Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,

I got advice on this before, but it was a while ago, and I’m not sure how much things have changed. Basically, I am looking for an easy-to-play, mostly stationary class/spec, mainly for solo PvE. I am terrible at dodge rolling. Does that leave me with a ranger with a tank pet? Or is there something else that might fit for me?

Thanks!

Movement and positioning are just a major part of staying alive and fighting in pretty much all game modes. Honestly, you’re going to have to learn how to manage dodging no matter what class you play. Unless you plan on only ever doing easy world bosses that don’t require avoiding any attacks. You can try binding Dodge it to a different key or mouse button if that helps.

Rangers and necomancers are good classes for having pets to take some of the heat off of you. Necromancers also have the added bonus of high health AND Death Shroud, which is basically a second health bar. Warriors have high health and a lot of stun breaks, a couple of temporary invulnerability skills, and good damage. All three of those classes are very easy to pick up, too. However, movement will still be required no matter what you go with.

OK, thank you. I’m not that familiar with the game to know exactly what PvE content I’ll be doing, but I doubt I’ll do any “raiding.”

The problem is that GW2 likes to throw circles of death around in a very generous manner and mobs still like to ignore pets/minions regularly, so standing still constantly is indeed not advisable. The advice above by RoseofGilead sounds right to me.

A warrior with power, vit, tough stats can generally stand and swing very well. Works for me when I feel like playing in low maintenance mode. I use mace and shoeld a lot, but hammer or greatsword will work as well and with better dps

Ranger will allow u to stand at greater range though and have your pets take the brunt of it. Wont necs work in big fights, but most of the normal open world stuff will be doable.

Try putting dodge on the mouse scroll wheel as a click. You can rest a finger on the scroll wheel and it’s easy and fast to click it to dodge. You don’t have to move your hand for it which means you can react fast.

OK, do you like “left dodge” on the mouse wheel? Or press the mouse wheel + a movement key?

I would say the profession I’ve needed the least dodging on has been Guardian, though that’s experience from the first year or two of the game and some things have changed. Kitted out with a variety of ways to blind foes and block or reflect attacks, along with good self heals, I was able to stand my ground in a lot of fights my other alts had to popcorn around in. On the other hand, building her to that level of not-dying meant her dps was that of a wet noodle.

Walder.6524:

Basically, I am looking for an easy-to-play, mostly stationary class/spec, mainly for solo PvE.!

I’m a person with slow reaction times, Necro is the best for me, I totally recommend it. No blocks and other active defences (I am very bad at timing those things), naturally high HP and shroud is more comfortable to me. Also, my Necro is full Knight (max defence) and I can solo everything and I never get downed during HoT metas either. I don’t play minion master but I heard it’s one of the easiest Necro builds.

The main thing about necro for me is that I tend to have staff as an alternate weapon on all of mine and that uses ground targeting for skills 2-4. If the OP isn’t able to do fast paced stuff, getting the targets in the right place can be hard. However, the option to snap to target ameliorates that quite a bit, so long as you don’t mind not being able to drop the aoe on something else while focusing on your main target.

And yes, if positioning aoe isn’t a problem, then Reaper will get you a wonderfully survivable slow-reaction times profession, it’s all about the long wind-up. You just have to get the HP first to make the Reaper … if you’re on NA I’ll be glad to help with that part.

Walder.6524:

OK, do you like “left dodge” on the mouse wheel? Or press the mouse wheel + a movement key?

You set dodge to Mouse 3, which is pressing the scroll wheel down.

If you have no movement key pressed at the time you press Mouse 3, you’ll dodge backwards. If you have a movement key pressed you’ll dodge in the direction of that key.

You could take Engineer, camp Flamethrower (traited with Juggernaut), and fill the remaining slots with turrets. You’ll have pulsing stability, so you won’t be thrown around so much as a result of poor reaction. You won’t be doing a lot of DPS, but as Flame Jet is a long AA, you’ll have time to figure out your next move while still doing modest damage.

i find mace-shield guardian in knights-celestial (or clerics) quite tanky. as a player with arthritic hands, my reflexes are quite slow, so i tend to go to the more survivable classes. minion necro, druid ranger and tank guardian seem to be the best for me so far.

Walder.6524:

Hey guys,

I got advice on this before, but it was a while ago, and I’m not sure how much things have changed. Basically, I am looking for an easy-to-play, mostly stationary class/spec, mainly for solo PvE. I am terrible at dodge rolling. Does that leave me with a ranger with a tank pet? Or is there something else that might fit for me?

Thanks!

What would you like to play?

Maybe we can come up with some builds for you to play and see if it works for you.

Swagger.1459:

Walder.6524:

Hey guys,

I got advice on this before, but it was a while ago, and I’m not sure how much things have changed. Basically, I am looking for an easy-to-play, mostly stationary class/spec, mainly for solo PvE. I am terrible at dodge rolling. Does that leave me with a ranger with a tank pet? Or is there something else that might fit for me?

Thanks!

What would you like to play?

I’m open to almost anything! I prefer DPS over tanking and healing, but I guess that doesn’t really apply in GW2.

What is a Druid Ranger? Is that new?

Maybe we can come up with some builds for you to play and see if it works for you.

Another thing to think about, not sure if it fits your personality, is to find a buddy to duo the game with. GW2 doesn’t use a “tank” system, but if you were using a longbow ranger at max range hiding behind a pet and you had a necro buddy summoning tons of undead cannon fodder to clog up the battle, you’d pretty much never be hit by anything.

Once you reach level 80 and gear up, any profession can very, very easily solo the open world with no dodging.

Walder.6524:

Swagger.1459:

Walder.6524:

Hey guys,

I got advice on this before, but it was a while ago, and I’m not sure how much things have changed. Basically, I am looking for an easy-to-play, mostly stationary class/spec, mainly for solo PvE. I am terrible at dodge rolling. Does that leave me with a ranger with a tank pet? Or is there something else that might fit for me?

Thanks!

What would you like to play?

I’m open to almost anything! I prefer DPS over tanking and healing, but I guess that doesn’t really apply in GW2.

What is a Druid Ranger? Is that new?

Maybe we can come up with some builds for you to play and see if it works for you.

Ok cool, I’ll think about it and post some builds from different professions and see if you like them.

The Druid Ranger is new as of last year and requires the Heart of Thorns expansion to access, and you will have to get additional Hero Points to unlock the use of the Druid, or any elite specialization.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Specialization#Elite_specialization

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Hero_point

I have all professions and elite specializations unlocked, but am most familiar with the Ranger profession. I will post a Ranger and also a Druid build at some point soon for you to think about and explain how to use it. I’ll go through some other profession options as well, but just give me a bit of time to review and post something.

I don’t know if you have the expansion but if you do go Revenant. You can give yourself infinite protection with Herald which for all rights and purposes makes you nigh invincible.

Reasoning:

1. Heavy Armor
2. Infinite One-Click Protection (that pulses, you sexy party member you)
3. Decent Standing HP

my mouse doesn’t have side buttons….which having 2 of them helps alot with warrior and other classes. i bind dodge to my mousewheel (mouse3) click. so clikc mousewheel down and it proc’s the dodge. i could bind something to mouse wheel up and down i suppose but i have a hard time with that stuff.

if ur gonna go warrior the hardest problem i can see is the f1/f2 binds…..even i don’t have any other keys to put them on since my mouse doesn’t have left/right clicks and my keyboard is already full up with the other binds. kinda hard to position those keys….idk if gamepad makes it easier or not, who knows. a mouse with buttons on the sides would help you alot though probably. i don’t know if any other classes have less key binds but know that playing warrior will takeup all ur keyboard space….and leave u wanting 1-2 more easy to reach keys (like on ur mouse).

Depending on your hand functionality I would suggest getting a Razer Tartarus Chroma. I use the first gen which is called Nostromo N50. I’m not disabled but I refuse to play without the device. I actually have 4 of them so I have backups if they break.

I really wish ANet would lighten up on the rules about multifunction macros. I don’t use them but I can see them being a benefit for anyone that is disabled.

Perhaps you can use the tilt wheel on this to dodge left and right.
And the G-keys to dodge forwards and backwards.

http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g600-mmo-gaming-mouse

I think you can bind any key on this mouse to do anything you want.

I hope this helps :-)

The main thing I would say is to choose a defensive armor set. Something like dire if condition damage or soldiers if power damage. That should give you the time you need to react to things.

Got this for you Walder…

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNEQNAT3XnUqA9rg9CCOsAUtgBCh6/ipdA8YfG66dHCgqOlXriJnA-TBiFwAmU/pmyvL6GecRAA8EAgv/wWzfBUCSGA9FA-e

This build focuses more on doing damage from range while your pet supports you. You should not have any problems at all running this build solo in pve.

As other have said, see if you can get a good mouse and set key binds that are good for you so dodging is easier.

I will mess with this build, while being stationary, to see if there are any changes needed.

I’ll post a condition based build as well with shortbow and axe main hand/torch off hand, but the above build is best to start with.

Edit- Add me in game and I’ll help get you started when ready.

There have been a number of threads like this over the years. I’m not going to suggest anyone attempt to search for those threads, but maybe give us a little more info on what your specific needs are.

Is it mostly reaction time? (not being able to dodge in time)
Or perhaps dexterity? (movement + skills + dodgning)
Would having double-tarp to dodge be an option?

Do you prefer to sit at range and pew pew, or is mid/close range preferred?
Are ground targeted abilities off the table?
Would you prefer mostly targeted abilities?
Would you like a cleaving/free-cast autoattack?

Any additional info would go a long way especially with the Elites now changing the way some professions play significantly (e.g. Necro/Reaper) on top of just adding more options.

You might want to look into Voice Attack or something similar, so you can set voice commands as hotkeys.

I’d recommend Ranger as it can do high damage at maximum range (1500) with the longbow. Necro is actually tankier and does great damage but to eke out high damage you’ll need to go in and out of melee range which tends to be a bit more active in terms of play style. Dodging will be generally necessary regardless but with a ranger at max range there will be less of it and the pet will draw aggro for the most part. I use a Razer Naga mouse and have dodge mapped to the 10 key on the mouse which is where my thumb naturally rests. For me, this makes dodging feel very natural and available and reaction time is fairly instantaneous.

It should be possible to play effectively with disability and I wish you well.

Edit: In terms of build you can use this one until you have the elite spec: http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Ranger_-_S/A_LB_Spotter. It relies on the longbow and you can hang out in it without paying much of a price in dps.

Tiilimon.6094:

You might want to look into Voice Attack or something similar, so you can set voice commands as hotkeys.

That Voice Attack is pretty awesome!

Think we need to ask about that one and get an official statement.

Randulf.7614:

A warrior with power, vit, tough stats can generally stand and swing very well. Works for me when I feel like playing in low maintenance mode. I use mace and shoeld a lot, but hammer or greatsword will work as well and with better dps

Ranger will allow u to stand at greater range though and have your pets take the brunt of it. Wont necs work in big fights, but most of the normal open world stuff will be doable.

This.

(Minimum characters)

Tiilimon.6094:

You might want to look into Voice Attack or something similar, so you can set voice commands as hotkeys.

Uh. No. I doubt it’s approved and adding it would likely get his account banned since it talks about powerful macros on that site, so I expect you can chain skills to one command.

Please don’t recommend non approved programs for someone to try.

First thing to do is to turn on fast cast with range indicator in the bottom of the first page of options. It’ll make it easier to cast ground targeted skills.

Personally, I’ve been preferring Scrapper and Dragonhunter for open world stuff as minimal effort and speed is the name of the game there.

All gearing choices are arbitrary and optional, get more vitality if too hard to survive. You may want to start with soldier (Power, toughness, vitality) armor and weapons with berserker (power, precision, ferocity) trinkets and move your way up as needed. Endgame ideal is most likely marauder gear (power, precision, vitality, ferocity) for you. Also, ascended obviously isn’t needed either so just get whatever the best gear available is.

Scepter/focus camping guardian:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNArdRn8cClChddCGdC8DhF9hKLD7wQUO9X/6vKASyxF-ThhFABA8AAUf/BjU+VlSwz0Hgv6PCCocA-e

Interim build before Dragonhunter unlocks (won’t have traps sadly, so we take signets for passive abilities and play. ):
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNArdRlsAhShYjQwQIwPEH6DlNB6gLoGAJ54mzwOMEB-ThhFABGp8T99HOTfAAPAgqUCiv6PCCocA-e

Pack runes are also a good choice too. Traveler runes for the cheap and lazy. For the purposes here, I’m just going to assume you’re going to not like swapping and just camping the mainset. In this case, the secondary weaponset is largely irrelevant, but Greatsword is good for the leap and also hits really hard if you’re forced to use it.

Very easy to play, requires very little movement at all. Dump traps on enemies, and it’ll daze them or reduce their break bar. Or you can wait for them to come at you; shoot the scepter at them to make them advance on you. In HoT maps, you may have to range a bit more, especially considering big enemies but it’s hardly an issue. The main thing is to hit your enemies with the 2 skill every few seconds which means you just put your mouse over the enemy and press 2 when it’s off cooldown.

Your virtue of justice passive constantly cripples the enemy which makes them easier to deal with. (Don’t actually use it) Gw2skills hasn’t been updated but the Virtues Grandmaster trait makes the passive trigger every 3 hits, and we’re also traited to cripple the enemy on the passive, and make the scepter generate might when the passive is used on it. And you do more damage to crippled enemies…. The list goes on.

“Retreat” is taken for swiftness so you can go faster; feel free to spam it as needed, but it also provides an additional block.

Fragments of Faith breaks stun so if you encounter an enemy with many stuns, you need to be more conservative with it. You can also escape fights with the greatsword or wings of resolve.

Shield of Courage (f3) is also really strong. It not only gives you protection but also blocks attacks in front of you. Very good especially if there are allies in the area.

Finally, your offhand Focus is good as well. Skill 5 creates a shield bubble on you that will block 3 hits for you. After some time the shield automatically explodes and hits enemies for massive damage, so do use it if enemies get too close.

If you are having trouble:

• Take indomitable courage instead of permeating wrath
• Take Shelter instead of Purification
• Take Hunter’s Determination over Zealot’s Aggression

As you get better:

• Replace Retaliatory Subconscious with Unscathed Contender
• Replace Renewed Focus with “Feel My Wrath” or Dragon’s Maw (later is good if you decide to zerg bosses or just need more CC)

FT Scrapper
I usually prefer to explore the maps and do HoT stuff with scrapper because the sneak gyro is good for bypassing anything as well as maintaining a high level of survival. It’s a bit harder to use than guardian but also fairly easy.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAUncoCFpi1aBepCEqil7iKcCDoMDsBjwAge1j9ZH-TRBXABhoDg09HkV9HAU+9gSQBBUO-e

Interim build before Scrapper Unlock (won’t have gyros yet but is basicsally the same thing.):
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vdAQFAUlcThqrYtWw+Kw6FL3Fl4B1D5AYDGhBQ4EGQZGA-TRBXABPoEEAlfku/QI6AkV9HBBUO-e

You really don’t have to do much. Spend most of your time in flamethrower and it’ll give you stability. Use the 2 skill as much as you can and press the toolbelt skill every 50 seconds or so to add more burning. Use rifle on enemies that can’t be meleed or to break their bar with skill 4. The gyros will handle the rest for you. Self destructing them also breaks bar.

Save sneak gyro for when you need it, as attacking breaks stealth. With it on, you can basically ignore 90% of the content as long as it follows you so if you don’t like something, just use this and you’ll most likely walk away from it. There have been cases where I got downed with it on and was just able to res in stealth.

Warning There are a few events where the targets have retaliation (damage you when you attack it). One example is a burning wreck event in Auric Basin. In those cases, using flamethrower will kill you, so you must use rifle for those. Fortunately these things are exceedingly rare.

If you are having trouble:

• Take Elixir S instead of Purge Gyro. You get additional stealth and invulnerability

As you get better:

• Take Elixir Gun instead of Purge Gyro. Your damage will increase but it’ll be harder to use
• Take Applied Force instead of Adaptive Armor. Your damage will increase greatly, plus the randomly pulsing quickness is good for gathering.

Condi necro with Parasitic Contagion. Just keep pounding out condi’s epidemic when there are multiple and you’ll get tons of healing, having pets take damage through rise and just general agro and bodyblocking. It’s as simple as you can get. If things get tough and your heal is down, hop into Reaper’s Shroud and wail away, then jump out and use your now recharged heal skill.

Thanks so much for all the help, guys!

Is Scrapper an advanced class? I don’t see it at character creation!

Walder.6524:

Is Scrapper an advanced class? I don’t see it at character creation!

Scrapper is the elite specialization for Engineers. You won’t have access to unlocking it until you have an engineer that is level 80 (assuming you own Heart of Thorns, that is).

OK, thanks! I looked at my account and it appears I do have Heart of Thorns. How hard would it be for someone with my issues to get to level 80 on Engi? Someone asked for more specifics on my limitations. Basically, I have slow reaction times which limits dodging, and I have trouble moving and attacking at the same time. I understand that I will be limited in what PvE content I can do. I don’t PvP at all.

Walder.6524:

OK, thanks! I looked at my account and it appears I do have Heart of Thorns. How hard would it be for someone with my issues to get to level 80 on Engi? Someone asked for more specifics on my limitations. Basically, I have slow reaction times which limits dodging, and I have trouble moving and attacking at the same time. I understand that I will be limited in what PvE content I can do. I don’t PvP at all.

Well, you should have an instant level 80 boost in your inventory bag.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Level-80_Boost

But first you should…

“Try before Committing — Try playing your profession at max level in the Silverwastes before committing to make the boost permanent for this character or to use it on another character”

Edit- I completely forgot about this 80 boost and profession trial thing before otherwise I would have mentioned it sooner.

Walder.6524:

OK, thanks! I looked at my account and it appears I do have Heart of Thorns. How hard would it be for someone with my issues to get to level 80 on Engi? Someone asked for more specifics on my limitations. Basically, I have slow reaction times which limits dodging, and I have trouble moving and attacking at the same time. I understand that I will be limited in what PvE content I can do. I don’t PvP at all.

As long as you understand your ingame limitations (and it sounds like you do), you can play pretty much any profession. We had a stroke sufferer in my guild who had limited use in one arm, but he was still able to play the game effectively – even lower level dungeons (he stopped due to other real life pressures).

You might want to looking into playing a class that has access to blocks on your primary weapon set. Engineer is a good choice because of the off hand shield – and the block on the hammer later when you upgrade to scrapper. This gives you another way to avoid damage if needed. The engineer has the added advantage of the jump shot on the rifle being a way to make more difficult jumps when you need to.

Ultimately, you should play around with all of the professions and just find what feels most comfortable to you. Within the first 30 levels, you will have a good idea of how they all play.

And make friends with a Mesmer, if possible. My friend’s biggest issue with the game was jumping puzzles, which are intermingled into just about every type of content. A friendly Mesmer can help you get around that. If not, again – the engineer with a rifle may be worth exploring.

I don’t think I want to use an 80 boost, at least for a while. I want to explore the game as I level, which Is something I haven’t taken the time to do before.

Walder.6524:

I don’t think I want to use an 80 boost, at least for a while. I want to explore the game as I level, which Is something I haven’t taken the time to do before.

Use it to try out the different professions, as well as their elite professions if that’s available with that boost, to see which suits you best. Then level the one you like best.

“Try before Committing — Try playing your profession at max level in the Silverwastes before committing to make the boost permanent for this character or to use it on another character”

What are the Silverwastes? Is that a public test realm?

Silverwastes is a popular level 80 map. So they used that as a good sample of what it feels like to be 80.

Leveling to 80 on any…. thing should never be an issue.

This is due to how exp is granted. It’s largely granted from exploring, doing hearts, and doing events. As a result, you actually do not need to go into high level zones to reach 80. It is very possible to play low and mid level zones to do it— though chances are you will get bored.

As long as you uncover the map, and do the content, you will always gain xp.

In addition, the daily rewards will sometimes give tomes of experience which will increase your level. If you log in every day, you will get 10 tomes a month. If you did nothing but log in for 8 months, you will reach level 80 without any further input. Also thanks to the daily rewards, you can also get ascended rings and amulets for about 2 months of logging in.

Level 80 in this game is not a matter of if, but when.

Elite specializations are a potential problem though, as getting some hero points (required to unlock the elite) can be very difficult for solo players. In these cases, you may want to use the LFG option to find hero point trains or ask for help for a hero point (usually someone needs it and will help too). Realistically speaking, you will probably need some help before the elite is unlocked. On the other hand, if you do most of the hero points in Central Tyria (non-expansion maps), you’ll only have to grab a handful of them in Maguuma.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Looking_For_Group

In any case, that’s why I posted the “endgame” build with specailizations and also the temporary build that one would have to use before they unlocked everything. It’s pretty similar though— for example, you can still use scepter/focus as a regular guardian, but you won’t have the perks of a trap from the Dragonhunter elite.

Walder.6524:

“Try before Committing — Try playing your profession at max level in the Silverwastes before committing to make the boost permanent for this character or to use it on another character”

What are the Silverwastes? Is that a public test realm?

Silverwastes is one of the maps added after launch but before HoT.

It’s generally agreed that the original “vanilla” maps are very easy to play on. Maybe too easy. The maps added since launch have been a step up in difficulty. Silverwastes is a map that’s about the same level of difficulty and type as the HoT maps. (No hearts, only the map meta events and mobs that will eat your lunch if you’re not used to them). So basically it’s throwing you into the deep end of the pool to try out the “HoT” water.

It’s worth trying out your level 80s there to see what professions work best for you in the harder content that’s in all the new maps, and presumably will be in each expansion from now on. Once you’ve tried it you can simply not accept the level 80 (or accept and delete but keep the goodies) and level the one you like best in the vanilla maps to 80.

What class deal massive dmg? What can u say about Thief?

Walder.6524:

OK, thanks! I looked at my account and it appears I do have Heart of Thorns. How hard would it be for someone with my issues to get to level 80 on Engi? Someone asked for more specifics on my limitations. Basically, I have slow reaction times which limits dodging, and I have trouble moving and attacking at the same time. I understand that I will be limited in what PvE content I can do. I don’t PvP at all.

You should be able to get by alright with a tanky Bomb/Flamethrower Engineer, and graduate to Scrapper (w/ Hammer) if you like.

As for trouble with moving and attacking at the same time you could experiment with using the mouse to move more than keys if you haven’t already. And possibly using the double-tap to dodge option instead of having dodge on a separate key.

If you dont mind when fights last a bit longer and dont want to press any buttons then 1 and maybe the other weaponskills, thats a wonderful build for you (Necro). You will survive almost everthing and can kill allmost everthing.
If you want you can damage the breakbar with Warhorn, Fear in Shroud and two Skills from the minions, when you wield a dagger you also have 25% more Speed.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQRBLRtG2IDN0Ujd1gbNwejjkhSeBZQFEzZBwcEWBA-TxRAQBR7kAUTlgKS/gg2fokK/AwTAAVq/AA-e

On top of the hardware suggestions, you may want to experiment with key bindings in general, even if you’re only going to use a normal keyboard and mouse. I’ve never really found default key bindings in MMOs very useful. There’s all sorts of youtube videos you can find on people making suggestions. Find something that works for you, but give each keybinding configuration a real chance. Changing your key binding feels awful at first, especially if you already have the muscle memory for a different configuration, but if you give it a real chance, it can make a HUGE difference.

And if you have the money, there’s all kinds of hardware options that make things easier as well. There’s always those razor keyboards people love (I personally have never used one to judge though), and I’m a walking advertisement for the Logitech G502 mouse. I love that mouse! It has just the right number of buttons, and they’re in good and natural locations. I’ve talked a lot of my friends to switching to that mouse, even ones who previously played with far more expensive mice.

http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g502-proteus-spectrum-rgb-gaming-mouse

As for what profession, there’s already a lot of feedback on that above, and they’re all suitable. I personally like Necro exploiting soul reaping and death magic traits to increase overall survivability. Long story short, Necros already have high HP, plus using death or reaper shroud adds even more.

Walder.6524:

OK, thanks! I looked at my account and it appears I do have Heart of Thorns. How hard would it be for someone with my issues to get to level 80 on Engi? Someone asked for more specifics on my limitations. Basically, I have slow reaction times which limits dodging, and I have trouble moving and attacking at the same time. I understand that I will be limited in what PvE content I can do. I don’t PvP at all.

Level like normal, if you go Engi don’t forget your access to blinds in abundance. Mortar kit 4, Bomb 4, Pistol 3(if you’re not using rifle/hammer), Grenade 3, and FT5. This lets you just kind of sit there and bang on things as you rotate blinds in between attacks. Might be a bit much for you, might not, but either way I’d suggest swapping to mortar/bomb and laying at least that field initially before starting to damage.

As for getting Elite Specs, look in VB/AB LFGs you’ll often see Hero Point trains, this is what you want, do 25 hero points in HoT zones and you’ve maxed out an elite spec. Joining a train makes it pretty easy (just gotta keep up, which can be a pain, but usually patient and helpful people are leading these).

Necro Reaper Shout Death Nova is very good stationary
Build all RABID, condition damage rune, scepter+dagger+shout skills

I almost never dodge and love PVE the most. Aside from rangers and necros remember mesmers cast clones and ogre runes can summon rock dogs.

edit: Oh, I also find a long range weapon (like a longbow) as a primary plus something melee for short range makes for a great combo.

Walder.6524:

OK, thanks! I looked at my account and it appears I do have Heart of Thorns. How hard would it be for someone with my issues to get to level 80 on Engi? Someone asked for more specifics on my limitations. Basically, I have slow reaction times which limits dodging, and I have trouble moving and attacking at the same time. I understand that I will be limited in what PvE content I can do. I don’t PvP at all.

No matter how much you are able to do if you log in every day you will get enough tomes of experience (each one pushes you up a level) to get to 80 in 8 months. That is 5 months if you opt to get tomes rather than laurels at the end of each month.

Note that is doing absolutely NOTHING but logging in. The game gives you xp for practically everything. I would recommend at least running around maps to unlock the waypoints (if not all, as many as possible) and get xp from that (look on the wiki for where they are).

Once you hit 80 look for a HP train to be advertised on the forums or in LFG. While some are go somewhere and commune others are fighting a champ so you will want more people.

Hmm, I wonder if there is a guild for PWDs? If so, that would be a good place for ideas as well.