Guild Wars 2

Hi dear co-forumers (is that even a word lol)

I have a question, since i just recently ordered a brand new computer, and i can finally run the game in max with about 60+ fps, so im going back to playing the game from about a few months break, i do know the basics of how classes work, i did try to get some info on the new core specialization changes that came on June 23rd, and i want to start totally over, my highest is lvl 63 ele (yes, i know, not that high, blame the low fps rofl.)

So, after reading threw the forums, watching some videos, the balance changes did affect certain classes in a way, and i want to pick a class that isnt “underperforming” i mean, yes, every class can work if you know how to master it, but i dont so…

So, i heard mesmers are pretty strong…and guardians also, i was gonna play a thief, but compared to other classes, they werent buffed as much as others, even got some nerfs, and now they just arent as strong as they have been…

Anyway, if you managed to read threw that, congratz, if you didnt, also fine, i just want your opinion, which class to play after the balance changes (and no im not looking for the most op ones, just rather avoid the under average ones)

Mesmer is my main but I’ve basically switched to necro the past few months.

Guardian warrior ele are still the three kings.

Guardian and ele both have viable condi builds right now for both pve and pvp and are still beasts in zerk

For PVeE: ele, war, guard, and thief are pretty much top. Mes, engi and ranger are pretty good, a bit situational though. Necro is considered to be the worst, but it’s honestly not a huge gap between it and the mid tier classes, outside of group utility.

For PvP, pretty much everything is viable(meaning, it has at least one good build available,) excepting a few classes in VERY high-tier play. You and the rest of us 99%, will never have to worry about that.

In WvW I think guard, war ele and necro are still considered top, but there’s room for mesmers. Engi and ranger are situational. Thief is excellent for roaming.

TLDR: you are going to be wanted in all game modes if you go with your pick of guard, ele thief or Mesmer.:)

Hope this helps!

Hi there,

There will probably be a balance pass within a few months. If you are fine with the possibility that the balance pass will drastically nerf your character, then feel free to try some of the OP builds of certain classes. Almost no class (Mes) has gotten outright stronger, it is just that traits have been much improved, so a lot of synergy exists that is skyrocketing damage. So the classes that have builds that are strongest to weakest in the current “meta” are as follow: (in my opinion)

-Mes (actually a few builds are quite strong, so when the nerf hits it will probably affect many builds)
-Ele (mostly same old here, it is a fun classes that has great sustain with a celestial amulet)
-Warrior (Build is not OP, but it has great trait synergy, and rampage can drop someone who is caught with their pants down. It is great to seal the deal on fights, but when this is nerfed, the build could get further nerfs making warrior suck XD)
-Guard (Burning and bunker builds are both solid, guard may get its condi builds almost removed, if anet nerfs them on top of nerfing burning as a whole)
-Necro (Necromancer are a weird class, they can be pretty good at 1v1, and I’d say are the masters of hard counter. Their builds often either dominate another, or get destroyed by it. I knew my shout warrior has condi necro 1v1 for getting me to forget to scream, and drop shouts for the time being)
-Engineer/Thief (Niche currently, can be effective, but not like they used to be.
-Ranger (Has some solid roaming builds, but sucks pretty hard in pvp)

This was all in accordance with pvp and wvw. I think with things changing soon, it would be better to play around with a class you are interested in. A-Net is often heavy with nerfs, but it is not guaranteed.

Honestly, if you want to avoid frustration, you can probably avoid the thief, ranger, and engineer for the time being. The Necro only play if you like imbalanced matchups. Otherwise all classes have solid builds that allow them to feel competitive and fun.

Go with whatever floats your boat, everyone has their opinions. Anything that is strong or weak right now may be the opposite right now or may be different in the future.

Oh okay, i did hear that until HoT comes out, they will be rolling some balance changes, so i guess i’ll play what i want

Elementalist is probably the best class in the game. Then i would argue engineer and guardian, engineer becuase it has so much utility and damage, however because it’s difficult to pull off not many play it and guardian because it carries. Warrior is a lot better than it was before and ofc thief is still top in terms of single target dps, stealth and blinds although engineer can cover both of those. Mesmer is a lot better than prepatch however still not as strong in casual runs and with pug groups. necro and ranger are still meh, neither got buffed very much and if anything ranger is a bit worse now that warrior dps has increased.

If i were to choose a class it would be ele. Insanely strong dps if you play it correctly with a great amount of cc for trash and for bosses, Ice bow is amazing altho a bit boring. With earth elemental you can give a good tank for harder bosses and with sandstorm you can keep up blinds. Swapping to s/f or d/f lets you get reflects and invulns also LH will help with blinds. Overall a strong class.

My favorite class however is mesmer because it’s incredibly fun and portal tricks are great, but it’s a lot harder class to play in pugs and to bring out its full potential especailly when compared to guardian. Other good classes i would recommend are guardian and thief especially if you are new. I would say warrior too but i hate people who only roll warrior, because everyone has a warrior and any more than 1 warrior in a party is useless.

As condition caps have been released Condition builds are more then viable now in PvE.

PvE sees the rise of power/condi Hybrids and full condi builds.

Builds unsuited to PvE are reappearing after 2.5 years: pu condi mesmers, terromancers, SS/LB warriors, SB and A+? ranger(trapper) are here… On the other side ANY BUILDS focussing on healing were severely weakened by the patch. Most healing oriented builds lost 300 healing and need traits to regain only a fraction this and this fraction is often conditional, and while healing traits are more easily accesible they still lack comparaed to before the patch… especially healing build around minor healing on attribs.

I play most classes, I am not veryy into engineer, but I can see it’s potential
I’d say any class is valid. ranger and necro could work very well in dungeon parties warrior, guardian, ranger, ele and necro will give banners, empower allies, spotter, strength in numbers, vampiric aura, and full might (warrior, necro, ele) and fury as well as sufficient healing trough battlepresence and regen on banners. with well of blood and healing spring and maybe transfusion keeping the party up when buffs and reflects are done. In the case somone actually goes donw, the necro presence will make ressing them a bit easier.

In total this would add 920 power, 320 precision, 770 condition dmg, 150 toughness +20% crit and perma regen, as well as ~40 healing on EACH hit.

This seems to bypass mesmer , engineer and thief, and they have their uses as well. they allow for easy running and very good utility. if you do not mind sacrificing some stats they’ll fit snugly

I like all classes. I have 17 lvl 80’s now and I’m still learning new tricks and traits,

ive been playing warrior and engineer since beta. play the classes you find fun both in flavour and aesthetic. ele is still top teir and mesmer is mad OP right now, but i would never recommend going for the flavour of the month. play what you enjoy and get good at it. skill > build in most situations.