Guild Wars 2

Aloha from Hawaii!

First off, I hope this is in the right thread. I didn’t want to double post this into mes and ele forums, but if that’s what I should do (or put this anywhere else), please let me know.

So, I have a lvl 66 warrior and I play that with my gf, who runs a ranger. We convinced a couple friends to get the game and play with us, so her and I are going to roll new toons. Let’s assume that only one person will be joining her and I, and here’s what they’ll be playing:
Friend: Ranger
GF: Necro
Me: Mesmer or Ele

I’ve played an ele by myself up to 30, and got a litle frustrated b/c i died a lot. I’m sure this is part to me not playing well/smart (it was my first toon), and also playing solo. Now I have 2 others who will be playing with me, so I could always go back to ele. But, I’ve also been curious about the mesmer, just because it seems so different. It seems to me that Guardian would be the best class for me to play, to be a support/tank for my friend and gf, but I already have a warrior and wanted something pretty different. My question is, assuming I don’t suck terribly, which class should I play?

Now, I know the #1 answer will be “try them both and play the one you like”. And, I get that. I’ll do that, sort of. But, I want to get some expert opinion if one or the other would be a better compliment to what my friend/gf are playing. Seems to me like neither ele nor mes are really a compliment (ranged w/ pet + ranged), which is why it seems like Guardian is the best compliment. I just don’t know enough about ele or mesmer to say if one is better over the other as a compliment.

We’ll mostly be playing PvE, events and dungeons (eventually). Maybe WvW and/or PvP later on, but for now, i just want to help my GF and friend be awesome, while still having a fun/“diff from warrior” class to play.

I’m more than happy to provide more info if needed. Also, I totally understand if the #1 reaction is “dude, they can all do everything, PvE is facepalm easy, just play the one you like”. I get that. I’m just looking for opinions. My gf is okay, but not an optimal player (she’s not good at evade, but getting better), and my friend is 100% new to MMORPG. I’m not elite myself (I played a warlock solo to 60 in WoW a long time ago), but I’m a long time PC gamer and can def learn the ropes of anything to the degree that I’m fairly good.

Thoughts? And thanks for looking!

Try using a Guardian first. Easier to play than an Ele since the class features work like Signet skills (passive effect with an active effect on cooldown), and with group heals/buffs included as part of some attacks. The mace for example has an auto attack that heals nearby allies on the third strike and can drop a Symbol of Faith that damages enemies and gives Regeneration to allies in the AoE.

Also, having a front line fighter to distract enemies will make it easier for the other two (especially the Necro) to drop AoE attacks.

If you use an Ele, you would probably want to switch to Water attunement fairly often in order to provide heals as needed.

HTH

@VT… I guess. I really didn’t want to play another melee class. I’m sure there are differences between how guardian and warrior play, but I can’t help feeling like I should try something completely different, as they say. I don’t have time to play every class, I might only have my warrior main and one alt that i really get anywhere, so I wanted to play something, idk, NOT “like a warrior, but more defensive/support”, you know?

Sure, totally understand. I played Guardian for quite a while but eventually switched to a Warrior.

Mesmers are fun but Guardians and Mesmers are the only two classes that don’t have a 25% speed boost from either a Signet or a Trait (have to invest in a full set of Superior Runes of Speed/Traveler at level 60). Might find yourself being left behind. :-)

If you’re up for a challenge, I quite like playing an Engi – lots of options to choose from but needs more attention to the build than some other classes. Flamethrower kit + Bomb kit = lots of burning boom (with minimal ground targeting).

Elementalists can offer a lot of support to a group – you have access to a lot of water and fire (?) fields, blast finishers, can stack might and fury, can offer auras to the group, almost permanent swiftness, condi clear like crazy etc, etc. Of course, this isn’t straight away, but you’ll find that Elementalists are great for support as well as having massive burst damage.

They are squishy. I am levelling one at the moment and I die to the oddest things I wasn’t even sure it was possible to die to from levelling my previous characters. But your Ranger and Necro can and will help out. The Necro is surprisingly tanky, and the Ranger has a pet to do a bit of tanking for you. The best thing you can do for your group is be the really mobile one. Rangers have lots of evades, and some mobility, but really that’s not their “thing”, and Necros don’t have mobility really.

I don’t know a whole lot about Mesmers. I think they can offer group support with a few very useful skills, but only those skills. Reflect is great, but then with Elementalist focus you have swirling winds. They do slightly different things, but you’ll save your party a ton of damage either way. Mesmers also have a group stealth, but I don’t know how much you want or need that for PvE – depends what you’re doing – and they have portals, which are useful for jumping puzzles. Aside from that, though, they lack mobility outside of combat, and I don’t feel they offer as much to group play as an Elementalist.

This is, of course, my personal opinion.

Thanks!!!!
I’ve decided on Ele.

“The best thing you can do for your group is be the really mobile one.”
– Can you elaborate? Do you mean to draw aggro and then kite/evade?

I don’t see how being mobile will help your party. It will certainly help you, but your party?

Anyway, you choose Ele and its one of the great profession for PvE. (Top PvE profession in fact). A good Ele can do almost anything. If you don’t want to do melee and want to range stuff then use the Staff. Actually, the Ele Staff is the only good range of the game in PvE. All profession can range, but only the Ele have a Meta build using a range weapon. The good thing about the staff is that you can DPS and Support pretty well, which make it one of the more versatile weapon in the game. The downside is that you have less mobility, but since you play with a group it won’t be necessary at all.

I would say ele also. Lots of combo fields for the others to use and since the ele is squishy, it’s nice to level one up in a group.

Looks like you made a smart choice! Ele can add quite a bit of survivability to a group, so that is good for you gf and friend who are still learning. Mesmer is a lot of fun, but the support they offer is more damage based it seems (trait to stack might on interrupt, share boons with signet, timewarp to increase skill speed, stuff like that.)

As you’re leveling, avoid glassy gear. Ele’s have the lowest equipment defense rating and lowest base health pool. You’ll want gear with some toughness and vitality on it to help you as you learn your skill rotations.