Guild Wars 2

Hi there, OK, so I’ve gotten all three up to 15, but am a very casual gamer. I’d like to invest in one for the long haul. These classes fit my PvE gaming style, which one would you keep going with and why? Races? I have a Charr, Norn, and Human, also, because what I like.

Any advice would be great, thanks!

Hey Otto!

If I understand correctly you’re mainly a PvE player. Casual or no casual, you should really know that Necromancers arent really sought after for dungeons as they offer little to no support to the group. This does not however mean you cannot play a necromancer, just have in mind, some groups may reject you cause of the class (very few, but some). If you ever plan on WvWing or whatever, a Thief is a great call. So much fun to play in PvP (WvW especially) it really makes all other classes look bad if you ask me. And the Ranger? Well, who knows. It’s a solid class for any chore in GW2, but that’s about it. Good call for a casual playstyle I guess, plus theyre extremely easy to play and start with (great for new players).

This is it from my side; got any questions, ask.

Hope I helped abit at least.

Regards, oRx

There are two options:

1. You don’t have guild nor friends:
1.1. Pve wise: thief – great choice, interesting and pretty complex class, pretty high skill required to master, very high dmg, very mobile class, which requires much timing and active defense, great choice for any pve content and always wanted. Ranger – easier to play than thief, but it’s still not faceroll kind of stuff, if you like pets you might pick ranger; less risky than thief but has lower dmg (ok, everything depends on build), I’d suggest ranger for newcomers. Necromancer – the worst class for pve, it’s damage isn’t bad, but the problem is that necro has no group support; you might get kicked from pugs just because you are necro.
1.2. Pvp wise: thief – hit and run class, you are not a part of group, but rather lone wolf supporting your team with highest burst dmg possible; not recommended for new players as it’s fast and very risky/fragile class. Ranger – more teams find place for rangers nowadays, which shows that ranger is in pretty good spot; not the hardest class to play ‘good’, again – if you like pets you might find ranger interesting. Necromancer: terrormancer is just awesome, very strong, requires much skill, unique playstyle class, necro is current meta for most pvp content.

2. If you have friends or guild:
2.1. Pve and pvp wise: pick whatever you want. Really, it doesn’t matter what you pick: necro will work in any dungeon as well as every class will work in pvp.

To sum up with, try to find casual – friendly guild, because you might lose much fun without any friends. Once you find one you shouldn’t care about what is ‘strong’ or ‘weak’. If you want me to you can join the guild I’m currently in – people are very helpful, they will teach you whatever you want and are really casual – friendly, while being very experienced in a game.

For any further questions or if you want to join guild mentioned above (you can leave it whenever you want) drop me a message.

oRx is spot on. +1

If you are really a casual than I recommend going ranger. They are probably the easiest class to play in open world pve but are not sought after in dungeon speed parties. Thief is fun too but they require more skill and effort to get the most out of them and they are really fun in WvW. Necros are the easiest scholar class to play due to their high health pools but are not in high demand in fractal, dungeon and WvW content.

All that being said play what you enjoy, make friends and if you ever need a hand in game just look me up!

- Maplestix

Thanks for the feedback, my rankings were for Ranger, then Necro, then Thief.. and I think I’ll continue that roll!

Necros DO bring party support, though in a narrow field. The class is optimised for not only dealing condition damage but also redirecting conditions from your party to the opposing party. Specific dungeons in which they are very useful are Sorrow’s Embrace path 3 and Crucible of Eternity. Dungeons in which mobs neither use nor are vulnerable to conditions, they fall behind other classes.

Rangers do maximum damage in a condition build with a cat for direct damage, and while their dps is limited by the max stack cap of 25, the utility brought via fire fields, water fields, Spotter and Frost Spirit can outweigh the additional dps of another warrior in a war-heavy party. Rather than being path dependent, rangers’ utility is determined by composition of the other players in a party.

Thieves can stealthrun the best (only other class capable of this to a weaker extent is engis), draw the most aggro, can completely nullify damage, have the second best blasting potential behind elementalists, have the third highest AoE potential and have the single highest burst dps value, but offer no additional party damage buffs beyond vuln stacks unless someone else can provide a fire field. Sustained dps is inferior to a warrior, but very, very few bosses contain enough HP for sustained dps limits to kick in. For standard dungeons I’d consider them one of the greatest classes, though specific classes may be better for specific paths.

I’m always partial to the Necro, was my D2 main. But for Elderscroll games I liked the sneak bow Thief. I just prefer minions.. the only thing is minions at lower level for Necro in GW2 can’t hold aggro like a Ranger’s pet. I wish it was better..

Still not good with a Thief, as I think of the three, agreeing with all, it’s difficult to master.

Torn with Necro and Hunter at this time. Still, just for PvE mainly.

personally i would take each one into HotM. you’ll get boosted to 80 and have a chance to see what the class is like at max level with all their skills (except racials). on the east side of the map there are monster npc and robots that you can test different builds and get a better feel for how the class works against PvE. i honestly wish i had spent more time doing this from the start. you dont have to enter a single pvp match to do this.

but out of the 3 its a tough call.
personally i dont really care for thief, theyre fun but there is a ton of them everywhere.
ranger was my first 80, and they are alot of fun. each weapon is very different from the next. people will tell you the suck, but thats because of the bearbows that never learn to optimize the class potential. and always have your pet under control in groups.
necro has been a class i have been fooling around with. i dont like it at all for pve but for pvp/wvw its a blast.
all 3 are very different style of gameplay and i highly suggest the above tip about HotM.

Foe a casual PvE player: it doesn’t matter. Whatever is the most fun, do it. It will be fine.

If you don’t care for a career as a dungeon speedrunner or semiprofessional PvPer, it really, really doesn’t matter.

Pick ele, warr, gua

Ranger, because that’s my favourite class

Pick any but do commit to it

I just want to love my necro

Bandit.8279:

oRx is spot on. +1

If you are really a casual than I recommend going ranger. They are probably the easiest class to play in open world pve but are not sought after in dungeon speed parties. Thief is fun too but they require more skill and effort to get the most out of them and they are really fun in WvW. Necros are the easiest scholar class to play due to their high health pools but are not in high demand in fractal, dungeon and WvW content.

All that being said play what you enjoy, make friends and if you ever need a hand in game just look me up!

- Maplestix

Err I know necro isnt the best choice for OP as he’s mainly a pver but I have to say that in WvW infact (for zerg-busting) necro is one of the four most sought after classes and also works very well if you know what youre doing in solo-roaming.

In terms of raw DPS, the classes would be thief>ranger>necro. I honesly wouldn’t recommend you going for necro, not only it has bad DPS and lack of offensive support, but you will have a really hard time getting into (good) pugs (given that they exist). Thief and ranger are both fine. Thief is generally more of a solo class, but it is very demanding and requiring you to have good awareness of the battlefield. If you bring thief into dungeons (again, talking only about decent groups), you are expected to know the paths very well and be able to use your skills when needed (stealth for skips, blinds and projectile blocks, shadowsteps at some places). Ranger is good and simple to play and it buffs party nicely. If you avoid common noob mistakes like using bear or signet-heavy build, you can also squish decent amount of damage from this class. I guess you cannot make mistake with ranger, but should first check out the meta builds and see if the style fits you. I personally still have a hard time getting used to the fact their most important (and most used) skill roots you.
As for the choice of class, I’m telling you, go for asura. At least for the ranger, that’s for sure. If you do solely PvE, class pretty much does not matter, maybe just having clear view in some tight areas in JPs. Asuras are nice for that, little collision box. And if you EVER decide to try out a bit of WvW, you will definitely appreciate choosing asura. They are very small, hard to spot and enemies won’t be able to tell if you are readying a dangerous attack. PLUS the combination of technobabble and moment of clarity is like the longest CC in the whole game. Trust me. I made the mistake of making my ranger a charr, now I wish it was asura. Other than this case though, the class does not matter.

Gnat.9405:

I just want to love my necro

I love my necro a lot. She’s majestic. And to any who thinks necro doesn’t have good dps, I lol’d. Necro DPS up time is better than Ranger’s because of their ease to play. They also have some niche uses like Condition Transfer, which can almost two shots bosses like Turmaine (Caudecus’ Manor). It is definitely less played but there are room to explore and love.