Which professions have the most and the least flexibility in their talent options?

[Aodlop.1907]

Meaning: which professions have talents that are so well designed that they can truly choose one they enjoy because it suits their playstyle more with no major impact on their performance?

And which professions are stuck in the opposite situations, feeling really punished and noticing a major performance gap when they don't pick the META talents?

Edited May 15, 2021 by Aodlop.1907

[Astralporing.1957]

None and all. The difference between picking a well-working set of traits and one that does not synergize well is relatively similar for all the classes. So is the number of bad traits they have.

[asterix.9614]

None

[felix.2386]

warrior has the least flex, everything does the same, even all the elite spec play the same.

 

firebrand and holo have pretty good flex.

 

but what fits your description the most?

is rev.

Edited June 4, 2021 by felix.2386

[otto.5684]

Avoiding pvp discussions, warrior is the worst. The best is... not sure. I find rev and guardian to be pretty good with many options. Mesmer somewhat. I don’t play the medium pool HP classes, so not about them.

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

Necro has huge flexibility in his spec lines, especially regarding defense. Every line has something to help him sustain, even the offense ones in right conditions. The least flexible part of his spec lines is that condi builds lose a lot without curses line and power ones without spite, though less so. Yet even curses can work well for power builds and spite for condi ones.

[Sunshine.5014]

Mesmer is one of the most flexible if not the most. Sword/Torch/Axe/Pistol/Staff are all viable (and meta in their respective areas). With that, the traits are also good and flexible. The utilities are also flexible according to different situations and group settings.

[The Boz.2038]

From least to most flexible:
Warrior > Ranger > Engineer > Elementalist > Thief > Necromancer > Revenant > Mesmer > Guardian 

[Konrad Curze.5130]

Ranger is the only prof that has an e-spec purely meant to be used in 0.1%  of the game's content (raids) and completly useless everywhere else

 

so Ranger is the least flexible by virtue of missing an entire e-spec 99,99% of the time compared to all other profs

 

 

and yes, Anet doesnt give a kitten about that and never did, less work for them that way

Edited June 8, 2021 by Konrad Curze.5130

[jpierce.9540]

On 6/7/2021 at 10:48 AM, Konrad Curze.5130 said:

Ranger is the only prof that has an e-spec purely meant to be used in 0.1%  of the game's content (raids) and completly useless everywhere else

 

so Ranger is the least flexible by virtue of missing an entire e-spec 99,99% of the time compared to all other profs

 

 

and yes, Anet doesnt give a kitten about that and never did, less work for them that way

I agree... I really wish druid to be re-worked to actually attune with nature and utilize spirits in a more useful way.  Guardian seems to get everything from DPS to Support.. can Ranger-Druid please get some love?  ❤️  

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Warrior is hands down the least flexible. This is in part to Fast Hands and the power of certain Grandmaster Traits relative to their in tier peers.

 

What would increase flexibility on warrior would be to make Fast Hands baseline, merge Might Makes Right into Pinnacle of Strength while putting a movement based GM trait in it's place, swap the bleed on Body Blow for power damage, fix Defy Pain, fix Last Stand, buff Armored Attack, buff Sundering Maces, buff Dual Wielding, and buff Burst Precision.

 

You'd end up with a much more flexible warrior kit after that.

[Myror.7521]

@Konrad Curze.5130 i must say i pretty mutch disagree here. Ranger got some good build. Even druid got some imo in pvp. So saying its the least flexible class isnt true. Tho same goes for warrior.... if you are good enough you could actually play what ya want and be as good with it as with might spellbraker (okay "good" i would say here since most classes outperform warrior pretty mutch).

[Yumenei.7943]

I'm biased, but I would vote elementalist, so long as were not talking about raid meta builds. Just by adding water and earth traitlines you will turn this glass cannon class into a bunker. 

 

It really depends on what you want to achieve. Ele in PvP plays completely different than in Raids. For open world content the amount of cool builds is staggering. The only place where you are really limited is raid/strike mission, where pushing for highest DPS (or HPS in case of tempest) is your number one priority, but even there you have at least two-three options for sword/dagger weaver, which is not bad.