Guild Wars 2

Currently i have an 80 mesmer & warrior i am looking to level up my third and most likely final 80.
Here is what i have to ask

What class listed below is your favorite pick – I am a WvW player so keep that in mind.

-Thief
-Elementalist
-Ranger

~Is The Class Able To Hold Its Own In 1v1?

~Is The Class Able To Hold Its Own In Massive Battles?

~Anything else you want to add

I am just looking for some more feedback on these classes since i enjoy all 3 of them i cant really decide

I used to play a Necromancer in GW but ehen GW2 came around I chose to try out the Ranger for a change. Now having a level 80 ranger as my highest and most played character, I can say that it is my favorite class to play. Perhaps I’m being unfair as I haven’t given all the classes enough playtime. But as of now, the ranger is my favorite.

My reason for liking it so much is its survivability. If I’m in a tight squeeze and my heal is on cooldown, I can just activate one of the 3 dodging skills I have at my disposal and I can get out and away of danger fast. This tactic works well in PvE. However, real players don’t have a predetermined aggro range. Rangers are fun to annoy people with though.

Why no Necromancer or Engineer?

Play thief, they have 0 cooldown on weapon skills, and instead use a unique combat system.
Perfect for fast paced AND tactical gameplay.
This class IS FEARED in 1 v 1, and in larger battles, if you are in danger, you can stealth out of it, allowing you to prepare some deadly AoEs and traps.

Or play the underdog and try to be pro with a elementalist

Gibbel.5734:

Or play the underdog and try to be pro with a elementalist

Devs said ele is getting major buff soon, other than bunker eles.

Okamie.9270:

Gibbel.5734:

Or play the underdog and try to be pro with a elementalist

Devs said ele is getting major buff soon, other than bunker eles.

Where did they say that?

My honest advice is to not roll a profession based on their current metagame. So don’t roll a profession just because, right now, they may seem better in 1v1. Or they happen to be very powerful in mass battles. Or any reason specifically related to game balance.

Balance always changes. If you pick a profession with an enjoyable playstyle, that probably won’t ever change much. The basic design philosophy behind every class is likely to stay the same even if the numbers change.

Rangers have pets and versatility. Elementalists have lots and lots of skills, plus attunement-swaps and a bunch of combo fields. Thieves have a cooldown-neutral playstyle with an emphasis on focused damage. Pick whichever of those styles appeals to you.

I am not looking to roll based on their current situation because i have been playing mmos for awhile and realize things always change. I am looking for a class that people enjoy and just wondering how they hold up.

Ranger is boring
Thief is overpowered
Elementalist is challenging but very exciting

I’d say pick an elementalist. They’re always welcomed and needed for anything.

Are they able to hold up 1v1? Any class is, as long as it’s played correctly and you’re better than the enemy.

Are they good in massive battles? Duh

Dagger/Dagger for elementalist is extremely fun. If you can hop out of attunements you can kill quickly while keeping them CC’d and with conditions. The only counterpart is the elementalist lacks defenses and is extremely squishy. Get in touch with your downed state if you pick that.

Ranger for me is just flatout boring. Nothing really fun for utilities, not a great class for 1v1, and very easy in PvE. Not much more fun in WvW. Their elites are terrible (depending on race), but entangle is really nice for WvW, and longbows are good in WvW.

When you say challenging you mean the extreme underdog, i do notice elementalist are the easiest to beat.

I haven’t played the other classes so I’ll just input my thoughts on the one I can.
I just finished leveling my Elementalist solely for WvW and dang, it’s been a blast WvWing so far.

But for WvW I use staff only (the AoE weapon of choice), so I feel really lacking in 1v1s – but that’s why I don’t roam around looking for 1v1s with a Staff and AoE build.

Fighting massive battles, guarding or attacking locations is a blast. Being able to do much with attunement swapping is great, and of course being primarily ranged is also great (I also play a Guardian).

It’s not challenging at all, unless you try to 1v1 with a Staff build, but if you build for a D/D or S/D, you can do pretty decent in 1v1 (though it seems harder to get a kill than my Guardian).

But my advice, like the a previous commenter said, is pick a profession you find interesting to play as. I find heavy AoEing magic users always awesome, thus my Elementalist choice. And heavy armored soldiers too, thus my Guardian choice.
I haven’t regretted leveling any of these two yet and I find both really fun to play, despite whatever complaints you read in the forums.

Okamie.9270:

Play thief, they have 0 cooldown on weapon skills, and instead use a unique combat system.
Perfect for fast paced AND tactical gameplay.
This class IS FEARED in 1 v 1, and in larger battles, if you are in danger, you can stealth out of it, allowing you to prepare some deadly AoEs and traps.

The Rogue skills may not have a cooldown but they use initiative which prevents you spamming any of them except# 1 which builds it with auto hits.

Go Ele they have the most diversity of the 3 and diversity is never a bad thing

Thief is better at 1v1, the other 2 are better at WvW zerging.

I know it wasn’t on your list but…necro. They’re fun to play, challenging but not masochistic like eles, have multiple play styles, and are viable 1v1 and in WvW. Ranger are great, but most players aren’t currently happy with the state of them (no build variety, SB nerf, etc). I’d say play the style that you enjoy the most because things will always change in an MMORPG.