Guild Wars 2

Hello there. I was wondering what the “jack of all trades profession” would be in gw2? There are so many aspects in this game but I’d like to be viable in all of them. The reason I ask this question is while I was doing research on what class to play, I unfortunately saw many forum posts of people upset that “x” class was rather underwhelming in certain aspects of the game. So if I were to dedicate my time and effort into one single profession, what would be the best choice? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

In my opinion, the elementalist is the profession with the biggest “jack of all trades” vibe. Here are some arguments:

- The elementalist has access to melee-range (daggers), medium range (scepter) and long-range (staff) attacks, though never more than one range at a time.
- The elementalist can switch between four attunements (fire, water, air, earth) during combat, each with its own emphases. (E.g. fire is about area damage and burning, water is about chilling enemies and healing, air is about speed and inflicting vulnerability/blindness/stun, and earth is about protection and inflicting bleeding.)
- The elementalist can focus on offensive and defensive builds, and can build for solo and cooperative play. This is facilitated through the traits the elementalist can choose from.
- The elementalist’s only true specialty lies in providing combos, as the elementalist is one of very few professions that is able to provide multiple combo fields and blast finishers in a single combat.

The elementalist only has about average damage, and subpar defensive stats (armor and health). This is why many people complain that the elementalist requires a defensive playstyle. This is not true for PvE, however, as any build can work there. (And additionally, the elementalist can use utility skills to gain various defensive abilities.) And a fully offensively built elementalist can deal large amounts of damage.

You can go in many directions with an elementalist:
Offensive area damage, mobile defense, condition damage, party support, self-combo maneuver specialist, and melee dagger fighter are all possibilities. Usually, you can mix these up, sometimes even during combat.

Im not sure regarding elementalist as i’ve seen good ele users complaining about how ele isn’t suited for wvw right now. Without any really knowledge on the subject, since i don’t use any of these two, i would risk Guardian or Warrior. They surely are great at pve and Dungeons, being able to provide great team play or being consistent as solo; as for wvw im sure they can do well enough, at least they are not horrible. As far as pvp goes i have no idea but i know till recently warriors were annoying quite alot of people with regen and hammer builds.

Every class in Guild Wars 2 is a Jack of all trades to an extent. They can all hold their own, on their own, each as powerful as each other. There are some vast differences in play styles, but even a Guardian can be a pet master, a Mesmer can make a great tank.

You may have heard that some classes don’t hold their own in certain circumstances, but the games combat is so much about skill, timing and tactics that you’d be hard pressed to find a class which truly cannot under any circumstances shine in any given situation.

I totally agree however that the Elementalist is probably the most versatile class on the surface, due to it’s ability to summon weapons and switch elements, what have you, but then an Engineer can use a skill to become a combat medic one moment, and another skill to pull out a Flamethrower, whilst dealing and deflecting damage with main weapons.

I don’t know really how a warrior can be thought of as a Jack of All Trades though… They don’t really have the ability to be a healer.

I’ve seen some arguments for healing wars Malekkai. But yeah, they’re not really a jack of all trades, but they do have versatility in gear setup. Elementalist is fine, but I’d say Engineer, they can go very defensive or heavy damage, or even condition spam. But it’s like Malekkai said, every class was designed to be able to run any setup, but there are some that have a stronger advantage in an area.

Malekkai.9546:

I totally agree however that the Elementalist is probably the most versatile class on the surface, due to it’s ability to summon weapons and switch elements, what have you, but then an Engineer can use a skill to become a combat medic one moment, and another skill to pull out a Flamethrower, whilst dealing and deflecting damage with main weapons.

I don’t know really how a warrior can be thought of as a Jack of All Trades though… They don’t really have the ability to be a healer.

Engineers have a very versatile rang of skills and options, but melee combat is not one of them. All their weapon and kit skills work best outside of melee range (except Toolkit, which happens to strongly interact with turrets – which also work best at range).

Warriors can play a support role (which includes healing), by the way. A shout build warrior can heal with shouts, as well as remove conditions with a specific shout (“Shake It Off!”). Banners can offer boons, as well as a mass revive effect (the elite banner skill).

I’d say Mesmer, they can be good at both close & ranged combat, plus act as a healer! They can dish it out and still prove group support.

Elementalist are just to soft, without support in dungeons or group battles they will fail.

Sola.7250:

I’d say Mesmer, they can be good at both close & ranged combat, plus act as a healer! They can dish it out and still prove group support.

Elementalist are just to soft, without support in dungeons or group battles they will fail.

One disadvantage of mesmers is that their clones hinder their ability to fight multiple opponents at once; there will always be a main target.

Regarding elementalists: I can’t attest to their survivability in WvW and PvP. However, my elementalist can handle himself quite well in dungeons and fractals. The trick there is to not get attacked, and secondly to not get hit if you are. Regardless of whether I use staff, scepter, dagger or focus (or any combination), I do not go down more often than other players. I frequently switch between weapons and utility skills between combats, though, in order to adapt to the situation.

Mesmers with Staff do just fine with groups, Elementalists can’t switch weapons in combat. Still looking for that Elementalist build that can dish out 2400+ damage and isn’t a glass cannon.

Why does it all have to be on one class/char? The gear costs the same whether you are buying 3 sets for one or one set for 3. Plus with diminishing returns being at least partially character bound, playing just one will net you less rewards. Finally, playing different classes is fun.

Engineer.

Might stacking, decent dps, reflects, stealth, healing, pulling mobs. They can literally do everything.

Ranger

This is the most “jack of all trades” profession in gw2, with the added bonus of not doing any “trade” very well.

Engineer is the only real Jack of all trades IMO. Its has the biggest diversity between specs.

- Ranged physical dps
- Ranged condis
- Bunker/support
- Turret AI.
- CC focussed builds.

The “trades” are a trinity of Damage, Control and Support. If you’re not familiar with these concepts: Bringing health bars down, preventing enemies from doing what enemies do and aiding allies.

Each profession should be rated on what they provide in each trade (solo and team play) and how they stack up against others. The jack-of-all-trades will excel in each area.

That said, these professions excel in each area, capable of big damage, shutting down enemies and keeping allies alive:
Warrior
Guardian
Elementalist
Engineer

The remaining professions are by no means “bad”, but generally aren’t as supreme in each trade (mostly support, in my experience). In some aspects, they’re just poor. If you want to play well-rounded professions, stick to the 4 above.

Ranger is the best “jack of all trades”.
You have melee & ranged weapons, a pet, medium armour, and a mix of condition afflicting skills and support & healing skills.

’nuff said.

Jornophelanthas.1475:

Malekkai.9546:

I totally agree however that the Elementalist is probably the most versatile class on the surface, due to it’s ability to summon weapons and switch elements, what have you, but then an Engineer can use a skill to become a combat medic one moment, and another skill to pull out a Flamethrower, whilst dealing and deflecting damage with main weapons.

I don’t know really how a warrior can be thought of as a Jack of All Trades though… They don’t really have the ability to be a healer.

Engineers have a very versatile rang of skills and options, but melee combat is not one of them. All their weapon and kit skills work best outside of melee range (except Toolkit, which happens to strongly interact with turrets – which also work best at range).

Flamethrower, bomb kit, and tool kit are all essentially melee combat styles, though only tool kit is the tradition “swing a stick at stuff” melee.

Engineer lacks melee (other than a kit or 2), but beyond that, he’s quite diverse.

Ranger may be closer to a true “jack of all trades”, but the 2nd line of that saying applies to them as well (“master of none”). I love my Ranger, but they come with a built in speedbump……the flawed pet system. In addition, they generally promote a lazy game-play ethic that far too many “players” seem to embrace without question.