Mesmer or Guardian main?

[Viteske.2698]

Kinda new player here, can’t decide what to main…between Mesmer and Guardian.

 

I like the Mesmer’s style, it’s fast and flashy but I have a soft spot for heavy armor…

 

Guardian feels slow… at least at lvl 20. 
I do like the whole paladin theme and the ability to buff and heal other players but I mostly play solo anyways.

I like heavy armor, AOE, healing and supporting others, ranged preferred.

 

Which of the 2 is better for solo, PVE gameplay?

 

Can’t decide between guardian or mesmer.. please elaborate which one would be better I would mainly do Open World and end game PVE (no PVP/WvW)

[Scalacious.4139]

1 hour ago, Viteske.2698 said:

I have a soft spot for heavy armor…

If it is only the armor that is holding you back, than you got always use outfits. There are a lot of outfits that look like heavy armor and that can be worn by any class and race, like this.

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

Guardian.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PWABw+t3lVw6YHMM2JO+KarNA-zRIYb8HGJVVYK4MAA-e

Here's a quick and dirty burn guard build for you. It'll roast packs of mobs in seconds. Damage is so good the heal skill i selected is one that feeds off it, that's how brutal the burns get.

At lvl 20 you haven't seen anything. Traits give a lot of power, especially to guardian, so early in the game the experience might be misleading.

[Viteske.2698]

Thanks for the build ! Looks fun!

what about Warrior vs Guardian any specific reason you’d pick Warrior > Guardian?

[Gaiawolf.8261]

Guardian and mesmer are the two professions I play the most. Here is my experience with them.

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/127398-best-solo-pve-open-world-classspecs/?do=findComment&comment=1850090

[draxynnic.3719]

Hrrmn. Both are fairly good? Mesmer is possibly a little better in open world: trailblazer/celestial mirage is pretty strong. Guardian is probably better in group content. But in either case, the differences is small enough that it's probably not a deciding factor.

From the parameters you give, though, I'd probably suggest guardian. It ticks heavy armour, AoE (mesmer tends to be more single-target focused due to how clones work, although there are exceptions, especially virtuoso), healing and supporting others (mesmer supports, but doesn't really heal too well), has okay range, and while it probably doesn't demonstrate it too much at level 20, it can have decent mobility, especially with Willbender (although you'll probably want to unlock Firebrand first).

Comparing to warrior...

Go with the guardian, based on your parameters. Warrior currently has poor enough ranged capabilities that many builds just leave it out even for open world use, generally lacks much AoE outside of melee cleave range, and even with quickness options added, if you have healing and support options in mind, you're much better off going with guardian.

If you do get the opportunity to build a second character up, having a guardian and a mesmer makes for a pretty strong combination. Mesmer gives a couple of strong ranged DPS builds (guardian can do that, but guardian builds tend to want to be in melee most of the time) and a source of alacrity, something which guardian doesn't really do well at. If you have both, about the only endgame PvE roles you'll have trouble filling are healing alacrity (usually filled by mechanist engineer, druid ranger, or tempest elementalist) and certain encounter-specific roles.

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

4 hours ago, Viteske.2698 said:

Thanks for the build ! Looks fun!

what about Warrior vs Guardian any specific reason you’d pick Warrior > Guardian?

If it's solo play both can own, Guardian is far better as team player (can be dedicated healer, warrior cannot).
That being said warrior can land some brutal counterblows on the guard in PvE:

 

• Awesome animations. What warrior lacks in particles he makes up with raw feeling of power when he swings his weapons.  You can feel the hurt!
• Only profession that can share serious quickness (highly desired boon) on core build. Anyone else has to dive into a very specific e-spec to do that. Warrior can share quickness no matter what spec he plays (elite or core).
• Dark Souls profession - warrior is very much about player skill. Play it right and you'll be dpsing 24/7 when many others would have to retreat. Misplay and you'll quickly land face to the ground.
• Axe, Axe Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaxe!

Edited February 15 by ZeftheWicked.3076