Guild Wars 2

I know people hate these types of subjective questions, but I haven’t played in like 2 years and I plan to come back for HoT. I watched a youtube video by woodenpotato, a sort of famous GW2 player, on raids and end game content. One of the issues he brought up was that in HoT certain classes are going to be needed a lot more now than others.

One example he gave was how condition damage has been buffed and engineers (a class I have never played) do the most dps. So the question he asked was why would a group bring anything other than engineers for condition damage, which makes sense.

I have always played Elementalist, and have never tried any other class. He also mentioned that since in raids, due to the number of people, you always have 25 stacks of buffs, so Eles aren’t needed as much as they were previously.

So my question isn’t necessarily about Eles, but in general, for people who have played the HoT beta, how would you rate the importance of each class in HoT in group content. Who would be your top 5? If Ele isn’t as good as it used to be, I think now would be a good time to switch. Yes, I understand it is subjective, I am asking for your point of view.

Thanks.

We have only seen the first encounter of the first wing if the first raid. No idea what else is coming in future or how important each class will be in each.

Top 5 classes imo after the beta and some research of my own, in no particular order and geared towards raids: Druid, Rev/Herald, Mes/Chrono, Engi, Necro/Reaper.

I myself am switching from Ele over to Chrono for my raid group.

Kalriostraz.6819:

Necro/Reaper.

That last one is very doubful. What does a reaper bring that other professions do not do better? Especially in dungeons/fractals/raids?

Kalriostraz.6819:

Top 5 classes imo after the beta and some research of my own, in no particular order and geared towards raids: Druid, Rev/Herald, Mes/Chrono, Engi, Necro/Reaper.

I myself am switching from Ele over to Chrono for my raid group.

I would take 1 or 2 War/Berserker for might stacking with Phalanx.

Diovid.9506:

Kalriostraz.6819:

Necro/Reaper.

That last one is very doubful. What does a reaper bring that other professions do not do better? Especially in dungeons/fractals/raids?

Based on what I was finding in the last beta, they’re going to have a potent burn phase and solid options for condi. But we’ll see what happens. Tbh the only classes i see struggling for a spot are ele and maybe thief and guardian. Ele because Rev is looking to fill a LOT of what ele did/does, and thief/guardian simply because I’m unsure what they will offer that can’t be filled by another class combination of its needed.

Remember for warriors though phalanx relies on crit chance. Which might not be an option. Plus with most groups running 3-4 engi’s all you need is a fire field from someone and coordinated groups won’t have to worry too greatly about might stacks. Again, my impression from beta and he was asking for five.

What I most enjoy is playing a venom share (condi) Thief.
No place for me in the current PvE (dungeons / fractals).
Will HoT change this? I doubt it.
I shall re-roll to something that’s ‘wanted’ in the future ‘meta’ to be able to get a raid spot

Kalriostraz.6819:

Diovid.9506:

Kalriostraz.6819:

Necro/Reaper.

That last one is very doubful. What does a reaper bring that other professions do not do better? Especially in dungeons/fractals/raids?

Based on what I was finding in the last beta, they’re going to have a potent burn phase and solid options for condi. But we’ll see what happens. Tbh the only classes i see struggling for a spot are ele and maybe thief and guardian. Ele because Rev is looking to fill a LOT of what ele did/does, and thief/guardian simply because I’m unsure what they will offer that can’t be filled by another class combination of its needed.

Remember for warriors though phalanx relies on crit chance. Which might not be an option. Plus with most groups running 3-4 engi’s all you need is a fire field from someone and coordinated groups won’t have to worry too greatly about might stacks. Again, my impression from beta and he was asking for five.

Reaper Dps is average with reagrds to meta. Yes in the last 50% of a fight it’s really high if they spam GS 2 but seeing as the boss moves around a lot and the constant aoe’s in the first fight (and likely to be a continuing occurence), they may not reach their max potential. In the first half of a fight, it’s pretty average and lower than most. Reaper condition damage (which mainly comes from Dhummfire) is average without any sinister stats and they are outclassed heavily by other condition classes.

As has been said, in terms of support, other than vampiric aura and last rites, they don;t provide much to a group – a fact a lot of necro’s want addressed to the core class but having been waiting for, for 3 years now.

PS warriors have similar albeit slightly lower dps than reapers but in contrast bring empower allies (+150 power), double banners, no reaper shroud = can be healed easier, heavy armour all in addition to 25 might stacks.

I’d even put reapers below ele’s in the dps spots because ele’s can bring soothing mists, water fields, fire fields and have much higher dps.

rogerwilko.6895:

What I most enjoy is playing a venom share (condi) Thief.
No place for me in the current PvE (dungeons / fractals).
Will HoT change this? I doubt it.
I shall re-roll to something that’s ‘wanted’ in the future ‘meta’ to be able to get a raid spot

Nike fron DnT and others have mentioned venom share + alacrity from a chrono is very effective (still less than an engi but viable). Also, as the thief can bring other utilities, 2 sinister engis + 1 venom share might be a really healthy balance.

@ OP There will always likely be a meta. In the 2 years you were away (and to this day), Ele’s have dominated the PvE scene. PS war has come on really strong and everyone likes a Guardian. Thieves and engineers compete for a spot and mesmers are sometime alternatives to guardians.

Necro’s and rangers have lagged behind for some time now. The new raids just turns things upside down a bit and puts rangers, revs and engi’s much higher up. A good chrono will still be useful and you won;t say no to a PS war. Ele’s and Guard’s are slightly less desirable but still viable. Reaper’s are in a better spot than base necro’s but will still fight hard for a dps spot because of heavy competition and their lack of support.

Overall, all professions will be able to raid, but the balance will favour some more than others. If you want to raid, find a nice guild and do it. Trying to pug them will be hard – mainly because of a lack of communication.

You’re absolutely right. I DID, in fact, hate this question. -Sid

You will bring whoever shows up on time. The small group of bleeding edge world first type of players will want optimal classes and gear, but everyone else will take what they can get.

Anything people say in this thread will largely be speculation. I’d probably wait to make any decisions about changing your profession until after things settle down after the expansion launches.

Meghan.1893:

I know people hate these types of subjective questions, but I haven’t played in like 2 years and I plan to come back for HoT. I watched a youtube video by woodenpotato, a sort of famous GW2 player, on raids and end game content. One of the issues he brought up was that in HoT certain classes are going to be needed a lot more now than others.

Ok, So, just to make sure we all know this: He has little to no experience in dealing with the Raid Content, and the same could be said for anyone claiming otherwise, so any “belief” he has in how it is “supposed” to be set up right now is just that, a belief built on raiding experiences from other games. I watch WP’s videos too, but I have a lot of problems with things he says, and how people take his word as gospel for the GW2 world.

The fact is, we (the player-base) haven’t had the time to even scratch the surface of what is “acceptable” in raids.

Meghan.1893:

One example he gave was how condition damage has been buffed and engineers (a class I have never played) do the most dps. So the question he asked was why a group would bring anything other than engineers for condition damage, which makes sense.

The Condi Buff happened a while ago, and what it changed most was how Condi-coefficiencies work so that Condi-Dmg can now rival Power builds.

Engineers ooze Condi damage from every pour on of their body and I wouldn’t be surprised to see just how much damage they can put out, however, just because they might be the “best” doesn’t mean they are required or the only ones allowed. Not everyone plays to the mathematically best options.

Meghan.1893:

I have always played Elementalist, and have never tried any other class. He also mentioned that since in raids, due to the number of people, you always have 25 stacks of buffs, so Eles aren’t needed as much as they were previously.

This might be true, in some part, but so far we have only seen one real raid boss fight, in which people are stacked together for 85% of the fight… This doesn’t mean that will be true all the way though the raid environment. Also, Elementalist damage when done right is nasty. Not to mention the Water Fields and Auras. All of that means nothing if you’re not an alert and capable player to begin with.

Meghan.1893:

So my question isn’t necessarily about Eles, but in general, for people who have played the HoT beta, how would you rate the importance of each class in HoT in group content. Who would be your top 5? If Ele isn’t as good as it used to be, I think now would be a good time to switch. Yes, I understand it is subjective, I am asking for your point of view.

My top five people for taking into a raid are as Follows:
1.) Me
2.) My significant other
3.) The people I have been playing games with for the last 5 years
4.) Anyone that is willing to have a great time in a run, come failure or success
5.) Anyone left in my guild

Seriously. No joke. I rather have an experience in which I have fun with great people, cracking jokes, picking on/being picked on then go into a raid having to do the mathematically best-everything.

I have been playing games for the last 15 years… and I have to tell you, Fun is why more important than killing a boss.

For raids I’m guessing something like this.

1. 3 Revenant(herald)
2. 2 Sinsiter engineer
3. Chronomancer
4. 2 PS warriors
5. 2 Druid

Don’t pug raids and you won’t have this issue. LFG will do what it has always done and the bulk of groups will run the optimal metabattle raid group and have you ping gear. Find a group of people that is looking for someone to roll raids with them. It takes some work, but raiding is a time investment and worth it if you are committed.