Guild Wars 2

I recently made a should i make a chronomancer thread that had lots of useful feedback on the class itself but i have decided against playing chrono for anything but pvp for now so mainly my experience with elites has been mostly with herald some reaper and tempest and thats it but if i had to choose one elite spec above all others that is viable in all 3 game modes which one should i stick with?

Viable: Tempest

My favorite: Reaper

Tempest is good and my main is ele, but since HoT, my reaper has been taking over.

I think Tempest is most versatile among the elite specs. Just play the elite spec you like the most and don’t think about which is “best”.

If I were you I would build different elite specs for different game modes. It takes time but when you have built them it much easier to have fun in certain game mode then if you only have one elite spec for the entire game.

Reaper kills 15 character limits in any mode.

Can’t say much about PvP, but in PvE, Reaper is clearly fantastic for taking on pretty much anything.

If you like twitch gameplay, high mobility and high reward/cost, then I suggest daredevil. It’s super fun in all game modes.

I like daredevil.

Tempest remains my top, but daredevil has replaced reaper now for me.

Am trying scrapper…but so far, not overkeen. Think it needs more time though

Havent played it in WvW but for PvE and PvP my Scrapper is perfectly viable where I rarely die in PvE and in PvP I usually have a winning streak of 8-9 before I loose a match (I know it is about luck in matchup and so on but the class does some part).

Of the new ones i have used Daredevil sticks out as most fun.

Druid was lackluster poor damage and healing, Tempest is horrible as all ele because they are tissue paper, scrapper is as usual weak but still the pinnicle of engie which is quite sad.

I have yet to try the rest.

Reaper. Viable in almost every situation (save needing a huge dps spike) with powerful unique niches that other professions can’t fill so easily (boon corrupts, condition manipulation, insanely powerful revivals if traited for).

If you just want to feel like an immortal stone cold kitten, go reaper. There’s not much else in the game built around the playstyle of just facetanking in PvE that’s mostly built around dodging. Properly built tanky reaper has crap mobility, but he’s designed not to need it as he can just suck up damage while still outputting a lot. He’s less good against big hitting bosses, but wrecks trash like they don’t exist. Still, if you want to be the guy that has to face down something six times your size just to break a sweat, reaper is for you.

If you want to ratchet that dodging/active playstyle up to elevan, go daredevil. it’s all based around constant skillshots and positioning for optimal damage as well as survival. He’s less good against trash as he will eventually run out of dodges if you’re fighting constant waves of it, but he’s superb against heavy hitting bosses due to their low rates of attack and the multi-hit nature of many thief attacks that makes them more effective against larger monsters. If you want to be the guy that dark souls his way around the biggest enemies in the game, but can be potentially felled by massive zergs of little guys, try daredevil.

I have all of the elite specs unlocked. My favorite is Reaper (but probably I’m biased since I’ve mained necro since launch). Daredevil is nice, though I feel like thief overall is way less fun than it was in the early days of the game due to powercreep of annoying passive control skills (I only really enjoy it in WvW). Tempest is fun and versatile.

Dragonhunter and druid are good, but they feel like one trick ponies and I honestly get bored with them super fast.

Herald is necessary (playing rev without it was TERRIBLE). I wouldn’t say I find it very fun though (note I’m mostly just talking enjoying, not viability). I find Chrono, Berserker, and Scrapper to be incredibly boring. Scrapper, frankly, is the only elite I don’t run at all in open world (prefer condi engi).

Reaper hands down. It is a very well designed elite spec with some thought behind it. It drastically changes necro’s play style. Also the new skills and traits are very synergetic with the old ones. (To note: Berserker also has this synergy, but gets old quick due to lack of versatility.)

I can’t say the same about the others. It’s the one elite class that stands well above the rest.

Gotta add that druid gets fun if you want to focus on healing but this kind of gameplay isn’t necessary outside of a few niche parts of the game. That said it’s really fun healing in WvW and top level fractals.

Reaper killed warrior for me.

If I want to base my spec on pure damage, a few trait swaps and I’m a power reaper. Swap gear and traits again, condition reaper. Another swap, tank (though the other two, your tanky anyway). I think the only spec you cant do well with the reaper specialization, is buff support. As a reaper, you’re pretty selfish with boons.

But you get an auto attack that hits in a wide arc, a short CD engage that also stops projectiles AND blinds, a stability/fear, a large size AoE that deals decent damage plus poisons, and a large stun.

You get shouts that are all almost all instantaneous, one being an AoE stun, damage reduction, boon corruption, and all can heal you.

And heck, I know its not meta, but I even use the GS because of the pull and AoE dmg/blind. I may weapon swap once their on CD, but its still nice to have.

But yeah, I feel reaper is the best specialization they did this expansion

When I began GW2, I went ranger.. enjoyed collecting the pets and having a second to fight with me.. did ranger types in WOW when I used to play. So, I put everything into Ranger- 20 slot bags all across the board, all the harvesting tools, ect ect.

Then I played Reaper.

Ranger’s now a cat ‘lady’ at home with all her pets.

/shrugs.

Dante.1508:

Of the new ones i have used Daredevil sticks out as most fun.

Druid was lackluster poor damage and healing, Tempest is horrible as all ele because they are tissue paper, scrapper is as usual weak but still the pinnicle of engie which is quite sad.

I have yet to try the rest.

I have to disagree with this. My main is tempest and if you’re built right you can have high survivability. With the shouts and overloads you can have a near constant aura of some kind that can grant regeneration, vigor, protection, and straight up healing. In solo situations I use Tempest, Fire, and Water trait lines. Water and Tempest give me the auras for regen, vigor, and healing to keep me alive while Fire grants might stacks to keep dps high.

My favorite elite specs in order of most favorite to least:

1. Tempest
2. Dragonhunter
3. Herald
4. Chronomancer
5. Berserker
6. Reaper
7. Scrapper
8. Daredevil
9. Druid

This is from the perspective of a person who plays WvW primarily. And it is also based on my perspective of actually playing the classes with these elite specs, not about fighting against them.

Well, Berserk is basically an upgrade to what the warrior had done previously. So, if you like Warrior as it is now, grab the berserk spec and gain some extra burst. There is a burnzerker build too that is Sw/Tor and Mace/Shield that is very formidable in 1v1s.

Tempest is…different. I personally don’t run it for difficult content. In HoT if I’m soloing in pve the last thing I want to do is to get in range for an overload. My classic ele build Fire/Air/Water has superior regen and respectable dmg from afar while my elementals tank for me. Tempest is great for maximizing dps in dungeons and fracts, though. So, situational, but many will try to run it anywhere because it’s meta or just like the playstyle.

Reaper needs no introduction. Best elite spec weapon, great effects, strengths all around, and pretty much brought nec from the bottom of the barrel, to one of the top professions. Can’t say there are any drawbacks.

Dragonhunter is quite fun. Especially in wvw. Your F3 is great for deflecting projectiles in zergs while still pewpewing with your LB. Then your F1 you can ‘pick’ foes from the enemy zerg and toss them into yours for a guaranteed kill. Your F2 is one of the most versatile skills in the game being both a 2nd heal, a gap closer, and a damage dealer. Then of course your traps provide some heavy burst DPS. It definitely makes the guardian class flashier, and able to perform some cool plays if thats your thing.

Daredevil is another of those specs that pretty much improved what thief was, except it also outright eliminated a big weakness of the thief: Aoe Dmg. You can also trait for your dodges to become gap closers so if you need a gatherer the daredevil can make you rich.

Can’t help you on the other profs. If any of the descriptors above inspires you to try the spec, then go for that one.