Guild Wars 2

When the game launched, Elementalists would have been near or at the top of the list. However, the versatility and rewards for mastering the skill ceiling for the profession apparently were to great. Not OP, but too great for ANet. Nerfs since launch have removed the original flavor and versatility. The profession still has a higher than average dexterity ceiling, as their are a lot of hoops to jump through with the attunements to put together the skill rotations needed to reach mediocre results, but it’s no longer a “thinking person’s/ tactician’s” profession.

What profession then? I think that hard to answer because some professions that have rewarding routes for those who can master a high skill ceiling also have builds that are recognized as the most potent, but really don’t require a whole lot of skill. I think many players may find playing a high skill ceiling build for worse results than one that’s very straight forward a bit disappointing.

I think high skill ceiling usually implies a build/profession that requires players to learn a lot of various skill rotations and tactical skill choice/timing to turn a build that’s ok in an average player’s hands into an awesome build in the hands of someone who has mastered the intricacies.

ANet’s balance team doesn’t like that ability to exist with in their profession. The unpredictability scares them, as, apparently, does a system that rewards experience and competence with performance and power. Prime targets for nerfage into non-existence are skills or traits that allow combinations they hadn’t anticipated, with really little regard for whether or not those combinations are overpowered or not. Just the fact that players would find combos the developers didn’t deliberately design or anticipate is enough.

I also hesitate to offer suggestions, because from experience playing this game for ten months, I can tell you that if you find a build that challenges you with a high skill ceiling and rewards you for mastery, it will be nerfed in fairly short order.

I’m beginning to feel like we are all being crowd sourced to identify builds that are fun and challenging to play so that game play can systematically be rendered as mundane and mediocre as possible.

Higher predictability makes balancing a lot easier, but sort of pointless if the process of getting there removes most of the ability to have fun while playing.

I would vote warrior for highest skill ceiling. It has a really low skill floor, don’t get me wrong. But a really good warrior will be able to achieve a lot more than pretty much any other class. (see: dungeon solos/speed boss solos).

This is only in context of dungeons, I don’t really care for open world or pvp

In spvp/tpvp WARRIOR

CrossedHorse.4261:

Korrigan.4837:

Kaizer.7135:

Korrigan.4837:

CrossedHorse.4261:

Korrigan.4837:

Thief, just like Rogue in “WoW” or other theme park games, is the coward’s favorite class.

Cowardly, or simply resourceful? :p

Honestly, if the Thief had more health and toughness I’d agree with you. But the Thief is pretty squishy. If the Warrior could stealth? Sure. Game-breaking. However, not so much the Thief.

Only as resourceful as the available skills permit.
Farerolling the stealth button as soon as you’re about to die is not even remotely “skillful”.

You make it sound like stealth makes you invincible, if you can’t kill a thief then take CC’s and shut them down. You sound like you get owned by thieves all the time.

I play a “tankish” warrior, thieves definitely don’t scare me – but it’s annoying that most of them just run away in stealth when going under 50% health.

Annoying doesn’t make it bad, lol.

Too much survivability and the ability to easily flee combat when losing is bad design.

Korrigan.4837:

CrossedHorse.4261:

Korrigan.4837:

Kaizer.7135:

Korrigan.4837:

CrossedHorse.4261:

Korrigan.4837:

Thief, just like Rogue in “WoW” or other theme park games, is the coward’s favorite class.

Cowardly, or simply resourceful? :p

Honestly, if the Thief had more health and toughness I’d agree with you. But the Thief is pretty squishy. If the Warrior could stealth? Sure. Game-breaking. However, not so much the Thief.

Only as resourceful as the available skills permit.
Farerolling the stealth button as soon as you’re about to die is not even remotely “skillful”.

You make it sound like stealth makes you invincible, if you can’t kill a thief then take CC’s and shut them down. You sound like you get owned by thieves all the time.

I play a “tankish” warrior, thieves definitely don’t scare me – but it’s annoying that most of them just run away in stealth when going under 50% health.

Annoying doesn’t make it bad, lol.

Too much survivability and the ability to easily flee combat when losing is bad design.

Well, they lose out on the kill, so it’s not that bad, I’d say. Still, each to their own. It seems, looking at your comment about how Thieves don’t scare you but are annoying, that your issues with Thieves are that they aren’t the faceroll, smash their face in, easy kill you think they should be.

Multikit Engineer.

Oh no, wait, multiconjure weapon Elementalist.

Necro.

So hard to do the easiest things.

Guardian – because no one else has suggested them.

CrossedHorse.4261:

Korrigan.4837:

CrossedHorse.4261:

Korrigan.4837:

Kaizer.7135:

Korrigan.4837:

CrossedHorse.4261:

Korrigan.4837:

Thief, just like Rogue in “WoW” or other theme park games, is the coward’s favorite class.

Cowardly, or simply resourceful? :p

Honestly, if the Thief had more health and toughness I’d agree with you. But the Thief is pretty squishy. If the Warrior could stealth? Sure. Game-breaking. However, not so much the Thief.

Only as resourceful as the available skills permit.
Farerolling the stealth button as soon as you’re about to die is not even remotely “skillful”.

You make it sound like stealth makes you invincible, if you can’t kill a thief then take CC’s and shut them down. You sound like you get owned by thieves all the time.

I play a “tankish” warrior, thieves definitely don’t scare me – but it’s annoying that most of them just run away in stealth when going under 50% health.

Annoying doesn’t make it bad, lol.

Too much survivability and the ability to easily flee combat when losing is bad design.

Well, they lose out on the kill, so it’s not that bad, I’d say. Still, each to their own. It seems, looking at your comment about how Thieves don’t scare you but are annoying, that your issues with Thieves are that they aren’t the faceroll, smash their face in, easy kill you think they should be.

Wrong, but whatever floats your boat.
Give every class the same ability to flee combat easily, and I won’t mind thieves anymore.
Stealth (as in “total invisibility”) is overpowered in every game it’s used. I had hopes when ANet said it would be very limited in GW2, but it’s definitely not limited enough.