Guild Wars 2

Hi guys Im relatively new to GW2 and would like to level an alt (which will eventually be my main). I already have a warrior at 80 and was thinking about making a ranged character but wasnt sure what would have a easy -ish play style. Im mostly into pve but if i do pvp im not really fussed about being the most elite and untouchable class out there. I would like something nice and easy to level thats ranged (if that exists). I have heard elementalists and mesmers are like shoving splinters of hot iron under your finger nails to level but i want to hear YOUR opinions.

I’d agree Elementalist is a royal pain if you’re new to stuff. Heck, with 7 80’s under my belt, my Ele is just past 30 and I made her at launch. Mesmer, on the other hand, has proven so fun I have 2 of them at 80 (though I did level them both after I got very familiar with the game).

I’m not a twitch reflex person by any means, and there was a learning curve on Mesmer with figuring out how to keep those clones and phantasms up and when to hit what shatter, but in the end it’s been a delight.

Other than that, many people say Ranger is easy, though I dislike dealing with the pet and how easily it dies. I’ve got two Necromancers at 80; staff gives them good ranged aoe and a skill-6 minion takes the aggro heat off without any micromanagement.

I would say the following:

Ranger – very forgiving class which has pets that can “Distract” the enemy (Though at Higher levels, PvE mobs seem to ignore the pets at times) Mediocre defense/damage meaning you can kill fast, while still being alive.

Elementalist – an Unforgiving class when levelling, very low Defense/damage with a mediocre>High skill ceiling which also has 4 “Attunements” or 20 skills that you would need to switch to, staying in 1 Attunement (Like Fire Attunement) is not a good idea.

Personally, I loved levelling my ele when I first started playing last year, it was a good adrenaline rush I got from it, and I still play it everyday (85% of my account time is on my elementalist)

i have a necromancer at level 16 and am finding it hard to get a decent leveling build for it

No doubt for a new player to GW2 that Ranger with a longbow is the way to go if you don’t mind having a pet.

I suggest leveling a thief with a shortbow.

Leveling my thief with the shortbow was just so much fun and it’s always remained a great alternative when I get a bit bored of my warrior main.

Thieves have an incredibly amount of mobility that makes them a blast to play. The shortbow will give you incredible AOE damage and mobility and you can rock pretty much any other weapon combination for the weapon swap when you need to melee.

The thief mechanics are also really fun. Rather than cooldowns, they have initiative which is an energy resource that fills up. None of their weapon skills have cooldowns, they just cost initiative so you can spam them. There’s nothing quite like rounding up a bunch of enemies together and just shotgunning them down with shortbow’s clusterbombs.

I’d say Engie. All their weapons but one kit is ranged. I like Engie cause you can kind of build it into anything.

Easiest for afirst character ranged would be Ranger. You have the most weapons at your disposal for that end. Engi or thief would be good alternate attempts, the scholars next, and the heavy classes are pretty heavy on melee weapons

If you want something you can play ranged and level in your sleep, go with a thief. Just equip pistol/pistol and the healing skill Signet of Malice. Spamming Unload with that signet will make you basically immortal and do a ton of damage….

For the first thirty or so levels. You’ll hit slowdown after that and need to start adapting, and the thief becomes a real chore to level (in my opinion) between levels forty and sixty. After that bump however, assuming you can get over how squishy the profession is, you can have a blast in PvE using pistols and the shortbow.

If we’re talking easy to level that is ranged, a minion master necro is by far the easiest. If the patch note ideas become reality PvE minions will get even more health and become even easier, which I didn’t think was possible, but minion siphon trait getting buffed AND health pool increase will make it ridiculous.

Once you’re done leveling though, necro still is powerful but the other classes do just as well if not better depending on the situation. Engie can do practically everything, and while difficult to master is still not at difficult as ele. Ranger is pretty straightforward, but I prefer MM necro for a pet class because it’s optional.