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Looking for assistance with professions.


Thell.4280

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I'm looking for input on which profession might be a good pick for me since I have a really hard time deciding on one. I have an 80 necro, 80 engineer, 56 ranger, 46 warrior and 62 revenant(the 80s were boosted) but nothing seems to just stick. I have no idea how things play with all traits and such unlocked but I have an idea of what I would like to do, I want to mostly focus on pvp and wvw while being able to fight in melee and be able to have a ranged option to poke from safety until I am able to go into melee. I prefer heavy armor but that doesn't matter as much as being focused on dps instead of support but passive support is ok. I am way too indecisive and any help would be appreciated.

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Well, first things first.

What sort of way do you like to play? Dps, support, or do you like controlling your enemy?

Does hitting them with a big sword, lots of conditions, or with a bow from afar appeal to you?

Do you like to cast or to go martial? Do you like subterfuge or straight forward engagements?

There is something for everyone in GW2, let us know the play styles you typically go for and we can point you to several options to try.

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@Thell.4280 said:I'm looking for input on which profession might be a good pick for me since I have a really hard time deciding on one. I have an 80 necro, 80 engineer, 56 ranger, 46 warrior and 62 revenant(the 80s were boosted) but nothing seems to just stick. I have no idea how things play with all traits and such unlocked but I have an idea of what I would like to do, I want to mostly focus on pvp and wvw while being able to fight in melee and be able to have a ranged option to poke from safety until I am able to go into melee. I prefer heavy armor but that doesn't matter as much as being focused on dps instead of support but passive support is ok. I am way too indecisive and any help would be appreciated.

Get some tomes of knowledge and try the especs on warrior and rev. Warrior has decent passive support through phalanx strength and banners. Rev had one of the most wanted support builds.

A spellbreaker with tactics and strength can rip lots of boons and provide lots of might. Check out RedShark's build on the warrior forum for details.

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Rifle Holo.

Rifle Holo is pretty safe if yu need to use range, but their damage is best when allowed to melee.They are also pretty safe in melee too if yu trait them to give massive Barrier upon casting Corna Burst.

Just be wary of being CC'd these days : CC is a very dangerous part of WvW and PvP right now and fighting in melee with less stability than before will kill a Holo easily.

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@Thell.4280 said:I know people have been saying guardian is super strong but is it fun enough besides that?

Strong support and burn DH is deadly even post patch. Really easy to get 8k-12k burn ticks. Even 5k on a single opponent. Balthazar runes, smoldering sigils, and burn duration food with carrion gear is all you really need.

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@"Thell.4280" said:I'm looking for input on which profession might be a good pick for me since I have a really hard time deciding on one. I have an 80 necro, 80 engineer, 56 ranger, 46 warrior and 62 revenant(the 80s were boosted) but nothing seems to just stick. I have no idea how things play with all traits and such unlocked but I have an idea of what I would like to do, I want to mostly focus on pvp and wvw while being able to fight in melee and be able to have a ranged option to poke from safety until I am able to go into melee. I prefer heavy armor but that doesn't matter as much as being focused on dps instead of support but passive support is ok. I am way too indecisive and any help would be appreciated.

There's 3 main ways to play in WvW:

  • Large zerg vs zerg formations or pacted guild vs guild skirmishes called scrims (usually up to 15 vs 15).

  • Small group fights/squad roaming (usually up to 5 members).

  • Solo roaming and duelling.

    In the first case the gang under the commander fights as a unit, and players have asigned roles: some classes as Necros or (before the patch) hammer Revenants provided ranged damage, while others as Guardians and Eles provided support, healings and cleansing, etc. They usually faight as a compact mass butome specialized units provided specific roles, as rangers and thieves sniping spell casters at range. Most of those classes and builds are geared with tanky stats to endure large fights; some of their builds are bad for roaming and duelling because they rely in team support.

    The second group of builds is usually less ortodox and gives more freedom in terms of composition, since they run builds capable to 1 vs 1 but with some synergies between teammates.

    Solo roaming is oftenly dominated by builds with high mobility and high capabilities to engage/disengage in combats and to reset a fight, so classes with access to stealth as thieves, mesmers, rangers or engineers usually highlight there.

    Conquest PvP 5 vs 5 is different: usually you have a very mobile decapper wich helps with burst of damage to kill enemies engaged against one of their peers (a role called +1) which is oftenly picked by a thief, mesmer or revenant, a support oriented classes as the guardian, and a couple of bruisers (classes capable to endure a fight for a while and slowly wear out the enemy or keep them busy until support arrives (warriors, engineers, eles...).

    Mind that every class in this game has a wide array of different builds, but most of them had limited viability in specific roles in each game mode. As example: thieves are superb at roaming in WvW, and as decappers and +1 in PvP, but they are weak as a bunkers and very bad at healing/supporting the team.

    So, based on your description:

  • Necro: stong as ranged AoE damage dealers in big groups in WvW, capable to corrupt enemy boons, tanky due their powere and high base HP. Powerfull access to chill and cc. Weakness: limited mobility and access to stability, can be countered at range by some high mobility classes as rangers. In PvP they provide huge AoE pressure and plenty of cc.

  • Engineer: good at support builds in large WvW groups, excellent bruiser in both roaming and PvP; can combine ranged single target pressure and resilient mele combat in the same build; very good at disengaging from combat.

  • Ranger: less use at zerg vs zerg figths, is a very strong roamer with tons of mobility and stealth access. Their single target pressure at range is excellent and before tha last patch their mele burst was really high.

  • Warrior: their zerg builds and roaming builds are very different; in large groups are focused in mele combat, cc and team support, whereas their roaming builds are very mobile, have huge self sustain and capable to land huge burst of damage or long chains of cc effects. Most of them are exclusively mele; builds con rifle can be made but at the moment aren't very popular.

  • Revenant: previous to this week patch their hammer Herald was along guardians the backbone of most of large groups, delivering AoE damage at range while providing heavy boon support or using Mallyx builds to absorb and null conditions. Their main roam build (which was also a +1 in PvP) was the very mobile power herald, with tons of evades, a pure mele fighter.

    I would recomend you to follow Caith in Twitch due He is a top tier engineer player focused in PvP which uses builds which can fight very effectively at range and mele in both Conquest, roaming and small groups teamfights. Necro is currently VERY powerful in PvP but you will find that in WvW his lack of disengaging tools will be a big handicap until you become familiar with "how to fight other classes". Warrior is very solid and resilent but fights mostly at mele range; you should take a look at the Vaans chanel in Youtube or the irAjaxx channel in Twitch to learn about this class. The Revenant until this week was mostly a mele roamer based on physical damage, now is moving more towards being a condi bunker which in some builds can use the shortbow. You cand fin excellent videos of the class in Youtube from TubbyTwoTons, Nici, Torben... Ranger is along the Engineer the class which will provide (from the 5 you have) a closer mix to range and mele: they usually fight with longbow and mele weapons, are very mobile, have good tools to disengage... Check Kitsurugi Emeya for Ranger clips...

    Out of the other classes you don't have: Mesmers trend to fight at range at to poke; thieves trend to interrupt/daze/stun you at range, then hit at mele and retreat to safety; guardians are mostly oriented towards mele combat and team support, they have some nice ranged tools and close gapers but aren't that good at disengaging. The elementalist can be a good alternative to engineers and rangers in terms of mixing ranged attacks and cqc.

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Just from your initial post I would hang on to the REV.The hammer is just too cool. A bit slower for wvw/pvp BUT if you're looking at how to initiate/escape with shiro then maybe you won't worry as much for the designated range weapon. (has your heavy, distance, passive support, some dps, the works)

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The moment you mention WvW you should discard ranger unless you don't want to play as part of a squad. It has innate issues due to the pet (reliability of stealth pushing) along with the weapons.

From your other options:

  • Necro (80) - it's almost always ranged unless Reaper because the only real melee weapons are Greatsword on power reaper and dagger mainhand which is underperforming--> Necro is susceptible to CC . In this heavily damage nerfed meta it may be powerful in PvP but expect it to be readjusted to be more in line with other classes. While the scourge specialization has been run in WvW since Path of Fire launch, power reaper is making a comeback.
  • Engineer (80) - it's generally run as hammer scrapper (melee) but you can use mortar kit (which is untouched by the damage nerf) and /grenade kit (which is poor versus moving targets) /elixir gun (which has poor damage is mainly used for its utility) for minor ranged pressure--> In a condi heavy meta, the purge gyro + elixir gun cleanses that remove 5 conditions are desirable. In addition with the nerf to some revive skills and traits for other classes , the function gyro gained some legitimacy.
  • Revenant (62) - prior to balance patch it was played with hammer + staff ; now it is more common to see mace+axe along with shortbow as condi , meaning it satisfies the "ranged" + melee component--> with the changes to the Invocation traitline it loses stunbreak on legend swap so it's in a much worse spot than before patch ; having heals on both legends means you have a second heal
  • Warrior (46) - basically run as melee in spellbreaker spec so it doesn't really satisfy the "ranged" component of your criteria well. Rifle is a projectile weapon (i.e. susceptible to reflect/absorb and has a travel time) whereas longbow has a travel time as well as being reliant on conditions for its damage.

Your best option for squad play is probably revenant , followed by hammer scrapper with mortar kit instead of stealth gyro, or necromancer if you play power reaper with axe+focus and greatsword . If a competent commander puts parties with at least 1 guardian or firebrand per party you should get stability which means low amount of stunbreaks isn't as huge a liability on rev or necro.

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For roaming maybe , but for squads generally firebrand is the preferred spec for guardians.Dragonhunter can still provide stability from Stand Your Ground so it isn't the worst option, but longbow is projectile for auto + 2nd skill (True shot) , 3 skill (deflecting shot) doesn't do damage anymore , 4 is a burn field , 5 (Hunter's Ward) is used for CC.

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I see. This all helps me understand things better. I played warrior in the first guild wars and it was a fun time with all parts of the game, usually I end up playing a warrior type class in any game or at least something like it with big armor.

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@"Infusion.7149" said:The moment you mention WvW you should discard ranger unless you don't want to play as part of a squad. It has innate issues due to the pet (reliability of stealth pushing) along with the weapons.

From your other options:

  • Necro (80) - it's almost always ranged unless Reaper because the only real melee weapons are Greatsword on power reaper and dagger mainhand which is underperforming--> Necro is susceptible to CC . In this heavily damage nerfed meta it may be powerful in PvP but expect it to be readjusted to be more in line with other classes. While the scourge specialization has been run in WvW since Path of Fire launch, power reaper is making a comeback.
  • Engineer (80) - it's generally run as hammer scrapper (melee) but you can use mortar kit (which is untouched by the damage nerf) and /grenade kit (which is poor versus moving targets) /elixir gun (which has poor damage is mainly used for its utility) for minor ranged pressure--> In a condi heavy meta, the purge gyro + elixir gun cleanses that remove 5 conditions are desirable. In addition with the nerf to some revive skills and traits for other classes , the function gyro gained some legitimacy.
  • Revenant (62) - prior to balance patch it was played with hammer + staff ; now it is more common to see mace+axe along with shortbow as condi , meaning it satisfies the "ranged" + melee component--> with the changes to the Invocation traitline it loses stunbreak on legend swap so it's in a much worse spot than before patch ; having heals on both legends means you have a second heal
  • Warrior (46) - basically run as melee in spellbreaker spec so it doesn't really satisfy the "ranged" component of your criteria well. Rifle is a projectile weapon (i.e. susceptible to reflect/absorb and has a travel time) whereas longbow has a travel time as well as being reliant on conditions for its damage.

Your best option for squad play is probably revenant , followed by hammer scrapper with mortar kit instead of stealth gyro, or necromancer if you play power reaper with axe+focus and greatsword . If a competent commander puts parties with at least 1 guardian or firebrand per party you should get stability which means low amount of stunbreaks isn't as huge a liability on rev or necro.

There is an instagib scrapper build with grenade kit. Only works against solo roamers, you die as soon as someone sneezes on you...

Warrior Rifle is in a good place right now. Signet Mastery and Signet of Might will take care of reflects.

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Guard/scrapper for zerg play as they provide the most overall advantages. Warrior is good at zerg and roaming and ranged options are good but not great. Rifle warrior requires pretty niche builds and or situations to be good and bow requires a condi heavy build. Warrior and guard offer way more to big groups than ranger but as far as ranged is concerned ranger destroys all other classes as far as ranged effectiveness and if u were pure roaming ranger would definitely fare better than a war or guard.From ur posts sounds like dh/war or rev hammer build would give u a lot of milliage and all are fun to play imo.

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