Guild Wars 2

Hi All,

A little background. I just started playing this game a few weeks ago as F2P and just bought it yesterday because I was having fun with it. Up until then I had played SWTOR for the past 4.5 years ish. I got really into the community there, but alas decided to move on.

I started this game by playing theif because it was the closest thing to the class I played a lot in swtor. I’m hoping to get some advice from people that have played that game. I’m wondering what to use my level 80 boost on. I typically don’t like using boosts like that, but since I have it I will use it.

I’m wondering what profession people think I should get. For reference if you know swtor my favorites were operative, marauder, and mercenary. So basically high burst and kiting. I want to get a taste of the different professions before I commit the level boost to it. What level should I level a profession up to to test it? At one point can I get a fairly good feel for the profession? 20, 30, 50, etc.

If any of you have played swtor: any recommendation on a second profession to start on using the above 3 classes as reference? At first I thought warrior because it seems close to a marauder, but then the weapon system kinda throws those comparisons out of whack from what I can tell, but maybe not.

Some nit picky things that aren’t super important. For ranged burst I’d like to use longbow over something like staff or rifle if possible. Would that be better as ranger or dragon hunger? Or something else entirely.

Melee burst: I also liked knives, but already have a thief. I prefer to dual wield if possible. I like kiting/evading tactics rather than just stand there and take hits with strong defenses.

Anyway, I always asked people to ask more specific questions so I could give them more specific advice. If my questions and background are too general if you could lead me into relevant questions or background I can provide more detail to get better responses.

Another bit of background: in swtor I purely played pvp and only pvp as I hated the pve in that game with a passion. So far exploring the world and the events in this game has made pve pretty fun, which surprises me. Normally, I’d only care if the class function to some degree in pvp, but I’d like to have fun in both pvp and pve.

Thanks. I’m excited to be part of the community and once I get some good experience I will contribute as much as I can.

I’m not certain if you’ll necessarily enjoy it as a class, but I’d like to recommend getting a ranger. The unique thing about that class is it gives you an unofficial collection of pets to find out in the world to tame. There are like 20 pets to find in the core game, with 4 added to Heart of Thorns maps. However, if you don’t enjoy collecting stuff, I’d avoid that one. Even if you only have 4 active pets at a time (2 on land and 2 by sea), taming all the pets means some extra variety in your build. Plus, rangers use both type of bows (the only class to use both long and short, I believe), and the elite class has the staff.

Level up until you can go into sPvP – you will be instant 80 with all skills unlocked. You can try some combat vs AI in the PvP lobby.

Otherwise, I say focus on whatever you like. All classes are playable in any mode, although some excel where others dont. If you plan on doing WvW, I recommend one of the big GREN – Guardian, Revenant, Elementalist or Necromancer.

If you enjoy the game, a priority is to get 9 character slots so you can have all the classes. Since GW2 max out easily and has so many account bound achievements and stuff you can play them all without being punished in terms of progression.

I don’t need the strongest class or anything like that. Just one that functions fine and is bursty as that is what I like. I will look more into guardian and ranger.

Do you have to buy character slots or can they be earned?

You do have to buy the slots. Occasionally they go on sale but those times are few and far between. I’d say your base five slots will do for a while as you settle in on what you want to play (maybe keep one “open” for testing purposes). And you can watch out for the sales — maybe Black Friday or XMas will have ‘em? — so as to pounce when it happens if you don’t have lots of spare cash.

I’d say best bet is Mesmer…..

Mesmer offers high burst with kiting, the range weapon is a Greatsword and the melee weapons not only have high burst but great utilities inbuilt into skills such as frenzy/blur… Depending on builds, it’s viable in WvW and PvP.

Of course this comes down too what you’ll play most, WvW or PvP. Both have different roles associated with classes, thief for example: A well played thief in a zerg is useless but a well played thief in PvP can win the game.

You can use the boost on more than 1 class as a try-out.

Just make a level 1 of a certain class, then use the boost and play it in Silver Wastes as long as you like without actually consuming the boost.

If you decide you do not like that class, than cancel the boost and try again on another lvl 1.
Just make sure not going out of Silver Wastes and make sure not to finalize the boost untill you are sure you found the class you actually want.

Oh nice! I didn’t know you could do that. I think I will try them all with that method. Thanks.

Well thanks all for the advice. I went and tested each of them in the silver wastes and decided to go with ranger. It’s been a lot of fun so far and seems to fit my play style decently.