Returning player looking for a profession to play

[Bananalander.3076]

I am a returning player from about a year ago. I have both expansions and I have a level 80 necro who i played through the PoF story with and have both elite specs unlocked. I am currently looking for another profession to level and play because although I somewhat enjoy necro, I mainly used it as a way to experience the Crystal Desert because I wanted to "jump into the deep end" so to speak.I now think that I'm ready to experience the game organically and I want to do that with a profession that I will enjoy learning and playing. I think I'll mainly be focusing on casual PvE and more serious PvP. I haven't tried WvW yet but it does look fun/interesting so I will probably end up playing it.My main criteria for any class/profession that I play in any game are

• I prefer to play solo, but I also enjoy being able to bring something to a group. In PvP, I'll mostly SoloQ and occasionally DuoQ, but I would also like to bring something useful to any team that I'm on.
• I like having mobility options. Mounts can reduce the downside of necro being slow in PvE, but in PvP I need to not feel like I'm rooted to one spot or struggling to get around the map.
• I usually don't prefer heavier classes in games but guardian and possibly revenant seem interesting.
• I don't like feeling as though I'm not doing damage. I don't have to be the top damage dealer. but i certainly don't like feeling like I'm poking my enemies with a toothpick

Any comments at all are helpful and welcome!

[Bobzitto.8571]

I'd say give Mesmer a try :) Chronos are amazing in PvE, and can do fairly well in PvP as well (though their other elite, Mirage, sees more play). Both specs are super mobile, and bring a lot of utility to the table

[Bananalander.3076]

Thanks for the input! I certainly like the concept of Mesmer but it seemed to be a little slow to level for the first 20 levels or so. I'll be sure to stick with it a little longer and see what its like.

[joneirikb.7506]

You seem familiar enough with the game that I'll just recommend you to make all the classes (create one, test, delete try new one) and try them out in PvP first. There you get full access to try complete builds, and can test around with the npc dummies first, and then try some matches.

Get some first hand experience with each of them, try play with some builds, and find one you like.

Otherwise, it does sound like ranger would fit most of your requirements. But try it for yourself and see:

• One of the best solo classes
• Has some support specifically in form of Druid
• One of the most mobile classes in the game (Necro's worst nightmare to face)
• Not a heavy :p
• Current damage king

[calb.3128]

@Bananalander.3076 said:Thanks for the input! I certainly like the concept of Mesmer but it seemed to be a little slow to level for the first 20 levels or so. I'll be sure to stick with it a little longer and see what its like.

Mesmer is significantly more interesting (and more powerful!) when you have three trait lines to play with. It definitely requires some perseverance to get to level 80, but after that the synergy between some of the traits can give you disproportionately strong effects. From what you said I'd strongly recommend pushing on and unlocking Mirage.

[Bananalander.3076]

@calb.3128 said:

Mesmer is significantly more interesting (and more powerful!) when you have three trait lines to play with. It definitely requires some perseverance to get to level 80, but after that the synergy between some of the traits can give you disproportionately strong effects. From what you said I'd strongly recommend pushing on and unlocking Mirage.

From the sounds of it Mesmer is definitely one of the more powerful professions and that is certainly a pull factor. I'll definitely be leveling a mesmer in that case.

@joneirikb.7506 said:Otherwise, it does sound like ranger would fit most of your requirements. But try it for yourself and see:

• One of the best solo classes
• Has some support specifically in form of Druid
• One of the most mobile classes in the game (Necro's worst nightmare to face)
• Not a heavy :p
• Current damage kingThis also makes me want to play a ranger. My only concern would be the pet pulling aggro from enemies I'm trying to walk past.

[joneirikb.7506]

@Bananalander.3076 said:

@"joneirikb.7506" said:Otherwise, it does sound like ranger would fit most of your requirements. But try it for yourself and see:

• One of the best solo classes
• Has some support specifically in form of Druid
• One of the most mobile classes in the game (Necro's worst nightmare to face)
• Not a heavy :p
• Current damage kingThis also makes me want to play a ranger. My only concern would be the pet pulling aggro from enemies I'm trying to walk past.

There are ways to deal with that, you can set pet to passive (it won't aggro anything unless you tell it to attack manually), you can also "stow" it though it will popout the moment you enter combat or take damage, a much more efficient way is to play soulbeast and just merge with it.

As said, you can test out the full 80 characters in PVP, including all the elite spezializations you can use from expansion packs. So just test them out and see how you like them.

I'm not a specialist on mesmer (one of the classes I know the least about honestly), but I do remember people commenting that it feels like it does poor damage, until you start actually figuring out how to play it. Basically if you just wander around and try to kill things with weapon skills it will feel like it doesn't do any damage at all, but once you start effectively setting up Shatter's reliably and fast, it starts to come together and does plenty of damage. Basically a lot of people find the class very weird, and some (like me) just doesn't gel with it. That said, I absolutely hate meeting it in WvW, because I know I'm in for a rough fight.

[Ygdrasill.9135]

@Bananalander.3076 said:This also makes me want to play a ranger. My only concern would be the pet pulling aggro from enemies I'm trying to walk past.

At least with a Ranger you can set your pet to passive mode. As a Necromancer, my minions do this regularly. If I'm close, I just go kill whatever it is and if not, well they are on their own and I can always summon them fresh.

You might want to consider an Elementalist if you want a serious challenge. Go for Tempest spec first once you hit 80 by farming the hero points in Path of fire. You'll be able to learn the easier rotation and be in a position to farm hero points in Heart of Thorns for Weaver. The rotations for the latter are mostly difficult to learn but you can either do some of the highest DPS in the game or some of the better support for groups in the game with it. Mess up and you'll get spanked because it's also (usually) the squishiest class in the game as well.