Guild Wars 2

So, I quite easily narrowed it down to Mesmer or Necromancer for my main, but can not choose between the two.
Mesmer is fun with all the clones and phantasms. However I find the movement speed to be very slow and struggle with events due to lack of ranged AOE damage.
Necromancer is very awesome with the minion summoning and wells for supporting. Sadly, minions are bugged and wells are supposedly not very good at support dispite that being their purpose. So… ya know… no one will want me in their team if I run those builds, which are the ones I find most fun.
So, basically, I have two classes I like but can’t decide which has problems I am more willing to live with.

I have a ranger, a mesmer and an elementalist. Of the 3 the mesmer is the slowest and I miss the AOE damage of the other 2, but I find it the most fun to play. The problem for me is that mesmers can use so many weapons and there are so many ways to spec and play it’s hard to limit myself. I’ve started a second mesmer so I can learn a different build. My first one is mainly greatsword, sword/sword or sword/pistol and built for phantasim damage. The second one is staff, sceptor/torch or sceptor/pistol and build more for confusion/CC and glamors.

I did initially try the necromancer but decided I liked the other 3 better and since this is my first MMO I had enough to learn as it is. I do plan to play a thief, a necromancer and a guardian sometime in the future, if for no other reason than to know what I could come up against if I decide to play PvP or WvWvW.

You can play one of each and then decide.

My main is a mesmer…They are indeed slow — there is no real getting around that. However, I have found that other players are pretty nice about popping a speed boost on you when they see you running by.

Regardless of the speed issue, I find mesmers more fun to play than other classes. For dynamic events you really need to be using staff as a weapon for the chaos storm AOE. If you spec for condition damage you are able to tag mobs and do enough damage to get loot even in bigger zergs. You will never be as efficient as an elementalist with AOEs but IMHO mesmers are more fun to play.

try both. start with necro, because if you master mesmer first, then other classes might seem dull.

just my opinion tho. main mesmer sword+focus/staff, sometimes put on gs, just to get the feeling those inferior mesmers get ;D

It really depends what you want to do. It seems necros are great for WvW zerging, staying alive, and PvE/event farming.

Mesmers are great for tactical WvW (portals), sPvP, and dungeons.

Yea, see, that’s the problem. I mostly want to do PvE/events/dungeons. Necromancer is better for the events, mesmer for the dungeons.
I was working on ways to alleviate the problems I have with the classes. Mesmer could use runes of the centaur (it’s at level 60 but maybe I could craft my way to that level), but I am really surprised to hear a suggestion of staff for events. I LOVE the staff, but didn’t use it much because it seemed so bad for events. Still, if it works, that would fix both mesmer issues.
For necromancer, would Death Nova make minions viable in dungeons? That poison actually lasts for 7 seconds and is AOE. For supporting… there’s not much I can do about wells inneffectiveness. I could build a solid healer with Deathly Invigoration/Transfusion and Death Shroud, though.

I don’t have a great concept of either class at higher levels. I’ve never played a necro and my mesmer is very low. I’ve been told that staff is one of the best on the mesmer for AOE/events (Still not that great), with GS close behind.

Here’s my two cents: PvE events become very boring end-game. They might be fun now because they change all the time, but in orr/cursed shore there are only 2 or 3 viable routes to follow. Just from reading your post, it seems like it would be best to have a necro for farming (when you wanna make some money), and make your mesmer your main. The mesmer is fantastic for WvW and dungeons, which I think will hold your attention a lot more than event farming.

Allyhoo.7608:

My main is a mesmer…They are indeed slow — there is no real getting around that. However, I have found that other players are pretty nice about popping a speed boost on you when they see you running by.

Regardless of the speed issue, I find mesmers more fun to play than other classes. For dynamic events you really need to be using staff as a weapon for the chaos storm AOE. If you spec for condition damage you are able to tag mobs and do enough damage to get loot even in bigger zergs. You will never be as efficient as an elementalist with AOEs but IMHO mesmers are more fun to play.

I’ll usually run my ranger with longsword/warhorn to keep our mesmer moving quickly enough to stay up with the group in wvw…cause we luv her, lol. But without help….the miniscule 12 sec speed buff that focus allows just won’t let them run fast for very far.

Even the Necro has Signet of the Locust to buff a permanent 25% speed buff….did they just forget about the Mes?

Ethics.4519:

Here’s my two cents: PvE events become very boring end-game. They might be fun now because they change all the time, but in orr/cursed shore there are only 2 or 3 viable routes to follow. Just from reading your post, it seems like it would be best to have a necro for farming (when you wanna make some money), and make your mesmer your main. The mesmer is fantastic for WvW and dungeons, which I think will hold your attention a lot more than event farming.

This is excellent advice, and it’s very timely. Right now, Necromancer is lackluster for end-game dungeons/etc. They are good at events… and that’s about it. Many necromancers have mentioned as much on their forums. Mesmer will last me in anything I decide to do throughout the game. I won’t level as fast and until I get level 60 and Runes of the Centaur I’m gonna skip trying to get map clearing, but after that, I can do whatever I want with the Mesmer and be effective.
The main reasons I want to play Necromancer (minions and wells) are not effective right now, although there has been some recent talk of fixing pet AI, it hasn’t happened yet. With Mesmer, I can fix the things that are a problem for me, and I can play any content I want, with any build I want.
Thanks for the advice.

My pleasure. I’ve very glad I could help and I’m glad you got the advice you were seeking.

I wouldn’t knock out the Necro (or any class for that matter) by what you read on these boards. There are some that would have you believe that certain classes are so broken as to be unplayable. The Necro & Engineer being two of the current favorites to beat upon.

Its simply not true. I suggest you play both the Mesmer and the necro at the same time. The playstyles are different enough so that when you just want something different, you have it.

I have all 8 classes. 2 80’s and the rest spanning from lvls 30-60. All of them are easily playable in group or solo.

That’s true Raf, but some are more specialized than others. Ask people who do guneons often if they would rather have a necro or mesmer or in the group. I guarantee 9 out of 10 would be mesmer.

I’m not bashing necros, I’m just saying they are tailored better for certain activities.

Honestly, I think necros are really great… in certain builds… builds I don’t want to play. If everything worked well as a necro I would be playing one right now. If I play a necromancer I want to be a minion necro or well supporter. Wells are okay, but most agree minions still have some bugs. The frustrations I have with mesmer I can rune/trait to get past, but I can’t do anything about minion AI and less effective wells. Ethics was mentioning that for what I want to do, the mesmer is better right now, and I think for me, that’s correct.
Necromancer is an awesome profession, it’s just not the best for what I want to do right now.