Guild Wars 2

Trying to figure out which would be better suited for it, I’ve done my fair share of Fractals but never Raids, but would like to!

Looking for something welcome in most PUG groups, and maybe even coordinated groups, even though, most groups seem to be pretty, “Eliteist” in their views or how they act in those two things. (Fract/Raid).

So I am open to suggestions, and thanks in advance to those who post.

Both are hard to play well. When played well, both offer unmatched utility to the groups, Ele with the highest DPS in the game (though not as high as it used to be), chrono with high quickness/alacrity uptime while also tanking and distorting through mechanics.

Overall though, I think mesmer is the safest choice, as a lot of people are bad at playing DPS ele well. And ele DPS could be nerfed again though I don’t foresee the quickness and alacrity output of chrono being nerfed significantly anytime soon.

short answer:
if you want to allways get a group and you are ok with learning a not so simple class and are also ok with having lots of extra responsibilities → mesmer (as chronomancer of course)

if you wish a simpler (in relation to chrono) class, only want some extra responsibilities and are ok with waiting a bit to find a group → ele (as tempest)

longer answer:
almost every raid group wants 2 chronomancers, 1 for tanking 1 for buffing the non tank group. chronomancers also have a lot of utility with distortion, reflect, portals, pulls … . A good chronomancer can make the raid go so much smoother, a mediocre one will still be accepted only really bad ones get kicked. On the other hand, learning how to keep quickness+alacrity up, learning when and where to use which utility and learning how to combine both is somewhat difficult. A lot of people give up before they reach the mediocre level.
Basically the same goes for fractals (especially in t4), if you are running a chrono people expect certain thing from you. It’s the same with other classes, but a chrono can bring so much …

Tempest used to be the goto DPS class and is still accepted in most/all fights (but It’s good to have a condi ranger/engi as 2nd class). There is a big difference between a mediocre tempest and a good one. Depending on the group only good ones will be taken, bad ones will often be kicked quite fast. A tempest has some useful mechanics which should be brought for certain fights, most of these are easy to learn (or even passive like “gale song”). A tempest will also often have some extra responsibilities (cannons at sab, orbs at gorse, shards at xera to name a few) but not as many as a chronomancer. Being good at tempests needs some time to get the different rotations right but it’s easier to become a good tempest player than a good chrono player.
In fractals a tempest is accepted in every non pure condi group.

Bohantopa.5729:

short answer:
if you want to allways get a group and you are ok with learning a not so simple class and are also ok with having lots of extra responsibilities -> mesmer (as chronomancer of course)

if you wish a simpler (in relation to chrono) class, only want some extra responsibilities and are ok with waiting a bit to find a group -> ele (as tempest)

longer answer:
almost every raid group wants 2 chronomancers, 1 for tanking 1 for buffing the non tank group. chronomancers also have a lot of utility with distortion, reflect, portals, pulls … . A good chronomancer can make the raid go so much smoother, a mediocre one will still be accepted only really bad ones get kicked. On the other hand, learning how to keep quickness+alacrity up, learning when and where to use which utility and learning how to combine both is somewhat difficult. A lot of people give up before they reach the mediocre level.
Basically the same goes for fractals (especially in t4), if you are running a chrono people expect certain thing from you. It’s the same with other classes, but a chrono can bring so much …

Tempest used to be the goto DPS class and is still accepted in most/all fights (but It’s good to have a condi ranger/engi as 2nd class). There is a big difference between a mediocre tempest and a good one. Depending on the group only good ones will be taken, bad ones will often be kicked quite fast. A tempest has some useful mechanics which should be brought for certain fights, most of these are easy to learn (or even passive like “gale song”). A tempest will also often have some extra responsibilities (cannons at sab, orbs at gorse, shards at xera to name a few) but not as many as a chronomancer. Being good at tempests needs some time to get the different rotations right but it’s easier to become a good tempest player than a good chrono player.
In fractals a tempest is accepted in every non pure condi group.

I would like to add a caveat to this. With the nerfs to staff ele, people have become accepting of viper tempest in those condi fractal groups. Dagger/wh, sc/wh, and d/d to be specific.