Guild Wars 2

I mostly like playing DPS but can’t seem to find the right class for me. The dps classes I’ve played (Elementalist, thief, engineer) level so slow and seem to die fast. I played them up to level 15 at most so I’m wondering if maybe, i’m not giving them enough time? Maybe getting more traits actually will help me later?

Traits are where most all of your power/build/individuality come from. Without being at least level 60 (for your grandmaster traits) You won’t really have the full picture about what a class is capable of.

Dying really fast is a thing at lower levels. It’s actually worse on some of the tankier classes (Guardian, Ele) Because of the way the level scaling and traits work.

The best solution, without putting a bunch of time leveling characters till you find one you like, is to do some sPvP. pick a class, and tinker around in sPvP for a day or two. Then pick a different class. You can try all 8 classes this way (just delete and recreate) And get a feel for what they’ll be doing at 80. Now, you’ll have to remember that PvE and PvP have a lot of different goals, and you’ll be stronger in PvE than you are in PvP (against dumber opponents) But it will give you an idea for how the classes play.

And finally: Play with a friend. All dungeons involve running with multiple people. Your survive-ability increases 300% just by running around with 1 extra dude. This really is all about team play, and while the content CAN be soloed, death is a thing you’ll have to deal with until you get better at your chosen class.

TL;DR: That’s normal. You can solve this problem quickly by playing with more people or gaining a higher level, or you can solve this problem by continuing to do what you’re doing until you get better at the game.

Each profession also depends on how you play. Thief with SB or p/p has pretty high survivability, particularly once you add caltrops for kiting and/or stealth for escape. You’ll still need to be at least decent at dodging, but you can go a long time without dying. Though certainly many don’t find it as fun/dynamic as d/p – d/d, etc.

Engy didn’t seem squishy to me, though I do find the turret timers annoying unless you’re doing something where you can stand in one spot at length. It’s balanced well for dungeons/DE, but for exploring its kitten, imo.

Warrior is, imo, the most solid soloing (though little/no escape if things do go south) across the world, though people complain they are too squishy in dungeons.

I found my elementalist and thief levelled up faster than my warrior. My guardian was the fastest of all. The only reason those two soft characters are 60ish is I got a bit bored with the classes. Thief died the most, then warrior followed by ele and lastly guardian. If you are finding ele/thief slow to level it might be that you are just better at playing something not so squishy, have a go with warrior and guardian see how it goes.

I find both warrior and ele to be high on DPS as you mentioned it. My thief is lower on the ladder. You might read stuff about a Guardian being low DPS but I find although he is less than a warrior he does well enough. My personal DPS order is Warrior, Ele, Guardian/Thief but as I said with my playstyle the Guardian doesn’t die as much as the others and death slows you down with XP I would say.

Worth saying that all characters but IMO especially those wearing light armour have to dodge a lot. Also with soft characters never stay still, before you start a fight check what is around you before you walk backwards into something big and scary Don’t think that just because your thief holds melee weapons he can just stand still without dieing, he can’t

You said level 15 which is about the level at which you might finish your starting area but if you move onto the next level map it can start to get a bit tough. You seem to want to get on with levels but spend a short time on an easier map, just a couple of levels helps a lot. IMO you won’t really get a feel for a character type until at least level 20 so be patient and just do those next few levels before giving in, take 20 as a minimum I would have said 30 but you sound bored.

Sumary: Go to at least level 20. If you still find the game too slow try a warrior or guardian, IMO a guardian is bit more fun.

EDIT: Oops, I was enjoying writing that so much I forgot that you specifically asked about Dungeons. The best class in a Dungeon is the one you enjoy the most and are best at. The only bad class is one that spends too much time dead which would mean that the player is doing something wrong. I would never dare take my thief into a Dungeon I am not a good thief at all so Thord.2017 would be the wrong class, then again if Thord.2017 was a Guardian he would be very welcome I am sure cos that is the class I am best at.

There is no wrong profession for dungeons, only wrong builds. A team of any 5 professions is more than capable of doing any dungeon, which always makes me laugh when people in the map chat are all “LF3M AC EXP WARRIOR, ELE, RANGER”. And it’s hardly for speed purposes because being that picky will take longer than doing the dungeon with the first group that they find. Why one time I was even kicked for daring to use an Elementalist.

So to answer your question, any profession will do as long as its built correctly. Whilst all out damage sounds impressive, you really need a solid contribution into tough or vit. Because a player who is always downed is hardly making good use of their “great damage output”. As well as being a burden to those trying to revive you (I know that downed penalty can get some people, but if they go down more than twice in one battle when they’re not even getting aggro’d, sorry, but they will receive no help from me)