r/GW2

Hi, everyone!

I'm about to start my adventure in the world of MMOs, and I've seen a lot of comments saying that GW2 is the best there is!

I'd love to hear your opinions on this game and, if you have any, some advice!

Also, even though I'm not an MMO player, I'm looking forward to GW3 when it comes out!

Hey everyone!

I'm thinking about jumping into Guild Wars 2 as a strictly f2p player, but I have a few questions before committing my time.

I know that casually leveling a character to level 80 takes around 50 hours at most, and the open-world exploration seems really fun. However, my main concern starts right at level 80:

From what I've seen in guides and meta lists, endgame gameplay heavily revolves around Elite Specializations (Reaper, Firebrand, Virtuoso, Mechanist, etc.), which are all locked behind paid expansions.

I wanted to ask the community:

So

1. How hard do you hit a wall at level 80 without expansions? Are Core builds actually viable and fun for F2P endgame content like Dungeons, T1/T2 Fractals, and World Bosses?
2. How is PvP and WvW for Core builds? I heard sPvP normalizes stats and that builds like Core Condi Necro or Core Support Guard are still very strong. Is that true, or will I be constantly outclassed by Elite Specs?
3. Is it worth investing ~50 hours into leveling if I plan to stay strictly F2P for a long time, or does the game feel too restrictive without mounts, gliders, and Elite Specs?

Which Core professions would you recommend for the smoothest F2P experience?

Thanks in advance for any insights!