Best carry class/spec for fractals?

just wondering what is your opinion for the best class/spec to climb fractal levels in pugs?

Probably quickness firebrand , alacrity renegade , or chrono with some boon duration + alacrity (diviners / commanders)

Spellbreaker if there's "no pain no gain" instability or "vengeance" (lots of boons to rip).

You lose a lot of damage and flexibility (spirits can die, pets can run around) by going with druid and you can't outheal everything (IMO).

Not DPS classes such as weaver ele , holo, soulbeast ranger, deadeye/daredevil, reaper, or mirage (condi mirage is basically good for mai trin and not many other places).

Did a fractal on holo the other day in T3 rec and there was no way it was completing without me switching to chrono (deepstone).

Best carry is Mercy Scourge imo, you want to carry any pug out there be a resbot that prevents damage taken and corrupt boons on bosses.

If you are just starting, I'd suggest playing the profession you like from one of the typical T4/CM builds - BS Warrior, pDPS (many builds to choose from), support (harder to figure out now since recent nerfs). Check out the Discretize or Snowcrows website for ideas, but also be aware that raid specific builds may need to be modified for fractals since you get added buffs in fractals not present in raids. You have to spend a lot of time on that character and invest a bit in gearing it to be fractal ready so make sure it's something you really like and is accepted in T4 PUGS. I really wouldn't worry too much about carrying your team. Sure, early on there are lots of wipes as players are progressing and learning. But after you get to T4s, the groups start to get better on average and carrying shouldn't be necessary.

Actually, really the only time the T4 groups I've been on recently have had issues is someone doesn't know the mechanics (i.e ranging on Mai Trin or attacking Subject 6 in shield form). I've noticed that this seems to be combined often with low group DPS and makes the runs very challenging. I sometimes like to think of it as the PUG mistlock instability, which is still much more fun and less annoying than the new Birds instability (but i digress...). I usually get on party chat and explain what to do, and if that doesn't work then no amount of carry can fix that and it's time for a new party.

Good luck and have fun!

@phs.6089 said:Best carry is Mercy Scourge imo, you want to carry any pug out there be a resbot that prevents damage taken and corrupt boons on bosses.

Totally agreed. If u want just to carry ppl that dies a lot, mercy scourge is a way to go.

@"Infusion.7149" said:Probably quickness firebrand , alacrity renegade , or chrono with some boon duration + alacrity (diviners / commanders)

Spellbreaker if there's "no pain no gain" instability or "vengeance" (lots of boons to rip).

You lose a lot of damage and flexibility (spirits can die, pets can run around) by going with druid and you can't outheal everything (IMO).

Not DPS classes such as weaver ele , holo, soulbeast ranger, deadeye/daredevil, reaper, or mirage (condi mirage is basically good for mai trin and not many other places).

Did a fractal on holo the other day in T3 rec and there was no way it was completing without me switching to chrono (deepstone).

You cant carry low level fracs with something that is not dps. Support is only useful if you have good dps players in the group. That is not always the case.Best carry profession is something that can selfbuff good, has good dps and is sturdy at the same time. Power chrono, Reaper, Holo come to mind here.

This is not as easy as playing something like scourge though but I pugged some low level fractals for fun and its quite common to get at least 2 useless dps in the team. Especially in shattered observatory since usually 99% of the non cm groups dont know what they are doing. Carrying means being able to do stuff solo if group is bad and fails. Support cant achieve this.

Best profession to climb levels in pugs highly depends on your skilllevel. Way above average -> any dps works but power chrono is optimal. If you dont know exactly what to dodge yet reaper is probably one of the easiest to play and stay alive on. It brings also decent dps and has good self buffs.Power chrono is just broken solo. Nothing comes even close to that. Rotation is not easy for new players though.

@Sharps.4195 said:just wondering what is your opinion for the best class/spec to climb fractal levels in pugs?

Same carry class for everything else, Mesmer.

I believe it to be firebrands I get from time to time in fractals, feels like you can tank getting ran over by a train, as a zerk guard it's daylight and dark difference.

scourge x 4

@Safandula.8723 said:

@phs.6089 said:Best carry is Mercy Scourge imo, you want to carry any pug out there be a resbot that prevents damage taken and corrupt boons on bosses.

that is what going to happen in t1,2,3 while they learn and while you get the hand on class, to prevent damage instead of resing, no?

If u wanna climb fast and ez pure dps is certainly not the way to go as it depends too much on group and instabilities.U want to be able to clear fractals with people who might run random crappy builds. not know mechanics, die a lot and dont do good dps. I'd recommend either a healing/support spec.... healing dudu/fb/rev/chrono (classes that heal while boosting dps) or a dps/support spec (condi/power firebrand, diviner renegade, diviner chrono). Healer necro or auramancer is also an ez way to carry with simple cheap healing gear. They dont give the offensive boons other specs have but u can make sure your teamates never die. Ofc this is all to carry u through the t3s which is the worst tier.

Heal scourge or Heal FB would be my top picks atm.

Heal scourge - massive self life, barrier, team barrier, near instant ressurects and stability on demand as well as epidemic cleave and condi removal and some ccHeal Firebrand - aegis spam, massive healing, perma quickness, protection, fury and some cc

Both can help a struggling team a lot in their own way.

I use crusader reaper with blood magic specced. Can rip boons real nice, resses like a boss, heals with singet of vampirism and transfusion On top of that is really tanky (traited signet of vampirism + signet of the locust) and can still do reasonably good dps (advantage over scourge).

@"zoomborg.9462" said:If u wanna climb fast and ez pure dps is certainly not the way to go as it depends too much on group and instabilities.U want to be able to clear fractals with people who might run random crappy builds. not know mechanics, die a lot and dont do good dps. I'd recommend either a healing/support spec.... healing dudu/fb/rev/chrono (classes that heal while boosting dps) or a dps/support spec (condi/power firebrand, diviner renegade, diviner chrono). Healer necro or auramancer is also an ez way to carry with simple cheap healing gear. They dont give the offensive boons other specs have but u can make sure your teamates never die. Ofc this is all to carry u through the t3s which is the worst tier.

As Nephalem.8921 pointed out earlier in this thread, pure dps is the fastest way to carry if you are a very skilled player and using good solo builds. However the skill requirement in this is very high above average.

If you play with "very bad players" that deal no damage themself you need to do the damage - playing pure support is just not gonna do it in this case.

I think he really got it right in his post:@Nephalem.8921 said:

@"Infusion.7149" said:Probably quickness firebrand , alacrity renegade , or chrono with some boon duration + alacrity (diviners / commanders)

Spellbreaker if there's "no pain no gain" instability or "vengeance" (lots of boons to rip).

You lose a lot of damage and flexibility (spirits can die, pets can run around) by going with druid and you can't outheal everything (IMO).

Not DPS classes such as weaver ele , holo, soulbeast ranger, deadeye/daredevil, reaper, or mirage (condi mirage is basically good for mai trin and not many other places).

Did a fractal on holo the other day in T3 rec and there was no way it was completing without me switching to chrono (deepstone).

@Cyninja.2954 said:Heal scourge or Heal FB would be my top picks atm.

Heal scourge - massive self life, barrier, team barrier, near instant ressurects and stability on demand as well as epidemic cleave and condi removal and some ccHeal Firebrand - aegis spam, massive healing, perma quickness, protection, fury and some cc

Both can help a struggling team a lot in their own way.

Pretty much this. Go in assuming you will be the only proper source of boons. Thus either FB to cover every boon outside of Alacrity, with good healing and pulls. Or Scourge which with Might and Protection plus it's unique benefits such as Life Steal for your allies, vast amounts of barrier and great Boon Removal in case of No Pain No Gain. Throw Pack runes on either of them if you want to do even more. Helps with the sometimes wonky Might uptimes as well as provides easy Fury and Swiftness. Pretty much like having a passive Druid warhorn. You can't go wrong as long as your allies deliver even a small bit of damage each.

Support FB or any support class that can keep the party alive and most importantly provide max boons or as much as possible (Might x25, fury, protection etc).