Guild Wars 2

I Was curious to how classes play in the end, i mean i dont really care for what is and isnt overpowered as buffs/nerfs come and pass all the time, i’ve never seen a MMO Where u can start a class and it’ll be At the same power forever, generally it moves about.

As far as i have read, Rangers and Warriors are said to be the easiest classes (although some argue that they arnt, every class has easy and hard Playstyles)

is there any truth to this? or is it simply they have Easier playstyles offered to them with just as many more difficult playstyles they can play to excel at the class, do these sort of conversations apply to pvp? or are those speculations PvE Orintated?..

What are the skill curves to each class like? are they massively different for each class, or are classes all simular in difficulty to play properly?

Drayos.8759:

I Was curious to how classes play in the end, i mean i dont really care for what is and isnt overpowered as buffs/nerfs come and pass all the time, i’ve never seen a MMO Where u can start a class and it’ll be At the same power forever, generally it moves about.

As far as i have read, Rangers and Warriors are said to be the easiest classes (although some argue that they arnt, every class has easy and hard Playstyles)

is there any truth to this? or is it simply they have Easier playstyles offered to them with just as many more difficult playstyles they can play to excel at the class, do these sort of conversations apply to pvp? or are those speculations PvE Orintated?..

What are the skill curves to each class like? are they massively different for each class, or are classes all simular in difficulty to play properly?

To begin with, there are only three “classes”: Light, Medium, and Heavy. The word you want is “profession.”

As for the content of your question, guardian is generally thought of as a good starter character as it’s a heavy armor with a lot of healing and support. Like the ranger and warrior, you can always equip a weapon like the greatsword and just button smash with it too. Any profession would be easy to play, but some have better rewards for learning the mechanics well, like elementalist for example.

Drayos.8759:

I Was curious to how classes play in the end, i mean i dont really care for what is and isnt overpowered as buffs/nerfs come and pass all the time, i’ve never seen a MMO Where u can start a class and it’ll be At the same power forever, generally it moves about.

As far as i have read, Rangers and Warriors are said to be the easiest classes (although some argue that they arnt, every class has easy and hard Playstyles)

is there any truth to this? or is it simply they have Easier playstyles offered to them with just as many more difficult playstyles they can play to excel at the class, do these sort of conversations apply to pvp? or are those speculations PvE Orintated?..

What are the skill curves to each class like? are they massively different for each class, or are classes all simular in difficulty to play properly?

PvE: Simple to Complex (In a group setting, since solo is just pathetically easy.)
Necro
Warrior
Thief
Ranger
Guardian
Elementalist
Mesmer
Engineer

PvP: Simple to Complex
Warrior
Ranger
Thief
Guardian
Elementalist
Engineer
Mesmer
Necro

WvW…. Just Zerg and nothing matters.

Edit:
Bare in mind that not everything is just to do with the class its’ self but also with the environment (yes pvp has environment to it.) and the other classes at play that can make things either harder or easier.

what makes classes such as a necromancers skill curve change so massively between the two? is the skillset/Combos u do in pvp setting much harder then those u need for pve? or is it just the classes capability?

Drayos.8759:

what makes classes such as a necromancers skill curve change so massively between the two? is the skillset/Combos u do in pvp setting much harder then those u need for pve? or is it just the classes capability?

It’s just his opinion. I wouldn’t put Necros that low on PVE or that high on PVP.

I prefer the “Skill Floor vs Skill Ceiling” approach. Classes like Ranger have a very low skill floor- they can be played effectively even by complete noobs. However, Ranger also has a rather high Skill Ceiling- it takes a highly skilled player to get the most out of the class and play it to its full potential.

Here’s where they fit in my opinion:

Skill Floor, Easy>Hard:
Ranger
Warrior
Necro
Guardian
Thief
Engineer
Mesmer
Elementalist

Skill Ceiling, Easy>Hard:
Warrior
Guardian
Necro
Ranger
Mesmer
Thief
Engineer
Elementalist

In the end yes you can argue what class is easier or harder generally, but in the end, like any MMO, and particularly in GW2, due to the way the combat system works it relies HEAVILY on your own playstyle. While most will say that rangers and warrior is generally pretty easy to play, where mesmer and thief lies in the hard end of it, those 2 been relatively easy from the start of, where(while not terrible at them at this point) warrior and ranger still kinda rough on me.

to sum up, i would say pick a class you like the idea of, and sound fun and play that one, dont play one because everyone says it is easy

tbh, i generally avoid easy classes, i find classes with very low Skill Ceilings to get very boring when u feel u have reached the maximum capability of ur class soo soon after learning it, but i also dislike a class that is a never ending grind to see the maximum capability of it, at the end of the day i still want to be able to enjoy it

so i generally look for something inbetween those, the Elite specializations i predict will change ALOT of lists on both the difficult and easier classes, Reaper defintly looks interesting, Cloth melee has always been interesting. it looks OP as hell though.

I like the look of Necros, im not sure if i like pets though…..

Warrior’s skill ceiling is actually much higher than it appears. Because it is so obvious to learn and counteract a Warrior’s moves and they’re so simple, the Warrior has to constantly adapt his playstyle and use precise timing to avoid being counterplayed.

By the way I know that because I play one.

RJMazz.6798:

Warrior’s skill ceiling is actually much higher than it appears.

Especially for the ones from Golden State!

Torvic.8256:

RJMazz.6798:

Warrior’s skill ceiling is actually much higher than it appears.

Especially for the ones from Golden State!

Yadda, yadda, common sense, yay you’re awesome. I already made my argument and you made none.

RJMazz.6798:

Torvic.8256:

RJMazz.6798:

Warrior’s skill ceiling is actually much higher than it appears.

Especially for the ones from Golden State!

Yadda, yadda, common sense, yay you’re awesome. I already made my argument and you made none.

I see that you’ll be rooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers the next few weeks.

Drayos.8759:

I like the look of Necros, im not sure if i like pets though…..

Necro pets are completely optional. There are many builds that don’t use them.

RJMazz.6798:

Warrior’s skill ceiling is actually much higher than it appears. Because it is so obvious to learn and counteract a Warrior’s moves and they’re so simple, the Warrior has to constantly adapt his playstyle and use precise timing to avoid being counterplayed.

By the way I know that because I play one.

Not saying it’s easy; just the easiest of the available options when taken to max level. Warriors just don’t have as many combos, rotations, and situational skills that the other classes rely on. That’s not to say playing it at top level is easy; top level GW2 play is not easy in general. It just doesn’t have the same complexity of the other classes.

GW2 endgame can be defined in many ways. Depending on what content you are doing there are better classes suited for that content. With that of course comes different levels of skill needed for that class.

Generally speaking this is most concerning for PvE because this is where you are scaled up scaled to 80 or automatically 80. In PvE the hardest current content is fractals. I’ve run almost every profession on 50 fractals and have over 2000 total runs so I can speak to this rather well.

The most accepted classes in fractals and dungeon running in general for their support/damage and overall speed are:
Most sought: Elementalist, Warrior, Guardian, Theif.
Second: Ranger, Mesmer, possibly Engi
Third: Necromancer, Engi

It’s hard to place Engi and most don’t like necro because of its lack of support. Here are some examples of the classes I play the most and how they are useful.

Mesmer has nice utility and a really good Mesmer can pull their weight but most don’t have the skill to do this. For example a good Mesmer will taking down defiance stacks quickly for ice bows and pulling mobs into groups as well using full uptime reflect. This can be done by using mantra of distraction and your F3 skill. You require some skill but mostly knowledge of where to place the curtain so pull mobs together or when to time certain reflects (for example I can reflect all of arch diviners projectiles with using feedback and curtain, but I only ever see a handful of other mesmers who try to do this). Portal can also be useful especially for pug groups. Lastly your boon striping can be helpful such as in ascalon fractal where mobs constantly have 25 stacks of might. Your survivabilty is amazing. Between distortion and blurried frenzy and a much higher HP pool than Ele, you won’t have too much trouble living as long as you know when to use your skills.

Ele offers some of the best support while also offering the highest DPS. You can have permanent fury uptime with fire field blasting as well as nice might stacking. Your water fields can be life savers for the party. Chill field Is great in shaman fractal… And of course there is ice bow. Ele itself is not that hard to play. Staff Ele has a rather simple rotation that anyone can pick up in 10 mins with some practice. However the reason everyone says to avoid it as a new player is the HP pool. If you do not know what attacks to dodge you will die a lot. Even then you can expect to be dieing on a fairly regular basis. The HP is so low that most hard hitting attacks will one shot you.

Warrior is by far the easiest class. It offers the most support with the least amount of effort. Warriors have the highest HP pool and endure pain and your greatsword evade which when used correctly can be a life saver for the rest of the group with war banner. A PS and EA warrior helps your party maintain permanent 25 stacks of might. These traits are phalanx strength and empowered allies and found in the toughness line. As well as using banners you have great support.

Guardian is the class that really is needed no matter what your party comp is. Yes you can get away without one but it will be harder. A good guardian however requires a good anount of skill. I would place good guardian’s skill level near that of a mesmer’s, if not a little harder/higher. You need to know when to use wall of reflection, shield of avenger, stability utilities and how to do a proper aegis/block rotation. Your survivabilty is decent however you HP pool is almost half of a warriors. You make up for this in toughness and utility. Your damage is also great. But if you mess up any of your utility’s (especially forgetting to use wall of reflection or in some cases stability) your party will wipe. And if you can’t figure out how to do it expect someone to vote to kick. Although most people will help you figure it out.

I could go into more detail on other classes if you like but I am heading to bed. This is just my two cents and these are my opinions but i have considerable fractal experience which a lot of PVEers consider sort of endgame outside dynamic areas such kitten which then is doesn’t matter what you go as.

Roll several different ones and try to keep your playtime with each one even. You will sort out which ones you love playing and which ones you loathe in short order.