Question about roles and group content.

So, I'm new to the game for all intents and purposes (played shortly a long time ago) and I have what may seem like a very oddly specific question. Is it difficult to get into any content as a "dps" character. I'm an achievement collector, and casual raider in a couple MMOs, and I'd like to be able to easily get into group content. But in some MMOs, as a DPS, you're a skeleton sitting at your desk before you get into raids and whatnot. I actually usually play support roles anyway, but I'm just curious if role demand is a thing in Guild Wars 2?

For group content there are always plenty spaces for DPS, around 4 pure DPS slots in the 10man raids and 2 pure DPS slots for 5man content (assuming you play in a usual setup).

Is there an overabundance of DPS though? That is to ask, will it be difficult to find a group where those spaces aren't already taken? This is why I warned my question is annoyingly specific lol

IMO with dps build you are most welcome and wanted in all low lvl pve content (Dungeons, low tier fractals and world bosses) also i havent seen any proplems to do a dps role on high lvl fractals or raids either. Most classes have so easy rotations (that doesent Even matter unless its Raid or high fractals) that you can easily hop in for that spot.Edit: for ur question, dps spots arent full that often, so its easy to get your place on The squad. Also raids and high end fractals are only thing that wont go full dps. Like all Dungeons are usually done 5 men dps party

There are a lot of Guilds whose primary focus is specifically the group content, and most are happy and willing to help new members get into it, offering training and answering questions. You can find them in game by watching for their recruitment posts in map chat, and checking the forums here https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/categories/looking-for-guild and on reddit. :)

When you travel through Tyria, you see plenty of heavy armed characters. Big guys with even bigger swords, axes, daggers, rifles & longbows. Next you notice every second person you meet has a pet and minion-masters (necromancers) sort of flood maps. In every corner stirkes a thief. After the balance patches and the global complaints about nerfs, it always feels like the majority of players jumps on the fastest horse until the next patch arrives. This is what we see, or beleive to see.

But we actually live in an equilibrium. Most of the classes are equally balanced in terms of player ammount. There are some seasonal shifts, due to (im)balances. During the time of the popular necro-farm, we had a slight increase in necromancer players with minion-master. In the previous years we always had an increase in staff-guardians during Halloween. We also have a group of underdogs, classes played by lesser ammounts of people. But the overall distribution hardly changed over the years.

There are always people who want to play support and tank. And there is always a need of DPS. Play what you like, enjoy your class. By doing that you master it over time, what makes you even more valuable for group-content.

It's definitely not as bad as in other MMOs. For raids specifically, it depends a bit how you define DPS - raids often use multiple buffing classes that also do DPS, so if you're playing a warrior, ranger, or mesmer, that may apply. Those have a bit of a leg up on something like a thief that offers just DPS, since buffs are very, very powerful. Some of these overlap, though - your healer druid or tank chrono also bring those buffs.

Outside of raids and CM fractals, as mentioned above, just play what you like and play it well and you'll be fine.

Well this is awesome! I absolutely have fallen in love with scepter mesmer, and staff is pretty cool too, which seems to be more support/dps. I'm so happy I got this game, it's so freakin' fun! Mesmer just constantly makes me think "You can kill me... if you can figure out which one of me is real! MWAHAHA!"

Glad you're enjoying it! For Mesmer specifically, scepter would be used for a condition based DPS build. Staff is definitely more utility based. Right now, the most common builds you'll see in hard content are power based, using sword/shield and swapping to a different offhand but still using sword (focus for pulling things or if you need reflects, sword offhand or maybe pistol for more damage). Try out all the weapons and see what you like.

The condition build is less common right now, though I do know some guildies who swear by it. I haven't tried it myself so I can't offer too much input there. I think the reason is mainly that, once you get Chronomancer unlocked, in groups the overall DPS benefits so much from having the extra quickness and alacrity buffs that it outweighs your personal dps. Also, the sword having an extra evade built in (skill 2) is very powerful. That said, the Chrono support builds (can be covered by a DPS or tank playstyle) are some of the highest in demand in the game once you learn it and get the appropriate gear.

I guess my other question would be, what do you consider a support role? Because if you're talking about a pure healer, mesmer support isn't that at all, it's all about keeping up quickness and alacrity tat very few if any other professions bring, and no one else does it nearly as well. In these cases your personal dps will look very low on a meter, but the overall group will go up significantly as long as people are staying in your wells (most buffs in GW2 are very, very short range - only a bit more than melee range in many cases).

I consider support basically anything that isn't pure DPS, in this case, being a buffer/debuffer with a staff mesmer.

EDIT: OH MY GOD! I just hit 11 and realized that skills and specs aren't mutually exclusive. This game has more variety than Skyrim, this is insane. I can be a chaos mesmer still specializing in illusion, which is what i wanted, but I thought I couldn't do both.

Chrono is in high demand right now. In 6 days that may change. ;) Mirage may take it's place.

@LadySilverHand.6841 said:Chrono is in high demand right now. In 6 days that may change. ;) Mirage may take it's place.

I disagree because the specializations do not share the same roles in a group. Whereas the Chronomancer is mainly used for support, the Mirage is designed towards DPS.