Guild Wars 2

A warm greeting to the GW2 community,

After years and years of MMOs I´m finally giving GW a chance.Though I know quit a lot about the game itself already, choosing a class/profession seems to be really difficult for me, since the “Holy Trinity” of Tank/Healer/DPS is not present here.

So I´m asking you guys; the community to recommend something for me =3

In every MMO, every RPG, I usually play the Healer/Support classes with the occasional Hunter or Ranger thrown into the mix.
With the present balancing Problems, what do you guys think is best for a

PVE oriented Player, that likes supporting a lot

Thanks in advance for your answers =)

-Elu

If you want a somewhat relaxed intro to the game, but still want to play support, go with Guardian. It is supremely useful at buffing allies. The only downside is there’s no way to be anything other than iffy at ranged combat, but it has excellent survivability and is an excellent support class.

I’m of the opinion that Ranger is a rather fun class to play (again, relaxed PvE exploration experience) but it has very little support utility (an AoE heal that is nice, a few ways to let pets help or buff allies, but that’s it). If you like ranged combat and can get into the pet mechanic it’s worth some time.

For straight-up healing you might want to look at elementalist (water attunement = lots of healing abilities for you and your allies). Engineers can also become excellent group healers (an AoE healing turret + a weapon kit with with a very powerful skill that can heal multiple allies). Engie is a somewhat unique experience and may be more than you want to bite off right now but its potential for group support via elixirs shouldn’t be overlooked.

Welcome to the game!

As you have already mentioned, this is not your typical MMO class roles – IMO its a lot better this way! I’ve been playing the EQ franchise for years and was in the same boat as yourself.

I would recommend a Guardian, although this is my PvP main the Guardian has plenty of ‘boons’ that effect all near by allies. They, IMO do plenty of DPS and come with plenty of mixtures to support other players as well as survive themselves.

Most classes have plenty off buffs/boons that effect everyone and most classes have their utility slots that can be full support such as rangers spirits and warrior war-banners. All depends on your trait preference.

Just to add, plenty of builds sites with different builds for support with each different class role. IMO I would recommend a Guardian.

Hope this helps.

To add onto what cpq has said…

Guardian is a melee-oriented support class.

Elementalist is a (typically) ranged-oriented support class.

Engineer is a (typically) mid-range oriented support class.

Mesmer is a support class that can go through any range.

Of course, this is a very broad generalization, as Elementalists can be front-liners. Engineers can be back/front-liners. Guardians can be back-liners (albeit with one weapon which they tend to have to use a lot, the Scepter). Mesmers can still be all over the place.

However, going full support with any one of these professions is not an optimal choice. It is possible to spec for a supportive build, but with the lack of a trinity (or with the GW2 trinity of control/damage/support) it’s best to aim for 2 parts of the 3. When building a build, try to get control + damage, control + support, or support + damage. While it is possible to go pure in one direction, it really leaves your build lacking a lot of potential. (Unless you’re in PvP where full damage can work. Doesn’t mean it will, but it can. Note that most WvW/PvP builds are a mixture of at least 2 of the prongs even if it doesn’t seem like it.)

Seems to confirm my view of the games (great) profession-system so far.
Lets dive in a bit deeper and hear your thoughts:

Ranger:

Sounds like a lot of fun to play, after looking into the sub-forum you see a lot of complaints tho. Especially a Bow-Ranger seems to be nonviable atm – which defeats the purpose of the class in my opinion.

Ele:

My last stand with this one was that a D/D Ele is viable even in PvE wich sounds like a LOT of fun to play with the occasional switch to Staff (I´m aware Eles can´t switch weapons mid-combat)

Guardian:

The most obvious of the above mentioned so far for me. No real complaints, sounds a bit plain tho.

after those points, one question on top, that applies to all of the mentioned professions:

What are the chances of finding a group for dungeons etc. @level 80?

Chances of finding group is very easy with GW2LFG website. My PvE main is a Ranger and I have no issues finding groups with that site.

My ranger runs a short-bow and longbow combo. If your on ball you can do vast amounts of dps with adding conditions and switching weapons. You can also go with the great sword if you wish. I think most rangers run the ‘beastmaster’ build can’t really comment on this type of build as pets have never really interested me.

I play a guardian mainly for spvp but also some pve. I run a great sword and staff combo with the ‘iron cannon’ build. I find in any situation dungeon/pve or pvp I can survive pretty much anything with vast amount of DPS coming from condition and direct damage along with buffs for survivability.

Unable to comment on ele as I’ve only played one until level 10.

Id recommend playing each class you like the sound of until level 15-20 along with each weapon they can use and see how you like the feel of them. Although this is not for everyone’s taste, just a personal recommendation.

If you’re looking for pugs, any profession.

If you’re looking for speedruns, warriors and guardians are king (with mesmers following up).

If you’re in a guild, any profession.

@Ranger: I see a lot of bow-rangers. There’s a lot of complaint in any profession’s forum because why would people be making threads saying “I’M SO GLAD HOW BALANCED THIS CLASS IS COMING FROM A PLAYER WHO’S PLAYED THE CLASS FOR 2000 HOURS!” Without having any sarcasm or irony. In fact, when I play a ranger, I enjoy running something like Shortbow/Greatsword, however I do not have a level 80 ranger, so keep that in mind.

First of all, thanks a lot for your in-depth answers so far. A lot more, than I expected =)

The Mesmer; quite an unusual profession it seems. After reading into it, it sounds like a great supporter while dealing a good amount of DPS.

Any reason it wasnt recommended in the first few posts?

The problem I had with most of the classes up to this point, when testing them on the PvP-Island, most of them were a bit dull to play with little to no micro-management.

Ele seemed to be the most difficult to play efficiently with all the stance-dancing involved. My favorit so far =)

I mentioned it in my first post which was the third response.

Regardless, it isn’t looked at as a support/healer class, yet it can perform (and even outperform) the same as other professions. The reason why it isn’t a typically choice is because it is really mostly endgame where the supportiness can shine. It requires huge traiting specifically for that and requires you to build for it.

Mesmer as a class is a jack of all trades, master of none. However, once you start slapping on traits, you hone your trade into a precise style. That’s the power of a Mesmer. Of course, most people don’t know or realize that since Mesmer is a typically unknown profession.

Mesmer is one of the hardest and most skill oriented professions (arguably all professions are) with the highest learning curve. Leveling a Mesmer is a chore and not something that’s entirely fun. Once you hit 80, you just start the learning curve. Keep in mind that with proper micro-management, the Mesmer can be a god (chain dazes, instant nukes, de-target, avoidance, disruption, punishment).

If you’re looking for a difficult profession, go for Mesmer/Ele/Engineer. If you’re looking for a sought out profession go Guardian/Mesmer. If you’re looking to have fun go -insertanyprofessionhere-.

Gonna definitely look into Mesmer and if that fails completely Ele.

Thanks for the awesome help.

I agree with Esplen. It seems like solid, unbiased advice.
Guardians are a fun profession. I have one and enjoy giving lots of boons/heals. It can still solo well too – excellent survivability.

I wanted to comment on what was said about mesmers. I’m working on one (lvl 57) and it does seem rather tedious to level. It was one of my first characters when I first started playing, and then I gave up on it for a Guardian. I later found that I do enjoy playing the mesmer though. Lots of different ways you can combat. I think the tricky thing at first is managing your illusions, which mob they are attacking, what affects skills/abilities have and how they work with other skills/abilities.

That said, that goes for any class really. Which is what makes GW2 a little different than other MMO’s we’ve all spent time playing.

I wish you luck on settling down with a profession. Let us know what you pick

Great posts by Esplen, definitely agree with everything he said.

Just wanted to comment on the “dulness” experienced by OP: it may be a first impression. Yes, there’s little micromanagement with many professions, and most of the skills are quite straightforward. You’ll especially notice this when doing most of the easy PvE encounters where you’re likely to end up just autoattacking for prolonged times.

Fear not though, as it doesn’t necessarily means that there’s no depth: it’s just that a good chunk of the current fights don’t require you to delve into it. It’s a problem acknowledged by Arenanet and they will be working to improve the encounters. Moreover, most of the depth isn’t immediately apparent, but requires you to pay attention. After 9 months I still learn things about my main, one of the easiest classes, the Guardian.