Guild Wars 2

Well as the title says I was a beta tester and probably played for a few weeks after launch but life happened and I stopped playing.

Well I can see a ton has changed in the game and I’ve been reading up on a lot. Probably a bad idea to check all the class forums since it’s pretty much just a sea of “my class is nerfed/ that class is too OP”.
I have a level 13 mesmer and that’s about it but I’d love to level up but I’m not sure if mesmer is still for me like it was back at launch.
I have my eye on a few of the classes but I’m not sure what to really go for honestly.
I’d love to do some pvp later once I’m of level whether it be spvp or wvw and I’m not sure if certain classes shouldn’t be picked for those?
Eng, ranger, ele and necro have caught my eye but as I said the forums seem to be saying if I don’t play an Ele or a warrior I’ll be kitten?

Any help for a returning playing would be awesome! anything else I should know or some tips of class picking would be appreciated!

We all love our respective main classes and so please excuse me for loving my Ranger/druid and since I’ve only really ever played the ranger I’m hoping someone else can answer your other class questions.

Personally I believe rangers strength is in open world PvE solo, between the pets and traps we can safely wonderful for days without coming back to town.
However, I’d be lying if I said we have the best DPS in game, my druids DPS is atrocious, pet helps and knowing my class play style does too but druid is a support class, ranger too.

PvP, ive been watching the YouTube PvP leauge championships and have been proud to see a power/tanky druid in almost all of the top teams, so yes it is viable.

WvW and specifically EotM is my staple diet these days, between the speed and mobility of the class and Heal/tankiness I’m a great support to the team. Often scouting, rezzing and so on. Definitely not front line though.

Since you look to have HoT, why not try them all? Level the 4 that catch your eye up to 32 which gives you the elite skill and then decide.
I’ve done this and have 1 of each race, which also helped me to understand the lore and history somewhat better.

If you choose ranger and need a buddy, for pet hunting or what ever, let me know, here or in game.

Well yeah testing a bit of each is a valid point, in case you decide to get HoT you get a free lvl80 boost item that let’s you test you any class before actually deciding to use the item to help you decide on what to settle on. I do recommend still leveling up the chosen class the usual way however to accustome yourself with it fully.

Now The lvl80 boost item does give you a “default” build and lvl 80 exotic gear to play with, the build and gear is.. hmm.. what it is, not gonna delve into that further to not sound elitist, suffice to say it is perharps not the most optimal thing you could run, but good enough to get a general image of what endgame will be like on said class.

As far as viability in game modes goes, everything is viable in PvE and WvW, only not strictly viable class in PvP is guardian/dragonhunter(you can argue about this however), and even that is subject to change when the next quarterly patch hits.

And lastly, don’t get into a mentality where you think because something isn’t strictly meta “it shouldn’t be picked”, just play whatever makes you feel good and is fun for you. Generally player performance is better when they enjoy playing a class/build even if it’s a sub-optimal one.