Experienced MMO/Beginner GW2 Player with 1 Arm looking for class/build advice

[TheOneArmedKnight.6217]

Good morning GW2 community, hope you're all doing well!

As the says, I am an experienced MMORPG/RPG enthusiast who just so happens to have use of only 1 arm due to a physical disability. Without getting into too much detail on the latter but enough to give you a background of understanding, my condition essentially means that games like Elder Scrolls Online, Runes of Magic (in combination with adaptive equipment) were my gaming bread and butter due to their high level of class customization options (to create easily accessible classes) - something that GW2 offers and that has always appealed to me.

That said, I've tried again and again over the years to find a nice combination in the game to help me feel a solid flow of game-play, but I've always come up short - even after testing out many professions and looking up guides and videos. I WANT to play this game - especially since RPGs with high levels of skill customization are far and few between; I think I just need some help/direction in what class/skills to pick so that I can have any easier time with movement/combat and overworld content. I am aware of the talent calculator and using the PVP lobby to test out higher level skills. The struggle resides in having a comfortable time from the start and mid game. So I humbly come to you, the community in hopes of perhaps collectively coming up with a solid goal and game-plan for my level 1 - 80 experience. Just please respect, as a final note, that I value the ROAD to max level in MMOs, and do not need or want the solution to be "Just boost to 80". I want to experience and grow with the game as I have with all the others I've played. With that out of the way, below are some basic things I try to look for in general MMORPG class builds to help with certain aspects of my condition:

1. MOVEMENT FLEXIBILITY VIA SKILLS - Skills like Charge, Leap, or Teleport skills

I look for these kind of skills to help increase combat flow and movement across the battlefield. By having one or two of these types of skills in a build, it allows me to not have to pause as often between stopping my movement and engaging an enemy. These types of skills in the past, have also helped me cancel out disabling effects on my character, which can be a bonus.

2. STATIONARY BUILDS - Aggressive Warriors or Ranged Attacker Archtypes
If I can't opt for #1, this is my second go-to when looking for accessibility in class builds. Classes that DON'T need to travel up close to hit anything, but can stay still and dish out damage from either far away or use taunts to get enemies to come to my location. This strategy takes a bit longer then #1, but can still be fun if the skills are fun to use when the enemy gets in my location.

3. HEAVY/MEDIUM ARMORED CHARACTERS - Warrior, Guardian, Vindicator, Ranger, Engineer, Thief (in GW2 terms)
This goes hand in hand usually with #2. I only have limited space on my adaptive equipment for skill commands and movement options, so when possible, I opt to find classes that can soak up damage, so I can free up keys on my equipment for more skills in lieu of more movement and dodging - as I can't move and attack at the same time with 1 hand. This if possible is something I look for regardless of my weapon choice (such as great weapons vs, shields, vs bows)  just to ensure survivability.

THOUGHTS:

With all that in mind, what sort of profession and weapon combination do you think would embody the above the most? Feel free to think outside the box, even if it doesn't tick every one of the above categories. I'm really curious to hear and see what others might think. While your suggestions need not be super detail-oriented, I would very much appreciate a basic breakdown of class and weapon choice for your ideas so I know what to look for as I level. And feel free to name your suggested build/idea for better organization. I'm happy to try out more than one and maybe even collab/play with some of you if that's of interest to anyone.

Journey on my friends, and thank you in advance for your time and ears o7

-The1ArmedKnight

Edited March 17, 2023 by TheOneArmedKnight.6217

[Gibson.4036]

To note, medium/heavy armor doesn't equate directly with the ability to soak up damage in GW2.

Two classes immediately thought of regarding your number 1 are Dagger/Pistol Deadeye, and Sword/Sword Mesmer.

Dagger/Pistol Deadeye will mark targets, shadowstep to them with Pistol 3, Shadow shot, knife them down, then repeat. As long as you don't run out of mobs in range 900, you can do very little movement and just keep teleporting from target to target. You also have heartseeker which is a shorter range leap.

Sword/Sword Mesmer (also Chronomancer) has Sword 3, Illusionary Leap. You summon a clone at your target's location, then press the skill again to swap places with your clone so you are now in melee range. It then has Sword 2, Blurred Frenzy, which does a bunch of melee strikes while also making you invulnerable because you are evading.

As to your second option, ranged, Mechanist, both condition (pistols) and power (rifle) is getting a lot of attention right now for being very strong, simple to play, and safe. Rifle has a gap closer on 5, jump shot.

Also, Staff/Staff Mirage has long been one of the safest range builds in the game. Rather than a gap closer, you have a built in kite on your weapons skills, which lets you port backwards to keep distance. Mirage gets a lot of evasion, and their dodges don't move them away; they simply blur in place to evade damage.

Condi Virtuoso is also getting attention right now as a high damage, survivable, long range build.

[Padrion.7382]

Not gonna lie, this game will be hard with one hand. I'm a little skeptical about the dagger/pistol thief as backstabs need a bit of extra movement. You could, of course, beat most of the game by just standing in your black powder smoke field auto attacking but that is not very satisfying and doesn't work vs. champion level mobs.

 

From the classes I know I would go with guardian. Has a lot of self heal, is quite forgiving if you mess up your timings and does a decent amount of self centered area damage by placing symbols on the ground. You can also support others by just standing next to them.

[Gibson.4036]

37 minutes ago, Padrion.7382 said:

Not gonna lie, this game will be hard with one hand. I'm a little skeptical about the dagger/pistol thief as backstabs need a bit of extra movement. You could, of course, beat most of the game by just standing in your black powder smoke field auto attacking but that is not very satisfying and doesn't work vs. champion level mobs.

You're definitely right about the champ level mobs. D/P Deadeye is not the kind of thing I'd go solo champs on. But if it's just going around doing open world content, it has the advantage of "port to mob, knife it down, repeat".

[Cuks.8241]

I would stay away from guardian because it has low health pool is dependant on active defenses and mostly melee.

First that come to mind are pet classes.

Ranger can build itself incredibly tanky while still have decent dmg. Power Axe/axe is a nice ranged option that can do nice dmg with little input. You have a nice backward dash utility for easy reposition. 

Necro is notoriously tanky with pets. Ranged. Low mobility though. No straightforward teleports. 

Mechanist engineer power rifle is the staple of low intensity, has a golem pet that you put on auto cast and go to lunch and nice teleport for reposition. Also rocket boots, 2 long range dashes. Very good option. 

Mesmer, well maybe staff mirage. Mirage has a big advantage maybe. You can have one long range teleport and three short range on lo cd. You can reposition a lot just with teleports. The problem with mes is first you need to get to mirage elite spec. Mirage also has insane amount of evades. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Cuks.8241

[Cuks.8241]

Are you perhaps using racing pedals as extra inputs? I've heard of players with disabilities using those.

[TheOneArmedKnight.6217]

Thanks for the input so far everyone!

To answer your question Cuks, I have two things I rotate in terms of accessible equipment. 1. A 12 button mouse for primarily simultaneous but minimal movement and input ease (for more faster paced games, and (name escapes me) a big macro keypad with around 20 something  button input options, though those actions would need to be pre-programmed in ahead of time and certain programs - like some games may not always be compatible with it. The mouse is from Razer, the keypad is something that was special ordered when I was little.

Best way I can explain it's function is similar to how a developer might program a character to "jump at this point when this button is pressed" through basic code - handy for photoshop, illustrator for crafting design comands or when writing but not really sure how it'd work for MMOs too much. Which is why I usually default to the mouse. I have heard of race pedals being used before, though never used them before.

But back to your guys' suggestions

So far from your explanations, it sounds like Mesmer suggestions, pet skills and possibly Machinist might work out with the mentioned weapon combos. To add to the top of my discussion, I don't really mind if I don't utilize specializations too much, as its really all about just finding something that flows and sticking to it. That said, it'd be a bonus if whatever i end up going with for low/mid levels, profession wise, would have a specialization with similar flow to what was played before; similar playstyles to reduce learning curves/muscle memory trials. Would it be awesome? Sure, but again not a requirement in my book.

But that said, this is something to start with I think. I feel a little less lost with your suggestions lol

There's so much to choose from even after playing it in/out for years, it was a confusing weapon system to navigate when trying to think about it from more than just a "That looks cool I want to try that" standpoint. Feel free to keep suggesting ideas either for classes or concepts, I enjoy trying things out. I'll update this post when I find some things that I take to easily based on your inputs.
 

[Elricht Kaltwind.8796]

On one hand, sword guardian is really great for this and the heavy armour might prove a little more forgiving if you can't maneuver out of the way quickly.

[TheOneArmedKnight.6217]

Do you mean 1H guardian or 2H, Elricht?

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

There was another thread made on this subject awhile ago.  I'll link to my post in that thread.  

EDIT: Wait... there's been two threads about this subject.  Here's my post in that other thread, too.  

Edited March 18, 2023 by Blood Red Arachnid.2493

[Pirogen.9561]

Best I know of is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EKE0ZWKqdg

• Its for PvE-Open world. Not good for fractal/raid. OK, it is, but only if you solo it.
• Its a hybrid reaper., but more on power side.
• Pretty tanky
• Most of damage (and buffs) comes from shroud. Just press 1. Press 2 if you want to close the gap. Double 3 and/or 5 for CC
• So press 1. Everything else is situational utility
• Dagger is used to get into shroud ASAP

Edited March 18, 2023 by Pirogen.9561

[Zyreva.1078]

1. In case you didn't know already - you can move with your mouse by holding down both left and right mouse button at the same time. Doesn't allow strafing/moving backwards without additional input, but could still be helpful.

2. Avoid melee builds, those typically require much more movement in combat than ranged builds. Movement skills don't really make up for this.This also means warrior and guardian are probably the worst options for you, due to a lack of good ranged builds.

Power rifle mechanist and condition staff mirage should be your easiest options. The former pretty much allows you to autoattack your way through most content, the latter might require a little bit more imput but is still quite easy and safe to play, with decent mobility and the ability to dodge on the spot, so you don't have to worry about dodging into a bad position while not using any movement key (default dodge direction is backwards).

But even other classes -  that might be considered "hard to play", such as ele - have relatively easy ranged builds that could work for you. So there are plenty of other options, if you don't like those already mentioned. For example, if you prefer to play with heavy armor - as it is appropriate for a knight - you could look into revenant (shortbow renegade).

Edited March 18, 2023 by Zyreva.1078

[Padrion.7382]

On 3/18/2023 at 10:29 AM, Zyreva.1078 said:

2. Avoid melee builds, those typically require much more movement in combat than ranged builds. Movement skills don't really make up for this.This also means warrior and guardian are probably the worst options for you, due to a lack of good ranged builds.

 

That is really not my impression so far. How much you have to move in combat is rather a function of how much damage you can take and a squishy shooting build has to move A LOT more than a tanky melee build (although a tanky shooting build would probably be ideal). I notice this on my rifle dead eye where everything is fine as long as I keep constantly repositioning myself vs. my mace/shield guardian who can facetank pretty much  anything without ever dodging. Not saying this is the thing to go for (I never played mechanist or ranger), just saying being melee isn't that much of a downside.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Padrion.7382
typo

[Zyreva.1078]

7 hours ago, Padrion.7382 said:

 

That is really not my impression so far. How much you have to move in combat is rather a function of how much damage you can take and a squishy shooting build has to move A LOT more than a tanky melee build (although a tanky shooting build would probably be ideal). I notice this on my rifle dead eye where everything is fine as long as I keep constantly repositioning myself vs. my mace/shield guardian who can facetank pretty much  anything without ever dodging. Not saying this is the thing to go for (I never played mechanist or ranger), just saying being melee hast that much of a downside.

Tanky builds have to move less than squishy builds, but that applies regardless of range (melee builds are not innately more tanky). Melee builds have to move whenever the target moves or when fighting multiple ranged enemies, ranged can just sit there in those cases.