Power Herald or Condi Mechanist?

[Kanimae.1735]

Heyo! I've recently returned and I have a lvl 80 boost from the expansion to use. I am interested in both classes as I've never played them before. However I can't decide on which one. For Herald I am a big fan of the GS/Staff set up but Mechanist tickles my fancy, too!

1) Which is better in open world content?
2) With which will I have an easier time doing all story and living world content?
3) Which is more wanted in fractals?
4) Which is better as a new main?
5) Which of the two is overall easier?

I want to focus fully on this char, do all story, map completion and even make my own legendary weapon for it. Which of the two will take me farther?

Thank you in advance!

Edited February 4 by Kanimae.1735

[Dadnir.5038]

How about both?

[Gaiawolf.8261]

28 minutes ago, Dadnir.5038 said:

How about both?

Herald and Mech are on different professions. I was under the impression the OP only had 1 boost. Are you willing to provide the other?

[Dadnir.5038]

1 hour ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Herald and Mech are on different professions. I was under the impression the OP only had 1 boost. Are you willing to provide the other?

Taking a character to 80 don't take much time, allow the player to get a good grip on the profession and it can help him make up his mind by himself. Personally I've never used a boost and delete those as soon as the game force them on me as it's a waste of place in my inventory.

Edited February 4 by Dadnir.5038

[CafPow.1542]

31 minutes ago, Dadnir.5038 said:

Taking a character to 80 don't take much time, allow the player to get a good grip on the profession and it can help him make up his mind by himself. Personally I've never used a boost and delete those as soon as the game force them on me as it's a waste of place in my inventory.

They come with a free shared bag slot tho xD

yeah just level up the other. For what i know, mechanist is quite a braindead spec, really simple to play. But i got bored quite quick so i didn’t have mich impression.

vindicator can be very unkillable with salvation for what i heard. I think both can be fun / good. Maybe boost one, play a bit of riba, delete it and boost the other. The boost comes with a free trial so you can boost both and try them out and see for yourself if this works…?

ahh… wel no, you don’t have the elites when you boost. Eehh..

[Dadnir.5038]

6 minutes ago, CafPow.1542 said:

They come with a free shared bag slot tho xD

Doesn't matter, it's still a waste of space for something that I won't use anyway.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

28 minutes ago, Dadnir.5038 said:

Taking a character to 80 don't take much time, allow the player to get a good grip on the profession and it can help him make up his mind by himself. Personally I've never used a boost and delete those as soon as the game force them on me as it's a waste of place in my inventory.

Time is reletive. Don't assume people have as "much" as you. People usually ask advice because they don't have the time to figure it out for themselves, or they are just too stupid or lazy. And I'm not going to assume the OP a moron or a sloth. 😅

2 hours ago, Kanimae.1735 said:

Heyo! I've recently returned and I have a lvl 80 boost from the expansion to use. I am interested in both classes as I've never played them before. However I can't decide on which one. For Herald I am a big fan of the GS/Staff set up but Mechanist tickles my fancy, too!

1) Which is better in open world content?
2) With which will I have an easier time doing all story and living world content?
3) Which is more wanted in fractals?
4) Which is better as a new main?
5) Which of the two is overall easier?

I want to focus fully on this char, do all story, map completion and even make my own legendary weapon for it. Which of the two will take me farther?

Thank you in advance!

Sorry, I have never played a herald, so I can't answer specifically on that spec. But I have played vindicator and a little renegade from a boost, So I know it's a perfectly good approach. Despite what some others may say, you don't have to level it to learn it. I leveled engineer and have played all the specs there.

1 and 2. Both professions have great builds for open world and story content. You can't go wrong with either. 

3. Herald has one of the best support specs in the game. Mech used to be great, but I don't know about recent performance or demand.

4. This one is entirely subjective, because both are good in all game modes.

5. Mechanist is one of the easiest specs to play. Vindicator has some easy builds, but I'm not sure about herald. I hear the support spec is easier to play than some other supports. 

[CafPow.1542]

5 minutes ago, Dadnir.5038 said:

Doesn't matter, it's still a waste of space for something that I won't use anyway.

Yeah me too. I use it but most of the time i delete the toon afterwards.

good thing is, the free slot stays ^^

[Kanimae.1735]

3 minutes ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Time is reletive. Don't assume people have as "much" as you. People usually ask advice because they don't have the time to figure it out for themselves, or they are just too stupid or lazy. And I'm not going to assume the OP a moron or a sloth. 😅

Sorry, I have never played a herald, so I can't answer specifically on that spec. But I have played vindicator and a little renegade from a boost, So I know it's a perfectly good approach. Despite what some others may say, you don't have to level it to learn it. I leveled engineer and have played all the specs there.

1 and 2. Both professions have great builds for open world and story content. You can't go wrong with either. 

3. Herald has one of the best support specs in the game. Mech used to be great, but I don't know about recent performance or demand.

4. This one is entirely subjective, because both are good in all game modes.

5. Mechanist is one of the easiest specs to play. Vindicator has some easy builds, but I'm not sure about herald. I hear the support spec is easier to play than some other supports. 

Thank you. I already have 9 characters leveled by hand so I was thinking of using the boost for a change. I'm leaning toward power herald, it's supposed to be easy and good, I was just thinking that perhaps mecha would be even more easy mode since you have a pet tank? I'm researching a lot and I keep going back and forth between the two and as a returner its hard to judge which info is outdated and which isn't. Perhaps I'll boost one and level the other by hand. Not sure yet.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

5 minutes ago, Kanimae.1735 said:

Thank you. I already have 9 characters leveled by hand so I was thinking of using the boost for a change. I'm leaning toward power herald, it's supposed to be easy and good, I was just thinking that perhaps mecha would be even more easy mode since you have a pet tank? I'm researching a lot and I keep going back and forth between the two and as a returner its hard to judge which info is outdated and which isn't. Perhaps I'll boost one and level the other by hand. Not sure yet.

I don't know much about power herald. Most I know about them is from playing with some support herald friends. For what it's worth, both professions have some good specs and builds. Overall, most of my mechanist builds are easier to play, but my celestial vindicator is pretty easy too. My power vindicator or renegade are not difficult, but not quite as simple to manage in tougher fights. They kill faster tho, so clearing is more direct with the revs than the mech.

[Buran.3796]

3 hours ago, Kanimae.1735 said:

I am interested in both classes as I've never played them before. However I can't decide on which one. For Herald I am a big fan of the GS/Staff set up but Mechanist tickles my fancy, too!

1) Which is better in open world content?
2) With which will I have an easier time doing all story and living world content?
3) Which is more wanted in fractals?
4) Which is better as a new main?
5) Which of the two is overall easier?

I want to focus fully on this char, do all story, map completion and even make my own legendary weapon for it. Which of the two will take me farther?

1) GS/Staff Herald is a power build, condi Mechanist is better for OW, of course. You would need either condi Herald or condi Vindi to rival/beat condi Mechanist at OW.

2) The Story mode is quite easy and can be done with any spec; power builds are usually faster at cleaving weak mobs, whereas condi builds are slower but tankier. 

3) Renegade.

4) I think that Rev at the moment has a stronger impact in every game mode (outside PvP), a bit like Guardian in the past. But patches change balance, so you should chose based in what you like to play, not just in performance (gameplay can also be ruined by patches):

5) Condi Mech is easier to play than power Herald.

X ) I main Rev so my opinion is biased. Both professions have relatively low amount of weapons so making the legendaries takes less time than, lets say, for a Warrior. I do prefer Rev but my current inner ranking would be Vindi > Herald > Renegade. I play cele Vindi in PvE/WvW and power Vindi in PvP. I don't do instanced PvE content, tho.

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

Boost the engi.

Condi core has a rough start and in general could be considered a totally different profession when compared to mech.
Core is a piano profession, mech is dead simple pet class.

Power core rev on the other hand can handle himself from the very start of the game and keeps going strong all the way to 80.
And power Herald is simply it's extension, so you're not playing 80 levels of one class only to suddenly jump ship to something totally different.

Now as for your questions:

1. Mech - big bad murder bot makes all the difference. It pulls aggro, it can murder stuff to rally you when you're downed.

2. Mech - second verse is the same as the first!

3. Herald - boonshare is your easiest door into instanced content for both. Both are great at it, but mech has to struggle with micromanaging his pet as most of his buffs are casted by it, not him.

4. Both are great picks

5. Engi - rev is medium difficulty and none of his e-specs turn him upside down to the point it becomes super easy or super hard.
Engi on the other hand is all about these difficulty jumps. Core and Holo are one of the hardest specs, while scrapper and mech the easiest.
 

Edited February 4 by ZeftheWicked.3076

[Kanimae.1735]

3 hours ago, ZeftheWicked.3076 said:

snip
 

Thank you so much for your reply! I've decided to go for Mechanist and I've already set my sights on Quip. It'll take a while but hey, goals are what keeps one playing!

[Strider.7849]

On 2/4/2024 at 6:48 AM, Kanimae.1735 said:

Heyo! I've recently returned and I have a lvl 80 boost from the expansion to use. I am interested in both classes as I've never played them before. However I can't decide on which one. For Herald I am a big fan of the GS/Staff set up but Mechanist tickles my fancy, too!

1) Which is better in open world content?
2) With which will I have an easier time doing all story and living world content?
3) Which is more wanted in fractals?
4) Which is better as a new main?
5) Which of the two is overall easier?

I want to focus fully on this char, do all story, map completion and even make my own legendary weapon for it. Which of the two will take me farther?

Thank you in advance!

1) condi mech

2) condi mech

3) neither is meta, so both have equal opportunity. 

4) depends on user. 

5) condi mech

[Guybrush.4762]

1) For solo openworld both spec are capable and fairly chill to play. When sustain is a problem, you may want to invest in celestial gear for Condi Mechanist while Herald is ok by just switching a few traits. So if you don't want to have two set of gear go for Herald there. For group openworld I'd say boons are generally on short supply so herald would contribute more especially if you grant quickness... not that it really matter outside of one particular meta.

2) Both choice would be pretty solid and easy to play for story but I would say condi mechanist require less effort for similar results and the range can make things easier at times. Herald has the advantage to have bigger CC but it does not matter too much for most of the story.

3) Ok... now we are talking about instanced PvE and it is time to hit you with the big bad ugly news (sorry 🥲). As good as Herald indubitably is currently, it is mostly played as a quickness provider and not a pure dps. People will constantly assume you provide quickness and if you want to play dps the spec you are looking for is Vindicator. It shares more or less the same gear and is a straight dps upgrade. Ok back on topic:
- Condi dps mechanist is not very sought after in fractals (it deals ok dps but lack CC). If you invest in ritualist gear though, you could fill the Alacrity dps role and it will vastly increase the number of group you can join.
- Power QUICKNESS herald would be super desirable on paper (and it is arguably one of the most popular build in Strikes and Raid group at the moment) but the fact that most fractal groups ask for a Heal Firebrand means the quickness is already covered. What you want is either unlock the vindicator spec and play dps or even better grab diviner gear and unlock the Renegade spec to fill the Alacrity-dps role.

4) Selecting a class to main is a matter of personal preference and I strongly advise you to test things out before settling in. The 80 level boost is not immediately consumed, you will be ported to the Silver wastes map and you can test things out there as long as you don't leave the map. You could for example test both class, but you would only be able to try the base profession (unless you have a few hero point but you probably don't on a fresh toon).

5) On the matter of difficulty. Power Herald is fairly easy to play but Condition Mechanist is even easier. If you want to delve into Condition alacrity Mechanist then be aware that the build typically juggle between a few kits. Don't panic though, it is still fairly easy to play; watch a benchmark video to get an idea of the added button pressing and demystify the 3-kit gameplay.

Edited February 13 by Guybrush.4762

[SleepyBat.9034]

Condi Herald GIGACHAD

 

[Drag You Down.2615]

I would say Herald will probably give you a better gaming experience.

Mechanist is easy but not that easy. Mechanist's robot has the STUPIDEST AI and if you want to use it for support, you will need to constantly adjust its position and call it back or you will have low boon uptime because it runs away!!! And the nerfed the mech so if it is not in 360 of you, your mech skill will have longer cooldown. This feels very weird if you are not used to play something like this.

Herald on the other hand, has the best boon application, 600 range, a lot of freedom.

[Tinker.6924]

I have both right now although neither is my main.  I levelled them both and 4 more random characters because I had been sitting on 3 boosts and an ungodly number of XP tomes and similar things and finally decided it's time to use them. With all 6 of them I picked the easiest looking open world build on metabattle and then collected 80%+ of the  hero points in hot, POF, and eod to fully train each elite spec

On 2/4/2024 at 9:48 AM, Kanimae.1735 said:

1) Which is better in open world content?
2) With which will I have an easier time doing all story and living world content?
3) Which is more wanted in fractals?
4) Which is better as a new main?
5) Which of the two is overall easier?

1. Condi mech was way, way easier than any revenant spec I tried. I solo'ed and won plenty of one on one fights I had no business solo'ing because the mech was so tough and could hold aggro. Against groups it was touchy since I was badly geared and frankly not very skilled l, yet still won many fights I  wouldn't have with herald. 

2. Again, condi mech

3. Power herald has an edge for it's qdps variant that uses nearly the same gear as it's pure dps version but frankly if you really want to become everyone's best buddy for  strikes/raids/fractals  run a healing build which will require a different  gear set.  Mech does have a very good healing build provided you are willing to invest in completely different gear  and learn a different rotation.

4. Harbinger Necro. Not one of your options? That's still my answer. Fun to play isn't always the easiest. 

5. Condi mech is easiest by a mile. 

 

In case you're wondering: I now have 1 character for each profession and condi mech was probably the second easiest build I've ever played after a minion Necro build I had for a while long time ago. Mesmer was also very easy in open world but could be unforgiving. Whereas ele was without a doubt the hardest to play. Revenants/Herald kind of in the middle

Edited February 14 by Tinker.6924

[Sirvaleen.1379]

Maybe check out some demo/fights vids and/or try them both in the PvP lobby and choose the one you think you'll like the most. "Better", "more wanted" etc.. are often subjective and subject to change pretty often. Even the "easier" part can change with an update really. Choose to have fun 😁