Guild Wars 2

I suck. There’s nothing more to it. I can’t play a heavy. Would anyone care to pitch in their 2 cents and help me pick a heavy and toss in some examples on how to fight using that class? Thanks.

With what aspect are you having trouble?

I use a hit and run tactic. I irritate my opponent and have them chase me. With a heavy it’s difficult to do this because I don’t have a weapon to deal damage on the run. My mesmer has rhe scepter and a bunch of other blocks to apply condi. My engi can reflect constantly. My ranger has multiple ways to keep it’s distance. And then there are rhe heavies… I can’t think of anything like that. So I guess my problem boils down to sustain and control.

You have ranged weapons on Heavy professions like Rifle on Warr, Scepter on Guard and Hammer on Reve. But you really shouldn’t have a problem with melee weapons either. If survivability is an issue, you could always try wearing gear with some defensive stats.

Try Condi Revenant, maybe (Mace+Axe, with Demon stance)? Sure, it’s not ‘optimal’, but it probably is for your playstyle. The Axe is a ranged weapon that allows you to strike from range and close to melee. The mace has strong ranged area attacks in front of it. And, it applies torment, so when you’re running around and your enemies are chasing you, they’re taking much greater damage.

Get the swords and Shiro in there as well for even more shadowstepping goodness.

Most heavy classes do have ranged; rifle and longbow for warrior, Hammer for rev, Scepter and Longbow for Guard.

To harry with melee, you need leaps/movement skills to move in and out of combat, and CC to lock your opponent down. All heavies have these in abundance.

Maybe this helps: Play warrior not as any other class, but disable autotargeting and try to play it diablo/castlevania-esque.
By that I mean, visualize the weapon’s swing, and try to play while constantly moving, strafe between your enemies, trying to always have as many as possible within your swing range, while staying outside of theirs. Greatswords have a pretty big swing area. Keep your dodge key on the shift button, so you can press it instinctively if you ever feel threatened or surrounded, dodge out. never get surrounded!

I ‘always’ carry ‘Shake it Off’ shouts for cripple, stuns, dazes, knockdowns etc.
And depending on where I am; Dolyak Signet for extra endurance regenaration and critical condition heal.

Next, keep your hammer on the offhand, swap with an easy to press key, so you can always knock down an enemy when you see him make slow’n’big animations. Those often hurt the worst.

My last piece of advice is, take your time to fight enemies one by one, and look at their movements. They always have patterns or unique actions.
Example: fighting harpies, imps, and winged elementals; they sometimes slowly elevate making all your hits miss. now, don’t dodge right away, because he’s gonna do a swoop attack and then fire some projectiles.

EXTRA: I don’t know what armor your wearing, but quality always helps significantly. Always wear armor of your style. If you’re levelling, you can buy cheap pieces at the hearts you complete. Once at 80, fight your way through Orr and get (for example:) Berserker’s Rare/Exotic in the Temple of Balthazar.
Also note the suffix of your armor and weapons. is it designed for tanking, buffing, healing, DPS, critting, condition damage, condition duration etc. Make sure you have the stats that apply to you the most.