which class?

[Zbysier.3425]

hi Guys,

 

I need small support from the community. I am struggling to select which profession to play. I am not asking about 'fun to play' aspect, because that depends on the person. What I am looking for is some pure info about some classes, melee precisely. Which one you play and why? (I am very casual player aiming PvE, so I guess that question would be mainly directed to others focusing also on this part of game). 

[AliamRationem.5172]

Most specs are at least partially melee due to weapon swap mechanics and most of them are viable options for all PvE content.  To narrow it down, a couple of questions for you:

You say you're a "casual" player.  Does that mean you're looking for a class that is easier to pick up and play?

You say you're interested in PvE.  Is that mostly solo play open world/story content?  Or are you more interested in getting into group play such as fractals, raids, and strikes?

As for what I play and why?  Weaver.  I just really like the play style.  I prefer melee to range generally, and weaver (with sword) is all up close and personal.  Here's a quick sample video clip of weaver. 

I don't recommend this class if you're concerned with ease of play as it's one of the more difficult to learn and perform well with.  In group play it's not particularly strong as it's a selfish DPS with a moderate benchmark and a touchy rotation.  Still, weaver can perform well and is a strong option for solo play once you get the hang of it. 

[Zbysier.3425]

7 hours ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

You say you're a "casual" player.  Does that mean you're looking for a class that is easier to pick up and play?

You say you're interested in PvE.  Is that mostly solo play open world/story content?  Or are you more interested in getting into group play such as fractals, raids, and strikes?

Q1: that is good question and not easy to answer, but I would aim for something easy to pick (up to moderate level)

Q2: mostly open world/story, but maybe once i get better, also other parts of PvE.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

The only profession that is difficult to pick up is the Elementalist.  All of the other ones have some simple tricks that make it pretty easy to play, once you learn the trick.  As for melee professions, at start all professions have melee weapons except for the engineer, which relies on the bomb kit for close range combat.  The engineer's elite specializations get plenty of melee weapons later.

For the professions I personally play, the answer is "all of them but ranger."  It isn't that there's something wrong with ranger, insomuch as I just don't like how it feels to play.  To give a breakdown of each profession:

Thief: Has a lot of blinds, evades, and stealth.  Frail, until you learn to spam black powder to neutralize most enemies.

Ranger: Basically thief if it had cooldowns instead of the freeform initiative system.

Engineer: Bomb kit is deceptively strong.  Hard to play until you get to the elite specs, which are much easier to play.  Also the rifle is pretty overpowered right now.

Necromancer: Has immense physical bulk, but lacks a lot of the active defenses.  Braindead simple to melee with

Elementalist: has a lot of movement skills and flashy lights.  You'll need to learn the combo system to get the hang of this one early on.

Mesmer: Has only one melee weapon until the e-specs.  Has a diverse toolbox but can be a bit tricky to learn.  

Warrior: Has immense physical bulk and a crapton of melee weaons.  Best option to role with is Axe/Axe by far until you get to the e-specs.

Guardian: Also has a lot of melee weapons.  Seems frail at first, but has a lot of blocks and active defenses.  

Revenant: Very low maintenance.  You'll basically camp sword/sword and toggles until you unlock the Vindicator spec.

 

[Zbysier.3425]

1 hour ago, Blood Red Arachnid.2493 said:

The only profession that is difficult to pick up is the Elementalist.  All of the other ones have some simple tricks that make it pretty easy to play, once you learn the trick.  As for melee professions, at start all professions have melee weapons except for the engineer, which relies on the bomb kit for close range combat.  The engineer's elite specializations get plenty of melee weapons later.

For the professions I personally play, the answer is "all of them but ranger."  It isn't that there's something wrong with ranger, insomuch as I just don't like how it feels to play.  To give a breakdown of each profession:

Thief: Has a lot of blinds, evades, and stealth.  Frail, until you learn to spam black powder to neutralize most enemies.

Ranger: Basically thief if it had cooldowns instead of the freeform initiative system.

Engineer: Bomb kit is deceptively strong.  Hard to play until you get to the elite specs, which are much easier to play.  Also the rifle is pretty overpowered right now.

Necromancer: Has immense physical bulk, but lacks a lot of the active defenses.  Braindead simple to melee with

Elementalist: has a lot of movement skills and flashy lights.  You'll need to learn the combo system to get the hang of this one early on.

Mesmer: Has only one melee weapon until the e-specs.  Has a diverse toolbox but can be a bit tricky to learn.  

Warrior: Has immense physical bulk and a crapton of melee weaons.  Best option to role with is Axe/Axe by far until you get to the e-specs.

Guardian: Also has a lot of melee weapons.  Seems frail at first, but has a lot of blocks and active defenses.  

Revenant: Very low maintenance.  You'll basically camp sword/sword and toggles until you unlock the Vindicator spec.

 

Thanks for this. Unfortunately I have time to play and master only one class, so need to pick the one which will be the most versatile and providing decent survivability

[Zbysier.3425]

Ok, maybe it does not have to be versatile 😉 because I would like to focus mainly on DPS rather than support. I was thinking to give a shot with Guardian but I find it mainly as support class., however I might be wrong. 

[AliamRationem.5172]

7 minutes ago, Zbysier.3425 said:

Ok, maybe it does not have to be versatile 😉 because I would like to focus mainly on DPS rather than support. I was thinking to give a shot with Guardian but I find it mainly as support class., however I might be wrong. 

All classes can be played as DPS.  Currently, all guardian specs fall somewhere in the middle-to-low-end of potential damage output, placing them somewhere about 15-20% behind the top DPS builds.  That's going by ideal raid DPS benchmarks, however, which isn't really relevant to things like solo open world/story play, where you'll do just fine picking guardian.

[kharmin.7683]

There are several threads on this type of topic in the Professions forum.  Have you read through those for further insights?

 

[Zbysier.3425]

1 hour ago, kharmin.7683 said:

There are several threads on this type of topic in the Professions forum.  Have you read through those for further insights?

 

yep, I have checked some of them... and now I have limited my doubts to Warrior and Guardian.. I always liked to play warrior, every single game (even GW1 I completed with Warrior). I tried different classes/professions but in the end in was landing with Warrior. 

Guardian looks interesting, but it is a bit too close to paladins, which I do not like... don't know why...

[Zbysier.3425]

6 hours ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

All classes can be played as DPS.  Currently, all guardian specs fall somewhere in the middle-to-low-end of potential damage output, placing them somewhere about 15-20% behind the top DPS builds.  That's going by ideal raid DPS benchmarks, however, which isn't really relevant to things like solo open world/story play, where you'll do just fine picking guardian.

Even when I reach decision that I want to try other parts of the game, I do not aim to be top DPS (that would be fine, but I think it requires a lot of time to spend which I do not have), but would like to have spot in those without begging. 

[Lysico.4906]

Mech

[Razadune.9260]

4 hours ago, Zbysier.3425 said:

yep, I have checked some of them... and now I have limited my doubts to Warrior and Guardian.. I always liked to play warrior, every single game (even GW1 I completed with Warrior). I tried different classes/professions but in the end in was landing with Warrior. 

If that's the case, I'd go with warrior here as well since it seems likely you'll enjoy it. Guardian (especially Dragonhunter) can fit the same melee fighter class niche, and has the versatility to play Firebrand or Willbender for different playstyles as well, but with Warrior you very much get what you signed up for regardless of the spec you choose.    

     

Over time I hope you get the chance to try more than one class since I think you'll enjoy more than just the warrior itself, but if you've been a warrior fan in other games then I think you'll be happy with it here as well. 

[SlayerXX.7138]

On 8/27/2022 at 11:22 PM, Zbysier.3425 said:

What I am looking for is some pure info about some classes, melee precisely.

Thief. Daredevil in particular. It is simple to play but intensive. It is great for story and most open world content. Jumping and dodging through mobs with Staff with berserker/marauder gear is fun as hell. if power damage is not your thing you can go double dagger and dodge almost indefinitely through mobs while bleeding them to death. You said melee, but you can go condition damage/celestial Deadeye Pistol/dagger. Combat loop is going into melee shadow striking, which triggers a back port and allow you to pump lead into your victim per Repeater. Going into stealth pumping more lead lead into your opponent and going in melee again repeating the progress. Allows you to solo most OW Content. At last Specter allows you to join group content as alacdps/dps/alacheal.

People always state blind as the thief trick, but with the right exotic gear and traits thief is so strong everything without a defiance bar(which ignore control effects of any form) is a cake walk anyway. On Power you go Staff/rifle/double Pistol on Condition you go Double dagger/Shortbow for aoe/Pistol dagger for single target. I know i talked a lot about not melee, but Daredevil Staff power Autoattack, 2 and 5 give you all you would ever want anyway.

Thief <After you unlock the Elite Spec> gives you quite the variety in OW. Just know that acrobatics i a death trait line to never be used.

[AliamRationem.5172]

2 hours ago, Lysico.4906 said:

Mech

This is the true answer.  You're going to feel like crap playing anything else in groups at this point and they don't seem to have any interest in changing that.

[Endaris.1452]

In my opinion you should look at the profession as a whole rather than following suggestions for single elite specs because some very distinct exceptions aside, elite specs still retain a decent portion of core profession gameplay.

In terms of melee specs, as already mentioned, basically all specs can be played melee.

Guardian has a fantastic selection of melee weapons, sword, greatsword, focus, mace and shield are all great and with the most recent patch even hammer has somewhat caught up with torch being situational. I would definitely recommend guardian for its sheer versatility and good self-sufficiency. It has great AoE access while being able to flexibly access many defensive or utility option that are priceless in single and multiplayer content. Main-hand axe and off-hand sword smooth out the glorious selection of melee weapon options with the associated elite specialisations.

Warrior has double axes, sword, hammer, greatsword, double mace or shield as inherent melee options with double daggers and off-hand pistol being added with elite specialisations. While it looks comparable to guardian, its AoE access feels notably worse, being condensed into only a few weapons, mainly greatsword, with many of its other weapons's skills being restricted to only hitting 1 or 3 targets rather than the gold standard of 5 that is common for guardian. Additionally it has a greater difficulty with division by damage type. Builds in GW2 typically lean into either direct damage or damage over time and being restricted by your equipment you can effectively only fully dip into one of them. While Guardian's weapons effectively all favor direct damage with the exception of torch and axe (that are in turn very good at damage over time), warrior's sword favors damage over time stats while the others are more oriented to direct damage. Due to the superior AoE access and interchangeability between weapons I would always rate the guardian higher than the warrior.

Regarding a paladin'ish gameplay I wouldn't worry too much - classes in GW2 are inherently designed around being selfish and there is no trinity that would force you into a tanking role. While capable of also sharing boons or heals with others, the game is flexible enough in letting you chose whether you actually want any of that in your build or not. An aggressive guardian build destroys as hard or even hadrer than warrior can. On the other hand, a warrior will likely be inferior in supporting a group when it really wants to.

[Ashantara.8731]

For melee, I prefer Power Dragonhunter (a Guardian elite specialization) and Power Berserker (a Warrior elite spec).

The former has great sustain and blocks, can pull several enemies close and burst them down quickly with their whirl attack and traps. The latter is raw melee damage with a lot of useful utilities.

Guardian is more versatile. You can play Condition builds, Supporter builds (both preferably on the Firebrand elite spec) and tank in specific endgame scenarios.

[chronometria.3708]

Axe torch firebrand is a lot of fun. The burn ticks can get to truly epic proportions and yoy have all sorts of support potential as well. 

[Zbysier.3425]

when I was almost decided to go with Warrior, a lot of good comments for Guardian appeared , especially comment from @Endaris.1452 forces me to rethink everything.

 

(to be precise, I played the GW2 at start with Warrior, reached 80 lvl and bought HoT and then deleted it looking for something new and new start, which just now, so i would like to return to GW2. I have tried Necro - casters are not my story, reached lvl 40 with Rev, but something was missing)

[Endaris.1452]

Maybe some additional bit of information:

Weapons can usually be associated with certain characteristics, regardless of profession.

Greatswords are usually strongly damage oriented, typically with good AoE access as well.

Swords are damage oriented as well. Both swords and greatswords may include mobility but they don't always do. For both Guardian and Warrior that is the case however. On Guardian specifically, these weapons come with some active defenses, notably access to blind that will make your opponents miss the next attack while Warrior has better mobility on greatsword and access to a block on its off-hand sword. On purely damage oriented builds, guardian will usually use both weapons while warrior will not due to the mentioned damage splits

Axes are damage oriented but depending on class they may be melee, ranged or hybrid, also depending on which hand you equip them in. For Warrior and Guardian, they're both melee. This is definitely the bread and butter weapon for damage oriented warriors due to a powerful trait that greatly enhances how frequently you can use your core mechanic, bursts.

Maces and Hammers are typically weapons with relatively long casts that hit decently hard but arguably provide significantly less burst than the aforementioned options. Hammers typically give you at least one crowd control option while Maces will sport either that and/or an additional defensive option, e.g. a block. On Guardian specifically it may feel a bit weak, its power mainly revolving how well you use on of its skills that revolves around a block into counter mechanic.

Shields are mostly defensively oriented with almost always providing a block, projectile block/reflect or crowd control, often layered with defensive boon access.

Foci are utility and damage oriented weapons. They can have about anything useful that fits the theme of your class while often also bringing a good damage option. On Guardian specifically it gives you access to a detonating block (hits in AoE if not used up after a time limit) and a single target nuke.

Warhorns typically have at least on ability that is focused on providing support to your surroundings, typically through boons. On Warrior it is a completely defensive and utility focused weapon with no attack power whatsoever so it is only really useful in group play (and competitive) while Guardian doesn't have access to it.

Torch is a weapon always focused on burning damage over time. On both Guardian and Warrior it is a hybrid range weapon that has some ranged access but still does the majority of its damage in melee.

Warrior additionally has access to Rifle and Longbow as ranged options while also getting Pistol as a hybridish weapon choice with one of its specialisations. Guardian also has Staff as a ranged supportive option and Scepter as a ranged direct damage option. In general there is no penalty for using ranged weapons in melee range but they typically have inferior AoE access on their auto attack, often even single target or just in the projectile line and the auto attack is weaker than for melee weapons.

 

Even though this sounds 100% pro-guardian, warrior has one strong redeeming feature and that is a reduced weapon swap cooldown with a certain traitline that allows you to swap weapons in combat much more often which can make gameplay more dynamic. Combining how good Axes are on Warrior with the low weaponswap cooldown, people will often opt to not run a second weaponset for damage but instead use utility weapons in their second weaponset, contrary to guardian that typically has some utility built into both weapon sets they are running.

[Zbysier.3425]

2 hours ago, Endaris.1452 said:

Maybe some additional bit of information:

Weapons can usually be associated with certain characteristics, regardless of profession.

Greatswords are usually strongly damage oriented, typically with good AoE access as well.

Swords are damage oriented as well. Both swords and greatswords may include mobility but they don't always do. For both Guardian and Warrior that is the case however. On Guardian specifically, these weapons come with some active defenses, notably access to blind that will make your opponents miss the next attack while Warrior has better mobility on greatsword and access to a block on its off-hand sword. On purely damage oriented builds, guardian will usually use both weapons while warrior will not due to the mentioned damage splits

Axes are damage oriented but depending on class they may be melee, ranged or hybrid, also depending on which hand you equip them in. For Warrior and Guardian, they're both melee. This is definitely the bread and butter weapon for damage oriented warriors due to a powerful trait that greatly enhances how frequently you can use your core mechanic, bursts.

Maces and Hammers are typically weapons with relatively long casts that hit decently hard but arguably provide significantly less burst than the aforementioned options. Hammers typically give you at least one crowd control option while Maces will sport either that and/or an additional defensive option, e.g. a block. On Guardian specifically it may feel a bit weak, its power mainly revolving how well you use on of its skills that revolves around a block into counter mechanic.

Shields are mostly defensively oriented with almost always providing a block, projectile block/reflect or crowd control, often layered with defensive boon access.

Foci are utility and damage oriented weapons. They can have about anything useful that fits the theme of your class while often also bringing a good damage option. On Guardian specifically it gives you access to a detonating block (hits in AoE if not used up after a time limit) and a single target nuke.

Warhorns typically have at least on ability that is focused on providing support to your surroundings, typically through boons. On Warrior it is a completely defensive and utility focused weapon with no attack power whatsoever so it is only really useful in group play (and competitive) while Guardian doesn't have access to it.

Torch is a weapon always focused on burning damage over time. On both Guardian and Warrior it is a hybrid range weapon that has some ranged access but still does the majority of its damage in melee.

Warrior additionally has access to Rifle and Longbow as ranged options while also getting Pistol as a hybridish weapon choice with one of its specialisations. Guardian also has Staff as a ranged supportive option and Scepter as a ranged direct damage option. In general there is no penalty for using ranged weapons in melee range but they typically have inferior AoE access on their auto attack, often even single target or just in the projectile line and the auto attack is weaker than for melee weapons.

 

Even though this sounds 100% pro-guardian, warrior has one strong redeeming feature and that is a reduced weapon swap cooldown with a certain traitline that allows you to swap weapons in combat much more often which can make gameplay more dynamic. Combining how good Axes are on Warrior with the low weaponswap cooldown, people will often opt to not run a second weaponset for damage but instead use utility weapons in their second weaponset, contrary to guardian that typically has some utility built into both weapon sets they are running.

Thank you for this massive amount of information 

[Zbysier.3425]

so which of those two has better survivability? 

[Endaris.1452]

Both can opt into massive survivability if you want to.

Guardian has more innate sustain through its virtue of resolve but is more susceptible to getting bursted down as it has a low base health pool.

Warrior has a high base health pool and is therefore generally bulkier and harder to kill.

Note however that these differences in healthpool can be fixed in solo play by using hybridish gear like marauder stats. In general these things don't matter tooo much as active avoidance of damage through positioning, dodge and block is generally more important than your raw health pool - if something deals so much damage that it can oneshot you, a higher healthpool will just get you two-shot instead. Sometimes that is all the difference you need and at other times it makes no effective difference at all.

Both classes can opt into a ton of active defenses through their weapon choices (mace, shield, focus, warhorn) and utilities if they want to but it naturally comes at the price of reduced damage output.

Warrior has access to a lot of stunbreaks and personal stability as utilities to deal with enemy crowd control as well as access to various defensive and utility focused boons through banners and stances. It can also get some other defensive bonuses through signets, mainly health and endurance generation.

Guardian's utilities include a decent amount of projectile block and reflect, defensive boons, stunbreak and stability.

So overall actually not much difference there. The spellbreaker spec of the Warrior is probably the spec with the highest survivability for the two classes as it gets a low cooldown counter skill as its specialisation mechanic that increases your active defenses by a significant amount.

[Barabbas.8715]

For open world PVE, Core Dagger/Dagger Elemenalist is a ton of fun and isn't hard to learn. You just memorize one combo for each of your attunements then cycle through Air, Fire, and Earth. You only switch to Water if you need extra healing and that's rare. If you're coming from another MMO, the amount of buttons you're pushing isn't anything out of the ordinary.

 

Also, you get tons of defense in the form of 3 dashes (with iframes), 2  force fields, and some really good CC skills. There are also some tanky traits in your Earth, Arcane, and Water specialization trees. I was soloing most open world Champs after unlocking my second specialization using Air/Arcane and that was wearing crap gear.

 

It's a very active and exciting play style and you'll hardly ever be standing in one spot spamming auto attacks. Also, when you unlock Elite Specializations , you can stick with D/D for Tempest and Weaver if you want, but there are other weapon combinations that are slightly better if you want to go with a meta build. You don't have to be meta to be viable though.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Barabbas.8715

[Zbysier.3425]

11 hours ago, Endaris.1452 said:

Both can opt into massive survivability if you want to.

Guardian has more innate sustain through its virtue of resolve but is more susceptible to getting bursted down as it has a low base health pool.

Warrior has a high base health pool and is therefore generally bulkier and harder to kill.

Note however that these differences in healthpool can be fixed in solo play by using hybridish gear like marauder stats. In general these things don't matter tooo much as active avoidance of damage through positioning, dodge and block is generally more important than your raw health pool - if something deals so much damage that it can oneshot you, a higher healthpool will just get you two-shot instead. Sometimes that is all the difference you need and at other times it makes no effective difference at all.

Both classes can opt into a ton of active defenses through their weapon choices (mace, shield, focus, warhorn) and utilities if they want to but it naturally comes at the price of reduced damage output.

Warrior has access to a lot of stunbreaks and personal stability as utilities to deal with enemy crowd control as well as access to various defensive and utility focused boons through banners and stances. It can also get some other defensive bonuses through signets, mainly health and endurance generation.

Guardian's utilities include a decent amount of projectile block and reflect, defensive boons, stunbreak and stability.

So overall actually not much difference there. The spellbreaker spec of the Warrior is probably the spec with the highest survivability for the two classes as it gets a low cooldown counter skill as its specialisation mechanic that increases your active defenses by a significant amount.

Still torn between those two specs, but I think I will give a shot with both going to lvl 40 and see how I feel with each of them. Then close my eyes and don’t look back 😉

What stops me currently from selecting warrior is the place he is right now (based on the comments). I do not want to be banner slave and still want to find place in group if I decide to.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Zbysier.3425

[stormemperor.3745]

On 8/28/2022 at 12:22 AM, Zbysier.3425 said:

hi Guys,

 

I need small support from the community. I am struggling to select which profession to play. I am not asking about 'fun to play' aspect, because that depends on the person. What I am looking for is some pure info about some classes, melee precisely. Which one you play and why? (I am very casual player aiming PvE, so I guess that question would be mainly directed to others focusing also on this part of game). 

TLDR: All of them

Regardless of what weapon you use, you have to be close to target because thats how boons works in this game.

Longbow with 1500 range? better fire at 50 range.

Instead if melee/ranged I'll give some information about cleave which is what you want for openworld.

 

Necromancer is top at cleave thanks Reaper spec, you go shroud spin, bash enemies at close range. Thanks to recent balance update Staff necromancer is also perfect for cleave. You get 4 skills with low cooldowns that can hit 5 enemies withing 300 radius with skill range of 1200. Can be use melee/ranged it is absolutely the best weapon for openworld right now. 

You want berserker/assassin mixed stats for this build because anet nerfed crit chance.

I am reaper main for openworld for about 2k+ hours. I played other classes too but reaper is the best one for casuals.

 

Enemy too far and spread out? Pull them to you. Greatsword 5 and Spectral Grasp

Pull is on cd? Charge to them instead. Shroud 2

Overwhelmed by crowd? Fear them and they will run away. Staff 5 and shroud 3

You like shroud? You can change your specs to stay in shroud nearly all time.

You may have problem with conditions. Simply use staff 4.