Post by Misty on Jun 6, 2015 13:47:10 GMT
One of the great things about Guild Wars is its intricate complexity, but for new players it can be really overwhelming and confusing. I know this from my own experience, so I've put together this guide to help you get started with the game!
Character Development
Tactics
Making Money
Other Useful Stuff
Character Development
Developing strong characters is kind of a central part of any RPG, and Guild Wars is no exception. However, most character development can be done quickly - you can hit max level in just a few hours of play if you know what you're doing, but that's up to you. I'm going to talk about character creation, and then skip to what comes after level 20.
Creation
Equipment
Skills
Titles
Creation
If you're reading this, there's a pretty high chance you've already made your first character, but it's never too late to make more. Some people like to have lots of different characters so that their account is well-rounded or so they can experience different styles of play - others just enjoy the process of starting a new story.
The important consideration when making a new character is your profession. This will be the one defining feature of your character, and you can never change it. There's nothing stopping you making one of each though (if you buy extra character slots from the store, anyway), but it takes quite a while to get a real feel for a profession, so it's good to learn a bit about what each one can do before you choose. Here's a very brief outline of each profession:
Assassin
PROS: high single target melee damage, very strong tank
CONS: basically none - assassins are overpowered
Dervish
PROS: very powerful AoE melee damage, very strong defences
CONS: basically none - dervishes are overpowered
Elementalist
PROS: single target and AoE ranged spell damage
CONS: low armour and damage is weak against armoured enemies
Mesmer
PROS: armour-ignoring ranged spell damage and interrupt skills
CONS: low armour
Monk
PROS: powerful heals and protection
CONS: low armour, not many good damage skills
Necromancer
PROS: armour-ignoring ranged spell damage, can summon undead minions, great energy management
CONS: low armour
Paragon
PROS: partywide buffs, high armour
CONS: very weak damage output
Ranger
PROS: high single target ranged damage, strong armour against elemental damage
CONS: no versatile AoE damage skills
Ritualist
PROS: summons powerful spirit allies
CONS: low armour, but ritualists are still very much overpowered
Warrior
PROS: strong armour against physical damage
CONS: very poor energy, outclassed by both assassins and dervishes for melee damage and tanking, probably the weakest profession
Each profession can do more things that I haven't listed, and you'll be able to get access to skills from the other professions anyway, so don't feel too restricted by your choice. If you want to know more about a particular profession, try asking an experienced player who uses that one a lot.
The other thing to decide is which campaign to start in. Assassins and ritualists can only be made in Factions, while dervishes and paragons can only be made in Nightfall, so if you're making one of these, your decision is made for you. If you pick one of the other six, the "core professions", you can start in any campaign. Factions is by far the easiest to get started in, and Nightfall is second. If you want to experience all the content in Guild Wars, you should make at least one character in Prophecies, but it probably shouldn't be your first.
The important consideration when making a new character is your profession. This will be the one defining feature of your character, and you can never change it. There's nothing stopping you making one of each though (if you buy extra character slots from the store, anyway), but it takes quite a while to get a real feel for a profession, so it's good to learn a bit about what each one can do before you choose. Here's a very brief outline of each profession:
Assassin
PROS: high single target melee damage, very strong tank
CONS: basically none - assassins are overpowered
Dervish
PROS: very powerful AoE melee damage, very strong defences
CONS: basically none - dervishes are overpowered
Elementalist
PROS: single target and AoE ranged spell damage
CONS: low armour and damage is weak against armoured enemies
Mesmer
PROS: armour-ignoring ranged spell damage and interrupt skills
CONS: low armour
Monk
PROS: powerful heals and protection
CONS: low armour, not many good damage skills
Necromancer
PROS: armour-ignoring ranged spell damage, can summon undead minions, great energy management
CONS: low armour
Paragon
PROS: partywide buffs, high armour
CONS: very weak damage output
Ranger
PROS: high single target ranged damage, strong armour against elemental damage
CONS: no versatile AoE damage skills
Ritualist
PROS: summons powerful spirit allies
CONS: low armour, but ritualists are still very much overpowered
Warrior
PROS: strong armour against physical damage
CONS: very poor energy, outclassed by both assassins and dervishes for melee damage and tanking, probably the weakest profession
Each profession can do more things that I haven't listed, and you'll be able to get access to skills from the other professions anyway, so don't feel too restricted by your choice. If you want to know more about a particular profession, try asking an experienced player who uses that one a lot.
The other thing to decide is which campaign to start in. Assassins and ritualists can only be made in Factions, while dervishes and paragons can only be made in Nightfall, so if you're making one of these, your decision is made for you. If you pick one of the other six, the "core professions", you can start in any campaign. Factions is by far the easiest to get started in, and Nightfall is second. If you want to experience all the content in Guild Wars, you should make at least one character in Prophecies, but it probably shouldn't be your first.
Equipment
The armour and weapons you start with are very weak, and your performance will suffer if you don't upgrade. As soon as you have the money, you should craft max armour - this can be done in Droknar's Forge (Prophecies), Kaineng Center (Factions), Consulate Docks (Nightfall), or Boreal Station (Eye of the North). There are more expensive armour sets elsewhere, but they're just for looks, so stick with regular cheap max armour until you have a lot of money to spare.
Weapons are a different matter - a lot of them will drop for you when you kill enemies or complete certain quests, and sometimes you'll get one that's better than what you have at the moment. Compare the stats and see which one you think is better. Bear in mind that you can switch weapons in battle whenever you want, so it can be worth carrying multiple weapon sets in your inventory. To set up easy weapon swapping, click "weapon sets" in your inventory, activate all 4 weapon sets, and then use F1-4 (or click on the bottom right corner of the screen) to switch between them.
Using the stuff that drops for you is fine at first, but unless you get extremely lucky, you'll probably want to make or buy better weapons at some point. Weapons with max stats are fairly easy to come by, but you should also modify your weapons to give them useful bonuses. Finding the right upgrade components (called mods) can take time. You either need to use an Expert Salvage Kit to remove them from weapons that have them, or trade them from other players. You can then apply them to your weapons. To find out about what types of mods you can put on each weapon, check out this wiki article: wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Upgrade_component
You can also put mods on your armour: runes and insignias. Each piece of armour can take one rune and one insignia, and all runes and insignias can be salvaged from drops or bought and sold at the Rune Trader, an NPC you can find in major towns or the Guild Hall. Have a look at the available runes and insignias, and decide which is right for your character. You might decide that you want extra sets of armour for different purposes, but that's generally something that comes much later, after beating the campaigns.
Weapons are a different matter - a lot of them will drop for you when you kill enemies or complete certain quests, and sometimes you'll get one that's better than what you have at the moment. Compare the stats and see which one you think is better. Bear in mind that you can switch weapons in battle whenever you want, so it can be worth carrying multiple weapon sets in your inventory. To set up easy weapon swapping, click "weapon sets" in your inventory, activate all 4 weapon sets, and then use F1-4 (or click on the bottom right corner of the screen) to switch between them.
Using the stuff that drops for you is fine at first, but unless you get extremely lucky, you'll probably want to make or buy better weapons at some point. Weapons with max stats are fairly easy to come by, but you should also modify your weapons to give them useful bonuses. Finding the right upgrade components (called mods) can take time. You either need to use an Expert Salvage Kit to remove them from weapons that have them, or trade them from other players. You can then apply them to your weapons. To find out about what types of mods you can put on each weapon, check out this wiki article: wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Upgrade_component
You can also put mods on your armour: runes and insignias. Each piece of armour can take one rune and one insignia, and all runes and insignias can be salvaged from drops or bought and sold at the Rune Trader, an NPC you can find in major towns or the Guild Hall. Have a look at the available runes and insignias, and decide which is right for your character. You might decide that you want extra sets of armour for different purposes, but that's generally something that comes much later, after beating the campaigns.
Skills
As you progress through the game, you'll come across various quests that offer skills as rewards. This is a great way to get skills for free, and in Eye of the North, you can only get those skills by doing the quests. You'll also meet Skill Trainers in towns and some outposts who can sell you skills. Each Skill Trainer has a different selection of skills, so check out what each one has to offer, or if you want to find a particular skill, look it up on the wiki.
Not all skills come from trainers or quests - there are also "elite skills". These comprise some of the most powerful skills in the game, but you can only put one on your bar at a time, and you have to "capture" the elite in order to learn it. This is done by purchasing a Signet of Capture (a special single-use skill) from a Skill Trainer, killing a boss that has the elite you want (look it up on the wiki), and using the Signet of Capture near the boss's corpse.
Once you learn a skill, it becomes "unlocked" for your entire account. All PvP characters and heroes can use any unlocked skills, and your other characters can learn them by using tomes. Tomes are single-use items which drop in Hard Mode, or can be purchased from an NPC or other players. Using a tome will allow you to learn one skill which is already unlocked on your account, so that you can use it on that character. Each tome is linked to a particular profession, and will only let you learn skills from that profession e.g. you can only learn a mesmer skill from a mesmer tome. There are also elite tomes, which are exactly the same but for elite skills.
Not all skills come from trainers or quests - there are also "elite skills". These comprise some of the most powerful skills in the game, but you can only put one on your bar at a time, and you have to "capture" the elite in order to learn it. This is done by purchasing a Signet of Capture (a special single-use skill) from a Skill Trainer, killing a boss that has the elite you want (look it up on the wiki), and using the Signet of Capture near the boss's corpse.
Once you learn a skill, it becomes "unlocked" for your entire account. All PvP characters and heroes can use any unlocked skills, and your other characters can learn them by using tomes. Tomes are single-use items which drop in Hard Mode, or can be purchased from an NPC or other players. Using a tome will allow you to learn one skill which is already unlocked on your account, so that you can use it on that character. Each tome is linked to a particular profession, and will only let you learn skills from that profession e.g. you can only learn a mesmer skill from a mesmer tome. There are also elite tomes, which are exactly the same but for elite skills.
Titles
Press H and click on "Titles" to see which titles you've earned. There may be quite a few already! Mouse over any title to see what you need to do to improve it. If you've progressed high enough in a title, there'll be a box to the left - click the box, and your character will displaying the title. Now anyone who mouses over your character in an outpost will see the title.
Most titles are just for vanity, but there are a few which make your character stronger: Kurzick and Luxon (Factions), Sunspear and Lightbringer (Nightfall), and Asura, Deldrimor, Norn, and Vanguard (Eye of the North). These are called "reputation" titles, and they come from killing enemies or completing quests and missions in certain parts of the game. All of these reputation titles are linked to a set of powerful skills, which become stronger as you gain ranks in the relevant title. Also, all of the titles except Kurzick, Luxon, and Sunspear have inherent bonus effects when you display them.
Once you have your equipment and skills set up, working on these titles is the only way to improve your character. There are a number of different ways to efficiently farm each one, so ask in alliance chat for which would be best for you, depending on your playstyle and what you enjoy.
Most titles are just for vanity, but there are a few which make your character stronger: Kurzick and Luxon (Factions), Sunspear and Lightbringer (Nightfall), and Asura, Deldrimor, Norn, and Vanguard (Eye of the North). These are called "reputation" titles, and they come from killing enemies or completing quests and missions in certain parts of the game. All of these reputation titles are linked to a set of powerful skills, which become stronger as you gain ranks in the relevant title. Also, all of the titles except Kurzick, Luxon, and Sunspear have inherent bonus effects when you display them.
Once you have your equipment and skills set up, working on these titles is the only way to improve your character. There are a number of different ways to efficiently farm each one, so ask in alliance chat for which would be best for you, depending on your playstyle and what you enjoy.
Tactics
Unlike certain other RPGs, being good at Guild Wars does not require you to grind for max stats. The things that set you apart are reflexes, ability to work in a team, and knowledge of the game mechanics. Those first two are up to you, but I can help with the third one!
Builds
Party Setup
Aggro
Builds
Your selection of skills is by the far the biggest contributor to your character's effectiveness. Those 8 skills, together with your attributes, are called a build. If someone asks to see your build or they ask you to "ping", hold down Ctrl and click on your skill bar - this will send a skill template to team chat so that your party can click on it and see your build. If you click on a template, you can choose to load it onto your character (if you're the right profession) or save it for future use. You can also click on "Send to Chat" to put it in a different channel, e.g. alliance or guild chat.
The key to making a good build is synergy. This means finding 2 or more skills that complement each other, for example: a hex spell and a skill that causes bonus damage if the target is hexed. It's also a good idea to avoid choosing skills from too many different attributes, or you won't be able to invest enough attribute points to make them all effective.
Like it or not, some skills are better than others - they can be more versatile, have more options for synergy, be simpler to use, or just be more powerful than alternatives. It's a no-brainer that unless you want a silly, ineffective build, you'll try to use as many good skills as you can, and avoid the weak ones. Knowing which is which requires some experience, but you can always ask, and it's not hard to find someone with an opinion. Remember that opinions are just that, though - if you're not sure, ask them to back it up with an explanation or ask someone else what they think.
The key to making a good build is synergy. This means finding 2 or more skills that complement each other, for example: a hex spell and a skill that causes bonus damage if the target is hexed. It's also a good idea to avoid choosing skills from too many different attributes, or you won't be able to invest enough attribute points to make them all effective.
Like it or not, some skills are better than others - they can be more versatile, have more options for synergy, be simpler to use, or just be more powerful than alternatives. It's a no-brainer that unless you want a silly, ineffective build, you'll try to use as many good skills as you can, and avoid the weak ones. Knowing which is which requires some experience, but you can always ask, and it's not hard to find someone with an opinion. Remember that opinions are just that, though - if you're not sure, ask them to back it up with an explanation or ask someone else what they think.
Party Setup
Your own build is only a fraction of your group's setup. Whilst your main responsibility is to make sure that your build is good, it's also important to check that it synergizes with the rest of the team. Every team should have a good balance between damage output and survival (heals or protection), at the very least. If you lack one or the other, either your party will die, or you'll be unable to kill the enemies.
If you're using heroes, you'll need to give them builds too. Since you have absolute control over this, you should make sure the entire team's builds synergize with each other, spreading the complementary skills across different members of the team. To use the synergy example from the Builds section, you could have a hex on one hero and a skill that does bonus damage to hexed targets can go on another.
Be aware that every zone has different types of enemies, using different skills. The same party setup is not going to be effective in all places, so unless you're confident that your team is strong enough to handle any situation, try to prepare for each mission/quest/whatever by bringing effective counters to the enemies' strengths, and skills that will explode their weaknesses. If you're going somewhere for the first time, you can look it up on the wiki, ask someone more experienced, or just go in and do some reconnaissance.
If you're using heroes, you'll need to give them builds too. Since you have absolute control over this, you should make sure the entire team's builds synergize with each other, spreading the complementary skills across different members of the team. To use the synergy example from the Builds section, you could have a hex on one hero and a skill that does bonus damage to hexed targets can go on another.
Be aware that every zone has different types of enemies, using different skills. The same party setup is not going to be effective in all places, so unless you're confident that your team is strong enough to handle any situation, try to prepare for each mission/quest/whatever by bringing effective counters to the enemies' strengths, and skills that will explode their weaknesses. If you're going somewhere for the first time, you can look it up on the wiki, ask someone more experienced, or just go in and do some reconnaissance.
Aggro
See the circle in the centre of your compass? That's your aggro bubble - if an enemy gets inside it, they and their group will try to kill you, until one of you wins or you run away. They may chase you some distance, depending on how fast you run, and other factors such as the AI coded into that particular group. It's also possible to aggro a group by attacking/casting on them from afar. Usually it's considered a bad idea to aggro enemies unless there's no way to avoid them, and aggroing another group before you've finished dealing with the first one is generally a bad idea. Watch your aggro bubble carefully.
If you aggro enemies and then deliberately retreat so that they follow you, this is called "pulling" - the main reason for doing this is to get them away from other enemies (so that you don't aggro those as well). It's also useful to pull enemies in such a way that they clump up into a ball, making it easier for your group to hit them all at once with AoE.
Although aggroing one enemy will aggro its entire group, only the person in your party who aggro'd will get aggro. This usually means the enemies will run up to you and you'll all get aggro anyway, but the person who aggro'd first will get focused. There are a whole bunch of factors that determine how likely enemies are to target you, making it too complicated for this guide, so just be aware that if you get aggro, there is a chance you may get targeted any moment.
If you aggro enemies and then deliberately retreat so that they follow you, this is called "pulling" - the main reason for doing this is to get them away from other enemies (so that you don't aggro those as well). It's also useful to pull enemies in such a way that they clump up into a ball, making it easier for your group to hit them all at once with AoE.
Although aggroing one enemy will aggro its entire group, only the person in your party who aggro'd will get aggro. This usually means the enemies will run up to you and you'll all get aggro anyway, but the person who aggro'd first will get focused. There are a whole bunch of factors that determine how likely enemies are to target you, making it too complicated for this guide, so just be aware that if you get aggro, there is a chance you may get targeted any moment.
Making Money
Gold, ectos, armbraces, rare items... they may not be immensely useful in themselves, but they're the grease that keeps the Guild Wars economy flowing. That sounds weird, so either I don't understand how grease works, or I'm just terrible at metaphors. Anyway, the acquisition of PHAT L00TZ is a popular goal in the game, so I'm going to explain some ways to do it.
Solo Farming
Speed Clears
Zaishen Quests
Trading
Solo Farming
Some enemies drop items that are worth quite a bit of money, but killing them with a full party isn't very profitable because you have to share the loot. However, it may be possible for you to kill them all by yourself, provided you have the right build. This may sound like it'd be much too hard, but in some cases it's really very easy - you just have to know how. There are way too many different farms for me to list them here, but if it sounds like something you'd like to try, ask in alliance chat for suggestions!
Throughout the year are various special events, and most of these include special items dropping from mobs. During these events, it can be very profitable to do a farm that just involves killing a lot of foes quickly. Whilst they don't normally drop anything valuable, harvesting the seasonal drops is very worthwhile. A couple of examples of these farms would be vaettir farming and raptor farming.
There's an NPC called Nicholas the Traveler, who travels (what a surprise!) around Tyria, collecting trophies (items dropped by enemies). Each week, he appears in a different zone, looking for a different trophy. If you bring him some of what he's looking for, in return he'll give you Gifts of the Traveler: special items which contain random rewards. You can either open them up and see what you get, or sell them unopened to other players. The wiki article on Nicholas will tell you what trophy he wants this week, and there are links to farming guides for the trophies.
Throughout the year are various special events, and most of these include special items dropping from mobs. During these events, it can be very profitable to do a farm that just involves killing a lot of foes quickly. Whilst they don't normally drop anything valuable, harvesting the seasonal drops is very worthwhile. A couple of examples of these farms would be vaettir farming and raptor farming.
There's an NPC called Nicholas the Traveler, who travels (what a surprise!) around Tyria, collecting trophies (items dropped by enemies). Each week, he appears in a different zone, looking for a different trophy. If you bring him some of what he's looking for, in return he'll give you Gifts of the Traveler: special items which contain random rewards. You can either open them up and see what you get, or sell them unopened to other players. The wiki article on Nicholas will tell you what trophy he wants this week, and there are links to farming guides for the trophies.
Speed Clears
When a team of people form up with the intention of completing an objective superfast, this is called a Speed Clear, usually abbreviated as "SC". Contrary to the name, this usually doesn't involve clearing all the enemies - in order to do it fast, they skip anything unnecessary to get straight to the reward. SCs are typically dungeons or elite areas, although some groups also do vanquish SCs. Because SCs ideally complete in close to the minimum time possible, this can be a very efficient way to make money. Depending on the skill level of the team, however, a lot of time can be wasted, but it's almost always still faster than doing it with a random team.
SCs work because they have fixed tactics, set roles, and required builds and equipment. If you don't like playing in a way dictated by someone else, SCs are almost certainly not for you. If you do want to give it a go, make sure that before the run you ask questions and/or watch a video so that you know what you're supposed to do. Many SCers will be patient with new players and happy to explain things for you, but others will expect you to put in the effort to come prepared.
Some SCs are very challenging; others are quite easy. Usually the different roles within a team have varying levels of difficulty, with the hardest jobs being done by the most experienced players. Start yourself off with something simple so that you can get a feel for the run before you move onto anything that might be too hard.
SCs work because they have fixed tactics, set roles, and required builds and equipment. If you don't like playing in a way dictated by someone else, SCs are almost certainly not for you. If you do want to give it a go, make sure that before the run you ask questions and/or watch a video so that you know what you're supposed to do. Many SCers will be patient with new players and happy to explain things for you, but others will expect you to put in the effort to come prepared.
Some SCs are very challenging; others are quite easy. Usually the different roles within a team have varying levels of difficulty, with the hardest jobs being done by the most experienced players. Start yourself off with something simple so that you can get a feel for the run before you move onto anything that might be too hard.
Zaishen Quests
In Embark Beach and Great Temple of Balthazar, you can find quests that change each day. There will be a mission, a vanquish, a bounty (killing a specific boss), and a PvP battle. You can do these things any time you like, but if you do them when you have the relevant Zaishen quest, you'll get a nice reward. It's usually not hard to find a group for the Zaishen quests - just look in the closest outpost to the objective.
Part of the reward includes Zaishen Coins, which are items you can trade for cool rewards, such as tomes and equipment packs, or you can sell them to other players. You can hold 3 of each type of Zaishen quest (mission, vanquish, bounty, combat) in your quest log at one time.
Part of the reward includes Zaishen Coins, which are items you can trade for cool rewards, such as tomes and equipment packs, or you can sell them to other players. You can hold 3 of each type of Zaishen quest (mission, vanquish, bounty, combat) in your quest log at one time.
Trading
If you want to make money from other players, selling items to them is a great way to do it. Sometimes you will get a drop that's worth more to another player than the merchant, although most things are just "merch food". Whenever you get an item that you think might be worth something, or you have something you want to sell but are not sure what price to put on it, check decltype. Then head to Kamadan, Jewel of Istan, open the Party Search, select Trade, and type in what it is you're selling.
When you get a rune, insignia, dye, or crafting material, you can sell those to NPC traders. Selling directly to players will cut out the middleman and make you a bit more money, but often the time spent looking for a buyer is not worth it. Apply the same logic to all trading: if the time you'll probably have to wait in Kamadan is too long, don't bother.
People who buy items with the explicit intention of selling at a profit are called power traders. Power trading requires knowledge of prices (so you can spot a good deal) and a strong grasp of Guild Wars market forces. I won't say any more about power trading in a beginner's guide, but if you search around you can surely find some tips on how to be successful at it.
When you get a rune, insignia, dye, or crafting material, you can sell those to NPC traders. Selling directly to players will cut out the middleman and make you a bit more money, but often the time spent looking for a buyer is not worth it. Apply the same logic to all trading: if the time you'll probably have to wait in Kamadan is too long, don't bother.
People who buy items with the explicit intention of selling at a profit are called power traders. Power trading requires knowledge of prices (so you can spot a good deal) and a strong grasp of Guild Wars market forces. I won't say any more about power trading in a beginner's guide, but if you search around you can surely find some tips on how to be successful at it.
Other Useful Stuff
The official Guild Wars Wiki is a good source of information. Like any wiki, it's not infallible, but it's right 99% of the time or more.
While we're talking about useful websites, I have to mention decltype. It's a search engine that looks through Kamadan trade chat for whatever item you're interested in. Don't bother asking people for price checks, because the answer is on decltype.
A lot of people like PvXwiki, a website which is full of terrible, out-of-date builds. Personally, I prefer the mediocre, kinda up-to-date builds on GWPvX, although I wouldn't recommend it unless you're starving for inspiration or you're looking for something very specific.
There is an excellent programme called Texmod, which allows you to change the appearance of Guild Wars on your computer screen. This can either be to add useful markers (e.g. a line across the target's health bar so you can see when they drop below 50%) or just to look cool - it's up to you.
Some people have claimed that using Texmod is a bannable offence, because it's a third party programme. This is false - nobody has ever been banned for using Texmod.
If a more experienced player offers you help, they are almost always either trying to get you to join their guild, or just being nice. Unless they specifically ask for something in return, you don't need to feel indebted to them at all. That said, it's very bad manners to ask people to give you items, and demonstrates a poor understanding of how the game works. Graciously accept gifts if they're offered, but never ever beg.
While we're talking about useful websites, I have to mention decltype. It's a search engine that looks through Kamadan trade chat for whatever item you're interested in. Don't bother asking people for price checks, because the answer is on decltype.
A lot of people like PvXwiki, a website which is full of terrible, out-of-date builds. Personally, I prefer the mediocre, kinda up-to-date builds on GWPvX, although I wouldn't recommend it unless you're starving for inspiration or you're looking for something very specific.
There is an excellent programme called Texmod, which allows you to change the appearance of Guild Wars on your computer screen. This can either be to add useful markers (e.g. a line across the target's health bar so you can see when they drop below 50%) or just to look cool - it's up to you.
Some people have claimed that using Texmod is a bannable offence, because it's a third party programme. This is false - nobody has ever been banned for using Texmod.
If a more experienced player offers you help, they are almost always either trying to get you to join their guild, or just being nice. Unless they specifically ask for something in return, you don't need to feel indebted to them at all. That said, it's very bad manners to ask people to give you items, and demonstrates a poor understanding of how the game works. Graciously accept gifts if they're offered, but never ever beg.
