Guild Wars 2

I have been playing Ele since beta, and I love how many of the skills flow together, especially staff in PvE. But ever since then I find any other class hard to stick to; from 4 weapon sets to 1 and a half (since I tend to use one weapon more than the other).

While I understand many other classes have more options of weapons and you can change them after combat, I just cant seem to click with other classes as well as I can with ele! Please help me! I want to be able to play mesmer or guardian!

You think us telling you something is going to give mesmer or guardian more weapon options? You have 2, deal with it. If you want to play those classes so badly then play them.

How long have you been trying to play these other classes? Imo, it takes time to get used to new styles of play, and some you just automatically click with while others take time. I find any melee class/build much more tricky than mid-ranged builds, for instance, so this is probably part of it.

The main thing I notice about Eles compared with other builds is the sheer mobility and the speed with which you get to roll around with. Thief is pretty agile, but it’s not in the same way. Mesmers, until you unlock some skills which let you teleport to your clones etc, and Guardians in general are much, much slower than Eles, so again, this might be it.

The most tricky thing is going from a highly mobile class that, whether ranged or melee specced can get in close or move away at high speed to classes that simply take longer but therefore have the advantage of two different sets of weapons. Maybe try and choose weapons that sort of proc effects like the attunements would for the Ele, that sort of match? That might help a bit.

You’re not going to find any other class in the game in which you only have to hit one key to be successful.

The thought process for playing a mesmer if very different to playing an ele. Eles are all about swapping attunements and knowing what’s coming up. Mesmers are about watching the world, keeping an eye on your clones, knowing which clones to keep, when and how to destroy them.

For example, as a mesmer I usually use a phantasm build rather than a clone build. It means that I’m not always about shattering my clones. I’m often about getting the right clones out for the right job. Sometimes that means switching out clones between battles, particularly in dungeons, but in other areas as well.

Mesmers are great because they bring a lot of utility to parties, with portals and reflects, as well as condition removal.

Just remember, every weapon makes playing a mesmer a very different experience, so give it a try with different weapons. Sword/focus is completely different from staff or greatsword.

I play my mesmer as more of a slow burn profession than a fast mobile one and it works for me. And it would give an ele some variety in play style. But you have to be willing to give it a good try before you give up on it, because it really does take quite a few levels before you “get” it.

If you’re looking for numerous weapon sets Engineer is something you’d like to try. He only have one main and on off slots, however kits can make your build extremely flexible. If you want to of course, since you can make an optimised build relying on one kit and utilities that makes it stroneg (like famous HGH-nade).

As for mesmer – it’s a very fun class and you most probably will swap your weapons very often (I do it practicaly with every swap CD off). Also, since set of skills on both main and off hands are so diverse you might find necessary to change your weapons also out of combat. Same considers utility skills – while running through dungeons I swap my utilities few times. From blink/portal (like burning stones in CoF), to defender phantasm with signet buffing his health on bosses.

But what can I say apart from – try it by yourself.

Yes, mobility is one of those things; I feel so clunky with mesmers….. to the point that I have to grab focus 100% of the time, but I want to run staff/GS….. this is specially obvous in WvW roaming around or in open PvE exploring

dadamowsky.4692:

If you’re looking for numerous weapon sets Engineer is something you’d like to try. He only have one main and on off slots, however kits can make your build extremely flexible.

I was going to suggest this myself.

Engineers have the least weapons available to them, but each kit is 5 unique skills, and the kits bring such diversity in skills and playing style.

Fortus.6175:

Yes, mobility is one of those things; I feel so clunky with mesmers….. to the point that I have to grab focus 100% of the time, but I want to run staff/GS….. this is specially obvous in WvW roaming around or in open PvE exploring

Staff/GS are both ranged weapons. They’re both really fun, but with a Mesmer you might like to try having a close range weapon set as well. You are a little slower as a Mesmer, so when an enemy gets in close, and you’ve blown skill 5 on the GS, it’s nice to be able to have a different option. I run scepter/torch and Staff on my Mesmer and it’s awesome. Sure, I don’t kill things as quickly as some others builds or other classes might, but I’m hardly ever taking damage either.

I’ll chime in on Engineers too.
Engi’s are similar to ele’s in that their kits are very like attunements.
If you kit swap a lot, together with your weapons you have a whole arsenal of skills- they take getting used to but he are great fun.

Mesmers take a certain mindset and although my main is a Mesmer, I can see it being a pretty much love it or hate it profession.
They require a lot of concentration and situational awareness to play well.

play an engineer and switch trough the kits
There, now you can have an alt.

i love my mesmer and i swap in weapon that arent im my swap list all the time depending on situation. i regularly use gs staff and sword and focus depending on where i am and switch in sword /focus a lot of the time during midbattle so i always have my bag open. i just think mesmer has more then two weaponsets(i usually only find one or two on other clasees i want to use in certain places) that i use regularly. i find the class takes more watching and awareness then any other class

the challenge of a good guardian is to know when to use skills. The guardian has a lot of selfprotection but also protection for others. furthermore he is also important in holding agro. So you always have to use experience and judgement to know when to use protective skills, use them for your team member in trouble? or keep it for yourself for later??