Another which class is best for me topic

[Naxterra.8371]

Hello

I am a very long term (8+ years) WoW Tauren Warrior / Paladin tank and short term (2+ years) Mage player. I played GW2 for several months, took long breaks, and now I am thinking about going back again. Which class do you think I could master easily? I love tanking a lot but I also liked ranged DPS like my frostmage a lot too.

Thanks again

[Wildman.9641]

Heh same choice different game. Warrior or Elementalist.

[Sephylon.4938]

tanking only exists in raids, and even then only on certain bosses. All classes are capable of ranged dps, if you want to go with the warrior thing, try scepter/torch+gs guardi, or sword/torch+longbow zerker. Try staff ele if you want to go mage.

[Naxterra.8371]

So elementalist is viable for this game?

[Sephylon.4938]

in what game mode?

[AliamRationem.5172]

@"Naxterra.8371" said:Hello

I am a very long term (8+ years) WoW Tauren Warrior / Paladin tank and short term (2+ years) Mage player. I played GW2 for several months, took long breaks, and now I am thinking about going back again. Which class do you think I could master easily? I love tanking a lot but I also liked ranged DPS like my frostmage a lot too.

Thanks again

Hi! I played WoW for several years myself and preferred tanking roles in raids, although I played everything. But this game is very different. There is no tanking here because there are no usable threat mechanics. Also, most classes are capable of playing both ranged and melee simultaneously via swapping weapons in combat.

This isn't necessarily bad news, however. In GW2 you can actually be the aggressive bruiser, charging into a pile of enemies with no fear...and also be the mage or archer. All at the same time! For example, my Mirage (Mesmer PoF elite specialization) wields axe and torch for the heavy melee work, but also uses staff which is a long range defensive weapon. Here's a video to give you an idea of how it looks in combat:

[Naxterra.8371]

@Sephylon.4938 said:in what game mode?

I am mostly interested in PvE. I am not fun of PvP

[Naxterra.8371]

@AliamRationem.5172 said:

@"Naxterra.8371" said:Hello

I am a very long term (8+ years) WoW Tauren Warrior / Paladin tank and short term (2+ years) Mage player. I played GW2 for several months, took long breaks, and now I am thinking about going back again. Which class do you think I could master easily? I love tanking a lot but I also liked ranged DPS like my frostmage a lot too.

Thanks again

Hi! I played WoW for several years myself and preferred tanking roles in raids, although I played everything. But this game is very different. There is no tanking here because there are no usable threat mechanics. Also, most classes are capable of playing both ranged and melee simultaneously via swapping weapons in combat.

This isn't necessarily bad news, however. In GW2 you can actually be the aggressive bruiser, charging into a pile of enemies with no fear...and also be the mage or archer. All at the same time! For example, my Mirage (Mesmer PoF elite specialization) wields axe and torch for the heavy melee work, but also uses staff which is a long range defensive weapon. Here's a video to give you an idea of how it looks in combat:

Nice combat :)

Considering I am not gonna like hiding / sneaking, which class do you recommend? Warrior - Guardian - Mesmer - Elementalist? or maybe Necromancer?

[Ardenwolfe.8590]

Based on what you said about your likes and earlier experience? I recommend guardian. You'll love firebrand once you get that elite spec.

[Naxterra.8371]

@Ardenwolfe.8590 said:Based on what you said about your likes and earlier experience? I recommend guardian. You'll love firebrand once you get that elite spec.

Thank you very much :)

[Karras.2945]

@Naxterra.8371 said:Hello

I am a very long term (8+ years) WoW Tauren Warrior / Paladin tank and short term (2+ years) Mage player. I played GW2 for several months, took long breaks, and now I am thinking about going back again. Which class do you think I could master easily? I love tanking a lot but I also liked ranged DPS like my frostmage a lot too.

Thanks again

You want to be a tank profession while also being a ranged DPS. The closest thing that comes to that is the Dragonhunter. It's an elite specialization for the guardian that focuses on using a longbow to attack enemies from far away while also being able to bunker capture points, assuming you're talking about PvP.

If you're more of an open world PvE person, then play warrior using a rifle. It's a weapon that deals only power damage and it is fun to use it in PvE. Warrior is a good profession for beginners. That doesn't mean it doesn't require skill to play, it's just that it's more forgiving when it comes to playing the profession for a first time player.

[Naxterra.8371]

@Hoodie.1045 said:

@Naxterra.8371 said:Hello

I am a very long term (8+ years) WoW Tauren Warrior / Paladin tank and short term (2+ years) Mage player. I played GW2 for several months, took long breaks, and now I am thinking about going back again. Which class do you think I could master easily? I love tanking a lot but I also liked ranged DPS like my frostmage a lot too.

Thanks again

You want to be a tank profession while also being a ranged DPS. The closest thing that comes to that is the Dragonhunter. It's an elite specialization for the guardian that focuses on using a longbow to attack enemies from far away while also being able to bunker capture points, assuming you're talking about PvP.

If you're more of an open world PvE person, then play warrior using a rifle. It's a weapon that deals only power damage and it is fun to use it in PvE. Warrior is a good profession for beginners. That doesn't mean it doesn't require skill to play, it's just that it's more forgiving when it comes to playing the profession for a first time player.

Thanks for the advice. I will first try Guardian. If I fail or can't get a hold of it I will create a warrior

[AliamRationem.5172]

@Naxterra.8371 said:

@AliamRationem.5172 said:

@Naxterra.8371 said:Hello

I am a very long term (8+ years) WoW Tauren Warrior / Paladin tank and short term (2+ years) Mage player. I played GW2 for several months, took long breaks, and now I am thinking about going back again. Which class do you think I could master easily? I love tanking a lot but I also liked ranged DPS like my frostmage a lot too.

Thanks again

Hi! I played WoW for several years myself and preferred tanking roles in raids, although I played everything. But this game is very different. There is no tanking here because there are no usable threat mechanics. Also, most classes are capable of playing both ranged and melee simultaneously via swapping weapons in combat.

This isn't necessarily bad news, however. In GW2 you can actually be the aggressive bruiser, charging into a pile of enemies with no fear...and also be the mage or archer. All at the same time! For example, my Mirage (Mesmer PoF elite specialization) wields axe and torch for the heavy melee work, but also uses staff which is a long range defensive weapon. Here's a video to give you an idea of how it looks in combat:

Nice combat :)

Considering I am not gonna like hiding / sneaking, which class do you recommend? Warrior - Guardian - Mesmer - Elementalist? or maybe Necromancer?

Thanks! Glad you liked!

Honestly, there isn't a lot of hiding/sneaking to any of these classes. Mesmer has some access to stealth, but I wouldn't consider it a critical part of any PvE build. I have one passive and once active stealth with my setup, both of which last only 3 seconds and get canceled if you attack. Evasion, invuln, and teleports are far more important with my build.

Having said that, I wouldn't necessarily recommend mesmer or elementalist to a new player. They are among the most complex classes to learn - especially elementalist since it is both complex and unforgiving. On the other hand, warrior, guardian, and necro are all highly recommended to new players. They tend to be fairly strong without being terribly difficult to learn.

But do whatever looks appealing to you. Your WoW experience won't automatically translate to GW2, but it should give you an advantage over completely new players. If you want to try a more complicated class, go for it!

[ButcherofMalakir.4067]

There are dps and support clases for group based pve. But in order for support class to suport they need specific gear that is hard to get as a new player. Also they require more knowlage and your group depends on you so it is nit recomended for beginers.

Quick summary of class roles in group base pve:

Warrior, highly requested dps/support hybrid for his decent personal damage and massive dps buffs for alies (banners)

Guardian, decent power dps with easy rotation and some ultility (core or dragonhunter) or knight that throw away weapons in the middle of a fight to turn enemies to ash, slightly more complex rotation that needs allies to stack so you getaximum from him (firebrand) can also be strongest healer in the game but usualy that ammount of heals is unnececary and he doesnt brimg any offensive buffs as druid does so not very requested (firebrand)

Revenant, decent condition spec that can bring some support (renegade), decent healer that might or might not become meta after druid nerfs last patch (basicaly second best healer now)

Thief, not wery good now but playable, dont know much about him

Ranger, ok easy condition dps (soulbeast) or best healer in the game (druid) - druid is heavily requested so its easy to find groups

Eng., Quite good power dps that brings support to condition classes (holosmith)

Necro, amazing on fights where are adds but his damage is quite low if there are no adds to epidemic.

Elementalist, highest power dps in the game (even after nerfs) but require carefoul position and support from others since he dies fast and need to finish casting spells. His rotation is quite complex (weaver)

Mesmer, amazing single target condi dps with quite easy rotation, can bring many ultility options at minor cost of dps. Has very bad cleave (mirage) or anazing support spec that brings enormous amount if ultility but minimal dps. In raids they are tanking. Requires good knowlage about class/game to make them work. If you play this build at decent level you will have door open in every group (chrono)

Hope this helps. Remember it is summary of the best builds right now but you dont need best build to play, just make sure your build make sence.

Gl

[Naxterra.8371]

Considering I am always finding myself in melee (thanks to my old tanking habits) Warrior and Guardian could fit me better than others I think or maybe Mesmer?. Comparing three of them, which one can do more dps and have better survival, and which one is more wanted by other players?

I don't think I will go as a healer, never liked healing :)

[ButcherofMalakir.4067]

@"Naxterra.8371" said:Considering I am always finding myself in melee (thanks to my old tanking habits) Warrior and Guardian could fit me better than others I think or maybe Mesmer?. Comparing three of them, which one can do more dps and have better survival, and which one is more wanted by other players?

I don't think I will go as a healer, never liked healing :)

Mesmer can in "realistic raid scenario" has highest potential damage on small hitbox size. Warrior damage increse mor for hitbox size so on gigantic targets he will be better. Dragonhunter has lowest dps out of them but highest burst. Finaly firebrand has higher dps then dragonhunter abd higher cleave then mirage but his dps depends on allies.

My adivice is to go with dragonhunter as first class since power gear is much easily obtainable for begginer.

Edit: in ideal raid settings mirage is 35-36k dps on small hitbox and dragonhunter 32k dps so diferences are not that big

[Sagramor.7395]

@Naxterra.8371 said:Considering I am always finding myself in melee (thanks to my old tanking habits) Warrior and Guardian could fit me better than others I think. Comparing both of them, which one can do more dps and have better survival, and which one is more wanted by other players?

I don't think I will go as a healer, never liked healing :)

Since you're mostly interested in PvE, and I presume you will want to raid and/or do fractals based on how long you were playing a tank role in WoW you shouldn't put so much value on melee vs range. The way combat generally works in this game you're going to want to be in melee or pretty close to it range so you can benefit from your party's buffs, heals, etc. so selecting Warrior/Guardian purely because you plan on being in melee range might not be the best move since you're going to be in melee range anyway.

Sure if you like the theme and gameplay of Warrior or Guardian go for it, but I wouldn't pick a Heavy simply because you plan on being in melee (sorry, but Heavies aren't the (PvE) tanks in this game). Think about professions you like the theme/style of (apparently: Warrior, Guardian, Mesmer, Elementalist, Necromancer for starters) and try them out in the PvP lobby. Reading guides and watching gameplay videos might also help you narrow things down. Just remember GW2 is not WoW. We don't have DPS/Tank/Heal generally speaking, and raid bosses require a Healer (Druid) and/or a Tank (Chronomancer) only about 50% of the time.

[AliamRationem.5172]

@Naxterra.8371 said:

Considering I am always finding myself in melee (thanks to my old tanking habits) Warrior and Guardian could fit me better than others I think or maybe Mesmer?. Comparing three of them, which one can do more dps and have better survival, and which one is more wanted by other players?

I don't think I will go as a healer, never liked healing :)

Out of warrior, guardian, and mesmer? All three classes are great damage dealers and you will deal your best damage in melee range. Due to the way most buffs to allies affect a short radius surrounding the caster, organized group play encourages players to stack at melee range whenever possible to maximize group support. So even if you use a ranged weapon for best damage, you usually want to stand at close range to benefit from allied support.

As for survival? That's less clear. There's a lot that could go into this comparison, but basically warrior/guardian tend to have solid passive defenses that make them decent options as far as survivability goes. Mesmer is different. It isn't designed to take a lot of punishment, so you use your skills to avoid taking the hit in the first place. If you look closely at the video linked earlier in the thread, you will notice that when the boss uses special attacks I always have an answer: dodge, block, invuln, or just teleport out of the way.

I think you could find what you're looking for from any of these three. Just pick a play style that sounds appealing and see where it takes you!

[Naxterra.8371]

Thanks everyone for their answers. I will now try Mesmer. It seems if I can master it, it would be better choice and it will be a change for me because I played heavy armor melee fighters for a very long time. If not, I will go with Guardian :)

[SlippyCheeze.5483]

@"Zin Dau.1749" said:the new players are, without fail, always recommended the braindead classes, as if the new players themselves are braindead, even when they have previous MMO and gaming experience.

In my experience, that happens if, and only if, the player either (a) doesn't identify past experience until later, or (b) requests something that matches the standard templates they are used to in other games. (eg: "slower, heavy hitting, mostly melee" => guardian, warrior, or reaper, because those are what deliver it.)

The later is by far the most common: very few people with past experience come here and ask for an engineer, for example, because there just isn't much comparable in other games. That said, I have recommended them several times to people based on their description of what they enjoy in the older forums; I'm not sure the chance has come up in the new ones.

[Biff.5312]

Any profession will do. Pick one that grabs your fancy. If you don't like it, pick another one. You're not committing to anything here.

[Kako.1930]

I think warrior might fit your fancy better. It's a fun tanky damage dealer. :3