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Struggling with deciding on a class...!


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Hey everyone. I'm not really a new player but I'm also not super experienced with this game either (meaning there is a ton of content I haven't actually played through or tried). I played the first Guild Wars and absolutely loved it, it was my first MMO, so I really want to give this one a proper try. I hate asking this question because I am aware that at the end of the day, what class I decide to play or I feel is right for me, well, is up to me, but I really could use some help in deciding. I am genuinely stuck and find myself deleting characters just to start over again and again... My issue is that all the classes seem fascinating to me for one reason or another, especially because I have a nice PC to play this game on so melee/close-range classes are now viable for me! But I really don't have the time nor patience to level up one of each class. I'm really just a one or two character type of gal. So the question is...

What class should I main?

So, about me... I tend to play classes that are support oriented, usually healing though I have picked up tank/DPS/CC type classes before. In Guild Wars, I mained Ritualist, Mesmer, and Monk. Now, I tried Mesmer in this game and for me, it just doesn't quite fit the bill for me personally (beautiful effects/animations though). I really want to try most content in the game such as raids, fractals, dungeons, pvp, pve...(WvW is sort of an iffy to me but if I love the class I'm playing, then it might be fine) so I'd like to pick up a class that is very versatile and viable in all of those game modes. I mean, I am a firm believer that if you're a skilled player, you can make all sorts of builds/classes work, but if there are certain specs that are needed, that might help me make my decision. It is hard to decide in this game because I am so used to other MMOs and the holy trinity, there was always that one healer class or tank class and I could just go 'oh perfect, bam. done!' but this one has several classes that can heal and damage and support and tank... It's making me feel overwhelmed haha.

Okay so more info, I've come to realize that I just don't have a huge DPS mindset. That doesn't mean I can't do it but I have discovered that I enjoy playing classes/builds that help other people do well, that's what I enjoy most (I would love to do this in PvP too if possible). Another thing I'd like, is if the class is a bit challenging to pick up and learn but once you figure it out, it's highly rewarding. After playing a certain game that was PvP oriented and playing a super squishy healer build...I think I'd like to play a class that can take some hits in and out of PvP so I can have a real chance at surviving and doing something instead of just getting stunned once then one shotted (grrr). Here are the classes I have recently tried;

Mesmer - Beautiful class and definitely cool, but it doesn't play how I played my Mesmer in GW so not a fit for me. It's still awesome! (tried chrono and mirage)

Necro - Now, I actually played this class BEFORE the expansion packs/specializations, so who knows, this might be one I should try again. I'll admit, I found this class a little...boring.

Engineer - I really wanted to like this class because there isn't many of them and I leveled it twice, this time trying scrapper. It's cool but I think it's a little too clunky and I'll admit, I don't care for the aesthetic too much. (don't judge!)

Thief - This seems like a really cool class, but I've never had the right mindset for these types of classes. The hard-hitting sneaky types. They're rad though and props to the people who nail them!

Elementalist - Again, played this class before expansions/specializations were a thing! Gotta admit, Tempest seems reeeeeeeally cool!!! (Weaver might be awesome as well and super challenging).

Okay and one more thing, warriors are an absolute no. I just hate the class in general in any MMO I've ever played. They are not at all my cup of tea. I have both expansions! So please, let me know what you guys recommend and why. What do you main and what do you love about it? Thanks again for any and all help. I know this question has been asked before but I wouldn't have asked it if I wasn't so darn stuck and also, YIKES, this is longer than it needed to be lol!

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I main Warrior because they are awesome and my favourite class next to Barbarian styles in any game (I like thwacking things with something big and blunt)

Tempest is great fun I recommend it esp if you think weaver is too complex (I find weaver complex, but for what I do I can just about manage open world and have fun). Whizzing around on a tornado or a rolling boulder is just too much fun. Tempest can be support orientated, dps, hybrid - whatever you want

I think you'd potentially turn to necro or thief with the right espec. I love my Reaper, but it's more hack n slash warrior type. I never tried the other one. Thief has two very different especs

  • Daredevil is very bouncy, bouncy hgh damage, high dodge and heal. You don't need an awful lot of skill to bounce around, but if you aren't a great dodger you will just go splat
  • Haven't yet tried the sniper type spec, but that looks fun if you like ranged types.
  • Only issue is they are dps minded elites

You missed out Ranger (and Revenant but less important). Druid could be a winner for you as it is very support minded

Maybe try Druid or Tempest?

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@Randulf.7614 said:I main Warrior because they are awesome and my favourite class next to Barbarian styles in any game (I like thwacking things with something big and blunt)

Tempest is great fun I recommend it esp if you think weaver is too complex (I find weaver complex, but for what I do I can just about manage open world and have fun). Whizzing around on a tornado or a rolling boulder is just too much fun. Tempest can be support orientated, dps, hybrid - whatever you want

I think you'd potentially turn to necro or thief with the right espec. I love my Reaper, but it's more hack n slash warrior type. I never tried the other one. Thief has two very different especs

  • Daredevil is very bouncy, bouncy hgh damage, high dodge and heal. You don't need an awful lot of skill to bounce around, but if you aren't a great dodger you will just go splat
  • Haven't yet tried the sniper type spec, but that looks fun if you like ranged types.
  • Only issue is they are dps minded elites

You missed out Ranger (and Revenant but less important). Druid could be a winner for you as it is very support minded

Maybe try Druid or Tempest?

Elementalist in general might be a good class for me to give a good go at. There's enough challenge there to keep me intrigued(it seems like) and they seem pretty dang versatile! Definitely considering it. Oh sorry! I didn't list all the professions because I've only tried some of them for real. While Thief does look fun and I do have a very sexy rifle skin I very much wanna use...I don't know if I want to play a pure DPS-oriented class, I really love supporting and such. :T They seem really cool so I could make one as my second character in the future!

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For general ease of use in most areas of the game, as well as allowing lots of build diversity between support and dps I would recommend ranger or guardian. Ranger has druid for support roles, and soulbeast for good power/condi dps builds, and it can be built to be very durable and self sufficient. Same with guard, you have dragonhunter for an excellent power dps build, and firebrand for support, condi, or power dps/support. If you want something a bit more challenging and different I would try revenant and elementalist.

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There are a lot of guardian builds that let you take hits, support, and still kill things. You may really like the way some of the firebrand builds play. Oddly enough though, I would suggest trying scrapper again too. Build and gear are everything. Metabattle.com has a lot of builds for different game modes which might help you decide.

Template code:[&DQMdJy85KzWEABQBDhOKAZUBXgHMEowBgxISAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]This is the code for the minstrel healer scrapper build for wvw. I tried a variation of this on a baby alt using just cleric gear from the trading post (Zho's armor) and some cleric trinkets. It's amazing how much you can heal, cleanse, and kill (albeit much slower than something like the barrier bruiser solo open world build - which is amazing btw). It isn't too difficult to learn, and with the med kit, you can swap back and forth between just healing and hammer where you can dps some.

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I don't wan to come off as some end-game expert. I just do open world - no raids and only occasional Fractales and dungeons.

I mained an Elementalist for quite a while. Tempest was the spec I had the most success on. Staff core Ele was high damage, but not very flexible. Didn't ever click with Weaver. Too complicated. "Fresh Air" Tempest has heavy damage in Air attunement and melts stuff fast. Dagger and Scepter are my two favorite main-hand weapons. Kind of squishy class though and tends to get curb-stomped by enemy damage in tougher maps in Heart of Thorns, Living World and Path of Fire.

I got frustrated with how easy Ele dies fighting Joko in Living World and switched over to my other oldest character - my Mesmer.

So far, I liked Mirage with axe main-hand. The constant dodges make the character surprisingly resistant to damage. She killed Mordremoth so much more easily than my Elementalist did. Waaay more tanky. And the phantasms constantly apply damage at range, allowing you to focus on dodging and staying alive. But honestly, I like Chronomancer better for Open World.

I run Greatsword as my main damage weapon. When I get mobbed with enemies, I swap to sword main-hand and shield. You can switch shield out for pistol or focus or sword if you like according to preference. They're all pretty good. Lead with the greatsword phantasm, drop multiple wells, and keep enemies at range applying greatsword auto-attacks. Switch to sword when pressured. Life in Heart of Thorns was sooo much better on a Mesmer. Chrono just flows so well, powerful long-range tagging, options for killing break bars, AOE for groups of enemies, and lots of tankiness due to enemies going after clones instead.

My third favorite would have to be Guardian. It's not a tank class, due to the really low HP Guardians have. Think of Guardians as magic users wearing plate armor. Lots of options for damage, lots of support buffs to allies. I like scepter best for damage. Greatsword is another favorite for damage. I like carrying a staff around for tagging lots of enemies during events. It's a class that's always been solid since the game launched and is still in a pretty good place. I'm not as experienced in the class, but I like it so far.

As for healers in this game... as you know, there really aren't any. But Anet did put out a few specs that can do pure support and heals in group raids.

Ranger has the Druid specialization that allows the Ranger to become as close to a pure healer as you get in this game.Elementalist in Tempest can do some serious aura-sharing and act as a group healer.Revenant does have some heal/support options by channeling Ventari.Some flavors of Engineer can share buffs fairly well and Banner Warriors can do something similar.

But probably Druid or Tempest if you want to be the healer in a Fractale or Raid. Check out Metabattle for some Fractale and Raid builds on each class to get more details.

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From the looks of it, I think firebrand (guard) would be the best for you. It is playable in all gamemodes, has many options in his kit, is both great at supporting others or burning enemies to ash (or combination) and has many emergency buttons to save yourself/your party when nececary.One slight problem might be that compared to firebrand, core guard is kinda the oposite. Very simple I would say and without that much support.

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I would recommend Guardian and Ranger. Guardian has the elite specialisations Firebrand and Dragonhunter, both of which are very good right now. Firebrand is arguably the strongest PvE class right currently, with several builds: Condi DPS, Condi Quickness support, Power Quickness support, Heal (Quickness). It would allow you to fill multiple roles in high-end PvE content, such as fractals and raids. Dragonhunter is a great specialisation too, although it is an exclusively Power DPS specialisation, which doesn't seem to fit your outlined desires. I recommend Ranger as another class to look into, as Druid is the primary heal support specialisation in raids, furthermore, Soulbeast has a Power DPS and a Condi DPS build which can bring various forms of utility if required, such as spirits, condi cleanse, or stance sharing to increase the burst damage of nearby allies (primarily used in the absence of a druid). If you're serious about getting into high-end PvE, please read and follow the builds and guides on the Snow Crows website for various classes (https://snowcrows.com/). Revenant, or more specifically, Renegade, might be another class worth looking into. It has a Condi DPS build, and is commonly brought for Alacrity support, including a heal variant.

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Okay, thank you guys so much for your help! So far it seems like I should choose between Ranger, Elementalist, and Guardian. While Elementalist does seem fun, Ranger and Guardian seem closer-ish to my experience playing as a Ritualist and Monk in GW and what I'm looking to play. I know these games play differently, but I do see a few aspects that are similar and can be compared in terms of professions. I think I'm going to give Ranger a proper go as it sounds like what I want and it'd also be a pretty new experience for me (I never play archer-styled classes even though I do like the look of them haha) and if I'm just not liking the feel of it, I'll just start fresh as Guardian! Thanks again guys, you've really helped me out a ton. :)

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@"CaffeinatedSugar.7283" said:Okay, thank you guys so much for your help! So far it seems like I should choose between Ranger, Elementalist, and Guardian. While Elementalist does seem fun, Ranger and Guardian seem closer-ish to my experience playing as a Ritualist and Monk in GW and what I'm looking to play. I know these games play differently, but I do see a few aspects that are similar and can be compared in terms of professions. I think I'm going to give Ranger a proper go as it sounds like what I want and it'd also be a pretty new experience for me (I never play archer-styled classes even though I do like the look of them haha) and if I'm just not liking the feel of it, I'll just start fresh as Guardian! Thanks again guys, you've really helped me out a ton. :)

Ranger is a good choice. But you should be aware that Longbow isn't a weapon used in high-end PvE for the majority of content, aside from "pushing" certain adds in raids on Druid, and some precast damage from Barrage when playing Soulbeast in fractals. Essentially, Ranger isn't played primarily as an archer style profession

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@Painbow.6059 said:

@"CaffeinatedSugar.7283" said:Okay, thank you guys so much for your help! So far it seems like I should choose between Ranger, Elementalist, and Guardian. While Elementalist does seem fun, Ranger and Guardian seem closer-ish to my experience playing as a Ritualist and Monk in GW and what I'm looking to play. I know these games play differently, but I do see a few aspects that are similar and can be compared in terms of professions. I think I'm going to give Ranger a proper go as it sounds like what I want and it'd also be a pretty new experience for me (I never play archer-styled classes even though I do like the look of them haha) and if I'm just not liking the feel of it, I'll just start fresh as Guardian! Thanks again guys, you've really helped me out a ton. :)

Ranger is a good choice. But you should be aware that Longbow isn't a weapon used in high-end PvE for the majority of content, aside from "pushing" certain adds in raids on Druid, and some precast damage from Barrage when playing Soulbeast in fractals. Essentially, Ranger isn't played primarily as an archer style profession

That's quite odd in my opinion but good to know!!!

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Ranger is a good one with a nice variety, and very strong. I pop in and out of soulbeast as needed, and can solo camps in Verdant Brink this way. I haven't tried Druid yet, but I'm working on getting it. I see it on metabattle as a top event build, and I enjoy doing support during metas. Guardian is good too - I usually play Dragonhunter open world, but have a healbrand setup (firebrand) for dungeons and meta events.

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