Guild Wars 2

What is the best 1 vs 1 class? Mesmer, Thief or perhaps the Guardian Class? I have read all though the forums and each class think’s it’s possibly the best and worst depending on who you ask. Assuming each profession is really well played and is of equal gear what is the dominant 1 vs 1 class?

My guess: Thief>Mesmer>Guardian>Engineer>Warrior>Necro>Ranger>Elemental

Am I anywhere close?

lol ele last… Best would be a Stealth Thief>Mez>ele>Guard>Nec>engi>ranger>warrior

Mesmer, theif, Ranger, necro, ele, engi, warrior

As a spirit ranger I’d put engi ahead of both necro and ele, but I’m just guessing overall.

Mesmer.

1v1 to the death:

Mesmer
Engineer
Necro
Thief *
Elementalist*
Ranger
Guardian
Warrior

Some of these are SOooooo close, that ranking them is really an injustice … in fact, one could easily move up or down some of these by 1 or 2 spots. But in the spirit of not being half-azzed, I ranked them anyway. ;-)

*(do not confuse the ability to escape being killed, with the ability to kill your opponent if you choose not to escape in a close fight)

Easily ranger is not second last. A lot of the top teams use Spirit rangers as home point in pvp because they will stand up to almost anything.

Mesmer / Engineer / Necromancer are the best in the competent bracket, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.

Thief dominates the total kitten bracket.

Ensign.2189:

Mesmer / Engineer / Necromancer are the best in the competent bracket, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.

Very good Thieves dominate the total kitten bracket.

Fixed it for you.

Necro / Engi / Mesmer.

Zacchary.6183:

Ensign.2189:

Mesmer / Engineer / Necromancer are the best in the competent bracket, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.

Very good Thieves dominate the total kitten bracket.

Fixed it for you.

You kidding? Was in WvW the other night…the thief didn’t need to busrt from stealth mind you…so here is what happened…

Was trying to get to the zerg for my daily kills…theif popped from stealth in front of me and just spammed that stupid easy flipping like a monkey skill and hit me for 7k/6k/4k then dodged and got hit for another 3k….all in a matter of 2 or 3 seconds.
How does that make a thief….“very good”?

Amun Ra.6435:

Zacchary.6183:

Ensign.2189:

Mesmer / Engineer / Necromancer are the best in the competent bracket, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.

Very good Thieves dominate the total kitten bracket.

Fixed it for you.

You kidding? Was in WvW the other night…the thief didn’t need to busrt from stealth mind you…so here is what happened…

Was trying to get to the zerg for my daily kills…theif popped from stealth in front of me and just spammed that stupid easy flipping like a monkey skill and hit me for 7k/6k/4k then dodged and got hit for another 3k….all in a matter of 2 or 3 seconds.
How does that make a thief….“very good”?

Either wearing armor when you go into combat, or not exaggerating damage will help.

My list:
Thief
Mesmer
Ranger
Ele
Guardian
Engie
Necro
Warrior

Heres my list , If its in wvw where you can w/e stats you want. in spvp its a little different.
1. Theif
2. Engi
3. Mes
4. Ele
5. Necro
6. Ranger
7. Guard
8. War

But i must say i feel the game is quite balanced at the moment. Don’t take this list as its impossible to kill a theif for a warrior its just when everything is taken into consideration

Op I cant believe you left out engie >.> But I would say necro is possibly th best 1v1 followed by engie..cause im bias that way.

Penguin.5197:

Op I cant believe you left out engie >.> But I would say necro is possibly th best 1v1 followed by engie..cause im bias that way.

I’m terribly sorry, I added Engineers to my original post. I heard they won a recent tournament so they must be good.

To everyone else, thanks for all the great input, it seems my initial theory that thieves and mesmers being the best one v one classes was correct based on popular opinion. I’m shocked that guardians stacking toughness and heals do not rank higher based on being so hard to beat down.

Here is my list:

1. Everyone else
2. Me

Profession, gear, moon phase, it doesn’t matter the list stays the same.

Personally I find warrior the best class for 1v1, I can kill pretty much anyone with mine except for thieves that spam blind and stealth, by the time I get hurt I have more allies

Zacchary.6183:

Very good Thieves dominate the total kitten bracket.

Fixed it for you.

Nah, a water bird on the 2 key could have a good K/D ratio down in the bean bracket.

a bit off topic… but I’ll just like to mention that mesmer is OP for mob tanking especially in the aether dungeons (* so it’s a good thing that I main a mesmer)

EDIT: and mesmers are also great vs. single mobs (ok imo vsing. bosses or players)..

Thieves and Mesmers are actually rather weak in 1v1 situations at the moment.

Ensign.2189:

Zacchary.6183:

Very good Thieves dominate the total kitten bracket.

Fixed it for you.

Nah, a water bird on the 2 key could have a good K/D ratio down in the bean bracket.

Unfortunately, the game doesn’t match your vendetta-laced view of how professions perform.

Fixed quote is fixed.

Reikou.7068:

Thieves and Mesmers are actually rather weak in 1v1 situations at the moment.

are you kittenting me, mesmers have the best dueling build in the game

in fact, the mesmer sub forum frown upon all videos of dueling with a phastasm build due to its strength

Reikou.7068:

Thieves and Mesmers are actually rather weak in 1v1 situations at the moment.

Zacchary.6183:

Unfortunately, the game doesn’t match your vendetta-laced view of how professions perform.

What vendetta? When new players that have no idea what they are doing fight, thieves are dominant – to a point of actually being a problem from a player retention standpoint. This is very clear in the data.

That dominance disappears once you get to a skill level that uses dodge rolls. However, you would be shocked at the percentage of the player base that isn’t at that level. You just don’t see a whole lot of them because they get blown up in their first couple games and never play again.

How do the Thief vs Mesmer fights usually fair?

Ensign.2189:

Zacchary.6183:

Unfortunately, the game doesn’t match your vendetta-laced view of how professions perform.

What vendetta? When new players that have no idea what they are doing fight, thieves are dominant – to a point of actually being a problem from a player retention standpoint. This is very clear in the data.

That dominance disappears once you get to a skill level that uses dodge rolls. However, you would be shocked at the percentage of the player base that isn’t at that level. You just don’t see a whole lot of them because they get blown up in their first couple games and never play again.

If you want further evidence of this, look up the history of “Evelynn” in League of Legends. The “stealth burst” archetype in flawed in pretty much any multiplayer game and will almost always have serious problems. GW2 is no different.

Problem with high healing /tankiness Guardian is they are an abomination to kill but what exactly do they dish out beside the mediocre retal dmg and a few pokes from their wep coupled with barely 300 burning dmg from passive there literally is no pressure. What happens when you have alot of pressure in a duel? I’ll leave you to ponder that one.

Stripeknight.6458:

How do the Thief vs Mesmer fights usually fair?

Depends on how much each know about the other’s class.

Stripeknight.6458:

How do the Thief vs Mesmer fights usually fair?

If both are equally skilled, it’s a pretty kitten pain to watch and may well end up in a draw!

JustTrogdor.7892:

Here is my list:

1. Everyone else
2. Me

Profession, gear, moon phase, it doesn’t matter the list stays the same.

Lol, made me laugh.

This is very true for me as well. No matter what you factor in, I’m at the bottom of the survival list.

Archon.6481:

Amun Ra.6435:

Zacchary.6183:

Ensign.2189:

Mesmer / Engineer / Necromancer are the best in the competent bracket, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.

Very good Thieves dominate the total kitten bracket.

Fixed it for you.

You kidding? Was in WvW the other night…the thief didn’t need to busrt from stealth mind you…so here is what happened…

Was trying to get to the zerg for my daily kills…theif popped from stealth in front of me and just spammed that stupid easy flipping like a monkey skill and hit me for 7k/6k/4k then dodged and got hit for another 3k….all in a matter of 2 or 3 seconds.
How does that make a thief….“very good”?

Either wearing armor when you go into combat, or not exaggerating damage will help.

My list:
Thief
Mesmer
Ranger
Ele
Guardian
Engie
Necro
Warrior

Just noticed your tag…can deny all you want but there is no skill involved in pressing a single key over and over and over and over and….well….

Stripeknight.6458:

How do the Thief vs Mesmer fights usually fair?

Very boring…they will just keep stealthing before they can kill each other.

I think every class has very good 1 v 1 potential. I think Thief and Warrior are the least forgiving, but can be the most rewarding. Very rarely do I see good 1 v 1 Guardians, or 1 v 1 Warriors. I’ve beaten extremely good Mesmers with my Warrior in a fair fight. Nobody is unbeatable. I hate fighting good Eles the most. I think it’s because I haven’t played it much, and don’t have all of the abilities figured out. Once I learned Mesmer, I was practically able to predict what every other Mesmer was going to do.

My conclusion. Once you become more experienced and learn what every class does, then you can 1v1 with anything. I reject the stigma that Thief and Mesmer are the best 1 v 1 classes.

JustTrogdor.7892:

Here is my list:

1. Everyone else
2. Me

Profession, gear, moon phase, it doesn’t matter the list stays the same.

I like you sense of humor :P
Some days I feel like that too.

people will always say mesmer and thief at first, but you have to be very skilled to be good at mesmer and i know nothing about thief.

necro instead, especially the minion master in pvp, they don’t even have to fight, they can stan still with thousands of toughness because +20 for each minion, thousand of health because some stupid mechanic of autoinflicting conditions (that you won’t use with minion mastery) make them the healthiest of them all, and if this is not enough, they can heal for each minion that hit, even those minion with the runes.
also fear, interrupts, cc with staff.

it is not a surprise if you see necro wherever you go in pvp

Amun Ra.6435:

Archon.6481:

Amun Ra.6435:

Zacchary.6183:

Ensign.2189:

Mesmer / Engineer / Necromancer are the best in the competent bracket, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.

Very good Thieves dominate the total kitten bracket.

Fixed it for you.

You kidding? Was in WvW the other night…the thief didn’t need to busrt from stealth mind you…so here is what happened…

Was trying to get to the zerg for my daily kills…theif popped from stealth in front of me and just spammed that stupid easy flipping like a monkey skill and hit me for 7k/6k/4k then dodged and got hit for another 3k….all in a matter of 2 or 3 seconds.
How does that make a thief….“very good”?

Either wearing armor when you go into combat, or not exaggerating damage will help.

My list:
Thief
Mesmer
Ranger
Ele
Guardian
Engie
Necro
Warrior

Just noticed your tag…can deny all you want but there is no skill involved in pressing a single key over and over and over and over and….well….

My tag? What’s that?

Your right. There is no skill in spamming the same skill over and over again. But how does that relate to me?

Perhaps in WvW thief is best 1v1 because they can sneak up on you and built for 1v1 while everyone else in WvW is built to kill zergs so thieves have a huge advantage.

However in sPvP mesmers are the profession that rules the dueling arenas every now and then ranger or necromancer will take its place.

I guess it depends on your definition of ’dominant’.

A well played Thief is impossible to kill. He can escape from the fight, reset, and reengage if he is losing.

In a long sustained fight a Mesmer will almost always win but the class can be bursted by full glass builds.

Engy/Necro/Ranger/Guardian are well balanced. They have builds that can burst down Mesmers and builds that can force Thiefs to retreat.

Warrior and Ele are kitten , don’t play one of them.

Still mesmers. Doubt that will ever change.

You should specify builds here, because there’s definitely rock/paper/scissors stuff going on beyond just class.

My money is on condition bunkers, except against Elementalists, who just purge a condition every second basically.

Brutalistik.6473:

Reikou.7068:

Thieves and Mesmers are actually rather weak in 1v1 situations at the moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztVMib1T4T4

That is the perfect video for that comment…. I could not have found better if I looked for 100 years.

LoBo.1724:

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

He didn’t put warriors last

wipes a single tear from eye

You’re a funny guy OP.

Why should we ? lol warrior is subpar in pvp since the launch of the game , it has one viable build the stunlock mace+shield combo / hammer. That’s about it funny though

I Lol’d so hard after seeing Ele’s at the Bottom of the list
@OP Not sure what possesed you to think that way but
Let’s all sit back, relax and watch this Ele basicly Solo a zerg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVW94hWunUo&feature=c4-overview&list=UUZygpaVFZch5k_bLsZTFZSg

Any class can be good in a 1 v 1 situation. How ever the outcome 90% of the time relates to the class match-up. Certain classes are better against other classes due to the different combat mechanics. I personally don’t like fighting mesmers due to clones, but I enjoy watching thieves stun themselves heartseekering into my Air Aura.

My Interpretation of general top 1 v 1 Matchup Class Ranking
Engineer ( I don’t care what anyone says, if they pop Supply Drop on you it’s over)
Mesmer
Necromancer
Elementalist
Theif (Theif and Ele switch places based on the person and situation)
Ranger
Warrior (Despite popular opinion, warriors can actually be a pain to kill)
Guardian

I prefer brackets, since there are rather large gaps between the groups, but assuming the deadliest 1v1 specs…

Thief (they could delete stealth tomorrow, and thief would still be #1)
_________
Mesmers, Necros (fear nerf inc)
_________
Ele, Engi
_________
Ranger, Warrior
_________
Guardian

For me it depends on your skill. I can probably kill a bad player with anything I want. And a very experienced player can probably kill me with anything he/she wants.

I mainly play mesmer and guardian, and I can mop the floor with thieves and warriors, on the other hand eles and necros give me a hard time.

Ocassionally I also play with a thief, sword/dagger and s.bow, and I aim for the scared ones on the backline… I don’t play with stealth, but with dodge skills and it is very easy to tell if they are good or bad players.

pwnreaper.4983:

I Lol’d so hard after seeing Ele’s at the Bottom of the list
@OP Not sure what possesed you to think that way but
Let’s all sit back, relax and watch this Ele basicly Solo a zerg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVW94hWunUo&feature=c4-overview&list=UUZygpaVFZch5k_bLsZTFZSg

From the video:

“Here’s a compilation of random videos that were interesting, before the April 30th nerf to elementalist. "

BTT: there is no list. Basically a Condi X can kill a Power Y and a Power F can kill a Condi J.

Some classes like Mesmer, Ranger and Necro excel at deception, cc and or dps negation.

Others have only specific viable builds.

Others again are very heavily skilldependant, more than others.

Name me one build and I will name you a class and its build that is able to beat it with ease.

Amun Ra.6435:

Archon.6481:

Amun Ra.6435:

Zacchary.6183:

Ensign.2189:

Mesmer / Engineer / Necromancer are the best in the competent bracket, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.

Very good Thieves dominate the total kitten bracket.

Fixed it for you.

You kidding? Was in WvW the other night…the thief didn’t need to busrt from stealth mind you…so here is what happened…

Was trying to get to the zerg for my daily kills…theif popped from stealth in front of me and just spammed that stupid easy flipping like a monkey skill and hit me for 7k/6k/4k then dodged and got hit for another 3k….all in a matter of 2 or 3 seconds.
How does that make a thief….“very good”?

Either wearing armor when you go into combat, or not exaggerating damage will help.

My list:
Thief
Mesmer
Ranger
Ele
Guardian
Engie
Necro
Warrior

Just noticed your tag…can deny all you want but there is no skill involved in pressing a single key over and over and over and over and….well….

Only bad thieves spam HS, I’m assuming that’s what you’re talking about. And only bad players get killed by them.

That is not true. If I am being pressured by 2 people but manage to controle them by cantripping and cc-ing, a HS noob joining a fight will easily destroy you in seconds.

In 1v1 HS-spamming is hilarious though.

I win much more on my Necromancer and Mesmer than on any other class. A good Thief can pose a real threat and well played Guardians can be annoying to down too.

Any class with the right build and skilled driver.

Engineers.