Another class/playstyle question
I’d say give the engi a chance. When you get to 80, you can go Scrapper elite and use hammer, giving you the more-melee option you want. Also, work with the bomb or flamethrower kits as those are more melee based. (Flamethrower is loads of fun!)
For another option, try guardian. Guardian has plenty of melee and can do med-range with scepter or staff. In the elite spec, they are getting longbow and traps … so maybe that will fill the gap you feel lacking on your ranger?
Frankly, thief and mesmer are both dodge-heavy and on the squishy side. Mesmer doesn’t have the big burst damage of thief but offers different utilities, like portaling and clone distractions. I’d never tell someone not to try it, but from the sounds of it, I think you’d be happier with something more durable.
I’m gonna second Engi. Their only weapons atm may be ranged weapons, but but they’re most effective at point blank range. Think shotgun instead of rifle, but you can kite if need be.
There are plenty of melee options in kits (Bomb Kit, Flamethrower, Toolkit) and come HoT Scrappers can use Hammers.
Have you looked at all at the Shiro legend for Revenants? I haven’t played it much, but Shiro + sword/sword reminded me of a thief in heavy armor, with the evades and slashy-ness.
Thanks for the replies everyone. I’m liking engi, just feels a little immobile for what I usually enjoy. That said, it is still fun.
I did take a brief look at rev, but i’m not sure about picking a profession because I like 1/5 of it’s mechanics. I’ve been considering giving warrior or guardian a go, but my playtime is limited and i’m trying to avoid rerolling 15 times before the expansion. I played around on my ranger a bit last night, and the sword AA thing may not be as big of a deal as I thought it was, but looking at their traits, i’m having a hard time figuring out what utility a ranger brings to a party (in pve).
I’ll probably keep playing the engi, with a little time spent on the ranger/mesmer when I can.
To me it sounds like you want a class that take a beating and give it as such. In which I have a few suggestions:
Warrior( generally very high HP, mostly melee based class , has ranged if you choose to use it.) ideal: rolls tank and DPS
Guardian(some what decent HP, great team support, kinda mystical melee, interesting mechanics) ideal roles: Tank/healer(bunker), Dps(meditations)
Revanent (mostly melee though some of its melee based weapons have ranged. can tank sorta and heal sorta<- gonna experiment with it more once heart of thorns comes out.). ideal roles: dps and heals.
When I started the game a few months ago i choose guardian based on a few things i had like from a previous mmo that i played. Which was (dont every one beat me with the shame stick) Star wars the old republic . and I had played Sith Assassin tank, which had a interesting mechanics as it could stealth and relied on attacking from stealth and keeping up a boon to stay alive. obviously i think you see where i am going with this. (I have been loving guardian class, and actually looking foward to turning him into a Dragonhunter.)
So I suggest you choose a class that is reminest of classes or roles you use to play in other MMOs
but also suggest try picking up Warrior( easy to get into harder to master)
DH: Cause no one expects the Guardian to Snipe
Zachelm Guardian of Time-Keepers: Timekeepers HQ
Zachelm Guardian of Time-Keepers: Timekeepers HQ
Yeah, my previous MMO experience led me to the adventurer classes. I usually play rogues or highly mobile melee/control chars in mmorpgs. I tried the thief, but it just seems a bit too squishy in melee, and doesn’t really have a strong ranged aspect. I like the versatility of engi, but I miss the ability to actually swing a sword at my enemies. Ranger seems like a good middle ground, but not quite my cup of tea.
I tried out guardian a bit more, and i think the mobility is a bit too low for what I enjoy. I’ve also crossed mesmer off my list. I think i’m going to give warrior a go…i’ve been avoiding them because people seem to point to them as the “noob friendly” class.
I bought GW2 shortly after launch, but never really got into it. Now, due to not being able to raid with my usual group due to real life schedule, i’m looking at making it and TESO my primary games. This brings me to the point of choosing a class.
I’ve been playing thief, and engi, (lvl 50ish), ranger (15ish), and considering mesmer, but i’m not sure exactly which one fits me most. If anyone has played TERA in the past, and knows the playstyle of the warrior or slayer in that game, that’s the kind of playstyle i’d like.
I really like the idea of thief, but man, i die A LOT. I’m a pretty experienced gamer, and i’ve played dozens of MMORPGS at endgame, but my thief is just squishy as hell, and has almost no ranged options.
I haven’t played tera but with names like warrior and slayer those tend to be more heavily armored with big chunks of HP types of classes. The complete opposite of a GW2 thief.
On a thief you should be actively avoiding all damage(you should do this on all classes but it is more of a necessity on a thief).
Dagger #1 on the 2nd hit gives you endurance so you can dodge more often.
Dagger/Dagger #3 is an extra evade
Dagger/Pistol #3 is a blind and a gap closer so it is nice for starting a fight since it lets you get close quickly and their first attack will miss(need to be aware of multi hit attacks though).
Sword #2 will immobilize which will prevent things from turning around so you can just walk to the side to attack without taking any damage. It is also useful for removing conditions.
Sword/Dagger #3 is also an extra evade
Sword/Pistol #3 is an interrupt
Pistol #4 is another interrupt
Pistol #5 is an aoe blind which is very helpful if you fighting multiple enemies
Pistol #2 can be used to hold a target in place while you fight it
Shortbow combines well with Signet of Malice to heal you since the passive is per hit and not per skill use. Each time the Choking Gase(#4) applies poison it will also trigger Signet of Malice’s heal. Detonating Cluster Bomb(#2) can get you up to 9x the signet’s passive heal. #3 is yet another evade and #5 can be used to put some distance between you and the enemy.
Food is also useful. I like these for those times when a thief’s lack of healing is a concern http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Food#Life_steal_2
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Food#Might_on_Dodge the higher level ones gives endurance regeneration which means more dodges
When dodging it is generally better to dodge forward or sideways rather than the default backwards. That way even if you are slightly off with your timing you will still move out of the way of most attacks.
Then there is stealth. Thief is balanced around being able to stealth and run away. Not my cup of tea and not particularly great for soloing PvE(it will probably cause the mob to reset, you live but so does your enemy) but the option is there.
I was hoping for a mix of melee & ranged, so I tried ranger, but I keep reading how ranged damage is inferior, and how their top dps involves spamming sword AA, which I kinda dislike.
That comes down to a risk vs reward thing. Range is generally much safer.
in Tera, each class can only use one type of weapon, and there is no rogue/thief. The “warrior” is the dual sword-wielding, medium armor dps/evasion tank class. The slayer wears medium armor and focuses on mobility and control with a greatsword.
I was aware of most of the attack mechanics you mentioned except for the immobilize on sword 2 and pistol 2. I feel like i know how the thief is SUPPOSED to work, I just can’t seem to get it to work when I play it, and this is just from a pve map-completion perspective. I’m sure part of it is lack of practice, but with their not really being an alternative to the blind/stealth style, I don’t know what to do. I seem to be getting killed essentially by the mob’s autoattacks, I’m not even talking about their big telegraphed hits, as I can usually blind/evade/daze them. It just feels squishier than it should be, but again, i’m far from a GW2 pro.