Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone!

I’m helping out a friend of mine who is starting in GW2 next month. He decided to play the game, but he had some questions I’m not sure i’m qualified to answer, so he asked me to post his questions on this forum, since he can’t post on foruns yet.
Here it goes, quoting him:

“I want to play a scholar, and I’m sure about it, as I always do in games. I’m not sure which profession should i choose.
I want to play the game to it’s fullest, so I’ll be doing both PvE, WvW and PvP, though I like PvP the most and i like to favour it. I probably won’t make competitive PvE a lot, so if a profession favours PvP over PvE, it’s not a problem. I just don’t want to be kicked out of a party because of my Scholar’s profession.

As a D&D fan, I always value the versatility of a Wizard’s spellbook and my priorities are Control at first, and then Damage and Utility. If I can keep a powerful foe out of combat, or lock-out 5 minions at a time with a well placed spell, I feel really happy about it. I like to play as a team player, but i don’t want feel weak and feel constantly that I need to rely on the others to be successful (even if i play with a team a 100% of the time. Is more of a roleplaying reason than a mechanic one).

The elementalist sounds like something i would play, for the versatility, but I’ve read the aren’t used to their full potential if you stand away from the battle, blasting from a distance. People often recomend to use D/D combination, but i don’t like to play at close range. I like to play, as the name implies, a Scholar, not a Battle Mage or something like this.

I see no problem in equipping the daggers to run away from combat, re-position myself on the battlefield and then switch to a Staff to rain death on my enemies again, but from what I’ve read about “fields”, Elementalists favour “close range” combat a lot, am I correct?

The necromancer also sounds interesting. While I don’t really like Necromancer’s concept (as I’ve said, I’m a D&D Wizard fan, and a Generalist one. I’d hate to see my spellbook restricted only to Necromancy spells, even if I really like then), the profession sounds fun and effective.

Which leads me to my second question: How does the Meta work on this game? From what I’ve read, all professions can fill a large amount of roles, but I’m guessing they have roles they can do better than the others. Both an Elementalist and a Necromancer can make a build based on Conditions, they can control, they can heal, they can do Burst damage. That depends on how you build them.
I’m guessing that there is a meta. An elementalist can be a better “burst” than the Necro, while this one probably will make a better condition build.
Am I Correct?

As a PvPer, i like to play characters with a big burst. Sustained damage can be healed, specially when you are playing against a lot of players and some of them will be focused healers. I like to deal damage only enough to be sure i can “instantly kill” that guy. When he reaches that % of HP, i use everything and he’s gone. For real.

Ok. Thanks for reading this far!
Can you tell me which Scholar Profession looks closer to my way of playing the game? And can you enlighten me about the “meta” and in which “roles” the scholars professions can be used?

I don’t want to be the best guy in town. I’m not a “MIN MAX” player, I’m more of a roleplayer, but I don’t want to be the worst of the group either. I don’t want to be considered dead weight because I’ve leveled a character that can’t do anything the way i like to play.

Thanks again and good evening!"

You get 5 character slots, so make all three scholar professions and try them out. The game is not like others, no focused healers or utility. For Elementalist, no weapon swaps other than outside combat.

I’d almost be tempted to say you’d enjoy Mesmer more than elementalist, but give them a try.

I’d also encourage your friend to try out each of the three caster classes (elementalist, mesmer, and necro). Out of the three, elementalist is indeed the highest damage (of course when traited and geared for damage) and the biggest burst damage. But mesmer and even necro can do high damage, with or without a condition set-up, with the right gear/builds. Each of the three also have their own unique uses in each of the game modes. That being said, the meta for most group PvE content calls for close-up combat (and stacking on the boss) and berserker/high damage gear and builds. So, standing in the background with a staff wouldn’t be the best for that. It’s also just not good to box yourself into only using one weapon and one attunement (in the case of elementalists, anyway) for all aspects of the game.

So yeah, I’d recommend he pick one to mess with, level it for a while, take it in pvp/wvw. Then do the same with the other two.

Edit: Also, even though it’s a heavy class, your friend might want to check out guardian. Lots of control and support go with that class, and it has some definite caster/“scholar” ways of playing with its utility skills and such.

• Try out each one.
• Melee is inevitable.
• To get an idea about the meta check out http://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki
• If you’re really a roleplayer at heart just make one of each and stick with the one who most fits your vision of the Scholar you want to play.

Vic.1402:

As a PvPer, i like to play characters with a big burst. Sustained damage can be healed, specially when you are playing against a lot of players and some of them will be focused healers. I like to deal damage only enough to be sure i can “instantly kill” that guy. When he reaches that % of HP, i use everything and he’s gone. For real.

Might be possible against totally glass builds, but in order to do so you have to be pretty glassy yourself. And once they’re gone “for real” you still have to stomp them which can be tricky depending on the circumstances.

Thanks again for everyone posting in the Topic!

He will be testing all the 3 Scholar professions as soon as he gets the game. I’ve already recommended him to do so. He just wanted some “professional help” so he can already watch YouTube videos and Guides to prepare.

DeanBB.4268:

I’d almost be tempted to say you’d enjoy Mesmer more than elementalist, but give them a try.

And why is that? =) Anything in particular? Or just a hunch? Because I’m interested in hearing why.

Sagramor.7395:

• Try out each one.
• Melee is inevitable.
• To get an idea about the meta check out http://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki
• If you’re really a roleplayer at heart just make one of each and stick with the one who most fits your vision of the Scholar you want to play.

Thanks for that Meta link! Helps a lot! Also, I didn’t knew Meleeing was inevitable, so thank you for that. Does it apply to PvP too? Or can he be better of raining death from a hill, or some place safe?
About the roleplayer part, this will come when he actually logs in the game and try it out. He enjoyed the concepts of the characters, but there is no point in playing a Necromancer if the meta says: “Only condition necro works” and he hates Condition characters.
If a “burst” necro is viable, then I’m sure the choice will be really related to roleplaying, not only mechanics, for example. I know Elementalist can be built in both burst and condition, for example… But there is no point in playing a Condition elementalist if EVERY condition necro will be better then that Condition elementalist.

I’m not sure I’m making myself clear, as I have said: It’s not important to be the best player in the game, but he cares about not being the worst (or someone appearing with a character that is better than his in all chosen aspects). I think this comes from his time at WoW, where you could be replaced easily in a Raid group just because “another class is better than yours”. I know GW2 can’t be divided into Tank/Heal/DPS, but this probably justify his fears.

Sagramor.7395:

Might be possible against totally glass builds, but in order to do so you have to be pretty glassy yourself. And once they’re gone “for real” you still have to stomp them which can be tricky depending on the circumstances.

Thanks! You’ve made a good point !

Regarding the meta, the way conditions work it’s better to go power in any PvE setting. And that goes for all professions. As for PvP you can play conditions, but some professions can do it better than others. Namely those than can pile on a lot of bleed stacks really fast and those that can apply many different conditions. For WvW conditions lose effectiveness as the group gets larger. I think based on past discussions up to 15-20 players conditions can still work.

Don’t worry about that WoW raid mentality in GW2 unless you’re in a hardcore guild which it sounds like your friend won’t be partaking in.

Vic.1402:

out. He enjoyed the concepts of the characters, but there is no point in playing a Necromancer if the meta says: “Only condition necro works” and he hates Condition characters.
If a “burst” necro is viable, then I’m sure the choice will be really related to roleplaying, not only mechanics, for example. I know Elementalist can be built in both burst and condition, for example… But there is no point in playing a Condition elementalist if EVERY condition necro will be better then that Condition elementalist.

“Meta” for everyone in pve is berserker, which means very little emphasis on conditions. I main a necro, and I run a zerker/DeathShroud build with next-to-no condition reliance. However, in pvp, condi is really a great way to go for a necro.

And indeed, there is very little point in going condi for elementalist because necros and engis will always do that better. At least that’s my opinion on a condi ele, anyway.

But, really, your friend will just have to play with the classes to see what he actually likes and doesn’t like.