I’ll answer a question that wasn’t asked. But I did just come back, grabbed HoT, and had all but Revenant (obv.) at 80 but most not even in exotic and gear sets appropriate for either nothing (wearing what dropped while leveling) or useful for builds 3 major changes long past. My best equipped was my engy too.
What’s cheap to kit in full exotic? What’s easy to run on cheap gear in HoT without the Hot spec unlocked. And my answer is condition Ranger. Dire (condi, power, toughness) and krait or balthazar runes is a dirt cheap and effective set up. Since the pets have their own stats, use a power one as needed.
Many of the others benefit from zerker or new 4 stat combos from HoT. Use ranger to open areas and farm it if you stay and see something you want, since if engi bored you, I’ll second ranger likely will too.
A second would be guardian, agree with it being easy PvE. Grabbing a Power, Toughness, Vitality set should be cost effective. Overkill for standard PvE, but good for laughs when you don’t die first in a fractal you have 1/2 the agony resist required. I died second. ;) You’ll get bored again, but the gear will be useful if you want to take that one into WvW later. It will be slightly more expensive than dire w/krait or balth runes. I did use my ranger to grab 6 durability runes for it.
Both of those options though will be so much cheaper than any zerker or 4 useful new 4 stat combo, or most new runes. A dire necro would be a third choice, but the better runes are again pricy.
Oh, good point. I hadn’t even thought of it from that angle, although I suppose my three under-geared level 80 alts should have been some sort of indicator. :P
I think only my Revenant is full exotics at this point (with ascended accessories/amulets/rings), but even then, I don’t use the most expensive runes. I’m working on getting ascended stuff for him (probably with celestial stats) but it’s going to take a good while before I’m done.
Otherwise, the characters I play with the most after the Revenant - which would be my Necro, my Mesmer, and my Engineer - have exotic weapons but (mostly) rare armor. They do have ascended accessories though.
Funny thing - so far, only one of my characters has an ascended weapon, and it’s my Necro. She got an ascended dagger (Razor of the Sunless) from a Tequatl run. I barely use it, since I play mostly with a Power build, but it’s there waiting for me when I decide to go condition Necro. ;)
Silly people, we were talking about LOTRO and then someone has to go and bump this thread? My ADHD can’t handle it. The only thing in “my favor” is that I never bought HoT.
Thanks to this thread I reinstalled and started a Warrior, small guy big ears can’t think of the race. Played a few hours last night and really enjoyed it.
I have a level 40 Ranger but found it really difficult to pick up and play after not playing for so long.
I see I am still in the QT3 guild as well not that I saw anyone :D
Is HoT worth it, still seems very expensive as an expansion at full price or is there anywhere to get it a bit cheaper.
Once you hit 80, and/or if you want to PvP (structured not just WvW) you’ll want HoT. Both for access to advanced specs and gear choices. New gear types you buy from HoT vendors with HoT currencies are account bound. Before 80, totally optional. And if you just want to poke about in the open world PvE after 90, also optional.
It is not just the added story/zone content but the additional spec line really changes most of the classes, and the added gear types and runes end up being very useful. IMHO, Engy changes the least, and Ranger, while the spec changes it significantly, is the most easily ignored. The advanced spec makes Ranger a group healer, so if you aren’t doing group content it is safely ignored. So some may depend on what you want to do and play.
And yeah, if you like the base game, I’d say HoT is worth it. The Revenant is a fantastic class, and the new specializations (especially Chronomancer and Reaper) add some cool options.
Okay, I’m all set! Downloaded, installed, graphics settings and keybindings doublechecked, suitably bewildered at all the stuff in my inventory and what these skills do. Is it July 26 yet? Who wants to group up?
If I own a retail (paid) copy of Guild Wars 2 and only have one character under level 20 is there any compelling reason to pick up Heart of Thorns at this point?
I also play fairly slow since I just casually dip in and out over long periods of time. Will HoT add much to my experience now or is most of the content reserved for higher level or max level characters?
I think the content is higher level stuff (maps, elite specs, living story 3), with the exception of the new class (and maybe gliding?). However, I’m guessing 50% off is the lowest this will go short of a new xpac.
