1 Specialist vs X Generalists

[lezbefriends.7516]

Would you rather have one character that you're a specialist at and has everything, or countless characters that have some stuff?

[Tachenon.5270]

I'm all about the alts, 'bout the alts, no special.

[Handsel.2891]

1 hour ago, Tachenon.5270 said:

I'm all about the alts, 'bout the alts, no special.

I'm here to tell ya every alt of you is perfect, from the necro to the rev.

[Gegege.9056]

Idk, alts are just for min max purpose/ if you want to try out every classes. Generally most people are focused on 1 - 3 characters.

[lezbefriends.7516]

2 minutes ago, Gegege.9056 said:

Generally most people are focused on 1 - 3 characters.

 

How do you know this? Feels like Alt Wars 2.

[genjonah.1253]

I ‘main’ one, secondary two, will be working on a fourth as soon as I can afford another legendary armor set. I like variety on occasion, but my Rev has my heart 

[Gegege.9056]

From most of the people that I know. I mean, are you going to play one character for 3 hours a day, then switch to another afterward, then another, then repeat the cycle endlessly? From a pvper perspective, people spend most of their time on characters that fit with their play styles, which usually around 1 - 3 characters. The alts are just for farming, general PVE purposes.

And having like 10 different characters with none maxed out and you also not expert at any- kinda ineffective in my opinion.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Gegege.9056

[Handsel.2891]

54 minutes ago, Gegege.9056 said:

From most of the people that I know. I mean, are you going to play one character for 3 hours a day, then switch to another afterward, then another, then repeat the cycle endlessly? From a pvper perspective, people spend most of their time on characters that fit with their play styles, which usually around 1 - 3 characters. The alts are just for farming, general PVE purposes.

And having like 10 different characters with none maxed out and you also not expert at any- kinda ineffective in my opinion.

During the past nine years, my current main is the fourth that I called as such. Outside some farming and achievement hunting, I don't swap between characters like you described. If for nothing else, than the fact that I don't ever do PvP. But, all 13 of them are maxed out and have a viable build on them and so they are more than "effective" for my purposes. It's a big game, different people approach it with different perspectives.

[Gegege.9056]

Yes, that's what I said tho. People spend most of their time on characters that fit their play styles. What I mentioned is just an example of how unusual it would be for people to constantly swap between characters by OP definition of "generalists- countless characters with some stuffs" Not all maxed like veteran players xD

People technically could play the game that way. However, that doesn't ensure that they will play all the characters well. Which is a fact. Besides, caring about being excel/effective at a character or not is up to them to decide. 
As I'm here to point out a fact, to help them consider. Not because I'm not acknowledging others' ways of playing the game lol.
If progression and effectiveness are not OP playstyles, then he could disregard my previous comments and just have fun.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Gegege.9056

[mungozen.2379]

4 hours ago, Mortifera.6138 said:

Would you rather have one character that you're a specialist at and has everything, or countless characters that have some stuff?

If I could have one character that could do all professions, yes, that would be convenient and something I would use.
 

Outside of wanting to play different professions, is there a bar at which an alt becomes a main? 

[Infusion.7149]

Eh this is a nonissue if you have legendary gear. Even if you don't you can share ascended and most exotic armor is cheap.

[Tiilimon.6094]

Whenever I launch any of my other toons, I always keep thinking "if I was playing engi instead, I could do so much more for the team" so they hardly see any play.

[Danikat.8537]

I'd rather have lots of characters. I can't remember the last time I made just 1 in a game with a character creator or different classes.

I do have some I play more than others, but it's certainly not as clear cut as having 1 main character I actually play and a bunch of alts for farming or storage or whatever. For me the important distinction is between my 11 permanent characters, who I plan to do everything on, and tempoary characters I create for a specific purpose and expect to delete one day. If they're permanent I'll kit them out with good equipment (not all ascended, but only because it's not necessary), unlock all the elite specs, I'll go out of my way to get skins to suit them and make legendaries for them. Tempoary characters make do with what's available already. But there's also something of a hierarchy within my permanent characters with the ones I play most being first priority for stuff. Aside from the story and map completion which I do on all my characters I choose which one to use based on what I feel like playing and what I think would work best for that activity, or sometimes what the group needs.

So they're not all equal but it's more of a gradient than 1 main and a bunch of alts.

[Alcatraznc.3869]

My goal initial goal was to raise all class to 80, which I did.

Afterward my goal was to find a main class I enjoyed. It is the engineer.

Then my next goal was to fully gear my engineer with ascended stuff, which I did.

Then I decided to get 3 differents ascended armour for all 3 different type of armour. Having leather done with my engineer I switched to heavy armour and picked the warrior (though now that I think about it I should have picked the guardian since FB are always in demand.). After my warrior armor is done I switched to light armour and settled for Mesmer.

Right now I'm grinding to get a full legendary armour for my engineer.

 

I have a loot more experience in engineer for PVE and WvW content and I suppose I have a good experience in condi Mirage, followed by Berserker. and my remaining 6 class are stuffed and can definitely do their job but I have far less experience with them.

 

I guess you could say I'm a specialist with a bit of generalist......thing ?  If anything I want my engineer to be able to do power damage, condi damage and support healer. As of right now it can only do condi and power damage.  However even though I love my engineer, it is nice to take a break and play with your other character, just to have fun or learn few stuff for pvp.

 

Edited November 27, 2021 by Alcatraznc.3869

[Tachenon.5270]

I played an MMO a few years ago in which one character could eventually gain access to all weapons and skills and fulfill any role, so there was really no need to make any alts. Just move this, hook that up, and what do you know! Another (whatever). Bah! I made alts anyway. I used every available character slot, and if there'd been more than three factions to choose from (no real difference there except for starting zones and far too few faction-specific missions), I'd have bought more slots and made more alts. I'm not a role-player in the traditional sense, but my alts all have different personalities and opinions and ways of approaching things -- at least in my own head, and so far as the game will allow. That's why I'm always -- always -- going to be in favor of more classes and more races and more whatever else brings a little something a little different to the proverbial table.

 

So bring on them Tangu, already! 🐤🐦🦆🦉

And those blue guys, too.

Heck, upright charr! Male norn that don't look like Brutus/Bluto! I'll throw money at 'em. Promise.

[ardhikaizecson.3697]

My others alts are only there for raids or fractal, my main Guardian can do everything from raids, fractals, dungeon or open world and story, have all templates unlocked as well.

[Ashen.2907]

I prefer a single main character, but over time have built a stable of alts that do not get as much love as that main.

[Obtena.7952]

I'm good with either, as long as they all feel different. 

[Fuchslein.8639]

I'm all for the alt's.  Just alone I raid and need a Power and Condie class. And especially because I love to think of stories and looks for characters and to learn the classes to have at least a little idea.

[Gibson.4036]

I tend to switch over time between characters that I play the most. Several of them have been my “main” for months to years at a time.

My main for the first few years of the game now gets some of the least play time, mostly crafting. 
 

In recent years I play with my son a lot, so I have two mains. One I play alone. The other I play when we’re playing together.

I think some of the richness of the game would have been lost if I played all professions on one character. I enjoy the different personalities I imagine with each character, as well as their different voice acting, appearances, and animations. Also, how the story plays a little different on each race.

[Astralporing.1957]

On 11/27/2021 at 1:01 AM, Mortifera.6138 said:

Would you rather have one character that you're a specialist at and has everything, or countless characters that have some stuff?

What do you mean "has everything" vs "some stuff"? All of my alts are fully equipped, for example, but as far as legendaries go, there's no single class that even can use all of them, so "having everything" on a single character is not even an option.

But, to answer your question: after playing FF XIV, i realized i tend to dislike the way that game disincentivizes you from making alts. I vastly prefer the GW2 approach.

Edited November 29, 2021 by Astralporing.1957

[LSD.4673]

How do people learn to play without alts? I'm still waiting for a char slot sale so i can understand engi/necro/rev/ranger. 

 

Especially in PvP/WvW. You gotta play them all to understand your main. Same with all games.

[Gibson.4036]

1 hour ago, LSD.4673 said:

How do people learn to play without alts? I'm still waiting for a char slot sale so i can understand engi/necro/rev/ranger. 

 

Especially in PvP/WvW. You gotta play them all to understand your main. Same with all games.

As far as I understand the OP, they're talking about games like FFXIV where one character can play all classes. So you could learn all of them for PvP by just switching out your own character.

[Rogue.8235]

On 11/26/2021 at 7:01 PM, Mortifera.6138 said:

Would you rather have one character that you're a specialist at and has everything, or countless characters that have some stuff?

 

Seems to be a dichotomy of two extremes....

 

I play all 9 professions, but I specialize in two play styles.  I'm able to play every profession in one or both playstyles.  I do not have countless alts.  I don't specialize on only one (heheheh alliterations are always awesome) character.. 

I do prefer one playstyle over the other.  The assassination style is more natural to me, as I am trained to identify the immediate threat, neutralize it, and so on until there are no more threats.  I tend to play the professions I can play with this mindset more than the others.  I find thief, mesmer, warrior, and ranger to be suited for this more so than the others.

 

My other playstyle is front-line disruption.  I'm trained to, if needed, pin hostile forces in a disadvantageous positions while allied coalition forces envelop and neutralize.  This translates to tanky cc machine in GW2, which warrior, guardian, necromancer, engineer, and thief can do well.

 

The last playstyle is one I don't really play much.  It's the I'm-too-tired-but-I-still-want-to-play-GW2-so-I'll-just-AoE-spam-EVERYTHING-EVERYWHERE-ALL-THE-TIME-without-thought style.  I think we all secretly play this way at least some of the time.

Every profession can do the last, hidden bonus playstyle.

 

[Asum.4960]

My Alt usage has plummeted since the overpriced per character Build Loadouts, although that was kind of just the (very heavy) straw that broke the camel's back of things to do, buy and unlock to set up alternative characters to a for me personally satisfactory point where (a lack of) something doesn't constantly pop up to limit my fun. 

 

Although the topic title and question is slightly odd, in stating "1 Specialist vs X Generalists", but then pitting one character you as player are a specialist at and has everything (1 Generalist) against countless characters that have some stuff (X Specialists). 

 

But I suppose generally I prefer to stick to 1-2 Generalist characters/classes, as long as I can specialise into a sufficient variety and sufficient efficacy in different roles within those - rather than having an army of different characters to constantly have to swap between for every occasion.