New player class choice

[Dark Viper.2378]

 

Ok so, I kinda need help on choosing the class, after doing alot of research, the most appealing classes were Guardian, Revenant, and Thief Deadeye. 

I come from FFXIV and being a tank is like a onetrick for me, i love being the tank but also do damage, and since being a tank is not really a thing in GW2, it took me to something close to it like guardian and Revenant. Only new thing is the Thief Deadeye, its because I really like sniping as well, if FFXIV had a sniping class I wouldve played it as well.

BUT, I am a new player overall, so i kinda need help on picking 1 of these 3 classes to move forward with, for sure ill eventually play with them all but who should I start with.

(Some of u will say play what i like best, well i like all 3 which is why i need help)

Thanks a bunch

Edited July 24, 2023 by Dark Viper.2378

[Puffer Fish.1796]

Since you're new from ffxiv, and that game has a very different combat system than gw2 what with the gCD system, I'd go Guardian. It's thematically similar to Paladin if Paladin had more group heals and fire effects, it doesn't have excessive complexity, and it can easily survive almost anything once you get the hang of it.

However, it can be a bit squishy at lower levels, before you unlock your good defense skills. Don't get discouraged if you feel weak at first. The journey to level 80 is only like 1/4 of the game at this point in its life.

[Dark Viper.2378]

.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Dark Viper.2378

[Dark Viper.2378]

3 minutes ago, Puffer Fish.1796 said:

Since you're new from ffxiv, and that game has a very different combat system than gw2 what with the gCD system, I'd go Guardian. It's thematically similar to Paladin if Paladin had more group heals and fire effects, it doesn't have excessive complexity, and it can easily survive almost anything once you get the hang of it.

However, it can be a bit squishy at lower levels, before you unlock your good defense skills. Don't get discouraged if you feel weak at first. The journey to level 80 is only like 1/4 of the game at this point in its life.

well we are in a bit of a pickle then, since buyibg the old expansions came with a free upgrade

[mikko.4013]

7 minutes ago, Dark Viper.2378 said:

Well we are in a bit of a pickle then, since after buying the old expansions, it came with a free lvl 80 upgrade…

If you are new to gw2, I will strongly suggest that you don't use lvl80 booster for your first character. Boosting to 80 will make you skip many steps, which could help you get a better knowledge of your profession/class.

As for your first question, Guardian is the most versatile profession if you have HoT/PoF expansion. You can play it as pure DPS class, pure Healer, boon quickness DPS, tank (yes gw2 does use tanks in raids and in some strikes).

Revenant is very powerful and versatile too, but requires "mana-management".

Thief is one of the most demanding class, skill wise, imho..

My 2 cents : just try these 3 professions up to lvl20, and you will know which one you prefer.
Leveling up to 80 is pretty fast in gw2 anyway.

Edited July 24, 2023 by mikko.4013

[Dark Viper.2378]

2 minutes ago, mikko.4013 said:

If you are new to gw2, I will strongly suggest that you don't use lvl80 booster for your first character.

As for your first question, Guardian is the most versatile profession if you have HoT/PoF expansion. You can play it as pure DPS class, pure Healer, boon quickness DPS, tank (yes gw2 does use tanks in raids and in some strikes).

Revenant is very powerful and versatile too, but requires "mana-management".

Thief is one of the most demanding class, skill wise, imho..

My 2 cents : just try these 3 professions up to lvl20, and you will know which one you prefer.
Leveling up to 80 is pretty fast in gw2 anyway.

i understand that professions gets divided into subclasses, will i get to see theif deadeye at 20?

[Randulf.7614]

Just now, Dark Viper.2378 said:

i understand that professions gets divided into subclasses, will i get to see theif deadeye at 20?

Elite classes require level 80, the relevant expansion (PoF for Deadeye) and a certain number of hero points to unlock (30 to start)

[Zyreva.1078]

4 hours ago, Dark Viper.2378 said:

i understand that professions gets divided into subclasses, will i get to see theif deadeye at 20?

If you want to try out elite specialisations (or even core classes) without leveling a char, you can do so by entering the pvp lobby. All skills, traits and specs (as long you own the respective expansion) are automatically unlocked there and there are a few target golems and npc to slap, so you can get a basic feeling for all the different skills.

[Nihlys.4685]

6 hours ago, Dark Viper.2378 said:

 

Ok so, I kinda need help on choosing the class, after doing alot of research, the most appealing classes were Guardian, Revenant, and Thief Deadeye. 

I come from FFXIV and being a tank is like a onetrick for me, i love being the tank but also do damage, and since being a tank is not really a thing in GW2, it took me to something close to it like guardian and Revenant. Only new thing is the Thief Deadeye, its because I really like sniping as well, if FFXIV had a sniping class I wouldve played it as well.

BUT, I am a new player overall, so i kinda need help on picking 1 of these 3 classes to move forward with, for sure ill eventually play with them all but who should I start with.

(Some of u will say play what i like best, well i like all 3 which is why i need help)

Thanks a bunch

For my two-cents, i'd say that you should make all three of those characters. It doesn't take very long to gain a couple levels, unlock some skills and get a feel for the base-line of the class and there are plenty vendors and drops to get different weapons to try too. You can also jump over into the PvP lobby and it'll unlock all of the skills and stats while you're there so you can try out different builds. I'd say trying all three because you can really be surprised by what 'clicks' with you in this game and the classes are so different that something you might not have liked in other mmos could be a lot of fun for you here. 

I'd also recommend not using your lvl 80 boost until you're sure you want that character to be level 80. It's A LOT of unlocks dumped on you all at once, so if you're not sure what you want to do with that character, then it can easily get overwhelming. It's also worth noting that the boost will unlock all of the BASE specs, but not any of the elite specs - you'll still have to go to the expansion areas or farm WvW stuff to unlock those. 

However, if you're SURE you want to boost to 80 and are fine with sorting out the build all at once, instead of piece by piece as you level up, then feel free to boost. It'll make it easier to blast through the story so you can still get used to your character on easier content, you'll be up-to-date on the story beats for the post lvl-80 stuff in the expansions and it allows you to just focus on what you want to do instead of having to grind hearts and events for levels. I bounced off GW2 for YEARS because I hated grinding heart events (the GW versions of quests in other MMOS). But once I boosted a character and got to just focus on the story content, learning my build, crafting, jumping into dungeons, only doing the hearts i was interested in, etc, I started legitimately having more fun with this game than virtually any other mmo i'd played.

As another one that's played both, it's hard to compare to FF to GW.  FF is a standard mmo with very clear-cut roles, but for GW2, while different specs in different classes excel at different things, they're all kind of capable of doing everything and they're all kind of greedy. For instance, some specs can heal others decently, some can't heal others at all, but every class can heal themselves and you'll find that YOU are virtually always going to be in charge of your own healing. There are classes and specs that are absolutely tankier than others, but your class can change so much based on the build your using that even the ones you expect to be glass-cannons can be super tanky. Same with dps, as some classes and specs are objectively better than others for big numbers, but you'll find that builds and player skill go a long way in closing the gap. 

[bruakumfd.4817]

Former Guardian main here. I would recommend that because even if somebody coughs on you, you have a better chance of coming back. Yeah, I'm still not sure why Revs are so flimsy when they should have one of the highest armor ratings in the game.

Still, the only downside is the gameplay isn't the most exciting. Oh, and that level boost is meant for when you're more experienced and you have a profession that you know you like. 

[SlayerXX.7138]

6 hours ago, Dark Viper.2378 said:

Ok so, I kinda need help on choosing the class, after doing alot of research, the most appealing classes were Guardian, Revenant, and Thief Deadeye. 

I come from FFXIV and being a tank is like a onetrick for me, i love being the tank but also do damage, and since being a tank is not really a thing in GW2, it took me to something close to it like guardian and Revenant. Only new thing is the Thief Deadeye, its because I really like sniping as well, if FFXIV had a sniping class I wouldve played it as well.

Pick thief. Equip 2 Pistols. While leveling spend points in deception to unlock "hide in shadows" and "blinding powder" which are easy stealth buttons. That is basically a watered down version of deadeye you can unlock before level 15, in maybe an hour or so of leveling. If you like that, keep at it and unlock deadeye at level 80. PoF expansion needed to unlock, but you do not need to play PoF maps to unlock deadeye.

Tanking is not a thing and most damage is aoe so being a "tank" doesn't really translate to GW2. If you want to be a player that never dies in Open world Revenant, Herald specifically is an excellent choice. But thanks to how stats and boons work in GW 2, everything can be a tank. Even a thief, can be build to be quite tanky with smart stat and trait choices.  Guardian is probably the best healer/support to keep people alive, but I'm personally not a fan of the class.

Would be nice to know what game mode you plan to partake in, because that matters a lot. 

Edited July 24, 2023 by SlayerXX.7138

[mikko.4013]

7 hours ago, Dark Viper.2378 said:

i understand that professions gets divided into subclasses, will i get to see theif deadeye at 20?

No, you won't see Deadeye at lvl20, but you will have a good flavor of gw2 thief.

As some other people already answered, PvP lobby would be the way to "test" deadeye without having to do full lvling.

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

8 hours ago, Dark Viper.2378 said:

 

Ok so, I kinda need help on choosing the class, after doing alot of research, the most appealing classes were Guardian, Revenant, and Thief Deadeye. 

I come from FFXIV and being a tank is like a onetrick for me, i love being the tank but also do damage, and since being a tank is not really a thing in GW2, it took me to something close to it like guardian and Revenant. Only new thing is the Thief Deadeye, its because I really like sniping as well, if FFXIV had a sniping class I wouldve played it as well.

BUT, I am a new player overall, so i kinda need help on picking 1 of these 3 classes to move forward with, for sure ill eventually play with them all but who should I start with.

(Some of u will say play what i like best, well i like all 3 which is why i need help)

Thanks a bunch

I disagree with your selections, given you said you like tanking in FFXIV.
So let's try this from that angle FFXIV tanks and rough GW2 equivalents.

1. Dark Knight -> Reaper.

Reaper uses a 2h sword as it's specialization weapon which is slow but hits hard and is dark themed. Life stealing is also necro's core mechanic, so again transition from Dark Knight should be easy. He can even create his own shields (Blood Bank trait) if you need it.
Reaper excels as tanky dps that can dish massive amounts of pain as well as take them. That applies to both solo and group scenarios.

2. Warrior - Warrior.

GW2 warrior is a different beast than FFXIV one but the general theme is still there.
Strong, sturdy purely physical fighter that prefers offense to defense.

If you loved spamming fell cleaves, than Berserker is for you with it's main hand axe burst - decapitate.
Or Bladesworn with hardest hitting skill in the entire game - Dragon Slash.

Unlike reaper a warrior is quite capable at supporting allies, as long as we're not talking healer role.
Warrior support is all about offense and keeping team's momentum. If it's an offensive boons he basically throws them left and right just for existing.
If it's a defensive play  - it'll have high impact, getting your allies outta big jams, but also a cooldown to match.
Warrios is no babysitter - if you mess up he can save you instantly, but if you keep messing up, that's on you and prepare to eat the dirt.

3. Paladin -> Guardian.

Guardians live and breathe party play. Warriors support as a side effect, Guardians are born to support.
But they also have ample damage output themselves as well.

If you like Paladin in FFXIV Guardian's a no brainer.
Just care for their dysmally low base healthpool

4. Gunbreaker -> ?

Not sure we got anything like that in GW2. Scrapper seems closest as it's the tanky spec of engineer with strong defensive capbilities and support.
Scrappers can dps, be healers (albeit rarely seen) and have solid boonshare.
On top of that they are very easy to learn and pilot.

[Buran.3796]

22 hours ago, Dark Viper.2378 said:

Ok so, I kinda need help on choosing the class, after doing alot of research, the most appealing classes were Guardian, Revenant, and Thief Deadeye. 

 

BUT, I am a new player overall, so i kinda need help on picking 1 of these 3 classes to move forward with, for sure ill eventually play with them all but who should I start with.

(Some of u will say play what i like best, well i like all 3 which is why i need help)

 

   Ok, a few things:

1) Leveling a character from 1 to 80 just playing Open World maps (discovering new areas, vistas, points of interest, waypoints, hero points and NOT doing hearts (but a bit of dinamic events if they arise) will take you ~24 hours of gameplay or less, without the need of any booster of the use of knwonledge tome from WvW/PvP (those rise you 1 level, but aren't required). Notice that everything in the game gives you XP, including crafting,, but I wouldn't rely in that for leveling a first since you'll like some resources. 

2) You can test builds entering in the PvP lobby. Notice thow that while gear is equalized at PvP the duration and strength of skills and cooldowns in PvP is diffrent than in PvE and WvW due balance reasons.

3) Leveling is a minimal part of the life of a characterm, so while sometimes can feel a bit slower (specailly

   Now about the choice: of the three you name (Guardian, Revenant and Thief):

   Guardian is the easiest to level of the three and is paired with Revenant in terms of build diversity at the end game. The main drawbacks at the begining are a lower base HP and  lack in mobility for the core class, but you can deal with it. In exchange, core Guardian has huge damage AoE burst and can melt single targets and crowds of foes in seconds. This is a sample of the typical build I use to "manually" level a Guardian:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PWwAEt/lVwQYdMM2IOuKZrNA-zRRYLhnNqhyIhKIzUwhDQ46hXzJ+0AA-e

   The game boost your XP for the first 15 levels. In the first 10 levels you unlock all the weapon skills and at 10 you gain the ability to wap between two weapon sets. At level 21 you unlock your first trait line, the second at 45 and then the third at 71. In this case I'll advice unlocking Virttued, Radiance and Zeal in that order. The gameplay for leveling at OW is simple: against a group of foes activate "Stand Your Ground!" for stability, use greatsword #5 to pull them in the same place, use greatsword #3 to blind them, cast Purging Flames and Sword of Justice on top of them and then use greastword #2. For single targets just ditch gs #5 unless you need to break a defiance bar. In the scepter + torch weapons, use torch #4 to cover you in flames to proc burns and scepter #2 to proc even more burns. Most of them would come from the passive F1 effect.

   For gear, while leveling with a guardian you only need gear with vitality, condition damage and power. Everything else (precission, ferocity, healing power... ) is irrelevant until you have a fully rised level 80. I usually buy some crappy gear (blues and greens) around level 20 for a few silvers in the black lion; around level 25 gear with 2 stats start to appear, but I don't buy new gear until lvl ~35. Around lvl ~61/65 gear with 3 stats appear, and is when I buy a new set of weapons, armor and trinkets, with carrion stats, more than enough to reach 80. The total cost of my gear from 1 to 80 is usually 4-6 gold coins, the equivalent of a couple of dailies. You can earn decent gold for your fisrt characters just mining/gathering and selling iron, platinum, lettuces, etc. You have dense nodes of crops in every map (like near the Beetletun Manor in the Queensdale map), so harvest them and set to effortlesly pay your gear.

   You get a Raptor for 10 hours when you reach level 10. That is a HUGE boost in mobility, and discovering new areas gives a bunch of XP, so abuse the raptor while last. Another importat thing: try to always play in a map with foes of your level; foes with more that 3 levels above you (4 or more) don't get crist and halve your damage, foes of 10+ levels over you can sometimes one-shoot you. Move from the maps in order, doing always the closest to your level. If you lag in levels, came back to the first ones and complete hearts for the extra XP.

   Core Rev has two basic builds: going for condi damage or power damage. The power one has good mobility but bad AoE damage, and can be frail vs mobs. The condi one is very tanky, but moves slower.  I would run that last one, in a build like this one:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmwAkeZlhQHMJyhFRNMI6hBSfMBKgjuSfKD-zxIY8o7vUSoA6KByMC6ME8fA-e

   Similar gear choices and combat tactics as with the Guardian, but dealing mostly torment and fire damage. Lost of crod control. For me, in terms of leveling (how fun and fast to level they are, how easy is to recah 80 without dying, how varied and resourceful are while leveling...) my list would be Mesmer > Warrior > Guardian > Necro/Ranger > Enginee/ Elementalist > Revenant > Thief.

   Deadeye is a blast, but Thief is not as varied as other professions, and while it has unparalel mobility, is mostly focused in single target combat and is hard to play at good level. The last time I leveled manually a Thief (a couple of months ago) I wasn't delighted by my build, even after trying different gear and weapons and skills approachs. I'm sure Thief mains would provide better advices than me regarding that one.

 

   As I said, leveling is a minimal part of the game, and way easier and faster than in other games (as WioW). Of those 3, Guardian is the easiest (to me). When you reach 80 you can unlock the specializations; Both Guardian ¡and Revenant are strong across multiple game modes, Thief is more suited to PvP and WvW roaming. Daredevil is probably the most popular mele Thief build and Deadeye the most popular ranged Thief build.

   The Firebrand overall dominates Guardian's specs (except at PvP), but DH is strong at PvE/PvP and Willbender provides tons of mobility. Guardian has a lot of variety and flavours. The same happens with Revenant; Herald has the strongest instanced meta build of the class, but Vindicator is probably the stronger choice for solo play in PvE across the netire game. Renegade is a very fun ranged spec which works in every game mode and is a magnificent Alacrity provider.

   I main Rev (coming from Guardian and Warrior before), but is all matter of tastes. Good luck.

 

[TheQuickFox.3826]

Play anything that appeals to you. The game will slowly open up your class with one skill at a time.

Most important is not to boost to 80 but just level and discover as you play. I only play Elementalist. A class that can be a bit hard for new players because of it's relative low health and armor but if you like to play the classic mage type, then just pick Elementalist en enjoy the profession. Low health can be fixed with more defensive gear. Celestial/all stats are perfect for this. Otherwise look for vitality/toughness/power/condition damage in your gear.

Don't spend much gold on gear as you're leveling. You will continually get more and better gear from quest and leveling rewards.

[Irastira.8643]

I played Thief for like 7 Years.  For over half my playtime I have been a deadeye.  I regret maining Thief.

The META is the META.  If you want to be welcome in group content, You have to play the META.  So, lets discuss what META Deadeye looks like.  Well, Realistically, You're probably going to be playing Rifle Deadeye.  With that you're going to need Berserker Stats in PvE and Assassin Stats in WvW.

With Berserker stats Level 80 Deadeye is going to be unfun.

For starters, Max build you're pretty much going to have 3K Power 60% Precision (Crit chance)  and 250% Ferocity (2.5 times Crit Modifier)  All of this sound ok so far?  Well, Your Kit is going to be Contradictory.  With the Rifle, You are going to be virtually tied to the ground through Rifle 5. (Kneel)  If you don't kneel, You lose 50% of your DPS Minimum.  Not only that, You will be extremely vulnerable to being one shot.  With Berserker stats, You will end up with just over 12K health.  (12,142)  You are going to die frequently.  Guild Wars 2 likes to put Holes in the Floor and Fill the room with AoE Condition Damage to the Brim.  Its also not uncommon to have 5 enemy NPC's spawn on top of you and then proceed to one shot you.  So, You can Dodge Roll, but you might roll into a Hole in the floor, or over the Edge and get Gravitied, or Roll to far into some Condi damage BS and get instantly un-alived.  There are also boss mechanics that will just flat out on shot you and there is little you can do about it.

Everything I tried to do, From leveling up in the open world, to gearing, to WvW, to hunting down Hero Points and Master Points.  Was a grueling, painful, frustrating, tedious, minotinous, and stressful experience.  I have rage quit uninstalled this game like 20 times in 7 years.

You might even say "Ok, But I'll be top of the damage meter."  No, you won't.  You'll go from super critting 100K due to a bug, and be dropped down to 20K Crits like 4 days later.  You'll go from 20K DPS to 5K DPS in a few days.  Constantly being extremely over nerfed for kitten that Daredevil is doing. You will constantly be losing like 80% of your damage like a week after a new update. (balance patch) 

Like "Hmm, that Staff Daredevil is looking kinda strong right now... Better go remind that Rifle Deadeye who their Master is."  Like fam, Wrong spec, revert it revert it!!  (100K was nutty.  60K was perhaps a bit high, 30K was an excessive over nerf that had me thinking about maining a new Profession, and 20k Had me considering banishing GW2 back to the Shadow Relm.  I decided to try a new profession. 

I am now playing Necro and none of the things I complained about on Thief are happening to me.  I have just under 20 K HP, I have a few Cleanses, I have Self-Sustain, I can provide buffs like Alacrity and Swiftness.  I am doing just as much DPS as I was on my thief before the nerf and to top it all off, My Necro is only in Exotic gear. I could still get 5% more powerful.  I am also pretty sure I am not doing my Rotation correctly, infact I am pretty much just Spamming the keys that do damage and am still winning.  People actually want me in their group.  Like, I joined a Fractal and when some one in the group found out that I was playing Scourge necro they said "THANK GOD its a Scourge."  I said "You should have Prayed for a GOOD Scourge.

Finally, After 7 years of of playing this game and being stressed and frustrated and agitated, and having my group hate me for kitten that wasn't even my fault. I am welcome to participated in group based content, because my class actually benefits the group.

[Thron Stal.9367]

Ranger

[phaserBanks.7386]

One of classes I played for a very long time is the Deadeye which also mastered all the crafting professions. I use that character to craft for my other characters. When End of Dragons came out, I created a Druid which has been my primary character ever since. However, about my experience with the Deadeye, it can be a very tedious character to play. Fights can be tough alone against 3 or more enemies close by but not so much if you're part of a group. Having said that, if one of your goals is to complete as many of the achievements as possible, some achievements are only completable by specific professions. Some necessary items drop only if killed by a specific profession. This is especially the case if you want to complete Specialization Collections. In general, you should enjoy playing any profession.

Edited July 28, 2023 by phaserBanks.7386

[AliamRationem.5172]

1 hour ago, phaserBanks.7386 said:

One of classes I played for a very long time is the Deadeye which also mastered all the crafting professions. I use that character to craft for my other characters. When End of Dragons came out, I created a Druid which has been my primary character ever since. However, about my experience with the Deadeye, it can be a very tedious character to play. Fights can be tough alone against 3 or more enemies close by but not so much if you're part of a group. Having said that, if one of your goals is to complete as many of the achievements as possible, some achievements are only completable by specific professions. Some necessary items drop only if killed by a specific profession. This is especially the case if you want to complete Specialization Collections. In general, you should enjoy playing any profession.

So, you're telling me people play classes other than weaver? 🤯