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New player (casual) in look for a main


Zeviru.2795

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Hello to everyone,

I am a new player to guild wars 2 and I am currently in the search of a main character to play the game, I bought both expansions so I currently have possibility of playing all game content. I intend on having a main as the free time I have is not that much for mastering various characters and I like the role involved in playing a main and getting involved with its story. I am playing mostly with my girlfriend who is playing a mesmer but will also be playing solo a lot. I am looking for a profession that can handle all game content not with ease but at least I want my profession to have a role in the game, I plan on playing mostly fractals and raids but also pvp and trying eventually some wvw although that's not my focus. I like and can't change the idea of playing a magic user class, a caster and don't matter being a support, a damage dealer or any other role. Recently was looking at the elementalist and the mesmer, I usually play elemental magic casters but elementalist seems as the typical some support lots of damage dealing class and mesmer seems kind of unique and fun. Reading the forums I have read that elementalist is not currently in the best state but would love to hear some ideas based on what I told of what classes would be good to main and give my free time to. Thanks a lot.

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One tip is to go into the PvP lobby, there you'll automatically have your specs maxed which will allow you to try the class early on. This way you can easily get a taste for how a profession plays, and might help you decide faster.

As for balance? Well, elementalist may currently not be so hot in raids, but for fractals a healing tempest usually carries the whole group through pretty difficult content. The balance keeps shifting with each update, so there's no guarantee a mesmer will continue to fare better at end content.

Looking at what happened after the gyro rework, it wouldn't be surprising if something similar eventually came for elementalists (together with thief, those are the professions that need an overhaul the most, IMO).

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I have been trying both today at the pvp lobby and both seem kind of nice eventhough mesmer seems to be less overwhelming and the chronomancer being a space time mage seems really nice as I love magic casters. Well the nerfs I believe are inevitable for every class what I look the most is utility variety and fun.

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In terms of raiding, here you can compare the top theoretical DPS of the various specs in the game:https://snowcrows.com/benchmarks/

You say you prefer "a magic user class, a caster" -- I would recommend you also take a look at condition or support Firebrand. They wear heavy armor and use mainly melee weapons, but also use "tomes" to start spitting out big fire and healing spells.

As for the other caster classes:Necro -- kind of in a weird spot. DPS is not the best but their healing/team save potential is quite large. That said, it's mostly only good for saving noobs. Good players may want a different support.

Mesmer -- strong as both a DPS and support. However, their raid/fractal DPS gameplay is not very "caster-y" (you won't be standing at range and casting spells; you will be using an axe or sword and be in melee range).

Ele -- pretty strong as DPS and has a somewhat decent support build. Very squishy and not a forgiving class.

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Thanks for the link, really interesting although I don't mind that much being the top top of dps as long as it is enough to be welcomed at parties to play and pvp.

I have never heard the firebrand so will look at it to see if it matches my style.

With the caster thing I don't need it to be forcefully a long range caster, more like a caster of magic but it can be to fortify weapons, to move faster, I really like the idea of space time magic of a chronomancer as it seems as really interesting and advanced magic.

The necromancer I've seen it in videos and it seems kind of cool but just can seem to get the interest in it.

The mesmer seems pretty fun as it can move really fast which kind of interests me and a close fighting space time magician a mind controller sounds really cool but a thing is how it sounds and another how it plays, I have a long way to get the chronomancer but it seems really cool.

The elementalist I love the element play but not much the squishy long casting, and the weaver I've read way too much times that it is overly complicated to deliver and I'm not that hard core piano player although I like difficulty it seems too much for a casual player.

Thanks for your replies, really appreciate it.

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OP, you already received good advice on caster type professions: Elementalist, Mesmer, Necro, and Guardian Firebrand

As for the Condition Firebrand, think of it as a mid range/melee battle mage that wears heavy armor and specializes in fire based attacks. Also, the tomes mechanic have you casting spells from books. What could be more caster than that? The Firebrand also has a support build works very well if that's your thing. The Firebrand is very effective, durable (as soon as you get the hang of using blocks, aegis, etc.), great looking graphics, currently welcome in the content you want to play, and it's not too difficult to pick up and play at a competent level. Give this site a look:

https://snowcrows.com/raids/builds/guardian/firebrand/condition/

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Prior to mounts in PvE, guardian mobility was a less than mesmer. Now that we have mounts, mobility for any class isn't an issue anymore. Guardians have great utility as well. Dragon hunter is the elite specialization for guardian that you get in the Heart of Thorns expansion, like Firebrand is the elite specialization you get in Path of Fire. So, yes you have access to both after they are unlocked. You change them by selecting one of them for your 3rd trait line.

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But what I mean with mobility is more in the gameplay of the class while in combat, I feel like the mesmer can move around a lot while effective.

With the other, so it is possible to have a mesmer or a guardian or considering what I have been looking at both and have different builds with both and just change gear??

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You'll want to look at the guardian and necromancer first and foremost.

Guardian is in a very good spot all over. God tier in WvW, very good in Spvp, meta as power dps, area condition dps and support for PvE. Overall probably the most versatile class with the most useful specs for each game mode.

Necromancer is God tier in WvW, good in Spvp solo, good power fractal build and strong support build. Most important, necromancer is extremely beefy base design wise. It's a great class to ge used to the game and very straitforward.

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@"Zeviru.2795" said:But what I mean with mobility is more in the gameplay of the class while in combat, I feel like the mesmer can move around a lot while effective.

With the other, so it is possible to have a mesmer or a guardian or considering what I have been looking at both and have different builds with both and just change gear??

Mobility doesn't have a straightforward answer. If we're talking raid/fractal gameplay, mobility is not always important because many bosses are relatively stationary. Yes, you will be moving around to avoid attacks and such, but that will mostly involve pressing the dodge button, not using a big mobility spell. In terms of combat gameplay, there are certain Mesmer spells that will move your character (as an example, the Mirage's 2nd and 3rd skills for Axe will both sort of teleport your character around your target). Guardian has a few teleport/movement skills (such as https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Judge%27s_Intervention), but I don't believe you will use them in most high-end PvE combat. I would say Mesmer is the more mobile of the two, but I would caution that it's not always relevant in raids/fractals.

Now, if we're talking about "open world" gameplay (roaming around in the open world, doing events with other people), then you can start weighing mobility options more heavily (as you will have more freedom to use whichever utility skills you personally prefer, rather than needing to use specific ones because they max your raid DPS). However, as someone else mentioned, we all have mounts now so it's sort of a moot point.

As for your 2nd question, I'm not entirely clear about what you mean. But yes, it is very easy to swap talents/spell choices around. You don't even need to go back to a city. Swapping gear is more expensive, but you can always have multiple sets of gear, work towards ascended gear (which allows you to change stats for a gold cost), and eventually work towards legendary gear (allows stat swapping for free).

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I started off as a guardian, moving into a dragon hunter with HoT. I still enjoy that class, but after trying many classes (years after choosing guardian), I decided I wanted something with more passive defense. That left me with warrior and necro, and to a lesser extent, revenant and ranger (based on health pools). I also wanted to use a greatsword, so most filled that role. Pets were a plus. The second health bar of necro was the final factor.

I opened the reaper line, and found a build on metabattle. In reaper shroud, I have permanent quickness, 600 extra ferocity, and 33% extra crit chance, and 25 stacks of vulnerability in about five seconds. With pets (mainly just the elite pet), and axe/warhorn, I have some range burst, and breakbar damage (GS5, WH4, elite pet, shroud 3 and 5). I am almost always top damage in fractals, and dungeons. It is a selfish build, mostly, but is very good at what it does.

I would get bored playing on my guardian. It was just not a fun playstyle all of the time after a while. I started taking more, and more breaks, and they started getting longer. The class revolves a lot out of active defense, which, honestly, I'm not the best at, so I would die more than I liked. Since changing over to reaper, I have been enjoying myself much more, and haven't taken any extended breaks yet. The point is, definitely play a class/spec you enjoy, and you will spend more time ingame. After a while, the classes just become different mechanics, and you'll be able to swap between them far more easily than you could starting out, then alts become a real option.

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Thank you all for your answers to this threat, it has been really interesting and insightful as I am totally new to this game and in general is the first mmo I am diving in since ragnarok online.

Regarding the necromancer I have never really been that connected to the theme of the class, all the using dead and that.

From the other classes I have tried the mesmer and for now really like it, like the mind control, space time magician thing and the fluidity of the gameplay as long with the utility it can bring with teleports or boons as long as having nice dps builds.

The elementalist I have tried just a bit and as much as I like the classic elemental magician theme I haven't been that in love with the class, at least the base one, haven't tried any specialization as I am not that advanced.

For the guardian the theme of the firebrand seems really nice, guardian is not that complicated of a class but the firebrand which I need to try seems really good.

The only other class that call for my attention are the druid which I believe is ranger specialization.

Thanks a lot and will be checking this post regularly

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@Zeviru.2795 said:Thank you all for your answers to this threat, it has been really interesting and insightful as I am totally new to this game and in general is the first mmo I am diving in since ragnarok online.

Regarding the necromancer I have never really been that connected to the theme of the class, all the using dead and that.

From the other classes I have tried the mesmer and for now really like it, like the mind control, space time magician thing and the fluidity of the gameplay as long with the utility it can bring with teleports or boons as long as having nice dps builds.

The elementalist I have tried just a bit and as much as I like the classic elemental magician theme I haven't been that in love with the class, at least the base one, haven't tried any specialization as I am not that advanced.

For the guardian the theme of the firebrand seems really nice, guardian is not that complicated of a class but the firebrand which I need to try seems really good.

The only other class that call for my attention are the druid which I believe is ranger specialization.

Thanks a lot and will be checking this post regularly

Necro doesn't really have to be about death. If you go minion free, it's really just black and green spells. Warrior and necro are always my go to for new player suggestions. They have high health pools, are good dps, warrior, and scourge once you get it, are good support, warrior has a very short CD heal, and necro has a second, high DPS health bar that recharges in battle.

Always play what you like, though. Otherwise, you'll end up leaving from boredom, or frustration.

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I have a question regarding having alts or just a main. I have some OCD so if I have an alt I need to have all completed as with my main so if I have a main and for example two alts so I can change according to what I play do they share achievements map completion or something or do I have to redo everything with them?

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Alts share achievements, magic find (RNG drop), gold find, WvW rank, PvP rank, shared inventory items, can share ascended/legendary items of same armor type (aka heavy/medium) and they also share the wardrobe skins within the same armor type as well. The thing I can think of that isn't shared is world map completion. That is a bummer for me, having to redo this ~24hrs of map completion, so I only unlock important waypoints for alts.

For alts, I mainly play elementalist, say we lack X in our small group, or I am not feeling like playing my main, I swap to the alt I feel like playing the most. It takes time to gear alts, but I only have 1 gear setup for alts, where is my main has all gear stats for any build you can think of.

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