Guild Wars 2

I just got Guild Wars 2 a day or 2 ago, and I am having trouble deciding which light armor class to pick (mainly for PvP). I don’t mind the “roamer” role at all nor does dps or support matter, but I don’t want to be a “tanky” role. I know one of the first suggestions is to play some PvP with each class to get a feel and I have done that with all 3 classes. I am just as undecided, if not more, than I was before I did PvP. If someone wouldn’t mind and explain (in depth) the roles of Mesmer, Necromancer, and Elementalist. I know some can tank, dps, heal, support, etc, but I want more of the role that they play in the team and what their play style would be within the team. Thanks!!

I haven’t progressed too far into the game but, I’m loving my Necromancer. I’m not playing for glory or even bothering to spend her trait points correctly(lol). I’m choosing to go in blind and find out what works for myself, & reskill/-trait, if I must, later on.

For the moment, the crowd-control and support setup works fine for me. I have 3-4 AoEs that I use regularly, each with healing/life-leeching benefits. The minion I choose to summon is my Bone Fiend (looks like a scorpion) since his hold skill works wonders with my fear skill, while I kite away at the mob. If you haven’t gotten it by now, my weapon of choice is a staff. My secondary weapon of choice is a dagger + whatever decent off-hand I can get.

As for tanking goes or being able to take a few hits, I’m managing quite well. As stated my AoEs of choice have healing or life-leeching benefits of some sort so being against melee mobs, aren’t too strenuous.

Traits (currently – with some points unspent):
10 in Curses
5 in Blood Magic

Skills (currently – again, some points unspent):
Summon Bone Fiend
Well of Blood
Signet of the Locust (speed is good – I hate running slow)
Well of Suffering

Mesmer is the best of the 3.

Yeah PvE I’ll manage no matter which one it is. To me, PvE is PvE is PvE. It’s the PvP that I am most interested in playing. I will eventually join/form a team once i get better at the class that I play. I am just curious PvP-wise, what each professions’s role is on a team and whether they control a node, roam, etc.

The idea with Guild Wars 2 is that the professions should have at least two or three roles which you could build them for, depending on trait set-ups, skill choices, etc. It’s harder t say “mesmers should be doing this”, although I’m sure someone more familiar with the state of the PvP meta-game could tell you what people tend to use each class for at the moment.

I’m not a PvPer so I’ll let someone else answer this, but do keep in mind the classes are flexible – you might want to consider the class-specific mechanics each one has, and which of those you like, then work into a role you like from there.

Elementalist – attunement switching
Necromancer – death shroud, minions, marks
Mesmer – clones, phantasms, mantras

To give you some ideas of the more unique points.

Yeah I honestly enjoy all 3 play styles in PvP. It’s just hard with Pug groups to tell a more defined “role” with everyone running around like a chicken with their head cut off. I like to work the skills into the role, so if I know what role the class plays, I can determine if I can see myself playing that class on a regular basis. I’ve heard from players that Mesmer is a more of a roamer, but not sure of their survivability. Not sure so much about Elementalist. Most of the necromancer’s I’ve seen are more of a node-controlling play style. They don’t move from place to place unless they absolutely have to, but instead stay at one spot and fight off the enemy. Not sure about their survivability either, but you would have to think with that play style, it would have to at least be decent. I want to play a class that’s not necessarily FoTM, but one that’s sought after in a team. One that can totally change a team one way or the other.