[Viable "core" classes]

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which one of the core classes are actually still viable for endgame dungeons/raids?

Firstly, dungeons are not really focus of endgame anymore; instead people focus on Fractals as 5-player endgame content. Raids require expansions anyway, so no need to focus on those here. Secondly, frankly there are no core builds wanted in endgame of instanced PvE content.

 

The design idea of elite specs is to improve/add to one core aspect of the profession (aka class). Therefore, whatever role your profession could fill, an elite spec can do it even better. Frankly, nobody sane would explicitely want a core profession as a party member in Fractals. As such, there is no really good/viable core build for Fractals.

 

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but at the time I'm not gonna invest in expansions

In case of GW2 you should consider expansions more of buying the game overall. PoF even includes HoT nowadays. If you want to experience the game in any proper way, you would want at least PoF; nowdays properly even EoD as well.

 

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When I played it years ago, never really did any endgame but iirc the professions didn't really matter to me much. Is there any PvE reasons to pick any of the professions or is it just for generating some side income?

Crafting professions are required for crafted endgame (ascended/legendary) gear. Therefore, they are overall important, yes. They also allow generating money via e.g. crafting time gated materials and selling those. You can also get ascended gear via almost all kinds of endgame content nowadays, but that requires quite some (time) investment, which is why crafting still matters for gearing quite alot.

[Player House instances!]

I honestly do not think GW2 needs that. If you want to be creative and basically design your own instance (together with friends) Guild Halls are doing a fine enough job for that.

[New Player - Currencies & Short Term Goals]

5. Time Gated Crafting - Seems the general advice is to look into levelling crafting for personal use - will add it to the to do list!While we are at it: I recommend https://gw2crafts.net/ for leveliing crafting; make sure not to reload the website inbetween.The ascended materials you are aiming for are Deldrimor Steel Ingot, Spiritwood Plank, Elonian Leather Square and Bolt of Damask btw.

6. Dungeons Currencies - Seems i've been doing the wrong dungeon types for the gear I need. As a thief, i'll readjust to aim for the berserker gear.As I described before you can also buy the gear cheap on the TP - doing dungeons for that is IMO nowadays for too much of a hassle, especially with inexp. people it can become sometimes a nightmare. A full set of exotic is like less than 10g and you get far more via crafting materials goldwise until lvl80.

@Cyninja.2954 could you explain how I would use exotic weps in the mystic forge, or is there a resource available explaining this? Can I throw in soulbound stuff too?Not @me, but let me try anyway: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Precursor_weapon#Mystic_Forge gives a general idea. With luck you randomly create a Precurser which is needed for Gen1 Legy Weapons. I honestly would advise against such gambling if you are new and just salvage everything you get. You can also salvage the Weapons from the Dungeon Vendor and some of the rare extraced upgrades can be worth a few gold - not really worth it, but one way to use leftover dungeon currencies.

[New Player - Currencies & Short Term Goals]

1. Magic Find Max - is this a worthwhile goal?I watched a vid re Salvaging Ectoplasm's and selling the Crysalline Dust for a very small loss. Currently up to 120% Magic find and climbing. This seems like it will pay off in the long run.Magic find only effects a small part of the loot in the game, so I would not waste important Gold at the early stage of the game for leveling it... this happens fast enough anyway. For details check the wiki: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Magic_Find.TL;DR It only works on items directly dropped from mobs with some exceptions.

2. Home InstanceWhat are some quick ways to get a few nodes in here? I think I have it right that I can gather from my own, and from another's Instance daily, so aiming for some nodes seems sensible.Nearly all nodes are not worth it to get gold wise (even after many many years)... so do not bother with it too much. Very few like e.g. "Quartz Crystal Formation" Node are useful - that one specifically because it allows you a slighty faster gain of Charged Quartz Crystal for some collections later on. Consider that topic to be more of a prestige and gold sink than anything else.

3. LaurelsI spent my first 15x Laurels getting some 'starter gold' to give myself some flexibility (via starter kits & material bags), but am now looking to save these. Whats worth going after? Home Instance nodes seem like a stable long term investmenti would recommend to mostly use them for buying materials via crafting bags and exchanging them for gold at the start; https://gw2efficiency.com/currencies/laurels is quite useful for this.

4. KarmaShould I be trading these in for gold, or trying to save for a 'big ticket' type item? If gold is the answer, am I better off following https://gw2efficiency.com/ or going for the map completion fragments from the rotating vendors? If not gold - what should I be focused on instead here?In general I would recommend to wait until the Wintersday festival and exchange karma for materials to sell later on. In general you do not need too much of Karma for rewards, but I would recommend to save ~1 Million just in case.

5. Time gated craftingIs there much profit to be made from these items? Not sure how it compares to things like glyphs for investment vs payback, but it seems like crafting can be a big gold sink.Crafting daily ascended materials as e.g. "Lump of Mithrillium" and selling the refined versions (in this case "Deldrimor Steel Ingot") will gain you everyday a few gold... but warned tho that you might want higher quantaties of these items for yourself since they are crucial for ascended crafting.

6. Dungeon currenciesI was lucky enough to get a group which ran every wing of Caudecus’s Manor and ended up with 321 Seals of Beetletun. As far as I can tell my best bet here would be to grab a mainhand weapon as an upgrade at 80. Is there a better idea here?For most(!) classes (I dunno what you play) I would recommend to get a set of exotic berserker gear at lvl80 for some decent easy dmg. Sadly Seals of Beetletun do not allow you to buy such items. For cheap and fast acces use the Trading Post and filter via the cog for lvl80 exotic power+precision+ferocity gear; you will see that some randomly named exotic drops are far cheaper than the normally crafted ones with "berserk" in their names - they are equally good tho.

Feel free to ask me here or ingame for further details.

Val

[Desert Highlands (EU) lagging insanly]

Heyho,

for the last few days+ this map seems to have insane lag issues; no other map seems to have problems like this. Obv this also flaws the first expression on new players, therefore I recommend looking into that.

[Toughness/Vitality]

As other people sad already: Focus on offensive stats and use your dodges, blocks, movement, traits and utilities (see: invulns) instead, if needed.

For endgame PvE I advise https://snowcrows.com/ - but you still got some time for that. ^^

Some general thing: Whenever you have to decide between Toughness and Vitality for any profession in PvP/WvW, go for that rule: Against Power Damage: Toughness, against Condition Damage: Vitality. The reason is how physical/power damage calculates (see wiki) and the fact, that condis ingore your Toughness/Armor.