Guild Wars 2

So I’ve been playing this game off and on roughly since HoT was released. I have tried out every profession, but only really to level 20-ish or so, at most. I just can’t seem to find my thing in this game. I’m not sure if it’s that I’m just second-guessing everything too much or something, but I just can’t seem to click with anything. I like small aspects of each profession, but so far it’s all just felt off. To be fair, I have been this way in basically every game I’ve ever played. I just don’t want to be this way in this game. It’s too beautiful, and I love the world too much. I don’t want to end up dropping this game all because I couldn’t stop second-guessing my choices. So in order to offer a means of actually helping me find my calling, I’ll list some things I like in games, and indeed this one.

I like playing at a distance far more than I like playing at melee range. It makes me nervous to fight someone/something face-to-face. Anxiety issues or something. I also like not having to chase things down just to hit them. Other than that, I do know I enjoy burst more than I enjoy sustained dps, but I don’t dislike sustained at all. I just prefer to see chunks disappear from a health bar over watching it drain.

Profession/Weapon combos I enjoyed: pistol thief, longbow or axe ranger, staff elementalist, greatsword or scepter mesmer, hammer revenant.

Engineer is the one class I feel like I just have never managed to give enough time to see what it actually does. To me, it always just feels like a jankier version of pistol thief, or if using a rifle, a jankier version of longbow ranger. Maybe I’m just missing something.

If it helps any, my preferred race is Asura. Their animations just make me happy, like watching a cartoon.

Anyways, sorry for the novel. Any help solving my identity crisis is immensely appreciated. This game feels too good to let go. I just need to know what my place in it is.

Hi and welcome to the forums.

From what you describe and from my personal expierience you may want to stick to longbow ranger or pistol thief. Both have long range, ranger having the longest range in the game, and can pile up a lot of damage in a few seconds. Thief tends to more spike on single targets, while ranger can put a more equal pressure on an area. Try getting your hands on equipment with Power, Precision and Ferocity.

Other than that I recommend playing at least one class to 80 without excessive boosting. A tome here and there is ok, but no more than 10 levels at once. Playing like this will teach you a lot about game mechanics and may help you find yourself into the game. On the other hand it IS an action oriented game; second guessing is part of the flavor.

If you need further detail on game mechanics I recommend checking out the wiki or posting in the forum again. Don’t be afraid to ask – questions are there to be answered.

Cheers

I know that feeling. In my case it was because i wasn’t sure if i do things ‘right’ – you know? I recommend mesmer greatsword + sword/focus. Go for the usual berserker stats if you have the chance to chose (Power/Precision/Ferocity). Start encounters with greatsword skill 4 (phantasms are usually your best skills) and continue with skill 3. Then skill 2 so get another illusion and shatter with F1… if the foe isn’t dead by now – switch to melee and kill it (This is MY usual ‘butst-rota’ wich i used for leveling). For bigger enemys you have to sitch some things, but you’ll get used to it.

Ah and some reasons why mesmer is a great class:

• huge variety of skills/playstyles in endgame
• it’s not the easiest class i admit, but who wants to play boring classes anyway
• you can place portals to teleport friends to other locations and help them with jumping puzzles
• you can use illusions in combat for distracting enemys (not as good as a hunter pet, but hey – you are not alone)
• if you can master this class in the endgame, you’ll almost certainly find a spot in raidgroups

Last thing: For raids etc. you have to get used to melee fighting… but i’m sure you’ll can pull that off once you get used to it.

Thanks for the replies!

As far as thief or ranger, probably ranger for me out of those two. I do have a free boost I haven’t used because I didn’t want to just jump into endgame without learning to play. We’ll see how I like ranger this time around. I’ll try thief too.

As for mesmer, I loved playing it. I like sword ok. I can do melee, I just like ranged better. I’ll definitely try it out again.

So the plan today is to make a mesmer. I’ll play ranger tomorrow if I don’t feel pile playing mesmer again. Wish me luck!

Don’t play a kittening thief if you are this afraid of close combat, as this class is inherently a close range fighter and it’s kit is built around getting up close and personal, you will just be hindering yourself severely trying to play a thief primarily at range.

Play Ranger or Mesmer. Ranger for a more true range experience and Mesmer if you want something spicier (and more difficult). These are your best choices as they have far superior ranged options and their kits actually benefit more from ranged play.

Ranger is a good choice if you prefer range. Thief with pistols can produce effective burst, but once you run out of initiative the damage output drops sharply. You’re also limited to Single target. Thief is much better at melee.

Part of your problem is probably not sticking with any one profession. The game starts you out simple and then gradually gives your character much more complexity.

You can do some really fun stuff with traits.

I’m like you too bacon. I also like ranged more than melee. I also tried out quite a few professions and couldn’t seem to find one that ‘fit’ at first. First I did try a Ranger because my main in wow was a Hunter. But that just didn’t feel right in GW2.
Then I tried a Mesmer. I liked her……took her to 35ish but then lost some interest. So I tried an Elementalist. Meh….. But then I tried Necromancer and found my Asura Necro stuck with me more. I use dagger and war horn with a staff as my secondary weapon. Most of the attacks are ranged and I get to have a pet to tank for me. :-D I do plan on continuing with my Mesmer once I get my Necro to 80 because I did like it. I just found the Necro more fun right off.
Anyway because we seem to have similar likes and dislikes in play style I thought I’d suggest what I’ve found to be fun. Maybe try a Necromancer and see what you think. Just my two cents though. :-) Have fun and I hope you find your “place”.

You don’t neccessarily need to go into melee much with sword on Mesmer. Mostly camp GS and switch to sword when you need to proc extra illusions or need the invulnerability on 2. That works at any range.

Honestly for mesmer, I much prefer using shatters with scepter over greatsword. The greatsword clones do nothing for damage, and only serve a use with the GM trait from Domination for might stacking. Scepter is far more bursty, which you indicated as a preference over sustained damage (though the sustain is good too). offhand pistol also works great with this.

Longbow ranger… enough people have talked about it. +1 to that.

Engi is a complex profession. Your longest range is mortar gun kit which primarily is good for fields not damage. Grenades on the other hand are incredible, and pretty much meta no matter what build you’re using. Flamethrower is good too, but not a very long range. (you have to look at the kits on the engi to understand the engi).

Longbow warrior or dragonhunter is also an option if you don’t want a pet fyi.

Staff ele is also really good if you like a more mage like feel, and lots of combos to be had.

A death shroud necro can do some great damage at range as well, and is tankier than most classes.

Thief with pistols can be very bursty, but they’re right, very single target.

I was under the impression that longbow was only really used on dragonhunter for pvp. Actually, outside of a few exceptions, the meta seems to lean toward melee for pve. And since, due to the aforementioned anxiety issues, I can’t really pvp, I’m basically limited to pve. Which normally is fine. Raids and dungeons are my favorite things in mmo’s. I just don’t want to be shoehorned into melee. Even ranger seems to be sword-axe as primary, and only really has the longbow for when I guess a raid has a state where you have to switch to ranged. As for pets, idk. I have no opinion of them. They’re ok, but I usually like traps and kiting better than letting a pet hold aggro and then just sitting and picking them off. Feels better to outsmart the mob than to not even have to. Idk.

baconbushido.1875:

Raids and dungeons are my favorite things in mmo’s. I just don’t want to be shoehorned into melee.

Well, Dungeons are a little different here than in other MMOs. Not in concerns about content – more about the attitude. In a tl;dr version: people don’t run dungeons since they aren’t lucrative enough. In times hen dungeons were in fact lucrative, groups tend to speedrun them (wich means skipping mobs and melee stacking). So your experience with dungeons may not meet your expectations.

For Raids: It’s hard – obiously. So groups search for experienced players, rather than newcommers. Best way go get into raids: join a guild and go with them.

Your prefered PvE Group-Content might be fractals. It’s very Dungeon-like but way more profitable. I recommend to look into those.

Update 1:

I have found two melee loadouts I actually enjoy, which is good, because it seems to be how I’m going to have to learn to play regardless. The first is dagger/pistol thief. The other is sword/axe revenant. I mostly like the fact that they have no-nonsense chase skills and things with blindness or outright invulnerability.

Ranger is ok. It’s what I’ve played the most of now, for sure.

Scepter/pistol mesmer is my jam, and the sword skills on the profession are actually pretty good.

If I had to rank them, right now, I would put it at
1. Dagger/Pistol Thief
2. Scepter/Pistol Mesmer
3. Sword/Axe Revenant
4. Longbow Ranger
5. Staff Elementalist

D/P Thief is really fun. I love the burst and how mobile it is. And I love the fact I don’t have to just face-tank stuff. I actually legitimately never tried a melee thief build beyond using the dagger in the tutorial stage. Glad I randomly decided to try it.

I am limiting myself at this point to playing thief and mesmer exclusively, so as to avoid spreading my time too thinly.

More updates to come.

Step 1: Make a sylvari
Step 2: Get to level 80
Step 3: Go to the Heart of Maguuma
Step 4: HEAR THE CALL!

A sylvari what, tho?

baconbushido.1875:

A sylvari what, tho?

hmm.. I think Guardians have a strong will power, they might not be easily swayed. But it doesn’t matter, since you only want to HEAR the call. Whether or not you’ll listen to it, is another thing

He’s being silly. As a PC you don’t heed the call of mordremoth.

If you like dagger/pistol on thief, do pistol dagger for your other weapoon set. the #3 skills on each do the opposite of the other in terms of movement (one brings you into melee, the other jumps you back out to ranged). It’s a fun build.

Glad you like the scepter pistol mesmer. It’s my current build for that. let me know if you need any help with it.

bearshaman.3421:

He’s being silly. As a PC you don’t heed the call of mordremoth.

If you like dagger/pistol on thief, do pistol dagger for your other weapoon set. the #3 skills on each do the opposite of the other in terms of movement (one brings you into melee, the other jumps you back out to ranged). It’s a fun build.

Glad you like the scepter pistol mesmer. It’s my current build for that. let me know if you need any help with it.

I’m not silly! I really heard it! I went to the Maguuma and I heard the call!