Guild Wars 2

So, I have decided to play a Charr and I have decided to either be a Necromancer or Mesmer. However, I keep hearing somewhat conflicting things about both, so let me tell you what I am lookin for in a class, and perhaps you can point me in the right direction:
Condition Damage builds: Really interested in doing a condition damage build with my character, or at least having a viable one avaliable.
Summons: I like summoning things… a lot.
Support: I like being able to support a team. How this is accomplished is rather unimportant to me, whether it’s buffing/debuffing or heals.
No melee: I prefer to stay at range if possible. For soloing, I would be willing to take up a melee weapon.
Which class covers these specifications more adequately?

Condition builds are viable with both classes. However, a condition build is currently the optimal build for a necro, while mesmers are better off shattering.

Both classes summon things. Generally, the mesmer’s summons are a bit more disposable, and therefore they summon more often. Whether that’s good or not is a matter of personal preference. As I understand it, a necro build that focuses entirely on strong minions is less viable in the end game, but the same could be said for mesmer to a degree.

Both classes support mainly through buffs and debuffs. Neither are as solid at pure support as a guardian or elementalist. The mesmer is probably better at buffing, but the necro is better at debuffing. The mesmer also has some options to reflect damage, which can be useful.

Condition Damage:
Mesmers using a staff cause conditions at random (a highly favored choice among condition build users), but outside of that they can only apply confusion. It’s entirely viable to play a condition build, but it lacks variety and type control. Necromancers have a wide variety of condition variety, access, and control, which makes them one of the best Condition classes in the game, so no worries there.

Summons:
Mesmers will always summon things, no matter the build, and you’ll be summoning pretty often. Necromancers have access to a lot of minions, but they aren’t necessary to have around. Contrary to the Mesmer, the Necro minions are summoned much less often, but stick around in a much more permanent way.

Melee:
Both classes have a Melee option (Sword for Mesmer, Dagger for Necro). But for the most part they’re range heavy.

Support:
Neither of these classes are truly support heavy. The Mesmer can apply a few boons, the Necro can apply helpful control debuffs. Both classes have access to aoe condition and boon removal. (Note that Necro support and pet skills both share utility slots, so you have to sacrifice one for the other.) Neither class has a lot of physical control, though Mesmer has a slight edge up on that part. So while both have support options, you aren’t playing a full support class either way.

All said and done, your requirements make it sixes either way. I don’t think you’ll be unhappy with either class.

Charrs make great necros. If you like mass condition spreading through epidemic and seeing enemies melt down go necro.

It kinda feels like Mesmer and Necro are similar, with many of their abilities doing bad things to the enemy at the same time as doing good things for the team. However, Mesmer feels a bit more… hectic and random, wheras Necromancer feels more solid and steady. Do you think this is a good assessment of the differences bewteen them?

Ramiah.5648:

It kinda feels like Mesmer and Necro are similar, with many of their abilities doing bad things to the enemy at the same time as doing good things for the team. However, Mesmer feels a bit more… hectic and random, wheras Necromancer feels more solid and steady. Do you think this is a good assessment of the differences bewteen them?

I think it would be inaccurate to say they were similar in terms of playstyle. Other than the fact that they both have summons, they’re really not. Their class mechanics (shatters vs. death shroud) function very differently. They focus on different sets of conditions. Their summons behave differently. And if aesthetics matter to you at all, you can’t get more different.

In the sense that a mesmer condition build relies on applying conditions somewhat randomly, I guess you could say that the mesmer is more “random”, but I certainly wouldn’t hold that up as the main difference.

Hmm okay. The reason I said that is because they both have a lot of skills that do both conditions and boons at the same time, or clear both at the same time. Necromancers have marks, for example, and Mesmers have Chaos Storm.

Actually, very few skills create conditions and boons at the same time. Granted, most of them are owned by either the necro or the mesmer, but you aren’t going to build a whole lot around that concept unless you’re following a specific regiment of fights, which isn’t very inevitable. You can’t build a fully adaptable play style around it.

It should really get stressed that playing a Necro feels nothing at all like playing a Mesmer. Not even if you’re playing for the same goal (as you’ve outlined). Whether you’re going to like one over the other is just up to what you enjoy. But you did get close with your earlier comparison. I wouldn’t call mesmers chaotic (maybe for your opponents), nor would I call necromancers steady. But hectic vs solid sounds accurate enough for a vaguely correct impression.

Okay, I read a lot about both and actually just wrote down pros/cons for each one after playing around with both in the mists. The only reason I really like mesmer is because they summon with ANY build they are in and I find them aesthetically more pleasing.
However, excepting those two things, I like everything else about the necromancer more. I like the Necromancer weapon skills and speed utilities, that they can heal, and that they have an easier time with AOE damage, as well as having Death Shroud to get myself out of trouble when things go bad.
Additionally, I did not like the transient nature of Mesmer where you are constantly shifting tactics during the fight. I understand the playstyle of mesmer, but I am also confused by it. There were highlights where I had more fun than I have ever had playing this game, but they were few and far between, when my skills were flowing well and the situation was set up well for me. Between those moments of awesomeness, though, was a lot of drudgery and frustration.
Necromancer doesn’t have those awesome highlights, but it’s fun to play all the time. I think I really should pick the class that will be the most fun throughout the game instead of just incredibly fun some of the time.

Mesmer is the way to go if you want to nail all three requirements. This is mainly because the Mesmer’s summons and Condition Damage is tied to the weapons (and dodge with Evasive Deception), thus leaving them with 3 Utility Slots for Support-based skills, like Null Field and Feedback.

The Necromancer, on the other hand, has to use Utility slots for her summoning skills.