverpeaks.
They still live for the glory of hunting, but now they are
determined to find a champion capable of killing Jourmag and reclaiming
their home. And did I mention they can turn into
half-man half-animal creatures with special abilities? Yeah, they are
that cool.
Jeff Grubb, one of the lead Lore Writers for Guild Wars 2, claims he
loves the Norn race. To read more about this amazing race of extra tall
humans check out the New Krewe article
Meet the Norn.
Asura
While the Asura may appear as though they are the obligate miniature
race for comedic effect, I can assure you they are not. Asurans are
amazing engineers and architects. During the original Guild Wars, they
were forced to the surface from their natural underground habitat. They
not only adapted to this life but thrived. Their presence and their
technology spread throughout all Tyria. They live to research and
experiment – this can even been seen in their
racial skills, which include the ability to summon Golems to fight alongside them.
You can find a more exhaustive history of the Asura in the
Guild Wars Wiki and the current
Guild Wars 2 Wiki articles. You can also go to our New Krewe article on the Asura
here.
Sylvari
It’s the attack of the Pod People! Oddly, this is a close
description. The Sylvari are a new race to Tyria that look a lot like
humans but are made from plants. When I say new, I don’t mean they
didn’t exist in previous lore. I mean the entire race is only 25 years
old. They are born from a massive sentient tree called The Pale Tree.
The Sylvari, before they are born, exist in a dream realm called the
Dream of Dreams, which shows them a number of visions that will have an
impact on their life. The dream has been invaded by a shadow, which the
Sylvari interpret as the awakening of the dragons. They view it as
their duty to kill and gather other races to kill them as well.
The Dream Realm gives each new Sylvari a kind of basic education,
allowing them to speak and obtain a working knowledge of the world.
Once out in the world, each Sylvari’s experience is sent back to the
Pale Tree to influence the Dream of Dreams and teach the next generation
about the world.
When the first few Sylvari were released into the world, the first
sentient race they happened upon were the Asura, who promptly captured
and experimented on them. Once the Asura realized they were sentient,
they profusely apologized and released them, but this has left a mark on
the Sylvari as a whole when dealing with the Asura.
In general, the Sylvari are somewhat naive about the world when they
are first “born”. The way they view their world is starkly different
from their human counterparts. For instance, it tends to baffle them
that humans find the job of a grave digger as undesirable, to them it’s
like planting a seed they know will never bloom.
More information about the Sylvari can be found on
The Guild Wars 2 wiki and an in depth interview with Ree Soesbee on the
GWI Podcast. We also have a New Krewe post covering them, which can be located
here.
Professions
Necromancer
The Necromancer has its roots in the original Guild Wars. You have
access to minions created from the flesh of the dead, but they are not a
simple pet class. Necromancers fight using heavy condition damage,
spells that are imbued with the undead realm, and finally they have
access to a unique resource: Life Force. Life Force allows you to
access Death Shroud, which transforms you into a specter of Death with
unique abilities such as draining the life from those around you.
Warrior
The Warrior is the classic master of arms. They are able to use a
mind-boggling 19 possible weapon sets, including several ranged weapons.
The Warrior is a lethal opponent but is also capable of defending
their allies as well as enhancing their abilities through the use of
banners. The Warrior’s special mechanic is Adrenaline, which builds up
through attacks to release a burst ability that is unique to each
weapon.
Guardian
The Guardian is a Soldier profession, similar to the
Warrior, but with a focus on magic instead of pure martial skill. The
core mechanic of the Guardian are the three Virtues – Resolve, Courage
and Justice. Each of these provide powerful passive buffs to the
Guardian, which can be sacrificed in order to share those same buffs
with his allies. While considered a support class by many, the Guardian
is still a capable offensive threat. While it has the lowest health of
almost any profession, it compensates this with mitigation abilities
like Aegis, which automatically negate an incoming attack and responds
with several means of health regeneration, condition removal and
healing.
Elementalist
Elementalists
are able to use their weapons as mediums to wield each element: fire,
water, air (lightning), or earth. You have access to only one element
at a time by attuning yourself to it. Once in an attunement, you gain
access to a skill set unique to that element. You can switch to
different attunements in the middle of combat, giving you the widest
range of potential abilities in the game. With these attunements, you
are able to be a jack of all trades, filling in to support your allies,
control enemies, and do damage.
Thief
The Thief focuses on mobility, high single target damage, stealth,
condition damage and hit-and-run tactics. Unlike other versions of
Assassins or Rogues, the Thief does not have access to long-duration
stealths, though the Profession does have access to a number of ways to
apply stealth to themselves and others nearby. The class’s signature
ability is Steal, which allows you to Shadowstep (essentially teleport)
to an enemy and steal a random, useful item from them. They also have
access to an ability known as Shadowstep, which allows them to teleport
around the battlefield quickly.
Ranger
At first glance, the Ranger looks like the obligate pet class.
However, they are a strong and diverse class that doesn’t rely solely
on their pets and long range attacks to do their damage. Dual wield axe
Rangers are some of the most feared players in sPvP. The Ranger
utilizes a number of
traps to slow, cripple, or put a number of other conditions on enemies, and they have access to
spirit beasts that create powerful passive buffs to your allies as well as a secondary set of spells each beast has.
Mesmer
The Mesmer is a scholar profession dating back the
original Guild Wars. They specialize in deceiving the minds of their
enemies. They create powerful illusions of themselves that deal
devastating damage or clones that are exact copies of themselves to
confuse the enemy. Mesmers also can create Mantras, which basically ques
up a long-cast spell and prepares it for use before a battle. Once
charged, Mantras can even be used in the middle of casting another
spell.
Engineer
Master
of machines, elixirs and explosives, the Engineer is one of the more
unique professions. The Engineer, wearing medium armor, has one of most
limited number of weapons with access to only pistols, shields, and
rifles. However, Engineers have access to a series of powerful toolkits
that open up more Engineer-only weapons, such as a flamethrower.
Engineers are amazing at group support and control, and they are
especially adept at holding on to control points in sPvP.
Personal Story Choices
The final sections of character creation are a series of questions
that deal with your past, ways you handle situations and an assortment
of information from which God you worship to which spirit beast do you
feel a calling from.
You may be tempted to quickly skip over this or make random choices
here, as it appears like meaningless roleplaying flavor text, but I can
assure you that’s not the case. These are the elements that make up
your Personal Story in the world of Tyria. Each choice has an impact on
the path your Personal Story takes, so resist the urge to randomly
click on a choice. Spend the time to read the descriptions and make a
choice that fits you or your character the best. I assure you, you will
be well rewarded for your diligence in this leg of character creation.
If you ever want to replay a race, you can choose different options
and take a completely different path in the game, and that’s only for
each race. With five races, the possibilities within the Personal Story
are seemingly limitless.
The next guide section will cover your characters entrance into the
world of Tyria. We will cover all of your “firsts” in Guild Wars 2 on
your journey throughout the world.
