Guild Wars 2

So I decided to roll an alt, but I’m having difficulty choosing between the two. How would you compare DPS, support, and survivability? I only want to play one, and this would be for PvE.

Thanks

Depends. They’re both viable but good at different things. For example, mes is arguably the strongest 1 on 1 class in the game. Their one weakness? Thieves.

In PvE Thieves have higher DPS, and shadow refuge can be incredibly useful in some dungeons, to bypass some tougher parts. Mesmers have some of the best utility in the game (portal, timewarp, veil…), to the point where most serious dungeon runs take 1.

In WvW Thieves are better at roaming, while Mesmers are better as power multipliers in Zergs.

In PvP mesmers are generaly more used as duellers while Thieves are roamers/assassins.

At the end of the day: why choose? Get both.

I’d rather spend time on just one of them for now. Thanks for your responses, though.

These happen to be the two classes I’ve played most, and while I’m far from an expert on either, I think mesmer is more fun, has more build options and potential, and is also stronger overall.

I have both, and I find Mesmers to be a lot more fun.

Played both – mesmer more fun => deleted thief.

I’d look at it from a stylistic point of view – colour scheme of abilities, class theme (cloak&daggers, smoke, lone wolf, black/grey tones, poison… vs pretty pink butterflies, dancing around, like seeing more of yourself…).

Also any weapon preferences? I find thief’s weapon selection and skill use to be pretty dull overall – may reroll one if they get a quarterstaff or something.

I don’t do much PvP but in PvE, Mesmers are usually wanted more. A thief’s main use is to stealth the party to skip mobs, but what people tend to do is just switch to a thief alt made for that purpose and switch back afterwards.

Yes, thieves also have very high potential DPS, but it’s a lot harder to fulfill that potential than a Warrior, so it often ends up with the Warrior having higher DPS. That and the Warrior having better utility usually means people prefer a Warrior in the DPS slot.

I’m more of a fan of thief, as a PvP player. But I guess mesmer isn’t that bad. :P

Do you like to lose? If not, play Thief.
Are you a dairy farmer? If yes, play either.

ProxyDamage.9826:

Depends. They’re both viable but good at different things. For example, mes is arguably the strongest 1 on 1 class in the game. Their one weakness? Thieves.

In PvE Thieves have higher DPS, and shadow refuge can be incredibly useful in some dungeons, to bypass some tougher parts. Mesmers have some of the best utility in the game (portal, timewarp, veil…), to the point where most serious dungeon runs take 1.

In WvW Thieves are better at roaming, while Mesmers are better as power multipliers in Zergs.

In PvP mesmers are generaly more used as duellers while Thieves are roamers/assassins.

At the end of the day: why choose? Get both.

Pretty much this. Also note that Thief has the best 1on1 DPS in the game atm. While Mesmer DPS is pretty crap (probably one of the lowest in the game). Groups only take Mesmers cause their utilities are so godlike and unmatched by any other class.

roll a warrior/guardian/necro…

they are OP in zerg fight….

I too have both classes, whereas the Thief is my main by a long shot.

I’m also much more experienced and skilled on my Thief, but in general:

1. World PvE – I enjoy the Thief here more because it’s easier to avoid mobs and to tag mobs in Zergs. Thieves are also faster and can kill mobs quicker. They don’t have annoying AI that will run off and attack mobs and thus keep you locked in combat unlike Mesmers. Yeah, Mesmers have some really annoying AI bugs.

2. Dungeons – Here I enjoy the Mesmer far more as he can contribute much more than a Thief ever could. Projectile reflects are amazing as are most other support skills. The constant Illusion spam also gives bosses and mobs many more targets to swing at, reducing the chances of you getting hit.

3. WvW – Thief for raoming, just because of stealth and speed, but in zerg fights, it’s a bit of a wash. Yeah, the Mesmer has some cool utility but it’s pretty boring most of the time. The whole class concept of spamming Illusions and Phantasms just doesn’t work that great in large scale combat. Thieves aren’t much better but at least you can harass their back-line.

4. sPvP – Thief, but I’m also much better on my Thief compared to my Mesmer. Both fill a similar role and Mesmers probably are overall better. If you ever find yourself with 3 Thieves on your team your chances of winning are slim, while having 3 Mesmers can actually make it even harder for the enemy.