Guild Wars 2

Which professions are the most fun & challenging to from level 1 ?
Ranger has been boring for me as my pet takes care of almost everything for me.

The answer must be “mesmer”, since that’ll always be the one that people list to avoid when the reverse is asked.

However, truth be told, if you want challenge while levelling you really need to push hard to get to zones several levels above you. The core tyria experience is, honestly, relatively easy IF you have played other MMOs, and have reasonable experience with the genre.

Anyway, if you play non-ranger, and avoid minion necromancer, pretty much everything else involves some amount of beating stuff up yourself. I suspect that pistol/pistol or dagger/dagger thief would work well for you.

I am currently leveling a Thief also (lvl 17).
Most of the mobs dont even last a single Unload (P/P).
P/P is really good for leveling so far but as you can see it gets boring after a while.

I used to love playing DoT classes in other MMOs.
As such I would like to know which classes in GW2 has a strong DoT potential ?

The thing about this question is that it’s all dependent on what playstyle you enjoy. Some people will enjoy one class’s playstyle while others will find it tedious. I’d say every class has merits and flaws that would make a person like or hate it.

vpy.6183:

I am currently leveling a Thief also (lvl 17).
Most of the mobs dont even last a single Unload (P/P).
P/P is really good for leveling so far but as you can see it gets boring after a while.

I used to love playing DoT classes in other MMOs.
As such I would like to know which classes in GW2 has a strong DoT potential ?

Depends on the playstyle you are looking for. Technically every class could go condition for some DoT.

The ones that have easiest access though would be necro, engi, thief (venoms, d/d) and ranger (shortbow, axe/torch).

How adviseable that is i don’t know though. In PvE many people still seem to think that condition damage is not worth it so worst case you’ll have a hard time finding a group depending on your class and setup, should you ever try to run certain things (like the raids).

I personally like my condi builds, necro can be lots of fun, although it would be even more if we had more enemies with buffs to convert, and venom-thief can be nice for some condi-spike in bigger events. But: This is my opinion.

Problem in regular PvE is that enemies barely have any health. Before you have many condition on an enemy he is already dead. It’s fun for a while, but after that it just takes far too long to kill something.

Most of the time I rather just swing once and kill a group in a single hit.

I personally enjoy my condi builds. Honestly? When i tried power on certain classes i actually felt weaker.

Ele is still the best , from day 1 to now!

I personally enjoy my condi builds. Honestly? When i tried power on certain classes i actually felt weaker.

I’m assuming you didn’t play pre-HoT :p

I think alot would agree mesmer would be the hardest class to learn in PvE.
Engi would be 2nd because it is very complex class. It’s got so many kits to run with, so many possibilities. They are very flexible class and can do alot of things. But without time patients and gold (to try different ideas and builds armor/weapon variations) To find what works best for you. If no patients for learning or time to invest you will probably dislike it and feel it has no purpose in the game.
I see it alot I laugh passively at these people.
Rev would be a close 3rd It had a steep learning curve for me I wasted sums of gold working through all the possible builds before I found its sweet spot or sweet spot matched to how I played i have personal thresholds for both offense and defense.

I don’t do build guides, because it goes completely against who i am as a gamer.
I’m a tinker in games, i like trying ideas out I don’t mind wasting gold time and patients to perfect my builds and or learn my classes. That way i know it’s strengths and weakness and let myself adapt to any situation with that knowledge.

With that said, all 3 classes I’ve mentioned I soloed all of content in hot (not counting metas/raids of coarse) with all three.

Ranger is the easiest class to play in “Open World Tyria”, it plays very different in a few other places (Dungeons, Fractals, PvP, WvW etc), because the Pet can indeed face-tank just about anything in the Open World. So if you want a challenge, basically any other profession will be better suited for Open World, for the rest Ranger can be as challenging as the rest, and sometimes harder.

Now which professions are “the most fun & challenging” depends mostly on yourself. But a few Suggestions: Thief, Engineer (avoid turrents), Elementalist, Mesmer.

Personally I like Thief and Ele a lot for this, since they have very low hitpoints, very low armor, and almost no “Passive Defenses”. They’re very dependent on your “Active Defenses” and play to survive.

That being said, all enemies at the starting areas are completely trash, and should not be used under any circumstances as a measurement for how good or bad your class is. Example Pistol/Pistol Thief might seem overpowering right now, but you will notice that the enemies will take longer and longer to kill as you get to new areas. I don’t think I’d even want to play Pistol/Pistol in the 80 areas. And as you level/get to higher areas, you continually want your weapons more for keeping you alive So Pistol/Dagger for example starts looking like a much better option.

emikochan.8504:

Ele is still the best , from day 1 to now!

I personally enjoy my condi builds. Honestly? When i tried power on certain classes i actually felt weaker.

I’m assuming you didn’t play pre-HoT :p

I’ve played since beta and i mean what i say. When i tried power it felt weaker to me. Maybe though that is because i don’t go for 2 offense lines and my builds try to take teamplay into account as i don’t believe damage alone will get you anywhere, granted, there are one-shot skills on some bosses but those aren’t everything in the game.

LouWolfskin.3492:

emikochan.8504:

Ele is still the best , from day 1 to now!

I personally enjoy my condi builds. Honestly? When i tried power on certain classes i actually felt weaker.

I’m assuming you didn’t play pre-HoT :p

I’ve played since beta and i mean what i say. When i tried power it felt weaker to me. Maybe though that is because i don’t go for 2 offense lines and my builds try to take teamplay into account as i don’t believe damage alone will get you anywhere, granted, there are one-shot skills on some bosses but those aren’t everything in the game.

Wish I could agree with you’ve ive tried condi builds on engi rev little on ranger both pre-hot and post hot never could achieve the speed of killing like i could with high power medium precision (50% crit rate where i aim to be min but threshold i dont like it under 30%) and moderately high ferocity. Now thats just soloing in PvE perspective in PvP ive never tried personally might be better way to go shrugs.
i guess if I had to run a condi build be when ran zergs only I could see possible bennifit as it could help some classes other than self deal more damage.
But each to their own right if it works for you have at it.

As others have mentioned, a lot depends on your play style and what you enjoy. I have played a Condi Necro since the first month of the game, and haven’t changed since. “Fun” and “Challenging” are both perspective words in this context, so it will depend on what your looking for.

Squishy, High DPS, Complex Rotations:
As others have mentioned, The Engineer can have very complex rotations if your looking to achieve a min/max status with your character. I find them challenging to play in that perspective, but generally, they are fun because you can do so many things. Also, the Elementalist is a lot of fun, again very squishy but having high damage potential and group support. I would recommend trying the Elementalist as Dagger / Dagger and also as Staff, see which appeals to you, as they both are very different styles. Also, the Thief is a blast and has lots of escape mechanics, like stealth and teleports. Again, very squishy if build for pure DPS. But Dagger / Dagger, Pistol / Pistol, or really any combination of Sword, Pistol and Dagger are a lot of fun, but don’t forget to bring a Shortbow as it is great for thieves and mobility.

Teamplay, Support, “Healing”, Tanky:
This area is very broad as classes like the Elementalist fall in here, Mesmers can fall in here as well. Both of them are squishy and can be complex in nature (both with rotations and changing skills for situations). But, if this area is where you find fun, you might want to consider the Guardian. They offer some boons, reflects, and can be rather tank-like (but in return, your personal DPS is lower). Also, the other plate classes (Warrior and Revenant) can offer similar (and sometimes better) group support through boons, might in particular.

/Sleep, Semi AFK, #still-awesome:
If this is what your looking for, and find fun, you might want to stick with a Ranger, or try out a Necro. Granted, this title is meant to be joking, but it does hold some truth. If you play any class with pets, open world PvE will be significantly easier. To help put it in perspective, I have a Minion Necromancer that is build with Soldiers and Clerics gear, I can stand AFK next to many, many mobs, and they will never bring me below 80% before they die (Vet. Vinetooths in AB just for an example). I could go around and give you more, but I would have to test it (and quite frankly, it is irrelevant in the grand scheme).

Rundown-Quick version of all this:
As people have said, there are so many things about each class that is both fun and challenging. Different game modes provide different challenges. I would first look at where you want to be in the fight, up close hacking and slashing, or casting spells. Maybe you want both? But once you figure out where you want to be, and the style you like best, you will find the class you should enjoy. Try them all, they are all fun and have many different builds and styles. Your not confined to a meta build if you want to do dungeons. There are many, many, many people that don’t mind if your running something not meta (me being one), because we love playing the game, and seeing others share that same love. At the end game, when your looking into raids and T4 fractals, then worry about Meta-builds and optimal class stuff, until then, enjoy the ride on any class you pick.

vpy.6183:

I am currently leveling a Thief also (lvl 17).
Most of the mobs dont even last a single Unload (P/P).
P/P is really good for leveling so far but as you can see it gets boring after a while.

I used to love playing DoT classes in other MMOs.
As such I would like to know which classes in GW2 has a strong DoT potential ?

If you are level 17, and in a level 17 zone (eg: so you are not being scaled down to match a starter zone) then … that’s kind of expected.

Don’t worry, you will start having longer lived enemies soon enough. Not that Unload ever stops being strong against a single target, mind you, but it’s hardly the “one shot kill” at 30, let alone 60 — and you much less often face a single target alone at those levels.

At level 17, if you are playing in a zone at that level, you have barely walked out of “none of the mobs will attack you unless you hit them first” stage of what is, in essence, the tutorial to teach you how to play assuming you are new to MMOs and never played one before.

If you played other MMOs, try pushing forward to a 15-30 zone at 17, and aim to be out of there by 30 at the absolute latest. Don’t do everything, do a few bits here and there and keep moving forward until you get the challenge you are looking for.

Anyway, to answer your question about DoT style classes — most everything can, but I’d guess that maybe scepter necromancer (without minions), scepter guardian, or scepter/focus mesmer would be good choices.

Be aware of this, though: at level 17, the raw power damage from your scepter on any of those classes will knock down many enemies. Seriously, it’s still at the point that they are pretty darn weak, so that you don’t face a vertical wall if you never played an MMO before, so someone with greater skill….

If you want to play the game on hard mode, play in a +10 level area. To counter the damage reduction, play a condition build.

If you simply want a more active profession, try a scepter or dagger/dagger elementalist.

[Points to the signature below]

for me is mesmer but mesmer is a wierd class

Engineer

But i’m a filthy biased engie main.

Gaile Gray.6029:

vpy.6183:

Ranger has been boring for me as my pet takes care of almost everything for me.

Sorry, but that’s blasphemy! Ranger is the best. Full stop.

zealex.9410:

for me is mesmer but mesmer is a wierd class

But oh so good to party with, and our mesmer community is marvelous with helping get the dailies! I am a major mesmer fan!

^^ <3

warrior atm, played to much time with my guardian over this years and i fill that at the momment im forced to play guardian, in a way that i dont like, that is trap noober or GTFO so i decided to focus on warrior and revenant.

warrior without “Hot builds for noobs” (HoT specs) feels right, atm missing the shield domes from my guardian, but gainned several other stuff in exchange of that.
Berzerker feels like the same has play with a burn guard achieve 5k-10k easilly and kill most players in just few seconds since its easy to burn their condi clears… i dont like to feel carried as well, so master lameness with bzerker is out of question.

Vanilla warrior is my new main toon, pondering atm if i shall delete the guardian or not, since i can only focus in one class/character at a time and if i will convert my guardian to s full spirit weapon build… wich playing with SW is useless since how broken they are due the way they were being programmed…

DoT: condi necro is pretty fun. A little bit slower to ramp up, so things take a second or two longer to die. And when they don’t take longer, you run into the problem of them dying before you can give them the conditions you put on yourself, which is kind of embarrassing: standing there bleeding, poisoned, and tormented, hoping you don’t tick to death, and you did it all to yourself. Scepter/dagger works very well for condi, plus with a dagger you can trait for a run speed increase which is always good QoL. Out of sheer stubborness I put condi sigils onto a greatsword to swap to, but I won’t pretend it’s optimal; it’s just fun.

went from power ranger to druid and didn’t like it, now switched to condi ranger and an having tons of fun again!

vpy.6183:

Which professions are the most fun & challenging to from level 1 ?
Ranger has been boring for me as my pet takes care of almost everything for me.

thief would be the tougher of the options for me followed by mesmer. avoid necromancer/ranger/guardian/warrior as they can heal through 90% of the content and mesmer has their illusions and sword.

Gaile Gray.6029:

vpy.6183:

Ranger has been boring for me as my pet takes care of almost everything for me.

Sorry, but that’s blasphemy! Ranger is the best. Full stop.

zealex.9410:

for me is mesmer but mesmer is a wierd class

But oh so good to party with, and our mesmer community is marvelous with helping get the dailies! I am a major mesmer fan!

Mesmer is a lot of fun, it really is a useful community class. But then, I’m a bit partial to them

Aeolus.3615:

Vanilla warrior is my new main toon, pondering atm if i shall delete the guardian or not, since i can only focus in one class/character at a time and if i will convert my guardian to s full spirit weapon build… wich playing with SW is useless since how broken they are due the way they were being programmed…

Seems like a waste to delete a character that’s been your main for an extended period of time – at some stage the meta will shift and traps won’t be so important (it’s already going that way, and a new elite spec might change things entirely). Only good reason I can see to delete is if your character slots are full and you don’t want to spend the gems to get another one.

LouWolfskin.3492:

In PvE many people still seem to think that condition damage is not worth it so worst case you’ll have a hard time finding a group depending on your class and setup, should you ever try to run certain things (like the raids).

Condi is pretty much meta at the moment in raids and has always been a viable choice on everything outside of Keep Construct

Gaile Gray.6029:

Sorry, but that’s blasphemy! Ranger is the best. Full stop.

Gaile Gray.6029:

And that in my opinion, is what matters most. Hey, I play dual-bow Ranger, for goodness sake!

Disowns Gaile

;) Kidding play whatever you like, as long as you don’t [Point Blank Shot] something I melee, I’m fine.

Mesmer!

End of post.

maybe opening a strawpoll would be a good idea :P