What profession do you think has had the best/most consistent elite specs so far?

[jaif.3518]

Best group of elites? Thief, by a narrow margin.  All 3 are solid and provide a different gameplay.

[lunaticdawn.1860]

Classes have best elite spec:
Necromancer:  Reaper is fun dps(seems nerfed but I still enjoy it), Scourge can dps and heal, Harbinger can dps and quickness
Engineer:  Scrapper can heal/quickness, Mechanist can heal/alac, Holosmith great dps (but hard rotation)

Class has most consistent elite specs:
Warrior:  Berserker is bannerslave, Spellbreaker is bannerslave, Bladesworn is bannerslave

 

[Vidit.7108]

Necro & Guardian. 

All of Engineer improved over time but there is a rocky history of highs and lows there with it's elite specs. It's in a better place now.

Revenant and Chronomancer are still in beta.

Ranger did pretty well until soulbeast. Warrior especs are just a disappointment. Deadeye wasn't great and resulted in a lot of changes to base thief that haven't been good. Elementalist had a journey...

A lot of especs have also had a history of taking things away from the core class after being introduced. Or running into balancing problems they've never solved, or getting nerfed into oblivion. So even when they had a good launch and played really well, the future direction of the specs didn't keep it there.

[Puck.3697]

On 4/15/2022 at 5:03 AM, TheSeraphim.7413 said:

You've clearly never looked at the Warrior forum. 🤣

Yeah, warriors elites are consistently bad 😂😂😂😂😂

[Puck.3697]

Hard question to answer. 

This game has had bad points for all elites realistically... 

As there are many that fit the role. Which wouldn't have in the past. I.e today's engineer has very good results. However back in HoT engineer had one of the worst entries into elites imaginable 😂

[Dadnir.5038]

For most specs it depend on the gamemode that you focus on. Thought, I guess you can say that warrior's specs are consistent in not being great (Since HoT release the only saving grace of the warrior was that he was carried by banners in PvE... Which, unfortunately, will end soon).

 

[Dadnir.5038]

8 hours ago, Daddy.8125 said:

Hard question to answer. 

This game has had bad points for all elites realistically... 

As there are many that fit the role. Which wouldn't have in the past. I.e today's engineer has very good results. However back in HoT engineer had one of the worst entries into elites imaginable 😂

Well, at HoT release Scrapper was pretty good performance wise (Thought, design wise it was just core with a revive/stomp drone). It's after he was nerfed for sPvP purpose that he became a mess.

[anbujackson.9564]

Warrior is most consistent. Three melee dps specs with no value for your group (except that niche bubble) whatsoever. All your "support" are core features.

Best classes: necro, guardian, engineer (I would have said also rev, but I cant do that until they buff herald after the crippling to 5men effects only)

[Stand The Wall.6987]

if we're talking about all modes then guard, rev, engi.

[Legend of Rogue.5394]

On 4/15/2022 at 6:33 AM, Redfeather.6401 said:

Out of my characters, my revenant feels like I am maining them the most. I have not been disappointed in revenant's elite spec skills and usually use those skills so much I don't switch to core legends often.

Rev is so under preformed its insane, but tonnes of fun

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Consistent? Warrior. It's DPS specs all the way down.

Best? Guardian de Facto consistently has the best especs along with Necro.

[DanAlcedo.3281]

Engi. 

It's the only class with 3 good E Specs. 

 

[ZDragon.3046]

Honestly all of guardians specs have been strong without much question behind them. They all have their flavor and use and actively have been meta for long preiods of time up till maybe willbender but at least its still a strong spec.

Even to this day the core class that is guardian still contends with the other elite specs and other professions just do not have that foundation to stand on (some do in pvp) but its rare they have it in pve. 

Ranger would have been a close second but, untamed pretty much shot it in the foot. 

Warrior would be a close second too but spell breaker shoots it in the foot in pve.

Necro would be a close second but core necro in pve is kinda trash but at least all 3 of its elites see use so maybe it is the second.

 

[Jski.6180]

Guardian. This game is a love letter to the paladin like type class. All though the game only class that is GW only the magic thf memzmer is the opposite of that very ideal was always odd to me.

[draxynnic.3719]

If you're looking at 'consistently good' - well, nobody's had a perfect run, but I'd probably say Guardian. Apart from Firebrand being nerfed to death and then nerfed some more in sPvP, it's never been knocked completely out of any game mode, and the one time it came close (DH in raids) it was because it was competing in a DPS role against elementalists that were bullying all other DPS at the time. All of its elite specialisations have also kept a consistent set of basic mechanics since release, unlike some which had substantial post-release reworks to address perceived problems.

 

Necro is a close second, but it's spent more time in the proverbial wilderness than guardian. Mostly due to being undertuned than fundamental design issues, though.

 

After that it gets messy.

 

Mesmer, thief, engineer, and now elementalist have all had reworks to at least one of their elite specialisations that substantially change their feel. Although, to be fair in mesmer's case, in that case it was because they decided to rework phantasms entirely and the elites were brought along for the ride, it wasn't really their fault.

 

For ranger, hot take here, druid was a problem. Good for group content, pretty terrible for solo. Untamed is currently undertuned, but that might change.

 

Revenant has been 'if you're not playing renegade, you're doing it because you're willing to handicap yourself for the sake of flavour' for a while in PvE. The other specs do okay in competitive.

 

Warrior has been on life support through having That One Thing People Want for a while. None of the elites have really helped too much.

 

2 hours ago, Jski.6180 said:

Guardian. This game is a love letter to the paladin like type class. All though the game only class that is GW only the magic thf memzmer is the opposite of that very ideal was always odd to me.

Ironically, I actually consider guardian and GW2 mesmer to be pretty close. Both bring a lot of support if they choose to, both have numerous options to shut down or even punish the enemy's offense, both have a tendency to conjure weapons out of magical force to strike their foes, they have similar core mechanics in the sense of sacrificing a passive resource for an active effect, and both use a lot of teleports. Apart from deception games with clones and stealth, and mesmer having access to a wider range of damaging conditions, most of the differences can pretty much be chalked up to being a scholar versus being a soldier.

 

Mesmer does seem to be a profession ArenaNet has been having trouble getting just right, though, while the guardian's foundations have been strong since before HoT.

[Jski.6180]

9 hours ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

If you're looking at 'consistently good' - well, nobody's had a perfect run, but I'd probably say Guardian. Apart from Firebrand being nerfed to death and then nerfed some more in sPvP, it's never been knocked completely out of any game mode, and the one time it came close (DH in raids) it was because it was competing in a DPS role against elementalists that were bullying all other DPS at the time. All of its elite specialisations have also kept a consistent set of basic mechanics since release, unlike some which had substantial post-release reworks to address perceived problems.

 

Necro is a close second, but it's spent more time in the proverbial wilderness than guardian. Mostly due to being undertuned than fundamental design issues, though.

 

After that it gets messy.

 

Mesmer, thief, engineer, and now elementalist have all had reworks to at least one of their elite specialisations that substantially change their feel. Although, to be fair in mesmer's case, in that case it was because they decided to rework phantasms entirely and the elites were brought along for the ride, it wasn't really their fault.

 

For ranger, hot take here, druid was a problem. Good for group content, pretty terrible for solo. Untamed is currently undertuned, but that might change.

 

Revenant has been 'if you're not playing renegade, you're doing it because you're willing to handicap yourself for the sake of flavour' for a while in PvE. The other specs do okay in competitive.

 

Warrior has been on life support through having That One Thing People Want for a while. None of the elites have really helped too much.

 

Ironically, I actually consider guardian and GW2 mesmer to be pretty close. Both bring a lot of support if they choose to, both have numerous options to shut down or even punish the enemy's offense, both have a tendency to conjure weapons out of magical force to strike their foes, they have similar core mechanics in the sense of sacrificing a passive resource for an active effect, and both use a lot of teleports. Apart from deception games with clones and stealth, and mesmer having access to a wider range of damaging conditions, most of the differences can pretty much be chalked up to being a scholar versus being a soldier.

 

Mesmer does seem to be a profession ArenaNet has been having trouble getting just right, though, while the guardian's foundations have been strong since before HoT.

Well ya that because mesmer realty any class of use tends to have to act like a Guardian then there own roll class.

[draxynnic.3719]

7 hours ago, Jski.6180 said:

Well ya that because mesmer realty any class of use tends to have to act like a Guardian then there own roll class.

Not at all. What I pointed out was evident even in the first year or so after release, when guardian was generally regarded as being pretty naff outside of stability provider in WvW. I don't think any other profession has just so much in common with guardian - certainly not any other non-soldier profession. Both had quickness-to-allies access since release. Both were known for being able to pull off stability stomps. Both have multiple options for area projectile destruction, while other professions generally had between zero and two. Most guardian skill graphics could easily be mesmer graphics if they were in mesmer colours, and vice versa.

The difference in outcomes is that mesmer has a complex design that has been reworked so many times it's never really had a chance to be properly polished, while guardian has been in a pretty good place overall since the pre-HoT traits rework and everything since has built from that foundation.

Mesmer's still had a good run on average, though. It's just that the troughs have been deeper and the peaks have been higher. I don't think anything will ever monopolise the meta quite the way chronomancer did.

Edited April 20, 2022 by draxynnic.3719

[Jski.6180]

4 hours ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

Not at all. What I pointed out was evident even in the first year or so after release, when guardian was generally regarded as being pretty naff outside of stability provider in WvW. I don't think any other profession has just so much in common with guardian - certainly not any other non-soldier profession. Both had quickness-to-allies access since release. Both were known for being able to pull off stability stomps. Both have multiple options for area projectile destruction, while other professions generally had between zero and two. Most guardian skill graphics could easily be mesmer graphics if they were in mesmer colours, and vice versa.

The difference in outcomes is that mesmer has a complex design that has been reworked so many times it's never really had a chance to be properly polished, while guardian has been in a pretty good place overall since the pre-HoT traits rework and everything since has built from that foundation.

Mesmer's still had a good run on average, though. It's just that the troughs have been deeper and the peaks have been higher. I don't think anything will ever monopolise the meta quite the way chronomancer did.

Tankly boon support?

[Infinity.2876]

Thief is good it has thematic weapons and covers all bases

With sustain(daredevil), power stealth burst(deadeye), support(specter), and condition dps(specter and daredevil)

 

Engi also has good class set up but mace really?

With sustain(scrapper), power burst(holosmith), support (mechanist and holo ), and condition dps(mechanist)

 

Mesmer lastly has a really good set up but dagger animations are still sub par

With sustain(mirage), power burst(Virtuoso), support(chrono),  and condition dps(mirage)

 

Necro is still anet's favorite profession so it's still strong(op if you will)

[Khenzy.9348]

What profession do you think has had the best/most consistent elite specs so far?

 

All gamemodes? Engineer. Necromancer to a lesser extent.

 

PvE? Guardian, Engineer and Mesmer.

 

sPvP? Engineer. Necromancer to a lesser extent.

 

WvW? Engineer, Guardian, Necromancer. Revenant to a lesser extent.

[Sahne.6950]

note how not a single person has even mentioned Elementalist!   *Sad Catalyst noises*