Guild Wars 2

Hey everyone, I just bought this game last week due to the drop in price for a period of time (only 25$) and figured I would pick it up. I never really got into playing the first one but I’ve played this one for a few hours and its quite awesome.

The class that I have chosen to go with is the archer/ranger because I really like ranged classes. I also saw that there was a mage class too and was just wondering which would you pick for a better end game, havok wreaking class?

I know that mages are built for damage as well as managing large groups of enemies through aoe skills but upon looking at their skill tree on the website, I was a little overwhelmed and initially somewhat afraid to play the class because of such an expansive set of skills. The archer, from playing for a while, seems like a fun class but how do they fair towards the end of the game?

I really do like the thought of playing as an archer and being able to slow enemies while rapidly firing arrows from a distance but then theres the thought of being able to freeze a giant group of enemies whilst spamming a fire/thunder nuke of some sort. I’m at a loss.

Anyone and everyone’s opinion is more than welcome. Thanks!

Ranger are better in PvP for small encounter only.

If you want to do more PvE content, you better get into melee weapons (sword and greatsword for the Ranger). GW2 PvE content emphasis melee combat while staying close to your group to support each other.

Ranger don’t have a good reputation in the game since, like you, a lot of people take this profession for the Bow, which is a really bad playstyle in PvE. Don’t get me wrong, you can complete any content with a Bow Ranger, but be prepare for some hate since you’ll be carried and won’t participate much in most group.

So would it be better to go for the mage class for a better handle on damage, support, and controlling the enemy?

The elementalist is not what you know as a “mage”.

Yes, you can use a staff that has large areas of effect that can target multiple enemies.

But the elementalist can also use a scepter, which is mostly single-target damage at medium range, and a dagger, which is mostly melee-range burst damage.

Whichever weapon you choose, the elementalist can switch between four sets of weapon skills, each with its own flavor. (Fire is damage and burning, water is healing and freezing, air is weakening and blinding, and earth is protection and bleeding damage.)

The elementalist is a jack-of-all-trades, not (just) the “mage” from other games.

Also, the elementalist’s “control” effects are more along the lines of slowing enemies down or briefly knocking them down, rather than using conditions such as Fear, Torment or Confusion (which take away enemies’ control over their actions). That’s more the mesmer profession’s area.
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The warrior, guardian and ranger are probably the easiest professions to learn.
The elementalist, engineer and mesmer are probably the most complex professions to learn.
(The thief and necromancer are somewhere in the middle.)
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Whichever profession you choose, you should realize that it can fulfill each of the roles of damage, control and support, depending on which skills you equip. (Most skills are tied to the weapons you equip, but not all.) For the complete experience, try out all the weapons a profession can use, and see which work best for you.

What kind of game mode do you usually prefer in a MMO?

- Small PvP battle? Where the skill of the player is the most important element.
- Large scale PvP battle? Where you need organized group to support each other while keeping the global strategy in mind to win the week?
- PvE content? Where you’ll perfect your build and gameplay to get the best over encounter ranging from World Boss to Dungeon.

I tried to put as little GW2 specific terminology here since you are new. Keep in mind that your focus could switch over time in the game. I started only playing PvE and now I PvP most of the time. Also keep in mind that if you just want to stay casual, playing a 2-3 hours per weeks, then play whatever profession you want, they are all great. Its only if you want to go deeper into 1 of these game mode that picking the right profession and the right build will become important. So you can just continue to play your ranger with a Bow for a lots of hours if you want and its will be more than enough to enjoy the game.

Welcome to GW2. Hope you have fun with it. We get these threads a lot so I am quoting something I posted to one of those:

“My only online game experience before GW2 was Diablo, D2 and D3, where I enjoyed rogue and sorcerer so I started with a ranger and an elementalist here. My 3rd was a mesmer because I wanted something different. It quickly became my favorite.

Decided to try a warrior even though I never liked melee before. Love it in this game. I melee with a greatsword on my ranger when mobs close in. I use FireyGreatsword and Lightening hammer on my staff elementalist. Also like to use double dagger with her. Love my sword on my mesmer. Greatsword on her is ranged, love it too.

I’ve got at least 1 of every profession. The only professions I don’t have at level 80 yet is necromancer and engineer. They’re around 50. So far my least favorites are necro, thief and engineer but that may change as I learn new builds or weapon combos, etc."

“What is different about GW2 from another MMO I tried recently is that the skills for a profession are limited and tied to the weapons used and the choices made to fill the utility slots. Every profession, besides engineer and elementalist, can have two sets of weapons on the ready for easy swap after they reach level 7. Each of these two sets can be a two-handed weapon or a main-hand/off-hand combo. While in combat those weapons choices and utility skills are locked in. Out of combat they can be changed. Elementalist have 4 elements that they can cycle through for the one weapon slot they have on the ready. Engineers can choose utility packs in the utility skill slots that when equipped will offer 5 different weapon skills.

GW2 is all about making choices from a wider range of options in weapons (and therefore weapon skills), utility skills and later traits. That means that there are many different ways to play each profession and for any profession there is diversity, unless you choose to make yours like someone else’s."

Thaddeus.4891:

What kind of game mode do you usually prefer in a MMO?

- Small PvP battle? Where the skill of the player is the most important element.
- Large scale PvP battle? Where you need organized group to support each other while keeping the global strategy in mind to win the week?
- PvE content? Where you’ll perfect your build and gameplay to get the best over encounter ranging from World Boss to Dungeon.

I tried to put as little GW2 specific terminology here since you are new. Keep in mind that your focus could switch over time in the game. I started only playing PvE and now I PvP most of the time. Also keep in mind that if you just want to stay casual, playing a 2-3 hours per weeks, then play whatever profession you want, they are all great. Its only if you want to go deeper into 1 of these game mode that picking the right profession and the right build will become important. So you can just continue to play your ranger with a Bow for a lots of hours if you want and its will be more than enough to enjoy the game.

So I guess I never specified but I have never been one for PvP, no matter what mmo it is, from all the countless ones I have played I have always been hooked on PvE, dungeon runs, equipment farming, questing, etc. So my overall desire for end-game is to have a good character for PvE, not really PvP. And I can see myself getting hooked on this game so picking the right build and profession will be important.

Then if you are mainly in GW2 for PvE and that picking the right build and profession is important for you, here some advice on different profession.

- Necromancer is the worst in PvE. They are good at condition damage, but condition is a no-no in PvE. There are also good at burst direct damage, but have low overall damage (good in PvP, not so much in PvE). And the support they bring is better for PvP too.

- Ranger have a terrible reputation in PvE (worst than Necromancer). But they can be pretty good. Its just that most Ranger want to use a Bow, which is terrible. But with a Sword or Greatsword, with the right build, a ranger can bring a lot to a party (Frost Spirit and Spotter being in the TOP). But Sword can be difficult to master. Even if you can be a pretty good player with ranger, there will always be some hate and discrimination against you because of the Ranger reputation. Add the fact that a part of your DPS come from a poor AI pet and form your own conclusion.

- Engineer is not that popular (probably because it’s not the usual theme character for the usually MMO like a mage or knight). They can be hard to master since you need to switch alot between kits. They have good DPS and have the best vulnerability capability of the game. But since they are so unpopular (because of their theme) they are underated and not that much information on how good they can be is available on them.

- Thief have one of the best single target DPS and stealth is always nice to skip stuff. But they lack AoE Dps, which leave them more as a PvP profession. But they can do ok in PvE and do great against Bosses. But they also lack in party support.

- Mesmer is good in PvE. It have one of the best potentiel DPS of the game, but its hard to reach it since its all about phantasm which are kind of AI controlled (but predictable so you can use that at your own advantage). They also bring some of the most useful utilities which make them extremely important in some situation. But rarely, more than 1 mesmer will be needed. The DPS of that profession come a good part from the skill of the player and not only smashing buttom, which make this profession cool to play. Also, it have huge survivability even with Light Armor because of all the clone and phantasm.

- Guardian are a supportive profession. Rightly build they gonna give might, protection and aegis to the party (some of the most powerful boons for PvE) and they will blind the kitten out of mobs to keep your party alive. This is not only a defensive tools, but also an offensive one when this allow you to attack more mobs in the same time and keep your party HP higher than 90% (some DPS bonus activate when your hp is at 90% or more). They also bring reflect, which is a powerful support and can do a decent job in the damage department. It can be tricky to reach that, but guardian with the right build can reach the TOP of the dps chart (but not on a regular basis or in every situation).

- Warrior is the most popular profession and the easiest one. To get some high dps is a no brainer for a warrior. If you want to get the highest possible dps from your warrior, you will need to master your rotation, which can be tricky. Warrior is all about pure stats offensively and defensively. Almost no active defence (except dodge) the warrior have the highest amount of armor and hp. Its also the best at party offensive buff with banners, trait and other skills. Since its easy to be good with that profession, you will see those a lot in pugs groups. Its was also view as the best DPS of the game a year ago and this reputation tend to stick (even if this is not true anymore, they still have pretty good DPS).

- Elementalist are in a really good place right now in PvE. In theory they are out of the chart DPS wise. In practice you can’t really reach that amount of DPS in a dungeon. Still, its the best DPS if played right. But if you go all the way into damage, you will have the WORST survivability of the game. High risk, high rewards. Elementalist damage is highly dependant on trait, so any ’’hybrid’’ build that mess with trait will have a hugely handicapped dps. That make some people think that Ele have really poor DPS. Build it right its the best DPS, build it wrong and you will have pathetic damage.