Druid or Mech?

[Aylpse.6280]

Just came back to the game because I saw Druid got alacrity. As nice as that is, I don't know what is the best "support healer". Are Druids a welcome sight or is Mech just better? I haven't done much raiding but I may do some. Including open world stuff and fractals into the equation, what would I get the most value out of?

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

Druid is just as good as Mech for healing.

[Aylpse.6280]

Just now, IAmNotMatthew.1058 said:

Druid is just as good as Mech for healing.

As well as boon output? I prefer Druid thematically. Gw2's take on Druid basically being a nature mage is one of my favorite takes on the archetype. Im just worried I won't get into groups, it's hard enough to ask.

[Infusion.7149]

Nobody asks for druid outside of some specific raids where people ask for it out of habit for pushing or immob. If you plan on playing fractals or strikes in public groups, you want to go with heal mechanist for the alacrity role namely because you won't need to spam spirit actives just for alacrity and in fractals barrier ignores agony. As a side note I would not invest any time into quickness Firebrand right now because of impending November 29 rework ; as far as alac in particular:

• alac renegade isn't meta anymore but still usable;
• alac specter doesn't heal much outside of consume shadows and alac consists of well spam;
• alac mirage is only really good on confusion fights and has no way to heal people (don't bother in most fractals);
• revised alac chrono consists of well spam and people don't really play it;
• alacrity willbender is literally a meme build due to how it applies alacrity;
• heal alac tempest is still janky since alac is applied at the end of overloads but alac tempest is usable because you aren't building for heals.

TL;DR: Nobody asks for druid in fractals or strikes.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Infusion.7149

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

27 minutes ago, Aylpse.6280 said:

As well as boon output? I prefer Druid thematically. Gw2's take on Druid basically being a nature mage is one of my favorite takes on the archetype. Im just worried I won't get into groups, it's hard enough to ask.

Druid lacks Vigor and Resolution, but Mech lacks Fury. This really isn't a bit problem, because Vigor and Resolution aren't really noticable in most cases and Fury is going to be covered by someone else 99% of the times, but if it's needed you can do it with Turrets.

You won't be kicked as a Druid, especially on fights like VG, or KC, or Q2, because Druids work well on those fights and are going to match Mech in other fights as well. 
In Fractals Druid has been pointless since a while now, HFB is the go-to healer there.
In NM Strikes even a DPS Specter can heal effectively.

[Infusion.7149]

Heal Mech doesn't lack fury. It's on barrier burst.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Barrier_Burst

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

Druid and HAM are in the same place atm, both have very strong kits. I'd even say the Druid is a bit stronger after the buffs to give them more Stability, because their revives are very powerful while Machinist loses access to all revives (only Scrapper has them in their kit).

 

Druid also has access to a bit more group Stability than HAM.

 

That said, I'm going to be honest with you: Its harder to play. All Machinists builds are easy by definition and have simple rotations especially when supporting. With Druid you have to manage multiple weapon sets, Celestial Avatar, your spirits, and so on.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Mariyuuna.6508

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

1 hour ago, IAmNotMatthew.1058 said:

Druid lacks Vigor and Resolution, but Mech lacks Fury. This really isn't a bit problem, because Vigor and Resolution aren't really noticable in most cases and Fury is going to be covered by someone else 99% of the times, but if it's needed you can do it with Turrets.

You won't be kicked as a Druid, especially on fights like VG, or KC, or Q2, because Druids work well on those fights and are going to match Mech in other fights as well. 
In Fractals Druid has been pointless since a while now, HFB is the go-to healer there.
In NM Strikes even a DPS Specter can heal effectively.

Druid doesn't lack Vigor - https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sun_Spirit , although its more common on Soulbeast condi AlacDPS builds where they can make use of the burning damage.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Mariyuuna.6508

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

1 hour ago, Mariyuuna.6508 said:

Druid doesn't lack Vigor - https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sun_Spirit , although its more common on Soulbeast condi AlacDPS builds where they can make use of the burning damage.

Lacks as in you have options that are better, while Mech has Vigor on Med Kit 5.

[Aylpse.6280]

2 hours ago, Mariyuuna.6508 said:

Druid and HAM are in the same place atm, both have very strong kits. I'd even say the Druid is a bit stronger after the buffs to give them more Stability, because their revives are very powerful while Machinist loses access to all revives (only Scrapper has them in their kit).

 

Druid also has access to a bit more group Stability than HAM.

 

That said, I'm going to be honest with you: Its harder to play. All Machinists builds are easy by definition and have simple rotations especially when supporting. With Druid you have to manage multiple weapon sets, Celestial Avatar, your spirits, and so on.

I'd be fine, if not thriving, on playing a busy class. I don't mind the extra buttons and often play keyboard pianist supports in other games, keeps me from bouncing around and making unnecessary movements when I have more to focus on. This is just really hard to chose. I like druid more thematically but it doesn't seem to be as relevant in fractals and I have no interest in playing DPS Ranger. At the same time, HAM thrives in more content from the sound of it, and Infusion and Not Matthew seem to agree Druid won't be as well received in Pug content. I don't have many friends playing atm, two very shaky ones that are likely to hop games in a week or so, I still wanna try diving into pve content.

[Vilin.8056]

If you're asking this question, go Mech. Druid is generally trickier to play, has no barrier and rather inconsistent to up keep alacrity. This is especially important if you're still learning PvE mechanics as a dead healer will have far more negative impact than a dead dps to the group.

Gradually, having an engineer that can quad swap between HAM//Alac Mech/Dps Mech/Quickness Scrapper will last you many end-game contents to come.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Vilin.8056

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

2 hours ago, Aylpse.6280 said:

I'd be fine, if not thriving, on playing a busy class. I don't mind the extra buttons and often play keyboard pianist supports in other games, keeps me from bouncing around and making unnecessary movements when I have more to focus on. This is just really hard to chose. I like druid more thematically but it doesn't seem to be as relevant in fractals and I have no interest in playing DPS Ranger. At the same time, HAM thrives in more content from the sound of it, and Infusion and Not Matthew seem to agree Druid won't be as well received in Pug content. I don't have many friends playing atm, two very shaky ones that are likely to hop games in a week or so, I still wanna try diving into pve content.

HAM isn't taken in Fractals because its better, its taken because players are on their braindead Machinist DPS builds still and its just convenient to switch to HAM when needed.

 

Its purely a matter of being the most common class to join groups.

 

Once players have dedicated themselves to builds in Fractals it has a far slower fall-off rate than other game modes because of the expense of Agony Resist and ascended gear. This means Machinists were slow to appear in Fractals, and will be slow to leave Fractals.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Mariyuuna.6508