Struggling with professions.

[Jacob.2685]

I'm looking to give GW2 a serious try. I've always bought the expansions and used my boosts but never really dove into it. I have a 80 ranger and warrior and an 80 boost from End of Dragons currently on my account. I'm looking to start from level 1 and do a full play through. I'm just wondering which profession has the least amount of button/ease of play. I can handle the 1-5, and then 6-10 typically as buffs get pressed occasionally. Start throwing in F1-F4 and it's a guarantee I'm not using 60% of the skills I have. Never-mind weapon switching mixed in there. Is there a class that that simplifies everything or maybe a lot of skills being passive? Let me know what you think my best options are. 

Thanks. 

[Linken.6345]

Minion necromancer.

[Jacob.2685]

2 minutes ago, Linken.6345 said:

Minion necromancer.

Thanks, I'll look into it! 

[MarzAttakz.9608]

Definitely Necro and all it's especs (except Scourge) since you can go full minions (7,8,9,0) and your Shroud (F1) replaces 1-5 skills so minimal F1-FX inputs. Optionally Revenant/Herald/Renegade/Vindicator (more F and 6-0 interactions than Necro). Power Mechanist has subjectively the fewest key inputs though.

Look up low intensity builds (LI Builds) on the various build sites, watch a few YouTube videos too before you decide.

I'm glad you've stated you're going to forego using the booster because, whilst tedious, doing 1-80 in my opinion is fundamental to learning the foundation of a class.

Good luck in your decision and godspeed on your journey.

[Jacob.2685]

7 minutes ago, MarzAttakz.9608 said:

Definitely Necro and all it's especs (except Scourge) since you can go full minions (7,8,9,0) and your Shroud (F1) replaces 1-5 skills so minimal F1-FX inputs. Optionally Revenant/Herald/Renegade/Vindicator (more F and 6-0 interactions than Necro). Power Mechanist has subjectively the fewest key inputs though.

Look up low intensity builds (LI Builds) on the various build sites, watch a few YouTube videos too before you decide.

I'm glad you've stated you're going to forego using the booster because, whilst tedious, doing 1-80 in my opinion is fundamental to learning the foundation of a class.

Good luck in your decision and godspeed on your journey.

Thanks, MarzAttakz.  Low intensity builds is defiantly what I'm looking for! I think using the boosts before was what was putting me off and making me leave the game. To overwhelmed by just being thrown into it. Taking things slow this time for sure!

[MarzAttakz.9608]

3 minutes ago, Jacob.2685 said:

Thanks, MarzAttakz.  Low intensity builds is defiantly what I'm looking for! I think using the boosts before was what was putting me off and making me leave the game. To overwhelmed by just being thrown into it. Taking things slow this time for sure!

Yeah the 80 boosts throw you in far too deeply and really put you at a disadvantage.

I've used them in occassion when wanting to fast track a class I'd already played but deleted. Eventually I just settled on having one of each (geared variously) and parking the ones you don't play regularly at various places provides decent "passive" income.

Regarding key inputs, don't be hesitant to remap your key bindings. Having mained an Elementalist for a decade now, I'm very familiar with the Carpal Tunnel effects from default keybinds.

Mine are now remapped as follows:

1-6 bound to Razer Naga side buttons

F1-F6 bound to alt+1, alt+2 etc

0 (Ultimate) bound to Q

7 bound to E

8 bound to R

9 bound to F (always a targetted utility)

CTRL bound to toggle Action Camera

Alt+G bound to toggle instant ground target

It results in slightly slower key presses for your F skills but doesn't destroy your wrists trying to contort your hand to reach F1-F6 or 6-0.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

Any class with full signet builds can do this as well. Typically it works best on pet classes (Ranger, or Engineer with Machinist spec from End of Dragons), and ranged weapons.

 

With full damage gear you can get some very high auto-attack DPS rates; up to 10k or more.

Edited March 2, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Jacob.2685]

5 minutes ago, SoftFootpaws.9134 said:

nd ranged weapons.

 

5 minutes ago, SoftFootpaws.9134 said:

full damage gear you can get some very high auto-

 

24 minutes ago, MarzAttakz.9608 said:

Regarding key inputs, don't be hesitant to remap your key bindings. Having mained an Elementalist for a decade now, I'm very familiar with the Carpal Tunnel effects from default keybinds

 

Solid advance! I just remapped everything and it makes it seem a little more manageable. Now it's just 1-6, alt 1-6, and shift 1-6. Life seems easier now. 

[Jacob.2685]

12 minutes ago, SoftFootpaws.9134 said:

Any class with full signet builds can do this as well. Typically it works best on pet classes (Ranger, or Engineer with Machinist spec from End of Dragons), and ranged weapons.

 

With full damage gear you can get some very high auto-attack DPS rates; up to 10k or more.

I defiantly want to look into the Machinist build. I made it to level 22 on my Engineer before being overwhelmed but I really enjoyed the Turret build. Just wish they respawned faster. 

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

15 minutes ago, Jacob.2685 said:

I defiantly want to look into the Machinist build. I made it to level 22 on my Engineer before being overwhelmed but I really enjoyed the Turret build. Just wish they respawned faster. 

You can pick them up to reduce the cooldown, and Machinist has Alacrity further reducing it by 20%. Diviner+Celestial Machinist who uses Pack runes and turrets generates a lot of permanent buffs.

Edited March 2, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Gibson.4036]

Bounding dodger daredevil largely uses dodge and two skills.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

I'd recommend thief.  For leveling up, it is pretty simple.  Equip Sword + Pistol or Dagger + Pistol use Black Powder (weapon skill 5)) when enemies get close, and then auto-attack them to death.  This may sound a bit lazy at first, but thieves have some of the highest damaging unassisted auto attacks in the game.  Black Powder will blind all approaching enemies and keep them blinded, which will make anything without a defiance bar miss you over and over again.  For utilities, you can equip a bunch of signets.  The thief does have some very powerful defensive and mobility based utilities, so if you start struggling with a full signet build be sure to give the others a glance.  It's almost guaranteed there's something there that solve your problem.

There's many differences between the main-hand weapons.  Sword has a blink + condi cleanse, cleaves for 3, inflicts weakness on auto attack, and it has Pistol Whip for a quick stun + evade.  The dagger cleaves for 2, inflicts bleeding and poison on auto attack, has a leap attack that inflicts high damage on low-health targets, and a blink + blind attack for its dual skill.  The advantages to sword are that it has better defenses, cleave, and a wider toolbox, while it's disadvantage is that it does lower single-target damage.  The dagger cleaves for less and doesn't have as many useful tricks, but Heartseeker and the stealth skill Backstab can hit very hard.  For leveling purposes I'd recommend the sword.  For the weapon swap, either a main-hand pistol or the shortbow are good options.  The Pistol + Pistol combo does high single target damage with Unload, while the shortbow is better at tagging enemies with its bouncing arrows.

For F-skills, the thief only has two.  F1 is steal, which teleports you to an enemy and gives you a stole skill based on what kind of enemy it was.  F2... uses that stolen skill.  There's a lot of different traits that are tied to steal that let it do a bunch of additional things, and generally it is a good idea to use steal fairly regularly.  Most stolen skills are fire and forget, with some having tactical use, but those you'll just have to learn along the way.  

 

[Buran.3796]

19 hours ago, Jacob.2685 said:

 Never-mind weapon switching mixed in there. Is there a class that that simplifies everything or maybe a lot of skills being passive? Let me know what you think my best options are. 

Thanks. 

   In the light armor class tier, I would say that leveling Mesmer is the easiest profession, followed by Necromancer and Elementalist. Mesmer with sfatt + greatsword fights at range and has access to plenty of crowd control skills, with clones acting as a barrier ebtween you and the foes. Necros have higher HP + shroud and minions, buth they aren't as spammable as clones. Once you unlock Mirage you don't even need to swap weapon since staff + staff is enough to solo almost every content in the game (outside things that require more people for the mechanics). Ele at the start are frail (low HP) and a lot of their skills are mele, which is riskier, plus needs a lot of keystrokes to be played competently.

  I'm not sure about medium armor professions; on paper Ranger has pets to tank, but having to unlock their pets can be a bit annoying. Thieves and Engieners need higher keystroke inputs, albeit rifle Mechanist is amongst the easiest, layed down specs to play while yawning. I have to manualy level some mid armor professions again...

   In the heavy armor department, I would say that Revenant is easier to play than Guardian, and Guardian than Warrior. Warrior has high HP but requires plenty of focus and inputs in combat, and is mostly mele (again: risky). Guardian have symbols to combine AoE damage and healings, but their base HP is low and you can end easily mauled. Their Firebrand spec is easier; the Willbender is demanding. Revenants have mid HP value, but with Jalis + Mallyx they stack tons of cc, damage mitigation, re-sustain and passive AoE damage. Mace + Axe + Embrace the Darkness is pretty much all you need to safely rise a character soloing open world. Condi Vindicator is not as passive and doesn't deliver as much dps as rigle Mech or double staff Mirage, but can tank and kill the Balrog of Moria, with blinded eyes.

[PsychoSomatic.6728]

Wouldn't suggest Mech because to get your mech damage you have to deal with F keys.

[Linken.6345]

40 minutes ago, PsychoSomatic.6728 said:

Wouldn't suggest Mech because to get your mech damage you have to deal with F keys.

Not as power mechanist put all 3 on auto cast.

[that baby stealing dingo.7]

I've been playing for years, and also like classes that are mechanically simpler to execute (in general). Any of these should do:

I. Minion Neco, as mentioned. Other Necro builds can be straightforward, as well. 

II. Warrior with Banners. You drop the banners, giving you and allies continued boons over time, and just attack with your weapon buttons. Other Warrior builds can be simple.

III. Most Ranger builds. 

IV. Many Thief builds are very straightforward to play, but require practiced timing for attacks and dodges. Lower health pool. 

[Lithril Ashwalker.6230]

Thief is honestly very forgiving in pve if you.understand you need to dise gage then re-engage from stealth blinds or evades. It's truly an adaptable class if you learn the tricks as each weapon skill you use can be used without cool downs given u watch initiative regeneration. Makes for some very nice plays despite being an underdog class

[Nabbut.7480]

On 3/2/2023 at 6:25 AM, Jacob.2685 said:

I made it to level 22 on my Engineer before being overwhelmed

To avoid that, you need to stay longer in the starting areas before moving out, and delay/space over time the story because it is very taxing.

Losing all resolve and quitting again/keep playing like it's an exhausted slave's job, or patiently graze and move on only when feeling ready - that's the choice of the open world player.

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by SpiderZ.9146

[LadyMari.7920]

33 Easy Builds to Reach 30k DPS on All Classes in Guild Wars 2 in 2023 (once you get your specialization)

Masel is an angel and has great videos (especially for the mesmer specializations) that help simplify gameplay while you learn.

Edited March 9, 2023 by LadyMari.7920
addl. info

[Joncal.9623]

On 3/2/2023 at 2:51 AM, Gibson.4036 said:

Bounding dodger daredevil largely uses dodge and two skills.

literally the worst class to recommend for a newbie. It's so squishy (but fun! my main) I sometime feel it rivals elementalists when it comes to floor tanking.

[Gibson.4036]

6 minutes ago, Joncal.9623 said:

literally the worst class to recommend for a newbie. It's so squishy (but fun! my main) I sometime feel it rivals elementalists when it comes to floor tanking.

Huh. That wasn’t my experience at all. Breezed through the story and open world on it. The rotation is so simple, mobility so strong, and blinds and evades so plentiful, all you really need to think about is positioning.

I will say that the guides I’ve seen tell you to spam weakness and dodge, but I found the safest, as long as you aren’t dealing with a break bar, is just to reapply your AoE blind whenever it goes away and auto and dodge.

Edited March 9, 2023 by Gibson.4036

[Joncal.9623]

Just now, Gibson.4036 said:

Huh. That wasn’t my experience at all. Breezed through the story on it. The rotation is so simple, mobility so strong, and blinds and evades so plentiful, all you really need to think about is positioning.

I will say that the guides I’ve seen tell you to spam weakness and dodge, but I found the safest, as long as you aren’t dealing with a break bar, is just to reapply your AoE blind whenever it goes away and auto and dodge.

That's good and all, however are you talking about one-on-one situations?
Might I add that I were strictly talking about core thief, I should have been more specific.

I personally feel like AoE situations makes me sweat some, even after all these years as a DD.
Also I can't comment on PvP/WvW/competitive gameplay whatosever. I am a free target there. 😂

[Gibson.4036]

2 minutes ago, Joncal.9623 said:

That's good and all, however are you talking about one-on-one situations?
Might I add that I were strictly talking about core thief, I should have been more specific.

I personally feel like AoE situations makes me sweat some, even after all these years as a DD.
Also I can't comment on PvP/WvW/competitive gameplay whatosever. I am a free target there. 😂

Yes, you are right about core thief and leveling. Like Mesmer, it takes a while to get going, and can be a struggle early on compared to other professions that now everything down right out of the gate.

Dust strike blinds 3 enemies, I believe? And with how slow most of them attack, you can keep it up indefinitely without running out of initiative. Between that, all the dodges, ease of repositioning, and the cleave, I never had trouble with groups of mobs.

Breakbar foes do take a lot of patience, moving in with staff to do damage, then out when low on stamina to p/p kite and wear down the bar.

[that baby stealing dingo.7]

I will suggest first of all to stop using level 80 boosts. Try leveling up each class (or at least a few) from 1-80 the old fashioned way. You will learn as you go, and it will make the game slow down for you, as you learn the mechanics. 

 

Now. 

 

Banner Warrior might be up your alley. You do have to target the banners when placing them, but then you just forget them and go back to fighting with 1-5 buttons. A Shout Warrior is even simpler, because Shouts require no targeting (they also have the benefit of insta-cast, several of them). Either way, you're also supporting allies, which is nice. 

 

And of course, the class mechanic for Warrior (Burst skill) is among the simplest, and least-buttony mechanics in the game. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by that baby stealing dingo.7
Clarification.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

On 3/9/2023 at 5:14 AM, Gibson.4036 said:

Yes, you are right about core thief and leveling. Like Mesmer, it takes a while to get going, and can be a struggle early on compared to other professions that now everything down right out of the gate.

Dust strike blinds 3 enemies, I believe? And with how slow most of them attack, you can keep it up indefinitely without running out of initiative. Between that, all the dodges, ease of repositioning, and the cleave, I never had trouble with groups of mobs.

Breakbar foes do take a lot of patience, moving in with staff to do damage, then out when low on stamina to p/p kite and wear down the bar.

It really doesn't take that long.  All professions unlock weapon skill 5 at level 8, which for pistol off-hand is black powder.  Black powder trivializes nearly everything the thief will have to deal with aside from champions.  There's only two professions that can get something sooner:  Necromancer gets shroud at level 5, and rangers always start with their pet.  Until then, sword auto attack applies near 100% weakness uptime, which reduces incoming damage by 25%.  While the other two have larger health pools, thief hits significantly harder with their basic weapons.