How do you stick with one profession?

[Doctor Hide.6345]

I seem to have a problem in games in which I can't stick to one class/job/profession. I am this way with all MMOs really. I am on one class and gear it out according to snowcrows or metabattle, and then I get the urge to play another class because it has something else I want at the moment. How do most people just stick with one and just settle down? I can't escape the Jack of all trades(professions) it seems and just be a master of one for the long run.

[Infusion.7149]

The answer is you don't.

If you do you are set up for failure regardless of game mode. One balance patch can drastically alter the build landscape, for example if you are a mesmer player before firebrand became the dominant quickness source.

[Doctor Hide.6345]

2 minutes ago, Infusion.7149 said:

The answer is you don't.

If you do you are set up for failure regardless of game mode. One balance patch can drastically alter the build landscape, for example if you are a mesmer player before firebrand became the dominant quickness source.

 

How do you get anything done then? Legit question. Like how do you do your fractals, raids, and OW, etc... with focusing on them all. So far all I seem to do is just stay in Bitterfrost Frontier kitten talking when I can't decide what profession I want to play next because my mood currently can't decide. That's my main problem I can't even get into other content due to me always switching.

[Infusion.7149]

34 minutes ago, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

 

How do you get anything done then? Legit question. Like how do you do your fractals, raids, and OW, etc... with focusing on them all. So far all I seem to do is just stay in Bitterfrost Frontier kitten talking when I can't decide what profession I want to play next because my mood currently can't decide. That's my main problem I can't even get into other content due to me always switching.

For openworld / story you can focus on one profession due to general lack of a fail state but if you mean for instanced content or WVW you need to be able to multi-class.

The use of transport tomes speeds things way up. That way you don't need to do story on every character.

Edited December 16, 2022 by Infusion.7149

[Doctor Hide.6345]

1 minute ago, Infusion.7149 said:

For openworld / story you can focus on one profession due to general lack of a fail state but if you mean for instanced content or WVW you need to be able to multi-class.

The use of transport tomes speeds things way up. That way you don't need to do story on every character.

 

Well, I already have that to an extent. I have 16 characters now with double of each profession(raced change to human from sylvari), and I did the story already on one. All my characters are 80 as well with all elite unlocks with about 6 in all ascended gear for specific meta builds. The rest are just exotics. I just keep jumping between them all though. For example, I got into a castlevenia mood, so I use the chain whip skin for my Dragon Hunter, but I saw the lastest metabattle change and it is now LB and GS which just killed my mood for it even though I still like it for castlevenia feel. Or I watch Harry Potter, and I want a wand feel. So I look at all the meta builds with wands and can't decide which one I want to play. Theme impacts my mood a lot from media on what my interests dictate.

I guess I better sit down and make a list huh of pros and cons to decide which ones I want to multi-class.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

1 hour ago, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

I seem to have a problem in games in which I can't stick to one class/job/profession. I am this way with all MMOs really. I am on one class and gear it out according to snowcrows or metabattle, and then I get the urge to play another class because it has something else I want at the moment. How do most people just stick with one and just settle down? I can't escape the Jack of all trades(professions) it seems and just be a master of one for the long run.

For me it's a character concept. GW2 is an RPG after all, and a lot of my investment hinges on the RP aspect. (It's 2/3rds of the acronym! 😄). Going all in on a character's journey beyond just speccing and gearing them out gives me the motivation to develop their GW2 story and adventure. I enjoy jumping into an old map I've forgotten and exploring anew with my main, a new wvw build as a progression of the character (I don't just stick to the meta), linking up with a new fractal group and trying to work out a synergy with new friends, etc, all while keeping a mental journal of my toon's experiences.

[Infusion.7149]

12 minutes ago, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

 

Well, I already have that to an extent. I have 16 characters now with double of each profession(raced change to human from sylvari), and I did the story already on one. All my characters are 80 as well with all elite unlocks with about 6 in all ascended gear for specific meta builds. The rest are just exotics. I just keep jumping between them all though. For example, I got into a castlevenia mood, so I use the chain whip skin for my Dragon Hunter, but I saw the lastest metabattle change and it is now LB and GS which just killed my mood for it even though I still like it for castlevenia feel. Or I watch Harry Potter, and I want a wand feel. So I look at all the meta builds with wands and can't decide which one I want to play. Theme impacts my mood a lot from media on what my interests dictate.

I guess I better sit down and make a list huh of pros and cons to decide which ones I want to multi-class.

If you aren't doing instanced content I am sure sword+focus and scepter+focus is fine. Even in instanced content it should still be fine if you are able to output results.

If you are doing instanced content then you'll want to run firebrand most of the time anyway on guardian ; if it's just a weapon theme you are going for you can look at other builds using swords (i.e. any power revenant such as vindicator/herald, condi berserker, ECSU holo, chrono).

Edited December 17, 2022 by Infusion.7149

[Gaiawolf.8261]

19 minutes ago, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

 

Well, I already have that to an extent. I have 16 characters now with double of each profession(raced change to human from sylvari), and I did the story already on one. All my characters are 80 as well with all elite unlocks with about 6 in all ascended gear for specific meta builds. The rest are just exotics. I just keep jumping between them all though. For example, I got into a castlevenia mood, so I use the chain whip skin for my Dragon Hunter, but I saw the lastest metabattle change and it is now LB and GS which just killed my mood for it even though I still like it for castlevenia feel. Or I watch Harry Potter, and I want a wand feel. So I look at all the meta builds with wands and can't decide which one I want to play. Theme impacts my mood a lot from media on what my interests dictate.

I guess I better sit down and make a list huh of pros and cons to decide which ones I want to multi-class.

Why are you only sticking with meta builds? There are plenty of great, viable builds that are not meta. Experiment with them and see how you can tweak them to fit your playstyle. After enough time with a profession, you should be able to learn the ins and outs enough to make your own builds and find your own way. Then tweak and build again.

I generally have a main I play for most content, but her build changes every few months to fit my moods, not my entire character. I often try the meta builds, but almost never stick with them unless one really fits my preferred playstyle at the time.

[Doctor Hide.6345]

12 minutes ago, Infusion.7149 said:

If you aren't doing instanced content I am sure sword+focus and scepter+focus is fine. Even in instanced content it should still be fine if you are able to output results.

If you are doing instanced content then you'll want to run firebrand most of the time anyway on guardian ; if it's just a weapon theme you are going for you can look at other builds using swords (i.e. any power revenant such as vindicator/herald, condi berserker, ECSU holo, chrono).

 

It's mostly about weapon theme for me with the particular skins, so I might just look at the others then. TY for that suggestion. Because while I do enjoy the holy presence feel of guardian, my main focus is mainly seeing the whip animation in action.

1 minute ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Why are you only sticking with meta builds? There are plenty of great, viable builds that are not meta. Experiment with them and see how you can tweak them to fit your playstyle. After enough time with a profession, you should be able to learn the ins and outs enough to make your own builds and find your own way. Then tweak and build again.

I generally have a main I play for most content, but her build changes every few months to fit my moods, not my entire character. I often try the meta builds, but almost never stick with them unless one really fits my preferred playstyle at the time.

The answer to why meta is because build craft confuses me with all it's rules and traits and stuff. I know I am not smart enough to figure it out, so I stick with meta stuff because I at least know meta stuff works for all content from people that know what they are doing. I am not that motived to delve deep into the inner workings either because that is not me. I am ok taking advice from the more professional. view.

As for the second part, my mood switches a lot with the themes. Like it can switch 5 times within one hour. It all depends on what I am watching and intaking for that day. Because sometimes I want to be a gunslinger, but not all professions use guns here. Or I want to be a Harry Potter magician and not all professions use the wand skin etc.. 

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Doctor Hide.6345

[Gaiawolf.8261]

1 hour ago, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

 

It's mostly about weapon theme for me with the particular skins, so I might just look at the others then. TY for that suggestion. Because while I do enjoy the holy presence feel of guardian, my main focus is mainly seeing the whip animation in action.

The answer to why meta is because build craft confuses me with all it's rules and traits and stuff. I know I am not smart enough to figure it out, so I stick with meta stuff because I at least know meta stuff works for all content from people that know what they are doing. I am not that motived to delve deep into the inner workings either because that is not me. I am ok taking advice from the more professional. view.

As for the second part, my mood switches a lot with the themes. Like it can switch 5 times within one hour. It all depends on what I am watching and intaking for that day. Because sometimes I want to be a gunslinger, but not all professions use guns here. Or I want to be a Harry Potter magician and not all professions use the wand skin etc.. 

 

I suggest YouTube then. You can get a lot of good builds outside the meta and see them in action, so you get a taste of how they perform and if they look like a playstyle you might enjoy. 

[Noah Salazar.5430]

i play power dps scrapper, condi dps scrapper, quicknes heal scrapper, power dps holo, condi dps holo, power mech, condi mech, alac mech, alac heal mech

i picked engineer cuz it's Jack of all traits, master of all

have medium armor and hp

have some blocks, and dmg on v (Explosive Entrance)

 

I like hybrides of dps/tank

and enginer with medium armor+hp is perfect for that

Edited January 22, 2023 by Noah Salazar.5430

[Mell.4873]

9 hours ago, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

I seem to have a problem in games in which I can't stick to one class/job/profession. I am this way with all MMOs really. I am on one class and gear it out according to snowcrows or metabattle, and then I get the urge to play another class because it has something else I want at the moment. How do most people just stick with one and just settle down? I can't escape the Jack of all trades(professions) it seems and just be a master of one for the long run.

Honestly I think most of the player base do stick to one or two classes. It mostly comes down to time, I really don't required amount to sit down and gear, learn and practice a new class. 

 

For me I use Ranger as my PvP spec and Mesmer as my PvE spec

[Buran.3796]

11 hours ago, Infusion.7149 said:

The answer is you don't.

If you do you are set up for failure regardless of game mode. One balance patch can drastically alter the build landscape, for example if you are a mesmer player before firebrand became the dominant quickness source.

   I don't agree. I have 17 characters + an empty character slot, with all professions and races represented, 3 full sets of legendary armors, Trascendence, Conflux, The Ascension, 10 legendary weapons and Aurora and Vision in the making. But usually I play Revenant builds 70% of time, Guardian builds 25% of time and a bit of Warrior and Necromancer builds. Lately have been playing a bit also Mechanist,  Mirage and Deadeye, but being honest: outside Revenant and Guardian most of my characters are just alt-parking stations.

   The fact that balance patches can nerf or buff the specs is ultimately irrelevant, since I have strong biases to play certain classes and when one of their specs gets punished I just move towards a diferent build from the same class. Must be noted that plenty of top players usually main a single class despite they knownledge of the rest could be large. The leader of Red Guard always played the same toon in WvW, and was the first player to reach 9999 WvW rank with a 12% PvE map unlock; Tage only played Guardians, Sindrener only plays Thieves, etc.

   Is also laughlable the notion of "you're set up for failure regardless of game mode" if you don't play every class, given that I for example never do instanced content (aside dungeons and mid level fractals) and I'm fairly mediocre at PvP/WvW yet was able to craft roughly 2 legendary items a year, full equip in legendaries/ascended all of my toons, including the ones which I don't play.

    I would name a more extreme example: in Diablo III I struggled to remain interested due the initial release lacked my fav, the Paladin. Then the RoS expansion provided the Crusader and I ended playing that class 95% of the time. Diablo IV is set to be released in June and yet I known I won't buy the game until 2024 or later mostly due it lacks the only class I'm interested to play (lack of end gaming content also doesn't help). Another examples: I play mostly Sigfried in Soul Calibur series, and Mishimas in Tekken.  If I struggle to play the character I like in these games due my lack of skill or balance patches I just stop playing the games, since I play to have fun and I ususally don't have fun playing gaming styles I don't appreciate.

   So, maining a class is really easy to me. Don't forget also that GW2 is mostly a solo MMO, in which you can have plenty of success with 0 interactions with others... 

[otto.5684]

Most people play a few classes. Example, I play guardian, mesmer and rev. Plus some warrior and ele. I still play the other classes, and have 1-2 characters from every class that are geared with exotic +.

[Infusion.7149]

2 hours ago, Buran.3796 said:

   I don't agree. I have 17 characters + an empty character slot, with all professions and races represented, 3 full sets of legendary armors, Trascendence, Conflux, The Ascension, 10 legendary weapons and Aurora and Vision in the making. But usually I play Revenant builds 70% of time, Guardian builds 25% of time and a bit of Warrior and Necromancer builds. Lately have been playing a bit also Mechanist,  Mirage and Deadeye, but being honest: outside Revenant and Guardian most of my characters are just alt-parking stations.

   The fact that balance patches can nerf or buff the specs is ultimately irrelevant, since I have strong biases to play certain classes and when one of their specs gets punished I just move towards a diferent build from the same class. Must be noted that plenty of top players usually main a single class despite they knownledge of the rest could be large. The leader of Red Guard always played the same toon in WvW, and was the first player to reach 9999 WvW rank with a 12% PvE map unlock; Tage only played Guardians, Sindrener only plays Thieves, etc.

   Is also laughlable the notion of "you're set up for failure regardless of game mode" if you don't play every class, given that I for example never do instanced content (aside dungeons and mid level fractals) and I'm fairly mediocre at PvP/WvW yet was able to craft roughly 2 legendary items a year, full equip in legendaries/ascended all of my toons, including the ones which I don't play.

    I would name a more extreme example: in Diablo III I struggled to remain interested due the initial release lacked my fav, the Paladin. Then the RoS expansion provided the Crusader and I ended playing that class 95% of the time. Diablo IV is set to be released in June and yet I known I won't buy the game until 2024 or later mostly due it lacks the only class I'm interested to play (lack of end gaming content also doesn't help). Another examples: I play mostly Sigfried in Soul Calibur series, and Mishimas in Tekken.  If I struggle to play the character I like in these games due my lack of skill or balance patches I just stop playing the games, since I play to have fun and I ususally don't have fun playing gaming styles I don't appreciate.

   So, maining a class is really easy to me. Don't forget also that GW2 is mostly a solo MMO, in which you can have plenty of success with 0 interactions with others... 

70% of the time is not 100% of the time and you happen to "main" a class that historically has never been nerfed to the ground. Cue the CmC quotes about "revs being played by the best players and the best players tend to win" or something of that sort.

In WVW unless you play firebrand you would need to adapt. Many revs were quitting after CoR was changed despite it being a common class through every meta.

You're mentioning people that mainly PVP, if someone is playing thief in WVW in a squad environment and refuses to swap they would be instakicked by most casual guild groups. It's even a common thing for rangers to complain about.

In fact the fact that ascended and legendary is accountbound is a good reason to not focus on one class exclusively. Since many legendary items require multiple disciplines it would be a complete waste to rank 500 a craft only to use it for a legendary.

Plus the argument "GW2 is a solo MMO" is about as weak as "you can play a build in openworld". There is no fail state for the majority of the "solo MMO" experience you are talking about which is why nobody should even plan around that exclusively.

[Doctor Hide.6345]

10 hours ago, Buran.3796 said:

   I don't agree. I have 17 characters + an empty character slot, with all professions and races represented, 3 full sets of legendary armors, Trascendence, Conflux, The Ascension, 10 legendary weapons and Aurora and Vision in the making. But usually I play Revenant builds 70% of time, Guardian builds 25% of time and a bit of Warrior and Necromancer builds. Lately have been playing a bit also Mechanist,  Mirage and Deadeye, but being honest: outside Revenant and Guardian most of my characters are just alt-parking stations.

   The fact that balance patches can nerf or buff the specs is ultimately irrelevant, since I have strong biases to play certain classes and when one of their specs gets punished I just move towards a diferent build from the same class. Must be noted that plenty of top players usually main a single class despite they knownledge of the rest could be large. The leader of Red Guard always played the same toon in WvW, and was the first player to reach 9999 WvW rank with a 12% PvE map unlock; Tage only played Guardians, Sindrener only plays Thieves, etc.

   Is also laughlable the notion of "you're set up for failure regardless of game mode" if you don't play every class, given that I for example never do instanced content (aside dungeons and mid level fractals) and I'm fairly mediocre at PvP/WvW yet was able to craft roughly 2 legendary items a year, full equip in legendaries/ascended all of my toons, including the ones which I don't play.

    I would name a more extreme example: in Diablo III I struggled to remain interested due the initial release lacked my fav, the Paladin. Then the RoS expansion provided the Crusader and I ended playing that class 95% of the time. Diablo IV is set to be released in June and yet I known I won't buy the game until 2024 or later mostly due it lacks the only class I'm interested to play (lack of end gaming content also doesn't help). Another examples: I play mostly Sigfried in Soul Calibur series, and Mishimas in Tekken.  If I struggle to play the character I like in these games due my lack of skill or balance patches I just stop playing the games, since I play to have fun and I ususally don't have fun playing gaming styles I don't appreciate.

   So, maining a class is really easy to me. Don't forget also that GW2 is mostly a solo MMO, in which you can have plenty of success with 0 interactions with others... 

 

Well for me, I fully admit part of my problem is that there is no perfect profession for me in GW2, so I had to settle on looking at different ones to keep me going for my theme focus. I am this way with almost all MMOs because they lack the class I truly want. Basically, I keep searching and switching because I want a magic demon hunter class that uses whips, pistols, swords, and wands that can cast some spells as well. In other words, I want a Dante DMC/Castlevenia class that no MMO as ever seem to given me. 

Note, I am not complaining here about how GW2 does their professions. I have accepted the fact that I will probably never get what I truly want, so I have learned to take professions/classes that use partial weapons and skills of my dream playstyle. Which is part of my problem on my switching a lot, I will admit to that.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Doctor Hide.6345

[Buran.3796]

7 hours ago, Infusion.7149 said:

In WVW unless you play firebrand you would need to adapt. Many revs were quitting after CoR was changed despite it being a common class through every meta.

   No you not; you can just play roaming and unlock everything that game mode has (which in terms of rewards is the less bountiful game mode) without even moving from a class, and pretty much the same can be said for PvP and PvE.

   The notion that you "need" to migrate to other professions just due the meta changes is just ridiculous; even if GW2 is fairly accessible in terms of alt gearing due the horizontal progression and shared gear, most of MMOs don't work in that way and you usually have to grind just to keep a single character "on track". Sure, you CAN multiclass IF you want, but if you want to remain 100% focused in a single profession in GW2 you can do it and have plenty of success without much troubles.

   I think that the problem Doctor Hide has is more related with the lack of defined notion of what He wants instead of a "fear" of chosing a class He's worried about being nerfed. GW2 currently has 9 core classes + 27 specializations, so is really hard to find out a class which is 100% garbage at every game mode in every of the iterations available.

[Buran.3796]

2 minutes ago, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

I am this way with almost all MMOs because they lack the class I truly want. Basically, I keep searching and switching because I want a magic demon hunter class that uses whips, pistols, swords, and wands that can cast some spells as well. In other words, I want a Dante DMC/Castlevenia class that no MMO as ever seem to given me. 

   Closest thing here to that would be either Mesmer (has most of those weapons outside whips, mele and range, good mobility) or Holosmith (wery high keystroke x minute requirements, mixes up mele & ranged attacks, plenty of mobility).

[Telgum.6071]

Each person is different, some are only attracted to a single class and some, while having perferences can't play the game without diversifying. Sometimes I wish I was this "Jack of all Trades" kind of player you describe so I could adjust to all the situations that WvW presents, but I always return to Revenant no matter what. I have four Revenants.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Telgum.6071

[Doctor Hide.6345]

7 minutes ago, Buran.3796 said:

   Closest thing here to that would be either Mesmer (has most of those weapons outside whips, mele and range, good mobility) or Holosmith (wery high keystroke x minute requirements, mixes up mele & ranged attacks, plenty of mobility).

 

     Funny enough, I have actually started being on my mesmer more lately compared to others because I like the virtuoso a lot. Reminded me most of a demon hunter with magic, but I may look more into it for the other elites again. As for Holo, I played that for a bit before Pmech came out. I like it, but I can't main it. I don't like engi tool switching a lot. Then again I was using Condi Holo which is a lot. I may check out PHolo to see if different.

     With what you said with infusion though for the second part, I think fear is a part of it as well. I fear that if I stick with a certain weapon that it will get nerfed in the future because it has happened in the past. I attach a lot of myself to that weapon theme due to reasons above that I can't really commit 100% of the time.

[Bunny.9834]

i dont. i’m an alt-holic. 

[AliamRationem.5172]

On 12/16/2022 at 3:41 PM, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

I seem to have a problem in games in which I can't stick to one class/job/profession. I am this way with all MMOs really. I am on one class and gear it out according to snowcrows or metabattle, and then I get the urge to play another class because it has something else I want at the moment. How do most people just stick with one and just settle down? I can't escape the Jack of all trades(professions) it seems and just be a master of one for the long run.

I don't see anything wrong with having different characters you enjoy.  If anything, it makes you more adaptable to changing circumstances be it balance shifts or whatever a group needs in the moment.  You're also likely a lot less susceptible to burnout from doing the same thing for too long.  

Honestly, I wish I weren't so particular.  I have the opposite issue where I tend to find something I like better than anything else and can't bring myself to play those other characters.  I have at least one of every class to 80 and everything I'd need to properly equip them for whatever purpose.  But I just play my weaver because nothing else feels right!

[voltaicbore.8012]

On 12/16/2022 at 5:17 PM, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

How do you get anything done then? Legit question.

Just do it - legit answer.

It seems you have most of your characters geared, take them into a fractal, raid, strike, whatever. Is the problem your lack of proficiency with the various classes? I wouldn't worry about it in your case. You already mentioned that you just take meta builds because you don't really want to figure out how the traits and class actually work. That, to me, sounds like you won't see dramatic improvement just by playing the class more - instead, you'd probably be just as well served by taking whatever class you're currently on into whatever content you want to do. You cared enough to get a meta build, meta gear, and hopefully read a little about the skill priority/rotation associated with them. I think you're overthinking it, you should be fine to just... do stuff.

What it sounds like is you just need to organize your efforts in a way that is immune to whatever class you feel like playing at the moment. I HATE spreadsheets in my gaming (I see more than my fair share of them for work purposes), but I cracked and made one to keep track of various legendary projects. Having a very complete legendary armory will very much take away the sting of hopping between alts.

[captrowdy.9561]

I’ve had the same problem in all mmos. I can never pick something to to stick with. Luckily this game is super alt friendly. I have one of each class. I have ones that I play more then others and that I’ll spend more time on getting gear for. 

[eXruina.4956]

it depends on what type of person you are, different strokes for different folks. 👌

 

and there's nothing wrong with having different preferences. just do what you're comfortable with.