How Guild Wars 2 works
What Makes Guild Wars 2 Different
Move and dodge to avoid attacks, and explore by joining nearby events. Even low-level areas can reward a high-level character.
Combat: avoid damage and heal yourself
Dodging is central to staying alive. Every character needs to react to enemy attacks and dodge at the right time.
Your skill bar
The main skill bar has ten slots. There is no separate basic-attack button; skill 1 is set to autoattack by default.
From level 10, most professions can swap weapon sets in combat with ~. Equipping different weapons changes the corresponding skills. Elementalists, engineers, and bladesworns cannot swap weapon sets in combat. → Skill-bar guide
Downed state and revival
Losing your health normally puts you into the downed state. Use downed skills to survive while an ally revives you, or get back up when an enemy you have earned kill credit for dies: this is a rally. → Downed and revival guide
Dynamic events: join objectives in the world
As you explore, join nearby dynamic events instead of collecting a separate quest for every objective.
| Aspect | Guild Wars 2 dynamic events |
|---|---|
| Joining | ✓Help with the objective to earn participation, without accepting a separate quest |
| Rewards | ✓Each player receives rewards based on participation; party members do not divide a shared reward |
| Defeating enemies | ✓Players who earn kill credit each get their own loot |
| After failure | ✓Some events lead to another event even when they fail |
Level scaling: why can low-level enemies still hurt?
When a level-80 character enters a lower-level area, downscaling adjusts their effective level to the area’s maximum level plus one.
Enter a level-10 area
Equipment and skills retained
Your equipment and skills remain equipped, but your attributes are reduced. Skills, traits, and equipment still give advantages, so a character with a higher actual level is often stronger even at the same effective level.
You can also play with lower-level friends. Your higher-level character is downscaled, so you can join a new friend in an area appropriate to their level. You can both play the content and receive rewards.
Three main game modes
Guild Wars 2 has three main modes. For a new player, open-world PvE is a good starting point.
Open-world exploration, dynamic events, personal story, dungeons, fractals, and raid encounters. PvE offers activities from beginner play through advanced group content.
Characters are scaled to level 80 and use a standardized PvP equipment system. Your build and play matter, rather than the stats of your PvE gear. The main format is 5v5 point capture. → PvP guide
Independent of PvE gearThree teams fight over keeps, towers, and castles across large maps. Siege warfare, large battles, and small-group skirmishes all take place here. → WvW guide
After level 80: more ways to progress
It is normal to reach level 80 and wonder what to do next. This is where many of Guild Wars 2’s long-term activities begin.
After level 80, masteries teach abilities such as gliding and mount skills. Select the track you want, fill its experience bar, then spend mastery points from the relevant region to learn it. Earn mastery points separately through achievements, mastery insights, and other objectives.
Ascended gear has higher attributes than exotic gear and the same attributes as legendary gear of the same level. Start with one weapon and upgrade gradually; you do not need a complete set at once.
Five-player dungeons chosen and completed one at a time. Start at a low Tier 1 scale. Prepare agony resistance (AR) before attempting scale 20 and above.
Large WvW battles, raid encounters, open-world meta events, or ranked PvP: each offers a different way to spend your time.