Help me choose my first main!

[bbop.9706]

Subjective choice I know but..

I'm suffering from a sever case of altitus... Please help me decide on my first main profession!

I want to main class that is currently fun and versatile, more than just 'average' in pve/pvp and good at soloing. Also want good mobility OR survivability (or both ideally!). I also like to aoe stuff!

I would not call myself a beginner though I've not played guild wars 2 since launch... But I'm loving gw2 in its current state. Have been a hard core Wow raider back in the day.

I have both expansions and have played most professions to 20 or so and boosted a warrior to 80 for the mount/gliding.

Classes I'm interested in and enjoy so far....

Elementalist

• weaver looks a lot of fun
• dps
• I love stance dancing
• feels v squishy
• controls fiddly due to inability to choose position of 1-5 skills (keybind issues!)
• not very versatile class

Mesmer

• great utility and versatile at endgame
• dps
• fun mobile and looks cool
• v meta, everyones a mesmer! due for a nerf?

Engineer

• holosmith omg lightsabers!
• versatile.. can heal, tank/bunker and dps
• feels boring to level vanilla engi, limited weapon options.. does it get better?

Guardian

• good all rounder, fun and sought after in groups. Is Dragon hunter fun?
• Jack of all trades?

Warrior (80 boosted, I will play around with it at some stage for sure)

So, I will get them all to 80 at some point, but which one should I take up first through all the content as my main?

[sitarskee.5738]

Choose what you enjoy playing most. What is considered strong now can become weak with next patch so don't let it be your key reason why you pick certain class. From my experience I can tell you that elementalist, mesmer and guardian are really fun to play and all of them are pretty useful in certain roles. Elementalist is the hardest to play though because its gameplay is most unforgivable of all the classes you mentioned.

But if you really need something that is fun and good in every mode then pick mesmer. It is mesmer, hands down.

[ButcherofMalakir.4067]

HelloElementalist is great pve dps spec but require support from party to be effective. That means that he is not as good solo as others (combination of beeing squishy and casting spells). I dont know about pvp but if i remember ele is not that great there (much more dificult for same result)

MesmerVery good in all gamemodes. Can be support or dps. Quite mobile and many defensive tools. His main weakness is extreme lack of cleave (aoe damage). Support chrono is almost always the last thing that fills up in groups/squads. I guess it is because players think it is too dificult. It is much easier to be decent then most players think. The main diference is that you need to understand it more to get value since you are reacting to stuff instead of just doing your rotation.

Dont know about eng. Exept that holo is goid power dps. Most of the time core eng dance between kits.

GuardianOne of the easiest dps classes. Right now dragonhunter is worse then core guard in raids (because chaos chrono is meta). It can do many things but sadly is best at none.

WarriorVery good at all gamemodes. Requested in every pve group for banners. Good dps either great cc or cleave (depends on build). Rotations are not that hard but there are easier.

[Sephylon.4938]

Sounds like mesmer would be for you. Most mobile of the choices you listed in pvp, having blink, portal and jaunt (if mirage). Mobility won't be much of an issue in pve though coz of mounts. It's also very survivable in pve and pvp with its stealth and clone spams, blocks (more so if playing chrono), evades, invuns, and reset button (chrono).

[bbop.9706]

@Sephylon.4938 said:Sounds like mesmer would be for you. Most mobile of the choices you listed in pvp, having blink, portal and jaunt (if mirage). Mobility won't be much of an issue in pve though coz of mounts. It's also very survivable in pve and pvp with its stealth and clone spams, blocks (more so if playing chrono), evades, invuns, and reset button (chrono).

You make it sound very appealing, thanks!

How do the chrono/mirage playstyles differ from vanilla?

Also if I were to pick mesmer, can anyone direct me to a build I could use to learn PvP while I'm levelling?

[Sephylon.4938]

Chronos have access to shield which gives them potentially 2 blocks (they get to reuse the block if they block something), which also happens to be a phantasm skill, meaning your heal signet resets it. They also get an additional shatter called continuum split, which allows them to return to the state they were in (hp, endurance, and cds) when they 1st cast it after a brief delay depending on how many clones you shattered. If you time it right, you can have a total of 6 blocks with jist those 2 skills.

Mirage is described as thief on steroids by some. Gaining access to axe and more clone summoning skills (way more than core's) coupled with high burst potential (both power and condi) from stealth. Their unique mechanic is mirage cloak: their dodge no longer displaces them, but instead gives them mirage cloak, which causes all attacks to miss them for the same duration as a dodge. Ontop of this, they get to use an ambush attack, a beefed up version of their auto attack, once after gaining mirage cloak.

As for builds, try metabattle. You can also just go directly to the pvp lobby and practice there.

[bbop.9706]

Thanks for the replies. At the moment I'm leaning towards mesmer, but I'd like to hear from any engis that might be able to sway me! I like the idea of being able to heal in PvP but also holosmith looks so much fun!

[Sephylon.4938]

@bbop.9706 said:Thanks for the replies. At the moment I'm leaning towards mesmer, but I'd like to hear from any engis that might be able to sway me! I like the idea of being able to heal in PvP but also holosmith looks so much fun!

Firebrand is the go-to healer in pvp. You can also go druid or auramancer, but they don't have as much boon spam or projectile hate. I hear healer scrapper with medkit is good now. But to add to this point, most pvp classes have very good sustain, or end fights very quickly. The only cladd that needs a healer is the necro. Not saying other classes won't want 1 though.

[AliamRationem.5172]

Honestly, I like all of those class choices, but as I have only really given significant time to Mirage so far in PoF (I usually play one class at a time), I'll recommend that. I mean, you can't go wrong with a class as cool and unique as mesmer. Even if Mirage ends up not being your thing, Chronomancer is the most sought-after support build in PvE. I haven't played Chronomancer yet either, though. So here are a couple of videos of Mirage gameplay to give you an idea of how it plays. I'll give you 1 open world and 1 PvP (unranked is all I have currently, but I plan to play in the season that starts today!).

PvP - Battle of Kyhlo (Unranked)

PvE - HoT, Champion Mayatl the Fierce

[bbop.9706]

@"AliamRationem.5172" said:Honestly, I like all of those class choices, but as I have only really given significant time to Mirage so far in PoF (I usually play one class at a time), I'll recommend that. I mean, you can't go wrong with a class as cool and unique as mesmer. Even if Mirage ends up not being your thing, Chronomancer is the most sought-after support build in PvE. I haven't played Chronomancer yet either, though. So here are a couple of videos of Mirage gameplay to give you an idea of how it plays. I'll give you 1 open world and 1 PvP (unranked is all I have currently, but I plan to play in the season that starts today!).

PvP - Battle of Kyhlo (Unranked)

PvE - HoT, Champion Mayatl the Fierce

Nice! I just headed into the lobby to play around and was utterly lost with the options... totally pointless until I can learn the class properly if I'm honest!