Guild Wars 2

So yeah, I’ve always been into hard trinity, play your role, class specific type of gameplay. I know that Guild Wars 2 doesn’t really have that, because it is different from the traditional MMO gameplay. However, I still think there is a hidden hard trinity. For example, playing a Zerker Ele will do more damage than a Zerker Guardian. So I am trying to figure out the hidden hard trinity for the classes.

Elementalist/Tempest = DPS Burst
Necromancer/Reaper = DOT Condi
Ranger/Druid = Heals
Guardian/Dragonhunter = Tank
Warrior/Berserker = DPS Support

Does that sound about right? Where would the other 5 classes stand?

Thanks.

Will edit list for my self as people comment.

Warrior/Berserker is DPS Support and does both worse than other classes.

bLind.6278:

Warrior/Berserker is DPS Support and does both worse than other classes.

Support as in with shouts and banners?

The “Trinity” of Guild Wars 2 is Control, Support, and DPS.

Also, the poster who said, “Warrior/Berserker is DPS Support and does both worse than other classes,” has no idea what he’s talking about, ignore that one. Warrior is one of the most indispensable support classes (Empowered Allies, Banner of Strength, Banner of Tactics).

Land of Cheese.2584:

The “Trinity” of Guild Wars 2 is Control, Support, and DPS.

Also, the poster who said, “Warrior/Berserker is DPS Support and does both worse than other classes,” has no idea what he’s talking about, ignore that one. Warrior is one of the most indispensable support classes (Empowered Allies, Banner of Strength, Banner of Tactics).

Oh I figured it wasn’t the worst, just wanted a good understanding of each class.

Thanks for the links. So would this be a good categorization?

Warrior: DPS/Support
Elementalist: DPS/Support
Guardian: DPS/Support
Thief: DPS/Support
Mesmer: DPS/Control
Ranger: DPS/Control
Necromancer: DPS/Control
Engineer: DPS/ Control
Revanent: DPS/Support/Control

?

I guess what I am asking is kind of what are the classes best at? Guardians are good at giving defense to the group, Druids are good at healing, Elementalists are good at bringing tons of damage. What about the others?

I wouldn’t call it hard. Many of the roles are soft, in that they are ill-defined and can be done by many classes. If I were to break it up…

Burst DPS
Sustained DPS
Ranged DPS
Burst condi DPS
Sustained condi DPS
Ranged condi DPS
Primary boon giver
Specialty boon giver
Hard CC
Soft CC
Projectile Management
Boon Stripper
Blast Finisher
Healer
Rezzer
Tank (either bulk HP, block tank, or evade tank)
Two types of DPS: AoE vs. Single Target.

With classes doing multiples roles. For example, take the Herald. The herald is the primary boon giver, giving out might/fury/swiftness and occasionally protection/regen. The herald is also the sustained DPS, having a very high damaging auto attack. With further specialization, the herald can also be the healer/projectile management. With even further specialization, sustained condi and boon stripper.

The need for each role depends on the content.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

I wouldn’t call it hard. Many of the roles are soft, in that they are ill-defined and can be done by many classes. If I were to break it up…

Burst DPS
Sustained DPS
Ranged DPS
Burst condi DPS
Sustained condi DPS
Ranged condi DPS
Primary boon giver
Specialty boon giver
Hard CC
Soft CC
Projectile Management
Boon Stripper
Blast Finisher
Healer
Rezzer
Tank (either bulk HP, block tank, or evade tank)
Two types of DPS: AoE vs. Single Target.

With classes doing multiples roles. For example, take the Herald. The herald is the primary boon giver, giving out might/fury/swiftness and occasionally protection/regen. The herald is also the sustained DPS, having a very high damaging auto attack. With further specialization, the herald can also be the healer/projectile management. With even further specialization, sustained condi and boon stripper.

The need for each role depends on the content.

If Herald is the primary boon giver, what is Guardian then? :/ I thought they were supposed to be the best at giving boons and defenses.

I am literally just asking this because I don’t want to build all of my characters around the same type of armor. Like I have a Berserker set for my Ele when I want to play the burst max dps, and I have a Magi set when I want to play the healing auramancer. So I am trying to get into my guardian now, but don’t know what they are good at.

Guardians are good at projectile management, condition cleansing, block tanking, and control.

In general, don’t get caught up in armor types. Your traits, utilities, and weapons contribute far more to your playstyle than your gear does. You can be a tank in full berserker gear if you build for it.

maniamsmart.7981:

So yeah, I’ve always been into hard trinity, play your role, class specific type of gameplay. I know that Guild Wars 2 doesn’t really have that, because it is different from the traditional MMO gameplay. However, I still think there is a hidden hard trinity. For example, playing a Zerker Ele will do more damage than a Zerker Guardian. So I am trying to figure out the hidden hard trinity for the classes.

Elementalist/Tempest = DPS Burst
Necromancer/Reaper = DOT Condi
Ranger/Druid = Heals
Guardian/Dragonhunter = Tank
Warrior/Berserker = DPS Support

Does that sound about right? Where would the other 5 classes stand?

Thanks.

Will edit list for my self as people comment.

I don’t see how the roles can be “hard”. Player skill matters a lot for the effectiveness of builds at the level of play where “best” is better than the runners up in absolute terms. For most players, the distinction will be different than theory-crafting leads us to predict, perhaps smaller or larger or even change which is “best”.

Or put another way, in a party, I’ll nearly always prefer 10 people who know their profession well and know the mechanics, before worrying about is someone running the optimum build for the role.