Choosing between Elementalist and Guardian

[xisheng.3264]

Basically, I have trouble deciding which one I should main. I joined the game not a long time ago and both of my characters are currently at the end of their personal story.

I prefer my dagger/dagger Elementalist and am really looking forward to finally playing Weaver with sword and dagger, but hear me out. Guardian and the aesthetic of the character is really appealing to me (i love lore). Trouble is, the gameplay, at least for the moment, seems boring with my Guardian as opposed to my Elementalist, with which i feel very illusive and the combat is so much more impact full, both in animations and just the general feel of it (it feels so good to channel Churning Earth and then Lighting Flash into tons of enemies and disappear with Burning Speed).

I will slowly build them both up, of course, but to do so, I have to have at least one which would be capable of going to all the endgame content with ease so I could have an easier time boosting my alt. So my question is, which class would require less time to be semi-geared and welcomed in Fractals and so forth and which of these two (four) would do well in grinding gold and doing all other stuff in expansion and living story content?

I would like to add that I do not look at skill rotations and generally complex gameplay as a burden, but as a fun thing. I have lots of experience from Dota, Guild Wars and Lineage II when it comes to quick reactions, timing and having a high apm.

I've watched hours upon hours of guides and stuff like that from youtubers like Cellofrag and Woodenpotatoes but they showcase a fully boosted character and usually in situations where there is a blob of players or they are just randomly running around while describing how things work without any consideration for the fact that I do not have every single item in the game at my disposal. I would like to get a response from experienced community members and hopefully clear things up.

I also tried all of their specializations in the pvp zone, but it is not the same as going about with the character daily. To make it short, I'd like to be efficient, but have a very involved gameplay, without the latter I simply get bored and log out. I'm goal oriented and I wish to achieve those goals while taking a path of some resistance, but not walking in crutches.

Thank you to anyone who read all of this.

[AliamRationem.5172]

It sounds like you already know the answer to your query, but are looking for someone to sell you on guardian. Well, I am a weaver player, not a guardian player, but I can tell you that guardian is one of the best "group" classes in the game and is therefore always a great choice for raid/fractal-focused players. Having said that, if you dislike the playstyle, I don't recommend it. You sound a lot like me in that the feel of the class really matters to you. For that reason, I say go ele whether it's strictly the best option or not! Where else are you going to find a class design as crazy as weaver, right? I say go for it!

As for your concerns about being fully-boosted and geared? Don't be! The difference between Cellofrag and some fresh 80 in exotics is still only 5% stats, on paper. Of course, Cellofrag is an inspired player. But that's the point! You don't win by outgearing opponents in this game. You win by skill. You can pick up that 5% as you go, but there's no reason you can't jump right in!

Here are some videos of my weaver in open world and WvW. Maybe you will get some ideas! Sorry, I am pretty casual. I don't raid or fractal much, so I can't speak to that.

[Opopanax.1803]

GW2 is a game of Alts. When you get tired of one, you'll have the other one with completely different mechanics and traits to play.

Play the one you like! That is the point of playing, and you arent going to hurt yourself by playing Elementalist. And if for some reason you dont want to play it, then pick up your Guardian. Win - Win.

[Seteruss.4058]

Long time ago, I was in the exact same boat as you. I was main a guardian but I like the elementalist(especially weaver).What I did to get myself out, was to level a weaver, put some exotics on him and go out to open world for a while.What I did find out, was that I just like the rotation for certain situations for some reason.For me that was the final decision to go back to my guard. Is just awesome. The pala magic style fits me very well and I just have my other toons for changing scenes.You can still play both if you feel like that.Both are very welcomed in endgame content. All specs of them can be played at raids, fractals, wvw or pvp

[steki.1478]

Guard is currently stronger in every possible way. It's also more simple so if you like difficulty take ele. Both are great in high end game content atm, guard is just mandatory most of the time while ele is replaceable since it's usually used as dps.

[Ashantara.8731]

Both are excellent choices in terms of damage.

Guardian has more buffs available and can support other players even when skilled on DPS. The Elementalist has to use an explicit support build in order to be a valid group supporter.

[Shoridan.2569]

When I first started with elementalist I loved the flashy skills but was dying a lot. I tried guardian and found out that playing elementalist is a bit of a "hard mode": you need to work much harder to get pretty much the same results (dps, surviving, support). That eventually led to me dropping guardian and not touching it for about 5 years.Now that I tried it again things are different.Dragonhunter is even more stale than I remember. Gather up mobs, spear them, drop trap and symbol and spin to kill anything up to elite (and even elites melt with that combo). I will admit the damage numbers with this combo are addicting, and the only other spec coming close is a reaper.Then I tried firebrand and it's a whole different thing. You keep most of the combo (minus the traps), so the numbers are still pretty - but you add a metric ton of boons and support, and things become more flexible. Suddenly there is more to do if you feel like it - quickness, protection, stability that you can also share, along with aegis. Used right you are sturdier and make your party stronger.It is not as complex as weaver can be, but firebrand in either condi, power or heal versions is very dynamic to play. Give it a try :)