Guild Wars 2

Like the title reads. I love the Asura race and i am 80 guardian and level 25 eng but getting bored fast. I tried thief and it wasnt for me. What class would recommend to bring my interest back to the game and why?

I just wish the game had a healer. I loved the old days of a group of 5 people could take out a group 10-12 because of good healer.

I’m with you on the desire for some sort of dedicated healer-type class. I have always played a healer role, and it is what I really prefer. Since you’ve made it to 80, I know part of this will be stuff you already know but I thought I would throw it out there anyway.

As you know, the “healer” is sort of split into different classes, but no one class can really say they are a true healer in the sense you and I are both wanting. From what I have seen though, and experienced, some classes do it a bit better than others. Sure, the guardian is kind when it comes to boons and can do some kitten fine healing, but they really need to be up close to do most of it and if you want to stand back and heal that doesnt always cut it. I am assuming you want a role that is different than smash and kinda heal of the guardian.

Engineer is ok as healing goes. Elixir infused bombs were worthless when I tested them with around 1300 healing power, and the elixir gun, while nice, seemed pretty tame compared to other forms of healing. Same with the healing turret.

For raw unadulterated healing power, I still like the elementalist. Specced for it, you can put out some serious healing and condition removal. You’re trading mad damage from fire for conditions and vuln stacking but the control, healing, and condition removal are worth it, imho. You’re wafer thin, but that’s nothing new. No class can stand up and get facesmashed and not fold pretty quickly, so “wafer thin” is more of a technicality anyway. You wont be stacking mad boons like the guardian but you will have some good boon spreading anyway with 10 pts into Arcane coupled with element swapping.

Then, there is the necro. If you havent tried it, I would recommend it. Necros are tough nuts to crack with their high hp pools and secondary life force hp pool. While leveling, use minions. Bone minions make good bombs, so dont hesitate to summon them, let them get in the fight, and detonate them. The sheer amount of conditions you can apply is staggering (bleed/cripple/poison/immob/vuln/chill/blind can be easily applied with scepter/focus and minions). With condition → boon swapping and plague signet/epidemic you can spread the stacks around. If you like the axe (for vuln stacking) its not hard to get a 25 stack of vuln in a matter of a couple seconds. Can help if you dont have a vuln stacker in the group or you want to boost minion or your own non-condition damage.

Necromancer isnt king of healing, but you can put out some respectable heals in your own right. Its not as potent as the elementalist, but then again, elementalist doesnt condition swap like the necro does either. Its a trade off really.

So, if I had to make a suggestion, I would offer either the elementalist or the necromancer. They don’t play the same, so don’t expect one to mirror the other at all. Totally different styles of play. Hope that helps, feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Thanks. I’m going to go necro then try mesmer

I have tried every other profession so far but I just can’t play them….asura elementalist is the best ever. Almost 700 hours on it so far….

Might not be super effective compared to other classes but I find other classes really boring and way to easy to play. As an ele, you really got to know your stuff to even be mediocre at it.

Also Ele gameplay is way way more complex and requires high APM which I feel really suits the Asuran nature.

Plus, I look like a pink colored bunny as I hop around like mad when comboing.

/win

If you are longing for a dedicated healer, I think the core issue in motivation is that you – like me – enjoy support-based classes.

This usually means you don’t actually at all require to play a healer, they are just the archetypical “support” char of the past 8 years since WoW removed the CCer, the Buffer and the Debuffer.

Anyhow, back to the point, this means that Guardian and Ranger might be for you.
Ranger with Axe/Warhorn and a Spirit-based setup with some +healing (like 20/0/0/30/20) with Healing Spring is extremely support-based, and Guardian can naturally be built for support.

But! Most classes actually can be, it just shows differently. For example a Mesmer using 30 Chaos and 20 Inspiration can be built around supplying lots of AE buffs via Signet of Inspiration and the Staff, while also providing solid healing and utility support from Feedback, Null Field, Mantra-PBAE-healing and Time Warp.
Coupled with a Focus offhand setup for some runspeed and projectile blocking it becomes a full-support Mesmer.

Sorry, you lost me when you mentioned Spirits as viable for rangers for anything other than a laugh and Mesmer heals. Mesmer “support” is selfish support. Their heals selfish, their boon support is selfish, and their utilities (for the most part) are selfish. They are one of the worst options for group support. Sure, they have Chaos Storm on the staff, but that is by far one of the worst options for group aoe support available.

You CAN make many classes feel “supporty” but it just doesnt work in practice. Sure, I can make a Venom based thief, but they arent going to provide anywhere NEAR the support of an Elementalist, Necromancer, or Guardian. Sure, I can slap down Healing Spring on a Ranger, but with their Spirits being totally kitten, you’d be better off with boon support from the Guardian compared to the “one aoe and their hosed” spirits. Let’s not forget to even get them mobile requires 30 points in Nature Magic.

Not everyone who wants to play the true healer wants to be a support character. WoW was not the beginning, or origins, of healer/support characters. If I wanted to play a debuffer, in prior games, I could do that, but would still be primarily a healer. What changed was how I did my healing. The trade-off was damage output. Right now, nearly every fight in GW2 is a DPS race. Who can nuke the hardest, the fastest. Oh, you’re specced for “support”? Ha, noob. Enjoy your bronze.

Therein lies the problem. It’s folly to claim every class can be made to a full support character and then assume they are on some equal playing field. They aren’t. Some classes are designed to support better than others. It’s just a fact.

Maybe you’d like an Evasive Arcana elementalist. With that build, you’re supporting your team through making combos, mixing buffs and debuffs with a bit of damage on the side. It’s a pretty viable ‘supportive build’, but you’d still be dealing damage.