Level 30 is when your personal story takes a global turn in Guild Wars 2. This is part of the escalating scope of the storyline, something which you also see as you explore the maps from little to big. The problems get bigger, and the issues get more complicated. You start out defending your tavern friends in a brawl, and end up (no spoilers) fighting an Elder Dragon.
Level 30 story is where you have to choose a permanent faction for your character. I chose to help the Priory defend Scholar’s Cleft from the Dredge. Mostly because Scholar Prott greets me with, “I do most of my research at the pub.”
Choose a Guild Wars 2 Faction
Does it matter which order (faction) you choose? Not really. Outside of Personal Story, the order you choose makes almost no difference to the rest of the game.
You have your choice of three factions:
- Durmand Priory: A scholarly order. Your mentor is Magister Sieran.
- Order of Whispers: Spies and assassins. Your mentor is Lightbringer Tybalt Leftpaw.
- Vigil: A military order. Your mentor is Warmaster Forgal Kernsson.
There are a few possible ways to choose your faction:
- Role-playing. Which faction best suits your character’s outlook?
- Unlocking skins. Each faction has its own set of armor and equipment, which can only be purchased by a member of that faction. If you’re a completionist, you will want to have one character in each order, so that you can unlock all the skins.
- Mentor. Each mentor is unique and entertaining in their own way. Every player has their favorite. (Mine’s Sieran.) It’s worth doing each faction once just to have the experience of working with each of the mentors.
- Story. Each faction tackles the middle portion of Personal Story in a different way.
And also, I have to say, when choosing an order, one should also consider the Order of Whispers color scheme.
Purple, gold, AND red? I mean… yikes.
Defense Against the Dredge
This section of Personal Story also has one of my all-time favorite moments in the game. When you enter Scholar’s Cleft during the dredge assault, a sylvari scholar named Fionna is on the first floor, defending her cat against the dredge.
As you enter, she shouts, “Stay back! I won’t allow harm to come to little Meowmers!”
I forced myself to use Assassin Stance during this chunk of Personal Story. It took some getting used to, but I started to appreciate the movement skills, given that (like Warrior and Guardian), Revenant doesn’t have a passive speed buff.
Anything that gets your character moving is a plus, particularly in Personal Story, where you don’t have access to mounts.
Gearing Up and Leveling Up
I got a few decent pieces from doing Personal Story. After I finished, I took the time to shuffle through some of my other characters and craft a full set of appropriately-leveled gear and weapons for my little baby Rev (who’s growing up so fast!)
After finishing Personal Story, I gain a few more levels by running around the other zones’ maps grabbing waypoints. I was also able to join a map complete (everything but hearts) train with my guild in Diessa Plateau.
“Map complete, no hearts” is an exception to the rule I mentioned earlier, about map completion with friends never going the way you expect. If you skip the hearts, it’s actually somewhat reasonable to expect you will all spend your time running around together.
World Bosses
I’m looking forward to getting leveled up enough to start tackling some of the world bosses. Although there are a few entry-level world bosses, the world boss train opens up for you when you hit level 60 or so.
World boss train is a great way to spend your time when you’re leveling up your character. While you wait for the boss to spawn, run around on the map to work on map completion, participate in events, and harvest materials.
Out of all the professions, I’ve never given Revenant a fair try. I decided to start a Revenant, go through the leveling process, and record the journey.
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