Guild Wars 2

I’m a bit of an alt-o-holic. I have a level 80 elementalist, mesmer, warrior, guardian, thief, and ranger. But I have never really done fractals (my mesmer is fractal level 4).

Which class would be the best to use to level up fractals in order to get the ascended rings?

Guardian, Mesmer

in order of infractal class importance. mesmer>guardian>warrior>thief>ranger . But go with whatever you feel comfortable with. The more you know how to play your class the better you will do in there.

Ive never seen a mesmer take priority over a guardian. guard> mes/war tied

Guardian or Mesmer. Both are incredibly useful and desired in high level fractals.

guardian….not mesmer.

I don t get how mesmer can be good unless you have a lot of support.
A shatter build gets oneshot.

Aside TW give me a reason to get a mesmer rather than an ele.
Warrior has an insane dps and standards so along guardian is mandatory.

i have a mesmer and i Always switch to ele for higher levels just to say….
Maybe i am not good enough with mesmer….or maybe people overvalue profession’s skills while underestimating eles (because lets say it most ele you meet in fotm are not good at PvE :/ *).

*or maybe i was unlucky to meet many not fully efficient.

Imho:
Guardian (not too many)
Warrior (as many as you can get)
Ele (if you have at least 1-2 wars or DPS)
Mesmer :| (if you have 2 guards)
Necro/eng (if you find a good one)

Thieves/rangers (situationally really good also DPS)

1 Guardian
1 Good Mesmer/Ele
3 Warriors

it makes my heart cry that other classes are not so much desired

How is PvE/Dungeon balance in other MMOs? This is my first MMO so I have no idea. While depending on skill/class knowledge any class is viable in any PvE content, there are definitely some that seem to consistantly work out better than others. Is that not the case elsewhere?

Mesmer
Guardian
Warrior

Mesmer and Guardian, for utility and Warrior for dps is the general idea of the best setup for anything in this game, including high level fractals. Mesmer probably above all, being the only profession in the game that can negate the Beam attack of the Jade Maw, combined with TW is the best at 40+ using the “tricks” to beat it.

What exactly do Eles bring to high level fractals that can’t be offered by other professions? Although Eles are good in Fractals, I wouldn’t put them on the “must have” list.

Also, I’ve learned to appreciate Thief utility in high level Fractals as well, they can do much for the team but they have the bad name of “pew pew dps only”, mostly because the vast majority of Thief players just go for damage… sad.

People underestimate Thieves and Necromancers heavily in fractals. Both have very valuable roles in stealth/blind/offensive support. You’ll never move as fast in the Dredge fractal as you can with a Necromancer and a Thief, for instance, one to strip permanent Protection in an aoe, and one to solo stealth the parts that call for it. Fractals is not about bashing your face into the brick wall that is enemies all the time, and it rewards thinking outside the box. These classes may be harder to play well, but are extremely rewarding to the team that utilizes their talents.

Furthermore, Warriors may be nice, but they’re not required for any run to be smooth or as fast as possible. In my opinion, I will bring any class that is played well to L48 (or L79 if progressing). They are all meaningful when played effectively. Even Rangers have their share of valuable roles, such as Entangling the Grawl boss, or other such stuff. Pets getting AR is very valuable in high level fractals, because the dang pet can tank certain bosses fairly well.

tl;dr: Play what you want, and if you play it well you will be valuable.

the key thing needed for fractal is projectile reflect/absorb. For that reason Guardian is the most desirable class because they can spam the 2 utilities they have.
Guardian/Mesmer/Thief/Ele all have their own reflect/absorb projectile skills, but can’t use them as often as a guard(and reflect is always more useful then absorb)
Thief/Mesmer has stealth, which is extreme helpful in the dredge level

a well traited team of 5 elementalists(using voice) can be very powerful in fractal, being able to keep reflect/absorb on the whole team for 100% up time(Magnetic Aura + Aura share with staff , or Swirling Winds with focus) But of course 5 guardian can always do the job easier

Rising Dusk.2408:

People underestimate Thieves and Necromancers heavily in fractals. Both have very valuable roles in stealth/blind/offensive support. You’ll never move as fast in the Dredge fractal as you can with a Necromancer and a Thief, for instance, one to strip permanent Protection in an aoe, and one to solo stealth the parts that call for it. Fractals is not about bashing your face into the brick wall that is enemies all the time, and it rewards thinking outside the box. These classes may be harder to play well, but are extremely rewarding to the team that utilizes their talents.

Furthermore, Warriors may be nice, but they’re not required for any run to be smooth or as fast as possible. In my opinion, I will bring any class that is played well to L48 (or L79 if progressing). They are all meaningful when played effectively. Even Rangers have their share of valuable roles, such as Entangling the Grawl boss, or other such stuff. Pets getting AR is very valuable in high level fractals, because the dang pet can tank certain bosses fairly well.

tl;dr: Play what you want, and if you play it well you will be valuable.

This may be true. But regardless if your right and the rest of the community is wrong, the GW Fractal community disagrees with you. Facts aside, he wont get as many teams as necro/thief as Guardian/Mesmer. Doesnt matter even if they are golden, the pug mentality stands and you solo cannot change it as a whole. Maybe slowly over time, but the way FoTm stands, he will be best off as Mesmer/Guard/War

The posters in this thread are by no means an indication of the greater community. Whenever I do pug, I have never been turned down on my Necromancer or kicked out. I agree that it is the ‘easiest’ to find a group as a Guardian because most groups get to 4/5 and go “crap we need a Guardian”, but I don’t necessarily think that should bottleneck the OP into choosing their guardian only to progress.

What I recommend is to progress whichever class you are the most capable with / want to play in the content, but never enter the fractals yourself. That way you can switch to your Guardian, which hopefully you will have gotten some AR for by the time you need it, when necessary. This versatility (the ability to switch as needed) makes players that much more valuable. I may main my Necromancer in Fractals because I know what it can do, but I always carry my Guardian and other classes in the wings for when they are needed in a pinch.

maddoctor.2738:

What exactly do Eles bring to high level fractals that can’t be offered by other professions? Although Eles are good in Fractals, I wouldn’t put them on the “must have” list.

The best aoe absorb for projectile ….due to huge AoE
(lot of personal reflect/absorb/invul either)
Some healing
Lot of might stacks….
The best ressing profession (you have often 3 invul to ress someone).

Unfortunately as i said eles suffers a lot parte when u need damage…..so 5 eles could for sure beat imbued shaman (they can really keep lot of anti projectile for a lot)…….but they wouldn t even get there because they’d fail at shaman veterans part…..

I Always have to switch to mesmer for that part……