New player's anxiety from picking a class

[Mr LazyDazy.8961]

I've been trying to research what the best classes and builds for the game is. But there seem to be some critique of hard hitting nerfs across the board. As a returning player that is trying to bring some new friends, it causes some stress and anxiety if the class I pick now will soon be nerfed, and I would have to start over with a new class. I understand that classes can't stay static as there will always be the need for balance with such a complicated class system... But yeah, just my thoughts as someone who is trying to get back - it's hard to get back when the game seem so unpredictable without the assurance that I can just pick a class, deal a lot of damage, that is also fun to play etc. My only level 80 a warrior seem to be most viable as a banner warrior, which to me sounds boring. I'm sure the game is in a better state than my biased perception, but it's hard to get a clear picture with the surrounding critique of the game, as a new player.

[Tyro.8237]

I think there is little point to pick a class based on being the best there is. You should pick the one that you enjoy playing. The mechanics that you enjoy. And whether you want to have a caster type or more melee or a pet class. If you enjoy it the nerfs/changes won't really be that important. 

 

[Mell.4873]

1 hour ago, Mr LazyDazy.8961 said:

I've been trying to research what the best classes and builds for the game is. But there seem to be some critique of hard hitting nerfs across the board. As a returning player that is trying to bring some new friends, it causes some stress and anxiety if the class I pick now will soon be nerfed, and I would have to start over with a new class. I understand that classes can't stay static as there will always be the need for balance with such a complicated class system... But yeah, just my thoughts as someone who is trying to get back - it's hard to get back when the game seem so unpredictable without the assurance that I can just pick a class, deal a lot of damage, that is also fun to play etc. My only level 80 a warrior seem to be most viable as a banner warrior, which to me sounds boring. I'm sure the game is in a better state than my biased perception, but it's hard to get a clear picture with the surrounding critique of the game, as a new player.

Outside of the high-level end game PvE and PvP (which I know is hard to research for). Really anything goes, I would say pick a class based on the core traitlines rather than anything else. Most core features of a class are outlined in their 5 traitlines.

I mean you can tell a lot from something like Ranger's Skirmishing I.E. Bleed damage, weapon swapping and Fury; All cornerstones of builds later on in the game.

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

1 hour ago, Mr LazyDazy.8961 said:

I've been trying to research what the best classes and builds for the game is. But there seem to be some critique of hard hitting nerfs across the board. As a returning player that is trying to bring some new friends, it causes some stress and anxiety if the class I pick now will soon be nerfed, and I would have to start over with a new class. I understand that classes can't stay static as there will always be the need for balance with such a complicated class system... But yeah, just my thoughts as someone who is trying to get back - it's hard to get back when the game seem so unpredictable without the assurance that I can just pick a class, deal a lot of damage, that is also fun to play etc. My only level 80 a warrior seem to be most viable as a banner warrior, which to me sounds boring. I'm sure the game is in a better state than my biased perception, but it's hard to get a clear picture with the surrounding critique of the game, as a new player.

Grab a shovel and start shoveling that bs outta your head.

Every profession is good, and will perform in each game mode (as long as you have it's elite specs unlocked).
Player skill is far more important than which profession they chose. For that reason alone it's crucial your buddies pick what they like and enjoy, as there's a steep learning curve to mastering your profession, so you better kitten like it from the start.
 

Edited August 13, 2022 by ZeftheWicked.3076

[Luthan.5236]

Since this game has no "holy trinity" - all classes are good. Some might have easier builds in PvE ... or play a bit easier or having the option for a bit more specialized (support) stuff than others. But in general for normal PvE everything is fine.

I'd consider elementalist and thief (at least the core ones - have not tried their elite specs yet) ... the harder to play ones in PvE if you want to optimize. Squishy and they rely on a lof ot "keyboard acrobatics". The thief has to stealth/restealth and jump around to avoid damage. Elementalist has to constantly switch between his 4 attunements.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Luthan.5236

[Fueki.4753]

You should try out the professions and then play what's the most fun to you.

Eventually, you can unlock enough character slots to have (at least) one of each profession.

[Rising Blade.9206]

most of the problems and balance shenanigans at the moment concerns high end content meaning 5-man/10-man instanced content, if you're just going to catch up to the story you can play whatever you want. though if you are, warrior is decent...ish provided you know how to play it.

Spoiler

though no one will blame you to bite the bullet especially with how anet is running things down into the ground

 

[mungozen.2379]

8 hours ago, Mr LazyDazy.8961 said:

I've been trying to research what the best classes and builds for the game is. But there seem to be some critique of hard hitting nerfs across the board. As a returning player that is trying to bring some new friends, it causes some stress and anxiety if the class I pick now will soon be nerfed, and I would have to start over with a new class. I understand that classes can't stay static as there will always be the need for balance with such a complicated class system... But yeah, just my thoughts as someone who is trying to get back - it's hard to get back when the game seem so unpredictable without the assurance that I can just pick a class, deal a lot of damage, that is also fun to play etc. My only level 80 a warrior seem to be most viable as a banner warrior, which to me sounds boring. I'm sure the game is in a better state than my biased perception, but it's hard to get a clear picture with the surrounding critique of the game, as a new player.

More people should be posting about this user experience. 
 

The developers have taken so long to rebalance the professions around EoD that the only thing anyone can say with confidence is that yes, any profession you choose will be nerfed and most likely had its core changed in some way over the next year or two.   And that when the next expansion drops, you will probably have to change mains again since they will likely ‘rebalance’ everything again with a new and different philosophy. 
 

Since EoD and seeing some of my fav builds be destroyed and then the rollercoaster that other professions have been through since, I basically stopped playing. I have no confidence that Anet actually cares about profession balance across all game modes and seeing how much every profession has been changed this year (we are into our 4th or 5th profession update since January) I don’t want to ‘pick a new main’ because odds are whatever I pick today won’t be viable or play the same in a year from now. 
 

At least, that is what history has shown us. 

[oscuro.9720]

Enough! You are filled with doubt, Brother. Forsake all misgivings! Lay down the burden of thy doubt, and instead, take up the path of the warrior. Do not shackle yourself with the fetters of lesser men, the binds that make them feel secure. Rather, step out into the unknown, into the land of the warrior. Prepare yourself! The path of the warrior is not easy. One must build themselves to be the enduring figure of a warrior. Through daily work and tireless dedication, your legs will grow thicc, your back wide, and your forearms veiny. They will come at you with the temptations of the lesser; the magics, the illusions, the stealths. Nay! I say unto thee, your legs have been made thicc not by these limited shortcuts, but by the work of thine own doing. And your legs have been forged, as if made of the oak that thrusts up from the bosom of the earth, so that it may transcend the glass ceiling of weaker mortals. So gut punch the magic in the face, shatter the illusions, kick the stealth in the balls. Then take up thy sword, present thyself in an extra deep horse stance, and get to work growing yet further. For Warrior’s path has no end, only a beginning. We walk on, searching for the back of beyond, on an endless journey of transcendence. So kill the gods, shatter the chains of fate, become the monster that the monsters fear. For by the warrior you become the terror of the day, the hunter of the night, the thing which the monsters check for at night, the beast that the gods fear, and the being that the dragons serve. No one can stop you, there’s nothing so strong. 
 

So take up your sword, spread your legs wide, sit deep into a horse stance, and begin pushing the limit beyond all those about you. They may laugh, the may stare, but in the end they will fear, they will beg, and they will serve you.

[daninumbers.4036]

Rather than picking an inamovible main you are better off picking a few and having each with at least a couple different builds be it power, condi or support. Not the first time I thought it was fine to gear up a character for a build with ascended just for time later it being nerfed to the point it wasn't ok to play anymore compared to alternatives (maining power herald for so long I was forced into condi renegade with the nerfs for example). Since then I either stay in exotics being easier to get from selectable chests or the expensive but more convenient way, legendaries.

You probably see tons of mechanist around but with the next heavy nerf patch we'll see if many remain needing a new build / gear or just switch to the other buffed classes. And it's actually a way to move the economy and an indirect gold sink since at least virtually all exotics are soulbound and even ascended / legendary have the armor weight problem.

Putting it short: play everything, stick to a few you enjoy but don't get too attached as things change over time. Just have fun, it's a game after all.

[Buran.3796]

  As general rule, in this game:

Ranged damage > mele damage.

Condition damage > strike (power) damage.

   Maybe that will help in your choice.

[Infusion.7149]

For PVE and WVW, Firebrand is a safe bet for the foreseeable future, followed by engineer (mechanist mainly but also scrapper for WVW).

Banner warrior isn't a particular strong archetype anymore since unique buffs were outright removed. In addition, nobody knows how rifle changes will pan out so power warrior is relegated to power berserker and bladesworn which both do the most damage in melee.

If you aren't looking at instanced content or WVW none of the balance discussions will really concern you though ; in PVP you don't need to level your character. Any living story content or even non-CM low tier fractals (which people not interested in instanced content do for legendary collections) are meant to be easily playable on any class.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Infusion.7149

[Bunny.9834]

pick guardian. 

[Voyant.1327]

You've described the anxiety or frustration most of us feel who don't play Firebrand or Mechanist. 

We worry at any point in time we'll get the Weaver, Mirage, or Chronomancer treatment. 

Balancing is massively important as your spec/class is the vehicle in which you enjoy the world....

These vehicles however seem to breakdown every six months to a year.

[Infinity.2876]

Sings 'Fear not this night' in head

[Mell.4873]

I'm repeating myself a bit but.... Most of the balance changes only effects the very high-end builds and gameplay. When I mean high end I truly mean, CM Strikes and Fractal plus Raids. Even within those learning your class is more important than benchmarks not to mention this content is not very rewarding for those who don't play it often enough (like me)

The only time I would have waited was before the Spirit and Banner changes went though. Now they have been implemented then i think it is okay to play anything.

On 8/14/2022 at 1:01 PM, Buran.3796 said:

  As general rule, in this game:

Ranged damage > melee damage.

Condition damage > strike (power) damage.

   Maybe that will help in your choice.

I would actually say the opposite, the General rule is Melee is better since it benefits the most from stacking and teaches you to avoid mechanics. The best damage type is really both which is what condition damage truly is a hybrid.

[Buran.3796]

2 hours ago, Mell.4873 said:

I would actually say the opposite, the General rule is Melee is better since it benefits the most from stacking and teaches you to avoid mechanics. The best damage type is really both which is what condition damage truly is a hybrid.

   You can use ranged weapons at mele, and most of time you barely give up damage. And now you talk about the mechanics: some in the game forces you to disengage from stacking or retreat from foes, which will cause mele fighters to entirely cease to deal damage. Condition damage is supposed to act slowly but oh my! if some of the burstiest combos in the game don't came from conditions, specially burns...  Condis also offer better ratios of damage and defense since condi only needs two stats and also has the advantage of 1) ignores armor entirely and 2) keeps dealing damage when you  perform defensive actions as evading, blocking, etc., which isn't true most of the time with power builds. 

[Mell.4873]

1 hour ago, Buran.3796 said:

   You can use ranged weapons at mele, and most of time you barely give up damage.

Sort of and depends on the weapon. I would say weapon damage fall in to three forms. In terms of usefulness this is the order Cleave damage/ piercing damage / Single target damage. If you play melee in any situation you are far more likely to be able to deal with excess mobs with cleave damage(normally 3), While piercing attacks can hit at most two targets.

Again the best of both worlds probably most advisable, one Melee weapon and one Ranged weapon.

The reason the mechanist/Virtuoso players have such high DPS (outside of the easy rotation) is primarily to do with avoiding mechanics like mob aggression. As soon as they are in a solo situation or when they need to stack then all that advantage goes away.
This is normally why Warrior and Ranger can very easily out DPS them given those circumstances due to how tanky they can be.

1 hour ago, Buran.3796 said:

And now you talk about the mechanics: some in the game forces you to disengage from stacking or retreat from foes, which will cause mele fighters to entirely cease to deal damage.

Yes is those circumstances a ranged weapon swap is best.

1 hour ago, Buran.3796 said:

Condition damage is supposed to act slowly but oh my! if some of the burstiest combos in the game don't came from conditions, specially burns...  Condis also offer better ratios of damage and defense since condi only needs two stats and also has the advantage of 1) ignores armor entirely and 2) keeps dealing damage when you  perform defensive actions as evading, blocking, etc., which isn't true most of the time with power builds. 

True which is why the hybrid model is the best. Some skills focus on more Power/burst damage while Conditions skills are more defensive.

Ranger/Virtuoso come to mind as fitting this mold really well.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Mell.4873

[Mik.3401]

Just pick necro/guard or engi and you will be fine anywhere.

leave your anxiety for serious things, you have enough resources and security to play a kitten game, many people would dream to just be safe

[eXruina.4956]

best advice i can give you op is pick what suits you best, and play it to the best of your ability. don't worry too much about the rest.

 

in pve every class is good enough to clear content with, unless you and your friends are aiming to be top of the charts there's really no need to put too much thought into it, as long as you're having fun and fill the roles that suit you you'll be fine.

 

in competitive, balance has always been 💩, idk how it carried on like that for the past 10 years, but it is what it is. 

 

one of the good things about competitive modes in gw2 though, is that its very easy to get into, the requirements are very light and you can switch classes with very little investment.

 

first priority is having fun, good luck to you and your friends. 🙂

[Ruisenior.6342]

  I would go for a versatile class that can perform well on every roll. With that said engineer and guardian are the best talking about build diversity.

  If i had to choose one, i will go for the engineer 100% and unlock first the mechanist specialization cause there you can choose from plenty of good cheap builds and get the grip of the game without any trouble. Later you can jump onto Holo or Scrapper if you are looking for more challenge.

 

[the krytan assassin.9235]

Guard engie and necro are top class picks when picking a main. They are able to fulfill all squad roles in PvE and are often a preferred pick in squad compositions. They also fulfill mandatory roles in WvW meta.

As 2nd tier there's mesmer, ele and ranger. Mesmer is decent in PvE & WvW, but lacks a heal build. Ele & ranger can provide all roles, but often aren't the preferred pick in team compositions. Also ranger is useless in WvW. 

As 3rd tier there's warrior, thief and revenant. They have decent dps, but simply severely lack in build diversity. I wouldn't recommend making one of these 3 classes your main since it limits the number of groups you can join. 

 

That being said, Just pick whatever you like the most, all classes are perfectly fine to use for open world & story. Last but not least most people get plenty of leveling scrolls & tomes of knowledge to instantly level characters to lvl 80 and a full set of exotic gear usually only costs around ~2 hrs of goldfarming. This means you can easily swap characters if you want. 

[Zaret.1450]

On 8/13/2022 at 9:35 AM, Mr LazyDazy.8961 said:

I've been trying to research what the best classes and builds for the game is. But there seem to be some critique of hard hitting nerfs across the board. As a returning player that is trying to bring some new friends, it causes some stress and anxiety if the class I pick now will soon be nerfed, and I would have to start over with a new class. I understand that classes can't stay static as there will always be the need for balance with such a complicated class system... But yeah, just my thoughts as someone who is trying to get back - it's hard to get back when the game seem so unpredictable without the assurance that I can just pick a class, deal a lot of damage, that is also fun to play etc. My only level 80 a warrior seem to be most viable as a banner warrior, which to me sounds boring. I'm sure the game is in a better state than my biased perception, but it's hard to get a clear picture with the surrounding critique of the game, as a new player.

Ok let me tell you a couple things that might help.

1 we like to ramble here, most of the comments about nerfs and all that is because we want to get rid of some steam XD

its true that not all the clases have thousands of viable builds, some are underpowered and other overpowered and all that, but we also like to have partys here and ramble, dont let it affect you too much.

2 as i said, yeah aome things are overpowered, some underpowered, some classes have more options than others, but think this every class has at least a couple builds that are decent, not meta, not great but usable at least, warriors now can be power, condi or suport dps, while they lack too much if you want to heal with them, are they top 5? mmmid say no, but you can still use them, moreso if youre starting the game, you have at most full exotic gear, probably dont know much about combos, defiance bar, mecanics, farmings etc, at least i as someone who has been playing years dont expect you to know all that, you have training more in raids, fractals, strikes, and open world in pve, pvp works in its own world, and wvw is also a world of its own, and youre new to that, unless you get yourself paired with skrits you can tell others youre new, try to find a clan, and try all the classes, dont focus just on one, im sure youll end up finding some game mode and class that you love to play with, and if you get bored try something else, youll never have 0 things to do.

good luck man

[Mell.4873]

1 hour ago, zaswer.5246 said:

We like to ramble here, most of the comments about nerfs and all that is because we want to get rid of some steam XD

10/10 I will complain again 🙂 

[Firebeard.1746]

On 8/13/2022 at 12:35 AM, Mr LazyDazy.8961 said:

I've been trying to research what the best classes and builds for the game is. But there seem to be some critique of hard hitting nerfs across the board. As a returning player that is trying to bring some new friends, it causes some stress and anxiety if the class I pick now will soon be nerfed, and I would have to start over with a new class. I understand that classes can't stay static as there will always be the need for balance with such a complicated class system... But yeah, just my thoughts as someone who is trying to get back - it's hard to get back when the game seem so unpredictable without the assurance that I can just pick a class, deal a lot of damage, that is also fun to play etc. My only level 80 a warrior seem to be most viable as a banner warrior, which to me sounds boring. I'm sure the game is in a better state than my biased perception, but it's hard to get a clear picture with the surrounding critique of the game, as a new player.

I have good news, and bad news:

Good news is, anet is trying to give every class a viable condi or DPS build + some form of boon support. So even if you can literally only play 1 class, in theory, you should be good. Also good news is this game is extremely alt friendly, so it's not that bad even if you need to switch (ascended gear is account bound, legendaries account wide, exotics are usually cheap, masteries are account wide, so are mats/bank)

Bad news: They're not perfect at it and will still occasionally screw over builds. LIke I have 0 clue what they want from Mirage in the coming patch. 

Just start playing what you enjoy and most of the time you'll be fine as long as your gear/traits match your role. If it's really bad swap, but I never had anyone whine at me even when i played sub-optimal setups in terms of fotm professions. 

Edited August 17, 2022 by Firebeard.1746