5101

You get transmutation stones through completing areas. On you map, there should be a breakdown of points of interest, waypoints, renowned hearts, and vistas in the zone. When you finish all of those in any given zone, you get a treasure chest. They usually have regular/fine transmutation stones in them.

They’re also sold in the gem store, and you might also get them through black lion chests as well.

A full description and rundown are here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Transmutation

5102

This site has comprehensive pictures of all the armor sets - it’s actually not one of the top results in search engines, even though it really should be (no other resource comes close).
http://www.gw2armorgallery.com/types.htm

“Standard” are drops.
“Karma” are from various karma vendors (though the site doesn’t tell you which - the wiki has incomplete lists though)
“Crafted” is self-evident
“Dungeon” are available from running dungeons
“Order” are bought with gold after you join one of the orders in your personal story (you only get to buy the ones from the one you join)
“Cultural” are race-only, bought from vendors in the capital city, and the T3 set is really expensive (106g for the full set, IIRC)
“Legacy” is from GW1 rewards.

You’ll probably end up with more transmutation stones then you can use, honestly. I have 70+ regular ones sitting in my bank, and 20 some fines. You get most regulars from 100-percenting a map, and daily reward sometimes gives you some.

Fine stones are from the black lion chests or direct from the gem store. Your personal story will give you keys to chests at a few points, and I believe I’ve gotten keys from map completions.

5103

I picked this up on Xmas when it was on sale. I put a few hours into it. The dynamic events and “questless quests” are really cool, of course. But I think I’m missing something when it comes to combat.

Each weapon gives a different set of abilities. So I equip a sword, and wack stuff with it for 15 minutes and I’ve unlocked all the abilities… then what? I also caught myself doing something I haven’t done in years – start fighting something, then lean over and take a bite out of my dinner. You can’t do that in WoW, not really. But I can in GW2 because my primary ability is on auto-attack and I don’t really need to use any other abilities… I don’t see how this combat system can be fun for more than a few hours. What am I missing?

Also, I have a guardian. She has a spell that casts an orb that shoots out and heals other players. But the description says I can also detonate the orb to do damage to enemies. How do I detonate it?

5104

You answered your own question earlier in your post.

I can’t think of any conventional MMO that is even remotely challenging until several hours in.

To detonate your guardian ability, use the ability a second time. There are a fair number of guardian skills that work that way. Have fun with your shields!

-Tom
5105

The idea that you can’t eat (and watch fringe, and do tax returns and chat with your wife) while playing wow because the combat is engaging is laughable. WoW is pure rotation.

5106

No, not really. Most (every?) class have procs now that trigger special abilities. I suppose you could mash 1 if you want to burn through half your life and take 3X longer to kill the mob, though.

5107

For the record, I’ve died countless times in GW2. Usually to those damn Christmas Dolls, but just as often because I got 3 mobs on me. Or I aggro’d the big event mob.

5108

Is there a particular time I should do the Personal Story stuff? Does it matter? Will it scale with me, or am I going to be totally outleveled for it by the time I dive in?

5109

You will be downleveled according to the content and receive a relative amount of XP. I think somewhere around a third of a level’s worth? I usually save them for when I’m tired of grinding hearts and such.

5110

We too saved them for when we were bored of doing hearts/exploring as a break. Just keep in mind that while you’re down-leveled to the level of the quest, the gear rewards aren’t up-leveled as far as I’ve been able to tell. It’s not a huge concern as gear is readily and cheaply available on the Trading Post, just don’t be disappointed if you can’t use the gear.

5111

I picked this up during the recent Amazon sale and I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit. I’ve got a level 18 Charr Ranger on Emhry Bay. Is the QT3 guild still there and would it be possible to get an invite? Character name is godhugh.8946.

5112

Anyone here playing on the European servers?

5113

Yes, me (Kodash). But I don’t play around the clock (or even every day).

I guess all the endless “Why can’t I jump?” complaints from GW1 brought us these jumping puzzles. I hope you enjoy them, I cannot be bothered.

5114

A couple hours into the game, WoW combat is so intense that you don’t have time to take a bite of dinner? I haven’t played since TBC, but I can’t imagine it’s changed that much.

In Guild Wars 2 if you’re not moving around all the time, you aren’t fighting optimally. It also sounds like you haven’t unlocked weapon-switching yet. If you think there isn’t enough to do in combat, play a Mesmer - clone management can be a full-time job.

5115

They’ll remain a challenge, scale, but the rewards don’t scale. It’s better if you can do them at the appropriate level. i can barely stand the story, so I do one every few weeks when I am bored enough to remember to do it.

5116

WoW today is REALLY obsessed with effects proccing and requiring player response, rather than rotations. I don’t really know that it’s an improvement, but it’s certainly different, both from TBC and GW2.

Footwork in GW2 is much more interesting, in that WoW is basically still just “the dance” at most in PVE, and spazzball movement in PVP.

5117

I found the PC Gamer review of GW2 and they twice mentioned how the simplified and rapid learning of abilities can be deceptive. Though they didn’t really expound upon it, other than to talk about how the Elementalist has a different range of abilities for every weapon and every spec.

I find myself fighting +1 and +2 mobs with my Guardian, which certainly requires pressing more buttons. I also seem to be surrounded by players who are +2 and +3. I keep wondering where did they go that I didn’t? I’m grinding Hearts, but I’m not levelling up fast enough to keep up with them.

5118

Heart grinding is ok, but there are all sorts of ways to earn XP in addition to it. I won’t go into the full long list because it’s documented in any number of places, but you get XP from exploration, dynamic events, story quests, crafting, gathering, etc. After the first couple of nights playing, I found it extremely easy to “outlevel” the areas I was in. I say “outlevel” in quotes because you are down-leveled to something like intended level + 1 when you’re in the zone.

If you feel like you’re underleveled, you can always go explore the various cities for a bit, which will give you a good chunk of xp. You can also go visit the other race’s low-level areas as well and do questing/events/exploration there as well.

5119

IMO, exploration is the best way to level quickly. Pick a map, and 100% all the hearts, waypoints, POIs, etc.

Gedd’s advice to explore the cities is also a good one. They’re easier (no mobs) and faster to 100%.

5120

Also, keep in mind that there are more actual points of interest, actual cool little details, than the one’s designated by the little “point of interest” boxes on your map. There are hidden caverns and hidey-holes and grottos and little hermit houses and hidden mini-bosses and all sorts of things if you just head off in a direction and look.

Also, keep in mind that you get bonus XP for killing monsters in areas that no one has been to for a while. So if you do find a cave full of strange critters where there was no indication of one on the map you may see your XP bar increase significantly.