Guild Wars 2

Hey all , I ve been playing wow for like 10 years and i just quit it yesterday.
i downloaded GW2 yesterday but i dont know which class to play so i was wondering if u can help me pick .
I am a dungeons/Raids player , i love PVE , with grps or solo it wont matter and i dont care about PVP at all , so i was wondering whats the most fun class or the most needed for dungeons and raids or overall PVE content ??
thx in advance

start with a warrior. simpler, more intuitive, and always in demand

I’d suggest warrior or guardian, help you get used to the combat style of the game.

Ye thx alot guys for the fast replys , i will go warrior then , hopefully he’ll be easy enough to start with

Remember to have fun. If you need help don’t be afraid to ask. Welcome to the game.

Countess Aire.9410:

Remember to have fun. If you need help don’t be afraid to ask. Welcome to the game.

Thank you so much

whatever you do, do NOT roll up an engineer or elementalist until you have a solid understanding of the game :p they are the nost intricate and subtle classes

Would also suggest Guardian if you would like to have a few more things to do than hit stuff ’til it dies. You can then hit stuff ’til it dies plus light it on fire!
Well actually, above that, they can give some more direct support while still being tanky with high damage.

Welcome to GW2!

Like others recommended you really can’t go wrong with a warrior. It’s a pretty straight forward class and good for a newbie to start with. Second to that a guardian isn’t bad either.

Was actually in your shoes when I first came to GW2 back in beta. Was a huge WoW player (still jump on it occasionally), and was trying to transition to GW2 from that.

Easy path? Warrior is easy sure, so is Ranger. Ranger plays almost like the Hunter, without all the pet taunts (at least until higher levels) and such. But otherwise, it’s very comfortable and easy to work with to get a first hand experience. If you want to be in the front lines though, Warrior is the way to go. Simple hack and slash game play.

Stay away from Engineers and Mesmers mostly though, till you got a bit more experience. They seem to be the most complex class to do well with. Elementalist was actually easy for me as well, as it just felt like a typical glass cannon spell caster. Necromancers will fill your Warlock hole if you were a fan of Demonology, as they can summon all kinds of minions. You’ll actually find them more fun than Warlocks. I’m personally a Well/condition spreader type.

One thing I will mention, throw mostly everything you know of WoW type game play out the window. When it comes to “questing”, you won’t be doing anything like what you did in WoW. There is no quest hubs with tons of quests to pick up. Everything is dynamic events with little “helping hand” type quests here and there.

It’s going to feel weird, yeah. But give it time. It takes some getting used to. You’re gonna want to quit cause it takes you from your comfort zone pretty quick, but don’t. Stick with it, and it will grow on you. Just have an open mind is all.

SpyderArachnid.5619:

Was actually in your shoes when I first came to GW2 back in beta. Was a huge WoW player (still jump on it occasionally), and was trying to transition to GW2 from that.

Easy path? Warrior is easy sure, so is Ranger. Ranger plays almost like the Hunter, without all the pet taunts (at least until higher levels) and such. But otherwise, it’s very comfortable and easy to work with to get a first hand experience. If you want to be in the front lines though, Warrior is the way to go. Simple hack and slash game play.

Stay away from Engineers and Mesmers mostly though, till you got a bit more experience. They seem to be the most complex class to do well with. Elementalist was actually easy for me as well, as it just felt like a typical glass cannon spell caster. Necromancers will fill your Warlock hole if you were a fan of Demonology, as they can summon all kinds of minions. You’ll actually find them more fun than Warlocks. I’m personally a Well/condition spreader type.

One thing I will mention, throw mostly everything you know of WoW type game play out the window. When it comes to “questing”, you won’t be doing anything like what you did in WoW. There is no quest hubs with tons of quests to pick up. Everything is dynamic events with little “helping hand” type quests here and there.

It’s going to feel weird, yeah. But give it time. It takes some getting used to. You’re gonna want to quit cause it takes you from your comfort zone pretty quick, but don’t. Stick with it, and it will grow on you. Just have an open mind is all.

Thanks so much dude , It’s goin fine so far , i created a female norn warrior and reached lvl 10 , love the gameplay style and map completion thing , also the graphcis are awesome , btw any helpfull websites ?? like wowhead i mean

Snake.5132:

SpyderArachnid.5619:

Was actually in your shoes when I first came to GW2 back in beta. Was a huge WoW player (still jump on it occasionally), and was trying to transition to GW2 from that.

Easy path? Warrior is easy sure, so is Ranger. Ranger plays almost like the Hunter, without all the pet taunts (at least until higher levels) and such. But otherwise, it’s very comfortable and easy to work with to get a first hand experience. If you want to be in the front lines though, Warrior is the way to go. Simple hack and slash game play.

Stay away from Engineers and Mesmers mostly though, till you got a bit more experience. They seem to be the most complex class to do well with. Elementalist was actually easy for me as well, as it just felt like a typical glass cannon spell caster. Necromancers will fill your Warlock hole if you were a fan of Demonology, as they can summon all kinds of minions. You’ll actually find them more fun than Warlocks. I’m personally a Well/condition spreader type.

One thing I will mention, throw mostly everything you know of WoW type game play out the window. When it comes to “questing”, you won’t be doing anything like what you did in WoW. There is no quest hubs with tons of quests to pick up. Everything is dynamic events with little “helping hand” type quests here and there.

It’s going to feel weird, yeah. But give it time. It takes some getting used to. You’re gonna want to quit cause it takes you from your comfort zone pretty quick, but don’t. Stick with it, and it will grow on you. Just have an open mind is all.

Thanks so much dude , It’s goin fine so far , i created a female norn warrior and reached lvl 10 , love the gameplay style and map completion thing , also the graphcis are awesome , btw any helpfull websites ?? like wowhead i mean

The official wiki actually does a very good job for most things:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page

If you like playing the economy, gw2spidy is a must:
https://www.gw2spidy.com/

There are probably other good resources but those two should get you going.

nathanjameson.3542:

whatever you do, do NOT roll up an engineer or elementalist until you have a solid understanding of the game :p they are the nost intricate and subtle classes

Or at least go in knowing they are a harder class. My first was an elementalist, though I did a few levels as a warrior first during beta.

Man some of these comments….Just go with whatever class interests you. People saying don’t go engi or ele at the start because they are “complicated” are imo wrong. It’s fun to learn a class along the way and if there are many guides out there to help you with mechanics and what not. This game is not that complicated. Go with what interests you and have fun.

You really can’t go wrong with the classes, though some are easier to get the hang of than others. Warrior is always a solid choice, but if you ever get bored, there’s seven (and soon to be eight) other ways to rock the world.

And hey, welcome to GW2!

If you enjoy it half as much as I do, then I enjoy it twice as much as you do.

These two are also musts:

Into The Mists – a build calculator

And

Dulfy – The ultimate wizard of new content guides/previews.

Doh

How did I forget Dulfy. ANet even named the opening boss of a dungeon after her!

Snake.5132:

SpyderArachnid.5619:

Was actually in your shoes when I first came to GW2 back in beta. Was a huge WoW player (still jump on it occasionally), and was trying to transition to GW2 from that.

Easy path? Warrior is easy sure, so is Ranger. Ranger plays almost like the Hunter, without all the pet taunts (at least until higher levels) and such. But otherwise, it’s very comfortable and easy to work with to get a first hand experience. If you want to be in the front lines though, Warrior is the way to go. Simple hack and slash game play.

Stay away from Engineers and Mesmers mostly though, till you got a bit more experience. They seem to be the most complex class to do well with. Elementalist was actually easy for me as well, as it just felt like a typical glass cannon spell caster. Necromancers will fill your Warlock hole if you were a fan of Demonology, as they can summon all kinds of minions. You’ll actually find them more fun than Warlocks. I’m personally a Well/condition spreader type.

One thing I will mention, throw mostly everything you know of WoW type game play out the window. When it comes to “questing”, you won’t be doing anything like what you did in WoW. There is no quest hubs with tons of quests to pick up. Everything is dynamic events with little “helping hand” type quests here and there.

It’s going to feel weird, yeah. But give it time. It takes some getting used to. You’re gonna want to quit cause it takes you from your comfort zone pretty quick, but don’t. Stick with it, and it will grow on you. Just have an open mind is all.

Thanks so much dude , It’s goin fine so far , i created a female norn warrior and reached lvl 10 , love the gameplay style and map completion thing , also the graphcis are awesome , btw any helpfull websites ?? like wowhead i mean

Also, no Holy Trinity in GW2. (Tank, CC, Healing)

If you want to play a good PVE Dungeon class that can sustain a group in EZ mode I suggest also rolling a guardian. with the changes to the traits this last patch they are rather OP now about group healing. And Play easier then a Elementalist.

Warrior is awesome in its own right, but you have 5 Character slots…use them all :-)

Warrior is the best starting class because it’s super easy so it’ll be easier for you to get used to the fundamentals of the game.

Warrior is easy because it’s tanky and deals a lot of damage but there are a variety of builds to explore and interesting mechanics available to it so I still enjoy my Warrior (who was my first character) even though I now have a few other characters also at level 80.

I didn’t play other MMOs before this one but I’ve seen experienced WoW players having trouble in some of the easier GW2 content because they weren’t good at the GW2 mechanics. So for that reason I think it’s good to start with an easy character even if you’re experienced at MMOs.

I’m another that came over from WoW. I’d been frustrated with WoW for quite a while and looking for a game I could sink into and enjoy. After trying a few others I broke down, bought this one and haven’t been disappointed at all. I love this game!! I like the way it works for questing. I also really like all the jump puzzles and exploring the different areas and vistas. And while the starting areas are not difficult they’re also not face roll easy like WoW’s are.

I started with Ranger because my main from WoW was/is a hunter. I did like it but after reading what many people said I started a Guardian too. I only took both up to about lvl 10 then started a Norn Mesmer. I LOVE playing her!! I still only have her up to 17 but I’m having a ton of fun playing Mesmer.

each class is mechanically unique and “feels” different. one of the best things about char creation

The wiki will be a good friend to you, along with the “if only I knew” sticky at the top of Players Helping Players.

You can type in your chat box in game:
/wiki (subject) and it opens a window for you, so if you want to know how to, hmm, craft ascended armor, you type /wiki ascended armor — and boom, you’re at the relevant page.

One general tip no matter which profession you pick. If at any point while leveling your character starts to feel weak, it probably means you should update your gear and make sure it’s caught up with your level. For various reasons this is often a problem that happens during the leveling process.

Snake.5132:

I am a dungeons/Raids player ,

Quit while your ahead. or rather dont put too much into the what is currently avail.

DonQuack.9025:

Snake.5132:

I am a dungeons/Raids player ,

Quit while your ahead. or rather dont put too much into the what is currently avail.

Thats probably my biggest con coming from WoW, GW2 dosent really have an homologue to wow’s raid, closest thing youll ever get is the world boss (when people bother doing them) or whichever event zone is the big thing at the moment (silverwaste right now)

So I guess this is what you want to know.

Warrior = Warrior
Guardian = Paladin
Thief = Rogue
Ranger = Hunter
Engineer = Hunter with Gnomish Engineering without Pets
Elementalist = Mage
Necromancer = Warlock
Mesmer = Mage/Warlock/Rogue hybrid.

I think you’ll find gw2 is a much better game, it fixes almost every single problem wow had like mob tagging and quest variety, I moved here after Cataclysm and had way more fun with gw2.

Snake.5132:

Hey all , I ve been playing wow for like 10 years and i just quit it yesterday.
i downloaded GW2 yesterday but i dont know which class to play so i was wondering if u can help me pick .
I am a dungeons/Raids player , i love PVE , with grps or solo it wont matter and i dont care about PVP at all , so i was wondering whats the most fun class or the most needed for dungeons and raids or overall PVE content ??
thx in advance

Phyrex.5174:

DonQuack.9025:

Snake.5132:

I am a dungeons/Raids player ,

Quit while your ahead. or rather dont put too much into the what is currently avail.

Thats probably my biggest con coming from WoW, GW2 dosent really have an homologue to wow’s raid, closest thing youll ever get is the world boss (when people bother doing them) or whichever event zone is the big thing at the moment (silverwaste right now)

Anet has stated that the upcoming expansion (Heart of Thorns) will have challenging group content, but they have not gone into detail yet on what that will be.

There are two types of dungeons in GW2. The first would be the 8 that can be found around the world. These dungeons have a story mode and an explorable mode. The explorable mode for each dungeon is slightly harder then the story mode for each. The difficultly will remain the same for every run that you do for these dungeons. Each dungeon gives a different type of currency that can be spent at a vendor in Lion’s Arch (the city in the middle of the map). From the vendor that is where you can buy different dungeon related weapons and armor. Each dungeon’s armor and weapons have a theme for the dungeon that they are associated with. The different dungeons also have different stats on their items.

The second type of dungeon in GW2 is called Fractals of the Mists. Fractals is a mode where you do 4 mini dungeons in one run. The mini dungeons are randomly selected from a pool. Each one has a slightly different mechanic. The difficulty for Fractals can be increased or decreased (lowest being difficulty scale 1). Fractals also have their own currency that is used to buy ascended related items.

Welcome to Guild Wars 2 Snake.

forgot the /s staringcenter

The state of dungeons/fractals is quite frankly not good. I am not trying to dissuade him from the game merely giving a realist view.

Dungeons fractals are quite possibly the last thing on arenanets minds.

Coming from wow where iirc there are Numerous dungeons/raids, hard and normal modes for them. The difference is massive.

Snake.5132:

I am a dungeons/Raids player , i love PVE , with grps or solo it wont matter and i dont care about PVP at all

Preoare to be severely let down by this game.

But, to answer your question, elementalist, though being one of the squishiest classes, is also one of the most versatile, being able to provide insane offensive support and damage.

nathanjameson.3542:

start with a warrior. simpler, more intuitive, and always in demand

And bo ring!

If you’re a melee type of person, go Warrior first. Good survivability, plenty of weapon selections, decent support.

If you’re more of a caster type, Elementalist rocks, but be prepared for a higher learning curve. Very powerful, versatile class.

If you’re a pet type, prepare to be disappointed by Ranger. :P
Being more on the ranged/pet dps scale in most MMOs, I’m surprised that I found Warrior enjoyable and an excellent starting point.

Here’s something you can try as well, since you have five slots. Make a profession without taking too much time customizing looks and story choices and head to the PvP lobby (I’m not sure how a brand new account does this, others may have to explain it). While you are there you will be level 80 with all traits and skills available. There are target golems there in various configurations to let you test what the profession does with different builds — they are like the target dummies on Orgrimmar’s walls only some will fight back so you can test skills that hurt attacking enemies.

Once you’ve found a profession or two or three that you gibe well with, then you can delete the sample alts and use your slots to make your desired professions to your preferred look and level up to get the learning process on how they work in the field. Alt hopping is quick and easy. To keep it fresh, you can head to other racial starting areas by going to LA from your racial city portal, then entering another racial portal and departing the city (make sure to ask in /Map which exit leads to the starter area, as some cities have exits to higher level zones). Or you can just make other races and thus get different personal story options once you get to level 10.

Aenesthesia.1697:

nathanjameson.3542:

start with a warrior. simpler, more intuitive, and always in demand

And bo ring!

Maybe for you, but not for others including myself.

Welcome to gw2 Snake, plz don’t bite us lol. j/k. You’ve joined our community at a very exciting time. With many amazing changes and the first expansion for gw2. Make sure you get it, it’s going to be awesome. Take your sweet time lvling and enjoy the ride.

PLEASE do NOT learn the combat system with a Ranger….. (I have 2 rangers and love them, but they teach new players horrible, lazy combat habits).

Warrior is a great place to start learning the game.

Just my 2 cents.

While its nice to see all these nice friendly responses (it almost ignited that lump of coal I call my heart), if someone came over from Wow and wants to know what class to play, surely the first thing you ask is what classes he liked in Wow?

Gw2 mechanics aren’t that different from wow mechanics. Check what he played in Wow, note that the only difference is that casting spells in Wow have to be done while stationary and map to the most similar class in gw2.

Mightylink.3816:

So I guess this is what you want to know.

Warrior = Warrior
Guardian = Paladin
Thief = Rogue
Ranger = Hunter
Engineer = Hunter with Gnomish Engineering without Pets
Elementalist = Mage
Necromancer = Warlock
Mesmer = Mage/Warlock/Rogue hybrid.

A little over-simplified for my tastes, but not entirely inaccurate. I think I’d disagree strongest with the Engineer and Mesmer comparisons. I’d say Engineer is closer to shaman than hunter, but even so I just don’t feel like Engineer really plays like anything in WoW. And I really don’t think Mage/Warlock/Rogue hybrid really does justice to what the Mesmer is.

faunabay.9320:

I’m another that came over from WoW. I’d been frustrated with WoW for quite a while and looking for a game I could sink into and enjoy. After trying a few others I broke down, bought this one and haven’t been disappointed at all. I love this game!! I like the way it works for questing. I also really like all the jump puzzles and exploring the different areas and vistas. And while the starting areas are not difficult they’re also not face roll easy like WoW’s are.

I started with Ranger because my main from WoW was/is a hunter. I did like it but after reading what many people said I started a Guardian too. I only took both up to about lvl 10 then started a Norn Mesmer. I LOVE playing her!! I still only have her up to 17 but I’m having a ton of fun playing Mesmer.

I too came from WoW. I still play it to this day.

I started playing the game on launch because I wanted something different to play. We all get burned out on things eventually and we take a break and come back to it.

I initially started playing the game as a Guardian. I knew from the get-go I wanted to play one. I played a Dervish in GW1 which was similar to a Retribution Paladin (my old main prior to Cataclysm). I also played a Paragon a lot in GW1. The Paladin (WoW) and the two classes I played the most in GW1 helped me decide what my main was going to be. I still play my guardian.

I’ve also had a love/hate relationship with my Engineer. I liked the idea of the class. I liked what they could do. However, I could never find anything that really worked for my playstyle. I never liked grenades, and a lot of the other kits were kitten in some way compared to the others, and I could never properly build around a few kits at that time.

But then I got more and more experienced with the game. I learned how a lot of things meshed really well, and with the right gear setup, you can do just about anything you want to.

With the recent updates to the traits and everything else, I’ve come to enjoy my engineer the most out of any of my alts – I hardly ever played my alts because nothing compared to how much fun I had with my guardian.

I have to say that I get more bored with the content than I do playing my characters. My characters will always remain fun and interesting. The content is what gets old after a while. The content is what burns me out the most. Eventually you’ll see everything that the game has to offer, even if it does take a colossal amount of time to see /everything/ the game has to offer.

I guess my whole point is: Play whatever you wanna play. It doesn’t make much of a difference what it is you play. If you want it easy: Warrior, guardian, or ranger. If you want it interesting: Everything else.

Wow has taught you many bad habits to have in this game that you kinda have to unlearn.

1st and most important, your skills aren´t WOW skills you HAVE to immediately use when they are recharged. Try using them situationally, you´ll figure it out.

2nd don´t run away immediately once you found an event and finished it, there´s often a 2nd or even 3rd stage. Or in short, stay around a bit to smell the pixels.

Then there´s this handy guide: Surviving Tyria: Beginner’s Guide to Mobility
also Guild Wars 2 – Optimizing Hotkeys, Keybinds and Moving Efficiently

Have fun and good luck!