Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone!

My girlfriend and I just started this game. So first thing i tried to look for was information on every classes while the game was downloading everything. But so far all I have seen were QQ threads about their classes in general which did not really help me learn more.

I’m an experienced mmorpg player but she’s not so the best i could find was ranger for its simplicity for my girlfriend and she seems to like it so far. As for me, I am still undecided. I tried thief, mesmer and then revenant to level 80 with the boost to then accepting the boost for the revenant. I am now aware that i kinda blew up on this lol. I recently read that it’s preferable to go the old route of leveling to understand the lore and everything. So i will probably make another character for that.

What i really cant wrap my head around are classes in general. I’m more of a pvp oriented player and I really don’t mind about the classes learning curve, in fact i enjoy a good learning curve. But I’d like a quick class breakdown on each of them in pvp and WvW from a player that has good experience on most of them so that i can make a more informed decision on what i want to play

I generally play a thief(assassin etc etc) based class on most games, but I also liked the idea behind mesmer and revenant. But like i said all I have been able to see so far are threads about classes needing reworks or that they’re under-powered.

Sorry for the long text but i just wanted to give some background for you more experienced players in order to better answer my question.

So to put it simply, kind of a ‘’tier list’’ of every classes currently in pvp and WvW? or at least give me the pros and cons of revenant / mesmer / thief / ranger / elementalist (elementalist cuz the girlfriend also likes this one alot)

Thank you for your time

Check out:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page
and
http://dulfy.net/category/gw2/
Those are the 2 sites I use most often for information. I am sure there are others.

The forum does tend to host a fair bit if venting by players, so finding discourse on “how to” etc. for the classes may be difficult.

The good thing about PvP is that every character is standardized when you get to the PvP area. You can roll any class that you wish and just give them a shot. If you’re looking for builds to start you off, perhaps http://metabattle.com/ could help.

Note: All of the above is from a non-PvPer.

Greener.6204:

The forum does tend to host a fair bit if venting by players, so finding discourse on “how to” etc. for the classes may be difficult.

The good thing about PvP is that every character is standardized when you get to the PvP area. You can roll any class that you wish and just give them a shot. If you’re looking for builds to start you off, perhaps http://metabattle.com/ could help.

Note: All of the above is from a non-PvPer.

“You can roll any class that you wish and just give them a shot.”

If you mean specializations with that of the relevant class – yes. Class – no.

Alright, thanks for the input everyone! So it seems like I’m gonna have to go with the old school approach and test them by myself. i did find some videos from Terissimo on the thief class and so far it really sounds like what i usually enjoy playing so I’ll go with that!

So, this may be useful: my experience in other MMOs, where I usually like the same subset of classes gameplay, was absolutely not useful for which classes I would enjoy in GW2.

Ranger itself is actually a bit more timing-dependent and picky than other classes, and tends to favor condition damage at higher levels, which actually makes it a bit more challenging than others.

You might find that necromancer is a better choice for “simple” gameplay, using power builds. I’d probably put Engineer, and Guardian, in the same “complex” tier, and Thief in simple play but a tendency to punish mistakes very harshly.

Finally, berserker or viper gear is the “meta”, but that is full glass cannon mode. You might consider not going there until y’all are a bit more familiar with gameplay (though while levelling you will have a mix of stuff, so…. yeah.)

It’s especially notable when you move from core tyria, to either HoT or LS maps — those have much, much harder hitting, and more skill use by, enemies. It’s kind of a brick wall of challenge for people who boost right to 80 and try them out, so playing through basic content, and using less-than-full-DPS-no-survival stats, can be quite valuable as you get your mind around things.

Keep in mind that the PvP meta changes ALL THE TIME, but currently:

Tempest is full on team support bunker
Druid is a sustain-y small fight bunker
Scrapper is a self-sustain bunker

Reaper is a team fight AoE damage class with little defense and bad at 1v1s
Dragonhunter is a tough AoE damage team fighter with reasonable 1v1 ability

Mesmer is a mobile team support with high damage

Berserker, Herald, and Daredevil are all high mobility damage with excellent 1v1 ability

I’m not aware of a site that keeps everyone up to date on PvP roles other than digging into the meta builds on metabattle.com, so I typed that up. But again, that changes pretty much every time there is a balance update.

For your ranger girlfriend, it is a fun class. I am also not the best or most experienced player and I love it. The pets are fun (mostly) and it is fun exploring with your buddy.

However, it is not the highest DPS class, nor the tankiest, so it is not always popular in higher level competitive areas. Once you enter HoT, rangers must learn the Druid class and how it does healing and support if you want to do raids or high level groups. For PVP, the Metabattle builds work very well and are excellent to start learning the class. Condi ranger is very strong now in PVE.

I balked at learning Druid for awhile, as I love that this is not a trinity game and did not appreciate being shoved into a role. But the Druid traits bring a lot for DPS builds too, and I finally started learning the skills. And although I don’t raid, I enjoy random healing during map events and world bosses, especially when there are barely enough players to take it down.

Anyways, she really needs to study the traits and the pets as she levels, and try out all the weapons. Sometimes it is frustrating sorting out traits and pets, but if you enjoy the class it is worth it.

Thank you very much everyone! Definitly all good infos. She’s totally into ranger at this moment and i’m pretty much set for thief although i’ll give a shot at revenant later on (since it’s the one i boosted to 80). We’re both going through normal content with new characters (thief for me, ranger for her) and enjoying it. I probably should’ve listened to my guts and not use the boost, learning little by little my skills through normal gameplay would have been better. When i boosted my revenant, it was a confusing experience. Now with the thief it is much much more enjoyable to get used to 1 skill at a time, get it down to muscle memory and play that way. Been watching alot of videos on thief and all the subtle ways (tricks about black powder and heartseeker and how to shorten heartseeker distance) really gets me into it.

Anyways, once again thanks for the good replies, very appreciated!

Yeah, well, the final advice I’d give is this: the “meta” builds are not required to clear raids, let alone anything short of that. So, while they can help, and they can be a guide to what is (seen, and frequently is) mechanically better … it may not be enough to matter compared to personal skill, and it may not even be enough after that.

So, play what you like. Once you find yourself having trouble, eg, killing things fast enough, or whatever, then start thinking about how to improve that.

don’t burden yourself trying to play a raid build in open world pve, for example, because those are optimised for “one target for a long time”, and can really suck when faced with “many targets, each dying fairly fast”.

Fluffball gave a good run-down of the general pvp builds. I’d like to add that if you’re going to play thief, it’s generally used as a +1 for fights, and you don’t really take even fights. Mesmers are a bit more 1v1 oriented in the current meta.

For WvW, the game changes depending on the scale at which you play. For solo roaming, many classes work out, with thieves and mesmers probably the most abundant. In small scale roaming (3-6), people generally take classes that synergize well with other classes in the party. For this reason, thief is less useful, but a good backstab can still turn the tide of the fight pretty heavily.

In large scale fights, guardians, warriors, revenants, elementalists, and necros are generally the most desired, and they make up the frontline-backline element of most zergs.

Guardians provide stability (against CCs) and protection when pushing, while also CCing the enemy backline for the zerg to push into. Warriors provide a good amount of front line damage, and some warriors will carry a banner for bringing back down-state allies. There are front and backline builds for revenant, so the role changes depending.

Elementalists and Necros are the damage dealers in the back with their huge, hard-hitting, AoEs. They’re generally very squishy and rely on their weapon skills + utility to re-position and stay alive. Mesmers typically become portal and veil bots (for those commanders who still like portal-bombing and using veils).

Thieves usually are on the sidelines of big fights, picking off out-of-position enemies and those fleeing. They can’t take the damage pressure from the main fight.