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What is most diverse class (has most playstyles)


Jab.7309

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I'm wondering which profession has most most build diversity, and I mean builds that significantly differ in playstyle in open world (higher end champ solo etc.), PvE, PvP and WvW.I don't care about builds being power, condi or support, and how especs are different from core and each other,just want to play one class and be able to have variance in playstyle.Thanks for answers.

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Guardian; it can play any role in PvE and still be considered meta: support, hybrid support, condition DPS or power DPS.

For PvP, it mainly shines as a support.

For WvW, it can fill in a support in zergs, a growing condi build last few weeks, an annoying power build in terms of sustain. I have seen burn core guards reaching top DPS before.

For most theorycrafting, I would go for Ele because each stat matters and every trait line changes how you play the game, but the builds are not considered meta - rather lacking.

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I see guardian a lot, and i must admit that I considered it to be most voted, but i when i look at builds its either core/dh radiance gs with retaliation for power (or fb quickness retaliation), fb for condi, and fb for supp/aggressive supp many roles but they seem similar and most builds focuses on gs and retaliation (which i don't like that much, i just consider gs as guardian most boring weapon, you just spin xd), but i'd love to be proven wrong

Also I'd love to get opinion on thief, it has mostly power dps builds (but I've seen condi and aggressive support), but they look very different couse each thief's weapon set is vastly different

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If I'm doing DPS/ Dragonhunter, then yes, I tend to use greatsword (and sword/focus). But for support Firebrand in dungeons, I tend to run mace/shield and staff. The weapon sets on thief specs are different, but it's pretty much a damage dealer. Definitely no support roles there.

I suppose revenant might be pretty decent all around, can do DPS or support/ heal. But at least for me, it's not an easy class to play.

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I was going to jump to guardian as well. For all that some weapons are considered "meta" more than others, all of their weapons are viable if backed up by the right traits, and both elite specialisations are viable and can significantly change your playstyle.

Considering that you're primarily looking for playstyle differences rather than role differences, thief would probably also be a good option to add to your stable: they're mostly locked into damage dealer roles, but there are a lot of ways they can do that, and the initiative system means that it's even possible to have substantially different playstyles with the same weapon by focusing on a different skill on that weapon. Necromancer is also good for having a variety of different playstyles: it's possibly the profession with the biggest differences between elite specialisations and core, and it has a range of builds even within each category.

After that... hrrrmn. Revenant possibly, although it's a little handicapped by the fact that you're generally limited to specific weapon sets. Elementalist, to me, generally feels like it's just different variations on the same theme. Warrior and mesmer feel like they're also basically about different variations on the same broad theme, and if anything mesmer tends to get playstyles taken away more often than it gets new playstyles added (don't get me wrong, mesmer is one of my favourite professions, but its playstyle does seem to be being increasingly pigeonholed into "thou must be built around generating clones and shattering them" over time, especially in PvP). Ranger and engineer both feel like they have one elite specialisation that really changes up how they play, while the other just adds another variation to the core playstyle.

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@draxynnic.3719 said:Necromancer is also good for having a variety of different playstyles: it's possibly the profession with the biggest differences between elite specialisations and core, and it has a range of builds even within each category.

That kinda suprises me, I know that necro has many builds but I've considered them very similar, mostly play deal dmg in shroud and play defensively when it ends. Then difrenses come from how you stay alife (minions, lifesteal, conditions), and what espec you have (core ranged, reaper mele). Scourge mixes things up by not having a shorud, but still you deal dmg when lifeforce is full, and than wait. I also feel like necro weapons are rather boring and weak, really pushing player into using shroud.BUT my necro isonly lvl 44 (got bored while leveling him) so mayby I'm wrong

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@Jab.7309 said:

@draxynnic.3719 said:Necromancer is also good for having a variety of different playstyles: it's possibly the profession with the biggest differences between elite specialisations and core, and it has a range of builds even within each category.

That kinda suprises me, I know that necro has many builds but I've considered them very similar, mostly play deal dmg in shroud and play defensively when it ends. Then difrenses come from how you stay alife (minions, lifesteal, conditions), and what espec you have (core ranged, reaper mele). Scourge mixes things up by not having a shorud, but still you deal dmg when lifeforce is full, and than wait. I also feel like necro weapons are rather boring and weak, really pushing player into using shroud.
BUT
my necro isonly lvl 44 (got bored while leveling him) so mayby I'm wrong

Honestly, I felt the same for the first year or so, until I started coming across other people's ideas for necromancer builds and tried them out for myself. Some of them also require traits that you might not have access to yet.

Some examples of what can be done with a core necromancer:

  • Classic minion master
  • Well bomber. Vampiric Rituals can turn wells into a significant area DPS source in addition to increasing durability.
  • There used to be a build that relied on Curses, Soul Reaping, and spectral skills to be able to replenish life force ridiculously quickly and stay in Death Shroud for nearly all of a fight. One of the key traits got removed, but the basic principles might still work.

There are probably others I don't recall off the top of my head (been a while since I've used core builds, to be honest. Maybe I should - at the moment I'm getting a bit turned off necro in general because I don't like what they did with reaper and scourge is starting to feel a bit stale). Not all of these are necessarily what people would call 'optimal', but they do represent different playstyles.

The key thing to note is that changing your weapons is not in itself going to alter your playstyle that much as necromancer. Usually necromancer playstyle is determined by traits and utilities, and then you pick up the weapons that support that playstyle. Which does make it distinct from, say, thief or guardian, where it is more practical to define a playstyle by the weapons used.

It also means that you generally don't get to see the full potential until you have unlocked everything, so leveling can be a bit boring - it wasn't until after I'd hit 80 that I actually started properly getting into it.

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The most divergent? Revenant. Doesn't mean their effective, or interesting to play.... merely that they have the most mechanically diverse builds out of all the classes.

Runner up is Ele. This class is a historical treasure box of unorthodox builds. And even despite the beating its taken by the balance team, each weapon combination and Espec plays to different types of strategies. The Meta might keep pushing Staff (because damage), but Sword Weaver and Scepter Tempests are completely different animals when seen in action.

The reason Guardian comes up in everyone's list is due to Core Guard's premise being universally effective across all game modes. And unlike Necro, Thief, Warrior, Rev, and Ranger, its not purposefully crippled in some aspect to counter balance its archetype. In fact, it used to be staple in Raids.... and the only reason it got ousted is because every other class was forced (by Dev balance) to overspecialize for a best in slot role, and Guardian never really got that treatment. Funnier still, it took them trying to kill off Chrono to force more Renegade/Firebrand pairs, to bring them back into the meta.

But for purposes of the thread... I would say that Ranger is has the most "practical" play style dichotomy. And most of that comes from Druid being the only non-Core support focused spec, thats completely incompatible with hybridization after the GM trait changes.

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@Matoro.9708 said:It's funny how the class with 'jack of all trades' in its description in character creation isn't the most popular answer here.

Yeah, engineer's been locked into a handful of styles for a while. Bomb/grenade expert, static discharge, juggernaut, gyro scrapper, alchemist, holosmith. I suppose technically there's also turrets, but nobody does that these days - at most, you see one or two mixed into one of the styles above.

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