Guild Wars 2

Hi so having been out the game the last year and a bit I’ve decided to get back into the game – I’ve narrowed it down to these three professions but can’t decide

I’ve played all 3 but only at a low level and some pvp so don’t know what to expect for end game.

Could someone possibly weigh up the pros and cons of each classes – as in levelling, single target dps, aoe, pvp, wvw, fractals Ect Ect

I just don’t want to focus all my time in one get to end game and not like it and I hear a lot about engineer and elementalist being very difficult to master? How much truth is their to this?

Thanks guys – appreciate all comments

I have all 3 in my menagerie but out of them I prefer the guardian the least. Great in levels 1-79 but level 80 content? Meh. The lack of the ranged weapon (with the exception of a slow scepter) kills the fun for me. If HOT’s only change was to give the guardian a longbow (with the same skills as the ranger) I would be happy.

Out of the other 2 I would pick the engineer. The elementalist is great (I like using a staff for boss battles: good damage with a quick swap to remote healing) but will go down fast when hit due to light ‘armor’.

I only have an elementalist.

Swapping attunements is fun and engaging. You will have 20 weapon skills at your disposal. Can make a lot of combos on your own (forever alone player). However, elementalist is very very squishy. It requires a lot of active defense.

I heard ele has good damage, but I have not played other classes yet, so I can’t say it has relatively high damage. Only from my own perspective, I am not very happy with the damage. Not high enough to compensate the squishiness.

Ele is good, the best (in terms of numbers) class in fact, if you play perfect. High difficulty. And I mean high. Incredibly low passive defensive and annoying stacking of might required for optimal damage.

Engi is great all rounder, not really best at anything but good at everything.

Guardian is probably best support.

All classes can do good damage but thief and ele are top.

Don’t pick a class based on leveling tho, leveling is quick and easy.

All that said I’d rather have an ele, mesmer, and guard in my party rather than play one….

I heard ele has good damage, but I have not played other classes yet, so I can’t say it has relatively high damage. Only from my own perspective, I am not very happy with the damage. Not high enough to compensate the squishiness.

Eles are at the top right now. Are you using Staff, zerk gear/weapons/trinkets, and a good build?

Guardian is PROBABLY best support? Bro Im a guardian with all my traits and moves focusing only on my own survivability and power and I STILL give more buffs than most people. Also even if your super duper duelist ele whos better with 1v1, your still gona be alot more vulnerable to ganks. Pick guardian. GUARDIAN MASTACLASS!

Well tbh my main focus is going to be pvp and wvw anyway, and those 3 suggestions were just classes that appealed to me but I’m not dead set on them – which profession is of all of the total ones available most pvp orientated? I’m not concerned about being the “BEST” because I know there’s no such thing in a mmo

I think ele will be your best choice is you want to focus on pvp and wvw. I don’t play ele personnaly but I know some really good ones, and they have insane survivability in wvw.
If you want to try guardian tho, try a mediguard build. It’s a lot of fun but lack a bit of mobility at first.
Engie, I couldn’t say since mine is only lvl 25.

to get back into the game: Guardian
to get back in the game and have a little challenge: Engineer
to get back in the game and have some fun while leveling and a challenge when getting into the somewhat higher level areas: elementalist

I recently done all three profs after i got back from a while not being online at all, this have been my personal foundings. (and pvp or pve difference i can not tell you since i do not pvp)

Fermi.2409:

I heard ele has good damage, but I have not played other classes yet, so I can’t say it has relatively high damage. Only from my own perspective, I am not very happy with the damage. Not high enough to compensate the squishiness.

Eles are at the top right now. Are you using Staff, zerk gear/weapons/trinkets, and a good build?

Good to hear that. I am new to the game and the genre (after all, western MMORPG is very different to asian MMORPG, so I better consider it as a different genre). Elementalist damage is not too high imo, only frost bow skill 4 did okay damage, but now they say it is too OP and want to nerf it. Probably the player power to mob power ratio in GW2 is much lower.

I got to play other professions to know whether elementalist damage is high or not, lol.

After you create a character and finish that first part of the personal story (lvl 2 I think) you can teleport to the mists (spvp lobby) and your character will be boosted to lvl 80 w/all traits and abilities available to test out.

A good way to see the playstyle before investing time into a profession.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Heart_of_the_Mists

and welcome on!

For pve: Both engi and ele have high aoe dps. Eles are the best aoe dps in the game and are in a rough competition with thief for the first single target dps. Eles are wanted everywhere for their offensive support and superior damage; engis are a harder class meaning only a few people master it enough to actually use it, but it has more cool tricks and niche utilities than ele. Guardian is a defensive support class, meaning their dps isn’t as high but they are always wanted for the smoothness of a run.

For pvp: all 3 classes are wanted in the meta. Personally, I’ve more fun playing guardian than the other 2 classes, but it’s only my opinion.

WwW: engis are good at roaming, eles and guardians are good at both roaming and zerg, even thoug guard lacks the mobility to disengage making it less suited for solo roaming. Devastating in a group, though.

Guardian is also super easy to level.

Does the meta matter to someone just getting back into the game? (It shouldn’t matter to any of us at all.)
Ele takes some doing to perfect the how & when of attunement switching.
Engi has merit in all aspects, but I would lean towards Guard. Guardian works solo as a leveler, and crushes in a group Pvp or WvW setting.

All of them are found on top competitive teams in PvP. From a gameplay perspective, I think the choice depends on how much technical (button-intensive) play you want.

Guardian is probably the least technical class of the three. At least for the PvP Meditation Guardian, when to use certain skills is mostly a risk-reward analysis (ie do I use this skill for some damage or do I save it for some healing?) and not something you should be rushing to execute.

Elementalist is in the middle ground of technical, since although you can switch attunements quickly and press a lot of buttons those attunements will need time to cool down. It’s also very reactionary; a lot of playing the class is using the right defensive spell against the right attack at the right time, and knowing how long to stay in attunements.

Engineer is probably the most technical because you have 4 weapon sets with no cooldown between switching, 4 toolbelt skills, a very versatile healing skill and an elite. More than the other two classes, it’s really all about rapid and continued sequencing of your abilities; there are so many buttons that must be pressed as engi that it’s synonymous with carpal tunnel syndrome jokes.

I would go guard if I were you.

PVE
The engi highest DPS rotation is crazy. It’s way too much Button smashing.
Ele has the highest DPS in game but it dies easily.
Guard has nice support and it requires some skill in like placing your wall of reflection or when to use shield of avenger. But overall it is an easy class.

PVP
Engi offer great support and celestial engi is a good bunker. It still requires lots of button smashing.
Ele also offers great support but it’s rather difficult to master
Guard offer nice support and isn’t that hard to master

WVW
Ele and guard are both great. I don’t think engi does so great here.

For builds and hot to play them check out metabattle.com

Andraus.3874:

WVW
Ele and guard are both great. I don’t think engi does so great here.

Engi is an excellent Roamer class with great conditions, great sustain, permanent swiftness and great escapes. It does suffer in Zergs, however.

Pyro.4765:

Andraus.3874:

WVW
Ele and guard are both great. I don’t think engi does so great here.

Engi is an excellent Roamer class with great conditions, great sustain, permanent swiftness and great escapes. It does suffer in Zergs, however.

Yeah I was thinking more serving. Roaming I equivocate more to PVP as in its the same more or less.

What I did: roll several characters of different professions and races. Play them all roughly the same amount of time. Which do you like best?

You should note that at some point this Summer (most likely), skills and traits are going to be completely reworked. I’d advise not sinking any time/gold into the trait system for now. You’ll have all but 5 traits unlocked in PvP anyway. I don’t have feedback for which you should choose, though, but I will say that you’ll level pretty fast, particularly with tomes in PvP.