Returning player- looking for a versatile ranged class that's easy-ish to gear up!

[Kelthien.8593]

Hey all!I'm sure this gets asked a billion times, though I didn't see any recent answers. :-D

I'm a returning player who's pretty casual. I love doing open world PvE, group WvW, and the occasional (rare) dungeon. I'm trying to find a good ranged class where I don't need to dramatically change my play style and gear set for each different game mode.

I've been considering getting a Celestial Elementalist geared up, for the old "jack of all trades", but I'm pretty open to suggestions. I think my requirements are:

1. I prefer ranged play. I'm just awful in melee
2. I'm not the biggest fan of weapon swapping or rune/sigil/gear swapping, so hopefully something that's "ok" across all game modes
3. I like to play in groups, so I prefer to feel 'useful'.

I've been swapping between Ele (maybe too squishy?), Mesmer (ugh they're all like.. melee ranged builds), and Necro (ok but necros complain a lot....). I'm open to other suggestions as well!

Thanks in advance. :-D Super excited to return to the game and quest through the new content!

[mercury ranique.2170]

I think that there is no true ranged or melee range classes. In any situation, wwhen doing coop, people will want you to play ranged or melee and be able to switch it and the game propagates this more and more. For example the PoF bounties have a mechanic that you need to switch mid fight to ranged or melee to be able to do damage.Focussing on one or the other will not make you like the game as you will run into limitations.

The best ranged combat is with rangers (both good at single target and multi target), elementalist (excellent in mutlitarget ranged damage) and the dead eye specialisation for thief (excellent single target dps).

As for gear. There is no much difference between the choices you make for picking up gear. For the content you prefer can very well start with exotic and allready have a very good experience. Later you can extend it with ascended gear to have a final bit of extra uumpf.Only when you focus on high tier content like high tier fractals and raids, you will need specialised gear with hard to get stats.

[starlinvf.1358]

You're basically fighting yourself at this point. The problem with your train of thought is that only 1 Class uses the same build between WvW and Raids, which is the Thief. Even then, the Trait set up and method of play are drastically different due to WvW needing a crap ton of defense, while Raids are just pure DPS. Most other classes have almost polar opposites when it comes to gearing between game modes. You could also run Zerks Bear Bow, but no one will take your seriously in any mode for group play.

I would suggest doing a Half gear up; which is where you design a gear set around static Asd Trinkets, but swap between 2 sets of armor/runes and weapons to alter the build function. You'll also have to get over your disdain for melee, as the game purposely favors melee through their risk/reward philosophy. I used to heavily favor ranged combat as well (Ranger at launch).... but once I rolled a Guardian, which is melee heavy, the performance difference was night and day. Then I rolled a D/D Ele (before the nerf), and was damn near unstoppable in open world and dungeons. Now the only strictly ranged build I run is Deadeye in WvW.

[Eros.6801]

• Staff ele is the only true ranged class, doing well in open world just a little "too" squishy, you have to accept the fact that downed state is one of your main rotation, best backline WvW specs but i hope you have a good PC or it going to be a disaster with ~12k HP, most wanted class in dungeons and fractals.

• Mesmer can be a decent ranged class with GS but thats not going to happen in dungeons or fractals., good open world class, fun to play, not so much in WvW big fight but good at roaming.

• Necro prob the best choice here since you don't raid, we all know necro is a monster in open world and scourge is the most wanted class in WvW, decent dps in dungeons and fractals, just a bit of advice : ignore all the complains and just play it .

• Ranger is the second best option here, Power soulbeast with LB/GS setup are really fun and high burst damg in open world, very good ranged supporting class in WvW, struggle a bit in dungeons and fractals as power build, condi soulbeast deal more dps than power but gearing is quite expensive.

Speaking of dungeons,/fractals there are no actually ranged class in here you going to stay at melee range most of the time no matter what.

[Kelthien.8593]

Awesome, thanks you guys!I think part of my worry is that I'm always just thinking "omg is there something better out there that I'm missing?" I've never really played ranger, engineer, or thief, and don't know enough about them to know whether there's some hidden secret spec I've been missing that will fulfill all my dreams and wishes. :-D

I've really enjoyed mesmer, necro, and ele, from the little I've played them in the past few days. I'll work through some more challenging content and see if one feels more "natural" to me.

Thanks so much!

[Biff.5312]

Whenever I feel like doing group events and playing at range, my first choice is always a staff elementalist. You have to cycle a bit, but it's not a constant thing. I play fire/air/water, so I usually pile on my fire dps then switch to water to lay down some aoe heals, then back to fire. If heals aren't needed, just stick to fire - in group events you don't really need to maximize dps so cycling isn't crucial. Just wait for cooldowns.As for being squishy - learning to dodge and avoid damage is pretty basic for any class. My advise is, use a sylvari or something so you can summon a pet to 'tank' for you if need be. Unless you solo play in areas above your level, you shouldn't have much trouble staying alive.