Guild Wars 2

Hey there and thanks for reading!

I’m totally new to this game and I’m asking you if you can help me with choosing the right proffesion for the game.
The only true MMORPG I’ve played before was AION, and I excelled at playing DPS classes, mostly assassin and ranger. However I’m mostly PvE type of a player, who wants to carry his group on his shoulder with providing damage needed to clear dungeons. I really hate classes like sorcerer in Aion, so elementalist profession is out for me.
To make long story short: I’m looking for class, which excells at PvE part of the game and at first glance thief and mesmer looks most fun to try. I’ve made Mesmer character yesterday and I pretty much love the early level mechanics, but do mesmers have potential in PvE? Or are they too mainstream to play?

Any help would be appreicated and feel free to ask me something if you think you need more info. I’d love to choose one class and stick to it for like… forever =)

PS: Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved DPS-ing in other games, where tank and healer were available. I can try something new here, but it must have PvE- oriented build included. And yes, with PvE I mean dungeons =)

Mesmer is more support than DPS when compared to other classes. If you’re looking for full DPS, then warrior would be your best bet. Other classes do good DPS as well while providing various supportive roles. I suggest trying out a bunch of classes in Heart of the Mists (PvP lobby).

Thanks for replay, but I really don’t think high armor class suit my playstyle… I think I enjoy taking risks… Let’s say this way. I want to survive with my positioning, not with my armor =)

Engineer is fun. It’s one of the most diverse classes that can be built into strong buffs from Elixirs, area control with Turrets, or tons of different attack skills with the Weapon Kits. You can build both into physical and into condition damage.

As far as I’m aware mesmers are mostly wanted in dungeons for their reflects and a couple neat tricks like portals to make some things easier/faster, but their damage isn’t top tier. It’s not bad, but it takes some skill and knowing the tricks, and might not fit your DPS preference.

Thief would probably do the trick – very high single target DPS (which is good, because once/if you get into speedrunning then most trash mobs are skipped and the main fighting happens on bosses), shouldn’t have trouble finding a party, also brings utilities with blinding mobs, combo blasting, stripping defiance or stealthing (especially appreciated in specific dungeons, mainly Caudecus’ Manor and Arah).

Engineer, suggested above, could also, maybe, fit what you’re looking for (top tier DPS, great party support & versatility, fun to play) but it’s less straightforward than thief and has a steeper learning curve IMO. It’s also one of the least played classes so people might not always know what you bring to the party, but in a decent group it works great.

As a new player I’d say try thief first, as I think it’s what you’d get the most of. If what we say about engie sounds interesting, keep it in mind for if/when you get bored or want a break from thief and give it a shot.

GabyThaPro.9306:

Thanks for replay, but I really don’t think high armor class suit my playstyle… I think I enjoy taking risks… Let’s say this way. I want to survive with my positioning, not with my armor =)

Warriors don’t just survive by their armor. GW2 is very different than your traditional MMO. For instance I have a very tanky ele and a very squishy dps centered warrior. It’s all about how you build your character and the combat is more about mobility and mitigating damage over face-tanking foes.

I think if a dps centered class where you can help carry your dungeon group is what your looking for than warrior should be high on that list and trust me in melee you’ll be living on the edge;-)

If your willing to play mesmer than you should be open to ele as well. Try dagger/dagger for a much different playstyle from what your used to in other MMO’s.

Theives are also an awesome single target dps class.

Plenty of fun options out there so experiment and keep an open mind. This game is a refreshing take from what you might be used too!

To expand on what Ascimator, jackalag, and Bandit said, here’s my opinion.

If you are a risk-taker, the most risky class you can take is a Thief. Thieves are notoriously squishy – but also famously rewarding to play. On the minus side, Thieves have a very high skillcap and you need to be very familiar with GW2’s combat mechanics to get the most out of them. On the plus side, the Thief is just as survivable as anyone else, for me. Due to the high skillcap, good Thief players are more skilled than, say, good Warrior players.
Wanna play a Thief?
I highly recommend that you take a walk through other professions first. Thief can be frustrating to learn well, if you can’t appreciate its virtues.

On the other hand, why don’t you try an elementalist?
No one’s saying that the Elementalist is a “shoot them from far, sit still, profit” profession. No, all professions in GW2 are mobile, agile, and mean. What you should think when you hear “Elementalist” is:

• lightly-armored, but protected by magic
• magic-wielding, spell-slinging
• close-mid-long range fighter
• storm – earth – fire (- and ice)
  Why not try Ele?

Bandit.8279:

Plenty of fun options out there so experiment and keep an open mind. This game is a refreshing take from what you might be used too!

I think Bandit hits it right on the money here. Especially with the last statement. This game has many of the core elements you’d expect to find in any mmorpg but there are some aspects which, imo, make this game very different, unique, and fun.

Also, I would agree with others that if you’re after straight dps then warrior is the way to go. And as Bandit said, you can have a squishy dps warrior or a versatile hard to kill elementalist. It’s all in how you want to play. Another thing that makes this game great!

Good luck and have fun

GabyThaPro.9306:

I really hate classes like sorcerer in Aion, so elementalist profession is out for me.

I think you should scrap your opinion on GW2 Elementalists by comparing them to “wizard” type classes in other games and try them out.

From what you described, you want a high DPS, risk taking class. Not much in the game can out damage a staff elementalist, but if staves and sitting in safe range isn’t what you’re looking for (it isn’t always that easy either), just take up any combination of daggers, scepter, or focus.
Think of it this way: a thief that uses elements.

You will be highly mobile, and since you’re sitting in close to mid range, your survivability will depend on your your positioning, dodging, and defensive skills. And when you can get downed in one hit, its very important to pay attention!
Having to master 20 spells in a weapon set instead of just 5 takes some time to learn too, but its very rewarding once you do!
(I actually leveled 2 elementalists before I learned the jist of them)

Breathing fire, making earthquakes or riding the lightning not exciting enough?
Grab a lightning hammer and bash everything into oblivion, it is that good.

In the end, I’m trying to sell you pancakes here, so here’s a TL:DR;
Elementalist are:
-high damage, high risk, very mobile
-bring a lot to the table for the group, from elemental weapons for more damage to heals
-having 20 skills per weapon set, you’ll constantly be switching between attunements and hitting keys. No sitting still!
-can summon elemental buddies when you get lonely
-want more weapons? A bow? Check. An axe? Check. Shield? Check. A kitten greatsword? Check!
-coolest class in the world? Yes.

So I’d say, its definitely worth giving them a chance! Just play around a bit and see if you like it, it only costs you a little bit of time.
If you’d like to know anything else, or need any help, you can poke me in game!

~Corylopsis

Mesmer is far from mainstream, one of the most enjoyable for me in game. Warrior is quite good but boring I personally believe.
Carrying your group is not something you should aim for, you want a group that can think on its feet and use its own character abilities to have a smooth run.
Everything can do sufficient damage in anything but speed clears of dungeons and if you want to go that route there are builds for that.

Hey guys, thank you all for replaies! You conviced me to try something else than mesmer, and coin tip has decided to try thief… And what can I say, it is love at first sight. I’m sure I’ll stick to this proffesion at least for a while =)
If anyne of you have spare time, which craft-proffesion should I take? Like chief, tailor, etc? I’m totally new to all of these.

leatherworker to make your own armors. As for weapons that depends. If you’re more the dagger and sword type, then weaponsmith. If shortbow and pistols are more often your pick then huntsman.

you can level them all on one character. Just pay a silver to switch when you have 2 active at once. You won’t lose any progress in any of them if they are not active.

2 years ago i choose elementalist to be my first char. It was hard to play for first 7 months, but now i’m grateful it was my first, every class that i lvled after was a breeze (ranger, necro, warr and a thief) today with my ele as my main, have no trouble getting into dungeon or fractal groups, and learned to dodge quite good.

And trust me, if you choose staff as your weapon you will be slinging boring spells, but when you switch to any other weapon you’ll see it’s as kitten it can get.

I am also fairly new(only 3 weeks in), now my winter break started so I have been playing a bit more, personally I am loving thief, great class. I remind you this is without skills or anything like that(I am level 11). One thing I learned, as a former WoW player, I was used to not “dodging” any attack, it was basically heal yourself or move out of an AoE or cleave move, this game is so different. It is basically dodging, the healing I can do(with a 15s CD) is about 180/999 health which is not easy. Thief(at least so far) does not have a lot of AoE, so multi target can be difficult since we are limited by initiative, but the key is burst em’ down as fast as possible. I go with the dagger/pistol combo most of the time, with that combo you are mainly melee but stealing weapons to get close(and for big damage) and using shadow shot to basically surprise enemies is lots of fun, and very effective. Though if you feel a ranged approach is better, the pistol/dagger form can be used and you basically only have to get close for a final attack etc.

Gman.9082:

I am also fairly new(only 3 weeks in), now my winter break started so I have been playing a bit more, personally I am loving thief, great class. I remind you this is without skills or anything like that(I am level 11). One thing I learned, as a former WoW player, I was used to not “dodging” any attack, it was basically heal yourself or move out of an AoE or cleave move, this game is so different. It is basically dodging, the healing I can do(with a 15s CD) is about 180/999 health which is not easy. Thief(at least so far) does not have a lot of AoE, so multi target can be difficult since we are limited by initiative, but the key is burst em’ down as fast as possible. I go with the dagger/pistol combo most of the time, with that combo you are mainly melee but stealing weapons to get close(and for big damage) and using shadow shot to basically surprise enemies is lots of fun, and very effective. Though if you feel a ranged approach is better, the pistol/dagger form can be used and you basically only have to get close for a final attack etc.

shortbow is multi-target/aoe for thief.

I’d suggest you to pick ranger or thief. They both work as a damage dealers and are wanted in most pve content. High dps, high risk classes (especially thief) so they might fit you. Mesmer would be another good choice as it’s a mix of thief (gw2) + force blader (cabal) and ranger (gw2) /and maybe shadow + rune officiator from ryl2/. Mesmer is a unique class, which makes it even more interesting. It’s wanted in both pve and pvp for its utilities. What is more, Mesmer is one of those high risk=high reward classes and it requires much skill to master it, so you won’t get bored fast.

You wrote you don’t like heavy classes, but guardian might also be interesting. It’s not about spamming keys like with engineer, but rather timing + meditation guardian is not faceroll, because it’s quite fragile, which makes it even more exciting.

So, pick Mesmer if you like it’s playstyle. Otherwise you might give thief or ranger a try (ranger is a nice class, but it’s might not fit everyone; in example I don’t like pets, so..). If you are completely bored try guardian with meditation build.

Mesmer is very fun to play. They’re my favorite. I’ve got 3, where as I only have 1 of each of the other professions. Some people say that leveling a mesmer is too hard. I had fun leveling mine except my last one was not as much fun.

Mesmers are very dependent on traits. My first 2 were already at level 80 when the infamous cluster kitten of the trait system happened in April. My 3rd one was only at level 30 or 40 something so although she had her traits grandfathered in it still seemed to take forever for her to be able to use them.

Although I think mesmer is the most fun to play, given the current trait and leveling situation I don’t think they would be much fun until level 80 and with many if not most traits available to experiment with.

I really enjoy using a GS for ranged and a sword and focus for melee. I’ve also enjoyed playing a staff wielding shatter mesmer. However you play one though you must learn how to use your illusions and trait accordingly.

Hey, thanks for more advices! Yes, now I sticked to thief, because of it’s low health pool and need for constantly dodging. I’ve found few polite people in-game, who help me improving strategies and choosing the right skills. Does anyone have any little advice which skills to use for healing and which signet-skills should I use at low levels for leveling?
Also, any idea why I got loot for first world boss monster in the swamp and 2 hours later I killed it again and didn’t receive my loot? (chest didn’t appear for me and people said I was too low)? I didn’t do enough damage?

Also, I’ll give mesmer a try, when I get a bit bored with the thief. For now I’ll stick to stealthed proffesion =)

Heal skills: Use either Hide in Shadows or Signet of Malice, the latter being the preferred where mobs use Bleed, Burn and Poison

Signet skill: Assassin’s Signet and Infiltrator’s Signet would be my go-to, while aiming for Signet of Shadows while in the open world.

World Boss chests and bonus chests: These are only available once per day per character.

Thanks for skill suggestions =)
But I didn’t quite understand last paragraph. I can receive one boss chest per day, or one chest from each different boss once per day?

GabyThaPro.9306:

Thanks for skill suggestions =)
But I didn’t quite understand last paragraph. I can receive one boss chest per day, or one chest from each different boss once per day?

The chests appear once per day per boss per character. So if you kill the Shadow Behemoth (the beastie in the swamp in Queensdale) with your thief you’ll get the chest to loot. If you then go back 2 hours later and kill it again with another profession you’ll get the chest again (but not the bonus chest which appears on characters at level 39 or above).

One per boss per character per day. (So if you had two characters you could get two chests by doing one specific event twice in a day, and two more by doing another world boss).

Eles are half damage half support. Damage specced thieves do more personal dps but are nowhere near as effective in total party damage contribution, however their ability to stealthrun parties 3 times in a row with no stealth related traits without waiting for cooldowns makes thieves the cornerstone of speedruns.

I don’t recommend going the stealth route (dagger/dagger|pistol) for PvE as that way, you don’t take aggro, leaving your teammates to fend for themselves. S/P would have the greatest party contribution to survivability as by being in melee, using interrupts, having low HP and having the highest personal dps around makes you the #1 aggro drawer in the game – and if played right, you can nullify all of this damage. Think of thieves as being both tank and dps.

Don’t think about healing, think about not receiving any damage at all. Thieves have the lowest sustained heal multipliers per second of any class. The slot 6 I’d recommend is Healing Signet just to offset damage from conditions and retaliation. Because of how low the heal multipliers are, the best survivability stat will be Toughness, though you’ll end up eventually not needing any survivability stat foe PvE.

GabyThaPro.9306:

Let’s say this way. I want to survive with my positioning, not with my armor =)

—> Full berserker ranger, if you ask me.. :-)

Somehow I leveled up to level 21 and I’m looking forward to join a guild =)
Is there anyone who can suggest me PvE guild on Aurora Glade? Or just can anybody help me where can I search for it?

I just made a warrior after not playing for like a year, and i’m loving every second of it. Trying to aim for the legendary warrior build (PVE/WvW)

Xaluca.8215:

I just made a warrior after not playing for like a year, and i’m loving every second of it. Trying to aim for the legendary warrior build (PVE/WvW)

You mean like this guy? http://youtu.be/X685pWp1bKU