Guild Wars 2

Hi, I was wondering which light armor class everyone would recomend for me. I’ve tried all three up to around 10 multiple times but I can’t seem to decide.

Elementalist seems fun but pretty complicated. I’ve heard, or read around the forums rather, that they’re good but have you have to work twice as hard to get the same results as other professions. The biggest problem I had was the no weapon swap. Really felt it during DEs when I wanted to use staff but forgot to equip it lol. By level 10 the game is still pretty easy so I feel like it was to early to tell.

Necro I have no clue. I try to stay out of their part of the forums, way to negative. I really don’t know what to expect from trying to level one, but they’re light armor so it’s on the table.

Mesmer’s are ok, even more complicated than the ele though. This was my latest attempt at a light armor profession. It seems fun but it’s tough tagging mobs in DEs, which is a pretty big bummer. Tried pretty much all the weapon combos but they don’t seem very heavy in the AoE department.

Little back ground, my only 80 is a ranger. Was a fun ride to 80 but then it just got stale trying to work with his build and tagging mobs in huge zergs. Also have a 42 warrior, waaaay to boring play style. This character would be used 99% of the time for just solo questing/exploration and maybe just a touch of WvW. At 80 it would also be nice to be able to tag mobs in DEs without going crazy.

I’m a very casual player and I don’t need the best, just want to see if anyone has any thoughts about which class they would recomend. Thanks!

If you run a condition heavy Scepter/dagger Necro you will have 0 issues in a pve environment. Massive AoE bleeds and snares = many dead mobs. Forego any type of minion, go with BiP, Epidemic, spectral walk and lich or plague for elite. Use consume condition heal and you will win.

And you were right to stay out of the necro forums, so many negative Nancy’s in there.

Tagging mobs with a necro is also very, very easy – just switch to death shroud and hit 4
Also, wells rock.

I have an ele, and have only played this so far. Well, I guess I had a guardian I got to level 5. :-P Anyway, I have read a lot about the ele and a lot of negative things about them, and I just really disagree. I can’t compare to the others since I haven’t played them, but I’m pretty sure it’s my favorite. No, we don’t have the weapons swap, but what we DO have is attunements. Fire/Water/Air/Earth. I think this is a HUGE advantage. I think the ele is tricky to learn, but once you’ve got the system figured out, I think we’re deadly! I have mostly soloed this game and am lvl 75 right now, and I have not had issues. When you do get into a big group or a big boss, you just have to kite. It takes longer to kill them probably, but you get the job done.

At any rate, I don’t feel that it is twice as much work to be an ele as other professions. Not once you’ve got your system down. Focus on a build, I focus on power and healing. Figure out your preferred weapon combo-I play scepter/dagger. Get a system going, I usually start with fire, then when I’ve exhausted all my spells, I go to air, then earth, then water only if I need to heal. I have both elementals loaded, plus the storm spell.

It’s probably a class that you’ll either love or hate. I do think it’s more difficult at first, but gets easier as you are able to start spending trait points.

Once you figure out how the mesmer works it’s easier to play than ele. Lvl 40 is the turning point for mes when you can get the clone on dodge trait. It opens up lots of options in combat.

Aluna Darklady.3165:

I have an ele, and have only played this so far.

At any rate, I don’t feel that it is twice as much work to be an ele as other professions.

Huh? With all due respect I don’t think you’re qualified to reach that conclusion:)

Lol, probably true, however, I have a lot of family that I play with, thief, rangers, engineer, mesmer, and I feel like I’m at least as powerful as they are, maybe even more so. :-)

Well, this is an old thread, but now I have played other classes, and I feel more qualified to respond to this. ;-)

Ele doesn’t NEED weapon swap b/c we have attunements, which imo, is like having four weapon swaps! We have 20 sets of skills as opposed to the usual 10 (and I don’t feel like it’s as easy to swap weapons as attunements).

I have adjusted my build to a Fire/Earth Signet Condition Damage build, and I do well with it.

I think I understand why people say it’s “twice as much work” but I disagree with this assessment. I have an 80 Warrior now, and a 37 Guard and a 42 Ranger, and so far, I like none of them as well as my ele. They are almost…boring. Not nearly as much to do or as fun to play. On my ele I always have a skill to cast, while with the other classes I feel like I’m waiting on cool downs. So much more at my disposal.

I think it’s not for everyone, but I find it very enjoyable.

I do have a Level 7 Necro, which seems to be interesting, so far. I have not played a Mesmer but I hear a lot of good things about them as well. So I can’t compare honestly to the other light armor classes. Really, it’s just personal preference, I think.

The mesmers do have problems tagging mobs at 80 but I usually do it with a combination of shatters (they are AoE) and the staff 5 skill (chaos storm… 35 secs cooldown, though it can be reduced to 28 with traits) and the regular attack as well as long as you remain medium to short range to make it bounce and a greatsword as a secondary (the 2 attack bounces, 3 is an AoE attack and the phantasmal berzerker from 4 also hits several targets in its path), but your best bet is to find groups.

That said, at least in my experience, mesmers are great and very wanted for groups mainly for their other support abilities, like portals, mass invisibility, reflects and time warp.

I have an 80 ele and mesmer. I haven’t played a necro past lvl 10.

I would recommend Mesmer. I am definitely loving it.

As for tagging mobs, you can try any all of these:

1. Use GS, the main attack now hits everything it passes through so target the mobs at the back and you will hit quite a few. Number 4 on GS sends a spinning illusion that hits everything in it’s path to catch all the bad guys in the horizontal. Number 2 has a bouncing sword that hits a few enemies. Number 3 will hit all NPCs around a small area.

2. Use Staff, number 5 on the staff is an AoE with a pretty big radius and will buff your allies and curse your foes.

3. Use Focus, number 5 on the focus sends out an illusionary warden who stands stationary but spins around with axes hitting everything around it (and does a lot of damage)

4. 1H Sword is OK as you will hit several targets in front of you with each slash and it does a lot of damage. Number 2 also gives you evasion from enemy attacks.

Also you can shatter your illusions which will hit multiple targets.

Ele, very easy to hit multiple targest. They are the AoE king/queens. I use staff on my ele. Weapon swap isn’t bad because you have 4 attunements and swap between them constantly.

In my opinion, there are more variations on good builds and skills with mesmer than Ele. With Ele you have quite a few good skills but are using all of them all the time. After awhile it gets pretty stale. I have swapped weapon sets of Mesmer quite a few times (sword focus, scepter focus, greatsword, staff, scepter pistol and sword pistol). I love all of those. I also am constantly adjusting my utility skills on my mesmer, but leave the same few always-on with my ele.

Anyway, obviously it comes down to personal preference, but I find both damage and utility are greater with mesmer and they are much more fun.