Picking classes to play.

[jhern.6097]

It's laughable. I've been playing the game for 6 years and I continue to this day to delete characters. I've only kept my engineer and I'm not so happy with it. I just keep it around for story progression. I'm curious to know how you pick which classes to keep? How do you choose which one to main? Having one of all classes isn't really an option for me since I don't have that much time to play. Best case scenario, I can make one for each playable race; I've played them all, but maintenance is an issue. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

I have all 9 Professions, each at L80 sans one (Revenant). I use my Revenant (L53) as a Champion Bag, etc. opener. I have other duplicate Professions as parked Jumping Puzzle characters, mules, this, that, and the other thing. And a second account for Gold, mostly.I use my Main for Stories and more difficult content; the others are working on, or have completed World Map. I also use them, occasionally, for second run-throughs of Stories, or Dailies in maps.I chose my Main because it's the one I know best and is my favorite. I would probably never delete characters, sans Key-runners, because of Birthday Gifts.

Everyone's mileage will vary.

[MoriMoriMori.5349]

@jhern.6097 said:I'm curious to know how you pick which classes to keep? How do you choose which one to main? Having one of all classes isn't really an option for me since I don't have that much time to play.Pretty easy, in my case. The game lacks challenge and may become pretty monotonous, what makes any warrior profession is no go (combine easy content with simplistic profession combat mechanics, and you are bored to death before long). Same goes for ranger - you can faceroll and still win with this one, and I'm not into support roles, so Druid isn't an option as well. That leaves me with only the mage trio, engi and thief. Thief is one of my mains, and engi, though interesting, is too trashed atm, so I stopped playing it. Out of 3 mage types, I fell in love with Ele right away, so it's my the most mainy main since I started to play. And after Ele, other professions now seem simplistic and dull. You can win with Mirage by facerolling again, and Chrono is support, so not my cap of tea. Necro is okay, I guess, but seems aesthetically unpleasant to me, so I still can't force myself to try him.

So, in the end, it's Ele or Thief, not so much to choose from :)

[DanAlcedo.3281]

I have all classes 80 and for some multible ones.

Warrior is my story/openworld/raid character.

Because its simple but effectiv.

In WvW i play each week a different class/build.

WvW Classes:FirebrandScourgeWeaver/TempestHerald

In get bored fast of playing 1 class all the time.

[Danikat.8537]

I just play what I enjoy. I do have at least 1 of each profession (2 elementalists and 2 engineers - one for each elite spec) but I don't play all of them regularly because I don't have enough time, and it took me years to get that many. But having options is nice so if I'm bored with one profession I can switch to something else.

In my case I think it helps that I've played a lot of RPGs before this one, and I have a pretty good idea of what I enjoy so it was just a matter of trying to find the best fit from the options available. Also I never worry about having the 'best' profession or build, I just go by what I think is fun so I don't need to keep changing or force myself to use something I don't like just because there was a balance patch or someone made a video showing off their favourite choice.

My main character is a ranger because I like the nature theme and pet, and because I enjoy the combat options, specifically shortbow and sword/torch or sword/dagger with traps and signets (from the druid spec). I like that the shortbow relies a lot on positioning, you're more effective attacking from behind and the side so there's a lot of focus on keeping the enemy where you want them and/or moving around them, and then going in close with the sword when the time is right, then using sword 2/shortbow 3 to leap away. I also like the idea of a character who is always moving (yes I know all GW2 characters can, and should, move a lot) and whose defense comes from not being there when the attack comes. Although I also know I'm not actually very good at that, so I use armour with toughness to give me some leeway if I mis-time a dodge or move the wrong way.

With elementalists and engineers it's the sheer complexity I enjoy, the number of attacks available at any time and finding ways to combine them. My tempest, using dagger/dagger is like a one-woman firestorm and I love sending her into the middle of a group of enemies, throwing spells in all directions and seeing everything go down. (I don't just use fire of course, I'll often start in air or earth then switch to fire, but the overall effect is 'firestorm' I think.)

Warrior is probably my least favourite, just because it's the most straight-forward and seems simplistic. I won't pretend I know how to play it as well as other people do, but I've just never found anything which excites me about it. And guardian is probably the one which surprised me most. It seems like the typical templar/paladin/tank archetype, standing still protecting everyone else while they do the interesting stuff, but actually my guardian plays more like my thief - I use a lot of teleport skills to move around quickly and that makes things more exciting.

[Sylvari.2953]

"I'm curious to know how you pick which classes to keep?"I enjoy pressing many buttons so I keep anything that has many skills (Ele, Engi, Firebrand, Necro/Reaper isn't bad either because Shroud gives 5 extra skills and I like the survivability). I don't like professions with a low amount of skills (Warrior, Thief).

"How do you choose which one to main?"I main the one I enjoy the most (Firebrand since PoF, I used to main a core kit Engi before that).

[ProtoGunner.4953]

Just use all, I have 13 chars and I mostly played 4-5 of them (quit playing atm). Why delete them? Just stick to it and you will finde some motivation to play with a different one.

[Naxos.2503]

I started with my engineer charr, and it's the only character since the start that wasn't removed and remade at first. I then made a thief which got remade (first a Norn, then a charr. I made an elementalist human (this one I didn't remove, but didn't really use much for a looooong time), then I gradually got all classes, and all races for the sake of versatility (with a twist). One thing I can tell you is that 80% of these characters, before they got fully leveled up and geared, I didn't like at first. It's only after I had put in the work on their skills and gear that I started to see combo potential, and started to like them (some, arguably as much as my charr engineer main)

I had a Norn ranger next, a charr guardian, then a charr warrior, then a charr mesmer, then a sylvari necro, then a charr revenant, and finally an asura engineer (as a doublon, because it felt more logical for my asura to be an engineer).

I like charrs.

[Stalkingwolf.6035]

normally i stick really fast with a class.i started with a charr warrior, but charrs are not the best class for jumping puzzles and i didnt like how the warrior moves with greatsword.so i switched to female human guardian and i'm playing this class since then. currently i switched to female asura guardian.i tried every class and have the most classes. i have no necro, because i dont like the lore/look from necro, warlock a.s.o and i have deleted my ranger, because ranger ist pretty boring in GW2.

how i pick a class? Watch videos, read offical pages over the classes.

[joneirikb.7506]

People are different, and thus find different ways to deal with this.

Personally I knew from the start that I'd like Guardian the most, and I've mained Guardian since release. Second fave is Thief for when I want to play something a bit more glassy that I have to stay constantly on my toes with. I've tried and leveled every class to 80, some multiple. But I always fall back to Guardian, Thief, and whatever interest me at the time for a third.

If you're the type that wants to play 1 main, you have to try all the classes as much as possible and find the one you like or just really gel with your play-style. Some classes can be difficult to see this early on, as they can change a good bit over the levels.

I find the largest problem is often by level 45 you might have 2 trait lines, but only enough points to try 2 trait lines, and half the skills. So you might dislike what you've unlocked, and might have enjoyed other things more. Also often you have to take the time to start understanding the trait lines before a lot of classes becomes fun. In this regard I often found PvP useful, since it lets you setup stats and traits like a full level 80, and then let you test and play against a various bunch of npc's to test things out. If I'm trying a new class, I usually do this around level 20 to get a feel for what I want to unlock and how I want to play it.

[Angoril.2179]

For me, if a class doesn't have access to AOEs and feels slow in general, it's a guarantee I will be bored of it. Have tried many times to level a necro or a mesmer and they all ended up being deleted before they even hit 50. Ranger was the first character I created in the game as I typically enjoy playing archers but I am not fond of the overall ranger gameplay. Made it to 80, he's still around but haven't progressed in the story further than LS3 and I rarely play it these days as well. Only keeping it around for the gifts.

My go-to classes in the game are power warrior, dragonhunter, dagger/dagger ele (haven't tried weaver yet so don't know if I'll enjoy sword more than dagger) and renegade with the ele and the renegade receiving most of my attention. My main used to be the dragonhunter but got replaced by the renegade shortly after PoF got released.

[MoriMoriMori.5349]

@"Angoril.2179" said:dagger/dagger ele (haven't tried weaver yet so don't know if I'll enjoy sword more than dagger)

Was in your shoes 2 months ago, I'd leveled to 80s as dagger/dagger Ele, only to find out d/d combo is hugely underperforming, especially if wielded by Weaver (still very low dps compared to the sword, but also constant problems with accessing vital mobility and CC skill which is the reason why you go d/d in the first place). I resisted for a while, playing as d/d Tempest, that didn't work well too, as DPS is laughable, comparing to "meta" setup (dagger/warhorn, Fresh Air / Air Overload).

In the end, I gave up and switched to sword... plus focus :) Yea, you never know what future has for you. The transition was hard at first, I missed fantastic mobility of d/d core Ele a lot, but after a while I succumbed to Weaver's unique way of play. Though if Anet finally would fix this ridiculous power-creep which makes so much of weapon setups obsolete, I would probably switched back to d/d as Weaver anyway.

[Raemyi.2968]

I've had 4 characters, 3 of which I was so convinced were my forever Main that I crafted them a set of ascended gear. I usually settle into a playstyle regardless of class, then jump to a class that seems to support that playstyle. This hasn't really worked though, since "the grass is always greener" and I constantly worry that another could do it better. More than that, I tend to interpret my choice's inherent weaknesses as signs I picked "wrong".

First I played Warrior, learning the basics. Then I decided I was dying to things I couldn't help because the class is all about brute force with little active mitigation, so i swapped to melee mesmer with its distortion and clones and such. Then HoT came out and i disliked chronomancer, and felt lame sticking with the vanilla build, so i picked up Revenant. Then I realized I was just liking Revenant because spamming ranged hammer was easy, and swapped to a more officially ranged class: deadeye. Now I'm considering swapping back to warrior again (as spellbreaker).

It's not a fun way to play. I wish you better luck than I've had. :'(

[MMOStein.3872]

This is a fundamental problem with an RPG where all classes are virtually the same and there are no distinctive class rolls. In MMORPGs, you typically choose your class based on real underlying personality traits. For example, someone who is more shy/reserved or enjoys helping people will gravitate to support archetypes, someone who is a natural steadfast leader will gravitate to tank/aggression archetypes, etc. In this type of RPG (like FFXIV) It is clear as day which class-type most people will ultimately main, even if it isn't immediately clear to the player at first. This is why the classic trinity is so successful. It is simple, yet effective at giving the player a greater purpose to others in the harsh game world. A purpose they WANT to fill, almost as if they are obligated to BE that role. It makes them proud to fulfill their role in the group, knowing that people are relying on them. After all, helping others is one of the most satisfying things for humans to do.

However, this element of the RPG is missing from some games like BDO or GW2, which leads to class choice being more likely to be based on something trivial like "I want to wear cloth" or "That's a cool spell animation" or "X class SEEMS like it will be fun to play". Choosing a class based on things like this is a much weaker foundation to connect with, many people simply can't make a connection because the profession doesn't resonate with them outside of it's "cool design/spells". If you can't establish a greater connection to your own class, then a primary element of the RPG is lost, and you may feel like something is wrong. The world is so vast and immersive, but something is "off". Your class looks cool and all, you THINK you should like it, but something just.....doesn't feel complete, like you are distant from the game for some reason.

You May realize you lack a deeper passion for your class, so you try another class, but to no avail, Then another, then another, And now you played all classes and are left confused why you can't connect to any of them.

When every class can do everything, they all become the one class, with different color effects. When everyone can take care of themselves, and no one needs anyone else, class choice becomes more selfish and shallow. Instead of saying "I want to support my friends" and then choosing one of the healer options. You say "I think this profession looks the coolest*". and choose something haphazardly

The Primary reason for the choice became surface level, and for a lot of people who enjoy RPGs, this is not enough of a reason to get them invested. It's simply too shallow, You enjoyment will quickly tank after the "new shiny class effect" begins to wear off. Not all players are affected equally by this element (depends on a person's reason for getting into GW2, the games they grew up on, etc). But if this part of the RPG is weak, many players will notice it.

If you grew up on trinity/co-op based games, you are more likely to struggle with getting invested in a game like GW2, A game where you basically don't need anyone else, and no one needs you, all the professions can generally support themselves, guilds don't serve any practical purpose, most of the group content is just a clown fiesta of spells flying everywhere....content that you can largely ignore anyways. You are simply, and quite literally, another lone adventurer exploring the world. Nothing more, nothing less. You cast spells with an elemental gimmick while the guy next to you cast spells with an illusion gimmick. So with all this in mind, why does it matter what profession you choose? Well, it doesn't. The profession you pick is just a cosmetic choice for the most part. "What kind of eye candy and gimmick do you want"? Many people may enjoy that aspect, and many others not so much.

Just my two cents on why so many aren't able to connect with this game. Imo, this is a huge reason why GW2 initially put off so many players (including me), especially at launch with all the hate bandwagoning about the game being "aimless" and "too easy/zergy" at the time.

[Danikat.8537]

@MoriMoriMori.5349 said:

@"Angoril.2179" said:dagger/dagger ele (haven't tried weaver yet so don't know if I'll enjoy sword more than dagger)

Was in your shoes 2 months ago, I'd leveled to 80s as dagger/dagger Ele, only to find out d/d combo is hugely underperforming, especially if wielded by Weaver (still very low dps compared to the sword, but also constant problems with accessing vital mobility and CC skill which is the reason why you go d/d in the first place). I resisted for a while, playing as d/d Tempest, that didn't work well too, as DPS is laughable, comparing to "meta" setup (dagger/warhorn, Fresh Air / Air Overload).

In the end, I gave up and switched to sword... plus focus :) Yea, you never know what future has for you. The transition was hard at first, I missed fantastic mobility of d/d core Ele a lot, but after a while I succumbed to Weaver's unique way of play. Though if Anet finally would fix this ridiculous power-creep which makes so much of weapon setups obsolete, I would probably switched back to d/d as Weaver anyway.

Which is kind of funny because when PoF came out and I was looking for weaver builds and advice on how to build mine I had to insist that I was going to use a sword even if main hand dagger was the better choice because part of what I liked about the weaver was the sword skills. Everyone kept telling me the sword was trash and not worth using and it would be impossible to make a weaver build which did use it. I'm sure sooner or later balance, or simply people's tastes will change again and something else will be considered the "only" good choice. I just stick with what I find fun.

[MoriMoriMori.5349]

@Danikat.8537 said:

@MoriMoriMori.5349 said:

@"Angoril.2179" said:dagger/dagger ele (haven't tried weaver yet so don't know if I'll enjoy sword more than dagger)

Was in your shoes 2 months ago, I'd leveled to 80s as dagger/dagger Ele, only to find out d/d combo is hugely underperforming, especially if wielded by Weaver (still very low dps compared to the sword, but also constant problems with accessing vital mobility and CC skill which is the reason why you go d/d in the first place). I resisted for a while, playing as d/d Tempest, that didn't work well too, as DPS is laughable, comparing to "meta" setup (dagger/warhorn, Fresh Air / Air Overload).

In the end, I gave up and switched to sword... plus focus :) Yea, you never know what future has for you. The transition was hard at first, I missed fantastic mobility of d/d core Ele a lot, but after a while I succumbed to Weaver's unique way of play. Though if Anet finally would fix this ridiculous power-creep which makes so much of weapon setups obsolete, I would probably switched back to d/d as Weaver anyway.

Which is kind of funny because when PoF came out and I was looking for weaver builds and advice on how to build mine I had to insist that I was going to use a sword even if main hand dagger was the better choice because part of what I liked about the weaver was the sword skills. Everyone kept telling me the sword was trash and not worth using and it would be impossible to make a weaver build which did use it. I'm sure sooner or later balance, or simply people's tastes will change again and something else will be considered the "only" good choice. I just stick with what I find fun.

Well, dunno, I wasn't there yet when PoF came out, and you also must look at such claims (mh dagger is better than sword) made right after its release with a grain of salt, as obviously there wasn't enough data back then to back up those. And may be also balance was different back then. But atm I very much doubt d/d has any way to compete with the sw/d combo. Just a quick look at attacks the later offers is enough to see there is huge difference in damage they deal. Mh dagger has a better range, and offers a bit better mobility, but this alone is not enough to compete, and also is further crippled by the current attunement switching mechanics of the Weaver (excessively long cooldowns plus inability to quickly switch to pure original attunement of Ele without using Unravel).

Yes, you can just stick to it because it's more fun to you, but the fact that you are just not that good as even a mediocre player with a meta-build will still be gnawing at you, spoiling your fun. Especially when you'll try to go to a more challenging parts of the game. Don't expect somebody in raid groups or tier 4 fractals listening to your reasons about "more fun this way".

[Khalisto.5780]

I just have all of em and play one till I get borred

[kurumufan.2389]

I don't see why you would delete a character unless you'd be making a new one... Just a waste imo to delete characters because you "don't have enough time to play them". Can I ask... If you don't have time to play anything other than engineer why not just play engineer and keep the characters? It doesn't hurt to fill up the slot, in fact you get birthday rewards from keeping them...

But I guess if you want characters that you know will remain to be relevant just go with the basics? Chronomancer and Druid are ALWAYS going to be viable. So maybe keep those in case you need them for raids/fractals?

[daisyk.4523]

ele because ele

[kharmin.7683]

@Danikat.8537 said:I just stick with what I find fun.Best advice in this entire forum, in my opinion. :)

I main ranger because I am a very old school D&D player and ranger has always been my favorite class. Played ranger main in GW1 so didn't see a reason not to main ranger in GW2. I did, eventually, go with soulbeast because I think that the merge with pet mechanic is pretty cool. As a very casual player, though, I certainly am not meta or whatever with my build ... as Danikat says, I just stick with what I find fun.