Guild Wars 2

As things currently stand, which are the best high dps solo PvE classes in GW2? …in the leveling 60-80 & 80+ HoT stuff?

From when I played a good while back (recently returned and bought HoT), I ended up with a level 80 Mesmer and all seven other original classes to level 60. Though I haven’t made him yet, I’m going to use that free level 80 boost on a Revenant (as that’s the only class I haven’t already got to a respectable level). …but of course getting any of those 60s to 80 isn’t a big deal (especially as the Tomes of Knowledge keep rolling in).

I’m assuming Mesmer is still probably the lowest dps heh (I still love mine though).
Beyond that (if correct), I’m not sure where things stand overall nowadays. Which are the highest dps solo PvE characters to take into HoT? If you want to list specializations or class “types” (i.e. Minion Master Necro) or whatever that’s great but not necessary.

Thanks in advance for any info!

I think for overall DPS Tempest Staff Eles still do the most damage overtime assuming that you go with full berserker stats. Of course, it comes with a heavy cost and that is having the lowest HP+Armor combination in the entire game and most mobs can down you in 1-2 hits. With proper positioning and practice you can get away with full berserkers in core and even HoT maps.

As for burst damage, I’m sure there are much better options (probably Daredevils?)

To clarify: I’m not just asking for the #1 dps character taking nothing else into consideration…. I’m just wondering which classes are doing high-end damage and solo PvEing the best overall (and that can include higher damage mixed with survivability, but it doesn’t have to heh …so glass-cannon Elementalists would count too).

That depends, cause if your going into content with the highest dps (tempest) your going to have to deal with the fact that your defenses are going to be really low. Now if you want a solid all rounder I would suggest engineer or revenant.

Keep in mind though, you also gotta take into the account about using the most optimal dps rotation possible for that class, not just auto attacking, unless your playing revenant who auto attacks for the most part of their rotation.

But if you can survive with low defense id suggest again tempest or daredevil.

Necromancers can do the damages and is extremely survivable if you unlock reaper and get two health bars. Condition damage minion whatever is also nice and very survivable without any toughness in your armor.

Then there’s zerker warriors and guardians who do the damages and can be survivable depending on how you set up. People often think dragon hunters are tanky builds but it’s just Aegis usually.

I run a might stacking build on my tempest. Scepter/warhorn has the most fire field/blast finishers that I’ve found. Traits in the Fire (One with Fire, Pyromancer’s Puissance) and Tempest (Tempestuous Aria) lines as well as Fire Shield- aura from fire overload- add to the stacks as well. I run this as well as Runes of the Aristocracy to increase duration and end up with a near constant 25 might stacks.

Since the DPS increase is so high I can afford to run a more defensive third trait line (water or earth depending) and Dire stats. Survivability and DPS are both great I can solo a lot of HoT areas no problem.

If you don’t want to run Caudecus’s Manor or the PvP reward track to get the Runes of the Aristocracy, Runes of Strength give the same might duration bonus, but the stat bonus is power rather than condi damage

Revenant. Nice burst, high sustain and great 1v1.

Good to hear Revenant is a solid class… for whatever reason, when investigating things in prep of coming back to GW2, I was seeing very little said about the class (then again, could just be coincidence or I missed it somewhere heh).

Any other suggestions?

P.S. Some of the new specializations from HoT sounds cool, but I’m assuming the majority of the time I’d spend PvEing (for awhile at least) would be just to unlock the skills instead of enjoying them right off the bat. But it’s good to know that some of them are fun/good because I might just bite the bullet and shoot for one of the elite specs anyway…

I think daredevil is the class you want for solo PvE. High damage, high speed, and even high survivability once you get the hang of dodging. It’s the best solo open world class, in my opinion.

However, if you don’t do well with active playstyles, you may want to give this class a pass. You’re nearly as squishy as elementalist with less healing and very few passive defense options. Standing in place taking damage is not something daredevil does well.

Warrior is a very solid class for this, especially with Greatsword equipped and traited for might-building (With Rifle as a good alternate weapon for ranged damage, providing solid CC and direct damage). The strong base armor and HP allow you to run freely with lots of berserker gear, and if you trait Defense, you’ve also got strong regeneration.

Ele #1 Thief #2 > most other classes around the same here but Mesmer and ranger are at the bottom.

I like Elementalists, Thieves, Revenants, and Necros for solo PvE.

Ele honestly gets the nod because it’s the highest single target DPS, the highest AoE DPS, the highest burst damage, as well as a swiss army knife of tools that is top tier in every aspect of the game. It’s simply the most powerful class by a really wide margin right now. At even an average level of skill it is on par with all the other classes, and with experience and skill it outperforms everything else by a wide margin. It also happens to be a fantastic support class and the strongest healer in the game. The main drawbacks? Despite all the buttons to push and class mechanics it is a deceptively simple class; you will rarely use the vast majority of your skills and your effectiveness comes from proper understanding and execution of simple, but not necessarily obvious, skill rotations.

If you don’t like playing Ele (I really don’t like playing Ele):

Thief is really good for open world PvE. It moves quickly, and can easily skip mobs or blow up trash as fast as anything. It’s not particularly forgiving, which mostly comes up when you try to do world boss events where there’s a ton going on – Gerent being the most extreme example, but even stuff like Dragon’s Stand or Silverwastes take more work on a Thief than anything else.

Revenant gets very attractive once you have Herald unlocked. Buffs are really powerful and its ability to self-stack Might, Fury, and Swiftness passively gives it a lot of built in offense on a pretty bulky body. It also has good single target and AoE DPS, and becomes a force multiplier when doing world events from all the boons you spit out. There’s also a surprising amount of utility and flexibility if you want it. It’s a very strong class, albeit a bit more complicated than the others on this list.

Necromancer I suggest simply because of how naturally tanky it is, and how tanky you can get without even sacrificing damage – full tank, 3500 armor condition tank Necro gives up <10% damage compared to the meta Viper builds. Condition Necro is not particularly impressive for map exploration or running around solo – conditions still take some time to work, while thieves and revenants just blow up trash mobs – but if you’re doing group events or map meta events, necromancer is the best class in the game, bar none. You’re durable enough that you can be effective without even trying very hard, and if you are trying hard Epidemic in a group event is completely insane. Most classes in the game have to make hard trade-offs between damage and durability – Necro doesn’t, and as such it’s the easiest class in the game to solo really hard content on. Check the dungeon forums for videos of people soloing high level fractals on a Necromancer – that’s indicative of the raw power of the class.

All of the above are good choices, and I’d pick amongst them depending on which you find most enjoyable and what sorts of content you like to do.

Engineer. Bomb kit. Easiest class ever. Just press 1.