Guild Wars 2

I have about 70 tomes of knowledge lying around. So far my 80s are Warrior, Guardian, Necro, Ranger, Engineer. I technically have an 80 Revenant, but I “cheated” with him by using the free level 80 boost on him. My favorites so far are Necro, Ranger, and Engineer. I play almost exclusively PVE, and only rarely try a Dungeon. I like the above characters because they can all survive OK, even in the newest/hardest zones.

These are the ones I stopped playing when I got HOT: 50+ Mesmer, 30+ Elementalist, 30+ Thief. Technically the Thief is my son’s character, but he said I can take it to 80 if I’d like to.

Here are my concerns:

Mesmer – I’ve heard in their forums that their end of game damage is not so great. I’m not that impressed with their elite specialization, on paper at least, but I might be missing something. I know that anything can handle core Tyria stuff, but I’m concerned that the new areas like Bitterfrost may be too deadly.

Elementalist – OK, I love the diversity of skills that these guys have, but WOW are they fragile! I hear that they can do really good damage at end game, but will they also be dying a lot in the new zones where there are so many enemies packed so closely together? One thing that I’m NOT keen on is setting up some complicated “rotation” through the various elements for each fight. I prefer “easy mode”. (I do this for fun, not to challenge myself.) How is “Tempest”, anyway?

Thief – I gave up on this class around level 6! I was ALREADY dying constantly. My son on the other hand has quick reflexes and has brought him into his 30s now. I like the concept of using a staff with a thief, but, again, I’m worried that I’ll find the Thief too fragile in these new zones.

Revenant – Yes, he’s already level 80, but I haven’t played him since popping the scroll. I like the heavy armor option, for survivability. But he seems better designed for group play than solo. Is that correct? Would it be worth it to get his specialization?

Which of these, in your opinion, would I have the easiest time with in the latest zones?Thanks for your advice on your “post 80” experience with these classes.

I always suggest having an 80 Mesmer for one reason, if nothing else: World, JP, and minidungeon exploration is orders of magnitude easier due to Portal.

Azure Fang.8605:

I always suggest having an 80 Mesmer for one reason, if nothing else: World, JP, and minidungeon exploration is orders of magnitude easier due to Portal.

I agree with this. And seeing as you mainly play PvE it’s a good choice to level mesmer. On the other hand, it’s really not that time consuming/hard to level a character to 80 and as you play mostly PvE it really doesn’t matter that much which profession you play as Dungeons/Fractals/WvW are where it starts to matter. Honestly the best answer I could give to you: as far as PvE goes – play what you like.

First, let’s agree that we’re talking mainly of open-world PVE, which means no T4 fractals, no raids, and no-rush dungeons. If that’s the case, in my personal experience, anything with a reasonable amount of synergy can work.

Take what I write as some random thoughts of someone who has a level 80 character of each class and also mainly plays open-world PVE.

- Mesmer : it’s my main, and imo the class with the most complex mechanic. That being said, it can be quite tanky and as some awesome utility. Master of the jumping puzzles, and overall always fun to play with the illusions management. People that talk about weak endgame damage generally have high difficulty content in mind, but in open-world PVE, Mesmer does enough damage, and has enough Invulnerability and mobility tools to build quite glassy and still survive quite well. Personally, I don’t really like or use Chronomancer, as it’s mainly used as a support class in group content, and I solo quite a bit in HoTs maps, but its power comes from the traits, especially the ones that generates illusions, even more efficiently than the Illusion trait line, some would argue. Overall, if you like Jumping puzzles, a must.

- Elementalist. Again, they can be built with some tankiness in mind. For me, Staff is the way to go in open PVE. Other options feel too dangerous (daggers) or too single-target (scepter). I love the Tempest, it really makes me think whether I should switch affinity or wait a little for the Overload, and I really like the Shouts, as they create auras, and Auramancer is fun to build, with a surprisingly high number of options between the different traitlines (still talking about open PVE, of course). Warhorn is meh, imo, mainly because you have to renouce Staff to use it.

- Thief. For a looooong time, Thief was my least favorite class. As in, I liked the concept, and the feel of the class, but always struggled to achieve thing and to just…survive, honestly. And the fact that I overall don’t like the Stealth mechanic wasn’t helping, to be honest. Lots of dodges, mobility, and tricks, but I always felt there was something missing. Also, Steal always brings you back in Melee, and I constantly had to switch to some ranged weapon after a few seconds just to survive…
Then I discovered Daredevil, and nothing will ever be the same. ^^ A third Dodge, a healing that restores two dodges on a short CD, a true Block…the possibility to keep doing damage as you dodge…Yeah, that’s how I envisionned Thief! Now I can finally use my Steal to engage and have many tools to stay in melee range all the time! Granted, that class still feels frail, but with almost no “holes” in your active defenses (did I mention a fricking third dodge?)

- Revenant is a weird one. I think that due to the way the class is designed, it may take some time for each player to find a style that suits him/her. Herald brings a lot of tools so convenient that it’s hard (but not impossible) to go back to the base class and enjoy it. Overall, I would recommand using Jallis, whatever build you’re using, because it provides some much needed survivability, and the only really consistant Healing skill (big base healing + condition removal, all utilities are usefull and versatile), and it complements Glint really well (strong and well-rounded utilities, but circumstantial Healing skill) Sadly, as a Condition Revenant, Mallyx is too clunky and the utilities cost too much energy. Haven’t tried Shiro and Ventari that much. Shiro seems good for dealing a lot of damage, and as some nice control tools. Ventari felt interesting in design but annoying to use, dragging the tablet gets repetitive fast, imo.

So here are my 2 cents. Again, I don’t claim to be right or wrong, it’s just my personal experience, but I believe that as long as you don’t try to apply it to specific parts of the game that have more “hardcore” requirements (looking at you, raids) it can be usefull to you. =)

just take the Mesmer you can get to places easy in pve with it . !!

Mesmer, and especially Chrono, is a support class. Their condi damage can be one of the highest in the game if they are facing a single enemy that has a very large health pool so they have enough time to get out 3 phantasms and watch the condi stacks increase. But the setup time is stupidly high imo Still though its a fun class that will always have a place due to its support abilities.

Elementalist – I’m in the middle of training my Tempest spec. Its my second lvl 80 that I actually play and I love the class. Its survivability is lower, the lowest in the game if your reflexes and rotation aren’t that great. But it also has a bunch of defensive and sustain abilities if you trait for them. Overall its a really fun class and I love playing it even though I do die more often than on my mesmer

Thief – I enjoyed mine but stopped playing it around level 20. No particular reason other than I was tired of not being able to play in lvl 80 maps. Not sure how it is once you roll DD, but I have watched a video of a DD soloing the challenge to open a guild hall, so if you know how to play a DD well its an absolutely incredible class.

Revenant – I just kittening hate this class. I cannot stand playing it. Would not recommend you to play it