Profession suggestions please

I'm about to start playing and am torn between revenant ranger and engineer.Can anyone give me the pros and cons of each. I like playing a class that isn't just easy mode and enjoy a challenge.Many thanks

Pve, pvp, or wvw? All classess play differently depending on which game mode you take them in.

@"Fyrestorm Rayevnsky.5497" said:I'm about to start playing and am torn between revenant ranger and engineer.Can anyone give me the pros and cons of each. I like playing a class that isn't just easy mode and enjoy a challenge.Many thanks

Play ranger. The ranger along with the warrior and necromancer are the most beginner friendly professions. That doesn't mean they don't require skill. Don't play engineer if you're new. It's by far the most complex profession in the entire game and it's the least beginner friendly profession.

But if you are comfortable with your keybinds and if you are up for the challenge, then play guardian, elementalist, mesmer and engineer. You can save engineer for last due to how complex the profession is.

Here are my pros and cons for each profession:

1. Engineer

Pros: the most addictive and rewarding profession when played right with kits (unless you play the dumbed down Holosmith that is 10 times easier to play).Cons: too complex for new players and too many things to consider with the profession.

2. Elementalist

Pros: a profession that can be a DPS or a support and with good timing skills, it can achieve the highest possible damage.Cons: requires fast reflexes when you're playing a Fresh Air scepter/focus or even scepter/dagger build in order to achieve the highest possible damage. You can use the staff while attuned to fire to deal a lot of damage, but it won't be the same as the damage from Fresh Air.

3. Guardian

Pros: a profession that can deal damage and supports allies.Cons: not too beginner friendly, it does require some practice when using virtues or different skills and weapons.

4. Thief

Pros: strong bursts from stealth with dagger/pistol or survivability from evasiveness when using sword/dagger.Cons: not beginner friendly, low survivability if you're not evading properly with sword/dagger or you don't know how to stealth yourself with dagger/pistol to escape danger.

5. Warrior

Pros: beginner friendly, high damage with axe/axe, evasiveness and cleave damage with greatsword and CC with hammer.Cons: the easiest profession to be kited by other professions, not too many supportive skills aside from banners that grant regeneration to allies and shouts that heal allies.

6. Mesmer

Pros: high damage when played right, a lot of fighting utilities (evasion, blocking, stealth etc.), teleportation, strong bursts from stealth (stronger than the thiefs' burst).Cons: not beginner friendly and a lot of things to consider with the profession.

7. Ranger

Pros: beginner friendly, highest ranged damage with longbow.Cons: somewhat vulnerable to CC, high damage and condition damage.

8. Necromancer

Pros: beginner friendly, arguably the easiest to play for beginners.Cons: vulnerable to CC and no blocking skills to sustain damage.

9. Revenant

Pros: high damage when played right, mixed profession that allows you to be either a support or tank or DPS.Cons: requires the HoT expansion to play.

@Hoodie.1045 said:

@Fyrestorm Rayevnsky.5497 said:I'm about to start playing and am torn between revenant ranger and engineer.Can anyone give me the pros and cons of each. I like playing a class that isn't just easy mode and enjoy a challenge.Many thanks

This may a bit more biased than helpful about the engineer. While he is right about the Holosmith being easier to play than the core engineer, if you have an instant level 80 item and really want to play the engineer, the Holosmith is a good beginning option.

It doesn't take long to acquire the points for the Holosmith specialty and it is a good introduction to the engineer. It can give you the basics of engi play and then you can graduate to the more nuanced and complex engi builds that do require the most skill in game.

That being said, many people like the Holosmith for the Photon Forge abilities and the type of play it offers them. There is nothing wrong with the Holosmith at all, it is just a different way of playing the Engineer just like all specialties are different for each class. Not all are optimal, but depending on what you want to do, they don't have to be optimal.

@Hoodie.1045 said:

@Fyrestorm Rayevnsky.5497 said:I'm about to start playing and am torn between revenant ranger and engineer.Can anyone give me the pros and cons of each. I like playing a class that isn't just easy mode and enjoy a challenge.Many thanks

This may a bit more biased than helpful about the engineer. While he is right about the Holosmith being easier to play than the core engineer, if you have an instant level 80 item and really want to play the engineer, the Holosmith is a good beginning option.

It doesn't take long to acquire the points for the Holosmith specialty and it is a good introduction to the engineer. It can give you the basics of engi play and then you can graduate to the more nuanced and complex engi builds that do require the most skill in game.

That being said, many people like the Holosmith for the Photon Forge abilities and the type of play it offers them. There is nothing wrong with the Holosmith at all, it is just a different way of playing the Engineer just like all specialties are different for each class. Not all are optimal, but depending on what you want to do, they don't have to be optimal.

@jheryn.8390 said:

@Hoodie.1045 said:

@Fyrestorm Rayevnsky.5497 said:I'm about to start playing and am torn between revenant ranger and engineer.Can anyone give me the pros and cons of each. I like playing a class that isn't just easy mode and enjoy a challenge.Many thanks

My biggest problem with the Holosmith isn't because it's easier to play. Alright, it's part of my problem, but what really makes me hate the profession is that it deals more damage than core engineer and it achieves that by doing less. What I mean by that is that the skills you use for core engineer (kiting with the Grenade Kit, sustain with Elixir Gun, tanking damage with Tool Kit, zone control with Bomb Kit) do not carry over to the Holosmith. You can just skip the core profession, skip the complex mechanics that engineers used to deal with before any elite specializations.

The Holosmiths' Photon Forge is basically a kit on it's own. The difference is that it is one kit that is far more effective at what it does compared to core engineers' kits. It does the same thing that core engineers' kits do, but it does it better. The Holosmith is a glass cannon specialization that has high damage, but also has plentiful amount of sustain and utility when compared to core engineer. The best ArenaNet can do is to buff core engineers' kits. That way core engineer will no longer be seen as inferior compared to the Holosmith and will bring back the profession back from the retirement home.

@Fyrestorm Rayevnsky.5497 If you like having a lot of abilities and options to combine them then engineer is your best bet. If you like a more bursty, in-your-face play-style with bigger numbers then pick revenaunt. Don't pick ranger cause he is easy mode.

Edit: Oh and Revenaunt does have a lot of mobility too, so you cant take that into consideration.

@Hoodie.1045 said:My biggest problem with the Holosmith isn't because it's easier to play. Alright, it's part of my problem, but what really makes me hate the profession is that it deals more damage than core engineer and it achieves that by doing less. What I mean by that is that the skills you use for core engineer (kiting with the Grenade Kit, sustain with Elixir Gun, tanking damage with Tool Kit, zone control with Bomb Kit) do not carry over to the Holosmith. You can just skip the core profession, skip the complex mechanics that engineers used to deal with before any elite specializations.

The Holosmiths' Photon Forge is basically a kit on it's own. The difference is that it is one kit that is far more effective at what it does compared to core engineers' kits. It does the same thing that core engineers' kits do, but it does it better. The Holosmith is a glass cannon specialization that has high damage, but also has plentiful amount of sustain and utility when compared to core engineer. The best ArenaNet can do is to buff core engineers' kits. That way core engineer will no longer be seen as inferior compared to the Holosmith and will bring back the profession back from the retirement home.

I agree on that. The Holosmith feels like the old Revenant/Herald issue. Overpowering a single path of a class is never a good idea. If the Engineer is going to suffer the same fate after balancing/polishing as the Revenant did, there will not be many left of us.

I was always looking for a short-summary of all classes, so I appreciate your list above a lot. Thank you!

@HnRkLnXqZ.1870 said:

@Hoodie.1045 said:My biggest problem with the Holosmith isn't because it's easier to play. Alright, it's part of my problem, but what really makes me hate the profession is that it deals more damage than core engineer and it achieves that by doing less. What I mean by that is that the skills you use for core engineer (kiting with the Grenade Kit, sustain with Elixir Gun, tanking damage with Tool Kit, zone control with Bomb Kit) do not carry over to the Holosmith. You can just skip the core profession, skip the complex mechanics that engineers used to deal with before any elite specializations.

The Holosmiths' Photon Forge is basically a kit on it's own. The difference is that it is one kit that is far more effective at what it does compared to core engineers' kits. It does the same thing that core engineers' kits do, but it does it better. The Holosmith is a glass cannon specialization that has high damage, but also has plentiful amount of sustain and utility when compared to core engineer. The best ArenaNet can do is to buff core engineers' kits. That way core engineer will no longer be seen as inferior compared to the Holosmith and will bring back the profession back from the retirement home.

You're welcome.

Many thanks for all your replies I'm thinking about revenant as I have all xpacs and I think the engineer for now wouldn't be my main, although I am an altaholic.I aim to play through content rather than use tokens and I plan on doing everything the game has to offer.

Engineer is your profession if you want challenge and fun.Revenant is medium I guess, abit harder than Warrior and Guardian I would say.Ranger is easy but really fun.

I suggest you should try them all or perhaps purchase 2 extra slots so you are able to create all of the Three professions, :)