What Profession as a returning Player

I'm one of the players that are returning to the game. I started playing at release and played pretty much up to the HoT release. Then checked in for maybe 2 weeks after PoF came out because Nightfall was my favourite campaign back in the day. But I never played the HoT content and I have more or less no expierience with the elite specs.Now I'm back, played a bit during Dragon bash and I plan to play again for a longer time (at least to complete both expansions in PVE and then let's see. Probably fractals. Maybe raids and WvW to some degree. I don't think I will have the nerve to go into sPVP at any point. But who knows).

Now I'm very undecided which Profession I should pick. I know that GW2 is really alt-friendly but I'm older now and with my personal stuff, relationship and everything going on in my daily life I simply don't have the time to play through the content multiple times with various professions. Therefore I would like to settle on one (or 2 at max). So I would like to pick a class that has at least some viability in all game modes. I just can't decide what to pick. Here's what I gathered so far with a little bit of research.

Ele: Ele was my main up until I left before the HoT release so I have one at 80. I loved the D/D playstyle even if double dagger wasn't very effective back then as core ele. As far as I read online Ele is still in a good spot with Tempest and Weaver in pretty much all the game modes. It would be the obvious choice. But I always felt that I had to work twice as hard as an Ele to be effective while huging the dirt after the slightest hit immidiately and I'm not so sure if I'm willing to learn god damn complexe rotations again only to be on par with other stronger professions. But that might be a choice.Guardian: Played one to 80 once. Didn't klick for me (I can't even point the finger at the reasons why). Deleted it.As it seems Guard is the do-it-all class now with it's specs. They can support as they should be able too, they can heal and according to Snow crows they hit some of the highest benchmarks of all professions on large hitboxes. It seems like the obvious choice. But I'm pretty sure I still wont like Guard and during the last two weeks of playing it felt as 50% of the other players I ran into ingame ar either Dragonhunters or Firebrands. I don't now if Guard is overtuned but it seemed extremely disproportional.Mesmer: Alacrity is obviously a thing now. An important thing as it seems. But I fricking hate the clone gameplay. I hated it 2012 and I will hate it now. So definitely no.Warrior: Have one at 80. Actually enjoyed Warrior quite a lot. Played a bit of Spellbreaker in the two weeks after PoF release. Put them to rest because greatsword is just boring to play but was the most effective weapon in the open world for eternity now (coming from the highly mobile DD ele I felt like a slug with spamming hundred blades).Ranger: Seems to be in a good spot with a lot of versatility. But I just played core Ranger and that doesn't scratch an itch for me actually. Maybe Druid or Soulbeast would on the other hand.Thief: Have one at 80. Always enjoyed the Thief gameplay. Daredevil looks very interesting since I mained a Dervish back in the day and DD might bring back that Dervish feeling with a scythe skin for the staff. Would be my pick for sure if there wasn't the problem with group utility. Thief doesn't bring much to the table for the group except DPS (where it still get's outshined by other professions). For open world that's not a problem. But I'm pretty scared that playing a Thief will make it harder to play group content because everyone can do damage while still providing something for the group. I'm also afraid that everything that is just remotely effective with thief will get nerfed into oblivion because... well... it's Theef and that's what always happened in the history of GW2.Engi: Have one at 80. Don't really like core Engi or a lot of Kit play. Holo is fun to play (used it the last two weeks for Dragon bash). Scrapper might be the possibility to play with a hammer that doesn't suck (didn't try it). Also seems to be in a good spot. But feels pretty one dimensional on the other hand. As Holo you have the forge. But more or less no weapon choices if you don't want to switch to other kits (which I don't really like). It seems like a profession I might log in to from time to time to have some fun but not something I would like to play on a regular basis.Necro: The class I actually don't know much about. Never even leveled one to 80. The only thing I read was that the Necro still get's not much love from Anet and is still not very wanted in PVE group play. Pretty much a blank page for me. So I don't know. Maybe I should try it now.Rev: Actually another class I don't know since it wasn't even released yet back when I left. But the whole "fixed skill bar" thing with it's stances doesn't really appeal to me. But who knows if I would like it. Seems to be meta to some degree at least.

So the top contestants would be Thief (with the fear of being useless to the group), Ele (my fingers will hate me for it) or maybe Engi...But I'm also open for all other professions except Mesmer or Guard. But I would like to hear some input beyond "play what you like to play" from some of you guys who have more expierience with the state of the professions and the whole game as it is now.

You eliminated guardian/rev/mesmer and kept 3 classes that only serve as DPS usually for fractals.

In WvW however, unless you play staff daredevil you will have a hard time fitting in squads if you play thief. Aura tempest and scrappers are common in squads in contrast.

I have a similar experience to you, long time on from Beta - a couple breaks for real life reasons and also main an Ele and loved D/D playstyle. With all that nostalgia out the way, I now have 1 of each class with all e-specs, fairly well geared and a spread of playtime across the professions. For me, efficiency is key, since RL trumps all. In that regard sharing ascended gear is critical, having gear that more than one character can use on viable builds is important. I'd also like to preface and say I play mainly WvW and solo open-world, some dungeon experience from core, very little fractal experience and absolutely no raid experience (I hate those game modes).

So here's my favourite class combinations:

Elementalist + NecroBoth are light armor, share similar usable weapons and can be built as power/support/condi - granted you'll need different sets for each role but once acquired are all usable: power (marauder or celestial if you have + fav damage set), support (minstrel/cele), condi (trailblazer/viper/grieving). I personally prefer Ele and have from the very beginning but being brutally honest we have problems these days, yes you work twice as hard for the same result, hence I switch to Necro when I feel like relaxing and not being too careful, especially for first runs through expansion content (they're way tougher and you're going to struggle on Ele).

Guardian + RevenantFairly low playtime on Rev, much more on Guardian. Both can be built power/condi and Guardian as support. Guardian is honestly the most flexible class and would be my pick if I had to choose one. Rev never really clicked with me but I do plan to play her more, wanting to share trailblazer/vipers condi builds between the two of them for open world and run minstrels on Firebrand in WvW (which can be shared with my Warrior). Both are currently sharing Marauder's gear for Open World. Weapons overlap nicely.

Engineer + ThiefI have to admit I always substituted Ele for Engineer but having played Holo and more recently Scrapper much more it's a solid and versatile class. Teef core I never liked, my ping doesn't allow super fast play, but Daredevil and to a degree Deadeye are super super fun in Open World and actually can back the glass claim up unlike Ele to a degree. There isn't much overlap between the classes other than armor and sword/pistols/rifle but being able to share something is a bonus.

So that leaves Warrior which I've always hated and sadly it seems to have been nerfed hard (sorry guys - hated you back in the day but what they've done is balls), Mesmer which I do like (but never really understood) and Ranger which to me is so boring to play (condi trapper soulbeast).

So with that said you could swap Necro with Mesmer, Warrior with Rev and Thief with Ranger and have some dynamic and interesting class choices which let you play different styles based on your mood and also share ascended gear with a reduced amount of grind.

As a post script regarding Guardian, I would definitely reconsider. They honestly are solid in pretty much everything and cover the entire spectrum of what you want to do. If not then Necro, granted it's not meta for pve group content, but it's a good too.

Also Ele muscle memory never goes away, just needs to be refreshed, I've found rebinding attunements to alt+1-4 and triggered via thumb buttons on my mouse has eased the majority of hand damage I got from playing her so much. I'm also using the combat camera so don't need to keep the right button depressed. Turning 44 this year and finding the years are taking their toll on my wrists and fingers.

Hope this helps.

@fabulous.3742 said:So I would like to pick a class that has at least some viability in all game modes.

Ah, so that would be Ele/Guard/Rev/Engie!

@fabulous.3742 said:Ele: I'm not so sure if I'm willing to learn god kitten complexe rotations again only to be on par with other stronger professions.

Oh...

@fabulous.3742 said:Guardian: Played one to 80 once. Didn't klick for me (I can't even point the finger at the reasons why). Deleted it.

Oh dear...

@fabulous.3742 said:Engi: Have one at 80. Don't really like core Engi or a lot of Kit play.

Oh dear, oh dear...

@fabulous.3742 said:Rev: Actually another class I don't know since it wasn't even released yet back when I left. But the whole "fixed skill bar" thing with it's stances doesn't really appeal to me.

Well... RIP...

@fabulous.3742 said:So the top contestants would be Thief (with the fear of being useless to the group), Ele (my fingers will hate me for it) or maybe Engi...But I'm also open for all other professions except Mesmer or Guard. But I would like to hear some input beyond "play what you like to play" from some of you guys who have more expierience with the state of the professions and the whole game as it is now.

Well, Ele/Guard/Rev/Engie are the only classes that are good in all game modes. With Ele/Guard/Rev being able to play multiple roles in most game modes and Guard being able to do everything in all game modes very well.

Thief is great in PvP and when roaming in WvW. But sucks in WvW blobs (Which is a majority of WvW) and is mediocre in PvE (It's not bad, it just doesn't excell anywhere)Mesmer is pretty much trash in PvP/WvW due to recent nerfs (Also, the Clone mechanic has changed since back in 2012 quite significantly, I'd suggest giving it another try if the class wasn't on ANet's hit list)Ranger is probably the closest to being good in all game modes. It just sucks in WvW blobs because pets are literally useless there and it's support relies a fair amount on Spirits which don't work well in blob fights. It's good everywhere else though, PvP, roaming in WvW, PvE.Necro is good in PvP, recently got nerfed a bunch in WvW (So it's kind of meh there now), and can do okay in PvE though lacks in optimized Raid parties due to having lacklustre potential DPS and no real support.Warrior Sucks in PvP, is decent in WvW just because of 2 skills (Winds of Disenchantment and Dragon Banner) and in PvE it's really just a Bannerbot which is at least wanted in parties.

So yeah...

Engie is good right now, but relies heavily on kits (Notably, Grenade Kit, Bomb Kit (PvE), Elixir Gun and Med Kit) which you aren't a fan of.

Guardian is all around the best class in the game right now, but does have the caveat of being somewhat simple which can fail to work for some people.

Revenant is also quite good right now. But the energy mechanic and lack of customization of utilities can put some people off.

Elemenatlist would be the likely best choice for class for you. Tempest has a more down to earth rotation to it due to the Overload mechanic which increases the cooldown of attunement swapping and thus lowers the necessary APM, while also being able to function in all game modes in multiple roles (Can play Conditions/Power/Support). Weaver probably not a good choice though, it's much higher APM than even core Ele and doesn't perform higher than other classes/specs...

Disclaimer: I'm biased because i main necro and thief.

You said you like the Dervish feel from GW1. IMO necromancer will get you that feel more than others, especially Reaper specialization. They are in a really good place right now in most game modes. You can also play it many different ways. I think you may like this, and liked Dervish, maybe use greatsword (tho it's really not an optimal weapon), or use any other weapon, maximize life force gain, and sirens most of your time in shroud.The scourge nerf did weaken it in zergs wvw, but reaper is still great for smaller group fights and roaming (i also use reaper in zergs too, it definitely works well, just doesn't have the support skills some commanders want). I also must admit that i play minions a lot, even tho they aren't great, because i love my undead army.

Thief is really fun to me because it is a very different playstyle than necro. You are correct that you won't be as good in group fights all the time, but that's not always the case. You can still do a good amount of dps with staff in pve, and they are great in wvw roaming. In large group fights in wvw, you definitely play differently than other classes... instead of just nuking a central area, you take out key targets like healers or people trying to res, or use your mobility to quickly get to and take down enemy seige that may be on a cliff or something.

Ele: you are right in thinking that you have to do more work to do equivalent damage/results as other classes. They are "piano" builds... lots of finger actions and rotations. However they are still excellent healers/cleanses and support. They also still are good in wvw large scale fights (tho yes the nerfs hit it a little too hard in most people's opinions)...i actually just got mine equipped for this and had lots of fun the other night in zerg fights with it raining fire on enemies and collecting tons of loot.