Elite Specialization Help

[Night Hunter.2816]

Hello! So my characters; revenant, necromancer, engineer, mesmer, and ranger are almost at lvl 60 so it got me thinking about what specializations they should take. Most people are saying they prefer holosmith and herald but I'm still stuck! I also want to make a guardian character in the future, so..........help XD

[Ayrilana.1396]

Depends on what you plan to do and what play style you enjoy.

[Auburner.6945]

Open World: Anything works there, but some classes do it better or easier to pull off than others. A good website to get to know possible builds would be https://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki . This doesn't mean you shouldn't theorycraft or change some pieces if uncomfortable. However, most of the e-specs used in raids/fractals tend to also be more effective in Open World, shouldn't be the most fun to play though.

Raids/Fractals:

• Revenant: Renegade, either a support or a cDPS
• Necro: Scourge in raids, but it's not a meta pick in most encounters, however, it hard carries anyway
• Engineer: Holosmith for raids, but it's harder to pull off competitive numbers unless invested time into it
• Mesmer: Boonbot, pDPS or cDPS; all in raids
• Ranger: Soulbeast as a DPS + buffer for either fractals or raids, Druid for raids

PvP/WvW:

• Revenant: Herald, DPS; it's strong in WvW as a roamer or a backline DPS, weaker in PvP as of recent updates targeted there. Renegade was never an issue to deal with in duels, but it can fare well with an organized group.
• Necro: In PvP, I won't really go for a solo queue as a Necro, but both Scourge and Reaper are playable; just needs a good team/duo partner. For WvW, Scourge for a mid-backline DPS/corrupt'or; as a roamer it's the same issue and same builds as PvP.
• Engineer: Holosmith, you can check PvP forums - it's really good, Scrapper as well. Scrapper is great cleansing healer in group fights in WvW... can also be a roamer, but Holo does it better
• Mesmer: HMMMmmmmm, a Power Mirage for PvP, but still predictable. For WvW, it's a joke, but we a got a great pDPS Mirage on our server that can hit extremely high numbers with GS. Chrono is pure LUL in PvP/WvW
• Ranger: PEWPEWPEW... Druid is easy to deal with, Soulbeast not so far as of the nerfs, but it can still carry its weight to some extent. In WvW, same thing, but better as of open fields... don't try to argue with commanders why you got kicked though... it's a general rule for rangers, thieves (pug groups), and maybe mesmer unless they are on voice chat with the commander

For your Guardian hopes:

• It can be a pDPS, cDPS, healer or a hybrid support in PvE, either e-specs
• It's the backbone of group fights in WvW as a support
• It shares the same problem as Necro in PvP as in going solo, but less of an issue

Guardian is probably the only class to at least have a meta anywhere, almost even with any role.

A side own personal opinion; Firebrand was the only to be really fun to play.

[Night Hunter.2816]

@"Auburner.6945" said:Open World: Anything works there, but some classes do it better or easier to pull off than others. A good website to get to know possible builds would be https://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki . This doesn't mean you shouldn't theorycraft or change some pieces if uncomfortable. However, most of the e-specs used in raids/fractals tend to also be more effective in Open World, shouldn't be the most fun to play though.

Raids/Fractals:

• Revenant: Renegade, either a support or a cDPS
• Necro: Scourge in raids, but it's not a meta pick in most encounters, however, it hard carries anyway
• Engineer: Holosmith for raids, but it's harder to pull off competitive numbers unless invested time into it
• Mesmer: Boonbot, pDPS or cDPS; all in raids
• Ranger: Soulbeast as a DPS + buffer for either fractals or raids, Druid for raids

PvP/WvW:

• Revenant: Herald, DPS; it's strong in WvW as a roamer or a backline DPS, weaker in PvP as of recent updates targeted there. Renegade was never an issue to deal with in duels, but it can fare well with an organized group.
• Necro: In PvP, I won't really go for a solo queue as a Necro, but both Scourge and Reaper are playable; just needs a good team/duo partner. For WvW, Scourge for a mid-backline DPS/corrupt'or; as a roamer it's the same issue and same builds as PvP.
• Engineer: Holosmith, you can check PvP forums - it's really good, Scrapper as well. Scrapper is great cleansing healer in group fights in WvW... can also be a roamer, but Holo does it better
• Mesmer: HMMMmmmmm, a Power Mirage for PvP, but still predictable. For WvW, it's a joke, but we a got a great pDPS Mirage on our server that can hit extremely high numbers with GS. Chrono is pure LUL in PvP/WvW
• Ranger: PEWPEWPEW... Druid is easy to deal with, Soulbeast not so far as of the nerfs, but it can still carry its weight to some extent. In WvW, same thing, but better as of open fields... don't try to argue with commanders why you got kicked though... it's a general rule for rangers, thieves (pug groups), and maybe mesmer unless they are on voice chat with the commander

For your Guardian hopes:

• It can be a pDPS, cDPS, healer or a hybrid support in PvE, either e-specs
• It's the backbone of group fights in WvW as a support
• It shares the same problem as Necro in PvP as in going solo, but less of an issue

Guardian is probably the only class to at least have a meta anywhere, almost even with any role.

A side own personal opinion; Firebrand was the only to be really fun to play.

So either way, Looks like Holosmith is the way to go. Don't know what boon bot means. Still figuring out the others with this new information, but my engineer will most likely be Holosmith. I can try to look at tutorials and stuff. I want to see what other peeps think. Can you spread this discussion please :3

[InsaneQR.7412]

@""Night Hunter.2816"

Boon bot means you are a buffer.You provide lots of boons (the yellow buffs above your skill bar)

[Cyninja.2954]

@Night Hunter.2816 said:what specializations they should take.

You are not limited to 1 specialization. You can unlock both with any class, then switch between both on the fly (even easier now with build templates).

Unless you are asking which one you should unlock first or practice first, which is simply a time and effort issue.

As far as current balance, this is where the given classes are at in pve:Open World - makes no difference. Check metabattle for strong open world builds if you are having issues with this content

Fractals/Raids -Revenant - alacrigrade (support Renegade which provides cc, might and alacrity), condi Renegade dpsNecromancer_ - Power Reaper dps, heal scourgeEngineer - condi or power Holo, heal scrapperMesmer - minstrel tank chrono, support chrono, power dps chrono, condi mirage dpsRanger - heal druid, power soulbeast dps, condi soulbeast dps

[Night Hunter.2816]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@Night Hunter.2816 said:what specializations they should take.

You are not limited to 1 specialization. You can unlock both with any class, then switch between both on the fly (even easier now with build templates).

Unless you are asking which one you should unlock first or practice first, which is simply a time and effort issue.

As far as current balance, this is where the given classes are at in pve:

Open World

- makes no difference. Check metabattle for strong open world builds if you are having issues with this content

Fractals/Raids

-

Revenant

- alacrigrade (support Renegade which provides cc, might and alacrity), condi Renegade dpsNecromancer_ - Power Reaper dps, heal scourge

Engineer

- condi or power Holo, heal scrapper

Mesmer

- minstrel tank chrono, support chrono, power dps chrono, condi mirage dps

Ranger

- heal druid, power soulbeast dps, condi soulbeast dps

HOLY BUNCHES OF OATS!! AH!!! I'm also planning to make a guardian character in the future once I get the others to 80. I had a weird dream one day that I made a guardian. Any thoughts?

[InsaneQR.7412]

@""Night Hunter.2816"Guardian is pretty straight forward choice.

Wanna do a lot of AoE damage or support friends? Firebrand

Wanna do a lot AoE damage and CC?Dragonhunter

Firebrand has good condition damage options (btw beware there are 2 different damage types in the game).

Dragonhunter has better power damage options.

Both can be quite tanky

FB can also pump out lots of boons or heal.DH has great AoE CC options and has a bit more mobility than FB.

[Anchoku.8142]

For Necro, I suggest Reaper because it has a wider variety of usage cases than Scourge. You can always get Scourge later. Scourge is a little less balanced in that it does better in cooperative play but is more vulnerable solo. You can use core Necro for WvW if Reaper is too melee.