Guild Wars 2

Back to the game after a long while, and I can’t decide if I want to level an Engineer or a Warrior. Have Warrior at nearly 20 and an engineer at 50 from a year or two ago.

My favorite things in a class are: usefulness to a group (through buffs and debuffs more than healing, but that’s always nice too), CC (love it), and outlasting numerous enemies (typically through condition damage). I have a couple friends who I always play with; they main an ele and guard respectively, if that helps at all.

Looking namely at Fractals/Dungeons, WvW, and Conquest PvP. I’m not as interested in Raids, but still would like to be helpful in a raid if I ever do them.

Not really interested in the other classes! Besides my thief that I have boosted to 80. I just want to actually level at least one class to 80. =)

Either one jump out?

Thank you!

Engineer has a lot of utility that can help out a group, has some very potent fractal/raid condition builds, and in my opinion, far funner to play than a Warrior.

So I would encourage you to go with a condition built Engineer. http://qtfy.eu/build/engineer <- That is the most useful website for current, “Meta” builds that perform the best.

Good luck, and have fun.

I don’t know anything about pvp, but both classes will do well in all of those contents, so the question becomes more an issue of gameplay than anything else to me.

Warrior will be the easier of the two imo to use. Its condi weapons are longbow and Sword/torch. You will want to get the elite spec maxed out from HoT. Warrior offers incredible might stacking abilities for an entire group, and can offer some other forms of boon support, but might is the big thing warriors bring to the party. Phalanx Strength is your party’s friend.

Engineer will be the more engaging, and does have a higher learning curve, just because to do the most you will be using kits and switching between them a lot. However, you won’t need the elite spec, it offers nothing for a condi build over any of the core traitlines. You may want the Viper gear set however that does require HoT, if not that then Sinister. Engineer can bring healing, a wide range of buffs and debuffs, it truly is a very versatile class, in addition to good dps.

Which one sounds more appealing?

Thank you for your responses.

To be honest, I’m not the biggest fans of the engineer’s kits, particularly the grenade and bomb kits. But I also don’t care about being a top DPS. I’d much rather support and CC while doing a medium amount of DPS. (One of the reasons I love this game!) So maybe my dislike for kits is okay? I love the rest of their utility, and the complexity they bring. Toolbelt is a lot of fun.

They both look appealing. Bearshaman, when you say:

• Engineer can bring healing, a wide range of buffs and debuffs, it truly is a very versatile class, in addition to good dps.

Do you mean they are good at bringing a bunch of buffs, or they just bring a smattering of buffs that might get lost in a large group anyway? Or are they quite helpful?

Also, does the warrior have any ability to heal or protect allies?

Between using traited turrets, elixirs, and having a wide range of combo fields and finishers, engineers can provide a wide range of boons. They also have a unique trait that boosts condition damage for their allies. Healing Turret is also an excellent group heal. But I will warn you, because every 6-10 skill is essentially two skills in one (toolbelt class mechanic essentially doubles all of them), it can be a lot to keep up with.

Warriors on the other hand, have unique buffs in the form of banners, which can boost almost any stat for a group within range, and have a few shouts that grant some boons. Their elite banner even can help revive fallen allies. They have a trait that heals allies on shouts, but it competes with Phalanx Strength, so no go there, but the same trait line (Tactics, learn it well) does have a trait that boosts allies’ healing power when you grant might, which you will be doing alot. Aside from the shout trait and the healing power boost I don’t know that you will have much ability to heal your allies, and protecting allies is more the guardian’s bag of tricks.