Guild Wars 2

I’ve got an 80 engineer (which I LOVE), an 80 guardian (which is OK), and now I need a caster character to round out my account. I’m stuck though.

I’ve only played each at low levels, and am having a hard time figuring ANY of them out. Elementalist seems very clicky and perhaps requires too fast of reflexes in order to stay alive (I’m getting a bit old and slow). Mesmer, I just don’t understand – your clones come and go so quick that I can’t make use of my function key skills. Necromancer, I don’t get it, but it has something to do with turning on Death Shroud right before you would die.

Anyway, I’m willing to put in the time to learn one of these well, like I did with my engineer. I mostly PvE and on rare occasion run a dungeon. I almost always solo.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for me? I’m at a loss.

Play whatever you want however you want.

Elementalist is largely considered to be the strongest light-armor PvE profession. However, I know some amazing mesmers who can solo content with cunning use of their many skills, and death shroud is pretty useful as well. I’d say find someone who can help you learn one of them, but Ele seems like it might be ideal for you. It’s most like engi, in terms of style, in my experience. I’d advise that order, personally: Ele, mesmer, necro.

Guardian :o

I really cannot advice on soloing dungeons and which caster would be best for that. General PvE they all can do just fine.

It really comes down to what you find most fun. Take then for a test run.

I find mesmer to be the most fun of the 3 light armor. It doesn’t hit as hard as ele, but it makes up for that with more defensive skills and more mobility. And, all that aside, you shoot lasers from great swords. That’s hard to pass up.

staff ele

If you want a caster that has its place in the meta for all game modes : ele

If you want a caster for jumping puzzles or a difficult but rewarding profession : mesmer

If you want a caster for Open world PvE or random dungeon pugging or WvW : necro

VodCom.6924:

If you want a caster that has its place in the meta for all game modes : ele

If you want a caster for jumping puzzles or a difficult but rewarding profession : mesmer

If you want a caster for Open world PvE or random dungeon pugging or WvW : necro

1. Agree
2. Agree
3. Pugging dungeons… as a necro… Not exactly the caster I would recommend xD

Necro would be for everything except Dungeons, especially SPvP where they reign as gods, although they will be in a better place in Xpan with conditions being fixed. Only problem is they just don’t have good team support skills. Necro is my favorite light armor class though, personally.

I can’t enjoy Mesmer much because it’s too slow and lacks AoE and I like blowing things up. My issue with Ele is just I can’t play it as a Water/Ice DPS because every MMO outside a select few hate and neglect all elements that aren’t fire for DPS and I’m quite tired of it… I liked Ele style more in GW1 when they could DPS with any element and didn’t have to swap.

But Guardian is still the best Caster… They got that Praise the Sun Holy Magic.

VodCom.6924:

If you want a caster for jumping puzzles or a difficult but rewarding profession : mesmer

How is it difficult and rewarding exactly?

Doggie.3184:

My issue with Ele is just I can’t play it as a Water/Ice DPS because every MMO outside a select few hate and neglect all elements that aren’t fire for DPS and I’m quite tired of it…

But Guardian is still the best Caster… They got that Praise the Sun Holy Magic.

Excellent point! It would’ve been nice to focus on a different element.

I do have my level 80 guardian, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a caster. I’ve tried a few different weapon combinations, but he hasn’t come close to the power level of my engineer (versatility + DPS potential). Staff seems like a second thought for the class.

Elias.3204:

VodCom.6924:

If you want a caster for jumping puzzles or a difficult but rewarding profession : mesmer

How is it difficult and rewarding exactly?

Doggie.3184:

My issue with Ele is just I can’t play it as a Water/Ice DPS because every MMO outside a select few hate and neglect all elements that aren’t fire for DPS and I’m quite tired of it…

But Guardian is still the best Caster… They got that Praise the Sun Holy Magic.

Excellent point! It would’ve been nice to focus on a different element.

I do have my level 80 guardian, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a caster. I’ve tried a few different weapon combinations, but he hasn’t come close to the power level of my engineer (versatility + DPS potential). Staff seems like a second thought for the class.

Scepter/Torch is basically pure Caster and does some heavy damage~ and Staff to Guardian is like Shortbow is to Thief~ it’s just always useful in all content. Then there’s Meditation builds that turn your body into a nuke. ;o

caster for PVE? Ele period

Miku.6297:

3. Pugging dungeons… as a necro… Not exactly the caster I would recommend xD

I never join a group that says “speed clear” with my necro. Never ever.

However if I just see “P1” or “P1 lvl80 exp” no one gives a kitten about what class I am bringing. As an added bonus, the necro has a nice dps even though the group does not stack might (TRUE STORY: 80% of the groups pugging in AC/TA/CoF do not stack might).

That’s the point of playing a selfish (but autonomous) class in an uncoordinated environment made of 1 signet warrior, 2 rangers (one bearbow, one meta) and a medi-guard (plus me as a DS necro). Call me a crasy but that’s the way I prefer to play.

IMO : a LFG saying “P1” is basically random pugging. If you’re only joining speedclar parties, well… it’s not exactly random. You know what people expect from you at the very least.

Vod, I never said you did join groups that said speed clear, I never even mentioned speed. I simply said I disagree that dungeoning would be one of the necro’s strong points. I know I’m not alone in this sentiment, necros do have a harder time contributing as much as other classes in dungeons…

TL:DR – Open world running around I would agree with you on, Groups selfish style or not I would not recommend necro over Ele.

Miku.6297:

TL:DR – Open world running around I would agree with you on, Groups selfish style or not I would not recommend necro over Ele.

Got it. Sounds I misunderstood your statement

Actually reading the OPs full question again; I’d say necro as well. For open world pve play, and mostly solo, necros can be a blast

Miku.6297:

Actually reading the OPs full question again; I’d say necro as well. For open world pve play, and mostly solo, necros can be a blast

A life blast?

Doggie.3184:

Miku.6297:

Actually reading the OPs full question again; I’d say necro as well. For open world pve play, and mostly solo, necros can be a blast

A life blast?

+1 Yes a LIFE BLAST ^^;

Miku.6297:

Actually reading the OPs full question again; I’d say necro as well. For open world pve play, and mostly solo, necros can be a blast

Thank you for listening to what I asked – truly appreciated. Could you please expand on why a necromancer would be a good fit? The profession is seriously a mystery to me. I didn’t understand it at all, but that sort of intrigues me. I seem to remember a while back a lot of people saying necros were very underwhelming – has that changed?

Elementalist. If you managed to learn engi then you shouldnt have much issue learning ele. Its highly rewarding and will never fall out of popularity in any gametype. And thats all thanks to being a very well designed class.

Necros are underwhelming. People seem to recommend them for open world. Im guessing the reason is because they have high base durability which makes them pretty faceroll in open world. But in terms of effectiveness ele is still far superior in all areas of PvE. You just have to pay a bit more attention. And for difficult encounters where active defence is needed ele will be the clear winner in dealing with the situation. Mesmer is even easier to survive those encounters on but it has pretty poor solo damage so i wouldnt recommend it for what you are looking for.

Elias.3204:

Miku.6297:

Actually reading the OPs full question again; I’d say necro as well. For open world pve play, and mostly solo, necros can be a blast

Could you please expand on why a necromancer would be a good fit? The profession is seriously a mystery to me. I didn’t understand it at all, but that sort of intrigues me. I seem to remember a while back a lot of people saying necros were very underwhelming – has that changed?

Necromancer is still underwhelming in dungeons, but since you only do dungeon on rare occasion, it’s not a big deal.

Necro are pretty good in solo situation. It have a highest amount of hp and with Deathshroud you kind of have 2 bar of HP, making it the easier caster profession to stay alive.

Caster profession + easy to survive without reflexes + mostly solo + not much dungeon = Necromancer would be a good choice for that.

Elias.3204:

Miku.6297:

Actually reading the OPs full question again; I’d say necro as well. For open world pve play, and mostly solo, necros can be a blast

Thank you for listening to what I asked – truly appreciated. Could you please expand on why a necromancer would be a good fit? The profession is seriously a mystery to me. I didn’t understand it at all, but that sort of intrigues me. I seem to remember a while back a lot of people saying necros were very underwhelming – has that changed?

They are a bit underwhelming in dungeons, but open world/running around they can be great fun…
If you play conditions, they throw out tons, with epidemic it’s just a blast to condi large groups. Use death shroud mainly or torment and survival.

If you would rather play burst/crits, death shrouds life blasts hit hilariously hard, and can be traited to peirce and grant might. This play style also works extremely well for large world tag fests… DS 4 + staff marks + wells means you will be getting lots of tags.

Finally if you ever plan on doing some Spvp, the crit necro is very fun, you can bursts people down very quickly with wells + life blasts. Turn on lich form for some fun crit numbers as well

If by castor you mean a light armor wearing ranged character then Staff Ele is probably a good call.

Mesmers aren’t that hard, but I only have one that I found any fun and it’s a full illusionist.

Necro is a lot of fun, mine is built around being in Death Shroud as much as possible. They’re cool for open world but not generally welcome in dungeons.

Ele is strong and you don’t actually have to be fast, you can do it at your own rate, and you’re always welcome in dungeons even if you’re bad.