Guild Wars 2

Hello, sorry for the silly question. I have googled this stuff, however all search results are way way outdated.

Anyway, I’m planning on coming back to GW2 soon when I get a new PC that can actually play it properly. The new updates with specs and stuff looks really fun. As a bit of background, I’m a player who basically exclusively plays healer roles in other MMORPGs. I know full well that GW2 does not have a full out healer or support role. However, I still have a desire to play a class that is useful at supporting a team, and can be well desired for groups as a result. I simply find a joy in helping out my teammates.

With so many updates, and the new elite specializations on top of that, I’m having some trouble discerning which are some good classes that can play support roles effectively. So, in you guys’ opinions, what classes/specs can play a support type role effectively, and if there are several, what are the pros and cons of each in comparison to each other?

Thank you very much and sorry again for the silly question.

i have not tried most of the elite specs so far but druid, chronomancer and tempest.
it depends on the kind of support you want to give.
the druid is the new dedicated healer he can transform into a celestial avatar so the weapon skill bar changes into healing skills. and the main staff healing is amazing.
if you want to support with utilities the chronomancer have wells that buffs allies, slows enemy and gives alacrity which shorten the cooldowns of allies very much.
and the tempest can be supportive using auras, shouts and healing skills for a very versitile amount of supporting skills.
also revenants seems to be very supportive in terms of healing, condition removing e boon sharing.
but the new thing is cc don’t forget it, when you break defiance bars most bosses stun or take additional damage and so far chronomancers and reapers are very good at it.

but mostly gw2 philosophy didn’t change with all classes you can support very well, it depends on how you want to do it.

if you are looking for a healer, the druid should be the class for you

Amadan.9451:

i have not tried most of the elite specs so far but druid, chronomancer and tempest.
it depends on the kind of support you want to give.
the druid is the new dedicated healer he can transform into a celestial avatar so the weapon skill bar changes into healing skills. and the main staff healing is amazing.
if you want to support with utilities the chronomancer have wells that buffs allies, slows enemy and gives alacrity which shorten the cooldowns of allies very much.
and the tempest can be supportive using auras, shouts and healing skills for a very versitile amount of supporting skills.
also revenants seems to be very supportive in terms of healing, condition removing e boon sharing.
but the new thing is cc don’t forget it, when you break defiance bars most bosses stun or take additional damage and so far chronomancers and reapers are very good at it.

but mostly gw2 philosophy didn’t change with all classes you can support very well, it depends on how you want to do it.

if you are looking for a healer, the druid should be the class for you

Hey, thanks for the reply!

The druids definitely look interesting, and I was definitely excited about it since I love healing, but I’m a bit worried on how a shoehorned healer works in a game that wasn’t designed for it. I’ll look into it more.

Chronomancer sounds really fun, but are they useful in PvE stuff? I liked Mesmers aesthetics a lot but ultimately quit it because they were so bleh in PvE, not very useful, and I don’t really pvP much. Maybe Chronomancer changes this?

The tempest does look kinda interesting, I’ll look up on it.

And there’s certainly no harm in trying out the new class.

However I suppose my main concern is, which of these are actually useful, or desired, in group content? As much as ‘every class can support’, more than anything I want to be of use to my group besides just zerking it out so I don’t want to drag people down by choosing a sub par class for the job.

Revnant provides good team support for an up front meleeish class

Ate The Cat.9340:

Amadan.9451:

i have not tried most of the elite specs so far but druid, chronomancer and tempest.
it depends on the kind of support you want to give.
the druid is the new dedicated healer he can transform into a celestial avatar so the weapon skill bar changes into healing skills. and the main staff healing is amazing.
if you want to support with utilities the chronomancer have wells that buffs allies, slows enemy and gives alacrity which shorten the cooldowns of allies very much.
and the tempest can be supportive using auras, shouts and healing skills for a very versitile amount of supporting skills.
also revenants seems to be very supportive in terms of healing, condition removing e boon sharing.
but the new thing is cc don’t forget it, when you break defiance bars most bosses stun or take additional damage and so far chronomancers and reapers are very good at it.

but mostly gw2 philosophy didn’t change with all classes you can support very well, it depends on how you want to do it.

if you are looking for a healer, the druid should be the class for you

Hey, thanks for the reply!

The druids definitely look interesting, and I was definitely excited about it since I love healing, but I’m a bit worried on how a shoehorned healer works in a game that wasn’t designed for it. I’ll look into it more.

Chronomancer sounds really fun, but are they useful in PvE stuff? I liked Mesmers aesthetics a lot but ultimately quit it because they were so bleh in PvE, not very useful. Maybe Chronomancer changes this?

The tempest does look kinda interesting, I’ll look up on it.

And there’s certainly no harm in trying out the new class.

However I suppose my main concern is, which of these are actually useful, or desired, in group content? As much as ‘every class can support’, more than anything I want to be of use to my group so I don’t want to drag people down by choosing a sub par class.

Chronomancer is awesome in PvE. I absolutely hated mesmer in PvE because to me it just felt incomplete, but chronomancer seems to complete the class for me, with support and the traits.

Many would say Herald (revenant elite spec) but I’d go with Druid as you mentioned you like healing. Celestial Avatar is almost exclusively healer support and a welcome addition to harder boss fights. At least I like it, the new content is rather hard, mobs hit hard and you go down fast.

I don’t know much about the elite specs because I’ve only played Reaper so far.

But personally, out of all of the core specs I’ve played, Guardian is by far the most supporty, but maybe not in the most traditional sense.

I’ve found that the best kind of support you can offer in-game is facilitating easy kills and preventing killing blows. Guard is incredibly supportive utility-wise, with easy access to reflections, stability and protection whilst also supplying a reasonable amount of damage themselves. It’s not all about giving health and increasing people’s base damage, but preventing them from losing them in the first place.

Hey thanks for the reply everyone!

candace.7069:

Chronomancer is awesome in PvE. I absolutely hated mesmer in PvE because to me it just felt incomplete, but chronomancer seems to complete the class for me, with support and the traits.

Ohh, sounds fun then. I might pick it up again.

ProtoGunner.4953:

Many would say Herald (revenant elite spec) but I’d go with Druid as you mentioned you like healing. Celestial Avatar is almost exclusively healer support and a welcome addition to harder boss fights. At least I like it, the new content is rather hard, mobs hit hard and you go down fast.

While I did mention I enjoy healing, I do enjoy a variety of other forms of support. I was hesitant because I wasn’t sure how healing would work in a game like this where it wasn’t really designed for it, but maybe I can see anyway. Seems like you like it, though the Ranger forum seems quite upset about it.

Crimson Clouds.4853:

I don’t know much about the elite specs because I’ve only played Reaper so far.

But personally, out of all of the core specs I’ve played, Guardian is by far the most supporty, but maybe not in the most traditional sense.

I’ve found that the best kind of support you can offer in-game is facilitating easy kills and preventing killing blows. Guard is incredibly supportive utility-wise, with easy access to reflections, stability and protection whilst also supplying a reasonable amount of damage themselves. It’s not all about giving health and increasing people’s base damage, but preventing them from losing them in the first place.

I definitely remember Guardian being one of the best at supporting the last time I played which was a long time ago. I enjoyed being useful in it, and I’m not really someone who sticks to what feels traditional since I just stick to whatever is the most helpful.