Guild Wars 2

What is the general consensus on the profession that does well in every area of the game? Ideally I want to mostly wvw, pve, dungeons, etc.

Warrior, Guardian, Elementalist, Engineer, Thief, Mesmer, Ranger, Necro…. yup if played well every profession can do well in each aspect of the game. However, War, Guard, and Ele are probably the most saught after for high lvl fracts… but thats usually just for speed clears, if you dont care how long it takes you can do w/e as long as you don’t make the group wipe.

It sounds strange from a whinner like me but the professions in the current GW2 pretty much all viable and balanced. You can find much-much more unbalanced games out there. But we have to keep the “sustained pressure” -cough-ranger-cough- on ANET to make the game even more entertaining

Sure the game has flaws but this does not affect the professions. It affects the builds. There are bad choices you can make.

For e.g.:
Don’t run condi ele in spvp! Run something else.
Don’t run bearbow rangers in dungeons.
Don’t run full dire/perplexity thief build in fractals.
Don’t run Burn guardian in world events…

I think you get my point.

Well after the second thought you CAN run these but they are suboptimal. But nobody can stop you only kick you or leave you or laugh at you :P

most versatile rated by ease of play:

1. Warrior
2. Guardian
3. Elementalist
4. Thief
5. necromancer
6. Mesmer
7. Ranger
8. Engineer

Most versatile rated by roles per build regardless of skill;

1. Engineer
2. Elementalist
3. Ranger
4. Guardian
5. Warrior
6. Necromancer
7. Thief
8. Mesmer

Op warriors excels in all areas of the game wvw, spvp and pve.

vincecontix.1264:

Op warriors excels in all areas of the game wvw, spvp and pve.

thats the biggest myth in this game. They excel at nothing, they can just do everything OK. Because it takes ZERO skill to play one and the skill-ceiling is minimal. So the difference between a super great warrior and the average warrior isn’t that huge compared to say a super great thief and a average thief.

Necro is fine in pve if you don’t speedclear and it’s a really strong class in wvw for its ranged/mid ranged aoe spike damage.

Thanks for the answers all!

I havent played in a while but I previously joined a pug for everything I did I was using a cleric guard with AH. That worked out well due to the varied skill levels of pug members. So all the support helped out more often than not.

So I guess I should have put the question in the context of for pugs, world completion, pve events, and jumping in the zerg. I’m pretty casual and time restricted so I will never be super concerned about being pro.

Nonpoint.6549:

Thanks for the answers all!

I havent played in a while but I previously joined a pug for everything I did I was using a cleric guard with AH. That worked out well due to the varied skill levels of pug members. So all the support helped out more often than not.

So I guess I should have put the question in the context of for pugs, world completion, pve events, and jumping in the zerg. I’m pretty casual and time restricted so I will never be super concerned about being pro.

In that case warrior for sure.

I think noone can argue with Guardian. They are wanted by any group anywhere doing anything.

Prysin.8542:

vincecontix.1264:

Op warriors excels in all areas of the game wvw, spvp and pve.

thats the biggest myth in this game. They excel at nothing, they can just do everything OK. Because it takes ZERO skill to play one and the skill-ceiling is minimal. So the difference between a super great warrior and the average warrior isn’t that huge compared to say a super great thief and a average thief.

No its not a myth, I agree that the skill ceiling is low it still does’t mean warriors do not excel. Also others would have to play there class well in order to achieve the same results as an average warrior. They might not be the best at everything but are good at everything.

Wvw warriors great at zerging and great at roaming and sort after by serious wvw guilds. Top tier in spvp (ham/bow, celest Axe/lb might stack). Also great for pve DPs to survivability ratio is very good and you can do decent support via banners and ea trait.

Then there is social aspect when looking for groups or dungeon/fractal parties. Much easier as a warrior(heavy prof). When playing some other profs(ranger, necro, engi, thief) at times you will be rejected and are not desired in the first place. This partly due to ignorance, bad experiences, and the fact that majority of players can not play their class effectively. That is the current state of things.

WvW:
No clue.

Open PvE:
Engineers and Thieves. Engineers have a permanent 33% speed boost, Thieves have a permanent 25% speed boost and a frequently useable shadow step with Shortbow #5.
In addition both can stealth themselves to get skill points guarded by very strong mobs.
All other profession expect Mesmers have at least a permanent 25% speed boost.
Mesmers are the worst because they don’t have a permanent speed boost (unless you use Rune of the Traveler).

Dungeons:
With their very strong defensive support Guardians are one of the core professions for dungeons. Eles make a lot of fights much easier with Frost Bow and Fiery Greatsword.
Mesmers have some tricks in their bag that make some events in dungeons easier and faster but are hardly ever needed. Thieves, Mesmers and Engineers can provide stealth to make skipping mobs easier.
Warriors provide great offensive support with their Banners and Empower Allies. They are also relatively easy to play well, so PUGs like them.
To sum it up, Guardian, Ele and Warrior are the most sought after professions for dungeons, and nobody wants Necros.

So, you properly want to play Guardian or Warrior.

DesertRose.2031:

WvW:
No clue.

Open PvE:
Engineers and Thieves. Engineers have a permanent 33% speed boost, Thieves have a permanent 25% speed boost and a frequently useable shadow step with Shortbow #5.
In addition both can stealth themselves to get skill points guarded by very strong mobs.
All other profession expect Mesmers have at least a permanent 25% speed boost.
Mesmers are the worst because they don’t have a permanent speed boost (unless you use Rune of the Traveler).

You can make pretty much any class fast if you want to, Mesmer is no different. I felt like messing around with mesmer for WvW roaming and ran a PU phantasm build. To make him fast I just threw on some centaur runes with Mirror for a heal, instant perma swiftness.

Jim Hunter.6821:

DesertRose.2031:

WvW:
No clue.

Open PvE:
Engineers and Thieves. Engineers have a permanent 33% speed boost, Thieves have a permanent 25% speed boost and a frequently useable shadow step with Shortbow #5.
In addition both can stealth themselves to get skill points guarded by very strong mobs.
All other profession expect Mesmers have at least a permanent 25% speed boost.
Mesmers are the worst because they don’t have a permanent speed boost (unless you use Rune of the Traveler).

You can make pretty much any class fast if you want to, Mesmer is no different. I felt like messing around with mesmer for WvW roaming and ran a PU phantasm build. To make him fast I just threw on some centaur runes with Mirror for a heal, instant perma swiftness.

perma swiftness is not fast, it is just less slow. If you want true “speed” you gotta be playing SWH + GS ranger, SWH + GS warrior, SB thief or Rocketboot engineer. That is FAST builds. Allowing rapid movements over greater distances. Permaswiftness would use at the very least 2 minutes or more then these builds to move from bottom to top of a WvW borderland.
How do i know? Because i ran ranger with perma swiftness and timed it compared to SWH + GS ranger. Now, in terms of sheer speed, its thief, warrior, ranger, engi. In that order. The difference between warrior and ranger is that the warrior will outlast the ranger, but the ranger is faster over a shorter distance. However the ranger will never be fast enough to catch the warrior if not within range to CC. The step down from ranger to engineer is even greater, but the step from engineer down to elementalist (which only got two good movement skills on longer cooldowns) are less of a “drop”. But from ele down to guard, then mesmer, then necro is HUGE.

Prysin.8542:

perma swiftness is not fast, it is just less slow. If you want true “speed” you gotta be playing SWH + GS ranger, SWH + GS warrior, SB thief or Rocketboot engineer. That is FAST builds. Allowing rapid movements over greater distances. Permaswiftness would use at the very least 2 minutes or more then these builds to move from bottom to top of a WvW borderland.
How do i know? Because i ran ranger with perma swiftness and timed it compared to SWH + GS ranger. Now, in terms of sheer speed, its thief, warrior, ranger, engi. In that order. The difference between warrior and ranger is that the warrior will outlast the ranger, but the ranger is faster over a shorter distance. However the ranger will never be fast enough to catch the warrior if not within range to CC. The step down from ranger to engineer is even greater, but the step from engineer down to elementalist (which only got two good movement skills on longer cooldowns) are less of a “drop”. But from ele down to guard, then mesmer, then necro is HUGE.

LOL. Have you ever seen dd ele with fairy gs? (can make 4350 range just from dashes/teleports). In terms of dashes etc in right order it would be: warrior, ele, thief, ranger, engi.

yes. i got an ele myself, downside to ele is cooldowns. You can burn that RTL, that FGS, that lightning flash. But when you are roaming or moving around expecting trouble, long cooldowns is the LAST thing you want. Therefore the ele ends up further down. because its “speed” comes at a much much greater cost then ANY other profession ahead of it. A ele can only move at “max” speed for 68 seconds before ALL movement buffs are spent. After that it is byebye mobility, not to mention, bye bye combat readiness.

Forgot they have that handy little blink skill too? http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQBSyemy0Ex2AMdXtUBA-TFxMgApK/aU/BY/BclgkCQPhRA-w

I wasn’t saying a mesmer is going to be as fast as a warrior, I was just saying it isn’t that hard to make them a little faster. It’s not like WvW maps are overly big anyway.

Prysin.8542:

yes. i got an ele myself, downside to ele is cooldowns. You can burn that RTL, that FGS, that lightning flash. But when you are roaming or moving around expecting trouble, long cooldowns is the LAST thing you want. Therefore the ele ends up further down. because its “speed” comes at a much much greater cost then ANY other profession ahead of it. A ele can only move at “max” speed for 68 seconds before ALL movement buffs are spent. After that it is byebye mobility, not to mention, bye bye combat readiness.

Rocket boots have 20 sec cooldown. It is the only movement skill. Rtl has 20/40 sec cooldown and it is one from 5 dashes avaliable to ele. Thing is when you play ele you have to use your skills with brain, not to be out of cooldowns. Not only with mobility but cc and hard hitting moves. Mist form helps much. For me, I can run away from almost every situation. I have 5 chars and only with ele and war I can run into face of numerous enemy and rum away. You say cooldowns – 4k heal every 10 sec and 6k every 15 with 10 condicleanse is bad? Overall Imo ele and warrior are best around proffesions in the game. Those two can be most mobile, have good sustain and dmg, best classes in pve, core of zergs in wvw, good roamers, good spot in pvp, low limitatiom for warrior in terms of builds. Close to that is also guard, but not good as the roamer cause he lacks mobility.

Hylek potion + Medical pack + Executioner axe = OP mobility for all professions outside combat in PVE/dungeons

PvE

1. Full Berserker Warrior (wear knights armor until you get used to it)
2. Full Berserker Elementalist
3. Full Berserker Guardian

WvW

1. Guardian in Soldiers/Knights running some variation of AH or Healing Guard
2. Warrior in Soldiers/Knights running Shout Heal and using Hammer
3. Elementalist using Staff and wearing defensive gear set

WvW Roaming

Thieves and Engineers seem to dominate

Fenar.4025:

PvE

1. Full Berserker Warrior (wear knights armor until you get used to it)
2. Full Berserker Elementalist
3. Full Berserker Guardian

WvW

1. Guardian in Soldiers/Knights running some variation of AH or Healing Guard
2. Warrior in Soldiers/Knights running Shout Heal and using Hammer
3. Elementalist using Staff and wearing defensive gear set

WvW Roaming

Thieves and Engineers seem to dominate

perplexity engineers

its crazy how much perplexity combined with full dire gear can carry even bad players

Fenar.4025:

PvE

1. Full Berserker Warrior (wear knights armor until you get used to it)
2. Full Berserker Elementalist
3. Full Berserker Guardian

WvW

1. Guardian in Soldiers/Knights running some variation of AH or Healing Guard
2. Warrior in Soldiers/Knights running Shout Heal and using Hammer
3. Elementalist using Staff and wearing defensive gear set

WvW Roaming

Thieves and Engineers seem to dominate

For WvW you should mention that necromancers are at least on the level of guardians, warriors and eles. Its called GWEN for a reason, and without Necromancers, an organized WvW group loses out on so much AoE spike damage.

If you were comparing the “best” PvE and WvW classes, then I understand why necros weren’t included, nor were thieves included on PvE, because in group WvW all they can do is focus fire.

PVE :
Any class….PVE does not take any skill at all. (Mesmer for jumping puzzles)

WvW :
Warrior if you want to shine
Guardian/Elementalist if you want to be wingman
Necro if you want LOL

Roam WvW :
Any class that can chase enemies and escape fights : Warrior, Thief, Mesmer, Engi

SPVP :
Warrior, Mesmer, Necro, Engi

Hardest class to play :
Ele

Easiest class to play :
Warrior/Thief

OP class :
Warrior

Underpowered class :
Guardian

Versatility :
Ele, Warrior, Engi

Healer :
Engi, then Ele/Guard.

Rasalhague.8270:

PVE :
Any class….PVE does not take any skill at all. (Mesmer for jumping puzzles)

WvW :
Warrior if you want to shine
Guardian/Elementalist if you want to be wingman
Necro if you want LOL

Roam WvW :
Any class that can chase enemies and escape fights : Warrior, Thief, Mesmer, Engi

SPVP :
Warrior, Mesmer, Necro, Engi

Hardest class to play :
Ele

Easiest class to play :
Warrior/Thief

OP class :
Warrior

Underpowered class :
Guardian

Versatility :
Ele, Warrior, Engi

Healer :
Engi, then Ele/Guard.

So short version: Warrior.

Guardians, Warriors and Elementalists.