You can definitely still get that thrill of highly impactful combat, just not at any of the major meta events. The world at this point is so big that if you’re anywhere that’s not on the event timer you’ll probably be roaming by yourself. If you find a small event chain and it’s just you pushing it, it can be exciting and suspenseful. Knowing that if you get downed, all of your progress will reset, it’s a great moment when someone else runs up and starts reviving you and helps you succeed.

There are also instanced scenarios like dungeons, fractals and raids where you and a team have to be strategic with your classes and builds and how they synergize, and then there’s the added dimension of much more demanding movement and maneuvering than in the first game. I loved both games, they’re different but both great in their own ways IMO. If you only ever played in some of the starting maps I highly recommend giving it another go.