Viable "core" classes

[Inspireme.3579]

Hey

I bought GW2 back in I think around 2012 on release day. I tried it a few times on and off, not so much after the first expansion. I would like to give the game a try again, but at the time I'm not gonna invest in expansions. So my question is really, which one of the core classes are actually still viable for endgame dungeons/raids? When I check MetaBattle it's nothing but builds and classes from the expacs. 

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?

[yoni.7015]

Don’t you need the expansions to raid? Some raid wings require HoT and others PoF, no? 

[Lucy.3728]

The expansion to invest in would be Path of Fire, it includes Heart of Thrones. I think it still costs only 15-17€.

End of Dragons isn't meta yet.

 

A versatile class is Guard for any kind of content.

But if you check the meta builds then you'll notice that you need specs and skills from expansions. Not even Guard is wanted as only core class in small group content. The equipment isn't cheap - the meta runes cost a good amount of gold. Guild Wars is no game for just a bit on and off. It needs a good time to invest in to built the chars up and learn how to play them. Unless you only play Open World. There you can play whatever and however.

 

3 hours ago, Rasmus.9854 said:

When I played it years ago, never really did any endgame

What did you do then? Just level and leave?

Edited May 21, 2022 by Lucy.3728

[ASP.8093]

I recommend picking up Path of Fire (+HoT) at least. It really opens up your options in terms of playstyle and also stuff to go do in the story.

 

Some Core-only builds showed up in the Hardstuck Low Intensity build competition, so they're definitely not completely unviable. (Bunch of links in the description.)

 

[Valandor.9506]

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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.

 

Quote

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.

 

Quote

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.

[kokocabana.8153]

If you have Amazon Prime, the prime gaming section right now has a 50% coupon code that you can redeem for HoT\PoF. It's a really good deal.

[Linken.6345]

Yes OP all core classes are viable for end game content.

But none of them are optimal or wanted tho.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

They're all viable.  They're just not "optimal,' which is what Metabattle and Snowcrows publishes.  The hardest obstacle to overcome will be the social pressure of other players, and not the content itself.  I don't really test core builds anymore, but if I were to make some suggestions based off of intuition...

#1: Guardian.  There's always fierce competition between the core lines when choosing a guardian build.  Zeal + Radiance + Virtues would be able to stack some good modifiers and dish out a high amount of damage.  Core guard retains most of the utility of the elite specs anyway, so you'll be able to solve most problems while doing decent damage.

#2: Thief.  The old backstab build still hits pretty hard.  You can go with Deadly Arts + Critical Strikes + Trickery for some decent boons and boon rip, as well as decent power or condition damage.  Again, most of the utility of thief is in core abilities, so it has a great problem solving toolkit.

#3: Warrior.  There's a time limit on this one, but for now they're still good to use.  Banners are the most requested function for warrior, so you can equip those, run strength + tactics + discipline, and you'll provide good group buffs while doing O.K. damage.  All of the elite specs still use double axe + greatsword anyway, so it can still function nearly the same in core.

 

Those would be my top 4 picks.  I'm hesitant to recommend others, mostly because I have little idea how well they'll do while on a core set.  If you really want to know more, you might just have to sit in front of the raid training golem and test things out yourself.  

[Danikat.8537]

I've been doing a lot of Fractals recently and seen (and joined) a lot of groups with no requirements, which will take anyone. If anyone does ask about builds its because they're curious, I've never seen someone tell another person they need to change their build. I'm sure it does happen, but it's easy to avoid. 

So while it may not be what someone would recommend on a meta build site I'm sure you could play Fractals with core professions. Same with dungeons, if anything you're less likely to see people requiring specific builds there because the people inclined to do that don't tend to play dungeons these days. 

And you can't do raids or strikes without expansions, so it doesn't matter what's recommended there. 

Edited May 21, 2022 by Danikat.8537

[Rising Blade.9206]

Core warrior is decent. does some reasonable amount of damage, with axe/axe, greatsword, and you have the bonus of bringing banners which is a very welcoming thing to have in fractals

[Sarius.9285]

20 hours ago, Rasmus.9854 said:

When I check MetaBattle it's nothing but builds and classes from the expacs. 

thats because you need expansions for raids

[The Boz.2038]

Of the cores, Guardian is the best. By leaps and bounds.
You'll still need expansions for raids and strikes, and those will give you a few e-specs to play with. PoF comes with HoT.

[Jimbru.6014]

Never confuse builds that "aren't meta" for "not viable". For most classes, their core builds are still functional all the way to the end of the game; they're just not the newest, shiniest, "optimal" whatever. For example, my ranger is my main and oldest character, only a few months younger than GW2 itself, and he still walks around the open world doing whatever PVE content he comes across (story, world bosses, metas, dungeons, etc.) in the same core LB/GS "bowpet" build that he's been using for the majority of the time since I made him. I am deeply familiar with the build  and it still works even in EoD, so no reason to change except for specific situations (like WvW) or if I just blinkin' feel like it. "I think I want to play condi SB soulbeast today..."
 

[Teratus.2859]

All core classes are viable for all content in the game.

 

It can easily be argued some specs are better/more efficient than core for completing certain content and that's true.

But if anyone ever tells you "that" class cannot beat "this" content then that is just flat out wrong, so feel free to ignore such claims.

[Teratus.2859]

47 minutes ago, Jimbru.6014 said:

For example, my ranger is my main and oldest character, only a few months younger than GW2 itself, and he still walks around the open world doing whatever PVE content he comes across (story, world bosses, metas, dungeons, etc.) in the same core LB/GS "bowpet" build that he's been using for the majority of the time since I made him. I am deeply familiar with the build  and it still works even in EoD, so no reason to change except for specific situations (like WvW) or if I just blinkin' feel like it. "I think I want to play condi SB soulbeast today..."
 

We have very similar experiences it seems.

I also have an Archer Ranger as my main who has used a LB since the earliest days of Gw2 ^^

 

Although i've not kept the exact same build since then, i've refined and improved it many times over the years but never changed that core Archer theme I been going for with him.

He's just a better version of what he always has been since the early Gw2 days ^^

[Cyninja.2954]

On 5/21/2022 at 1:16 PM, Rasmus.9854 said:

 

I bought GW2 back in I think around 2012 on release day. I tried it a few times on and off, not so much after the first expansion. I would like to give the game a try again, but at the time I'm not gonna invest in expansions. So my question is really, which one of the core classes are actually still viable for endgame dungeons/raids? When I check MetaBattle it's nothing but builds and classes from the expacs. 

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?

 

Your forum activity suggests you've tried "returning" to the game multiple times by now. If I was you, I'd be less concerned with "endgame" and rather with finding something you enjoy in the game.

 

The core game, aside from some minor adjustments, has not changed that much since your last activity in 2019 and 2020. If you feel that you want to reengage in core content and that this time around you will find something to your liking, feel free to do so. Then again if we do apply Einstein's definition of insanity:“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

 

My recommendation:

If you do want to give the game another try, do something different than the last few times. Maybe try to socialize, set more attainable and specific short term goals, find a class which you enjoy. Simply wanting to "get into endgame" is rather vague and will likely just result in you leaving shortly after.

 

This can even mean actually spending some money on an expansion, none of which are that expensive, and maybe giving the story line there a shot.

[Ellye.9123]

All core classes are viable.
And, despite what forums and build sites might make it look like, you wouldn't really have trouble finding parties in-game. Worst case scenario, just start your own LFG - people join rather quickly, and the vast majority of players don't really care at all about what class or build you're playing. Most people in-game are focused on their own gameplay.

That said, if you want to know which core class has the least gap in perceived power between it and the elite specs, I'd say it's probably Warrior.
Most of the reason why people want Warrior in parties is the support they provide via Banners (and sometimes Shouts), and they can do this just fine with Core spec. They lose DPS when compared to Berserker or Bladesworn (and, in the case of Shouts, they lose some of the spammability that Bladesworm gives them), but have a few options on how to spec the extra trait line to still be good enough.

Edited May 23, 2022 by Ellye.9123

[Kozumi.5816]

On 5/21/2022 at 10:31 AM, Lucy.3728 said:

End of Dragons isn't meta yet.

Mech is meta since day1.

Nearly all EoD specs do much more DPS than PoF/HOT specs.

Edited May 23, 2022 by Kozumi.5816

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

Core Guard is not bad for Power DPS and maybe acceptable for healing. 
A few months ago SnowCrows even had a Power DPS build for core Guard(Radiance, Zeal, Virtues) that was on par with Radiance DH in terms of damage output, it was a bit harder to play however.

Healing on core Guard is a bit worse, you don't have the same boon output as other healers, but the raw healing is still there. Finding a group in PvE as a healer on Core Guard might be a challenge though.

[Renegated.4132]

14 hours ago, Kozumi.5816 said:

Mech is meta since day1.

Nearly all EoD specs do much more DPS than PoF/HOT specs.

 

Until nerf, the new specs will always deal more damage/do much better than the old ones, weavers literally melted bosses when they where released, same for some other classes of PoF, some where released so OP that instead of asking for dps, people asked for those clases in specific.

[Buran.3796]

On 5/24/2022 at 1:42 AM, Kozumi.5816 said:

Nearly all EoD specs do much more DPS than PoF/HOT specs.

   Mirage, Soulbeast and Renegade are arguably stronger specs than their EoD replacements. In pure dps Willbender surpasses Firebrand, but is nowhere near to provide the same amounts of tools or support.

[NotTooFoolish.7412]

On 5/27/2022 at 3:51 AM, Buran.3796 said:

 Mirage,

Have you seen Virtuoso? It performs very well in end game content in terms of dps.
 

 

On 5/27/2022 at 3:51 AM, Buran.3796 said:

pure dps Willbender

The forced movement is a big disadvantage on various fights, especially if you can accidentally fly off the arena some encounters. Seen someone yeeted into Ankka pool yesterday. Ded dps is no dps.

[Buran.3796]

9 hours ago, NotTooFoolish.7412 said:

Have you seen Virtuoso? It performs very well in end game content in terms of dps.

   You're right. In the contex of the topic, which is instanced content, is very good. Is just that I don't like builds which do wonders at fractal/raids while every boon of the game is stacked to the max, but then when you solo OW without all these support, they fall way behind.

[Lucy.3728]

On 5/24/2022 at 1:42 AM, Kozumi.5816 said:

Mech is meta since day1.

That's not what meta means. That's not how meta works. Metagaming is the result of adjustments and not a thing found in day 1.