Class Role Inquiry

Class Role Inquiry

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Gucci Senpai.4391

Gucci Senpai.4391

I have recently made GW2 my main MMO, and I’ve been enjoying it so far. However “class roles” confuse me quite a bit in GW2. I know I can research up and down… but still that doesn’t give me definitive answers, seeing as I will find many outdated responses. I am playing Mesmer, and let me say I applaud ArenaNet for coming up with such a class. In all other MMOs I struggled to find a class I enjoyed so I’ve always been an “alt-aholic”. But this class seems like it’s going to put an end to that and I can’t explain how exciting that is for me. However, I don’t seem to understand what my role is “supposed” to be in group content. Whether it be sPvP, Dungeons, fractals…. I know metabattle has builds but that still doesn’t explain that much. Am I supposed to be supporting the team? Tanking? Using my clones to distract the enemy team to buy my team to DPS players down? Or am I supposed to be a damage role? I enjoy playing the class so much, but really knowing what my use is in all game modes would be amazing. Anyone who can break this down whether it be short and simple, or in depth I would MUCH appreciate it. Sorry for the long post, but I’m loving the game so far and decided to see how the forums are. Thanks in advance!

Class Role Inquiry

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Posted by: Moonyeti.3296

Moonyeti.3296

GW2 does not have solid class roles (for the most part). Coming from WoW, that took me a little while to wrap my head around. For example, when you ask if you should be supporting, tanking (a concept that only loosely exists in GW2), dps, etc – the answer is mostly on what or how you want to play it. Which traits and skills you decide to run (along with gear) would be determined by what you want to do. So if a support role sounds good to you, you set up your mesmer for that. If DPS is what you want, you set up for that, etc.

This will be true for the vast majority of the game. There is some specific content that favors specific builds for certain classes, but even then people find ways to make all sorts of combinations work.

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Posted by: PaxTheGreatOne.9472

PaxTheGreatOne.9472

Mesmer is a class with many roles including:

DPS
Damage (sword main/ off)
Control (focus) utility : mantra of distraction
Stealthing utility: veil, mass invisibility (torch)
CC (pistol/ GS)
Cooldown manipulation and quickness utility wells, Timewarp(shield)
reflects utility: feedback (focus)
ranged DPS (Greatsword)

and of course:

Conditions (scepter/staff/torch)

The precise role could include boonsharing, and heals, but it all depends on the needs of the composition.

The precise needs will suggest or dictate an armor type for DPS generally zerrker/assassin, for condi generally viper/sinister and for control/support often commander’s and occasionally minstrel.
Runes can vary according to persoanl wishes but tend to be focussed on boon druation OR dmg output (pure DPS food or condi food)

There is not a real right or wrong, except maybe a condi build for tanking. but even then I can see uses. Meta however tends to be requested for high end content (t3/4 or raids, with bunkers and DPS builds in higher demand then condi builds which are niche in PvE)

23 lvl 80’s, 9 times map, 4ele, 4ncr, 3war, 3grd, 3rgr, 2thf, 2msm, 1eng, 1 rev.
Been There, Done That & Will do it again…except maybe world completion.

(edited by PaxTheGreatOne.9472)

Class Role Inquiry

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Posted by: voidvector.2780

voidvector.2780

For most of PvE, there is no role. It is “every man for himself” in terms of healing/buffing. However, roles do exist in high-level PvE (T4 fractal, raid):

  • DPS – could be power or condi
  • Tank – mostly chrono
  • Healing Support – mostly druid, occasionally ele
  • Buffing support – usually people would ask for specific build (druid for gotl, ps warrior, dps chrono)

In WvW, you have roles like:

  • Roamer
  • Zerg front-line
  • Zerg mid-line
  • Zerg back-line
  • Scout

In sPvP, stuff like “bunker” and “healer” can be considered roles, but that’s only if the team runs that strategy.

(edited by voidvector.2780)

Class Role Inquiry

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Posted by: joneirikb.7506

joneirikb.7506

In general, while learning the game, you don’t have to care about it at all. You can play the entire Open World maps any way you want, and test and experiment and find what works for you/is fun etc.

The only places you should start thinking about that is in PvP/WvW, and Raids, and possibly some Dungeons and Fractals (depending on who you play with, and what fractal level etc).

Typically players care more about finding a balance of Damage vs Survivability that they’re comfortable with, and adapt around that to make a build they enjoy. Many players enjoy heavy into survival at start, and as they feel more comfortable with the game, slowly shift over to more damage.

Yeah it is strange if you’re coming from other games with more rigid role systems, but basically GW2 lets you play any role with any class, with its own twists etc.

I’m currently having the opposite, played GW2 so long, and trying a more traditional MMO, and learning how restricted I am in dungeons ! >_< Oh boy!

Elrik Noj (Norn Guardian, Kaineng [SIN][Owls])
“Understanding is a three edged sword: your side, their side, and the truth.”
“The objective is to win. The goal is to have fun.”

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Posted by: Malice.8439

Malice.8439

I noticed that while everyone posting here so far are kind and make some very good points, nobody here actually answered your question!

The Mesmer is a very versatile profession, and can play in many different ways. For open world PvE and PvP, anything goes. Literally anything, whether you want to do Shatters (power/ferocity/precision clone spam in order to shatter), Phantasms, Conditions, or mantras (healing), most of it will work.

“Roles” become important when you play instanced group content, such as raids or fractals (but even in fractals, you can do pretty much anything for the first two tiers). In the highest PvE content, the Mesmer is a support/tank.

Tanking in this game is about stacking the highest toughness stat in the group, which will cause the boss to focus on you as its’ primary target. Since the tank has the attention of the boss, it’s up to them to properly position it.

A Mesmer’s support comes from our synergy between our signets, wells and boons. We provide two rather unique boons; Quickness, which speeds up your actions, and the semi-boon Alacrity, which speeds up your recharge rates (or “Cooldowns”).

With the proper gearing, runes and traits, your job in high end PvE is to generate boons (“buffs” in other games), mainly Quickness and Alacrity and share these to your group. With perfect gameplay, under the proper conditions, your entire group will have a 100% uptime of Quickness and Alacrity – meaning that they will have these boons on them permanently for the entire fight.

This is mainly done by traiting Domination/Inspiration/Chronomancer, and using a Sword and a Shield – which are probably the builds you see on various sites. The Minstrel and the Commander versions of these builds come with high toughness, which means your job as a Chronotank is to command the attention of the boss, while simultaneously providing permanent Quickness and Alacrity to your entire group. The end result being that you are providing an enormous damage boost to your group, and tanking the boss for them. The sword + shield combo also gives you plenty or damage from protection (Sword #2 and Shield #5), an exellent phantasm (shield #4) and a strong auto-attack.

The Zerker/Commander version is more damage oriented, which makes it easy to use the same gear when out in the open world. Bear in mind, though, that Mesmer/Chrono sustained damage is the lowest across the board amongst all professions.

The Minstrel version makes you near immortal under the right conditions, but make you hit like a wet noodle.

I’m by no means a Mesmer expert, but it’s been my main since launch, and I’m in the process of gearing up to tank in raids as well. You should check out the Mesmer forums if you want more help, the people there are friendly and knowledgeable.

All warfare is based on deception.
- Sun Tzu, Art of War

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Posted by: Kir Sakar.3647

Kir Sakar.3647

Adding to Malice’s comment on PvE roles, in sPvP, mesmers are one of the best dueling classes. They are also quite mobile and have unique utilities (portal most importantly). Rather than buffing teamfights, they can create advantages and map control in Conquest by using their mobility and portal wisely.

That is incredibly fun, but also extremely hard. I still lack the map awareness and strategic mind to play Mesmer efficiently in sPvP, so I learned a different class to not kitten-off my teammates too often. xD

Edit: WvW, similar story. Stealth, portal, mobility etc. make it a very nice roaming class.

Charr Chronomancer | Asura Tempest | Charr Druid | Charr Guardian
(Seafarer’s Rest, EU)

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Posted by: Samnang.1879

Samnang.1879

Mesmer is a support class. Its main role is to give quickness and alacrity to other team members.

In pvp, I’m not too worried about this, I like to equip tons of interrupt skills and boon removals to support my group.

It doesn’t have a high burst DPS like thief or else, that’s why if u want to burst in PvP, don’t use mesmer.

Please nerf bag types instead of class skills!